The Inferno Cosmic Array was the Yan Clan's ultimate battle formation, requiring all participants to wield Inferno Flame and possess at least Spirit Transformation cultivation. Led by Yan Di, the Second Elder, the eight elders hovered in eight directions, forming a cosmic cycle. Their hands wove seals with ferocious speed.
Inferno Flames erupted, creating a swirling vortex that shielded them within. Their minds linked, their souls intertwined, their coordination flawless, leaving no gaps.
"Inferno Palm!" Yan Di roared.
In unison, the eight elders unleashed their palms, their movements synchronized, their power identical. Eight Inferno Palms screamed from the fiery vortex, merging mid-air into a single, colossal strike.
"Inferno Cosmic Palm!"
The massive palm, radiating destructive might, shattered space, its power rivaling a Late-Stage Void Refinement cultivator's full-force attack. Its target: Yan Yue Qi's enchanting figure.
Within the Inferno Cosmic Array, techniques fused into one, amplifying their might exponentially—one became eight.
Yet Yan Yue Qi's Heavenly Fire Hands descended with unyielding dominance, heedless of her foes' strength.
Simultaneously, the Inferno Cosmic Palm, Lan Thanh Liet's Falling Moon Ice Palm, and Yan Wu Chen's Raging Wind Inferno roared upward, clashing with her fiery hands.
BOOM!
Like a meteor shattering an asteroid, a heatwave exploded, reducing part of the Yan Clan to ash. Space fractured violently.
The Heavenly Fire Hands and the three opposing techniques annihilated each other, a testament to the terrifying power of Yan Yue Qi's Thunder Fire Mysterious Art.
The earth-shaking battle drew the eyes of countless factions. Seeing the Yan Clan's internal strife, spectators swarmed, eager to witness the drama.
Learning that both Yan Yue Qi and Yan Wu Chen had broken through to Perfect Void Refinement, many factions broke out in cold sweat. A clan with two such powerhouses could dominate any Eighth-Grade Power—had they not turned on each other.
Yan Yue Qi, facing ten opponents without faltering, exuded heroic charisma and peerless elegance. Countless faction leaders drooled, yearning for her favor.
Unfazed by their gazes, Yan Yue Qi's eyes held only icy resolve. Her robes billowed as she channeled her power, looking down at the fractured Yan Clan without a trace of sentiment.
If these old fools sought death, she'd grant it without mercy.
Thunder and flame surged within her, and she unleashed her trump cards: the Golden Crow Void Flame and the Purple Heart Burning Sky Flame.
As the two Strange Flames emerged, the surrounding space dissolved into nothingness. A ten-zhang-tall Golden Crow phantom loomed behind her, wreathed in the purple blaze of the Purple Heart Burning Sky Flame, incinerating space itself.
Lightning flashed in her eyes, the Golden Crow at her back, purple flames dancing. She stood as an unrivaled empress, ruler of thunder and flame, commanding the heavens.
Her empress-like aura subdued all who watched. Countless spectators stared, enthralled, as thousands of Recording Jades captured the moment for eternity.
Win or lose, Yan Yue Qi's name would echo through history.
"Big Sister's grown this powerful?" Tô Mị murmured, her lips pursed, eyes complex.
"I bet she's still hiding something!" Qin Meng Ying scoffed, arms crossed, jealousy burning in her gaze.
"This woman's going all out!" Lan Thanh Liet barked, his face grim. He'd witnessed Yan Yue Qi's dual Strange Flames devastate the Lan Clan before, leaving them in ruins.
Not daring to underestimate her in her prime, he summoned his full spiritual energy.
A massive blade, coated in frost with a green hilt, appeared in his hands—the Wood Ice Blade, a High-Grade Heavenly artifact.
Gripping it, Lan Thanh Liet's battle intent soared, his eyes glinting with icy light. But he wasn't foolish enough to face Yan Yue Qi head-on. Instead, he signaled Yan Wu Chen.
