They trudged back and forth inside the pond, intent on unearthing all of its riches. The lotuses were extraordinary, but the Fire of Firstdawn’s unique energy permeating the area was even more stunning.

A stunning treasure seemed buried somewhere beneath the pond. These flowers were merely companion spirit herbs.

A rustle suddenly came from the cluster of lotuses, immediately followed by a creature shooting out of the flowers and charging at the two demons.

This creature was the Vermilion Bird in disguise. It’d now taken the shape of a tiny bird that stubbornly breathed tongues of flames at the two forefathers.

The offensive potential it demonstrated was more or less equivalent to demigod, just the right level to fool its opponents.

“Hehe, brother, this spirit creature is mine. Don’t fight me for it. You can have the lotuses instead.” Blazingsun grinned.

Glaringflare’s mouth twitched in obvious displeasure. But after ruminating over the division of the war spoils, he nodded reluctantly in the end. “Fine, but if there are other treasures hidden underground, we split them half and half.”

“Of course.” Blazingsun chuckled. He circulated his energy, eager to subdue the creature.

For fire demons, a fire-attributed pet of any kind was worth possessing, to say nothing of a demigod spirit creature. It’d make for a great helper once properly trained, and might even become his right-hand man later down the road.

Blazingsun’s glowing eyes never left his prey as he accelerated. He was fully in his element in this fiery area, and his speed naturally increased in kind.

But, as if sensing danger, the bird dodged among the lotuses, drawing a charging Blazingsun that stormed forward without a second thought for the lotuses he broke in his path. Glaringflare’s heart bled at the sight.

“Fellow daoist, take it easy, will you? Do you not care about these lotuses after they’ve been handed over to me?” he protested.

“Hehe, brother, help me a little if it bothers you so much. This creature is a slippery one,” cackled Blazingsun.

The bird was the only thing on his mind. As for the lotuses, they weren’t his in any case. He was truly ignoring all of them.

The nonchalant reply discomfited Glaringflare, but what could he do other than stamp his feet? “Fine, I’ll trap it for you, so stop wrecking everything.”

Like a bull plowing through a field, Blazingsun left a trail of broken lotuses in his wake, indifferent to these treasures.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

But for Glaringflare, everything about them was extraordinary, from the purity of their fire attribute to their various offensive abilities. Their flexible vines, in particular, were shockingly tough, and even more surprisingly, could regenerate themselves. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on them.

Both demons ran after the bird, working together to capture it.

Intoxicated by the chase, they failed to notice the slowly declining fire energy in their surroundings, the sea of flames slowly drying up.

A strange scene suddenly occurred.

All of the lotuses abruptly vanished without a trace, the whole cluster completely gone in the space of a breath.

While the forefathers stared blankly, dumbstruck, countless vines drilled again from the ground. But there was a key difference this time.

It was the same shape, lotuses, vines, and everything else. However, the original flaming-red color had turned into an icy blue. In an instant, the sea of fire had turned into a land of ice and snow.

A biting cold seemed to freeze the entire world. The spirit creature they’d been chasing was also nowhere in sight.

The forefathers’ hearts sank. Such a drastic change surely wasn’t a good omen.

Of course, demons with their level of cultivation wouldn’t be seriously harmed by this little bit of cold, but the freezing environment was nothing but the tip of the iceberg, a by-product of Jiang Chen’s Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice.

All of the young lord’s preparations sprang to life at this instant: the Bewitching Lotus, but also the formation connected to the yin energy underground.

Meanwhile, the divine beasts made their presence known by sealing off the area within a hundred miles inside their domain.

The four of them had become increasingly adept at coordinating their powers to empower the domain. At present, unless prepared for in advance, anyone below advanced divine realm would find escaping from its boundaries a very tall order.

The two forefathers were mid divine demons. One was at fifth level, while the other was at fourth. Among all demon forefathers, such cultivation ranked above average, and in a world of fire, they were a match for all but the very strongest of their race. However, all of the fire nearby had vanished, replaced by ice and yin, both energies that countered fire.

As a consequence, instead of seeing their abilities magnified, their powers were now weaker than normal.

If their ordinary strength was a ten out of ten, then it became a twelve in a fiery environment. But when restricted by ice and yin energies, they could only fight at ninety percent of their potential, or even only eighty percent.

Furthermore, their movements were also impaired by the domain’s confining effects.

And that wasn’t the worst of it. As authorized by Jiang Chen, the Black Tortoise also bombarded them with his Festering Gas while operating the domain.

Since it was a substance of extreme yin, this gas was also a natural enemy for fire and made the two forefathers almost cough up blood. The fearsome attack corroded not only the flesh, but also the soul.

Not the greatest experts in mental defenses, fire demons dreaded attacks of the mind the most.

They could only rely on their inborn fire to gradually offset the encroaching gas, but all of the energy and powers spent to counter it naturally undermined their ability to face other attacks.

As if on cue, Long Xiaoxuan and the White Astral Tiger finally launched their own attacks in perfect tandem at Jiang Chen’s behest.

For the young lord, everything was in the palm of his hand. Every step occurred as planned for, down to the last detail.