Chapter 542: Pale Flames
Translator: Irene Editor: Lucas, TYZ
Shi Xueman gave up on Xing Shan and joined in the close-quarters fight, which immediately stabilized the situation.
Just then, she sensed something. She looked toward the disposition of troops and joy emerged on her face.
Amid many pagoda cannons one was especially bright, and rings of bright veined patterns had appeared on its body. When it lit up, the air instantly became stifling, as if there was an invisible hand pressing down from the sky.
Xing Shan’s face changed. Someone was actually becoming a Master at this time!
When his gaze fell upon the pagoda cannon, he noticed by chance that it was the fatty who had slipped away from his fingers from an earlier chase.
Xing Shan was already spent, but at this point he threw himself toward that pagoda cannon without hesitation.
He mustn’t allow him to become a Master!
An intense sense of danger arose within his heart. He had a premonition that this fire would be earth-shattering and alarmingly powerful! Usually, one more or one less Master wouldn’t make much difference, but in this close battle, any change on any side could become that very last straw that breaks the camel’s backl.
Both sides had sustained significant losses, and due to fighting aggressively till now, they were all exhausted. Everyone was relying on their last breath, and the side to let go first would lose.
Under these circumstances, a defeat would only lead to one outcome – an all-army wipe out!
Xing Shan couldn’t care less about his own safety. With an angry growl, he tightened his grip on the Chief Wolf under him. The crippled Chief Wolf was also spent, but upon hearing its master’s command, it started galloping and producing bright red flames with a hiss.
They were the flames of its blood core.
When the flames die out, the Chief Wolf turns into ashes and dissipate in the air.
The fresh flames of blood core wrapped around Xing Shan to nourish his withered body. The tongue of flames was like a mischievous tongue, licking all over his body, full of love and yearning.
Amid the flames, tears rolled silently down Xing Shan’s bloody face.
The Chief Wolf raised its head, and with a bend of its back it shot up toward the sky with Xing Shan on its back. Hanging its foot in mid air, it transformed into a red fire flow that dove toward the brightly-lit pagoda cannon on the ground.
The fire flow whizzed downward like falling stars.
The air trembled as strips of white mist swept across the sky swiftly and struck the fire flow.
Bang!
Amid the flying sparks there seemed to be a sorrowful whimper of a wolf. The sparks dimmed and transformed into pale white ashes that filled the sky and faded away with the wind.
Shi Xueman had also been sprung into the sky by the powerful jolt.
Boom!
The heavy boom sounded like a resolute striking of the drum above the battlefield, which made everybody’s hearts jump. Before they could react, their field of vision was occupied by a dazzling sheet of white light rays.
The white light rays did not disperse but grew brighter instead. The blinding white flames were like beautiful metal flowers blooming on the ground.
The rapidly extending waves of white flames were like unfolding flower petals that swept across the battlefield while carrying an aura of death.
The blood elementalists couldn’t dodge in time and were engulfed in the white flames.
The blood elementalists who were close by were immediately swallowed up by the flames and couldn’t even scream in time. The spattering white flames, dense as raindrops, raided about a third of the whole battlefield.
Many blood elementalists were caught by the white flames.
The finger-sized white flames hadn’t aroused their attention, since they were still overwhelmed in shock by that astonishing bombardment of the cannon. However, the piercingly painful misery snapped them out of it.
They were alarmed upon realizing that the white flames on their bodies weren’t extinguishable!
No matter the methods, they were unable to put out these strange, white flames.
Fearful screeches and anguished wailings echoed. They were completely out of courage and frenzy. In the face of something unexplainable, they felt afraid.
Some blood elementalists did not get a lot of flames on them and so they clenched their teeth and sliced the parts of their flesh that were caught in flames. Fresh blood poured out of their wounds at a visible pace before being swallowed by the white flames. The ones who saw this happen were all feeling cold inside.
The blood elementalists affected by the flames could only howl in grief, their sharp cries causing hair of those who could hear them stand.
Xing Shan’s limbs were ice-cold, his expression grieved. He had thought that Fatty’s firing would be extraordinary, but the white flames before his eyes had exceeded his imagination.
Xing Shan shut his eyes in despair.
Fatty’s launch had a destructive impact on the morale of the Ardent Flower Blood Division. Their companions were rolling on the ground, howling in grief and pleading for a quick finish. It was a sight difficult to ignore.
Those were devilish flames from hell.
Shi Xueman observed the misery in awe and subconsciously turned her gaze to Fatty. Such strange white flames… what was Fatty’s Path of Master exactly?
The battlefield that had just been filled with shouts and cries was now dead silent as everyone was stunned by Fatty’s launch.
The survivors were pale in the face, as if they’d just seen the devil.
The red glow over Fatty’s body gradually faded along with the cooling down of the heated pagoda cannon. As if all his hair had opened up a valve, sweat started pouring out. Zzt zzt zzt, his sweat instantly vaporized into mist, leaving white, salt stains. The vapor surged like the smoke rising from an erupting volcano. As if the gates of hell had been opened, Fatty’s iron-like body was faintly discernible amid the mist. The salt stains all over his body extended like frost, making the overall sight more ghastly and cold.
