"Burn the Heavens with Blazing Fury!" In her rage, Xi Yang could barely spare the man any more words. With a sharp cry, her body instantly transformed into a pillar of fire—a raging inferno—and shot directly toward him. In what seemed like an instant, she was upon him, completely encircling him.

The surrounding flora was instantly incinerated to ash, and even the rocks cracked and sputtered, soon melting into molten lava. The heat of this fire was so intense it felt as if it could consume all creation. The man’s previously indifferent expression instantly contorted into sheer horror.

He had never expected this seemingly fiery woman to be a master of the fire element, and one whose cultivation level matched his own... However, the look of surprise flashed and vanished. Just as the towering flames were about to engulf him, a curtain of blue water materialized before him, shrouding him completely.

The moment the flames touched the blue barrier, they evaporated into mist, instantly filling the sky with vapor. "Apologies, while our cultivation levels may be similar, the mental art I practice is your exact nemesis. You are finished!" the man declared triumphantly.

"Is that so?" Xi Yang let out a cold snort, and a spark of fire shot from her eyes. The surrounding flames surged once more, their scarlet hue deepening, slowly shifting toward a blue-violet hue... With a soft whoosh, the blue water barrier was ignited by the flames, just like a piece of blue cloth catching fire...

A single ember landed on the man, and instantly, as if drenched in oil, he burst into flames himself... "Ah..." A shriek tore from the man’s throat as blue light flickered around his body, as if trying to smother the inferno. But the harder he struggled, the fiercer the flames burned, clinging to him like viscous tar...

"Water may indeed counter fire, but I forgot to mention that my Samadhi True Fire is a primordial flame. How can your acquired water hope to extinguish my innate fire?" Xi Yang’s voice cut through coldly. She didn't need to move, simply watching as the man’s body was slowly consumed...

Ye Jingyu watched the man who had become a pillar of fire, utterly dumbfounded. Did he really not have to lift a finger? Was it really this effortless?

"Samadhi True Fire? That is a flame only an ancient immortal could possess! How could you command it?" The man’s cries were filled with astonishment.

In his hand appeared a water-blue gourd, which he hurled into the void. A massive suction force erupted, intending to draw the flames off his body... If I can't extinguish the fire, perhaps I can suck it away?

But the moment he summoned the gourd, Ye Jingyu’s eyes flashed. Ignoring the gourd’s pedigree, he pulled out the ancient cyan bell and smashed it directly toward the artifact. This treasure was capable of shattering supreme immortal artifacts like the Fang Tian Pagoda; surely this gourd, however impressive, could not compare.

A crisp crack echoed as the ancient cyan bell shattered the gourd that was absorbing the flames. The gourd disintegrated into pure energy, which the bell swallowed completely. "Ah..." Seeing his last hope destroyed, the man’s scream intensified.

Xi Yang’s eyes nearly bulged from her sockets as she stared, wide-eyed, at the cyan bell. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably, though for reasons unknown. "Help me..." Just then, the flames on the man’s body subsided somewhat.

Gritting through the searing pain, he summoned a streak of light and fled toward the distance... "Trying to run? Not a chance!" Ye Jingyu would never let such an opportunity slip.

He recalled the cyan bell, seized the Tianzun Saber, and gave chase. The moment the cyan bell vanished, Xi Yang’s trembling ceased. Seeing Ye Jingyu pursue the target, she seemed to snap back to awareness and followed, streaking away on a ray of red light...

The man, whose name was Fang Yuan, was legitimately a Seventh Heaven master. Without Xi Yang’s timely intervention, killing Ye Jingyu would have posed no significant problem. But he had run straight into a monster like her.

Especially because of his carelessness, being scorched by Xi Yang’s Samadhi True Fire had stripped him of more than half his cultivation, dropping him to the Sixth Heaven realm. His losses were catastrophic. Before he had flown even a few hundred li, he plummeted from the sky...

Seeing Ye Jingyu and Xi Yang closing in, Fang Yuan was overwhelmed by regret. If only he had been more cautious and avoided being burned by her Samadhi True Fire, he wouldn't be in such a desperate plight even if he couldn't win! Staring at the lingering flames, he knew that if he didn't find a solution immediately, he would genuinely die here.

However, apart from the single magical artifact he had discovered in an ancient ruin, he possessed nothing else. Though that artifact was immensely powerful, its very strength was why he dared not use it. That treasure was his secret; he had not yet fully refined it.

If the Clan Head found out, he would not only have to surrender the artifact but also face severe familial punishment—a prospect he desperately wished to avoid. But the current situation allowed for no hesitation. Seeing Ye Jingyu and Xi Yang lunging toward him again, Fang Yuan stopped overthinking.

He whipped out a pitch-black seal covered in tadpole script, pouring his internal energy madly into it. Even the residual Samadhi True Fire on his body was instantly sucked dry. In an instant, the black seal burst into brilliant light, soaring into the void and expanding to cover several li in diameter, slamming down viciously toward Ye Jingyu and Xi Yang...

The moment he unleashed the seal, Fang Yuan spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted, his eyes rolling back. With his Seventh Heaven cultivation, he could barely manage to activate the seal once; now that his realm had dropped by a tier, it was a miracle he wasn't instantly reduced to dust. Faced with the colossal seal hurtling toward them, both Ye Jingyu and Xi Yang’s expressions changed drastically.

They felt their entire bodies begin to tremble uncontrollably. Confronting this power that felt akin to heavenly might, even the formidable Ye Jingyu didn't know how to defend against it. What kind of magic treasure was this?

How much stronger was it than his own former Zhen Tian Seal?