His skin was fair as congealed fat, and his eyes gleamed like stars.
His striking countenance seemed like that of an immortal banished to the mortal realm, captivating all who laid eyes upon him.
Yet what stood out the most was his iconic azure hair.
Even after a Tier 4 humanoid transformation, that distinctive hair color remained impossible to alter. It belonged to none other than the sovereign of the merfolk—Liu Jun!
Luo Chen spoke his name and origin aloud, drawing a look of surprise from Liu Jun.
"Junior, you actually recognize me?"
"How could I not? Fleeing defeated from the Sunken Sea, the one bested by our Myriad Immortals Association's Blood Hermit—Luo would never mistake you."
"You!"
A flash of fury crossed Liu Jun's face, yet he made no move.
Perplexed, Luo Chen's gaze fell upon the five-colored lotus platform beneath him.
It was precisely the goal of his journey—the Five Elements Lotus Platform!
Moreover, its quality far surpassed the one he had seen in Azure Pill Valley all those years ago; the aura radiating from it was already infinitely close to Tier 5!
"Something is wrong, Luo Chen!"
Han Zhan's voice entered his ears, tinged with urgency.
"He is absorbing the power of that lotus platform to heal his injuries."
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow. No wonder the man remained sitting steady as Mount Tai despite such blatant verbal provocation.
However!
If he let him absorb the power of the Five Elements Lotus Platform, how would he use it to refine a Nascent Soul Formation Pill in the future?
"If you won't come out, then I'll come in!"
Luo Chen barked in a low voice and shot forward like lightning, charging straight into the depths of the vast magma lake.
To catch the tiger's cub, one had to enter the tiger's den!
As he dashed forward, seven flying swords at his side suddenly merged into one, serving as the vanguard.
The elongated blade surged with sharp, suffocating baleful aura.
In the blink of an eye, it arrived before Liu Jun.
The merfolk sovereign merely flicked a finger gently.
*Clang!*
The Seven Fiends Swords took a heavy impact. The merged giant sword instantly broke apart, turning into seven streaks of light that scattered helplessly into the depths of the magma lake.
Luo Chen was not surprised to see this.
This set of flying swords from the Master of Baizao Mountain was formidable, but he had barely refined them, relying purely on the Soul Heaven Sword Casket to control them indirectly.
Never mind the Seven Fiends Sword Array; even everyday intricacies were hard for him to unleash, and he had only mastered the Giant Sword Art.
Yet he still had follow-up moves!
An azure handprint rose from his palm, coiled with power yet unreleased.
As he dashed forward at full speed, the surrounding magma seemed drawn by an invisible pull, converging toward him, causing the azure handprint to swell larger and larger.
When he was a hundred zhang away...
"Go!"
With a low roar, the Qingyang Great Handprint came crashing down.
Seeing this palm strike, Liu Jun frowned slightly. He drew a circle with his left hand, then gently pushed it forward.
*Buzz...*
A halo of cerulean light expanded outward.
When the halo met the great handprint, the two attacks soundlessly canceled each other out before their eyes.
At this sight, Liu Jun turned a somewhat solemn gaze toward Luo Chen.
"A fire-attribute spell cultivated to perfection, capable of drawing ambient fire qi for your own use. I truly underestimated you.
"Under ordinary circumstances, I might take you as a slave.
"But right now, I need to heal, and I have no interest in playing with you."
His murmuring voice drifted out like a mesmerizing melody.
These plain, straightforward words sounded incomparably melodious and enchanting to Luo Chen's ears.
Like gentle, secret whispers, or the soft weeping of a hidden spring.
*He is healing. He truly carries injuries.*
*Blood Hermit must have inflicted them. Blood Hermit is terrifyingly strong—a mid Nascent Soul cultivator, yet reputed to be no weaker than a late Nascent Soul grand cultivator.*
*Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun is merely in the early Nascent Soul realm; how could he match Blood Hermit?*
*In other words, right now is my best chance to defeat him...*
Swayed by those words, thoughts churned uncontrollably in Luo Chen's mind, and he could almost envision an effortless victory ahead.
Right at that moment.
A needle-like prick pierced through his sea of consciousness and struck his divine soul.
"Wake up!"
Luo Chen's stray thoughts vanished in an instant. Beside the sharp pang of pain, horror seized his heart.
The song of the merfolk was truly dreamlike and intoxicating!
Had Han Zhan not forcefully jolted him awake, the demon might have slowed his reactions with just a few sentences, leaving him at his mercy.
Sure enough!
When Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun's tone abruptly shifted, it sounded like a silver vase shattering, or the clash of sabers and spears!
A flash of blue light bolted straight toward Luo Chen.
In such a hairsbreadth moment, there was no time for Luo Chen to react.
The radiance struck him instantly!
*Thud!*
*Screech!*
*Clang!*
Three distinct sounds rang out in rapid succession.
Luo Chen slowly lifted his head. Held firmly in his grip was a water-attribute flying sword shaped like a swimming fish, easily ranking among high-grade magic treasures.
It was this very sword that had pierced two layers of his ultimate defenses back-to-back.
Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun looked somewhat astonished. But as he watched the red Daoist robe on Luo Chen shift into black armor, understanding dawned upon him.
"Truly worthy of a human cultivator—such exceptional external armaments. A single armored robe with both inner and outer qi armor, stalling for a moment to save your miserable life."
Luo Chen's expression turned fierce. "Don't even think of confusing my mind with your bewitching voice again!"
Pure magic power had already formed two barriers over his ears, shutting out all external sound.
Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun smiled faintly and flicked his finger once more!
Instantly, the flying sword in Luo Chen's grip began to spin madly, attempting to forcefully bore through his defense.
*Screech! Screech! Screech!*
Sharp whines rang out incessantly, shrieking like an electric drill.
Luo Chen's expression hardened. "Get lost!"
Clutching the sword with one hand, he smashed a fist across with the other.
*Clang!*
The flying sword bent visibly under the impact.
Yet it only bent; it did not shatter.
Liu Jun beckoned with his hand.
*Whoosh!*
The flying sword tore free of Luo Chen's grip and returned to its master's side. After being replenished with magic power, it snapped straight in a flash, good as new.
Such a feat testified to the exceptional quality of its materials.
Even with Luo Chen's brute strength, he could not destroy it by force.
Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun cast aside his earlier disdain.
He remembered this person—someone possessing astonishing escape speed, who had fled beforehand at Three Pillars Gorge in the Sunken Sea, avoiding the fate of being enslaved alongside Dao Lan.
Now, the man's spells and physique exhibited attainments far beyond ordinary Golden Core cultivators.
Thus, he could not be treated as a common Golden Core peer.
Taking a deep breath, he directly deployed the simplest and most effective countermeasure a Nascent Soul True Person possessed against low-tier cultivators.
*Boom!*
A powerful, oppressive aura erupted outward, centered on him.
In an instant, it enveloped Luo Chen.
A Nascent Soul domain!
"I know not why you seek your own doom, but I remember that you once killed one of my clansmen and ruthlessly burned him to ashes.
"Today, I shall give you a taste of your own medicine!"
Murmuring, he exhaled a wisp of magic power.
As the power took flight, it transformed into a flame of cerulean blue.
This was no sourceless fire, but the most authentic Nascent Soul True Fire!
The cerulean flame drifted forward unhurriedly, as though completely unconcerned that Luo Chen might flee.
Under normal circumstances, that would indeed be the case.
After all, what Golden Core cultivator could resist the domain suppression of a Nascent Soul True Person?
Yet Luo Chen was no ordinary Golden Core!
*Boom!*
"Senluo Fire Hell, open!"
A colossal surge of crimson magic power erupted with full force, amplified by his life-bound magic treasure, the Hunyuan Cauldron.
Like an erupting volcano, it shattered the suppression of the Nascent Soul domain in an instant.
Azure flames surged, enveloping Luo Chen's entire body.
Like a purgatory fiendgod, he stood tall amid the magma.
He lifted his head toward the sky, curling his lips in a sneer. The oppressive force of this Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun's domain was truly rather weak!
Either the demon's own cultivation realm was inadequate, or he was severely constrained by the environment here.
In the Blazing Purgatory, fire-attribute spiritual qi saturated the surroundings, while ambient spiritual qi of the other four elements was virtually nonexistent.
In particular, the water-attribute spiritual qi that opposed it was almost completely absent.
Under such conditions, a merfolk Nascent Soul born and raised in the vast ocean could likely exert less than half of his full strength.
Therefore!
"This place is my home ground!"
Luo Chen abruptly looked down, thrust out his right arm brazenly, and blasted a punch forward.
The drifting cerulean flame was shattered on the spot.
Having dispersed the other's Nascent Soul True Fire, Luo Chen burst into motion, turning into a fiery streak that sprinted wildly across the vast magma lake.
Centered around the Five Elements Lotus Platform, more and more of Luo Chen's afterimages appeared.
Azure great handprints were launched relentlessly from the depths of the magma lake.
