Chapter 164 – Red Lotus Demonic Inflammation

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Lin Ming cursed. He hadn’t thought that the forest terrain would ruin everything that he had planned.

Kacha!

Although Huo Gong had wrapped his whip around the branch of a tree, his falling speed was simply too fast. The branch broke under the strain of the pull and Huo Gong fell to the ground with a very loud explosion, creating a human-shaped hole in the ground.

Huo Gong had been badly injured. His internal organs were crushed, and he had broken several ribs.

Lin Ming’s eyes flashed with a cruel light. He had been ready to run for his life, but now seeing that Huo Gong had been so miserably injured in the fall, he changed his mind.

Destroy him while he’s down, and eliminate the root before any more problems emerged!

If he didn’t, then Huo Gong would simply eat several top-quality pills and restore his true essence. Once that happened, he would still chase him down and murder him. Although Lin Ming had the advantage of being able to fly in the air, once his true essence was exhausted, he would inevitably fall down.

If Huo Gong followed him on ground, he would catch up sooner or later.

“Die!”

Lin Ming clenched his teeth and put forth 120% of his strength. He dove down like a falcon from a height of several dozen feet in the air!

He thrust his spear out in front of him. The Thunder Soul and Flame Essence within began to violently tremble; the calamitous forces of fire and thunder were like an unforgiving flow that were about to burst out!

Heretical God Force – Open!

The long spear aimed down, and the spearpoint was aimed straight. The horrifying sound of thunder and fire fusing began to echo in the air. The Heavy Profound Soft Spear was just like a meteor that was intertwining with thunder and fire, blazing down!

At this moment, the severely wounded Huo Gong suddenly flipped up. Seeing Lin Ming’s spear coming at him, his expression was incomparably ugly.

Although his internal organs were crushed and his ribs were broken, he still had the true essence protection of a half-step Houtian realm master flowing through his innards, skeleton, and muscles. With this durable true essence protection, he was able to barely staunch the severe wounds.

He had wanted to play dead as if he had been severely wounded to lure Lin Ming down, but hadn’t expected that Lin Ming would be so decisive with his attack. Not only did he not investigate his wounds, but he had immediately used his finishing blow.

Of course, to Huo Gong who specialized in the art of fire, Lin Ming’s so called finishing blow that seemed to flow with some sort of flame simply looked like some second-rate skill.

“Humph, you are just some Altering Muscle stage junior and your cultivation is mediocre. You still dare to fight me with flame?”

Huo Gong sneered and his entire body combusted in a tornado of flames. Although he had truly been severely wounded, his cultivation was still a half-step into the Houtian realm; how could he fear a little junior at the Altering Muscle stage?

“Red Lotus Demonic Inflammation!”

Huo Gong gave a loud shout as a red lotus flower appeared out of thin air in front of him. Tongues of flame flowed along the flower petals like crimson snakes, pouring a massive amount of fire true essence into his saber until it turned a blazing red, as if it were about to melt.

Poof! Just as he had used the Red Lotus Demonic Inflammation, Huo Gong spat out a mouthful of blood. With the severe wounds on his injured body, he was just barely able to support such a strong martial skill.

“Damn kid, he actually made me suffer such a heavy injury. I will kill him first before I find a place to heal myself.” Thinking this, Huo Gong forcefully revolved his true essence, and wielded his saber. Above the saber, a vast swirl of rolling flames spread through the air. The land underneath his feet was instantly burned black, and a crimson heatwave spread out in all directions. In every place this heatwave touched, the vegetation would all wither and finally combust into fiery flames, turning into nothing but ash!

Compared to the flames on Lin Ming’s spear, whether it was horrifically scorching aura or the intensity of flames that spread out in a terrifying heat wave, the Red Lotus Demonic Inflammation was far superior!

However, even facing the formidable Red Lotus Demonic Inflammation, the flames in Lin Ming’s spear seemed to contain their own strange aura, as if it were boiling.

Lin Ming was able to clearly feel the fluctuating flames and bursts of rolling heat transmitting from his heart; it was as if the Flame Essence was dancing in excitement!

“Hah!”

When the spear and saber crossed each other, the twin energies of thunder and fire suddenly interwove – Thunderfire Annihilation!

