CHAPTER 43: 043 FLAG IN MIST

Shi Feiyang suspended a Divine Fire Inner Core above the Five Fire Qiankun Net, using the True Yang within the pill to counteract the Five Fires within the net. Those Five Fires, concocted by Red Flower Grandmother with countless Heart Power, were derived from Wood Fire, Stone Fire, Water Fire, Gold Fire, including the essence of Nanming Leaving Fire, merging into the Five Elements True Fire, containing the profound mystery of generation and restraint, tremendously fierce, enough to incinerate and obliterate any enemy, even if the enemy also wielded Fire Element Magical Treasures.

However, these fires all belonged to the Acquired Fire, unable to break through the Innate Fire. Coincidentally, within the Divine Fire Inner Core of Shi Feiyang, there resided a trace of Innate True Yang Fire Qi. Innate is the origin; Acquired is the usage. When tracing back to the source for perpetual existence, the Innate should dominate, and truly outmatch in overcoming and incinerating all things, naturally stronger than the Acquired.

When Innate and Acquired Divine Fires encountered each other, they originally would not interfere, but intriguingly included within was an almost-refined Star Absorption sphere, from which unexpectedly arose a miraculous interaction among the three; the Five-Colored Divine Flames astonishingly were attracted to the True Yang Qi within Shi Feiyang’s inner core.

Had he been confronting Red Flower Grandmother in a duel, she would have been capable of manipulating this Magical Treasure to reclaim Shi Feiyang’s inner core. Yet, due to the desperate efforts of the Daoist of Cold Light, she was fully occupied in dealing with him, while also dividing her attention to assist Lady Bao Xiang against Geng Peng, inevitably weakening her control over the Five Fire Qiankun Net.

Originally interwoven and fiercely burning, the Five Elements True Fire formed a peak akin to Flame Mountain, but was quickly disassembled and dispersed by Shi Feiyang in a moment.

The Five Fire Qiankun Net, resembling a net made from five colored cords, was then unraveled back into five silk threads, turning into five streams of colored flames, akin to five dragons playing with a pearl, swirling around the Divine Fire Inner Core.

Shi Feiyang initially aimed to preserve the Star Absorption sphere to assist the Daoist of Cold Light in reclaiming this Magical Treasure, to jointly fend off powerful adversaries. He thought the sphere would gradually be worn down, continuously shrinking until it vanished. Yet, after the Treasure Light on the outside was refined, the internal "celestial bodies" rapidly disintegrated, on the verge of collapsing and dispersing; he hastily sprayed out the True Water Inner Core, the two circling each other, forming a Tai Chi Pattern, locking the core nebula within the Star Absorption sphere.

Ignorant of what this object was, but knowing the Star Absorption sphere was a renowned treasure, unique within the Shushan World, he determined it was valuable and decided to try preserving it, planning to return it to Daoist of Cold Light later, possibly re-refining the Star Absorption sphere, perhaps even learning this special artifact refining technique on the side.

The Star Absorption sphere condensed into a cluster of nebulae, sucked into the rapidly spinning "Tai Chi" center, while on the outskirts, the Five-Colored Flames were also drawn in, their heads connecting to the perimeter of the Tai Chi Pattern, spinning together like ribbons on a carousel.

Shi Feiyang continuously emitted True Essence Qi, attempting to temporarily imprison the "nebulae," but the nebulae uncontrollably spread outward, dust-like stars scattering point by point into the highly revolving Water and Fire Qi, the surrounding Five-Colored Flames also continuously absorbed within.

Though this process sounds complicated, it actually occurred in a mere moment; soon, the central stars and surrounding flames were fully absorbed and vanished, Shi Feiyang retrieved his inner cores, feeling a peculiar sensation, the two cores slightly different from each other, but in his haste could not verify what exact changes had occurred.

Having absorbed the Five Fire Qiankun Net, Red Flower Grandmother noticed, but overwhelmed by the Daoist of Cold Light’s desperate last stand, she couldn’t prevent it.

