76: Chapter 76 Backlash

For the first few days after returning from the Medicine World, Hun Feng's life was quite comfortable. After Yao Ling had combed through his meridians, the seven Heavenly Flames within his body had remained docile for quite some time. He went about his daily routine as usual: cultivating, reviewing battle reports, and dining with Hun Muxiao, occasionally visiting the side room to glance at that White-haired Little Girl—the little girl still refused to speak to him. Every time he entered, she would shrink into the corner of the bed, watching him vigilantly with those purple eyes, like a cat with its fur bristling. He was not in a rush; he would leave some refreshments and then leave. Yao Yao said that this was what they called boiling a frog in warm water; keep boiling it, and it would eventually stop being skittish.

However, on the night of the fifth day, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

Hun Feng's expression was not right when he emerged from the cultivation room. He had originally planned to rest in Medusa's room, but just as he reached the corridor, he suddenly stopped. One hand braced against a pillar, his knuckles tightened abruptly, and veins bulged from the back of his hand all the way to his wrist. Inside his chest, it felt as if seven fire dragons had awakened simultaneously, madly crashing against the inner walls of his meridians. Every heartbeat pumped a surge of scorching energy into his limbs and bones. The Purification Lotus Demon Flame and the Sea Heart Flame were the first to begin attacking each other—the former wanting to incinerate all impurities within the meridians, and the latter wanting to freeze all uncontrollable energy. Deep blue and pink clashed in his dantian, and every collision caused Hun Feng's body to spasm uncontrollably. Immediately after, the Eight Desolation Destruction Flame and the Nine Nether Wind Flame were drawn into the fray. Dark golden lightning arcs and ink-black wind blades rampaged through his meridians, slicing open countless tiny bloody gashes. Hun Feng let out a muffled groan, his hand bracing against the pillar silently embedding itself into the wood. Fine cracks instantly appeared on the hard soul-devouring iron.

"Husband?" Yao Yao was the first to notice that something was wrong. She had been combing Hun Muxiao's hair in the room and saw Hun Feng's hunched figure through the half-open window. Her expression changed drastically; she dropped the comb and flashed to his side, grabbing his arm. The touch was shockingly hot, as if she were touching molten lava through a layer of skin. Even she, with her constitution accustomed to dealing with blood-attribute Dou Qi year-round, felt her fingertips go numb from the heat. Her pupils constricted, and she shouted sharply into the room: "Big Sister! Big Sister Cai Lin! Come out quickly!"

Medusa pushed the door open from the inner room. She took one look at Hun Feng's complexion and, without a word, swept to his front. She pressed her right hand against his back, slowly channeling a stream of frigid nine-colored Dou Qi into him. Her Dou Qi was cold and yin-aligned, sharing the same origin as the Nine-Colored Sky Swallowing Python bloodline of the Snake-People Tribe, and it could barely suppress some of the Heavenly Flames' riot. Hun Feng only felt as if a block of extremely cold ice had been pressed against his back. That chill spread along his spine to his dantian, barely separating the clashing Purification Lotus Demon Flame and the Sea Heart Flame by half an inch. That mere half-inch allowed his breathing to become a little smoother. Cold sweat poured down his forehead, his teeth were clenched tight, and his body was still shaking uncontrollably. Yao Yao's eyes were red with anxiety. She gripped his hand tightly with one hand, while the other hand slammed her bone whip onto the ground. Seventy-two skulls lit up simultaneously, using soul power to help him share the burden of the excess energy accumulated in his meridians. As soon as this soul power entered Hun Feng's body, she couldn't help but gasp—the seven Heavenly Flames were like seven enraged giant dragons, turning his originally clear meridians into a chaotic battlefield. His internal organs were being scoured by energy of different attributes, and fine bloodstains were already faintly visible seeping out of the pores on his skin.

