Chapter 1666, After the Dust Settles Translator: Silavin & PewPewLaserGun Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys Nevertheless, this situation was fortunate for the Firebird. With the eight chains restricting the Heavenly Thunder Fire, the Firebird was barely able to contend with it. As soon as Yang Kai appeared on the battlefield, the Heavenly Thunder Fire sensed him, and a bright light flashed from its single massive eye towards him. “Another ant, but this one seems to be a tasty snack for me! Feel honoured to become my strength!” The voice of the Heavenly Thunder Fire caused the entire chamber to shake. A strong suction force descended on Yang Kai as the light beam seemed to have an irresistible attractive force which was trying to swallow Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar. Yang Kai coldly snorted and released a burst of his Spiritual Energy. A crackling sound rang out in the next instant and the attractive force shattered, freeing Yang Kai. “A mere ant dares resist my will? Unforgivable!” The Heavenly Thunder Fire seemed to be irritated and it quickly swung one of its giant tentacles towards Yang Kai. The Firebird let out a fierce cry as it shot a column of fire from its mouth, blocking the tentacle from reaching Yang Kai. Yang Kai stood in place indifferently, focusing all his attention on observing the situation around him. He did not currently have a method to successfully deal with this strange Heavenly Thunder Fire. Right now, his Soul Avatar was here, but his physical body was still up above inside the volcanic crater, so he could not use his Saint Qi to help the Firebird against this enemy, only his Spiritual Energy. Yang Kai did not want to act recklessly and rile up his opponent before coming up with a plan. Tentacles swept in all directions as the Heavenly Thunder Fire seemed to have sensed the importance of Yang Kai to the Firebird, so he shamelessly began targeting Yang Kai almost exclusively. The Firebird was instantly put on the defensive. The sudden arrival of Yang Kai seemed to make the Firebird’s situation worse. The two strange creatures thus began a fierce struggle over Yang Kai. As time passed, the aura of the Firebird gradually weakened while the Heavenly Thunder Fire was as fierce as ever, not showing any signs of fatigue. “Here, I am the master! You ants must surrender to me!” The Heavenly Thunder Fire’s voice roared once more. At that moment, Yang Kai’s eyes flashed brightly, and he couldn’t help laughing out loud, “So that’s how it is!” Sensing Yang Kai’s joy, the Firebird’s waning momentum surged upwards again, and a brilliant radiance burst from its body as it once more entangled the Heavenly Thunder Fire, trying to swallow its energy. “I’ve seen through your trick already. Today, you will fall!” Yang Kai shouted as he swiftly stretched out his hand and slashed it through the air. A strange wave of power lashed out. Instantly, the space around the Heavenly Thunder Fire became somewhat distorted. Space Force! Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar could not use the Saint Qi which was contained in his physical body, but that did not hinder him from using his comprehension of the Dao of Space. Using his Space Force, Yang Kai cut off the Heavenly Thunder Fire from a certain nearby position. The Heavenly Thunder Fire was instantly taken aback, and a look of panic flashed across its massive eye. At that moment, it gave up attacking the Firebird entirely and instead launched a flurried attack towards Yang Kai. “So, my thoughts have proven to be true!” Yang Kai laughed, concluding from the Heavenly Thunder Fire’s reaction that his guess was correct. Without any hesitation, Yang Kai released a burst of Space Force from his Soul Avatar and rapidly spread it outwards to form a type of cage around the surrounding region. After just ten breaths, the cage had taken shape! This invisible cage isolated the Heavenly Thunder Fire from the outside world, enclosing it here with the Firebird. This cage had no effect on the Firebird, but it was a fatal threat to the Heavenly Thunder Fire. Now, the Heavenly Thunder Fire was no longer able to draw strength from its surrounding environment to restore itself! Yang Kai had observed for a while and found that the Heavenly Thunder Fire had some kind of invisible connection with the surrounding magma and the scorching heat of the ground; because of that, no matter how much of its essence was swallowed by the Firebird, it was quickly able to restore itself. On the other hand, the Firebird obviously had no such advantage! This wasn’t too much of a surprise, however. The Heavenly Thunder Fire had been sealed in this place for countless millennia, so it had found a way to use this environment to its benefit. Yang Kai’s Space Force cage, however, cut off this advantage in an instant. “We’ll attack it together, it can’t restore itself anymore,” Yang Kai shouted to the Firebird before using his Soul Avatar to charge forward. “Pitiful ants, you cannot defeat me! Even without the help of this place’s power, you are still not my opponents!” The Heavenly Thunder Fire roared disdainfully. “Then we’ll just have to see who is stronger!” Yang Kai smiled fiercely as he shouted, “Demon Eye of Annihilation!” From his left eye, a golden light suddenly flashed, and a majestic golden pupil revealed itself. From this golden pupil, a beam of light containing a mysterious power shot forward and pierced the massive one-eyed Heavenly Thunder Fire. The Heavenly Thunder Fire’s huge body froze up for an instant before it released a resounding howl, as if it had been wounded. The Demon Eye of Annihilation was able to purify Souls. When the Heavenly Thunder Fire obtained sentience, it formed its own Soul, so it was vulnerable to the Demon Eye of Annihilation. Its huge body twisted as its countless tentacles waved about madly, seemingly threatening to collapse the entire space. The Firebird shot forward, opened its mouth wide, and bit into the Heavenly Thunder Fire’s body. A stream of pure