Yan Huoling was using all of her strength and consuming everything she was except for her very soul in order to push 'War Banner of the Imperial Solar Orchid' as far as she could. Everything around Cao Yun and Yan Huoling had been absolutely obliterated, even the Death Energy and Ghost Energy in the air had been pushed back. Cao Yun's swords were literally melting despite his spiritual senses around them. His own blood was boiling in his veins. Without his cultivation and his Wei Qi, Cao Yun himself would have been dust, or at least, some parts of his body would be. The spear he was holding was made out of his Black Heart Flame so it wasn't affected too much, but this wild fire was suppressing it nonetheless.

Yan Huoling's body was now wreathed in colorful flames, red and purple tongues of fire were dancing where her body used to be. In fact, her body was the fire itself now. Only the seed of Emperor Nuwa's Solar-Orchid Flame remained. It was where her soul could remain intact and control her technique. Behind her, the large flower that contained the rest of Orchid's Ashes began to bloom. Large petals with myriads of colors were opening and spreading all around. Her soldiers within were pouring all of their strength and vitality into it too. Soon, they would be consumed just like her.

Although it was night, this giant flower was as bright as the Sun itself. Cao Yun was being completely suppressed by all of that. But he still tried to fight back with all he had. Since his Rune of Fire couldn't help him much, he had to circulate all of his soul and mind cultivation to control the Black Heart Flame and fight back this tyrannical fire. While his black flames were the essence of death, this wild orchid flame was life spreading wildfire, consuming everything just to keep spreading for its own sake. Without Yan Huoling to control it, it would expand in every direction consuming everything just to maintain itself until nothing was left to sustain it.

In Cao Yun's sea of consciousness, the seven Piercing Stars were shining red as blood and coloring all of the infinite sky and ocean. His Five Aspects were wreathed in the fire of his Shen the Fire Spirit while shining brightly all over. Said fire spread to his Drop of Wrath that fueled it even more. Over the Nine Soul Peaks, his seven Turbid Demons were standing and unleashing all of their strength. Finally, in the center of everything, his Soul Embryo was shining a silver hue in all directions, bathing the entire world in its vibrancy.

Suddenly, Cao Yun heard a metallic noise. A powerful flash of golden light spread in an instant before disappearing completely. With no hesitation, Cao Yun unleashed the last technique he had derived from his 'Azure Dragon's Seven Piercing Stars' and 'Three Storms'.

'Dragon General of the South Obeys the Celestial Mandate'!

Cao Yun's Spear Heart had evolved. Unfortunately, it wasn't yet a Spear Spirit, but it was slowly getting there. That being said, Chief Elder Baishen's words echoed in the young man's mind. He wasn't sure how far he had pushed his technique, but he was convinced that it was good enough. Even if it wasn't, he would succeed anyway.

Three concepts clashed together, Thunder, Wind, Water.

Suddenly, the void all around Cao Yun pulled in a huge quantity of air, full of Death Energy and Ghost Energy in it. It was even faster than what Yan Huoling's flames could burn. Unfortunately, as they burned some of this air, the flames became stronger and even more violent and brutal. Cao Yun's hold on his spear even began to falter. But immediately, the concept of Thunder took over. With the powerful friction of the different air currents, alongside the intense heat of Yan Huoling's flames, electric bolts emerged everywhere all around Cao Yun. Some electric arcs literally went through his body, but were immediately channeled through his Black Heart Flame spear.

Under the effect of his Spear Heart, the Black Heart Flame spear now looked absolutely identical to his 'Heavenly Tainted Pillar'. Almost no one could tell that it wasn't a real spear. It formed a giant pillar, large and long enough to support the skies and dig deep into the ground. Coiled all around this immense pillar, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of small azure dragons made of blue lightning. In the violent air swirling around Cao Yun and now all over the battlefield, there were also thousands of small spears made of lightning. They were being dragged all over the place by the air currents but were somehow always aiming at Yan Huoling as though they were dragons swimming in those currents and ready to pounce at any moment.