"The origins of the seven Heavenly Flames within him are repelling each other. The God-Grade Bloodline that originally maintained the balance has had its equilibrium broken by the newly added Nine Nether Wind Flame and Turtle Spirit Earth Flame." Medusa's voice remained steady, but her speech was more than a beat faster than usual. Deep within her purple eyes, a rare trace of anxiety appeared. "My Dou Qi can only suppress them temporarily; it cannot guide them. We must find Yao Ling—her soul-nourishing constitution can help comb through his meridians and allow the seven Heavenly Flames to find a balance point again."

Yao Yao did not waste words; she flashed toward the guest hall. In less than ten breaths, she flew back, dragging Yao Ling with her. Yao Ling had not even had time to tidy her robes; she was placed on the corridor floor by Yao Yao, barefoot, with a look of confusion and sleepiness on her face. But when she saw Hun Feng's appearance, a faint, uncontrollable smile appeared in those eyes, where the redness and swelling from crying had only just subsided—this person had killed her grandfather, killed her brother, and wiped out her entire clan. Now, he had finally suffered a backlash. The Heavenly Dao is fair; cause and effect are not false.

"The seven Heavenly Flames are repelling each other, hurry and comb through his meridians!" Yao Yao urged anxiously, her peach-blossom eyes filled with worry.

Yao Ling stood in the corridor, lowering her eyes to look at Hun Feng, who was half-kneeling on the ground with a face like gold paper, trembling all over. She remained silent for a long while. Then, she shook her head gently, extremely lightly.

"What does your shaking head mean? You refuse to save him?" Yao Yao's voice suddenly turned cold. The bone whip tightened in her hand, and the seventy-two skulls emitted a low, vibrating soul sound simultaneously. She was usually unserious and playful, but when it came to matters concerning Hun Feng, she never wavered.

"It is not that I refuse." Yao Ling's voice was very calm, as if she were stating a medical conclusion that had nothing to do with her. "It is that he cannot be saved. His situation is different from that time in the guest hall—that time, it was just the lingering hidden injuries left by the seven Heavenly Flames in his meridians, and I only needed to use soul power to smooth out those tiny cracks. But this time, the origins of the seven Heavenly Flames are in direct conflict within his dantian. The Purification Lotus Demon Flame and the Sea Heart Flame are incompatible like water and fire, the Eight Desolation Destruction Flame is domineering and destructive, the Nine Nether Wind Flame is violent and tearing, the Turtle Spirit Earth Flame is heavy as a mountain, the Void Devouring Flame Sub-flame devours everything, and coupled with his own God-Grade Bloodline desperately suppressing them—the seven forces are running wild simultaneously. Any sliver of external soul power that intervenes will become an eighth force, not only unable to comb them out, but it will also be attacked by these seven forces simultaneously. My soul power would be torn to shreds the moment it entered, and he would also explode and die because the Heavenly Flames would shift their target of attack."

She paused, then added in an extremely objective, almost indifferent tone: "It is just like a pot of boiling oil; pouring water into it will only cause it to explode."

"Then what do we do?" Yao Yao's voice trembled slightly as she turned to look at Medusa. Medusa was silent; the anxiety in her purple eyes had transformed into a deep gravity. Her Dou Qi could only suppress the Heavenly Flames temporarily; it could not cure the root cause. Once her Dou Qi was exhausted, the balance within Hun Feng's body would collapse again, and at that time, the backlash would be even more violent than it was now.

"There is one more way." Yao Ling suddenly spoke, her voice very light, as if she were talking to herself. "But there are no more than three people in this world capable of doing this."

"Speak." Medusa spat out only one word, her voice cold and heavy.

"The Grade 9 Profound Pill. That Grade 9 Profound Pill that has taken the form of a little girl is itself the purest condensation of energy between heaven and earth. Her pill aura can simultaneously suppress the seven Heavenly Flames, forcibly pushing down their riot. But the person capable of refining her must be someone whose soul realm has reached the Emperor Realm—because only an Emperor Realm Soul can withstand the combined counterattack of the seven Heavenly Flames while refining the Grade 9 Profound Pill. Now, in the entire Fighting Qi Continent, the only person known to have reached the Emperor Realm in soul cultivation is Hun Tiandi."

