Immortality Cultivation

Chapter 282: Cooperation

"You don’t need to confront it head-on for too long!" Crimson Phoenix’s eyes flashed with a hint of ruthlessness. "I will try my best to speed things up! Moreover, destroying the fiend soul crystal will not only weaken it, but it will very likely cause it to fall into temporary chaos! You only need to use your movement technique to circle around and stall for time! Here are an Ice Heart Soul-Suppressing Pill and a Fire Feather Escape Talisman, plus this ’Exploding Flame Thunder Bead.’ Take them; at a critical moment, they might be able to hold it back!"

As she spoke, she handed Fang Hao an intense red bead the size of a dragon’s eye, with intertwined thunder and fire patterns on its surface, radiating a violent aura.

Fang Hao took it, felt the terrifying explosive energy contained within, and nodded. This woman was certainly well-prepared.

"Remember, there is only one chance! Once I start triggering the spirit fire, I will be unable to focus on anything else! Everything is up to you!" Crimson Phoenix looked deeply at Fang Hao, her eyes filled with determination, trust, and a hint of undetectable pleading.

Fang Hao took a deep breath, suppressed the throbbing in his heart, and nodded heavily. "I will do my best."

The two said no more and each took their Medicinal Pill. Fang Hao held the Ice Heart Soul-Suppressing Pill in his mouth without swallowing it immediately; the Medicinal Pill had a limited duration and had to be used at the most critical moment. He held the Exploding Flame Thunder Bead in his left hand, while his right hand secretly gathered strength, his Chaos Spiritual Power and Physical Body’s Qi and blood power circulating quietly, locking onto the positions of those few fiend soul crystals.

Crimson Phoenix took out a red, fire-like jade bottle, poured out a Medicinal Pill the size of a dragon’s eye with jumping flame patterns on its surface, and swallowed it without hesitation. In an instant, her aura surged, climbing directly from Perfected Golden Core to the level of near Early Nascent Soul Stage, but her face also instantly turned flushed; clearly, the side effects of this Medicinal Pill were significant. Immediately after, she conjured a treasure as red as glaze, shaped like an inverted jade bowl, which spun and hovered above her head, casting down layers of red light curtains to protect her. This was the "Li Fire Shield" she had mentioned earlier.

After doing all this, Crimson Phoenix did not hesitate. Her jade hands formed hand seals like a butterfly flitting through flowers, and her cherry lips parted slightly, spitting out a series of ancient, awkward, and rhythmic flame-filled syllables. At the same time, she opened her mouth and spat out a stream of extremely pure, pale golden life-source true fire, mixed with several drops of essence blood forced from her fingertips, turning into a strange rune that slowly flew toward the soldier fiend spirit fire on Broken Blade Cliff.

As soon as that rune appeared, the soldier fiend spirit fire above Broken Blade Cliff seemed to be drawn by something, jumping violently. The dark red and platinum light within it flared, and the sharpness and scorching heat it radiated suddenly increased!

"Roar—!!!"

Almost simultaneously, the Soldier Soul, which had been standing like a statue by the pool of Evil Qi, suddenly moved! The dark red flames in its empty eye sockets jumped wildly, and it let out an earth-shattering roar! This roar was no longer a simple wail of resentment, but one full of violent anger for having its taboo touched!

Terrifying Evil Qi erupted from its body like a tsunami, and the air in the entire Broken Blade Cliff area froze! It suddenly turned around, and the phantom of the broken giant axe in its hand, with the power to split the heavens and earth, rolled up boundless Evil Qi and hacked fiercely toward Crimson Phoenix, who was casting her spell! Before the giant axe arrived, the terrifying pressure and sharp aura had already caused the Li Fire Shield light curtain outside Crimson Phoenix to shake violently, and her face turned deathly pale in an instant!

Now!

The moment the Soldier Soul turned and swung its axe toward Crimson Phoenix, Fang Hao, who had already been poised for action, moved!

He did not hesitate at all and swallowed the Ice Heart Soul-Suppressing Pill he had been holding in his mouth! The Medicinal Pill dissolved the moment it entered his mouth, and a stream of icy, clear energy instantly surged through his entire body, rushing straight into his Sea of Consciousness, instantly suppressing all the restlessness, fear, auditory hallucinations, and other negative emotions brought about by the Soldier Soul’s pressure and the Evil Qi of this place, leaving his mind clear and cold!