*Boom!*
*Boom!*
*Boom!*
Though it sounded protracted, from the moment Luo Chen broke through the domain suppression to dispersing the true fire with a wave of his hand and launching his furious counterattack, only a split second had passed.
Faced with the boiling magma lake and the countless azure handprints hurled by myriad afterimages, Liu Jun's composure finally shattered.
"He can actually disregard my Nascent Soul domain!"
There was no time to ponder what tricks the man had employed.
With countless handprints blasting toward him, Liu Jun had no choice but to continuously cast demon arts in defense.
Yet the moment he channeled his demon arts, he noticed something amiss.
*My magic power... this brat is using a domain-like technique to agitate my magic power into boiling!*
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort, fury crossed the handsome man's face, and he spat out a round bead.
Radiance spread, threatening to seal off the inside from the outside.
Just then!
*Clang!*
A sword hum rang out!
The next instant, seven swords sang in unison, smoothly snapping into an array!
Seven streams of baleful aura formed a tempest of sword blades, knocking the bead straight into the air.
A sword array!
Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun's expression changed drastically. "Despicable!"
Without hesitation, he shifted his thoughts.
The bead abruptly shattered.
A wave of extreme freezing power rippled outward.
Everywhere it passed, the boiling magma was turned to glaciers, and the sweltering heat that had shrouded this place for centuries began to plummet rapidly.
Liu Jun inhaled deeply, sweeping his divine sense to locate Luo Chen's true body.
Suddenly.
The sound of cracking ice rang out.
Reflected in his star-like eyes was a nine-zhang giant shaking a pair of wings as he burst out from beneath the ice into the sky.
A massive hand clenched into an iron fist that tore through the air.
Mountain Breaker Form!
This time, Liu Jun could no longer sit still.
Rising tall from the Five Elements Lotus Platform, he countered with a punch of his own. As he swung his fist, flecks of iridescent scales surfaced along his arm.
The two struck each other.
*Bang!*
A colossal rebound force threw both figures backward uncontrollably.
Amidst shattered ice and boiling magma, the Five Elements Lotus Platform slowly began to sink.
Seeing this, Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun panicked.
Flicking his wrist, he whipped out a trailing sleeve to wrap around the Five Elements Lotus Platform.
Yet just before the sleeve could envelop it, the lotus platform spun nimbly in the air and vanished into the depths of the lake.
"Damn it!"
Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun was beside himself with rage. Unable to pursue the lotus platform he had worked so hard to find, he fixed his gaze on Luo Chen.
With just one look, uncertainty filled his eyes.
"Are you human, or a desolate beast?"
Having sealed his ears, Luo Chen could not hear a word he said.
Even if he could read his lips, Luo Chen had no intention of answering.
Remaining silent, he slammed a palm against the layer of ice beneath his feet.
A surge of immense force accelerated the collapse of the ice, and the suppressed magma surged out once more.
The home-field advantage was still his!
Then, Luo Chen took a step.
The void cracked with an explosive roar!
The distance between them had been short to begin with, and with Airburst Steps activated, he was in front of him in a flash.
A claw slashed through the air.
The blue sword swung again!
*Clang!*
The Cloud-Seeking Divine Claw struck once more!
*Clang!*
In an instant, Luo Chen unleashed the full breadth of the Demonic Lord's Seven Loose Hands.
Blinding movement speed, monstrous brute force, coupled with exquisite body techniques, occasionally woven with instantaneous bursts of the Qingyang Great Handprint powered by magic power.
With such a barrage of combos, after mere dozens of exchanges, Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun was battered into an exhausted retreat, falling into a clear disadvantage.
When another clash rang out, the blue flying sword of exceptional quality shattered before Liu Jun's eyes, burying itself in the lake.
*No, I can't keep fighting him here!*
*My domain is suppressed by the Blazing Purgatory, my magic power is being depleted without recovery, and his physique surpasses mine.*
*Most of all, that hidden presence makes me feel like I have needles at my back!*
Taking a deep breath, Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun took a blow from Luo Chen by sweeping his sleeve across, then used the momentum to retreat, rocketing straight into the sky.
Seeing this, killing intent flared in Luo Chen.
Glancing down at the magma lake, he then soared into the sky without hesitation, giving hot pursuit.
Just as he burst out of the magma lake and reached the sky, Luo Chen's pupils constricted.
In his line of sight, Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun had not fled.
He stood high in the sky, cradling an oil lamp in his hand.
A deep azure oil lamp!
A drop of liquid, resembling both fresh blood and fat, was dripping from Liu Jun's fingertip onto the lamp.