Yao Yao was stunned for a moment: "You mean to have the Clan Leader personally take action to refine that Grade 9 Profound Pill, and then suppress the Heavenly Flames for my husband?"

"No. I mean to have Hun Tiandi directly suppress the seven Heavenly Flames within Hun Feng's body using his Emperor Realm Soul; there is no need to go through the step of the Grade 9 Profound Pill. The suppression power of an Emperor Realm Soul far exceeds the origin power of any Heavenly Flame. Even if the Purification Lotus Demon Flame and the Void Devouring Flame Sub-flame were running wild at the same time, they would not be able to stir up any trouble before an Emperor Realm Soul. But the problem is—" Yao Ling's tone remained objective and distant, "For a Nine-Star Dou Sheng peak expert to expend a large amount of soul power to comb through the meridians for another person, there is no precedent for such a thing in the history of the Ancient Eight Clans. Even between father and son, they might not be willing to pay such a price, because once an Emperor Realm Soul is excessively depleted, it is extremely difficult to recover in a short time. Moreover, for a figure like Hun Tiandi, his soul power is the foundation of the Hun Clan's deterrence over the entire continent. Would he take such a risk for a junior?"

She fell silent after speaking. From beginning to end, her wording was like analyzing a medical problem: precise, calm, and without any personal emotion. But her heart was beating very fast in her chest—not because of worry, but because of excitement. Hun Feng would die. This man who wiped out her entire clan was currently kneeling in front of her, trembling all over, with seven Heavenly Flames inside him that could blow him to smithereens at any moment. And she didn't need to do anything; she only needed to stand here and watch, watching the Heavenly Dao collect the debt for her. Yao Yao and Medusa looked at each other; neither spoke. They knew Yao Ling's analysis was correct—no one could handle this matter except Hun Tiandi. But whether Hun Tiandi would take action, no one dared to guarantee.

"Go find the Clan Leader." Hun Feng suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse and weak. He squeezed these words out through his teeth, each word accompanied by a violent spasm. The seven Heavenly Flames had already become a chaotic mess within his body, and extremely fine cracks were beginning to appear in his dantian—that was a sign that his meridians were about to reach their limit. He did not want to die. At least not yet. He had not yet completely crushed Xiao Yan, had not yet refined that Grade 9 Profound Pill, had not yet charged toward the Emperor Realm, and had not yet broken the plane barrier to introduce the Source Qi of the Great Thousand World. He still had four wives and one daughter who needed him to protect them. He did not want to die. But at this moment, he did not even have the strength to stand up. After saying this, he could no longer hold on, and his body fell forward. Yao Yao caught him, holding him tightly in her arms, her chin resting against his sweat-drenched forehead, her peach-blossom eyes filled with unprecedented fear.

Medusa had already turned and swept toward the direction of the Hall of Hun Tiandi. The night wind whipped up her light purple cloak, leaving a faint afterimage in the corridor. Her speed was pushed to the limit; even the guards along the way could only catch a glimpse of a blurry purple.

Yao Ling stood in place, the moonlight falling on her youthful yet calm face. She looked at the man in Yao Yao's arms who was trembling all over and bleeding from his seven orifices, her fingers slowly curling tight inside her sleeves, her nails digging into her palms. Grandfather, do you see? The person who killed you is being devoured by the Heavenly Flames. Brother, do you see? The person who wiped out my entire clan is about to die. Yet she still stood there, doing nothing, neither stepping in to save him nor kicking him while he was down, just watching quietly. She knew that when Hun Tiandi arrived, this person might be saved. But she was not in a rush—at least at this moment, the Heavenly Dao was still fair.