For the first time ever, Yan Huoling gave an order. Cao Yun was unable to recognize her language. Indeed, it was no known language but a coded message to her soldiers. With this instruction, they knew what was to come. In an instant, she had come to her decision and she would see it through to the end. Unfortunately, Cao Yun had no way of knowing what she had ordered. What he was most worried about was for a soldier to escape and call for reinforcements. The next instant would prove that he had been greatly mistaken in his fear.

As Cao Yun's swords were pressing on the fiery flower, it was ironically increasing the heat within. More pressure was building up as the flower was actually being compressed. Even the soldiers forming the battle formation didn't try to fight those swords at all. They all followed the commands of their general. General Yan and her commandants knew that those swords were a trap by their enemy. Besides, their enemy was a 9th-grade Accomplished Demon. They had simply no time to waste on focusing on something else. If they could kill the demon, his trap might dissipate. In the worst-case scenario, it would remain but such a monstrous threat to the Hongchen Kingdom would be destroyed. They would gladly give their lives to annihilate their enemy.

Yan Huoling and her four commandants were quite literally burning their prenatal Jing. In other words, they were consuming all of their lifespan and energy to increase their strength to the limit. Even if they were to win, they would only have a handful of years to live after such a sacrifice. In fact, if they went too far, they might actually die of old age during the fight. Prenatal Jing was essential for the body not only to produce but also to refine Qi. Postnatal Jing alone wasn't enough.

Obviously, Cao Yun was shocked by such determination. Yan Huoling had immediately understood that she couldn't win this fight. Instead of risking total obliteration of her men by retreating, she pushed forward, putting her life on the line. Her determination was already admirable, but her commandants had the same fiery will burning in their eyes. Giving their life to slay the enemy of mankind was a great deed. In fact, they were happy to die such a meaningful death.

The five Spirit Warriors all surrounded Cao Yun. They had no weapons. They were weapons. Their entire bodies were wreathed in flames. All around their flesh, many blazing colors were dancing while their skin was crackling. Cao Yun's nose was assaulted with the smell of burning flesh, but his enemies didn't mind the pain at all. In fact, Cao Yun wasn't even sure they felt pain to begin with. Indeed, the flames had already burned all of their nerves.

Within their bodies, their own Qi had turned into flames. The fire devouring them was really their own vitality, their very lifespan going up in smoke. All around the fiery flower, their men were watching them. Every single one of them knew exactly what it meant. In front of them, they were witnessing the death of their general and her commandants. This was the final moment of the Orchid's Ashes. Not a single soldier was ready to abandon the fight. If the Beautiful Hell Orchid were to die, they would gladly follow her. Cao Yun could also feel those eyes piercing his soul. Their wills were so strong that Cao Yun's mind could feel them, he was under pressure.

'Weeping Asura'!

Cao Yun's eyes turned red as blood. As he pushed his asura cultivation further, his very skin turned red, his hair white and his killing intent spread further and further. Within this killing intent, he was pouring his understanding of the Dao of Death. This increased the intensity of the swords and bones outside the fiery flower. Before the flower collapsed though, it would get compressed more and more, growing more and more dangerous.

'Imperial Seal of Scorching Flame'!

All five Spirit Warriors wreathed in flames attacked Cao Yun. Their speed was incredible. When they moved, they literally turned into living flames before materializing again. They were almost as fast as Cao Yun when he turned into thunder using his martial arts. The problem was that they were five and Cao Yun was alone. Although he could dodge one, or maybe even two, opponents, their attacks were so well coordinated that he couldn't avoid them all. When two of them attacked from one side, they forced him in the direction of another one. By the time Cao Yun realized that, the last two were already on him.

Hundreds of palms crashed into his body. With each strike, the flames of his enemies were penetrating his flesh. Although his wounds were healing just as fast, the flames were also causing damage within. They were able to literally burn his very Qi. Thus, Cao Yun was forced to focus on them so they didn't get to his Dantian or they might burn his Jing as well, or even his soul and his Soul Embryo.

