Chapter 118: Fusion (My first monthly ticket in life, thank you!)

Witnessing the overwhelming power of the giant blue python, Liang Yan could not help but turn his gaze toward Zhao Xunzhen.

He saw that while she, too, was staring at the serpent in the air with a solemn expression, her eyes betrayed a boundless craving, and her breathing had grown heavy.

Liang Yan frowned, sensing an ominous foreboding, and as expected, Zhao Xunzhen spoke up: "I previously said I would help you, Liang, and now is the time for you to do your part."

Liang Yan nodded and said, "My word is my bond. Please, tell me what you need me to do, Miss Zhao."

"I need you to help me defeat the fire spirit of this Nether Ghost Fire so that I may merge with its fire core," Zhao Xunzhen said slowly.

Liang Yan had anticipated this. He frowned and replied, "I shall do my utmost as you request. However, this fire spirit has clearly gained sentience; it is not to be compared with the Vermilion Bird fire spirit from before. Even if I give it my all, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to help you achieve your wish."

"That is no matter!" Zhao Xunzhen turned to look at him. "You need only channel all your power into the needles infused with the South-Ming Li Fire to engage it. I have my own methods for the rest!"

"Since you are so confident, I shall assist you with all my strength."

Liang Yan nodded and said no more. He sat cross-legged on the ground, his hands forming seals as he cast several incantations in rapid succession.

Streams of blue and gold light struck the Vermilion Bird hovering in the air. The fire spirit, shaped by the Red Pine Needles, roared toward the heavens as if it had received a powerful tonic, its flames flaring brilliantly. With a formidable enemy before them, Liang Yan made no attempt to hide his cultivation, fully exposing the depths of his Buddhist and Confucian techniques to her.

Zhao Xunzhen narrowed her eyes, gave Liang Yan a deep look, and then turned her attention away, drawing a dagger from her storage bag that emanated a chilling, ghostly aura. At the base of the hilt sat a skull the size of an infant’s fist, its jaw snapping open and shut as if starving.

Without a second glance, Zhao Xunzhen sliced her fingertip with the blade, allowing her blood to drip into the mouth of the skull.

As the skull drank her blood, two brilliant blue lights suddenly shot from its hollow sockets. A strange, cackling laughter erupted from its mouth, and the dagger flew from her hand of its own accord, vibrating intensely in the air.

"Now, Brother Liang, strike!" Zhao Xunzhen commanded.

Liang Yan nodded solemnly, changed the hand seal, and the red Vermilion Bird, formed by the Red Pine Needles, flapped its wings and darted toward the giant blue python in the sky.

The giant python did not hesitate. It opened its maw wide, and a point of azure ghost fire appeared on its flickering tongue. Though it began no larger than a thumbprint, it surged to over ten feet high in an instant, the blue flames roiling and emitting plumes of hallucinogenic green smoke.

The red Vermilion Bird reached the top of the python’s head, its wings beating wildly to unleash a torrent of deep-red flames that fell like rain toward the serpent.

The red and blue flames collided in mid-air, locking in a silent, fierce struggle. The deep-red fire of the Vermilion Bird initially roared with the force of thunder, but once ensnared by the python’s Nether Ghost Fire, it felt as if it had sunk into an endless abyss, its power neutralized. Conversely, the pale blue ghost fire, though less imposing, possessed a relentless, grinding persistence that steadily eroded the strength of the South-Ming Li Fire, stripping it away layer by layer.

The giant blue python hissed in triumph. It was the natural nemesis of the South-Ming Li Fire; in a fair fight, the outcome would be uncertain. But the Vermilion Bird was merely a manifestation of Liang Yan’s needles, lacking the true fire spirit’s potency and unable to overcome the python.

Liang Yan felt a tremor in his spirit, a searing, unbearable heat flowing back through his connection to the needles. Within a few breaths of the flames clashing, he was already drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked through.

Seeing he had reached his limit, Zhao Xunzhen did not hesitate. She snapped a series of incantations, and the ghost-headed dagger in the air began to glow with a chilling blue light, darting straight toward the giant python.

The python, perched high above, glanced down at the incoming dagger with a mockery that seemed almost human. In its eyes, the only true threat was the South-Ming Li Fire; the rest was beneath its notice.

The python roared, continuing to spray waves of Nether Ghost Fire at the Vermilion Bird while flicking its tail to swat at the incoming dagger.

The massive tail struck the blade, but instead of being knocked away as the python expected, the dagger slipped silently into its body without a sound.

Stunned, the python thrashed its tail frantically, but the dagger moved within it like a fish in water, surging upward along the tail toward the creature’s vital three-inch point.

The python’s expression shifted in terror. It could no longer spare the energy to deal with the Vermilion Bird, and it inhaled sharply, a violent suction force erupting from its maw, clearly attempting to pull the scattered Nether Ghost Fire back into its body to defend itself.

Liang Yan, keeping a close watch on the battlefield, realized this was the critical moment. He took a deep breath, and as his "Two-Fish Twin-Birth Formation" surged, he channeled his spiritual power into the Vermilion Bird.

The Vermilion Bird flapped its wings, diving straight toward the Nether Ghost Fire below, refusing to let it escape.

In those few moments, the ghost-headed dagger reached the python’s three-inch mark. A dark, baleful aura erupted from the blade as it pierced deep into the serpent’s vital spot. The skull on the hilt glowed with intense blue light, its expression twisted into a look of ecstasy.

The python let out a mournful cry as its life force dissipated. Its massive body plummeted from the sky, writhing and twisting on the ground in agonizing pain.

Zhao Xunzhen, standing on the stone platform, looked on with equal fervor. She rushed to the python’s side and formed a strange seal with her hands. The blue flames on the serpent’s body flickered and began to detach, flowing toward her and slowly seeping into her ears, nose, eyes, and mouth, until she had absorbed them entirely into her body.