Chapter 708: Cold Flame

It felt as if something had exploded.

Qin Sang’s heart gave a violent thump. His chest tightened, and his evasion light flickered briefly before he steadied himself and looked behind in horror.

Not even a late-stage Demonic Core Realm great demon could have caused such a massive disturbance.

Moreover, right after the deafening blast, a roar of rage came from a great demonic beast, filled with intense pain.

By now the sun had almost fully set. Only the last streak of sunset light remained, and the sky had dimmed considerably.

To the east, over the sea, a speck of crystalline blue light suddenly appeared. It was exceptionally eye-catching where the sea and sky met.

The blue light grew brighter and expanded rapidly, then abruptly erupted.

In an instant, the dazzling light illuminated the entire sea as if it were broad daylight. Qin Sang was forced to squint, but he kept his eyes locked on the light.

A slender blue beam shot out from within the glowing sphere and pierced into the sky.

In the heavens above, the moon's shadow lingered, and the beam of light seemed to charge straight toward it.

The world around Qin Sang felt even darker. His mouth hung agape, unable to close.

Tidal waves surged. The entire sea trembled.

Before long, the beam of light exhausted its power and slowly faded. Tiny remnants of its glow, like starlight, drifted with the wind and vanished, just like fireworks from a past life. It was strangely beautiful.

Qin Sang finally saw it clearly. The source of the light was a kind of blue spiritual fire, and those drifting sparkles were little flames as well.

"Could that fire have been hidden deep within the underground cave? If it was resting there undisturbed, what triggered its eruption? Either the great demon accidentally touched a barrier within the cave, or the immortal cultivators did something to deliberately release the fire. It was wise to escape early. Clearly, that cave is more than just a Spiritual Infant's cave dwelling..."

Qin Sang swallowed hard, shaken yet grateful.

He fixed his gaze on the spiritual fire. Though the eruption had ended, the night sky and sea to the east remained bathed in a faint blue glow. The fire had contracted to its original spherical size but still surged violently, swelling and shrinking erratically, clearly unstable. It was not nearly as gentle as it looked.

Only now did Qin Sang notice that a layer of ice had formed over the sea around the fire. He saw waves frozen mid-rise, transformed into blocks of ice.

Even the sea breeze coming from that direction had turned into a piercing chill.

"The sea surface has frozen over, and the cold spread across such a vast region. That power is terrifying. Looks like my earlier guess was right. This spiritual fire must be a cold flame, and it’s connected to the cold mist. The mist carried the aura of the flame, which is why the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells reacted so strongly."

Qin Sang murmured to himself, mentally comparing the cold flame with the Ancestral Sacred Flame of the Devilish Qingyang Sect.

Among the spiritual fires he had encountered, the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells had been sealed within an astra. The Southern Sun Fire only had residual devilish fire power leaking from it. Its true form was said to be quite small, and Qin Sang had never seen it with his own eyes.

Only the Ancestral Sacred Flame had been seen clearly, raging wildly atop Divine Gale Peak.

Since he was too far to sense the cold flame’s aura precisely, Qin Sang could only rely on the spectacle of its eruption. Judging by that alone, it might not be inferior to the Ancestral Sacred Flame.

That meant the cold flame possessed at least Spiritual Infant Realm power.

"Did Saint Dongming build his cave dwelling here just to subdue the cold flame? He vanished suddenly and never returned to collect his treasures. Could it be that something went wrong while trying to tame the flame, and he died from its backlash inside?"

Knowing very little, Qin Sang could only make wild guesses.

He hovered midair, gazing toward the direction of the cold flame.

"Aside from that one scream, the great demon never made another sound. No trace of any immortal cultivators either. Could they have all perished the moment the flame erupted?"

Qin Sang hesitated. He wasn't sure whether the cold flame had truly calmed down. If it erupted again the moment he got close, he might be dragged in as well.

But he was deeply tempted by the cold flame.

Back then, Founder Kuiyin had subdued the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells and forged the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions, shaking the entire Small Cold Domain.

After learning the full story behind the Devilish Flames and the Yan Luo Banner, Qin Sang had longed for something similar. He had always dreamed of subduing a spiritual fire himself.

If he could master the cold flame, his strength would skyrocket across multiple levels.

Qin Sang’s current strength was meager. He couldn’t say for sure whether the cold flame would allow him to fight a Spiritual Infant expert, but if it did, he could confidently call himself the strongest under the Spiritual Infant Realm.

But could someone in the Core Formation Realm really control such a terrifying cold flame?

Qin Sang had no confidence. Founder Kuiyin's method of taming the devilish flame was nearly impossible to replicate. He had happened to find a treasure that could counter the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells, and even with his cultivation level, it had taken him more than a hundred years to study it thoroughly and devise a clever method.

Not to mention finding something to suppress the cold flame. Even if Qin Sang managed to find it, he wasn’t confident he could forge an astra comparable to the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions.

"Just observing from afar should be fine. Even if I can’t claim it now, I might find a way in the future. The flame is hidden here, and it’s unlikely other cultivators will stumble upon it..."

With that thought, Qin Sang’s figure flickered as he turned and flew back toward the path he had come from.

Unexpectedly, before he had gotten very far and long before approaching the cold flame, his expression suddenly changed. He came to an abrupt stop.

His eyes, sharp like lightning, swept across the surroundings and locked firmly onto a patch of ice.

From that spot came a faint cracking sound, barely audible at first, but growing increasingly distinct. Suddenly, the entire ice surface exploded. Ice shards flew in all directions as a massive figure broke free.

The great demon wasn’t dead after all.

Qin Sang was startled and instinctively prepared to retreat, but he quickly noticed something strange. The demonic beast's body had shrunk significantly compared to before.

Looking closely, he realized that nearly half of its lower body was gone, severed around the waist like a human. Even the remaining upper body was covered in ghastly wounds, with flesh torn and mangled.

From its wounds, blood-colored ice crystals burst out. As they struck the sea, they melted into clouds of red.

Roar!

Freed from the ice, the demonic beast let out a furious roar.

Despite sustaining such horrific injuries, it still clung to life, though its aura was far weaker than before. It cast a terrified glance at the cold flame, then twisted its upper body and fled without hesitation, trying to return to its lair.

Seeing this, Qin Sang’s eyes flashed rapidly.

All the other cultivators had vanished without a trace. Judging by the miserable state of the great demon, the destructive power of the cold flame was clear. The odds of the others surviving were exceedingly slim.

Even if he couldn’t subdue the cold flame, obtaining a demonic core of a late-stage Demonic Core Realm demonic beast would already be an extraordinary gain.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Although the demonic beast appeared heavily wounded, its strength was still not to be underestimated. Qin Sang quickly assessed his own abilities and decided to give it a try.

With that thought, he turned without hesitation and began to pursue the demonic beast.

The Blood Defilement Divine Light wasn’t particularly effective against demonic beasts, so Qin Sang didn’t summon the ebony sword. Instead, he opened his palm, and the three banners of the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions silently slipped into his grasp.

At the same time, his two flying yakshas stood ready at a moment’s notice.

Fighting a demonic beast in the sea left no room for carelessness.