'Wrathful Asura's Chest'!

Since his Rune of Fire was cowering in fear before these living flames, Cao Yun's control over his Black Heart Flame was a bit weak. But he could still use this flame in his martial arts. Combining 'Azure Dragon Through the Seven Storms' and his 'Axiu Qian's Blood Wrath', he clad himself in scales made of this Black Heart Flame. When his enemies struck those scales, they exploded outward. But the Black Heart Flame was not enough. In fact, the living flames surrounding the Spirit Warriors were snuffing out the Black Heart Flame. The entire vitality of the Spirit Warriors was enough to balance the evil energies of the Black Heart Flame. That being said, it was still protecting Cao Yun. But his Black Heart Flame was being depleted. He couldn't rely solely on that.

'Axiu Qian's Blood Wrath'!

'Imperial Seal of Scorching Flame'!

Cao Yun and the five Spirit Warriors became entangled in a most violent dance. They were so fast that Cao Yun had barely enough time to move his spear around so he put it back in his spatial ring for the time being. Besides, his 'Azure Dragon Through the Seven Storms' was too weak against such a Fire element in their techniques. Thus, Cao Yun fought with his bare hands. His sea of consciousness turned into a bloody battlefield. The memories of Axiu Qian were coursing through Cao Yun's mind as he fought.

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The young man had turned into a frenzy asura. Yan Huoling kicked his head, but Cao Yun blocked with his forearm. The bones within his arm creaked but did not shatter. As Yan Huoling was pulling back her leg, Cao Yun's hand grabbed her ankle and crushed it completely. The flames over her body entered Cao Yun's flesh but his blood moved so fast in his veins that it extinguished the fire before it could go deep enough to spread in his meridians.

At the same time, a young man, very effeminate, put his elbow into Cao Yun's back. Under the violence of the shock, a vertebra was knocked out of place nearly severing Cao Yun's nerves. Immediately after that, the young man's hand grabbed Cao Yun's neck from behind, trying to snap his head backward. But this was just a distraction to allow two other Spirit Warriors to attack him from below.

Cao Yun didn't try to get out of this man's hold. Instead, he went with the flow of it and moved his entire body along with his head, finding himself horizontal, facing toward the ground. Then, the two Spirit Warriors were right in front of him while the effeminate man was confused by the sudden movement. Cao Yun grabbed the man's arm and ripped it out. Without any hesitation, he threw this arm as a javelin toward one Spirit Warrior. The woman avoided the arm used as a lethal weapon but it threw off her rhythm. Thus, her ally was faced alone with Cao Yun.

Finally, Cao Yun had only one opponent before him. Sensing the danger, the Spirit Warrior didn't stop, didn't hesitate and still attacked with all of his strength. He quite literally burned all of his Jing, his Qi, and even consumed his very Soul Embryo. All of his being was used as fuel. All his allies sensed it and moved away as fast as possible, even the young man whose arm had been ripped apart.

Before Cao Yun could react, the Spirit Warrior exploded right as he was about to collide with him. A powerful blast erupted in every direction. It collided with the Death Energy barrier created by Cao Yun's sword and was reverberated back toward the center of the fiery flower, increasing the heat and pressure even more. Because of that, Cao Yun received two blasts almost simultaneously. Besides, he was right in front of the explosion. His sternum had caved in and had almost crushed his heart while his rib cage was literally visible. The flames were eating through his flesh, trying to spread into his ribs and into his heart. Part of his shoulders had been blown off but his arms were still attached to his body. Finally, his face was burned but he had kept both his eyes.

None of his organs were permanently damaged. As long as his wounds were mere external flesh and bones, he could heal. But the flames were slowing down the process. Cao Yun was forced to circulate his Golden Blood in order to extinguish those flames. As they were trying to consume his heart, the Rune of Fire within Cao Yun's mind began to shake and tremble in fear. It was terrified of those flames. If only Cao Yun could control his Rune of Fire, those flames wouldn't be much of a problem. Once again, if he were able to comprehend even tiny parts of the Dao of Fire, this fight might have ended already. For the moment, he knew that he was really in danger.

