Chapter 173: Sealing the Fire

Click… click…
Su Che twisted his neck a few times. Just now, he had almost lost his head. Fortunately, the Dragon Soul’s Scale protected him automatically, and it was just an ordinary bamboo hat—not some magical artifact. Otherwise, the outcome would have been uncertain.
“Late-stage Golden Core… truly terrifying. If they go all out, someone like me at the Foundation Establishment stage would be killed in one move.”
Su Che touched the wounds on his neck and chin, filled with fear.
On the other side, Yu Qing was also not seriously injured—only his internal organs were shaken, causing him to spit out some blood. For a cultivator, this wouldn’t affect his combat ability. Undoubtedly, he too possessed high-grade defensive magical artifacts.
“As a senior at the late-stage Golden Core stage, attacking two of our Foundation Establishment disciples from Tianxuan Sect—don’t you think that lowers your status?”
The speaker was Duan Tianya, who was fighting his opponent. As the senior brother of Xuanji Peak, he had to say something in such a situation. But it would only be words—he didn’t dare charge at a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, just as he didn’t dare fight against Venerable Xuanji. Besides, Duan Tianya would rather see Su Che and Yu Qing die right in front of him—how could he possibly come to rescue them?
The man under the tree wasn’t even bothered to reply. He still leaned against the trunk, unfazed as if the sky might fall. Without the hat, his face became visible—around thirty years old, with sharp features and a strong masculine presence that wasn’t unpleasant. Only his gloomy eyes ruined the overall impression, not matching his appearance and temperament.
Duan Tianya didn’t dare fight him, but there were two fearless youngsters, still full of fighting spirit.
Snap!
Yu Qing used a minor Dust Removal technique to clear the dust from his body and face, then turned to Su Che and asked, “Can we fight again?”
“No problem!” Su Che laughed heartily.
Their conversation and current state surprised everyone watching—their boldness to consider attacking that late-stage Golden Core cultivator again! If they really did it, it would be seeking death!
“Then let’s continue working together and prepare…” Yu Qing stared at that man and said in a low voice.
Even the man under the tree couldn’t help but grow curious. He had planned to use another move to kill them instantly, but now he wanted to see what tricks the two could come up with.
“Attack!”
Yu Qing gave a low command.
Swish! Swish!

Su Che and Yu Qing soared into the air, covering dozens of feet in an instant. However, instead of charging forward, they fled backward. That man was at the later stage of the Golden Core realm—a super-strong warrior on par with their master. It was already a great fortune that they had managed to save their lives just now. Only a fool would dare to counterattack him! So, Su Che and Yu Qing simply exchanged a single word through telepathy to finalize their plan. That word was very simple: “Flee!” But could they really escape? Both Su Che and Yu Qing believed they could, betting that the Golden Core practitioner must be the leader of that group, responsible for controlling everything, and unlikely to personally chase after mere ants like them. And it turned out they were right. The man under the tree smiled secretly, cursed, “Two little scoundrels,” then sent a message to one of his subordinates: “Seal off all exits. Capture them alive—I want them alive.” The reason for ordering them alive was that the close cooperation between those two scoundrels reminded him of an experience from years ago, when his good brother was still alive… Meanwhile, Su Che and Yu Qing had already left the market district and were flying toward the horizon where land met sea outside the island. But after flying for a short distance, they noticed a figure chasing behind them. At first, it startled them, but upon closer inspection, they realized it wasn’t the strong man under the tree. “It’s good it’s not him. If it were him, my senior brother Yu Qing and I would have to split up and flee. Whoever gets caught is doomed.” Su Che was secretly relieved. “If it’s someone else, we might still have a chance if we work together.” In the market district earlier, the strongest person was that Golden Core practitioner. If he really intended to kill Su Che and Yu Qing, no one could stop him. That’s why Su Che and Yu Qing fled without hesitation. The pursuer was fast; within just a dozen breaths, he closed the distance to two hundred feet, entering Lao Hei’s detection range. “Master, it’s only at the early stage of the Golden Core,” Lao Hei reported. Su Che replied in his mind and immediately sent a message to Yu Qing: “Senior brother, the pursuer is only at the early stage of the Golden Core. Let’s fly further away and fight him later, how about that?” “Okay!” Yu Qing’s reply was decisive. After flying for another dozen breaths, the distance narrowed to dozens of feet. Just as the pursuer was about to attack, he saw the two boys ahead suddenly split apart, seemingly planning to flee in different directions. “My senior brother’s order is to capture both of them. If they split up, it’ll be troublesome.”

