Chapter 484: Chapter 365: Retreat and Escape, Undying Dragon Flame, Fire Bat

[Detected Qilin Flame, would you like to fuse it with the Undying Flame?]

In the next instant, Lin Chang’sheng suddenly saw a prompt pop up on his panel.

"Flames can be fused too?"

This genuinely surprised Lin Chang’sheng.

But since even weapons can be fused, flames being able to fuse makes sense.

"Fuse!"

Lin Chang’sheng chose to fuse them without hesitation.

[Fusion of Qilin Flame and Undying Flame initiated... Fusing... Fusion complete. You have gained the Undying Dragon Flame!]

"Undying Dragon Flame?"

Lin Chang’sheng muttered to himself—the name just sounds badass.

This Qilin does have dragon blood, so it makes sense that the fusion resulted in the Undying Dragon Flame.

Anyway, the fused flame would be much stronger than the original.

"Let me see how far you can run!"

Lin Chang’sheng didn’t bother checking the power of the Undying Dragon Flame. After contracting with the Fire Qilin, he rushed off in pursuit of Xiang Tian.

Xiang Tian was gravely wounded—there’s no way he’d get far.

But up ahead, not far from where Zhao Shuang’Er, Hou Shaojie and the others escaped, they ran into trouble.

They thought the red glow ahead might be an exit, but unexpectedly, it was where thousands of Fire Bats were resting.

Once these Fire Bats detected intruders, they pounced on Zhao Shuang’Er, Zhou Qibai, and the others.

The Fire Bats weren’t that strong in terms of offense or defense, but they carried both powerful poison and flames.

Their poison was highly corrosive; any touch would melt someone into a pool of blood. The flames could burn a cultivator into gleaming white bones—their power was hardly any less than Undying Divine Flame.

"Die for me!"

Zhou Qibai swung his blade, splitting a group of charging Fire Bats clean in half.

But the severed Fire Bats crashed into the disciples on either side, instantly igniting them in roaring flames.

"Aah—"

The disciples screamed in agony as they were burned, but no one dared help. The Fire Bats weren’t strong attackers, but their poison and fire were terrifying.

In just three breaths, the two disciples were drained of life and slowly burned into piles of white bone.

"Move, quick!"

Seeing they couldn’t force their way through, Zhou Qibai had no choice but to turn back, hoping Lin Chang’sheng had already subdued the Fire Qilin—otherwise, things would get even trickier on their way out.

But they’d barely turned back when a shadow urgently rushed toward them.

Before anyone could see who it was, Zhao Shuang’Er was caught unawares—seized by the neck in an iron grip.

"Who are you? Let her go! Now!"

Hou Shaojie snapped coldly.

This girl was Lin Chang’sheng’s maid; if anything happened to her, Lin Chang’sheng would definitely lose it.

"A disciple of the Celestial Nether Sword Sect! You’ve been trailing us this whole way, haven’t you?"

Zhou Qibai recognized instantly—this guy was from the Celestial Nether Sword Sect.

He’d sensed someone following them for a while but hadn’t called it out—didn’t expect the guy to jump out now.

"You tell Lin Chang’sheng—if he wants her alive, come to our Celestial Nether Sword Sect. Otherwise, I’ll kill her!"

Xiang Tian tossed out the threat and dragged Zhao Shuang’Er straight into the Fire Bat swarm.

He’d followed Lin Chang’sheng’s group the whole way, and had noticed Lin Chang’sheng and Zhao Shuang’Er were unusually close.

That’s why he grabbed Zhao Shuang’Er—so even if he ran into Lin Chang’sheng again, he’d have leverage.

"Is this guy insane?"

Hou Shaojie watched as Xiang Tian whisked Zhao Shuang’Er into the Fire Bat horde and his heart leapt.

Doesn’t he care about being attacked by Fire Bats?

"Hurry up!"

As the bats closed in, Zhou Qibai bolted backward without delay.

After sprinting over two or three miles, the Fire Bats finally stopped chasing them.

They paused to catch their breath, and only then did Lin Chang’sheng catch up. When he heard that Zhao Shuang’Er had been captured by Xiang Tian, fury erupted in his chest.

"He was already badly hurt and so many of you couldn’t stop him? You let him take Shuang’Er away?"

How could Lin Chang’sheng not be pissed?

Although Zhao Shuang’Er hadn’t come with him from the Abandoned Land, she was extraordinarily loyal to Lin Chang’sheng.