Yan Wu Chen nodded, understanding. Lan Thanh Liet wanted him to take the lead. With no retreat possible, Yan Wu Chen roared, "Wind Flame Sweeps the Void!"
His hands blurred into afterimages, weaving seals. Inferno Flames surged around him, forming a fiery tornado that ravaged space, charging at Yan Yue Qi with lethal intent.
"Hmph, child's play!" Yan Yue Qi sneered. Daring to call anything "Sweeps the Void" before her Purple Heart Burning Sky Flame? Courting death.
Her killing intent solidified, head held high. Thunder and flame converged before her, forming a Golden Crow with a wingspan of dozens of zhang.
CAW! CAW!
The domineering Golden Crow screeched, its body a fusion of lightning, the Golden Crow Void Flame, and the Purple Heart Burning Sky Flame—worthy of its arrogance.
"Thunder Flame Golden Crow Strike!" Yan Yue Qi's melodious voice rang out, her hands thrusting forward.
The Golden Crow soared, its speed terrifying, piercing space faster than time itself.
Before Yan Wu Chen's bulging eyes, his Wind Flame Sweeps the Void was obliterated, the Golden Crow tearing through it.
The Thunder Flame Golden Crow Strike was Yan Yue Qi's most destructive technique.
"Support me!" Yan Wu Chen screamed, eyes bloodshot.
The Golden Crow didn't just target him—it aimed for the entire Yan Clan. If it landed, the clan's headquarters would become ruins, sparing no one.
"Inferno Seal!" Yan Di bellowed, pouring his all into the cry.
The eight elders unleashed another technique within the Inferno Cosmic Array. A mountain-sized seal, ablaze with Inferno Flames, erupted from the vortex, slamming toward the Golden Crow.
CAW!
The Golden Crow glanced disdainfully, flapping its massive wings at the Inferno Seal.
BOOM!
The seal reeled back from the impact, while the Golden Crow's phantom dimmed, its power slightly spent.
Seizing the moment, Yan Wu Chen appeared before the Golden Crow, wielding a massive circular shield woven with Inferno Flames and molten rock, its defensive power immense.
"Inferno Steel Rock Shield!"
Yan Yue Qi sneered. A High-Grade Heavenly defensive artifact, usually locked in the clan's treasury, now in Yan Wu Chen's hands.
CAW!
Sensing her anger, the Golden Crow slammed into the Inferno Steel Rock Shield.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Yan Wu Chen, gripping the shield, was pushed back but held firm.
"Wood Ice Blade… Slash!" Lan Thanh Liet, unnoticed, channeled his energy into the Wood Ice Blade, aiming for Yan Yue Qi's slender neck.
The blade's aura tore space, its killing intent chilling spectators.
"Golden Crow Guard!" Yan Yue Qi said calmly.
The radiant Golden Crow phantom behind her roared, its iron claws seizing Lan Thanh Liet's blade aura.
BOOM!
The aura shattered under the claw, the Golden Crow Void Flame rendering Yan Yue Qi nearly invincible among peers.
Top-five Strange Flames were no jest.
Lan Thanh Liet's scalp tingled. This woman was more terrifying than their clan leader. Retreat flickered in his mind.
"Explode!" Yan Yue Qi commanded coldly, eyeing the Inferno Steel Rock Shield's resistance.
CAW!
The Thunder Flame Golden Crow Strike raised its head proudly and detonated before Yan Wu Chen's horrified eyes.
BOOM!
Like a nuclear blast, thunder and flame erupted, engulfing Yan Wu Chen in a sea of fire and lightning.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
A scream of agony echoed, chilling spectators. What pain could wrench such a cry?
Lan Thanh Liet and the Yan Clan elders paled, awaiting the outcome.
The crowd held their breath.
From the inferno, a mangled figure stumbled out.
Gasps filled the air. Yan Wu Chen's skin was charred, his body a bloody red, his scalp peeled to reveal bone.
"Strange Flames amplify their wielder's power manifold," spectators whispered, etching the lesson into their minds.
