Chapter Eighty-Eight: The Final Rain

The night fire roared like a beast, emitting intense heat and dyeing most of the sky red. The entire city of Liyang lay under this crimson sky, covered in a layer of ashen death. Countless beings turned into hellish demons under this massive furnace, their resentment crawling on the scorched ground, ready to rise to the heavens once the Molten Heart was removed.

With my eyes tightly shut, the ice lotus in my hand had fully bloomed, its icy stem transforming into a steel-like ladder guiding me forward. My skin was seared by the heat, but it was merely a sensation of warmth.

This cultivation of ice and the artifacts forged from the Nine Nether Frost were not something this "heavenly fire" could easily overcome.

"Ah, you've arrived?" Quan You stood not far from the Molten Heart. I squinted at him, seeing a smile with ambiguous meaning on his face.

I stared at him, "Are you going to stop me?"

"To have come this far, it seems your cultivation has fully recovered. I wonder... now that you've become an immortal, can you compete with me?" With that, Quan You opened a red folding fan, sending a wave of heat from the Molten Heart towards me.

"Indeed, it's time to settle this." I gathered the sealed demonic energy in my dantian, took a breath, and formed a demonic pearl, extending my palm to present it.

"I won't take advantage of you." I withdrew the ice lotus into my palm and used my spiritual power to form a cold sword.

"You are now an immortal, guided by masters. Tsk tsk... this might be tricky." He pretended to be troubled, thinking for a moment before throwing an iron sword at my feet, his eyes seductive, "If you can defeat me with this mortal iron, I'll tell you the method to remove the Molten Heart. How about it?"

"Fine." I gripped the iron sword hilt, "I hope you're not deceiving me this time."

"Naturally~" His eyes curved, a wicked smile playing on his lips.

The sword danced in my wrist, casting mottled white shadows. Quan You countered with his fan, malefic energy constantly spewing from the fan's base. Silver light flashed as his fingers gripped the hilt, and he swung sharp light blades, the chaotic sword shadows aiming directly at me. He struck with his other palm, and I dodged, slashing out with the blade. The sounds of clothing tearing and flesh being ripped filled the air.

Quan You smiled, blood trickling from his lips, adding a demonic hue. He waved his red fan, summoning several beastly figures resembling qilin, but these beasts were cloaked in dark purple flames, their evil aura surpassing that of the demonic qilin.

The shadows converged to attack, dark spears glinting with dull light, a mass seeming to swallow the sky. Chanting an incantation, golden light from the heavens dispersed the clouds, enveloping me. The silver sword in my hand refracted that light, like the millennia-old ice and snow on a mountain, cold and piercing. Concentrating all my true energy into the blade, I reduced the beast's claws to powder.

At this point, Quan You was severely weakened, already showing signs of defeat. Yet I saw him clasp the fan's ribs with two fingers, pulling with effort. From the red fan emerged swirling crimson smoke, enveloping him. A strong scent of blood filled the air.

"For thousands of years, with every life I've taken, I sealed their essence blood in this red fan. This fan, originally a crystal-clear bone of a demon god, has now drunk so much blood." As Quan You spoke, his red eyes shone brighter. He licked the blood at the corner of his mouth, inhaling the bloody mist around him.

He looked like a bloodthirsty evil god.

Such a being... could not be allowed to continue plaguing the world.

I steadied my mind, focusing my energy into the long sword, frowning slightly, disappointment flashing in my eyes. With lightning speed, I hurled the sword filled with spiritual power. He transformed into a cloud of blood mist, evading, looking at me with equal disappointment.

But he didn't realize that as I threw the sword, I had already chanted the spell of Xianlin's Dream Drink, ready to take his life.

He approached me step by step, the pungent scent of blood growing stronger. I lowered my head, fingers manipulating golden energy. When he stood before me, I suddenly raised my head, stabbing my five fingers towards his throat.

His face turned ashen as he realized, but it was too late to dodge. He took my attack head-on, swinging his fan to retreat, staggering unsteadily.

Seizing the moment, I twisted my wrist slightly, summoning the long sword with my energy, infusing it with my remaining spiritual power, and stabbed at him.

"If you want me to show mercy, tilt your blade one inch to the left."

As the blade pierced his chest, it gleamed brightly for a moment before the light faded, and the sword turned as clear as white jade.

This was no ordinary iron sword.

"The Slayer Sword, capable of killing gods and demons, was left to me by Chi Ming before she left. Ha... she gave me this sword, but I doubt I would stand much chance against Qingwu now."

"...Why?"

He pointed to the distant red palace.

"I told her I was afraid I couldn't defeat you, and begged her to leave it for me." He laughed nonchalantly, blood spilling from his mouth, his voice weak and hoarse, "Only this way can you become a deity, right?"

...Liar. With your cultivation, even if I reclaimed my immortal status, I might not be your match. Why didn't you fight me with all your strength?

Saying the red fan was soaked in blood... you fed it with your own blood, just to provoke my killing intent.

