Chapter 54: On Fire

"This is going to be troublesome," Mu Rong Shu remarked, studying the fire elementals that had surrounded us. I simply smirked.

"Don't worry. I've got the right person for the job. Lu Bu!"

My war spirit materialized and swung his spear. The first fire elemental was too astonished to react – such was the speed of Lu Bu's attack that it could do nothing but shriek before it was cleaved in half. Even its body of fire was not proof against Lu Bu's deadly weapon.

The other fire elementals moved almost instinctively, darting about to make themselves more difficult targets. Lu Bu watched them dispassionately, but didn't move after them. For now, anyway. Instead, he waited patiently.

Then he suddenly shifted from his position.

Although Lu Bu wasn't exactly moving very fast – he was known more for his strength than speed – the fire elementals were still caught off guard. Three of them were cut down before they knew what hit them, their fiery bodies bursting apart and dissipating into dying embers.

Like a whirlwind, Lu Bu spun around, his spear a blur of silver. The fire elements howled and jumped back, but not before they lost another two to the superlative warrior.

"Let's go."

While Lu Bu was engaging the fire elements, I grabbed Mu Rong Shu's hand and pulled her along. We raced past the spires and toward the central complex. One of the fire elementals caught sight of us and pounced, intending to bar our way to the entrance. I didn't even bother paying it much attention. Mu Rong Shu was going to attack, already drawing strength from one of her trigrams, but I beat her to it.

Summoning Xiao Hei, I had my hellhound unleash black hellfire that consumed the poor fire elemental and blackened it. The fiery creature shrieked and thrashed about, even as black flames devoured its once orange and crimson body. Xiao Hei bounded over it, not even paying it any attention as he formed the vanguard. Mu Rong Shu and I followed him, diving into the entrance just when one of the fire elementals launched a fireball at us, to no avail. We hit the ground and rolled, barely avoiding the fiery projectile.

An explosion ensued, showering us with dirt and debris, but otherwise didn't hurt us. Xiao Hei whirled around and barked before firing hellfire of his own, engulfing the culprit and causing it to hiss in agony as it writhed about, its fiery form consumed by black flames.

"What exactly did you train Xiao Hei to us?" Mu Rong Shu asked, her eyebrow raised. I simply smiled.

"A special type of flame that counters normal fire."

"I've never heard of a fire that uses yin qi…except for…" Mu Rong Shu trailed off, and then her eyes widened. "Can it be?"

"Yeah, hellfire. From the netherworld."

"Damn, you are getting scarier and scarier, dear." Mu Rong Shu shook her head. "Then again, what exactly was I expecting from a summoner?"

"You expect me to summon spirits," I replied dryly. Mu Rong Shu rolled her eyes.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it."

I didn't argue with her because I was peering into the tomb. As expected, its guardians were emerging. Wraiths, as usual, but this time, they were fire wraiths. Ghosts made entirely out of flames, their humanoid figures looking as if they had been lit ablaze and were perpetually on fire.

Xiao Hei didn't hesitate. He pounced forward with a growl, hellfire erupting from his jaws and washing over the first couple of them. Mu Rong Shu and I followed closely, my wife using her Eight Trigrams Palm to obliterate the fire wraiths. They were, thankfully, weaker than the fire elementals and easier to deal with.

However, the superheated interior of the Tomb of the Nine Suns continued to inhibit the water techniques of her Eight Trigrams Palm. Despite using the Kan Trigram and drawing power from it to conjure geysers of water, most of it evaporated into steam almost immediately. The water was barely enough to drown the fire wraiths, despite Mu Rong Shu's best efforts. She gritted her teeth and immediately switched tactics, turning to a new trigram.

First, she used the Gen Trigram to crush the fire wraiths with artificial mini-mountains, then she used the Kun Trigram to impale them with earth spikes. Relying on the Qian Trigram, she destroyed an entire swarm of fire wraiths with the power of the heavens themselves, blue dragons descending from the ceiling to devour or engulf them. Swinging about, she crashed her glowing palm against the chest of a fire wraith that had gotten too close to her, sending it flying with half of its body gone.

That's my wife for you.

Not to be outdone, I coordinated with Xiao Hei, working in conjunction with my hellhound to tackle the fire wraiths that surrounded us. While Xiao Hei ripped into them, tearing them apart with his claws and fangs or incinerating them with black hellfire, I moved around subtly, stealthily inserting myself into the ranks of the unaware fire wraiths and then sweeping them off their feet and throwing them against each other. They crashed about, unable to counter my Tai Ji fist, and I drew power from the yin-yang symbol behind me to pulverize their bodies into nothingness.