power visibly to the naked eye flowed into the Firebird’s body from its mouth. At the same time, the Heavenly Thunder Fire’s aura dropped noticeably. “Ants! You dare anger me!? I will have all of you dead!” The Heavenly Thunder Fire roared madly as its tentacles flew back, wrapped up the Firebird, and hurled it away. Immediately, its single eye locked onto Yang Kai and a fierce and destructive aura descended upon him. From that single eye, a mysterious light blasted out, one which was capable of fighting against Yang Kai’s golden light and slowly began pushing it back. It was conceivable that once this profound light covered Yang Kai, his Soul Avatar would be erased. “Blossoming Lotus!” Yang Kai shouted sharply. Within the golden pupil of his left eye, a lotus bud suddenly appeared. Immediately after this lotus bud appeared, it flickered and disappeared. But from the perspective of the Heavenly Thunder Fire, this lotus bud rushed into its Knowledge Sea. This lotus bud took Spiritual Energy as its nutrients and began madly swallowing all it could from the Heavenly Thunder Fire, slowly blossoming in the process. The more it blossomed, the more Spiritual Energy it drew in. By the time the lotus bloomed halfway, the Heavenly Thunder Fire’s figure was shaking, and its originally solid form became a bit illusory. Yang Kai had a splitting headache and was unable to stop himself from letting out a miserable cry. To deal with Heavenly Thunder Fire, he had used almost all of his Spiritual Energy at once to condense this lotus bud. But the effects were astonishing. The Heavenly Thunder Fire took a devastating hit and lost the strength to target him. An angry growl and miserable howl burst from the Heavenly Thunder Fire’s mouth. The Firebird took this opportunity to free itself from its restraints and summon its base Artifact Refining Furnace. Stimulated by the Firebird, the Artifact Refining Furnace began rotating rapidly as it sent out an amazing attractive force from its mouth. The Heavenly Thunder Fire’s unstable body could not withstand this suction and was gradually pulled towards the Artifact Refining Furnace. “Nooo!” The Heavenly Thunder Fire yelled madly but to no avail. Yang Kai’s Blossoming Lotus Secret Technique had swallowed most of its Spiritual Energy, rendering it incapable of resisting the Firebird’s attack. As it howled miserably, the Heavenly Thunder Fire was pulled into the Artifact Refining Furnace like a plume of blue smoke! The Firebird then turned and glanced towards Yang Kai. Yang Kai gripped his temples as their four eyes met and gently nodded, conveying an encouraging look. The Firebird flapped its wings, turned into a ball of flame, and wrapped itself around the Artifact Refining Furnace before immediately sinking deeper into the magma below. Its battle was not over yet! The next stage of this battle would be fought inside the Artifact Refining Furnace, but unlike before, it would be on the Firebird’s home field where it would occupy the absolute advantage. Yang Kai was no longer able to intervene. However, he believed that when the Firebird appeared again, it would bring him a big, pleasant surprise. Turning his head and looking around, Yang Kai did not choose to remain and immediately sent his Soul Avatar back to his body. Opening his eyes, Yang Kai saw the Stone Puppet’s concerned gaze. After giving it a comforting look, Yang Kai immediately took out some pills and stuffed them into his mouth before closing his eyes and refining their efficacies. Time passed by. The tearing pain in Yang Kai’s mind gradually faded, and with the help of the Seven Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, his Spiritual Energy was restored in short order. Recovering to the point where he could move about within a day. After this battle, Yang Kai surprisingly found that his Spiritual Energy had also increased. This was a fortunate accident. A fragrant wind appeared behind him at a certain point, but Yang Kai didn’t even turn his head to look, instead just smiling slightly and saying, “Congratulations Senior, now Ice Heart Valley may dominate Scarlet Wave Star and become its sole ruler.” Luo Li’s faint voice sounded, “This Queen has no intention of dominating anything. Everything done today was simply to settle our long-standing grievances. As long Brilliant Flame Sect remained, many from Ice Heart Valley would die.” Yang Kai nodded lightly, thinking these words conformed well with Luo Li’s mentality. “However, this success was only thanks to Young Master Yang’s assistance. If you had not been here dealing with the Heavenly Thunder Fire, my Ice Heart Valley would not have been able to act so easily,” Luo Li said gratefully. “We each simply attended to our own needs, Senior need not be so polite,” Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “En, what about Brilliant Flame Sect’s people?” “All those in the Origin Returning Realm were killed, those below the Origin Realm who were known to have killed my Ice Heart Valley disciples were also killed. As for the rest... their cultivations were crippled and they were set free,” Luo Li replied. “Senior is benevolent.” “What you mean to say is this Queen shows too much womanly compassion, right?” Luo Li smiled softly. “Junior wouldn’t dare. Senior must have her reasons for acting this way, Junior has no reason to question that,” Yang Kai replied calmly. Luo Li smiled and said, “If you wish to say it, just say it, I doubt there’s anything you dare not do. En, if this Queen really slaughtered every Brilliant Flame Sect disciple from weak to strong... the Heavens would not reflect kindly upon it.” Yang Kai nodded and said nothing more. Cultivators had to act following their own convictions. Luo Li was not one who enjoyed killing, so if she were to engage in a reckless slaughter of Brilliant Flame Sect, it would no doubt have an impact on her mental state, which was not good for her. Although releasing these Brilliant Flame Sect disciples may seem like benevolence, it was just Luo Li obeying her own heart.