Nine Yang Sword Saint

Right after she said it, Dugu Fengwu grabbed Yang Dingtian by his neck and threw him straight into the volcano.

Yang Dingtian had to react fast. Now that he was in free-fall straight into the Fire Cloud Devil Cave, he should be ready for an attack from the Heaven Flame Phoenix at any time.

If he decided to guard himself with the Fire Immunity Chilling Pearl, Dugu Fengwu could just use her mystic qi and take it away from him, even though there were several hundred meters of distance between them.

Dugu Fengwu knew it too, which was why her eyes were completely locked onto Yang Dingtian since the moment she threw him down. The mystic qi that she controlled could suck the Fire Immunity Chilling Pearl into her hand the moment Yang Dingtian took it out.

That was her plan, at least, but that was not what actually happened. Instead, Yang Dingtian just kept on falling and falling and falling.

Ten meters.

A hundred meters.

One kilometer.

Even after so long, Yang Dingtian still did not take out the Fire Immunity Chilling Pearl. He would rather have himself killed by the Heaven Flame Phoenix than to let Dugu Fengwu steal it from him.

Watching as Yang Dingtian became a microscopic dot in her sight, Dugu Fengwu was getting shocked and anxious. She didn’t think that this fool would rather kill himself than to let her have her way.

Two kilometers.

A little more distance and Yang Dingtian would’ve been about 2.5 kilometers away from Dugu Fengwu, which was the maximum range from which she could reach him with her mystic qi.

Within a short amount of time, Yang Dingtian had already fallen way below 2.5 kilometers from Dugu Fengwu. It meant that Yang Dingtian was no longer the only one who had to think hard.

If Dugu Fengwu were to do nothing now, Yang Dingtian would escape from her range, and use the Fire Immunity Chilling Pearl to make his way into the Fire Cloud Devil Cave.

There was no way that Dugu Fengwu would allow that. So, she decided to jump down the volcano too!

After hesitating for just a few seconds, Dugu Fengwu moved her qi around and, like a bright red shooting star, made a dive towards where Yang Dingtian was heading.

Even though Yang Dingtian was falling faster with every passing second, it didn’t take much time at all for Dugu Fengwu to catch up to him. In fact, she was already less than a hundred meters away from him.

However, just when Dugu Fengwu was about to extend her arm forward, a bright light suddenly surrounded the darkness that was around her, making her unable to see or think.

You wouldn’t expect this kind of brightness on Earth. If anything, it’s the kind of destructive, blinding light that should only be seen near the surface of the sun.

Not just Yang Dingtian, even Dugu Fengwu, was having trouble opening her eyes.

Followed by this change of vision, a loud cry channeled through the volcano, at the same time, shaking everything that it had reached.

Boom.

Eventually, a fireball, one with the magnitude of a nuclear bomb, came bursting upward towards the sky.

It was the Heaven Flame Phoenix, the thousand-year-old king of this volcano. Since Yang Dingtian and Dugu Fengwu had intruded its home, it was now disturbed enough to take serious actions in retaliation.

Sensing the immense energy emerging beneath him, Yang Dingtian took out the Fire Immunity Chilling Pearl and put it in his mouth as fast as he could.

However, despite his superhuman reflex, and how far the Heaven Flame Phoenix was away from him, Yang Dingtian was already starting to feel like he was on the verge of death. It was his soul, his blood, his body. His everything, basically. He could feel himself instantaneously breaking down and crumbling away into nothingness the moment he felt the heat coming at him.

There was less than a single second between Yang Dingtian and his inevitable death. He had survived the palm of Zhu Hongxue with his Nine Yang Mystic Meridians before, but that was nothing against the attacks of a Heaven Flame Phoenix.

Yang Dingtian really felt like an ant right now. The power he was facing was way too powerful, so much so that he couldn’t even feel pain before being crushed by it.

That was the case until he took the Fire Immunity Chilling Pearl into his mouth.

The moment the pearl entered his mouth, Yang Dingtian felt a cold sensation around his entire body. It was an odd feeling; Yang Dingtian had never felt anything so cold before, but it was not at all painful nor uncomfortable in any way.

Within a split second, the pearl’s power had separated Yang Dingtian from the attack of the Heaven Flame Phoenix. It was also at this moment that Yang Dingtian had regained his sense of sight.

He could see it. Dugu Fengwu was just beside him, trying to snatch the Fire Immunity Chilling Pearl away from him. Yet, as the Heaven Flame Phoenix had just released its terrifying attacks, it was almost like time itself froze and made it impossible to even lift a finger, like when the flashlight turned on right before a photo was taken.

Like a ripe, blooming flower amid the day, Dugu Fengwu’s unmatched beauty was in full display at this very moment. Well, that was at least before the light became too bright to see anything.

It appeared that this kind of glamour would not last very long.

As a much stronger being than Yang Dingtian, Dugu Fengwu could still guard herself with her mystic qi. Whether she could survive this, however, was not even worthy of a debate.

Not even a mystic grandmaster could guard against the divine flames of a Heaven Flame Phoenix. Once the attacks had made contact with Dugu Fengwu, it would’ve swallowed her and made her disappear in the blink of an eye.

And why couldn’t she guard against it? Simple. If a human could live for only about a hundred years at best, how was it supposed to match a monster that could train for centuries without aging?

Speaking of which, the fire of the Heaven Flame Phoenix was really something. Throughout his whole life, Yang Dingtian had never seen a fire that resembled the color of blood so much.

The fire was starting to rise closer and closer towards Yang Dingtian. And at the same time, there was about half a second before Dugu Fengwu disintegrated into tiny particles of herself.