"Did you truly believe you had me thoroughly suppressed in this place?"
"I am a being who survived the Great Demon War. Would I fear mere water-fire opposition?"
His earlier suppression and dishevelment made Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun laugh in pure fury.
*Sizzle!*
A spark of blue flame suddenly emerged upon the oil lamp.
With a gentle blow, the blue flame drifted leisurely toward Luo Chen.
*Danger!*
An extreme signal of peril screamed wildly in his mind.
Without a second thought, Luo Chen fled into the distance.
However, while the flame seemed to drift slowly, its flight speed was astonishingly rapid.
Even with Luo Chen's Tier 4 desolate ancient true form and his consummate Ninety Thousand Li speed, he somehow could not shake off that bizarre flame.
When Luo Chen was forced to halt upon a high peak, the flame appeared right before his eyes.
With a vicious grimace, he thrust out his left hand, grasping toward the flame.
A hand cloaked in Wither-Bloom Fire reached fearlessly to seize the blue flame.
Not far away, Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun, who had pursued him closely, sneered at the sight.
"Courting death!"
The next instant, the giant's left arm made direct contact with the flame before Liu Jun's eyes.
Azure and blue clashed, neither yielding an inch!
Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun was once again amazed. This brat actually commanded such a miraculous flame?
Still, it was not enough!
Sure enough, as the two colors fought, the turning point lay in the "battlefield."
The former held greater momentum, while the latter's light was dim.
Yet the moment the blue light touched flesh and blood, it suddenly surged, overpowering the azure flame.
*"In the Northern Sea dwell the merfolk, fair of face and skilled in song. Divine silk weaves beneath their hands; their teardrops shine like moons. Merfolk blood extends one's years; their tallow burns ten thousand springs..."*
Ever since he slew a Tier 3 late-stage merfolk in the Sunken Sea and witnessed the emergence of Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun, Luo Chen had searched extensively for information regarding this race.
At this moment, those records flashed across his mind.
He stared at his left hand, falling silent as his surging physical vitality was instead consumed by the blue flame.
Evidently, this strange flame had been ignited by a Nascent Soul True Person using his own tallow as lamp oil to fuel an oil lamp comparable to a true artifact.
Such an art was not something his incompletely mastered Wither-Bloom Fire could withstand.
If this continued, even a physique comparable to a Tier 4 desolate beast would be burned to nothingness.
Pity there was not enough time; otherwise, he could have severed it with the Dragon Slaying Art.
When decisive action was needed, one had to cut clean, lest hesitation bring ruin.
Without a word, Luo Chen joined his right fingers like a sword, and a streak of blood-red light swept across.
*Snap!*
His left hand fell to the ground.
Having closed to within ten zhang, Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun was taken aback upon seeing this.
He had expected the man to rely on that miraculous azure fire to hold out a little longer.
He never imagined he would be so decisive!
Just then, Luo Chen raised his head, his cold eyes fixed on him in a deadly glare.
Liu Jun frowned. "What other tricks do you have? The demon fire produced by my clan's true artifact specifically counters desolate beasts with surging vitality. Now that your physique is restricted by me, and you no longer have your home-field advantage..."
Luo Chen smiled sinisterly. Forming a seal with his right hand, he slammed a palm downward.
Not toward Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun.
Rather, he struck the towering mountain beneath his feet.
"Landslide!"
A low roar echoed across the desolate expanse.
The next instant, before Liu Jun's bewildered gaze, the great mountain shattered.
The tremendous blast wave of the explosion forced both of them backward.
"Thinking of running?"
Amidst the blast wave, Liu Jun's expression turned frigid. Since this junior had pushed him to such lengths, he would never let him escape.
Striding forward, he moved to pursue Luo Chen.
Right at that moment.
A sharp shriek echoed from within the shattered mountain range.
A giant silver python burst out in fury.
With just a single glance, Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun recognized the true nature of that silver python.
"A fire spirit!"
Luo Chen sneered coldly. Opening his mouth, he exhaled a streak of azure flame that transformed in the air into a fiery tree.
"Go, kill him!"
The fire tree swayed and surged toward Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun.
Sensing the movement of its kin, the giant silver python also fixed its sights on Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun.
Seeing two fire spirits—both at least at Tier 4—charging toward him, Merfolk Sovereign Liu Jun panicked!
A vicious glint flashed in Luo Chen's eyes as he glanced around, monstrous killing intent surging within his heart.
With a flick of his frame, he flew toward another erupting volcano.
*Not enough!*
*Still not enough!*
*I want him dead here in the Blazing Purgatory!*
Chapter 671