As the seemingly weak flame met the seemingly weak lightning, a dominant power suddenly erupted!

For a time, it was as if all sound in the surroundings had been swallowed by some mystical force. The Heavy Profound Soft Spear was like a bolt of silver light that roared out, tearing through the atmosphere.

The interweaving energies of thunder and fire coalesced into a mysterious ball of light that shot out from the spear, and directly clashed head on against the Red Lotus Demonic Inflammation!

Bang!

There was an deafening explosion as if a raging bolt of thunder had struck. Raging true essence scattered in all directions like a tsunami of water crashing out from the epicenter of the explosion.

Lin Ming was sent flying tumbling backwards like a ragdoll. Even though Huo Gong was severely wounded, his move still had such power!

As he tumbled back in the air, Lin Ming spat out a mouthful of blood. The Heavy Profound Soft Spear desperately swept out and mercilessly broke apart a large tree. Lin Ming gathered his strength after slowing his momentum, and firmly managed to hold his body straight.

He looked up to see Huo Gong standing where he had been. The land around him had become a scorched, sunken pit. Huo Gong’s entire body was slick with blood, and he was kneeling on the ground and supporting himself with his long saber.

This caused Lin Ming’s heart to contract; a martial artist that was a half-step into the Houtian realm was actually formidable to this degree.

Huo Gong had been severely injured, and not only that, but Lin Ming had opened the Heretical God Force and also used Thunderfire Annihilation. Still, he had failed to kill him.

Lin Ming had consumed too much true essence, so he did not continue his attack. Instead, he took out a pure true essence stone, and began to revolve the ‘True Primal Chaos Formula’ as he rapidly absorbed the true essence to restore his strength.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

But at this moment, Huo Gong suddenly grinned. Under his blackened lips, he revealed a row of glowing white teeth. To Lin Ming, that gruesome smile caused his heart to go cold. This fellow actually still had strength!

“You really gave me a pleasant surprise! Is this really a martial skill that an Altering Muscle stage martial artist can release? It seems that I was the one who was not familiar with how the world has already changed… good, very good! Today, even if I have to ruin my cultivation, I will kill you. Otherwise if I let you live, there will be no end of my future troubles!

Huo Gong let out another shout. His body began to burn once again with the Red Lotus Demonic Inflammation. But this time, the Red Lotus Demonic Inflammation was much weaker. As the fiery snakes twisted around his body, Huo Gong spat out a mouthful of blood; he had already gone past his limit!

“I don’t believe that you have the true essence to use that move again!” Huo Gong tread both feet on the ground, and the charred land began to rupture. He rushed forwards, his blazing saber cutting forwards to take Lin Ming’s head!

At this moment of life or death, Lin Ming’s mind was calm like ice!

His right hand held out the Heavy Profound Soft Spear, and his left hand’s thumb traced the spatial ring.

He couldn’t use Thunderfire Annihilation again, and it was also impossible for him to fend of Huo Gong’s saber!

“Die for me!” Huo Gong’s saber chopped down. The hot air from the saber circled up into a violent tornado as it stirred up a scalding air current.

Meanwhile, Lin Ming also thrust out his spear, Flow like Silk!

5000 strands of fierce true essence gushed out like a tide towards Huo Gong, and in the midst of this torrent was mixed in a small blue bead.

Thunderbolt Devilfire Bead!

Bang!!!

True essence detonated the Thunderbolt Devilfire Bead. At the same time, Lin Ming immediately launched the Golden Roc Shattering the Void movement ability and flew backwards.

In that flash, even the sun seemed to have lost all color. The countless dazzlingly bright rays were like golden swords that stabbed out in all directions.

Lin Ming was struck by the shockwave of the Thunderbolt Devilfire Bead in addition to the heatwave from Huo Gong’s saber. Even though his physical body had been strengthened and he had the medium-grade human-step Purple Gold Flexible Armor bestowed by the Crown Prince, his internal organs were still impacted by the terrifying backlash and he vomited blood.

However, Huo Gong was even more miserable. He had almost run into the Thunderbolt Devilfire Bead.

