Chapter 335: Karmic Fire Returns to Its Owner

With a thunderous roar!

A blinding red sun burst open in the high sky, and countless strands of fiery red light shot rapidly toward the edge of the giant axe.

With a crack, the seemingly unstoppable giant axe snapped in two.

The crimson giant sword, its momentum unchecked, plunged straight into Dong Jie's chest and pierced through.

A massive wound tore open in his chest, and before the gushing blood could flow out, it was scorched by the fiery red light on the giant sword, turning into wisps of smoke that dissipated.

Dong Jie's body swayed a few times in the high sky, then rapidly shrank as it fell downward. The crimson giant sword turned back in midair and flew back to the top of the Candle Dragon's head.

Before the flying sword had even settled, it flashed with light and shrank. Hu Yan's figure stumbled out, pale-faced, gasping heavily.

He had just spared no effort in mobilizing his own essence blood, using the Red Luan Sword to perform the Unity of Man and Sword, thereby severely wounding the bearded man.

But now, he couldn't even spare a moment to take a healing pill; he immediately looked up toward the woman in pink palace attire high in the sky.

Behind her, a hazy white light suddenly appeared, and an invisible ripple spread out. Yun Ni's figure emerged from it, holding a tender green willow branch, striking toward her back.

The willow branch was wreathed in azure light, accompanied by the sound of wind and thunder as it swung. Countless willow-leaf light blades were embedded within it, falling on the palace-attired woman's back like a divine whip.

At that moment, the palace-attired woman was already struggling to stabilize the collapsing grand formation and could not attend to what was behind her.

By the time she noticed, it was too late. The palace ribbons behind her blazed with light, fluttering up to meet the willow branch.

At the same time, a streak of light flashed by her side—it was Ouyang Kuishan, rushing over from afar with a complex expression, holding a golden longsword and thrusting it toward Yun Ni's heart.

Seeing this, a resolute look flashed in Yun Ni's eyes. She neither dodged nor evaded, as if she would complete this strike even if it meant trading wounds.

Clang...

A dense array of blade lights rolled out from the willow branch, instantly tearing a gap in the ribbons and striking the woman heavily on the back.

The protective spiritual light on the palace-attired woman's back was suddenly scattered by the willow-leaf blade lights. She fell forward, spitting a mouthful of blood that splattered all over the ancient zither.

At the same time, Ouyang Kuishan's sword tip reached Yun Ni's chest. Just before it pierced in, his wrist twisted, and the blade deviated slightly, stabbing into Yun Ni's shoulder.

A trace of sorrow flashed in his eyes as he murmured, "Can you really go this far for him?"

Yun Ni just smiled, said nothing, and her entire form dissolved into countless white petals that scattered away.

The next moment, her figure reappeared, but she had already returned to Hu Yan's side.

Roar...

Another earth-shaking roar. The black flames on the black Candle Dragon surged severalfold. Its body twisted violently in the high sky, tightening its grip on the golden coiled dragon wrapped around it.

The already unstable golden giant pillars around were pulled by this immense force, trembling violently and tilting toward the center.

As the Candle Dragon charged upward, a series of explosive sounds rang out. The golden coiled dragon wrapped around it broke inch by inch, dissolving into a patch of golden light that dissipated.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Following that, the seven golden light pillars exploded with a bang, turning into huge golden arcs that surged in all directions. Several Immortal Palace Golden Immortals, including the woman in pink palace attire, suffered backlash from the formation, vomiting blood as they fell from the high sky.

The black Candle Dragon, now freed from its bonds, soared upward again, bursting through layers of clouds and arriving at another void battlefield.

There, the void was shrouded in white light, covered by a huge white light barrier.

Inside the barrier, a cold wind howled, snowflakes danced, and even the clouds were covered with thick ice. Many cloud clusters were frozen into bizarre ice sculptures of various shapes, making it look like the Nethercold Continent.

"This is... Xiao Jinhan's Golden Immortal Domain!" Hu Yan's eyes narrowed as he exclaimed.

"Dao Lord Baili..." Yun Ni raised her hand, pointing at the light barrier, and called out.

She had taken a healing pill earlier, and her shoulder wound had fully recovered, but her face was still deathly pale.

Following the direction of her finger, one could see a huge ice crystal stele suspended in the center of the light barrier, with blue light flowing and cold air emanating everywhere.

Inside the stele was imprisoned a red-haired middle-aged man in a fiery red robe, with a dignified bearing—it was Baili Yan.

A layer of multicolored light arcs enveloped him, flickering continuously, as if he was fully resisting the erosion of the icy cold.

Seeing the black Candle Dragon burst through the clouds and charge toward him, a complex look flashed in his eyes.

Atop the ice crystal stele, Xiao Jinhan, clad in a snow-white robe, stood with both hands resting on his sword.

Behind him hung a huge crystalline ice wheel, radiating intense silver light, from which silver runes continuously flew out.

Each time a rune flew down, it followed the longsword in his hand and landed on the stele.

Then, cracking sounds came from the stele, making it even more solid, and the chilling cold within grew more intense.

Seeing the black Candle Dragon charging, anger flashed in Xiao Jinhan's eyes.

He released one hand from the sword hilt, formed a hand seal with the other, and swung it forward.