The cultivator known as “Fenghuo” had just conceived this idea when he saw…
Soul Seizing!
Su Che spun around abruptly, a blue light flashing from his forehead.
Even a Golden Core cultivator couldn’t dodge the speed of this light. Unless they could predict their opponent’s intentions in advance—Fenghuo hesitated for just a moment before being struck head-on by the blue light.
Buzz…
Although Fenghuo was only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, his vital spirit was shaken by the Soul Seizing technique, causing his mind to become chaotic…
Su Che’s Soul Seizing technique originated from a mid-tier spiritual treasure that had once caused great trouble to Venerable Xuanji—its power was extremely formidable.
However, once it became Su Che’s own technique, it was limited by his cultivation level, making it barely sufficient to deal with Golden Core cultivators.
The good news was that this technique had unlimited potential for improvement; as Su Che’s cultivation grew, so too would its power.
Great Collapse!
Seizing this opportunity, Yu Qing threw a punch, and the massive fist imprint struck Fenghuo right in the body.
Bang!
As Su Che and Yu Qing had predicted, it only pushed Fenghuo back without causing any injury.
By the same logic, Yu Qing’s Great Collapse Fist, due to his insufficient cultivation, could only serve to push hard—hurting the opponent was impossible!
Taking this chance, Su Che and Yu Qing flew away even further, widening the distance between them.
Their goal was simple: to fly as far as possible to avoid being chased by their accomplices.
Fenghuo was furious. Due to his carelessness, he had been punched by two mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators—a sheer humiliation.
Accelerate, chase!
When they closed the distance to a hundred feet again, Su Che and Yu Qing felt they were close enough, so they both summoned their respective allies.
This time, they spared no effort, revealing all their helpers.
Yu Qing had three allies: his silver wolf companion and two humanoid combat puppets.
As for Su Che, wow—he summoned an entire team: Asuras, Snake Women, little dragons, and ten ghost generals.
Yu Qing glanced at them strangely, finally understanding what he meant by “a whole family” before.
There was no other way for Foundation Establishment cultivators to fight against Golden Core cultivators—other than relying on numbers. Unless Su Che and Yu Qing could, like Tianyin, produce a top-tier Dao artifact and strike lightly…
Fenghuo, who was chasing after them, was also surprised by the sudden appearance of such a powerful force. But upon closer inspection, seeing that they were all at the Foundation Establishment stage, he relaxed.

With a total of less than twenty at the Foundation Establishment stage, they could only cause some trouble to someone at the Golden Core stage; winning was simply impossible. Unless one was willing to stand there motionless and let them bombard them at will.

“Senior, what should I call you?” Su Che asked with a bow.

“Feng Huo,” came the calm reply. He originally didn’t intend to answer, but the various abilities shown by these two youngsters clearly indicated they were no ordinary people, barely worthy of engaging in conversation with him.

Lao He shouted from the Immortal Prison, “Kill him, master! This name is clearly incompatible with yours!”

Indeed, Su Che specialized in fire, while this person’s name was “Feng Huo.” Judging from his spiritual energy fluctuations, it was earth-based true energy—clearly incompatible with Su Che’s.

Some fires cannot be extinguished by water; they indeed need to be sealed with earth…

Su Che turned to Yu Qing and said, “We won’t stop until one of us dies.”

“That suits me perfectly,” Yu Qing replied, equally full of fighting spirit.

Feng Huo smiled silently, thinking these two youngsters were truly bold as calves, daring to say such outrageous things…

Soul Seizure!

Su Che launched a sudden attack. Blue light appeared between his brows, and ten ghost servants rushed forward.

“Still using this trick?”

Feng Huo sneered. By concentrating his vital energy, he managed to resist the Soul Seizure force with his own strength, leaving his mind unaffected.

But this was exactly what Su Che wanted—him resisting his Soul Seizure force, forcing him to stay in place and take hits. Otherwise, once he used his movement skills, their attacks would hardly even reach him.

Crack!

The little dragon’s lightning struck first.

Bang!

Yu Qing’s Great Collapse Divine Fist followed, along with his two combat puppets.

Whoosh!

The Snake Woman waved her Fire Phoenix Fan, compressing massive amounts of Samadhi True Fire into a flame feather, which she then sent forward.

Hiss!

Yu Qing’s silver wolf pet opened its mouth, spewing a several-foot-long pale green wind blade.

Boom… boom…

All these attacks hit Feng Huo, creating dazzling fireworks in front of him.

When the fireworks faded, Feng Huo, still at the Golden Core stage, floated unharmed in the air, his robes completely intact.

Whoosh!

With just a wave of his hand, his powerful true energy waves swept aside the ten ghost servants and two combat puppets that had rushed forward.

“This won’t do,” Feng Huo said calmly. “Even scratching isn’t enough. Don’t you have anything decent?”

No wonder he was so arrogant—the huge gap between the Golden Core and Foundation Establishment stages was akin to the difference between Foundation Establishment and Qi Cultivation.

Conversely, if Su Che were facing the combined attacks of twenty Qi-cultivating cultivators, he would still remain in such a carefree and relaxed state.
No stopping until death?
Who will die, and how will it end?