Chapter 166 — Crimson Flame

Moments later, a tremendous roar suddenly exploded from deep within the white bone, as if a volcano bursting forth had been born in the depths of the evil spirit's bony body. A scorching wave of heat spread in an instant; half of that stark white skeleton was seared to a withered yellow, and a column of crimson flame, more than a fathom thick, burst violently out of the bone and shot skyward. Even the Qingyun disciples far away felt an unbearable heat—to say nothing of the monster itself, engulfed in the crimson flame.

For a time the righteous path erupted in thunderous cheers. The methods of the three great righteous leaders were truly beyond the reach of ordinary men.

Like a volcanic eruption, the arrogant, overbearing heat gradually dispersed, and the strange monster shrouded in fierce flame slowly came back into view. Half its body was scorched black. Hideous and dreadful as it was, it looked far more wretched than before, without a trace of its former ferocity.

The righteous folk, who had been frozen by the terrifying spectacle of the monster's arrival, all relaxed and let out a long breath. And rightly so—with figures like Dao Yan Zhenren, men whose powers partook of creation itself, immortal as gods, what ghost or demon was there to fear?

Yet somehow, compared with the jubilant young disciples far behind them, the three great pillars of the righteous path above the clouds had turned strangely grim.