Chapter 28

Hearing the astonished cries of the Fang family members, a sly smile appeared at the corner of Xiao Yun's mouth.

Following this, the emerald light at his brow flickered, blooming into a pattern that enveloped his entire body. Then, an emerald branch extended out and plunged into the purple flames spewing from the cave entrance. The moment the emerald branch entered, the previously raging and terrifying flames suddenly calmed down.

Subsequently, under everyone's watchful eyes, Xiao Yun took a step forward, actually walking into the purple flames.

This scene left the Fang family members completely dumbfounded.

These people were not surprised by the boy's boldness, but rather by the flames.

How could the flames, which were just now raging as if to burn everything, suddenly calm down?

What was the emerald light pattern enveloping the boy?

This stirred up a storm of shock in the hearts of the Fang family cultivators.

The entire valley became unusually quiet, with everyone's eyes filled with disbelief, staring at the boy in front of them.

Under everyone's gaze, one of Xiao Yun's feet sank into the purple flames.

Gulp!

Seeing this, all the Fang family members couldn't help but swallow hard, their hearts rising to their throats.

This was a scorching flame that could burn everything; even standing at a distance, they could feel themselves almost being cooked. Yet, this boy actually stepped into it. Could a mere Xiantian realm cultivator withstand such flames?

As everyone watched the boy with mixed feelings, his foot had already sunk into the raging flames.

Phew!

At this moment, everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

As long as this boy was burned to death, the Fang family would be rid of a major enemy.

However, just as they exhaled, their expressions froze.

They saw that the boy was still unharmed, and the expected screams of pain did not come.

"How is this possible?"

"How can a living person be unharmed in such flames?" The Fang family members' eyes bulged, their faces filled with disbelief. It was hard to believe that a mere Xiantian realm cultivator could be unharmed in such flames.

"Could it be because of that emerald light pattern?" Fang Rui's pupils constricted, his gaze fixed on the emerald light enveloping Xiao Yun.

Since Xiao Yun was facing away from everyone, no one saw the emerald branch extending from his brow.

When he stepped into the flames, his entire body sank into them.

"Nothing happened?" Fang Rui and the others were completely stunned.

"Is this guy even human?" Everyone found it hard to believe.

"Could that purple flame just be an illusion?" Some of the Fang family cultivators asked.

"Maybe." Someone nodded vigorously. If not, how could Xiao Yun enter unharmed?

Fang Rui pondered for a moment, then looked at a man beside him. "You go and try."

"Me?" The man's expression froze, and he involuntarily took a step back when he looked at the fire pit.

Just the air currents from the fire pit made his skin feel like it was burning. If he really touched those flames, wouldn't he turn to ashes?

"Fear not, Xiao Yun is only at the Xiantian realm." Fang Rui coaxed, "You go and try. If you survive, you will be credited with a great deed. Don't you like Liu Huaniang from the Liu family? We'll arrange your marriage when you return. Young Master Fang Hao will surely reward you with spirit pills to help you reach the Xiantian realm. He will soon join the Tianyuan Sect; what kind of pills won't he have then?"

"Liu Huaniang? Spirit pills!" Thinking of this, the man was somewhat tempted. Finally, he mustered his courage and started to move forward.

Since Xiao Yun could enter unharmed, he must be able to do the same.

With a bit of luck, he walked to the edge of the fire pit, gritted his teeth, and took a step to enter the flames.

"Will he be unharmed?" At this moment, the Fang family members held their breath, murmuring to themselves.

Just as the man's leg entered the flames, a purple light flashed, and a wave of flames surged out, enveloping him.

Ah!

A scream was cut short. The purple light flashed, and the Fang family cultivator's figure disappeared.

In front of them was only the rolling, terrifying purple fire pit.

"The flames are real!"

"But how can Xiao Yun be unharmed?" The Fang family cultivators were completely stunned.

"Is it because of that emerald light?" Fang Rui frowned, pondering to himself.

"Captain Fang, what do we do now?" A few people beside him asked.

"Wait! I don't believe this boy won't come out. If he dares to come out, I will kill him on the spot!" Fang Rui's eyes narrowed.

"Right!" The few people beside him nodded slightly, their faces sinister, and they coldly snorted, "We mustn't let him go."

After stepping into the purple fire pit, Xiao Yun felt as if he had entered a time tunnel, restrained by a mysterious force, about to enter another world. In an instant, his body felt light, and he broke free from the restraint.

"Where am I?" Xiao Yun, curious, scanned the surroundings.

Looking around, he saw purple light blooming, and a suffocating heat wave surged like a tidal wave, even more terrifying than the flames at the cave entrance. It made Xiao Yun retreat a few steps, feeling as if his body was about to burn, the heat unbearable.