The endless torrents of wanton explosive energy had recklessly fallen on Huo Gong’s body. Under the previous severe wounds he had taken, the true essence that protected his body was already weakened to the point that it couldn’t take a normal strike, so how could he possibly defend against such a violent explosion?

Huo Gong’s chest had had been completely blown open into stringy pulp. His blood mixed with meat bits had been sent scattering about. Huo Gong was sent flying backwards until he struck a large tree, and with a harsh crashing sound, the thick trunk of the large tree was cracked in half by the force of the collision.

Huo Gong was like a dead dog as he tumbled several dozen feet on the ground, before coming to a slow stop. His long saber spun in a few circles before it sunk into the ground.

“How… how could I… like this…” Huo Gong was unwilling to admit this situation, and he tried to crawl up. However, his heart and lungs had already exploded within his chest. His blood stained the land and his life was slowly leaking away…

“I… I am actually going to die at an Altering Muscle… martial artist’s hands!? I… I refuse!”

Huo Gong reached out a hand as if he wanted to grasp the saber that had sunk into the ground. But then, he spat one last mouthful of blood and his body went limp. He had died!

It was a pity that he didn’t know that Lin Ming still possessed the Thunderbolt Devilfire Bead. In addition to the severe wounds he had, his perception had also been dulled; otherwise he would have found the trap that had been hidden within Lin Ming’s true essence.

Alas, this was simply fate. Ouyang Dihua would never have dreamed that Lin Ming was able to comprehend his own unique martial skill that was almost the exact same as the Thunderbolt Devilfire Bead. The result was that Ouyang Dihua had thought that Lin Ming had used the Thunderbolt Devilfire Bead as if he were enjoying it for fireworks…

…….

Kacha!

The sky flashed with blood-red lightning. Soon after, it began to rain.

The Southern Wilderness had a humid climate, and there were often thunderstorms.

The torrential downpour of rain washed away the remaining vestiges of blood. Lin Ming dragged the Heavy Profound Soft Spear and limped over, wounded, to Huo Gong’s side.

After taking some healing pills, Lin Ming sat down in the middle of a mud puddle and let the pattering rain wash over his wounded body.

“This rain… actually helped me.”

Lin Ming quietly muttered to himself. After he was caught in the shockwaves from the explosions, his injuries were simply too heavy.

In the Southern Wilderness, there were countless roaming vicious beasts. If blood drifted out, then it would certainly attract many vicious beasts here. With Lin Ming’s current condition, if he had to face many vicious beasts, the outcome could be imagined.

“A life and death battle; that was too close!”

This was the first time that Lin Ming had ever killed another man. However, he didn’t have any particular feelings towards this. He had chosen to travel down the path of martial artists. Sooner or later, he would have encountered situations where he would have to kill others. Lin Ming had long since come to terms with this reality. Not only that, but in the Ten Thousand Killing Array, when he had killed the phantom martial artists inside, that feeling had been completely real. There was no difference between that and actually killing someone.

Lin Ming was very thankful that he had obtained the Thunderbolt Devilfire Bead from his duel with Zhang Guanyu. In terms of power, the Thunderbolt Devilfire Bead was slightly weaker than his own Thunderfire Annihilation. However, this time, Huo Gong’s true essence protection had already been reduced to being no more defensive than paper, and thus was unable to block the fatal explosion from the Thunderbolt Devilfire Bead.

After a martial artist reached the Pulse Condensation Period, their physical strength would not change too much. If they didn’t have true essence protecting them, then a Houtian realm master and a Pulse Condensation Period martial artist’s defensive capabilities would be the same.

“Why did this person want to kill me? Who ordered him? Ouyang Dihua? Or was it the Allied Trade Association?”

Lin Ming recalled his meeting with Qin Ziya. Bi Luo’s illusion had simply been too profound, and his voice, appearance, temperament, and even body odor were all consistent with Qin Ziya’s. Even though Lin Ming’s perception was much higher than a martial artist at the same level, he too was unable to see through it.

But now that Lin Ming recalled the time he had faced Qin Ziya, he remembered he had felt there was something off. This was just an intuition of his.

As Huo Gong mentioned this a moment ago, Lin Ming suddenly realized what he had neglected.

That was… Zither Heart!