Chapter 757: Entering the Pond

Inside the lightning pond, Immortal Lord Hot Flame's face was twisted with agony as he let loose a blood-curdling howl.

Han Li and the others turned to discover that pillars of azure lightning were converging toward Immortal Lord Hot Flame from all directions before piercing straight through his body, giving him the appearance of an azure hedgehog.

His entire body was completely enveloped by azure lightning, and his robes were in tatters, while his exposed skin was also riddled with cracks and char marks.

At the same time, all of his immortal acupoints had involuntarily opened up, and tiny arcs of lightning were burrowing their way inside to stir up the baleful qi within.

The azure lightning had no regard for whether Immortal Lord Hot Flame's acupoints could withstand the influx of power as it burrowed its way deeper and deeper, and the baleful qi rose up to contend against it.

However, the lightning in this lightning pond was Bone Rinsing Golden Lightning, which was the natural bane of baleful qi, and thus, the baleful qi stood no chance and was quickly flushed out of Immortal Lord Hot Flame's immortal acupoints.

Countless plumes of black smoke were rising up from Immortal Lord Hot Flame's body in unison, giving him the appearance of a humanoid incense burner, presenting a very intriguing contrast with the riling lightning pond.

To Han Li's relief, he could see that Liu Qi really was helping them deal with the lightning pond, and he turned to Shi Chuankong and Fox 3 as he said, "Time is of the essence, so let's begin as well."

The two of them nodded in response, and they were just about to enter the lightning pond when they suddenly heard a guttural roar.

The three of them turned to discover Immortal Lord Hot Flame with his head thrown back with his fist clenched to the heavens, roaring in an animalistic fashion. Black baleful qi was surging incessantly out of all of his orifices, concealing his entire face and giving it an indistinct appearance.

However, there was no longer any more baleful qi surging out of his body, and bright red cracks that were giving off a scorching aura began to spread over his entire body.

All of a sudden, he erupted into flames, and in no more than an instant, his legs had been completely incinerated into ashes, sending his upper body tumbling into the lightning pond.

Han Li immediately sprang into action upon seeing this, channeling his Reversal True Axis ability as he sped over to the Baleful Cleansing Pond before making a grab for Immortal Lord Hot Flame.

"Save your energy. His body is already riddled with holes, and with the baleful qi gone, there's no way he can withstand the lightning in the pond," Liu Qi said in an indifferent voice.

Han Li paid no heed to this as he thrust his arms into the lightning pond to try and grab Immortal Lord Hot Flame.

As soon as his arms entered the pond, countless arcs of azure lightning instantly converged to pulverize his sleeves.

A burst of incredibly violent lightning power surged into his body, and the baleful qi in his body almost erupted into complete chaos on the spot.

Han Li immediately let loose a loud roar as he channeled his Spirit Refinement Technique to suppress the violent urges that had arisen in his heart, and at the same time, a layer of golden scales appeared over both of his arms.

However, just this split-second of delay was too much, and Immortal Lord Hot Flame's entire body had already been completely reduced to ashes.

Han Li cast his gaze upward before attempting to make a grab for Immortal Lord Hot Flame's nascent soul, but in the instant that his body was destroyed, his exposed nascent soul also exploded after being struck by several arcs of lightning.

In the end, Han Li was only able to catch a wisp of his soul.

All of this had taken place in the span of mere seconds, and by the time Fox 3 and Shi Chuankong had reacted to what had just happened, Han Li had already returned to them, then spread open his hand with a solemn expression.

Enshrouded within a layer of azure light on the palm of his hand was a tiny figure that was flickering like a feeble candle flame.

"I'm sorry, Fellow Daoist Hot Flame. There's nothing more I can do for you," Han Li sighed.

The remaining wisp of Immortal Lord Hot Flame's soul was so feeble that it was only able to communicate to Han Li through a spiritual connection, and it consoled, "Don't blame yourself, Fellow Daoist Li. This is what fate has in store for me..."

"This soul fragment of yours is too feeble to be preserved, and it won't be long before it dissipates, so if you have any final wishes, then tell them to me now," Han Li sighed.

"At this point, we've already ascertained the cause for the fall of the True Mantra Sect, and I'm too ashamed of my master to go and see him, so I no longer have any attachments in this world. It's just a pity that I won't be able to return to Leisure Valley. I wonder if this soul fragment of mine will be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation and return to the Immortal Lord Hot Flame someday," Immortal Lord Hot Flame sighed with a wry smile.

