199: Cold Fire's Ferocious Power, Cleverly Seizing the Fire Lotus

The pale fire ball in the mouth of the White Fire Snake condensed extremely quickly, forming almost the instant Li Ao moved!

The space around the fire ball hummed under the strain, as if it would be torn apart by the extreme cold and heat interweaving power at any moment.

Li Ao's pupils contracted slightly; he could clearly feel the terrifying energy contained within that fire ball, far surpassing previous attacks.

Taking it head-on was definitely not a wise move!

In a flash, his charging figure suddenly paused, his feet plowing two deep furrows in the scorching rocky ground, halting his momentum abruptly.

At the same time, he pointed his left hand like a blade, not attacking the fire snake, but fiercely slashing at the slowly flowing dark red magma below his side!

The subtle blade light of the Silent Void Slash merged into the magma.

There was no earth-shattering explosion, but the magma in that area seemed to instantly lose all its activity and heat, becoming dim and solidified, its surface covered with a layer of eerie, grayish decay, like a giant, dead, inert rock!

This was the temporary "termination" effect of Nirvana Power on energetic matter!

And it was at the moment this solidified magma formed—

"Whoosh!"

That pale fire ball had already torn through the air, arriving with a Soul-freezing shriek!

However, Li Ao's seemingly hurried response had precisely calculated the angle.

The fire ball did not hit him directly, but slammed heavily onto the area of magma he had temporarily "killed" with Nirvana Power!

"Boom—!!!"

A deafening explosion erupted!

The pale cold fire violently collided with the grayish, dead magma!

The anticipated scene of magma splashing did not occur.

The magma, eroded by Nirvana Power, had become extremely fragile in structure and lost most of its energy; under the terrifying power of the pale fire ball, it was instantly annihilated into the finest dust!

And the cold and destructive energy contained within the fire ball itself was weakened by at least thirty percent by this eerie "dead matter" counteraction!

At the core of the explosion, a temporary energy vacuum zone formed, with chaotic pale flames and grayish dust scattering everywhere.

This was the opportunity Li Ao wanted!

The moment the fire ball exploded, when energy was most chaotic and vision was obstructed, he moved!

"Shadow Follows Form!"

He pushed his movement technique to its limit, his entire being transforming into a faint phantom that almost blended into the environment, not retreating in a straight line, but approaching the White Fire Snake at high speed along the edge of the explosion, following an elusive, unpredictable trajectory!

The White Fire Snake clearly hadn't expected its trump card to be largely neutralized by the opponent in such a strange way; its considerable intelligence caused a moment of surprise.

And in that instant, Li Ao had already closed within ten zhang of it!

"Roar!"

The fire snake roared in fury, its slender body suddenly lashed out, its tail, burning with pale flames, swept across like a giant flame whip, accompanied by a space-tearing shriek!

Where the whip shadow passed, the air froze and then burst, forming a death zone.

Facing this wide-ranging attack, Li Ao's eyes were sharp as blades; he didn't retreat but advanced!

His footwork was profound, like dancing on a knife's edge, narrowly brushing past the terrifying flame tail whip, the icy flames almost licking his clothes.

At the same time, the silent ruin in his hand emitted a low hum, and the dark red flowing light on the blade suddenly intensified!

"Burying Star!"

This time, he didn't pursue extreme cutting, but pushed the "heaviness" and "burial" intent of the Burying Star stance to its limit.

His blade force was like a collapsing mountain, carrying a suffocating sense of oppression, not striking at the fire snake's vital point, but fiercely cleaving towards its relatively weaker mid-body, which was exposed and connected to the black reef due to its tail-lashing!

"Clang—!!!"

It was like cutting through refined steel, or splitting apart ten-thousand-year-old profound ice!

A piercing clang accompanied by the faint sound of bones shattering!

"Hiss-aow—!"

The White Fire Snake let out an extremely painful hiss; its body, covered in white scales, was actually split by this one slash, scales flying off to reveal the bone underneath, like white crystal, which already had cracks!

The strange pale flames tried to backlash along the blade, but were firmly blocked and continuously annihilated by the grayish-golden Qi flow and dark red flowing light swirling around the silent ruin!

The suppressive effect of Nirvana Power on energy bodies, and the mutation of the silent ruin after devouring the fire evil, played a crucial role at this moment!