Yan Wu Chen was strong—his Wind Flame Sweeps the Void had shattered space. Yet, against Yan Yue Qi's dual Strange Flames, he was utterly crushed.
"Wretched woman, you'll die!" Yan Wu Chen rasped, his body numb, his dreams of seizing the patriarch's seat shattered. He'd underestimated her, assuming her prior assault on the Lan Clan was her limit.
They'd been too arrogant.
"Swallow the Inferno Flame Pills!" Yan Wu Chen roared, producing a blazing red pill.
Yan Di and the elders exchanged grim looks, each taking an identical pill and swallowing it.
ROAR!
They bellowed, their Inferno Flames surging like they'd consumed a stimulant, ravaging the heavens.
"This heat…" Spectators wiped sweat, sensing the Inferno Flames nearing Strange Flame potency.
The Inferno Flame Pill, a Yan Clan exclusive, temporarily boosted Inferno Flame power at the cost of using only ordinary flames for half a year.
"Not bad. You've piqued my interest," Yan Yue Qi said, unfazed.
After consuming the pills, Yan Wu Chen and the elders posed a slight threat.
Lan Thanh Liet, seeing this, abandoned thoughts of escape. He'd wait and flee if needed. He doubted Yan Yue Qi could pursue him while distracted.
"Five Thunder Bombardment!" Yan Yue Qi chanted, her eyes flashing with white lightning.
Dark clouds shrouded the sky, five towering thunderbolts descending toward the Inferno Cosmic Array. Break the formation, and the elders were mere rabble.
"Inferno Palm!" Yan Di, emboldened by his enhanced flames, led the eight elders in another strike.
The fused Inferno Cosmic Palm roared, its power far greater than before.
BOOM! BOOM!
The five thunderbolts were blocked, dissipating into space.
"Hmph, Yan Yue Qi, what else have you got?" Yan Wu Chen crowed, unleashing Wind Flame Sweeps the Void again, taunting her.
Facing the enhanced fiery tornado, Yan Yue Qi laughed, her voice echoing. "You want my next move? As you wish!"
Her eyes shifted—one white, one black—radiating dual lightning.
"What's that?" Tô Mị and Qin Meng Ying gasped, their eyes narrowing.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Black lightning descended, merging with white lightning and her two Strange Flames.
Yan Yue Qi stood defiant, her Thunder Fire Mysterious Art at its peak, four attributes fusing in a world-shaking display.
"How… is this possible?" Yan Wu Chen's jaw dropped, the scene a nightmare.
Since when did she wield another attribute? Black lightning?
Ignoring their shock, Yan Yue Qi faced the oncoming Wind Flame Sweeps the Void. With a disdainful gesture, she extended a hand wreathed in thunder and flame.
"Heavenly Fire Thunder Hand!"
A colossal hand formed, seizing the fiery tornado.
Like a stream before a giant, Wind Flame Sweeps the Void shattered, scattering sparks that enhanced Yan Yue Qi's celestial beauty.
"Too strong!" Faction leaders bled with envy. Such a ferocious technique, crushed so easily—justice was dead.
"The Yan Clan… you've betrayed our ancestors' founding principles. You no longer deserve to exist," Yan Yue Qi said, shaking her head.
Another Thunder Flame Golden Crow Strike formed, her face paling slightly from spiritual energy depletion.
Seeing the Golden Crow, forged from black and white lightning and two Strange Flames, Lan Thanh Liet tore space and fled without a word.
Staying meant death. This woman was a monster.
"Eight Desolations Heavenly Flame, pursue!" Qin Meng Ying sneered from a distant peak, cyan wings sprouting from her back.
Space shattered as she vanished, chasing Lan Thanh Liet.
Yan Wu Chen and the elders, seeing their ally flee, felt despair.
But a new development rekindled their hope.
A figure appeared in the sky, glaring at Yan Yue Qi. "Thunder Fire Mysterious Art! You're the Evil Emperor's heir. Come with me to the Ice Mysterious Empire to face judgment!"