A deafening roar erupted without warning, and the entire quiet chamber trembled violently under its impact.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
As the echo of the roar lingered, the stone arrow in Li Yun’s hand began to shudder fiercely. Fine fractures spread rapidly along the shaft, and from within those cracks, strands of crimson light seeped out.
The crimson radiance was intensely scorching. The mont it spilled forth, it stabbed at Li Yun’s eyes with searing pain, as though a blazing sun were sealed inside the arrow. He could not endure it and was forced to close his eyes.
"Such a massive reaction?"
With his vision shut off, Li Yun was filled with shock.
Judging from the power unleashed the instant the imprint was activated, this was clearly no ordinary secret art imprint.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
While Li Yun was still processing his surprise, the stone arrow began to vibrate even more violently. His grip nearly failed as the tremors intensified, and more cracks tore across its surface.
As the fractures multiplied, the stone layer coating the arrow started to flake away, piece by piece, revealing what lay beneath.
It was not a stone arrow at all.
What erged was a crimson arrow ford of molten lava. Nine sun-like runes were carved along its shaft, and waves of terrifying heat poured out continuously, causing the temperature inside the chamber to rise sharply.
The once temperate quiet room transford into sothing akin to a blazing furnace. The heat beca unbearable, and beads of sweat quickly ford on Li Yun’s forehead.
With its true form revealed, the crimson arrow seed to confirm Li Yun’s suspicions. A dense and suffocating mysterious aura surged from within it like a collapsing mountain or a roaring tide, flooding the entire chamber in an instant.
"So dense... this mysterious aura is at least ten tis stronger than the one I locked onto earlier."
Li Yun could hardly steady his voice as he spoke, overwheld by shock.
"Lu Changsan, oh Lu Changsan," Li Yun laughed softly, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "I will never forget this generous sacrifice of yours. You truly outwitted yourself. Once I comprehend the ultimate technique hidden within this secret art imprint, I will make that scoundrel regret it."
After a brief mont, Li Yun steadied his turbulent emotions. The shock faded, replaced by a surge of uncontrollable excitent that lit up his handso face, and he could not help but laugh loudly toward the heavens.
"Now let see what kind of earth-shaking ultimate technique is hidden within this secret art imprint."
After laughing a few tis, Li Yun quickly suppressed his excitent. His expression turned focused as he adjusted his state to its peak and began making imdiate preparations for comprehension.
He knew very well that the ti allotted to comprehend a secret art imprint was only five days. If he failed to grasp its mysteries within that short span, then no matter how extraordinary the imprint was, it would beco aningless.
Because of this, Li Yun did not dare waste even a single mont. A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes as he guided his will to wrap around the crimson arrow.
In the next instant, his entire consciousness plunged into it, fully imrsing itself in the profound Dao recorded within the imprint.
Boom.
The mont Li Yun’s mind entered the secret art imprint, a thunderous roar echoed once more.
In an instant, the world shifted.
Li Yun found himself within another space.
This was not a real world, but a scene preserved within the secret art imprint itself.
Using the residual power left behind by its creator, the imprint drew Li Yun’s consciousness into the recorded scene, allowing him to observe it directly and comprehend the mysteries passed down by that powerful figure.
The space before him was vast and unfamiliar.
The sky was a clear azure, white clouds drifted lazily overhead, and towering mountains rose from the land below. Atop the tallest and most majestic of these peaks stood a single figure.
It was a middle-aged man, appearing around forty years of age, clad in a crimson robe embroidered with nine blazing sun patterns. His features were rugged, as though carved by blade and chisel, and his deep eyes gazed calmly toward the endless mountain ranges ahead.
"Hoo."
The red-robed man slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. He then lifted his arms and gently clenched his hands within the void. In that instant, a surge of crimson light gathered in his palm, shaping itself into a massive crimson bow.
He grasped the bow with one hand and calmly drew the bowstring with the other, pulling it back until it curved like a full moon. At once, boundless crimson vital qi poured out from his body, converging upon the great bow and condensing along the bowstring. In the blink of an eye, a crimson arrow took form, blazing with fierce flas as it rested upon the drawn string.