Meanwhile, he pushed his Divine Spirit Steps to the limit, turning into a blurred afterimage. Like a ghost, he lunged toward the dark red fiend soul crystals at the edge of the Evil Qi pool at an astonishing speed! The hundred-zhang distance was covered in an instant!

"Shatter for me!"

Fang Hao roared in his heart. His right fist, already fully charged with power, blended Chaos Spiritual Power and platinum Qi and blood, slamming without any flair into the nearest fiend soul crystal! He dared not hold back at all; every strike was with full force!

Boom!

Crack!

The moment his fist made contact with the fiend soul crystal, the surface of that dark red crystal, which radiated thick resentment and Evil Qi, instantly filled with cracks and then exploded with a bang! Countless dark red fragments of Evil Qi and shrill, resentful soul screams scattered everywhere!

Having succeeded with one strike, Fang Hao did not stop. His figure moved like lightning as he lunged toward the second and third fiend soul crystals! He knew that time was life; he had to destroy enough nodes before the Soldier Soul reacted or Crimson Phoenix could no longer hold on!

Boom! Boom!

Two more explosions sounded, which seemed insignificant amidst the Soldier Soul’s earth-shattering roar and the thunderous sound of the giant axe hacking at the Li Fire Shield, but they were crucial! The other two fiend soul crystals also followed the first one, shattering into pieces under Fang Hao’s violent fists!

"Roar—!!!"

With the three fiend soul crystals destroyed, the Soldier Soul, which was frantically attacking Crimson Phoenix’s Li Fire Shield, shuddered, letting out a painful and furious roar! The armor of Evil Qi that had condensed around it, which had been almost tangible, became visibly thin and unstable! Its connection to the Evil Qi pool beneath its feet and the soldier fiend spirit fire above seemed to have been forcibly severed in several places, and its aura dropped suddenly! Although it was still powerful, it clearly fell from the Middle Nascent Soul Stage to the Peak of the Early Nascent Soul Stage, and was even somewhat unstable!

Its movements also stalled for a moment, and its dark red flame eyes suddenly turned toward Fang Hao! That gaze was filled with endless resentment and killing intent! It was even more intense than the killing intent it had shown toward Crimson Phoenix earlier! Because it felt that it was this person who had destroyed the source of its power!

"Now! Fang Hao, hold it back!" Crimson Phoenix’s sharp cry came. The light of the Li Fire Shield above her head had already dimmed significantly, and a trace of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth; clearly, she had been injured by the Soldier Soul’s furious strike just now. But her hand seals were even faster, and the rune mixed with her life-source true fire and essence blood had already flown near the soldier fiend spirit fire, beginning to rotate slowly and emit a strange suction force, attempting to pull down that terrifying fire seed.

The Soldier Soul, enraged by the destruction of the fiend soul crystals and stimulated by Crimson Phoenix’s attempt to collect the spirit fire, fell into a brief state of chaos and fury. But it quickly locked onto the real "culprit"—Fang Hao!

"Die!!!"

A slurred, yet filled with endless killing intent, roar came from the Soldier Soul’s mouth made of Evil Qi. It abandoned Crimson Phoenix, or rather, it decided that it must first resolve this bug that had destroyed its power nodes and posed a greater threat, before dealing with the woman trying to steal the fire seed!

The phantom of the broken giant axe in its hand was raised again. This time, all its anger and killing intent were locked onto Fang Hao! On the axe blade, terrifying Evil Qi, martial energy, and a trace of the broken yet still peerlessly sharp axe intent belonging to that ancient powerful being were condensed! Although its power had decreased because the fiend soul crystals were destroyed, it was still a strike at the Nascent Soul level! Far from what a Golden Core Cultivator could withstand!

As the giant axe hacked down, it seemed as if all the Evil Qi of Broken Blade Cliff was triggered, turning into a gray-black axe light that tore through the Void Realm and slashed down toward Fang Hao! Before the axe light arrived, the terrifying pressure and sharpness had already caused the bones in Fang Hao’s body to crackle, and his skin felt as if it were being cut by countless sharp blades, oozing beads of blood! The ground beneath his feet cracked and collapsed inch by inch!

Life and death hung by a thread!