am-books Chapter 226: Chapter 226: Crimson Karma Lotus, Red Lotus Fire
Chapter 226: Chapter 226: Crimson Karma Lotus, Red Lotus Fire
Chapter 226: Crimson Karma Lotus, Red Lotus Fire
John halted his steps, not daring to move forward recklessly. He took out the Soul Essence to observe its state.
"Still not working?" He frowned deeply as he noticed no reaction from the Soul Essence. The surrounding temperature clearly wasn't high enough.
Gritting his teeth, he held his breath and continued pushing forward against the blazing heat, inching closer to the center of the Undying Flame's explosion.
-10,000
-10,000
...
The damage numbers flashed above his head, indicating a loss of 10,000 health points per second.
The intense heat from the flames was now posing a threat to his very life.
Fortunately, he had grasped the Power of Life's Laws and was linked to the Tree of
Life through a life-sharing pact, making this level of health loss manageable.
The ground beneath his feet was scorching hot, and he could already see the flickering white flames in the distance.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
He checked the state of the Soul Essence once again.
"Just a bit more," he muttered while staring at the undulating white flames ahead. The distorted space around them marked the location of the altar, right at the explosion's core. It seemed like he needed to reach the core area to fully refine the Soul Essence.
If those white flames touched him, death would be inevitable.
But giving up now would be too much of a regret for him to bear.
After all, this treasure was hard-earned, and aside from using the Undying Flame, he couldn't think of any other way to refine it.
"Screw it!" He decided to take the risk, knowing he could always retreat if things got too dangerous.
He stepped forward and entered the core explosion zone of the Undying Flame.
"Ugh!" His brows furrowed, and his face twisted in pain. The terrifying heat instantly fused with his flesh and began to sear his very soul.
The agony was unbearable-something beyond the endurance of ordinary people. He felt as if he would be completely incinerated in the next second.
Fortunately, the Soul Essence in his hand finally reacted. Under the intense heat of the Undying Flame, it began to slowly refine.
"It's working!" He suppressed the pain and sat cross-legged, trying to calm himself down and focus on absorbing the Soul Essence.
"Why is it taking so long?" He opened his eyes, the pain intensifying to the point that he almost gave up.
The temperature here was still too low for the Soul Essence. At this rate, it would take three to five months to fully refine it.
There was no way he could endure for that long.
He glanced at the nearby flickering white flame. Though it looked feeble, it was something that could threaten even the soul.
Buzz!
An idea came to mind. He activated Sword Mastery, and the Three-Foot Black Dragon Sword flew out, carrying the Soul Essence toward that white flame.
Whoosh...
The flame flickered and instantly adhered to the Soul Essence, merging into it.
"It's working!" John was overjoyed. He could clearly feel the Undying Flame refining a substantial portion of the Soul Essence.
He continued!
Guiding his longsword, he maneuvered it toward another white flame to accelerate the refining process of the Soul Essence.
...
Like this, the flying sword, bearing the Soul Essence, was bathed in dozens of white flames until it was thoroughly refined and ready for absorption.
The Soul Essence returned to his hand. Ignoring the scalding heat radiating from it, he immediately began to absorb its energy.
"Ugh!" A cry of pain escaped his lips as his eyes widened, his face contorted in agony.
The Soul Essence had actually absorbed the power of the Undying Flame. As he absorbed it, the scorching energy surged directly into his soul, burning it furiously.
Not only that, he cried out in agony as his lungs filled with the searing air, and his entire body seemed on the brink of combusting and exploding.
"It's over!" Despair washed over his face as he realized that his soul had been severely damaged by the Undying Flame. The flame continued to burn relentlessly, and at this rate, his soul wouldn't be able to withstand it.
Buzz!
At that critical moment, the Jade Heart Lotus appeared within his mind, emitting a soft green glow that enveloped his soul and shielded it from the ravaging white flames.
The Jade Heart Lotus was actually absorbing the power of the Undying Flame!
Moreover, as he continued to absorb the Soul Essence, the increase in his Soul Technique was simultaneously strengthening the Jade Heart Lotus.
"This might not be such a bad thing," he realized, clenching his teeth and pressing on with refining and absorbing the Soul Essence.
A surge of powerful soul energy flowed into his body, accompanied by the scorching Undying
"Looks like you aren't so formidable after all!" He sneered, and suddenly, a crimson flame bloomed, spreading like a lotus flower and enveloping the hunter army.
Soul attack skill-Red Lotus Fire!
The crimson flames flickered as the hunters stared blankly. They didn't feel any heat or pain;
the fire seemed illusory, almost as if it weren't real.
But the very next second, they clutched their heads, letting out agonized, ear-piercing shrieks
as their souls were purified, and they died completely.
[You have slain a Level 1000, Tier-7 Hunter, gaining 678,300 experience points.]
...
Notification messages kept flashing. These hunters were all ordinary beasts, not bosses, so he
didn't plunder many attributes.
"No boss among them?" He surveyed the field littered with hunter corpses-there were over
ten thousand of them. Under normal circumstances, there should have been at least one boss
present.
The only plausible explanation was that the bosses had developed some level of intelligence. Realizing that the mother insect was dead and that they had lost their ability to resurrect,
they dared not confront him recklessly.
"How interesting." He chuckled coldly, picked up the loot from the ground, and then rode his
sword, flying toward the Saint Martial Sect.
On his journey back, John was ambushed by hunters several times. However, they were all ordinary beast-level hunters, and he didn't encounter a single boss-level leader.
He felt no pressure at all and easily slaughtered them, quickly returning to the Saint Martial
Sect.
The Saint Martial Sect was relatively quiet and hadn't suffered any major incidents, though
there were hunter corpses scattered around. It was clear that the sect had experienced an attack from the hunters.
He hadn't expected these creatures to spread so quickly. In just one day, they had already
reached the Eternal Forest.
This made him a bit concerned. Hunters were capable of biting and devouring souls, which
meant they could completely obliterate players.
"John, you're back." Sini's eyes lit up when she saw him. She rushed over excitedly, with Tracy
following closely behind.
This young girl had now reached the eighth tier and was adamant about not staying in the
Death Land anymore.
With her strength slightly improved and Sini by her side, she would be safe as long as they didn't encounter a god-tier enemy.
John decided not to force her to stay away any longer.
He looked around at the hunter corpses and asked, "Hunters have appeared here too? Were
there any casualties?"
Sini shook her head and replied, "No, there weren't. Fortunately, we were well-prepared, and
the number of hunters wasn't overwhelming, so we managed to fend them off easily." "That's a relief." He sighed in relief.
Sini continued, "But other factions weren't so lucky. When the hunters descended, they
targeted the major faction strongholds right away. The Dark Humans suffered severe losses-
over a hundred cities were annihilated in just one day. Also, the Heavenly Court faction of our Beast Clan was completely wiped out. Malina's Phoenix City was destroyed as well." "The Heavenly Court was wiped out?" John was stunned. "Where were Tony and the others?
Couldn't they hold off the hunters?"
Sini explained, "Tony and Ben weren't there. As soon as they left the ancient battlefield ruins,
they split off from us, saying they were going to unite with other god-tier powerhouses from different races. By the time we received word that the Heavenly Court was in danger and rushed to their aid, it was already too late. Fortunately, the Beast Clan didn't suffer too many
casualties."
"That's good to hear." John felt relieved. The Heavenly Court could be rebuilt as long as the Beast Clan didn't suffer significant losses.
He then asked, "What about Phoenix City?"
Phoenix City was a faction established by the Undead Lord, known as the Undead Kingdom,
and was under his direct control. Malina had been managing it for some time.