Chapter 208 — Terror
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 5
He threw back his head and laughed, wildly, madly, and at the end of that laughter it was like a wail, tinged with a sob. As his body swayed, a strange aura slowly rose. The halo of the Eight Fierce Deities, which had been calmly and slowly revolving, suddenly began to spin faster and faster, and all eight deities lit up at once.
That ancient, ferocious aura, as if from gods and demons of primal antiquity, and a demonic roar utterly unlike that of the Crimson Flame Beast, spread out in an instant. Under the urging of demonic power, the flame in that ancient brazier, once again, slowly grew larger.
And this time, that burning flame slowly left the brazier, like a body set within the mysterious halo of the Eight Fierce Deities, rising with the eight deities into midair, blazing furiously.
"You are right. The Crimson Flame Beast I summoned was indeed inferior to the formation at the Profound Fire Altar, for lack of profound fire power." Behind the halo, red color rushed into the Beast Venerable's pale face, as if he too were reviving at the descent of this peerless demonic power. "But the formation here was personally laid down by Linglong herself—far surpassing that ruined formation at the Profound Fire Altar. Let me show you its secrets."
Amid his shrill, drawn-out laughter, his whole body drifted into midair and slowly dissolved into that ever-growing mass of flame, until at last he vanished from sight. On the ground below, Taotie roared aloud.
The next instant, upon the eight likenesses of the fierce deities, all the eyes of the statues suddenly blazed with red light, as though bloodshot, as if demons had woken anew. In that instant the gods and demons of all heaven seemed to howl in unison, a piercing shriek filling the sky and earth, deafening beyond bearing.
That mass of flame burned ever more fiercely, and from deep within it came a ceaseless rumbling like thunder; the heart of the flame gradually turned pure white, and even at a great distance, cultivators of the attainments of Ming Li and Lu Xueling found the searing heat nigh unbearable.
And amid the demonic howling that filled the heavens echoed a mysterious incantation, obscure and drawn out, ancient and abstruse, as though the forebears of remotest antiquity, worshipping their gods, poured out the whole of their faith and spiritual power to summon the deity of their dreams.
The giant flame, burning!
The incantation came suddenly like a fierce wind and driving rain, tearing at the human heart. Amid the sound of that incantation, each syllable striking the soul like a blow, a vast and irresistible might abruptly burst forth from deep within the giant flame, a power so immense that Ming Li and Lu Xueling could neither withstand nor resist it, and were forced to fly tumbling backward.
What dreadful incantation was this, and what terrifying spirit had it summoned, to possess such power?
For a moment Ming Li and Lu Xueling both turned pale; what manner of force was this, that human strength could withstand?
The flame burned in mad fury, the blazing fire dancing in midair like demons run wild, welcoming the horror that was to come from deep within it. At the hottest place, in the nearly pure-white heart of the flame, something suddenly stirred amid violent flickering, as if some living creature were slowly breathing, and opened its eyes.
In an instant the ancient, hard rock walls all around crumbled and shattered, and countless great fissures opened in the ground, from the depths of which a crimson light shone forth, as though beneath their feet lay terrifying volcanic magma, about to erupt.
And that sound of breathing, like the roar of a dragon, echoed through this space!