Above Cao Yun and Yan Huoling, the sky became darker and darker. Even the shining light of the seven Piercing Stars couldn't go through the titanic black clouds that had just formed. Thankfully, they were isolated in the middle of a desolate province. But many creatures were already fleeing as far as they could. If they could see, or even just feel, this phenomenon, they were running away, no matter how smart or stupid they were.

At this moment, Cao Yun and Yan Huoling's clash was almost perfectly balanced. It was dynamic as one could take over a little before being slightly suppressed the next instant. But no one could completely control the fight. Yan Huoling's palms were pressing against Cao Yun's spear.

Suddenly, Cao Yun introduced the final concept in his technique. If he failed there, his technique would collapse, a terrifying backlash would assault him, and Yan Huoling's technique would consume him entirely. Nothing would remain of Cao Yun. For an instant, he had a tinge of hesitation. Indeed, at this stage, he was still convinced he had a chance to escape. However, he decided to go all-out. Dian Mo already knew his decision, so he stayed silent. Unfortunately, he knew that disturbing Cao Yun now wouldn't change his mind but it might get him killed. Thus, he had nothing else to do but watch as Cao Yun was putting his own life, but also Dian Mo's life, on the line. Deep down, Dian Mo and Cao Yun both knew it wasn't essential, there were other ways, but somehow Cao Yun had to do it. He had to prove to himself that he wasn't the boy who had failed his sister. He wouldn't let events happen to him, he would fight back, he would face all the adversity, and he would crush his enemies.

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Everything stopped moving.

All sounds stopped.

A single breath lasted an eternity.

All the air turned instantly as cold as ice. Death Energy in the air congealed into small icy crystals. Cao Yun's Black Heart Flame was turned into a large pillar of black ice. Even Yan Huoling felt an intense cold deep in her soul. Although her body was no more, this feeling wasn't merely physical. In that moment, Cao Yun had associated the coldness of ice with the coldness of Death Energy itself. His own Black Heart Flame had been the perfect vector to stabilize the concept of Water in his technique. Indeed, the body and anything physical were deemed Fire in opposition to the soul as being Water. The elements weren't meant to be taken literally, they were really concepts. Those words had been invented to describe them in nature, but Cao Yun knew not to confuse them.

Yan Huoling's Solar-Orchid Flame was life in all of its brutality and consumption while Cao Yun's Black Heart Flame was death and despair incarnate, the cold embrace of a dark eternity.

The next moment, the flames near the tip of Cao Yun's spear turned into ice and broke apart. All over the battlefield, the storm became even more enraged. The air that had fueled the flames until now began to extinguish them as the violent air currents were spreading the cold throughout the world. No matter how much the Orchid's Ashes tried to burn their own vitality, they could feel the heat of the flames slowly going down.

Yan Huoling's flames weren't completely turned to ice, but the flames directly in front of Cao Yun's spear couldn't resist his Black Heart Flame. The young man's spear went straight toward Yan Huoling's palms. Now those palms were made of fire, and before them was the seed of her Solar-Orchid Flame. Cao Yun's spear pierced through a palm just as Yan Huoling's blazing figure moved out of the way. Her entire hand turned to ice. As it was spreading, she cut off all her left arm with a swift movement of her right one. The seed floated back toward her head. This time, it entered her head that was now only made out of flames.

Yan Huoling's other palm tried to strike Cao Yun's chest. She had been ready to take this one hit if she could kill Cao Yun. After all, her body was already dead and completely burned away. In the best-case scenario, she would only be able to salvage her Soul Embryo and live a few centuries before it completely deteriorated. So she was perfectly ready to take Cao Yun with her in the tomb. However, Cao Yun had other plans of his own.

