Chapter 110: Wrath of the 9 Suns [Part 3]
“I never thought that her human form would be such a cute little girl. What this also tells us is that right now, she is still a ‘child’, which is why her life force is so weak. Although she has the most destructive power out of all the beasts, she’s still a child. That means as she matures and grows, her power will greatly surpass all the other Saint Destroyer beasts, potentially even the Moon God Clan.” Qi Yue turned and looked at the dumbstruck Ling Chen. While gazing into the distance, she said, “Such a powerful beast, in order to save you, sacrificed so much... in order to repay you for returning her freedom back to her.”
Ling Chen zoned out while staring at the golden flaming sea that covered Lonely Spirit Ridge.
Ten kilometres to the west, Peace Town.
“Look! Look, there are golden flames over there!”
“Lonely Spirit Ridge burst out in flames, what’s going on?”
“I’ve lived for so many years, but I’ve never seen golden flames before... Didn’t the myths say that only that legendary beast would have this type of fire?”
........................
“Could this be a sign from the heavens? Could it be that Lonely Spirit Ridge has taken the lives of so many people, so the Moon Gods are punishing it?”
Peace Town’s residents all came running out and stood outside their houses while gaping at the scene of Lonely Spirit Ridge burning in the golden flames towards the east. It was as if they had seen a miracle from the heavens.
“Whew... Big brother, I finally caught up to you.”
“My name is Xi Ling, big brother can call me Ling Ling!”
: “Wherever big brother goes, that’s my home!”
: “Let me follow big brother, wherever big brother goes, take me as well! Ok?”
: “Because I like big brother!”
“Big brother, you need to keep your promises! If I can bring back some Flaming Black Grass, you need to let me follow big brother. Wherever big brother goes, I’m going as well... no take backs!”
Flaming Black Grass: A mysterious type of plant that combines darkness and fire energy, and does not grow naturally. Its origin is unknown. The darkness energy that it contains will absorb most poisons; the fire energy that it contains can easily dispel most poisons. Any person who eats this grass or uses it to make medicine can cure almost any poison.
Ling Chen silently looked at the seven Flaming Black Grass in his hand. He only needed one to complete the Azure Dragon Mayor’s quest. However, at the moment he couldn’t feel any joy in completing the quest at all. He blankly stared at the sea of fire in the east, and numbly asked, “Before, the War Demon Beast said that if she used the power of the ‘nine suns’, she would die... is this true?”
The golden flames that reached the sky continued to burn, and the War Demon Beast’s pathetic cries continued to ring out. However, the cries became weaker and weaker. Amidst the Flames of the Nine Suns, the War Demon Beast was suffering from an incredible amount of pain. Its body, energy and spirit were quickly crumbling into dust.......
Qi Yue looked at Ling Chen and slightly nodded her head, “The Flames of the Nine Suns is a unique flame that only she has. Even when she is at her peak, she would not be able to casually use it. However, right now she only has Heaven’s End power, which is far from being enough to light the Flames of the Nine Suns. However... in order to use those flames, she used her own life force. The cost of using her own life force is that after exhausting all of her life force, she will die. If she left after you released her, even if she only has Heaven’s End power, she would be able to easily leave. Although she has such immense power and such a noble origin, in order to save you, she is willing to sacrifice her own life.”
Ling Chen: “......”
The War Demon Beast finally stopped screaming in pain. Its body, energy and spirit had been completely incinerated by the Flames of the Nine Suns. Apart from ashes and dust, nothing remained of the War Demon Beast. One of the ten ancient demon beasts had perished in the Forgotten Continent under the hands of the one it feared the most.
The flames in the east finally started to die down as well.
Ling Chen raised his head and slowly exhaled. Xi Ling’s voice and face continuously appeared in his head. She was someone who, for the person who had set her free, was willing to selflessly sacrifice her own life. To be precise, she was a divine beast that could transform into a human. Anyone would be moved by someone willing to sacrifice their life for them. Xi Ling’s beauty was peerless; her spirit was like a beautifully pure and pristine crystal. Her noble blood and power was unmatched by anyone, and yet she was still willing to lay down her life for a mere human out of gratitude. If beasts can be like this, then why not humans? People shouldn’t be too selfish, and should try to be kind to others. Sometimes, a bit of kindness can go a long way. Someone you show a bit of kindness to might even be able to save your life or change it forever.
“Little master, doesn’t your heart ache, wishing that you could save that girl?” Qi Yue’s eyes gleamed as she looked at Ling Chen’s dejected expression. Her mouth curved into a smile.
Ling Chen continued to stare towards the east, where the golden flames continued to die down. The flames were not as tall as before, and the golden hue of the flames began to grow dimmer. He let out a sigh and said, “I would do anything to save her. However, right now I am too weak, and can’t help her at all.”
