Chapter 511: Terrifying Flame

Time passed slowly, but for Su Che, every moment was incredibly precious. The speed at which he projected the spiritual flames from his hand grew faster and faster.
Was there any flame within the third layer of the Immortal Prison that could counteract the black tentacles? Su Che had no idea. All he knew was that he couldn’t just sit idly doing nothing. For now, this was the only solution he could think of. He wouldn’t be satisfied until he tried until the very end.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh…
Nearly a hundred flames were projected at once each time. He could launch three projections in a single breath, meaning he could test over a hundred thousand spiritual flames in fifteen minutes.
By now, Su Che had already tried more than a million different spiritual flames, yet with no results.
He had a gut feeling that behind him, the Snow Jade Fairy and the others were getting closer and closer. His time was truly running out.
If they caught up again, it would mean that Tianyin’s great effort in using Tianyin Strike would be in vain. He still wouldn’t be able to escape their siege—only delaying things temporarily.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry…”
Su Che kept urging himself in his mind, accelerating the speed at which he projected the flames. The sense of urgency from behind grew clearer by the moment. He was certain they had caught up, and the distance was not far.
Lao He was also frantic inside the Immortal Prison, shouting and urging the Immortal Prison Pagoda to act quickly and help his master find that spiritual flame.
As for whether such a flame actually existed in the Immortal Prison, he didn’t care. He was used to shifting the pressure onto the Immortal Prison whenever faced with an insurmountable difficulty, forcing it to find a solution.
It was unclear whether the Immortal Prison finally manifested, annoyed by Lao He’s constant noise, or if hard work paid off—Su Che’s efforts finally bore fruit…
Snap!
Among the hundred spiritual flames Su Che projected this time, a deep blue flame touched the black tentacle and instantly ignited like a spark falling into the most flammable oil in the world.
Boom!
The tentacle burst into fierce flames. A tentacle over ten zhang long was instantly swallowed by those deep blue flames…
“I found it!”
Su Che shouted in ecstasy. Immediately afterward, he saw a stunning scene unfold before his eyes, far beyond his expectations.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh…

Deep blue flames erupted, not just targeting this single tentacle—but these flames also knew to automatically seek out other combustible materials. With a boom, part of the flame on that tentacle exploded on its own, splitting into hundreds of small flames that scattered in all directions like flowers released by a celestial being. Since they were called “spiritual flames,” it meant they possessed a sentient quality. Each small flame could accurately find a tentacle, attach itself to it, and ignite instantly. As soon as they caught fire, the spiritual flames on those tentacles would burst into thousands more flames, continuing to spread outward in search of more fuel. Whoosh whoosh whoosh… In the blink of an eye, all the black tentacles visible to Su Che were engulfed in raging flames, turning the entire sky a dark blue. Even more strangely, these spiritual flames only burned those black tentacles; they didn’t affect any other materials at all. Not a single leaf in the jungle was scorched, and Su Che and the others remained unharmed, not even sensing any change in the surrounding air temperature. “This is…” Su Che, the arsonist himself, was filled with astonishment. He exclaimed in his heart, “Lao Hei, what kind of spiritual flame is this? Its spread rate is terrifying!” “I don’t know, master,” Lao Hei replied. “The third layer of the Immortal Prison has produced countless strange spiritual flames that never existed in this universe at all—they’re all unique to our Immortal Prison. Moreover, there are so many types that who has the time to name them one by one?” Hiss… hiss… hiss… The black tentacles in the flames emitted eerie hissing sounds, like their own peculiar screams. Whoosh! Many tentacles quickly retracted underground, trying to use the soil to extinguish the flames. But after just a short while, they emerged again with even more intense flames. Crack! Crack! Crack! Each tentacle broke off on its own, with the unburned parts rushing back deep into the ground. Clearly, retreating underground didn’t put out those flames; instead, the fire would spread along the long tentacles to the main body of the Demon Beard Beast. Therefore, it could only resort to sacrificing the burned parts, just like a gecko shedding its tail, to protect its underground body. “Great!” Su Che saw that there wasn’t a single tentacle left standing ahead—they had all broken off and lay on the ground, continuing to burn. The path ahead was clear, allowing them to move forward freely!

Su Che held a large mass of deep blue flames in his palm, just like the holy light used by the Snow Jade Fairy to expel demons. From this moment on, it would surely make those black tentacles retreat fearfully, not daring to provoke him anymore. With this, their speed would increase several times over. Even though both used the same teleportation technique and possessed the strength of late Yuan Ying stage, the Snow Jade Fairy and her group would definitely not be able to catch up with him!

“Hahaha…” Su Che, Heng Yi, and the others laughed together. The feeling of breaking free was truly indescribable. If forced to describe it, it could only be summed up in two words: exhilarating! Especially for Su Che, his mood was even more joyful. From millions of spiritual flames, he had indeed found one that could counteract the black tentacles. Regardless of the difficulty involved, at least it proved his earlier intuition was correct. This too was a sense of achievement, wasn’t it?