"What a scorching heat wave!" Xiao Yun was greatly surprised.

It was a sea of purple flames, the firelight spreading and raging in all directions. The scorching heat almost filled the entire cave. Upon closer inspection, it was a deep, vast cave, with a pit in front.

Above the pit, purple light bloomed, and a faint life force could be sensed.

"How can there be a life force in these flames?" Xiao Yun was slightly surprised and focused his mind to look deeper into the purple light, wanting to see what existed in the flames that could cause such a disturbance.

"That seems to be a purple light ball." Through the layers of purple light, Xiao Yun finally saw what existed in the purple flames. It was a fist-sized purple flame, which, upon closer inspection, resembled a soul, flickering and floating.

Next to the purple flame was a crimson flame.

"Are these two flames entangled?" Xiao Yun was slightly stunned. Upon closer inspection, his heart raced, "Is that a bird? How can a bird be a flame-like existence?"

Upon closer inspection, Xiao Yun discovered a bird hidden in the crimson flame.

"This firebird seems to want to devour the purple flame!" After careful observation, Xiao Yun understood the situation between the two.

The bird emitted a crimson light, trying to devour the purple flame, but the flame was not willing to be devoured and also tried to consume the bird.

Thus, the two continuously entangled, stirring up a violent current that spread in all directions.

However, in this entanglement, their power gradually weakened, clearly due to the energy they had consumed from each other.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a green light flickered in Xiao Yun's mind, and his martial soul, with a hint of joy, shot into the fighting flames, emitting a green pattern and began to absorb the pure flames.

As the flames were absorbed by the martial soul, Xiao Yun mysteriously felt his soul power increasing.

"These are not just two flames, but also soul entities!" Feeling the changes in his soul, Xiao Yun was overjoyed.

As long as his soul power increased, he could intimidate the late Xiantian realm Fang Rui!

With the martial soul's involvement, the two flames' power began to drop, and some agitation could be heard.

Clearly, they had sensed the external force.

However, Xiao Yun's martial soul was extremely domineering, emitting a green pattern that suppressed the agitation.

Xiao Yun was secretly amazed; his usually unremarkable martial soul was truly hiding great power!

Under the martial soul's absorption, the two flames no longer wanted to continue the entanglement, fearing the depletion of their essence.

Suddenly, the purple and crimson flames released their entanglement, and a violent wave surged out.

Boom!

The flames roared, and a terrifying aura spread, like a tidal wave, pushing Xiao Yun back.

The martial soul, which had plunged into the flames, trembled and was pushed back by the force.

Thud! Thud!

Xiao Yun retreated two zhang, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

If not for the Swallowing Heaven Technique absorbing the powerful fire energy, he would have found it hard to hold on.

When the martial soul was pushed back, the purple flame disappeared into the fire vein below the pit.

As the purple flame dissipated, a crimson light shot towards Xiao Yun.

"Boy, you dared to ruin my good deed, I'll kill you!" A fierce voice suddenly sounded.

"It's the Swallowing Heaven Sparrow!" Xiao Yun was alarmed, recognizing the voice.

Just as the voice came, the Swallowing Heaven Sparrow appeared in front of Xiao Yun.

The current Swallowing Heaven Sparrow no longer had its massive body; it was now a fist-sized sparrow.

This was clearly its spirit.

However, it was surrounded by flames, looking fierce.

Before the Swallowing Heaven Sparrow arrived, a powerful soul force invaded Xiao Yun's mind like a sharp blade.

The soul force was so strong that it made Xiao Yun's mind tremble, almost causing his soul to collapse.

"What a powerful soul force." Xiao Yun was alarmed, ready for battle, and quickly focused his mind, using his soul force to sense the Swallowing Heaven Tower in his dantian, attempting to activate the Soul Devouring Technique to devour the Swallowing Heaven Sparrow's soul force.

Buzz!

As Xiao Yun activated the Soul Devouring Technique, the Swallowing Heaven Tower suddenly trembled, emitting a buzzing sound. Runes flowed on its surface, and a black light shone, making the small tower emit a terrifying aura.

Seemingly responding to Xiao Yun's mind, the Swallowing Heaven Tower emitted a black light, opening a portal that transformed into a deep channel. A vortex extended from the channel, appearing in Xiao Yun's dantian, like a tunnel to the underworld.

When the vortex appeared, the soul force emitted by the Swallowing Heaven Sparrow was completely drawn in and devoured.

"What is this?" The Swallowing Heaven Sparrow couldn't help but exclaim in shock, its face changing. It stared at the boy with wary eyes, murmuring, "This aura seems familiar. What treasure does this boy have that can devour my soul force?"