That crimson arrow was identical to the secret art imprint held by Li Yun.
Terrifying waves of scorching energy rolled outward from the arrow, spreading like violent tides. The surrounding space twisted under the pressure, becoming hazy and unreal, as though what the red-robed man held was not an arrow at all, but a blazing sun radiating unimaginable heat.
"So terrifying."
Li Yun’s throat went dry from fear simply by sensing its aura. He felt that such an attack did not even need to be released; the oppressive presence alone was enough to frighten a ninth-level Xiantian Realm expert into losing all composure.
Fortunately, Li Yun was shielded by the power of the secret art imprint. Otherwise, he would not have been able to stand and observe. He would have already been crushed to the ground by the overwhelming pressure emanating from the crimson arrow.
Whoosh.
Under Li Yun’s fixed gaze, the red-robed man calmly released the bowstring.
In an instant, the crimson arrow exploded forward with a shrill sonic boom, vanishing from sight as it shot into the void. Its speed was so extre that its form could not be clearly seen. Li Yun could only catch a faint crimson blur slicing through space as it tore toward the distant mountains.
When the arrow was only a few dozen ters from its target, it suddenly trembled. To Li Yun’s astonishnt, it split apart within the void, dividing into nine separate crimson arrows. These were not illusions, but solid and real manifestations.
The nine arrows vibrated in unison. In the next instant, vast waves of scorching light erupted from them, engulfing each arrow and transforming them into nine blazing clusters of crimson radiance. The sight was like nine blazing suns descending from the void, crashing down toward the mountain range below.
Boom!
The nine crimson clusters of light slamd into the mountains and ridges with terrifying force.
In the next instant, a deafening roar echoed through the heavens, as if the sky itself were about to shatter. A vast surge of brilliant crimson radiance erupted from the point of impact, spreading outward like a raging tide.
Within a radius of several hundred ters, the world was completely engulfed by blazing crimson light, leaving nothing else visible. This horrifying spectacle, one that would frighten a second-level Xiantian Realm martial artist into losing all will to fight, persisted for a full minute before slowly subsiding.
When the crimson radiance finally faded and the scene of the mountains reappeared, Li Yun imdiately lifted his gaze toward the area. The mont he clearly saw what remained, his expression froze, his mind montarily going blank.
Where towering mountains and rolling ridges had once stood, stretching across tens of miles, there was now nothing. The entire region had vanished. Not only were the mountains gone, but the ground itself had collapsed, leaving behind an enormous pit.
Crimson light still shimred faintly within the depths of the crater, and an unbearably scorching heat continued to spread outward, perating the surrounding land.
"Holy cow... this power is far too terrifying."
Li Yun stood rooted in place, staring at the massive crater glowing with crimson light. Then, as a thought surfaced, his brows slowly knit together.
"Why does this pit look so familiar? It feels like I have seen sothing like this before."
A mont later, realization struck him.
"That is right. I once read about a place called Hellfire Valley in the Southern Martial Domain."
"That place is said to be engulfed in raging flas throughout the year, flas that have not faded even after a thousand years. Such a scene would not be strange in a land rich in fire elental qi, but Hellfire Valley is located in a region where the climate is mild and springlike all year. A phenonon like that appearing there was described as a great natural marvel."
Li Yun swallowed hard, disbelief and shock written clearly across his face.
"This looks exactly like the description in that book. Could it be that Hellfire Valley was not ford by nature at all, but was created by this red-robed man with a single arrow? That is simply too terrifying."
As Li Yun remained trapped in his shock, the surrounding scenery began to blur.
The blurring intensified until the entire space shattered like a mirror crashing to the ground. Endless darkness surged in from all directions, swallowing Li Yun in an instant.
In the next mont, his consciousness returned to the quiet room.
Yet the shock on Li Yun’s face had not faded in the slightest.
Whoosh.
At that mont, the crimson arrow in Li Yun’s hand trembled gently, releasing a scorching heat that snapped him out of his daze. As his mind fully cleared, an overwhelming torrent of information flooded into his consciousness.
At the sa ti, a deep and resonant voice echoed within his ears.
"Nine Suns Heaven Chasing Arrow."
User Comments
0 comments from readers