Fatty’s gaze was vacant as he murmured.
"Live on… I must live on…"
He then collapsed face down.
Upon seeing this hellborn terrifying fellow collapse, the blood elementalists subconsciously cheered. Since the start of the flickering white light till now, the Ardent Flower Blood Division had actually been so intimidated by this fatty that they had forgotten to resist.
Xing Shan wasn’t the least bit happy, however. He had heard a sword whistle.
The Sky Edge Division was here!
A bitingly cold sword ray broke the sky.
A veiled Karakorum Polaris appeared on the battlefield. The beautiful eyes behind the veil swept across the field full of corpses, evidence of the gruesomeness of the battle.
Her eyes were cold and recklessly murderous. She inhaled a deep breath, calling out, "Sorry I’m late, Division Leader Shi!"
Before she could finish her greeting, a concentrated sword whistle sounded from the sky.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh!
Sword rays lit up the sky and the number of figures increased. The Sky Edge Division had arrived.
Karakorum Polaris did not talk much. She lowered her gaze and ordered in a cold voice, "Kill! Leave not a single one alive!"
A sky full of sword rays fell down like rain.
Karakorum Polaris locked down her target, and with a light wave of her white hand, a sword light flew toward Xing Shan.
Xing Shan looked disappointed. He had thought that the young and impetuous Karakorum Polaris would capture him alive after seeing that he had no strength to defend himself.
Who knew that she was so cautious?
Xing Shan gave a disdainful look. "I’m a hero, how can I die by your sword?"
He stabbed his chest with his intact left palm and gouged his bloody heart out. He then pinched and broke it, causing a blood fog to erupt. His body rapidly withered and transformed into ashes.
When Karakorum Polaris smelled the floating fragrance, her face changed. She withdrew her palm and the sword light circled toward the blood fog.
The sword light rolled the blood fog upward into the sky, taking it higher and higher without any intention to stop. It continued to fly upward until it finally brought it into the wild metal wind. The sword light and blood fog melted like ice cubes at a visible speed.
Blood of God hadn’t stopped analyzing elementalists, and elementalists, too, had never stopped studying Blood of God.
The blood elementalists’ poison was much more potent than before. It was alarmingly contaminating to soil and vegetation, and so the best way to get rid of it was to throw it deep into the sky.
The wild metal wind could completely melt the blood poison.
The surviving blood elementalists weren’t willing to stay idle and so they retaliated frantically. Their division leader had committed suicide, they had been surrounded, and they knew that they weren’t going to be lucky enough to live past today, so they were going to fight and bring down as many as they could before they perished.
The blood rays did not grant the bitingly cold sword rays easy access.
Within a short time frame, the Sky Edge Division had accumulated a high number of casualties.
Karakorum Polaris appeared calm but was shaking inside. The Ardent Flower Blood Division hadn’t actually crumbled yet. She could imagine how cruel the battle must have been for the Spear of Heavy Cloud.
Contending against the Ardent Flower Blood Division one on one and causing enormous damage without falling into a disadvantageous situation was a remarkable feat that forced her to re-evaluate the Spear of Heavy Cloud’s combat power.
The battle had already ended when the Infantry Division arrived.
Seeing the ground full of corpses and the battlefield in complete disorder, Silver Soldier had a grave expression on his face. He was reenacting the bitter battle scenario in his head.
Shi Xueman was inspecting the campground and encouraging the injured.
Upon seeing Shi Xueman, Silver Soldier called out in surprise, "You…"
Shi Xueman shook her head slightly as an indication for him to shut his mouth. While holding onto the Cirrus, she walked around the camp once to examine everyone before handing over the remaining work to Jiang Wei.
She brought Karakorum Polaris and Silver Soldier to somewhere private.
With a worrying look on her face, Karakorum Polaris explained to Silver Soldier, "She forcibly compressed the water elemental energy from the sea of cloud into her body. There are now a lot of impurities that are hard to dispel."
Shi Xueman was very calm however. "I had to do it under those circumstance, or I would have lost my life. It isn’t a major problem for my elemental energy to receive some damage."
Silver Soldier knew not how to console her. When he thought about how she had stopped him from talking and encouraged the soldiers, he couldn’t help but feel deep veneration for her.
After some thought, he started, "You guys were seriously injured this time. Why not retreat and rest for some time? Heal your injuries first. Even with replenishment, you’ll need to train for some time."
Karakorum Polaris reminded, "The God-subduing Peak should be here soon. How about we go and receive it first? The Ardent Flower Blood Division is very powerful and our odds of success aren’t high. With the help of God-subduing Peak, we will be much better off."
Silver Soldier already knew that the Karakorum Division had sustained significant injuries.
At that he nodded. "Alright. Let’s all go back and receive it. The quake caused by the destruction of the Ardent Flower Blood Division isn’t something our three novice military units can handle. Converging with Shenwei and Caijue’s combat divisions is the way to go."
Shi Xueman found his suggestion reasonable and agreed right away. "Let’s all go then."