The ice wheel behind him blazed with silver light, condensing a ten-thousand-zhang ice crystal dragon above his head, which swooped down toward the black Candle Dragon.

One black, one white; one ice, one fire. They met head-on and collided with a bang.

With a thunderous roar!

The ice crystal dragon shattered layer by layer from its head, turning into crystalline snow powder. The black Candle Dragon pierced through and headed straight for the white light barrier.

Whoosh...

Just as its horn-like antlers were about to pierce the light barrier, the sound of an arrow's fletching cutting through the sky resounded across the entire sky.

Lu Yue, having gathered strength for a long time, finally released an arrow at the peak of its power.

A silver arrow, trailing a long, dazzling tail flame, streaked across the sky like a meteor.

At its tip, a dense, solid silver vortex spun violently. Wherever it passed, the void trembled, and countless strands of world spiritual energy converged from all directions, swirling into it.

The silver arrow rapidly expanded in midair, from an initial three chi to a thousand zhang in an instant, piercing a huge hole through the clouds and shooting fiercely into the Candle Dragon's lower jaw.

With a thunderous roar!

From the Candle Dragon's lower jaw to the top of its head, it was as if a skylight had been opened, revealing a massive hole.

A huge silver vortex ran through it, and dense world spiritual energy surged wildly, converging into it.

The spiritual pressure there kept rising, soon reaching a terrifying level.

Seeing this, Hu Yan grabbed Yun Ni's delicate jade hand, and with a blaze of red light, shot away.

He had only flown a thousand zhang when another loud bang came from behind.

Rumble...

The silver vortex exploded with a bang. Countless violent world spiritual energy swept in all directions, madly tearing at the void, instantly enveloping a thousand-li radius.

Hu Yan and Yun Ni felt a vast, ocean-like force rolling in from behind. They both spat out a mouthful of blood, and their bodies, like small boats in a storm, were involuntarily swept away into the distance.

The silver vortex expanded continuously in the explosion. The Candle Dragon's huge head gradually shattered under the vortex's churning, slowly turning into layers of thick black mist that roiled violently.

But the next moment, a strange scene appeared.

The thick black mist did not dissipate; instead, it surged into the white light barrier like mud oxen entering the sea. Then, amidst the flying snow, it sped through as if nothing were there, all converging onto the ice crystal stele.

With a thunderous roar!

Inside the ice crystal stele, a black sun suddenly exploded.

A violent air wave, carrying countless ice crystal shards, shot out in all directions.

Xiao Jinhan's body flashed with white light, teleporting directly off the stele. Meanwhile, Xue Ying and others around the stele, though their protective spiritual lights were bright, were still blasted and scattered.

Then, wisps of black mist gathered in the high sky, and Baili Yan's figure emerged from it, slowly landing on the ice formed from the clouds.

Black mist swirled around him. On each shoulder hovered a faint black flame. His red hair had turned completely black, and a thumb-sized black flame spirit pattern appeared in the center of his forehead. His eyes had become deeper and darker.

He looked completely different from before!

His aura surged severalfold. Every move he made carried a whistling wind, as if he were a peerless demon king.

"I never thought that after all these years of painstaking effort to strip away this karmic fire, I would be forced to take it back today. Truly, fate plays tricks," Baili Yan said expressionlessly, his gaze fixed on Xiao Jinhan.

"Very good. This is the real 'Baleful Immortal' Baili Yan wanted by the Heavenly Court. But this way, you ultimately cannot escape the Fifth Tribulation," Xiao Jinhan said slowly, his expression solemn, not acting rashly.

"Enough. Since it has come to this, let this karmic fire burn even brighter!" Baili Yan said darkly, his voice cold.

With that, black mist continuously surged from his body, forming a huge black mist wall behind him that advanced toward Xiao Jinhan, turning into a black domain that began to slowly encroach upon the white light barrier in the sky.

At the same time, with a cold gaze, he stepped on the icy clouds, walking step by step toward Xiao Jinhan.

The high-altitude clouds cracked like ice, and cracking sounds echoed across the sky...

"Karmic fire returns to its owner... Sigh... Let's go!"

Inside the blue giant flower beneath the sea of clouds, Luo Qinghai waved his hand and led the Cangliu Palace group, continuing northward, away from this realm.

Several thousand li away, Xiong Shan glanced at the depths of the sky, then turned and sped westward without hesitation.

The other deputy dao lords also shook their heads and flew away like him.

On Wangyuan Peak, streaks of遁光 rose, and many True Immortal elders began to fly away.

Han Li's eyes, their blue light fading, no longer looked in that direction.

His gaze had mostly lingered on Hu Yan and Yun Ni. Seeing that they had also fled far away, he decided to leave immediately.

"Brother Qi, this place is not suitable for lingering. I'll take my leave now," Han Li said, turning to Qi Liang beside him.

"Brother Li, go ahead. I'd like to stay a little longer," the latter replied, momentarily startled, then said.

Such clashes at the peak of Golden Immortal level were extremely rare. People like Qi Liang, willing to risk danger in hopes of gleaning cultivation benefits or even breakthrough opportunities, were not few.

"Take care." Han Li nodded to him, then pushed through the crowd, his遁光 brightening.