As he descended from the sky, he saw Red Flower Grandmother using the Three Talents Fire Cloud Ring surrounding Daoist of Cold Light in the air, the upper, middle, and lower gold rings bursting out vast amounts of Fire Cloud. The Daoist of Cold Light’s protective Magical Treasure was a light-cold banner, refined by the fire of the three rings, which then contracted inward to the body, a ring on the neck, waist, and feet, restraining both the physical body and Primordial Spirit together, Red Flower Grandmother vigorously activating her Magical Treasure erupting fierce flames, completely engulfing the Daoist of Cold Light.

Shi Feiyang hastily expelled two inner cores, knowing the prowess of Red Flower Grandmother. With full force, he spun the inner cores to their maximum speed, forming a Water and Fire Tai Chi Diagram that expanded to a diameter of tens of meters, striking down like a meteor from the heavens towards Red Flower Grandmother!

Red Flower Grandmother, seeing him, roared furiously, "You beast, ruining my Magical Treasure!" She retracted all of her Bing Ling Shuttles, transforming them into dozens of red beams that soared diagonally into the sky, striking towards Shi Feiyang.

The Bing Ling Shuttles slammed into the Water and Fire Tai Chi Diagram, exploding with a loud bang and bursting into a massive flame cloud.

Shi Feiyang, possessing the power of the Black Dragon accumulated over three thousand years, was least afraid of such clashes. The two inner cores flew back towards him but did not lose control. Shi Feiyang exhaled a breath of True Yuan, and the inner cores converged once more, forming the Tai Chi Diagram that thundered downwards.

Red Flower Grandmother’s Bing Ling Shuttles were her Cave-Treasure, and in this head-on clash, not only did she not gain the upper hand, but she even suffered a minor loss. As the forty-nine Bing Ling Shuttles flew back, it was already too late for her to gather and control them to block Shi Feiyang’s attack. In irritation, she cursed, "This beast deserves to die!" She then swayed her body, transforming into a burst of red smoke that split into five streams scattering in different directions. Hundreds of meters away, the red smoke billowed, and within it, five identical Red Flower Grandmothers materialized.

Shi Feiyang lost his target and descended, trying to determine which one to attack when all five Red Flower Grandmothers simultaneously produced a small flag, each painted with the Five Elements and Eight Diagrams, and began casting spells. Instantly, clouds of smoke spanning hundreds of meters interwove and connected into a mass, trapping Shi Feiyang inside.

This was another formidable Magical Treasure of Red Flower Grandmother, known as the Smoke Cloud Banner, powerful even when used alone. She wielded it with an Array, making its efficacy boundlessly ingenious.

Trapped amidst the five-colored clouds, Shi Feiyang found himself in a seemingly infinite space in every direction, unable to fly out in any direction, knowing that the opponent was also Inverting the Five Elements and distorting space. Moreover, the assorted colored mists could at any moment condense into colorful ribbons that wrapped and tightened around him.

He released his inner cores, continuously tearing apart and scattering the "ribbons" tightening around him, but as long as the Array wasn’t broken, the ribbons would regenerate as soon as they were destroyed, never running out.

Inside the Array, Shi Feiyang dashed frantically in every direction, seemingly without method, but was actually intentionally triggering the Array to observe its intricacies.

Turning this way and that way, he gradually figured out the key, and inside the Array began casting spells of Inverting Yin and Yang and distorting space, unlike the conventional method of breaking an Array by countering its movements. Instead, as the Array shifted the Southern Ding Fire to the north, he shifted the Northern Water to the south, following the changes of the Array and then moving in the opposite direction.

When the two women of Immortal City were trapped within Dinghu Peak, although they flew in one direction, they were actually continuously looping back. Now, he was flying chaotically in all directions—left a while, right a while, up and down without order—but the path he made was, in reality, a straight line.

As he was breaking out of the Array, he suddenly heard a loud shout from Geng Peng above him; the five-colored smoke within the entire Array instantly solidified, as if time had stopped at that moment. Then, a whirlwind arose, and the clouds of smoke quickly dissipated.

Geng Peng’s massive wings appeared in the sky, and with a grab, he lifted Shi Feiyang out of thin air. Shi Feiyang did not resist, transforming into a small dragon lying in the palm of his hand. Then, in a blur, Geng Peng moved rapidly with him.