“That’s not necessarily true.” Qi Yue replied with a smile. She shifted her body so that her the alluring curves of her towering breasts could be clearly seen. Her black clothes tightly squeezed the two giant mounds together. Anyone looking would worry about the clothes bursting open at any time.
Ling Chen’s eyes boggled as he stared for a second, then looked away. He hurriedly asked, “You said... there’s a way to save her right?”
“There isn’t just a method to save her; right now, you are the only person who can save her.” Qi Yue laughed.
“What method is it?”
“It’s very simple. Xi Ling used her life force to ignite the Flames of the Nine Suns. After the Flames of the Nine Suns have been extinguished, her life force will have been exhausted as well. However, if her life force can be revived before this happens, she naturally will not die.” Qi Yue explained.
“Every living being’s life force is different. Plus, if someone’s life force is exhausted, they will die. How can someone revive their life force?” Ling Chen murmured.
Qi Yue gently nodded her head, “If it was any other being, what you just said would be true, but... little master, have you ever heard the legend of the phoenix? The phoenix can use the power of flames to reincarnate, and rise from its ashes. The power of this girl’s flames is much stronger and purer than those of a phoenix, so why shouldn’t she be able to revive as well? Not only will she be able to revive, but her revival ability should be even stronger than the phoenix’s ‘Revival from the Ashes’. What a phoenix revives is only its life. If it depletes its life force, it only has a chance to reincarnate, and will not necessarily successfully revive. However, this is not a true revival, because even if it succeeds in reviving, it might lose all of its power. For Xi Ling, her life force itself can be revived, and can grow to become even stronger afterwards. However, this type of revival of her life force can only be used once... and moreover, it must be connected to another living being for guidance and support. If she relies on another living being to revive her life force, her life will be tied to this being. If it lives, she lives; if it dies, she dies. Furthermore, she will not be able to ignore any orders given by this being. In other words, she will forever be a slave to the other being – no matter how powerful she becomes, she will be unable to betray or rebel against the being.
Ling Chen: “.........”
Qi Yue looked towards the east, and saw that the golden flames had died down to be half as intense as they were originally, and the sky as no longer dyed with a golden colour. She turned to look at Ling Chen, and spoke softly, “Little master, do you understand what I just said? The Flames of the Nine Suns have begun to die down. All that is left right now are the residual embers. If these residual embers are extinguished as well, then there will be no chance of saving that little sister anymore.”
“Let’s go!!”
Without the slightest hesitation, Ling Chen called out the Cloud Stepping Mare and sped towards the burning Lonely Spirit Ridge as fast as he could.
“Although this may not be very fair to you... but I definitely can’t let you die.” Ling Chen thought.
As he rode on the galloping Cloud Stepping Mare, Lonely Spirit Ridge grew closer and closer. On the way, he rode past many zombies trembling as they lay on the ground. Ordinarily, zombies were quite afraid of fire, much more so the overwhelming Flames of the Nine Suns. Due to his urgency, time seemed to slow down. Ling Chen’s eyebrows were furrowed together, worrying that he would not be able to make it in time. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally saw the entrance to Lonely Spirit Ridge... at that moment, he received one of the biggest shocks in his entire life. Lonely Spirit Ridge was given its name because it contained many mountain ridges.
The flames that engulfed Lonely Spirit Ridge were no longer golden, but instead a faint red colour, while the various mountain ridges... had all disappeared!!!
What Ling Chen saw was only a burnt flatland... no, a massive crater! The ground at the entrance had sunk down by more than three metres!
Amidst his shock, Ling Chen immediately realised that the golden flames had not only reduced the mountain ridges to rubble, but had also burnt vast amounts of the land into dust.
What a terrifying flame!
“Little master, you’re feeling very surprised aren’t you? The thing is, right now what you’re seeing was caused by Xi Ling using her current Heaven’s End power. If she was at her peak and used the Flames of the Nine Suns, everything here would have been instantly reduced to nothing, instead of what you’re seeing right now. Moreover, long ago I heard that her strongest flame is not the Flames of the Nine Suns, but rather something that greatly surpasses the Flames of the Nine Suns. It is said that that type of flame is comparable to the flames within the core of the sun. When those types of flames appear, she is able to completely destroy anything... even if it was divine beast, it would still be instantly annihilated. However, this is only a rumour that I heard, and might not necessarily be true.”
In front of him, a wave of searing heat rolled towards Ling Chen. While listening to Qi Yue, Ling Chen looked in the direction the heat waves were coming from. He gritted his teeth in determination, and rushed into the scorched Lonely Spirit Ridge. Ling Chen endured the blistering heat, and hastily ran in search of Xi Ling.