With a swift and powerful motion, Cao Yun blocked the other palm by striking Yan Huoling's forearm with the butt of his spear. Upon contact, all the flames forming her arm turned into ice and broke apart. Since his spear went through her arm effortlessly, Cao Yun was able to change its trajectory once more. In a very small movement, he swept his spear toward Yan Huoling's neck. Now, the woman was completely isolated from the rest of her soldiers. Without the advantage of her Solar-Orchid Flame, she was just a 7th-grade Spirit Warrior. Obviously, she was extremely powerful, but not when faced with a tyrannical 9th-grade Accomplished Demon using all of his cultivation and martial arts.

Her neck was shattered as it froze. Only her head remained. Without any hesitation, Yan Huoling tried to send the Solar-Orchid Flame directly into the seed in order to burn her own sea of consciousness. Unfortunately, she had been a bit too slow. Cao Yun grabbed the seed with his bare hand and immediately sent his own spiritual senses inside.

As Cao Yun's soul entered the seed of this wild flame, the young man felt an intense heat spread in his own sea of consciousness. This wasn't Yan Huoling, this was the Solar-Orchid Flame itself. Above his Five Aspects, a fully closed orchid was facing toward the infinite red ocean. Even closed, it was already hot enough to make the red water boil. Cao Yun's Drop of Wrath turned into Axiu Qian. Instantly, it grabbed the orchid to block the petals before it could bloom. Under the heat, the chains holding the seven Turbid Demons were beginning to melt. It was the mental representation of Cao Yun's own Po and body being consumed by the flames.

Indeed, Cao Yun's arm was already being burned to a crisp by the seed he was holding. Despite the Wei Qi he had concentrated all around his arm, his skin was already gone and the heat was getting more and more intense.

At the same time, thousands of blood runes had entered the seed and were trying to slow down the Solar-Orchid Flame. Cao Yun's goal wasn't to save Yan Huoling's Soul Embryo. No, he simply wanted to break it apart first and absorb all her memories before the flames could burn it all. The runes were forming a form of barrier within the seed. Finally, Dian Mo could help.

"Boy, let me take care of her. Just focus on the Solar-Orchid Flame. Hold as long as you can."

A large part of Dian Mo's spirit left Cao Yun's mind. Within the seed was Yan Huoling's sea of consciousness. When Dian Mo got in there, he found a literal sea of fire. No water remained in the infinite ocean, everything was made of flames. And the former water was now a dense vapor that was hiding the infinite skies too. Dian Mo had taken the shape of the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. The stones forming the palace were already beginning to crack because of the intense heat. All around the center of this sea of consciousness, large creatures made of blood were holding an immense cloak of fire trying to close down over this doomed world. Looking closely, one would be able to recognize many characteristics of Cao Yun's seven Turbid Demons in those creatures, they were manifestations of his blood runes.

Dian Mo didn't hesitate and immediately began to break apart the world itself. The palace grew larger and larger as literal cracks appeared all around it. Dian Mo could also draw strength from the blood runes. As cracks appeared, golden characters emerged everywhere. Those were seals created to protect Yan Huoling's sea of consciousness. If it became impossible, they would obliterate it in order to erase her memories. Thankfully, Dian Mo was an expert when it came to seals. Besides, he didn't need to unravel them, just stall them long enough to have enough time to grab all of her memories.

Although Cao Yun really wanted Yan Huoling's memories, he had just found something even more precious. He now wanted to tame this Solar-Orchid Flame. If he could somehow merge it with his Rune of Fire, he would become much more powerful than he was right now. Even his alchemy would become superior. Besides, he knew that the Exalted Demon realm relied heavily upon the Dao of Fire. Obviously, he had an intense desire to get this flame for himself.

While Cao Yun and Dian Mo were fighting two internal wars, the remaining Orchid's Ashes wouldn't stand idly by. Their general and their commandants had just given their lives for nothing. No! They couldn't accept that. At the very least, their enemy had spent a lot of energy. Even a 9th-grade Accomplished Demon wouldn't be able to deal with them all in his current state. Despite the death of their officers, they were seasoned soldiers. They would slay the demon.

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