After laughing, fueled by this excitement, Su Che had another sudden idea. He shouted at the ground beneath his feet, “Demon Beard Beast, I know you can hear me… Fine, then I’ll tell you—you must help me stop those people behind us and everyone else in this forest…”

“You don’t need to take too long. Two hours should be enough to hold them back. Of course, if you can swallow them, that would be even better. Do as you see fit.”

“If you refuse to follow my orders, then I’ll take these flames and go deep underground to find you, letting them consume you completely and turn you to ashes!”

Su Che spoke these words while walking, shouting them several times with his head lowered. In truth, he wasn’t sure whether the Demon Beard Beast could hear him or follow his instructions. Anyway, he was just trying it out—if it worked, great; if not, so be it.

Su Che believed that the Dark Demon Beard Beast was a relatively advanced magical beast with an extremely long lifespan, so its intelligence must be high. Moreover, having devoured so many cultivators, it could surely understand human speech and have enough wisdom to weigh pros and cons. The spiritual flame in his hands was a unique flame created by the Immortal Prison, and for the Demon Beard Beast, it was a deadly counter. After witnessing its terrifyingly fast spreading combustion earlier, it would be strange if it weren’t afraid. Perhaps, to save its own life, it would indeed help him stop the Snow Jade Fairy and the others.

Regardless of whether these guesses were correct, from now on, Su Che and his group would definitely no longer see a single tentacle on their path—those creatures had long retreated underground. The way ahead was clear, with no obstacles left.

The Beast with Magic Whiskers is the absolute ruler of this forest. With it around, all other creatures become its food. Thus, Su Che and his companions never encountered any further dangers.

On the other hand, the journey of the Snow Jade Fairy and her group underwent a drastic change. Shortly after Su Che used the spiritual fire in his hand to threaten the Beast with Magic Whiskers, within just a few breaths, the powerful beings at the Mahayana stage led by the Snow Jade Fairy were shocked to find that the Holy Light of Exorcism seemed to have lost its power!

As they continued on, suddenly, countless thick tentacles appeared dozens of yards ahead. Each tentacle swayed menacingly, clearly aiming to attack and warn them.

“What’s going on?” Li Jiu blurted out. “Shouldn’t the Holy Light of Exorcism work within a range of a thousand yards? How dare they block us?”

“I don’t know,” the Snow Jade Fairy replied softly, her face showing the same confusion.

The Holy Light Lamp in her hand was intact, and its light remained bright—there was no way it could have failed.

The rules of the game didn’t allow them to stop, so they could only slow down and approach slowly, trying to figure out what those tentacles meant.

Hiss… hiss… hiss… hiss…

Thousands of tentacles bent downward, with sharp, thorned mouths splitting at their tips, emitting a harsh roaring sound—clearly a warning: This path is blocked; find another way!

It was obvious that the Beast with Magic Whiskers truly feared the spiritual fire in Su Che’s hand, which forced it to confront the Holy Light of Exorcism wielded by the Snow Jade Fairy.

The Holy Light didn’t have much destructive power; it only served to drive away demons. Under its illumination, the Beast with Magic Whiskers indeed felt extremely uncomfortable and suffering, but only its tentacles did, not its core body.

A little discomfort could be endured—it was said by the human with the spiritual fire that they only needed to hold back these people for two hours.

The Holy Light wasn’t deadly, but the spiritual fire in that human’s hand was terrifying—like a natural enemy. Even a tiny flame could burn it to ashes.

What kind of spiritual fire was that, so terrifying!

So, without much hesitation, the Beast with Magic Whiskers made its choice: survival first. Having devoured so many powerful cultivators, it already had a chance to achieve immortality—it absolutely couldn’t die!

Hiss… hiss… hiss… hiss…

Countless black tentacles emerged from beneath the ground, all in an aggressive stance, sending a clear warning to Princess Xueyu and the others. Yet they still cleared a path for them, leading toward the due west on the right side.
“It’s obvious they want us to go west; the other three directions are off-limits…”
Princess Xueyu was extremely wise and immediately figured out what the tentacles meant.
“Go west?”
Li Jiu and the others were shocked and quickly said, “How can that work? We need to chase after Tian Yu, and for this race, we must head straight south.”
Someone else asked, “Friend Xueyu, are you sure there’s no problem with the Demon Exorcising Holy Lamp?”
“No! Even if there is a problem, it’s not on our end.”
Princess Xueyu slowly shook her head, her wise gaze fixed on the southern horizon, and murmured, “Tian Yu, you’re more troublesome than I thought. From this moment on, I must admit that you truly deserve to be my opponent.”