The ancient world was silent, save for the heavy breathing of the young man and the occasional muffled groan of pain.
Meanwhile, the outside world had descended into chaos.
As a giant, black-and-white flame dragon emerged from the spatial crack, the crowd outside was first startled, then faced with a disaster.
"Is that the Yin-Yang Holy Flame?" A group of people were overjoyed to see the flames. But then, the massive fire dragon, stretching for hundreds of meters, exploded before their astonished eyes.
The next moment, a sea of fire engulfed the area within a hundred miles. Following that, countless strange and eerie Black Mist began to spread from it.
"Not good, this is the dark side's Black Mist!" Before anyone could react, the Black Mist had already approached.
"Everyone, quickly activate your Dou Qi to protect yourselves! This stuff is incredibly strange!"
The Black Mist spread. The elders of the Black Wind Sect, most familiar with the horror of the Black Mist, had their faces turn pale.
No sooner had he spoken than a Dou Huang powerhouse, already touched by the Black Mist, let out a miserable scream.
He was soon covered in red fur, his eyes turning dark red, his bones twisting violently, and his face becoming eerily terrifying.
In less than fifteen minutes, this Dou Huang had completely transformed into a red-furred monster that only knew how to kill. With a low roar, it began to attack its companions.
"Run!" someone shouted in alarm, immediately using their fastest speed to flee.
Hearing the call, everyone quickly scattered, but several Dou Huang and one Dou Zong were still inadvertently contaminated by the Black Mist.
Several Dou Huang grew red fur almost instantly. The Dou Zong initially showed no change. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he found that his body hair had turned red.
"Roar!" A Dou Huang-level monster roared and charged towards a Dou Zun.
"Looking for death!" The Dou Zun roared, and with a casual blow, blasted the monster into a cloud of blood mist.
However, the next moment, a black mist quickly flew towards him.
"This old man wants to see just what's so strange about you." The Dou Zun (Exalted) elder sneered, his thick Dou Qi sealing off the wisp of Black Mist.
Soon, his expression drastically changed.
Because that terrifying Black Mist had already begun to penetrate his Dou Qi. In the blink of an eye, the originally azure Dou Qi was dyed a pitch black.
The Dou Zun (Exalted) powerhouse, at this moment, didn't dare to continue tangling with the Black Mist. He waved his hand, dispersing his own ball of Dou Qi, and retreated rapidly.
"This bizarre Black Mist... even a Dou Zun (Exalted) powerhouse finds it troublesome?" The group of strong individuals in the distance watched the terrifying Black Mist, a hint of fear in their eyes.
A Dou Zun (Exalted) powerhouse, to them, was already the strongest existence they could hope to see. They hadn't expected that even such an existence would be so wary of the Black Mist.
The Black Mist had now spread to a hundred miles around, following the explosion of the Yin-Yang Holy Flame. Wherever it passed, any living creature became crazed and bloodthirsty. Even the plants showed black patterns, hinting at their desire to crawl out of the earth.
If it were allowed to spread further, it wouldn't take long before the area within ten thousand miles became a land filled with slaughter, a true hell.
"The young master is still inside." Xiao Wen and Xiao Wu, standing near the ancient city, exchanged glances, both seeing the worry in the other's eyes. The two old women from the Medicine Clan beside them also wore concerned expressions.
"It's just this Black Mist!" Xiao Wen condensed his Dou Qi in his palm, attracting a wisp of the Black Mist.
The wisp of Black Mist struggled violently in his palm, with a hint of it trying to infect his Dou Qi and turn it black.
Xiao Wen let out a cold snort, and the power of space around him condensed, combining with his Dou Qi to form a layer of barrier.
After the Black Mist touched the barrier, it was repelled. After repeatedly colliding dozens of times, it showed signs of weakening. However, the spatial barrier itself also showed subtle signs of being tainted black.
Seeing this, even Xiao Wen's expression couldn't help but become serious.
This strange thing could not only pollute Dou Qi, but even corrode space. Even with his power as a Half-Saint, it was somewhat difficult to erase even a wisp of it. And this black mist covering a hundred miles, even if he and Xiao Wu exhausted their Dou Qi, they probably wouldn't be able to eliminate even one-tenth of it.
"To completely deal with this thing, it would probably require a Dou Sheng powerhouse above the three-star level to suppress it for several years before it could possibly be erased.
"Or, it could be refined with one of the top ten flames on the Different Flame Ranking, which could gradually grind it away over many years."
Hearing Xiao Wen's words, Xiao Wu and the two old women from the Medicine Clan also looked solemn.
Evidently, this Black Mist was extremely terrifying.
"Although it's difficult to eliminate, you and I can still temporarily bind it for a while," Xiao Wen said, glancing at Xiao Wu. The two brothers nodded in understanding.
The next moment, the overwhelming Dou Qi erupted from the bodies of the two Half-Saints, that terrifying aura like a vast ocean, causing the group of strong individuals watching from afar to tremble slightly.
"I didn't expect these two to be experts at the Half-Saint realm." A Dou Zun (Exalted) expert revealed a complex expression.
On the day the Wen and Wu Saints (Wen and Wu Saints) and Xiao Yan appeared in Black Wind City, he had peeked at them, but was driven back by a shout from Xiao Wu. He had originally thought this was a high-level Dou Zun (Exalted), but he didn't expect him to be a Half-Saint.
Hearing his whisper, a group of lower-level Dou Zong (Ancestor) and Dou Huang (Emperor) all swallowed their saliva, looking at the two old figures with awe.
"Let's do this." Xiao Wu gestured with his hands, and terrifying Dou Qi began to rapidly draw upon the fire-attribute energy of the world.
Xiao Wen also summoned the formidable water-attribute energy, creating a sweeping tide of energy.
Under the manipulation of the world's power by the Half-Saint, even the incredibly strange Black Mist was quickly compressed and concentrated from all sides by the two terrifying energies.
The Black Mist, about to be sealed again, began to struggle frantically. However, it ultimately couldn't escape the Half-Saint's methods. After being worn down by the Yin-Yang Holy Flame for a thousand years, it was no longer even one-tenth as powerful as before.
Soon, this mass of Black Mist, which even Dou Zun experts feared, was sealed within an energy barrier a hundred meters in diameter by the water and fire attribute energies of the Wen and Wu Saints.
Their Dou Qi attributes complemented each other; together, they could hold their own against a one-star Dou Sheng for a while. The resulting energy barrier was naturally incredibly strong.
However, even so, the barrier began to be subtly penetrated.
"Reinforce with spatial power," Xiao Wen roared. The two began to mobilize the surrounding spatial power, merging it into the barrier, combining with the energy within to form a solid boundary wall.
The Black Mist struggled violently, but ultimately couldn't break free again.
"Phew!" Xiao Wen exhaled, a faint sweat appearing on his forehead.
"This seal should be able to contain it for about a year."
After saying that, he turned his gaze towards the ancient ruins. Ignoring the respectful gazes of the surrounding strong individuals, he stood calmly in the air and waited. And so, seven days passed.
And seven days later, the young man located within the ancient city slowly opened his eyes.
"The first type of Flame, successfully refined!"
The soft words echoed within the ancient city. Deep within the young man's dark pupils, two flames, one black and one white, were flickering.
This chapter doesn't feature much of the main character, but this isn't filler; it's setting the stage for the next part of the story.
There's another chapter tonight, starting the injection scene!!
(End of chapter)