Li Ao, gaining the upper hand, shook his wrist, dragging the blade downwards to try and expand his advantage.

However, the vitality and reaction of a seventh-tier Demonic Beast far exceeded imagination.

Under the pain, the White Fire Snake's ferocity completely erupted; disregarding its injuries, its massive body twisted violently, opening its huge mouth, no longer condensing a fire ball, but spewing out a torrent of flames, viscous as liquid and almost pure white in color!

This flame torrent had a vast range, almost covering all of Li Ao's evasion space, and the coldness and stillness contained within it far surpassed anything before!

This was its Origin Fire!

Li Ao's expression changed slightly; he could feel that if he were hit head-on by this flame torrent, even with his Nirvana Body, he would likely suffer heavy injuries!

Just at this critical moment—

Medusa, who had been standing still in the distance, as if integrated with the surrounding environment, moved!

She had been waiting for this perfect opportunity: when the fire snake was completely drawn to Li Ao, its old strength exhausted and new strength not yet born, fully erupting and unable to attend to anything else!

Her figure vanished from its original spot like a ghost, and in the next instant, she appeared as if teleported above the black reef where the earth core fire lotus grew!

Seven-colored light poured down from her palm, not as an attack, but transforming into a soft yet incredibly tough light barrier, instantly enveloping the earth core fire lotus along with a portion of the reef beneath it!

At the same time, her other jade hand shot out like lightning, her five fingers like claws, their tips entwined with a sharp Qi that tore space, directly grasping towards the root of the fire lotus!

She actually intended to take this spiritual item, roots and all!

"Hiss—!!!"

The White Fire Snake instantly sensed its lair being raided, letting out an earth-shattering roar of fury!

Even the flame torrent it was spewing at Li Ao experienced a momentary disruption!

It wanted to turn back to stop Medusa, but how could Li Ao give it this chance?

"Your opponent is me!"

A fierce light flashed in Li Ao's eyes; facing the pale flame torrent, whose power was slightly reduced by the fire snake's distraction, he no longer dodged, but held the silent ruin horizontally in front of him, his nirvana star core operating wildly at an unprecedented speed!

"Annihilation Domain, open!"

Centered on him, within a three-zhang radius, grayish-golden Qi flow surged out like a tangible substance, forming a relatively stable Domain!

Within the Domain, all things withered, and energy lay dormant!

The viscous pale flame torrent rushed into this grayish-golden Domain, its speed sharply decreasing, and the cold Law and destructive energy contained within it were fiercely countered and annihilated by the Nirvana Power in the Domain!

Although the Domain vibrated violently, as if it could collapse at any moment, it truly bought Li Ao a precious instant!

And in this instant—

"Rise!"

Medusa let out a soft cry, her five fingers exerting force, and seven-colored light erupted, forcibly pulling up the earth core fire lotus, which was rooted in the strange black reef, along with a large chunk of the reef, completely intact!

The moment the fire lotus left the ground, the entire magma lake trembled violently, as if it had lost some core!

Success!

Medusa had no intention of lingering in battle; her figure transformed into a seven-colored stream of light, rapidly fleeing towards the valley entrance!

"Hiss-aow—!!!"

The White Fire Snake was completely insane!

It abandoned Li Ao, turned its direction, and with monstrous rage and despair, frantically pursued Medusa in the direction she fled!

Its speed was actually a few points faster than before!

Li Ao looked at the rapidly departing fire snake, then glanced at the silent ruin in his hand, whose light seemed to deepen due to the intense battle, and did not immediately give chase.

His goal had been achieved; with the fire lotus in hand, there was no need to fight to the death with this maddened seventh-tier fire spirit.

He felt the considerable depletion of battle Qi in his body, and the faint pain in his Meridians from fully activating the Annihilation Domain, yet a satisfied smile curved his lips.

This battle not only verified his current strength but also gave him a deeper understanding of the use of the silent ruin and the prototype of the Annihilation Domain.

"Time to go."

He took one last look at the still-churning magma lake and the direction where the fire snake disappeared, then moved, also heading out of the valley.

In the depths of Jinyan Valley, only the White Fire Snake's unwilling and violent hisses echoed for a long time in the scorching air.