Trying to take out the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards had been folly. Had he been faced with the entire battalion, Cao Yun would have surely died. He had been much too confident. Deep down into Cao Yun's mind, Dian Mo knew it, but he had failed to convince the young man. Right now, Dian Mo was observing the battle. While Cao Yun was dealing with the five Spirit Warriors wreathed in flames, he had no time to analyze the battle formation.

Now that one of the four commandants had just died, the other four Spirit Warriors got even more enraged. They also began to burn more and more of their own Jing. Since Cao Yun could be injured so much by a suicide attack, all three remaining commandants were ready to do the same. So Cao Yun could not stay immobile too long. In fact, he was even afraid of being too close to them for even an instant.

"Strike there!"

Dian Mo's voice resounded once more. Without any hesitation, Cao Yun obeyed. His 'Tainted Heavenly Pillar' appeared out of thin air. Cao Yun used all of his strength and cultivation, holding nothing back.

'Dragon Swimming Against the Storm'!

The sky above got ripped apart as if space itself was made of glass. The stars of the Azure Dragon were all visible. From the Heart Constellation, a powerful red glow was shining on the entire world. Some drops of Cao Yun's Golden Blood fell from his wound. When they reached the ground, they created small craters and formed entire puddles of blood. Within his spear move, Cao Yun injected his Spear Heart and even parts of his very soul with the Dao of Death. Some of his Po turned into Death Energy was fueling this attack.

Cao Yun's spear turned into a dragon of pure wind and thunder while black flames were swimming through it. With all of his strength, he stabbed toward the direction indicated by Dian Mo. There was a middle-aged woman precisely there. Before she could do anything, she felt an intense pain in her Upper Dantian. Cao Yun's seven Turbid Demons had already appeared in there and completely collapsed her sea of consciousness. Her very soul was being consumed just as the spear pierced her heart, her Lower Dantian and her head at the same time. The head of the dragon had devoured her heart while two of its claws had slashed apart her belly and crushed her head into a mist of blood.

Suddenly, the battle formation faltered. It only lasted an instant but some of Cao Yun's swords stabbed through the flower. His Death Energy barrier was now bleeding into the fiery flower. Without a moment's delay, Cao Yun flew straight into it. Yan Huoling and the other three Spirit Warriors tried to stop him, but it was too late.

The moment Cao Yun found a spot where the pressure of the fiery flower was lessened, he healed even faster. The very Death Energy surrounding him helped him fuel his Black Heart Flame.

'Asura God Bathes the World in Blood'!

Cao Yun swept his spear. A powerful wave of Death Energy erupted. In its wake, Cao Yun's Black Heart Flame spread. Despite the danger of the four Spirit Warriors wreathed in flames, Cao Yun targeted the other soldiers. Dian Mo had not found another weakness yet, but Cao Yun was just trying to create chaos at this point. Without this battle formation, he was much stronger than all of those cultivators. Although he wanted to get their memories, he didn't want to die trying to achieve his goal either.

The Black Heart Flame collided with the petals of the flame flower. This time, it was extinguished. The flower was fueled by the soldiers, but it wasn't like the flames surrounded the four suicidal Spirit Warriors. Now that he was not directly affected by the battle formation, Cao Yun could feel his Rune of Fire relaxing. But it still wasn't ready to help him fully. Anyway, he had other tools he could use. Cao Yun just needed a breather to go back into battle & use his full strength.

Obviously, Yan Huoling and her men didn't want to let Cao Yun have any time to recover. The flames around the general increased. The shape of a seed appeared on her forehead. It was made of a small dancing flame. This time, Dian Mo was absolutely certain of himself, he thought he had recognized it, but there was no doubt now.

"Boy, this is Emperor Nuwa's Solar-Orchid Flame."

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