255: Fire Domain Barrier

Deep within the Tagor Desert, the environment was far more severe than at its edges. The scorching sun, like a giant fireball, mercilessly baked the boundless golden sea of sand. The air, warped by the high temperature, shimmered with visible heatwaves. Gusts of wind whipped up sand and grit, forming yellow tornadoes that connected heaven and earth, howling like ghosts and wolves.

Here, even ordinary Dou Huang experts needed to circulate their Dou Qi to protect their bodies just to barely withstand this harsh environment. But for Li Ao and the two women, such conditions could no longer affect them in the slightest.

Following the increasingly clear scorching fluctuations and the gradually thickening violent fire-attribute energy in the air, the three quickly arrived at their destination.

It was an extremely peculiar sight.

Amidst the vast sea of sand, a massive, crimson basin, seemingly covered in glazed glass, abruptly appeared. At the edge of the basin, a translucent, dark-red flame barrier, visible to the naked eye, enveloped the entire basin like an inverted giant bowl. Dark-red flames flowed slowly across the barrier like liquid, occasionally condensing into various ferocious fire beast forms, letting out silent roars at the outside of the barrier.

A chilling "incineration" will emanated from the barrier, as if it could scorch souls and burn all things to ashes. The sand around the barrier was not ordinary yellow sand, but exhibited a crystallized texture, reflecting an eerie light—a sight formed by prolonged exposure to extreme high temperatures.

This was the periphery of the Burning Flame Valley ruins, and also the flame barrier that had blocked countless experts!

At this moment, outside the barrier, hundreds of figures had already gathered. They were clearly divided into more than a dozen groups, scattered at different positions around the barrier. Some sat cross-legged, silently sensing the barrier's fluctuations; others tried various methods, either activating weapons for long-range attacks or casting water and ice-type Dou Techniques, attempting to weaken the barrier. However, most of these attacks, when they landed on the dark-red flame barrier, were like mud oxen entering the sea, barely stirring a ripple. The few more powerful ones would provoke a counterattack from the flames on the barrier, swallowing both the attack and the caster.

The arrival of Li Ao and the two women did not cause much of a stir. During this period, experts who had heard the news constantly arrived, many of whom were Dou Zun-level existences, a sight everyone had grown accustomed to.

Li Ao's gaze swept across the entire scene, his soul power silently spreading out, instantly gauging the strength of the experts present.

Northwest Continent native forces: Led by an old man in imperial robes whose aura reached Eight-Star Dou Zong, he seemed to be an imperial expert from the Izumo Empire; there were also several Peak Dou Huang mercenary group leaders and sect masters.

Central Plains forces: Not many in number, but extremely high in quality. Two groups were particularly prominent.

One group wore uniform crimson robes with flame cloud patterns embroidered on their sleeves. The leader was an arrogant-faced red-haired old man whose aura had reached Three-Star Dou Zun. Behind him followed two One-Star Dou Zun and several Peak Dou Zong disciples.

"People from Burning Flame Valley," Medusa transmitted, recognizing their origin. Burning Flame Valley, known for its fire-attribute cultivation methods, was naturally determined to obtain the exotic flame here.

The other group appeared more mysterious, consisting of only three individuals, all wearing wide black robes with restrained auras. However, Li Ao's soul perception could detect the cold, obscure power within their bodies. The strength of their leader had actually reached Two-Star Dou Zun, and the energy attribute made Li Ao feel a familiar discomfort.

"Hall of Souls' trash," Li Ao's eyes slightly chilled as he confirmed their identity. They were hidden among the crowd, seemingly not wanting to expose themselves, but that unique soul stench could not escape Li Ao's perception.

Besides these two groups, there were also several lone Dou Zun rogue cultivators, whose auras ranged from One-Star to Three-Star. Each occupied a position, warily observing the others.

The combination of Li Ao and the two women—a Half-Saint (with a restrained aura, appearing as a high-level Dou Zun to outsiders), a Peak Dou Zun (Xiao Yi Xian), and a Peak Dou Zong (Medusa had disguised part of her aura)—was considered one of the top combat powers among this group, immediately attracting many wary and probing gazes. Especially the Three-Star Dou Zun from Burning Flame Valley and the Two-Star Dou Zun from the Hall of Souls, their gazes lingered on Li Ao for a long time.

Li Ao ignored these gazes and led the two women to an open space slightly closer to the barrier, carefully observing the flame barrier before them.

"The power source of this barrier comes from an extremely vast fire-attribute spiritual vein deep underground, and it is connected to the core of the ruins itself, endlessly regenerating. Forcibly attacking it will only invite a more violent backlash," Xiao Yi Xian said softly after sensing for a moment. Her Chaotic Poison Body was exceptionally sensitive to energy flow.

Medusa, meanwhile, stared at the flowing dark-red flames, her snake pupils swirling with colorful light: "This flame contains a trace of an extremely ancient 'Burning' law, incredibly violent, far beyond ordinary Beast Fire or even some lower-ranked exotic flames. I'm afraid... it truly is related to an existence on the level of the Purification Lotus Demon Flame."

Li Ao nodded. He extended his right index finger, and a wisp of pure Guixu Sacred Power slowly emerged from its tip, like a tentacle, cautiously approaching the dark-red flame barrier.

"Hiss..."

Just as the Guixu Sacred Power was about to touch the barrier, the flames on the barrier seemed to be stimulated, suddenly surging up and transforming into a ferocious fire snake, biting towards that wisp of Holy Power! Wherever the fire snake passed, the space was slightly distorted by the scorching heat.

With a thought from Li Ao, that wisp of Guixu Sacred Power advanced instead of retreating, gently colliding with the fire snake.

There was no explosion, nor was there any energy cancellation. The fierce fire snake, upon contact with the Guixu Sacred Power, had its violent flame law within it seemingly encounter its nemesis, quickly becoming chaotic and then calming down. Finally, the fire snake, as if losing its soul, transformed back into ordinary flame energy, which Li Ao's Holy Power then smoothly devoured and absorbed.

"It really works," a hint of understanding flashed in Li Ao's eyes. Although the barrier's flames were strong, their essence was still a form of "existence," and his Guixu Great Dao was precisely skilled at "erasing" anomalies from a rule-based level. Although with his current strength, he couldn't instantly erase the entire barrier, finding a node and opening a temporary passage was not impossible.

Though his probing action just now was small, the abnormal extinguishing of that fire snake was noticed by some attentive individuals. The red-haired old man from Burning Flame Valley and the Black Robed Man from the Hall of Souls both had a hint of surprise and solemnity flash in their eyes.

"This person... can actually resolve the backlash of the barrier's flames so easily?" The red-haired old man frowned tightly.

The Black Robed Man from the Hall of Souls secretly transmitted a message: "Target confirmed. Strength is suspected to exceed ordinary Dou Zun, possesses a peculiar power that can restrain the flame barrier. The plan needs to be adjusted; prioritize surveillance, act when the opportunity arises."

Li Ao retracted his finger and transmitted to Medusa and Xiao Yi Xian: "I have found a way to break it, but it will take some time to analyze the barrier's energy nodes. During this period, be wary of others, especially those from Burning Flame Valley and the Hall of Souls."

The two women nodded slightly, one on the left and one on the right, subtly shielding Li Ao in the middle.

Li Ao closed his eyes, his Emperor Realm Soul power, like the finest carving knife, began to meticulously dissect the vast and complex flame barrier before him, searching for those fleeting weak points in its operation.

And the surrounding forces, seeing that this newly arrived mysterious expert seemed to have found some way, also settled down, their eyes flickering, unsure what thoughts they were brewing. Beneath the calm surface, undercurrents surged.