Silently, I clenched my fist, thinking it was all his own doing, suppressing all emotions that clogged my chest, making it hard to breathe.

Hold it. Hold it.

I will not grieve for him, will not shed a tear of pity, never...

"I didn't expect your sword to really tilt one inch to the left."

Startled, I looked at my blood-stained palm, my hand gripping the hilt trembling uncontrollably. Subconsciously, I pulled back, eyes falling on the spot where the sword landed—indeed, it had shifted one inch to the left.

As if to convince myself, I began making excuses, "It seems I couldn't strike properly. So, live your life in this illusion, but even so, you cannot wash away your sins. You..."

I lowered my eyes, seeing his blood-soaked, weakened body, blood dripping from his half-open mouth, and his eyes had already lost their light.

Liar...

It turns out my ruthlessness brings him to life, my affection brings him death.

He gambled on my affection.

That inch to the left, without a doubt, took his life... yet he spoke of mercy.

For a moment, I felt as if my soul had left my body.

Staring at that blurry, blood-soaked figure, I bit my lip and steadied myself.

I must rally now. Qingwu might be in the Crimson Underworld Palace, and I must extinguish the Molten Heart to stop the heavenly fire from descending further.

Fury surged within me, and the blazing Molten Heart appeared as a dead object in my eyes.

Forming the Nine Nether Ice Lotus in my hand, I glared at the Molten Heart spewing flames and swung with all my might, channeling my spiritual energy to release an icy breath. Finally, the Molten Heart was sealed in frost, turning into a charred piece of coal.

Before I could exhale, the ice on the Molten Heart melted instantly, sending flames roaring in all directions. I raised my hand to shield myself with spiritual energy and poured more icy power into it.

Inside the Molten Heart, the flames continuously melted the advancing ice crystals. The ice and fire counteracted each other, neither able to prevail, but the Molten Heart's fire was inexhaustible, while my spiritual energy was finite.

I can't force this!

As I abruptly withdrew my energy, the white sword fell into my hand, transforming into a mist covering my palm.

Within the mist, faint lines of incantation appeared: "Heavenly fire gives birth, blazing flame scorches the underworld, cloud and water nourish, extinguishing fire to summon life."

Not resisting fire with ice, but quenching fire with gentle water, cutting off its continuity.

Could this be the method Quan You spoke of?

Gathering my extended spiritual energy, I wove a pale blue icy mist into a translucent thread, chanting incantations. The threads of spiritual energy passed from my arm to my fingers, my pink fingertips blending with the cold, stretching and forming seals. The mist enveloped my vision, the cold reaching up to the sky.

Heaven and earth changed color, black thunderclouds covered the once crimson sky, lightning streaked through the dark fog, and moisture spread out.

The Molten Heart erupted like a cornered beast, spewing red ribbons of magma. The hot flow gushed down like a waterfall, piercing through the clouds and heading straight for the mortal world.

I quickly used my spiritual energy to shield against the falling magma, barely maintaining the rain spell, when suddenly, the sound of dripping saliva from demonic beasts reached my ears. Alarmed, I glanced to the side, seeing several beasts lurking nearby.

In an instant, they pounced.

I couldn't withdraw my spiritual energy; I resolved to endure their bites, determined that the spell would prevail even at the cost of my body.

The pain of being torn and bitten continuously assaulted me. I closed my eyes, gritting my teeth against the torture.

"Boom."

A slight tremor hit my shoulder as a beast inexplicably retreated, followed by the sound of a blade cutting through the air. The beasts attacking me fell to the ground.

"Mozhu?" My heart skipped a beat, thinking he was still in that sunless dark prison.

"Not alone." He smiled, his black robe fluttering in the wind, his dark blade pointing afar.

Countless cultivators rode their swords into battle against the demonic beasts in the sky.

What was happening?

I heard the leading cultivator shout to those behind, "Liyang City is in peril! As disciples of the Immortal Sect, how can we let a young girl fight alone? Everyone, let's completely annihilate these demonic beasts so they can no longer plague the world!"

"Yes! Kill these demonic beasts! Kill these demonic beasts!" Morale surged, and countless disciples charged, heading straight for the distant Crimson Underworld Palace.

At that moment, a tremendous noise erupted from the palace.

It seemed the Crimson Underworld Demon God's reign was over!

Leaping into the sky, I formed a transparent light orb between my fingers, letting it expand. With my arms spread wide, I scattered the light into a fine rain.

"Heaven and earth, return to origin, thunder and fire; Yin converges to watch the dew. Wind and fire ascend the abyssal stage, breaking the heavenly spirit."

Thunder roared, and a fierce wind rose.

The cold raindrops, like fine needles, soaked through me, driving away the heat. After several waves of cold rain, the extreme yang demonic fire was completely extinguished.

Where the cold rain fell, scorched earth sprouted new buds, the wounded were healed, and the demonic creatures scattered.

After the fire, a new life began through the rain.