Dugu Xiao might be a great Mystic Martial Master and a villain feared by the entire world, but even he couldn’t save his daughter now. Actually, nobody except Yang Dingtian could save Dugu Fengwu at this very moment.

That being said, Dugu Fengwu was somebody who was after Yang Dingtian’s throat this entire time. She had been a pain to him ever since the moment they had met and even threw him down the volcano just then, with no other reason but to steal the Fire Immunity Chilling Pearl away from him.

In summary, Dugu Fengwu didn’t care about Yang Dingtian’s life. This was about as obvious as it could get. And if that was the case, should Yang Dingtian save her life?

If Yang Dingtian didn’t save Dugu Fengwu, she would die here.

What if he saved her? But why? Yang Dingtian couldn’t find any reason to.

“I don’t really care about her…” Yang Dingtian looked away for a bit.

As though starving to engulf the world and all that was in it, the raging flame quickly rushed over Yang Dingtian and Dugu Fengwu, at the same time, surrounded them like the violent tides during a storm.

******************

With his arms wrapped around Dugu Fengwu’s slender waist, Yang Dingtian pressed his lips as tightly as he could against her lips, at the same time sharing the energy of the Fire Immunity Chilling Pearl with her.

The gigantic streaks of flames, which had now gone over Yang Dingtian and Dugu Fengwu, were now rushing out of the Fire Cloud Devil Cave and made their way into the sky.

What was happening now looked like a volcano eruption, but it was actually something entirely different.

The whole volcano, from top to bottom, was melting into glowing red lava.

Yang Dingtian knew he regretted it the moment he bit onto Dugu Fengwu’s lips. Even after telling himself so many times, he still decided to rescue Dugu Fengwu.

Why? Was Yang Dingtian too soft to see a life lost in front of him? That’s definitely not the case, especially when he himself had committed many murders before.

Logically speaking, there was only one reason that Yang Dingtian would save Dugu Fengwu’s life here, and that was because she had a pretty face.

That being said, Yang Dingtian didn’t like Dugu Fengwu’s personality. He thought that her personality was essentially as bad as it could get, which was why he would never want to be in a relationship with her.

So why, then? It wasn’t like Yang Dingtian had the time to flirt around, either. His priority now was to become stronger and take back the Cloud Heaven City. He needed to rescue Yanyan from the Sea of Hades.

So, with all that in mind, maybe, Yang Dingtian just didn’t want to see a living girl, especially a beautiful one, getting evaporated by a bird.

Yeah, that was probably about it.

With the power of the Fire Immunity Chilling Pearl, Yang Dingtian had now traveled ten kilometers through the streak of flames targeted at him.

The Heaven Flame Phoenix was now in Yang Dingtian’s sight. However, to his surprise, it was kind of hard to recognize it as the proud creature that it was.

Unexpectedly, the Heaven Flame Phoenix in front of him was an injured one, tied up in chains with wounds and raging flames all around its body, which was bigger than even that of a modern aircraft carrier.

Judging from how it was trapped inside the volcano, it was almost like the poor beast had been in this state for at least a whole millennium. But who, or what, possessed the power to hold prisoner such a world-shaking monster like it?

Not that it mattered now. Yang Dingtian and Dugu Fengwu were still falling down the volcano.

About ten kilometers down.

As they had escaped the fire attack of the Heaven Flame Phoenix, Yang Dingtian found himself surrounded by darkness once again.

Suddenly, Yang Dingtian felt a slight movement in his arms. It was Dugu Fengwu.

“No need to thank me. I was the stupid one who saved you…” Yang Dingtian said after he moved his lips away from her.

Before Yang Dingtian even finished talking, a quick slap from Dugu Fengwu went across his face and knocked him unconscious.

She clearly had no intention to show any gratitude. “You demon woman…” Yang Dingtian said before he passed out.

***********************

It didn’t take much time before Yang Dingtian had come to his senses. By the time he woke up, he had found himself lying on a flat, solid surface and surrounded by complete darkness.

“Where’s the Mystic Fire Devil Hammer? Give it to me, or I’ll tear you into pieces,” Dugu Fengwu commanded.

“Ah, Demon Woman,” Yang Dingtian smiled after blinking for a few times, “Not even a harlot would be as cold as you.”

“Did I ask you to save my life?” Dugu Fengwu replied in the exact same way as that time at Inferno Island. It was much more irritating to hear that now, however.

“And where did you hide the Fire Immunity Chilling Pearl before?” Dugu Fengwu continued her interrogation.

“I hid it in my bum. How does that make you feel?” Yang Dingtian replied. He had to tell because half of the pearl went inside Dugu Fengwu’s mouth.

“Gross, but not that it matters,” Dugu Fengwu said calmly, “So, where did you put the Mystic Fire Devil Hammer then? You can’t fit it in your …, am I right?”

Yang Dingtian was speechless. Instead of replying, he got up from the ground and revealed a night-shining pearl out of his pocket. While the light of this pearl was not strong, it was bright enough to spread out in every direction of this area.

Now, good news and bad news.

The good news was that there was no maze or any kind of secret passageways around here.

The bad news? This place was massive, like massive, more massive than massive.

It took about several minutes of free-fall to get down here. And after somebody had finally made their landing, if they could make it, the first thing they would find would be that there was nothing but the abyss waiting around them.

Yang Dingtian was at the bottom of the Earth. He knew that well enough, but it was still hard not to feel like he was in the middle of space, where everything around him was so dark and expanding on infinitely.

The ground Yang Dingtian was standing on now was a giant round plate, which had a diameter of around twenty-something meters. This compass, which was floating in the air, was what caught him and Dugu Fengwu.

Okay, that was weird, but where the hell was the grade nine inferno?