There’s no way Lin Chang’sheng would ignore her fate.

"Brother Lin, it’s my fault—I didn’t protect Shuang’Er. But the bastard probably hasn’t left yet. We’ve still got a shot to catch him!"

Hou Shaojie spoke up.

Getting out of here is no easy feat, so Hou Shaojie believed that, before leaving, there was still a good chance to rescue Zhao Shuang’Er!

If she gets dragged off to Celestial Nether Sword Sect, that’ll be a real problem.

After all, Celestial Nether Sword Sect is one of the top ten forces in the Immortal Realm. If she ends up in their hands, getting her back would be next to impossible.

Lin Chang’sheng knew that, which was why he was so furious.

He hadn’t even secured a foothold in the Immortal Realm yet; he couldn’t possibly take on the top ten sects.

The only hope was to save Zhao Shuang’Er before the enemy escaped the Demon Cave.

With that, Lin Chang’sheng stopped talking and charged onward.

Soon, Lin Chang’sheng arrived near the bat-infested cavern.

The aftermath of battle was obvious—bodies littered the ground.

Some had been melted into pools of blood by poison; others burned into heaps of white bone.

Lin Chang’sheng hoped none of them was Zhao Shuang’Er.

Moving ahead, he saw more and more Fire Bats, radiating waves of searing heat.

Hou Shaojie had been right—there were plenty of bats here.

But to Lin Chang’sheng, the bats were no threat at all.

The enemy had flame attacks, but Lin Chang’sheng did too.

And he was eager to finally test the power of the Undying Dragon Flame he’d just gained.

Screech—screech—screech—

When Lin Chang’sheng closed in on the cavern, he saw the entire passage crawling with Fire Bats, flitting about and screeching horribly.

Crack—

As Lin Chang’sheng’s footsteps approached, countless Fire Bats instantly sprang up, rising together in a raging fiery swarm aimed right at him.

"Die!"

Lin Chang’sheng slammed his palm forward—his powerful Palm Seal surging with the force of the Undying Dragon Flame.

The flames exploded, morphing the Palm Seal into a gigantic burning hand, with a surge of Divine Dragon aura woven throughout.

Boom—

When the flame hit the storm of bats, the Undying Dragon Flame devoured them instantly, transforming them into fire motes that dispersed into nothing.

Not even ashes left behind.

"What a tyrannical Dragon Flame!"

Lin Chang’sheng marveled inwardly—this Dragon Flame could erase any creature without a trace.

The original Undying Flame could only slowly eat away and bore through creatures.

With a single strike, Lin Chang’sheng wiped out most of the bats. The rest constantly tried to attack but were incinerated by the flames, erased from existence.

No longer impeded by Fire Bats, Lin Chang’sheng charged ahead.

Soon, he passed through a narrow tunnel and emerged into a vast chamber, radiant as daytime itself.

Many disciples had gathered here, likely coming from other tunnels.

Every disciple bore some wounds, proving how brutal the Demon Cave’s passageways were.

Sure enough, every corridor had Demon Beasts blocking the way.

Lin Chang’sheng scanned the area but saw no trace of Xiang Tian or Zhao Shuang’Er.

With his wounds this severe, the opponent would know he wasn’t Lin Chang’sheng’s match. If found, he’d be dead, so he’d be hiding out somewhere.

Lin Chang’sheng studied the chamber instead.

It was enormous—big enough for five soccer fields, easily holding a thousand people.

The ceiling was studded with countless Luminous Beads, brilliantly lighting the room as if it were day.

Down below stood ten identical stone platforms, each adorned with mysterious runes that changed shape from time to time.

There were bloodstains on the platforms, likely where disciples had died already.

No wonder nobody dared step onto them lightly.

"Array within an array!"

Zhou Qibai and the rest arrived from the tunnels soon after. Seeing the scene, they realized this place held another array.

The only way out was surely to crack this array—and only then was there a chance to survive.

"I’ve heard about this array from my elder—it’s called the Nine Deaths Array. Out of the ten stone platforms, only one is the Life Sect. At set intervals, that one will teleport you out. The rest, and the other platforms, will rip you apart with Array Power if you step on them!"

Yu Tingting shared what she knew.

Lin Chang’sheng understood this well.

This array wasn’t all that difficult to crack.

But what mattered now was Zhao Shuang’Er’s safety.

While Lin Chang’sheng searched anxiously, the Dugu Siblings arrived, sneering, flanked by a gang of followers.