Chapter 496: Left Hand Shatters the Void, Seed Flame Awakens
Shen Mo nodded and gently sent a strand of consciousness into the Nine Nether Ice Flame’s awareness.
The Nine Nether Ice Flame had lived far, far too long.
It had even experienced complete extinguishment once.
Compared to it, Shen Mo’s consciousness was minuscule in strength.
If the Nine Nether Ice Flame had forcibly resisted, there would’ve been no way for him to enter.
This was the true terror of Eternal Flames.
No matter how powerful or high-ranked a cultivator may be, if fate did not allow it, they would never be able to tame an Eternal Flame.
But now, the Nine Nether Ice Flame had taken the initiative to open its awareness and allow Shen Mo in.
Under such circumstances, the difficulty of taming it would be drastically reduced.
What’s more, Shen Mo already had experience taming both the Heart Flame of the Red Lotus and the Solar Essence Flame.
Taming the Nine Nether Ice Flame now was practically effortless.
His awareness made light contact.
After a brief sensation of burning, Shen Mo successfully connected with an ancient, vast will.
From that moment on, the Nine Nether Ice Flame was fully subdued—becoming the third Eternal Flame under his control!
Shen Mo immediately burst into action.
The Undying River Manifestation appeared once more.
Two distinct Eternal Flames flowed across it!
One—golden and blazing—the Solar Essence Flame, radiant like a newborn sun.
The other—icy white—the Nine Nether Ice Flame, cold as ten thousand years of glacial frost!
One hot, one cold. Two opposing forces of flame merged in the blink of an eye into a single long spear.
“Fallen Star of the Great Wasteland—go!”
Within the Undying River, torrents surged forth, channeling massive force into launching the spear!
The dual-flame spear expanded in midair, swelling in size.
In just a moment, it grew to over two hundred zhang long!
It seemed poised to pierce through the entire fourth floor and blast directly into the fifth!
Zhang Longxiang, Tang Jinglong, and the other Demon Suppression Generals turned pale.
What overwhelming pressure!
What terrifying flames!
That was… an Eternal Flame?!
For the first time, An Cang’s ever-calm expression changed completely.
“Nine Nether Ice Flame!”
“That’s definitely the Nine Nether Ice Flame!”
“You’re actually the one who controls it?!”
Back when the Nine Nether Ice Flame first appeared, he had sensed it early and dispatched his descendants to find it.
But it had hidden itself far too well. He had never been able to track it down.
Just a few days ago, during his battle with Zhu Xuanji, Ao Qin, and E Yuan, he had once again felt its presence.
This time, the sensation was even clearer—as if it were right beside him.
Now, he finally saw it.
Right before his eyes!
On the body of this young Demon Suppression Guard!
The Nine Nether Ice Flame’s power was unimaginably lethal to demonkind.
An Cang had no time to ponder how such a youth could tame the flame. He instantly merged his Demonblood Force to defend.
A massive purple-black wall appeared out of thin air.
A thousand zhang wide, dozens of zhang thick.
It looked like a fortress built with endless resources and painstaking effort.
Just looking at it invoked despair.
“The Nine Nether Ice Flame… let’s see if you still hold the same might from back then!”
An Cang inhaled deeply, coldly staring at the icy-white flame within the spear.
The Fallen Star of the Great Wasteland crashed down.
The colossal purple-black wall began to melt like ice under the summer sun.
Its rate of dissolution was terrifyingly fast.
In just the blink of an eye, nearly thirty percent had already evaporated.
An Cang’s expression shifted.
The Nine Nether Ice Flame had clearly recovered significantly!
Unthinkable—that which had been extinguished for thousands of years… had returned to this level of might?!
Damn this Eternal Flame!
“What perfect timing—attack now!”
While Tang Jinglong and the others were still in awe, Zhang Longxiang had already come to his senses and shouted with full force.
The Demon Suppression Generals straightened at the call and attacked at once.
Various manifestation martial arts surged forward, all aimed at An Cang.
Shen Mo’s strike had opened a breach.
All they needed to do was target that weak point—and they too could make a difference.
An Cang’s purple-black wall quickly turned into a dam riddled with holes, like it had been gnawed apart by white ants.
Damage spread everywhere.
An Cang’s expression changed drastically. He immediately channeled more Demonblood Force, attempting to repair the wall.
Spiritual power surged madly.
The Nine Nether Ice Flame blazed to full intensity.
In an instant, it streaked across the sky and slammed into the Fallen Star of the Great Wasteland.
In the blink of an eye, the massive purple-black wall shattered into countless pieces.
The spear of the Great Wasteland did not slow—it pierced straight into the Demon Emperor’s left hand!
Flesh burst apart! Bone fragments exploded in all directions!
An Cang’s face twisted.
To him, the Demon Emperor’s left hand was a priceless treasure—an essential component of his future plans.
Now, it had been blown to bits!
He screamed, abandoning all defense. Without care for himself, he began scavenging the pieces.
In the blink of an eye, he retrieved a thumb.
“Press the attack! Don’t give him a chance!”
Zhang Longxiang’s eyes lit up as he shouted.
The other Demon Suppression Generals surged forward, their attacks growing more ferocious, ignoring their own injuries and future.
Even if they had to burn all their potential, bleed themselves dry—they would stop An Cang from seizing the Demon Emperor’s left hand!
Demonblood sprayed wildly!
More and more wounds opened across An Cang’s body.
Out of the corner of his eye, Shen Mo caught sight of something on the ground and his expression shifted.
He clearly remembered—a severed finger had landed there just moments ago.
But now, in the blink of an eye, it had vanished.
That was far too strange.
‘Could it be… even though the Demon Emperor’s left hand was blasted apart, it’s still alive?’
‘It instinctively avoids danger… and ran?’
The more Shen Mo thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
An Cang coughed a mouthful of blood.
He only had two fingers left in his grasp.
But he knew—if he kept pushing himself recklessly just to gather the remains, he would die here.
He had no choice but to abandon the rest of the Demon Emperor’s left hand.
Still, he knew that the Demon Emperor’s left hand was connected to the Emperor’s true body.
So long as the generals failed to intercept the remaining pieces, they would flee on their own—heading toward the ninth layer to return to the Demon Emperor.
All he had to do… was buy them that chance.
“At this point… I’ll have to reveal one of my trump cards.”
An Cang exhaled slowly and raised his hand.
In his palm, a pitch-black flame was quietly burning!
The moment it appeared, everyone at the scene felt their entire body shudder.
A deathly sense of danger crept up on them out of nowhere.
All eyes turned to that pitch-black flame.
Shen Mo’s was no exception.
The voice of the Nine Nether Ice Flame rang out slowly. “A child flame of the Void Scorching Flame.”
Shen Mo’s brow lifted slightly.
So that was the Void Scorching Flame?
But why was there a ‘child flame’?
Did Eternal Flames also have parents and offspring?
The Nine Nether Ice Flame shook its head. “I was extinguished once… I’ve forgotten most of my memories.”
“I’ll explain it in detail when we get back.”
Shen Mo asked solemnly, “Is the child flame of the Void Scorching Flame… powerful?”
The Nine Nether Ice Flame thought for a moment. “If it were the real Void Scorching Flame, I’d grab you and run without hesitation.”
“But this is just a tiny child flame—not worth fearing.”
“Though… the fate of these Demon Suppression Generals is hard to say.”
Shen Mo nodded, then immediately shouted, “That’s the Void Scorching Flame—fall back!”
Saying that, he himself withdrew without delay.
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