"The Heavenly Dao works in fickle and mysterious ways, so there's always a chance," Han Li replied.

"I was going to leave my bonded treasure to you, but the lightning pond was too powerful and eradicated everything, so this is all that I have to leave to you..."

As the soul fragment's voice trailed off, its soul fluctuations also gradually faded.

In the end, the soul fragment was reduced to a tiny speck of crimson light that drifted into Han Li's glabella.

Han Li felt a burst of heat in his consciousness, and he discovered that a passage of crimson text had appeared in his mind. It was the Time Severing Flowing Fire Tome, which was none other than the fire-attribute cultivation art passed down by the Flowing Fire Palace of the True Mantra Sect.

Han Li stood in a dazed manner in the wake of Immortal Lord Hot Flame's demise, and neither Fox 3 nor Shi Chuankong said anything.

Moments later, Han Li seemed to have returned to his senses, and he rubbed his hands together, then took a glance at the wounds on his arm that had been inflicted by the azure lightning as he heaved a faint sigh.

"Let's go in," he said.

A hesitant look appeared in Shi Chuankong's eyes after witnessing what had become of Immortal Lord Hot Flame, but Han Li was already flying toward a corner of the azure lightning pond, so he didn't hesitate any longer and followed along.

Once again, Liu Qi swept up the azure chain with one of his tails to attract the majority of the azure lightning to himself, and by the time Han Li descended into the lightning pond, it was already far less hostile than before.

Upon entering the pond, Han Li was initially struck by a numb and itchy sensation, but that was immediately followed by an intense, scorching pain, as if there were countless red-hot brands pressing against his skin at once, almost setting his skin and flesh alight.

He was able to suppress his cry of agony, but a muffled groan still slipped through his lips.

However, two blood-curdling howls had rung out in unison from two of the other corners of the lightning pond, with Fox 3 screaming particularly loud.

Han Li gritted his teeth tightly as cold sweat poured down his forehead, and he had to withstand the excruciating pain while suppressing the urge to ward off the infiltration of the azure lightning.

He knew that only by allowing more of the lightning to enter his body could he eradicate the baleful qi in his immortal acupoints as soon as possible.

Just a few seconds later, his skin had already turned bright red, and countless veins were bulging beneath the surface, but unlike in the case of Immortal Lord Hot Flame, his skin was able to remain intact.

Han Li knew that this was thanks to his cultivation of the Great Universe Origin Arts, and that he was only able to fare so well against the azure lightning due to his tremendous physical constitution.

Spears of lightning were constantly crashing against his body like spears, and arcs of lightning began to pierce through his skin before burrowing their way into his immortal acupoints.

One immortal acupoint in his body was opened after another, and wisps of black baleful qi also began to rise up from his body, but at a far slower rate than what had been observed in Immortal Lord Hot Flame.

At this moment, Weeping Soul was standing near the lightning pond, looking at Han Li with a concerned look in her eyes.

"There's no need to be worried about him. The slow rate of baleful qi expulsion isn't a bad thing, it shows that he's still able to control the degree to which his acupoints are being opened, unlike the person that went before him," Liu Qi said.

Weeping Soul merely nodded silently in response.

Liu Qi then turned his gaze to Fox 3, who was sweating profusely with his teeth gritted tightly and his eyes firmly shut.

The rate of baleful qi outflow from his body was clearly far faster than Han Li's, but there was far less baleful qi surging out of his acupoints than Han Li or even Shi Chuankong.

Han Li and Shi Chuankong were both struggling with their baleful decay, so they already had a great deal of pent-up baleful qi in their bodies in addition to the infiltration of baleful qi from the outside world.

In contrast, Fox 3 was already a High Zenith Stage Jade Immortal, so all he had to expel was the external baleful qi that had infiltrated his body.

However, his physical constitution was also inferior to both Han Li's and Shi Chuankong's, which was why he was in so much agony.

On the other side of the lightning pond, baleful qi was surging out of Shi Chuankong's body in a frenzy alongside wisps of black devilish qi.

Beneath his head of curly white hair, his features had already become twisted with agony. His teeth had turned into uneven fangs, while saliva was dripping down from the corners of his mouths, and black scales had appeared over his body as he struggled to contain his true devilish form.