Taking a deep breath, I took another step forward and crashed an elbow against another fire wraith before I took down a second with a kick.

Within minutes, we cleared the place of fire wraiths.

"Don't relax too soon yet," Mu Rong Shu warned, looking up. "More enemies are coming."

She was right. There were a few fire elementals lurking in the distance, prowling about as they watched us warily. I smiled.

"Just about time."

"Huh?" Mu Rong Shu glanced at me. "Just about time for what?"

"For Lu Bu to finish his job outside."

Without preamble, I summoned him to our location, the burly war spirit appearing right in front of the stunned fire elementals and cutting them down. He made short work of them, turning into a maelstrom of blades.

In such close confines, Lu Bu's attacks were all the more devastating. The fire elementals suddenly found themselves without any space to run or hide, which made it easier for Lu Bu to track them down and slaughter them all. Whatever fire elemental that escaped his network of spear attacks found themselves running straight toward Mu Rong Shu, Xiao Hei and me.

All the better.

We didn't hesitate, already meeting their charge. In their frenzy to escape the berserk warrior behind them, the fire elementals weren't even paying attention to us. They crashed into our lines, Mu Rong Shu and I slamming our palms, fists and feet against them and obliterating them with raw strength. Xiao Hei darted in and pounced on those we didn't hit, tearing their throats out or bathing them in black hellfire.

It was a massacre.

Fortunately, there weren't too many fire elementals – there were less than the dozen or so outside, but ten was still a sizable number. Nonetheless, we made short work of them, clearing the corridor in seconds.

"Huff…"

Breathing heavily, we took a break while Lu Bu silently stood sentinel at the mouth of the corridor, watching for more enemies. As much as I wanted to rush ahead and complete the dungeon exploration as quickly as possible, it just wasn't practical. Mu Rong Shu and I were only human. Lu Bu, despite being a summoned spirit, would run out of energy if he got too reckless.

Considering that he depended on me to provide him qi to maintain his existence in the material plane, I needed to stay in good condition or we would be screwed. I didn't want Lu Bu suddenly disappearing on us just because I ran out of qi. It was important, particularly for summoners, to avoid being in an exhausted state, for that was when we were most vulnerable.

Furthermore, the heat was taking a toll on us. Despite drinking some more water, both Mu Rong Shu and I suffered from heat exhaustion. Normal people might have perished from the hostile environment long ago, but we cultivators were made of sterner stuff. Leaning against the wall, Mu Rong Shu shut her eyes and regulated her breathing, a sheen of perspiration glistening on her pale skin. I was also feeling a little dizzy, and even though I gulped down another mouthful of water, I was unable to satiate my thirst.

I felt sticky and uncomfortable, but that was the least of my worries. I could feel a headache building up in my brain, a sure sign of dehydration. This was bad. Despite projecting a protective aura over my body, I was still vulnerable to heat exhaustion. Losing so much moisture through my body (in the form of perspiration) was taking a toll on us.

Panting, I leaned against the wall and also closed my eyes, trying to force away the dizziness and headache through breathing methods. It mitigated the discomfort somewhat, but my throat still burned.

"We should keep moving," I said eventually, not wanting to spend any more time than was necessary inside this hellish tomb. "Let's get this done and over with."

"Agreed." Mu Rong Shu staggered to her feet and gritted her teeth at the momentary show of weakness. Not that I was better off. "I'll be glad to get the hell out of this tomb."

With Lu Bu in the lead, the two of us helped each other along the corridor, which finally wound to the central chamber where the owner was buried. As befitting a great man or woman, the central chamber was colossal, with a single enormous coffin laid out in the middle. Cast in gold and crimson, embroidered in silk cloth, the coffin was a testament to the wealth and power of its owner.

Surrounding the coffin were nine pillars, crowned by what looked like a sun. The Tomb of the Nine Suns. How fitting.

"Where's the tomb guardian?" I asked suspiciously, glancing around and being on high alert. There was no way such a grand tomb wouldn't have a guardian. And no, the fire wraiths and fire elementals didn't count.

"Let's find out," Lu Bu suggested and stepped into the chamber, approaching the coffin. He hadn't taken more than three steps when the whole place blazed to life, flames igniting along the lengths of all nine pillars, starting from their solar crowns.

With a roar, the nine pillars came to life, transforming from solid objects to incorporeal forms, their silhouettes wreathed in fire. They twisted and snaked about before finally settling on a terrifying yet majestic form.

Dragons. Fire dragons.

Nine fire dragons gazed upon us, their colossal serpentine figures forming a ring of deadly fire. With a unified bellow that sounded like thunder, all nine of them pounced on us.