Chapter 209 — The Eight-Abyssal Fire Dragon
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 4 of 6
Every word of their exchange fell upon Xiaobai's ears, yet to her it seemed that, save for a faint cold laugh, nothing stirred the strings of her heart. The white orbs in the hollow moved ever more slowly; after the figures of Li Xun and Zeng Shuyan had swiftly vanished, the white orbs, having lost their targets, gradually halted in midair, then slowly gathered, gently merged, and once more condensed into a single white orb, which flew toward Xiaobai.
Xiaobai turned slowly and gazed into the depths of the cave.
That ancient, colossal power was still steadily intensifying, and Xiaobai could even distinctly sense the incomparably mighty force of destruction it contained. The surrounding rock walls still crumbled in their ceaseless trembling, shedding stones large and small that crashed to the ground amid the rumbling; yet within three feet of her figure, not a single stone could strike her body.
The white orb flew back to her side, and like a tiny sprite it danced and circled about her, as though trying to fathom its mistress's mind.
Yet on her master's dazed and forlorn face there was nothing but worry and loss.
And at that very moment, within that deep darkness, a roar burst forth with a thunderous crash, like a giant dragon's long cry, a dragon's song raised to the heavens.
That mysterious ancient power had finally awakened completely!
The vast stone chamber was wholly engulfed in an intense firelight; the darkness that had come before was driven out utterly, until not a shred of shadow remained. This radiance far surpassed any light in the world; it made one feel that even if the blazing sun of the heavens were to descend, it could likely be no brighter than this.
The Crimson Flame Beast, once so formidable, would have seemed no more than a single spark of firefly glow beside it.
Within this terrifying power, the most searing place was undoubtedly the revolving halo of the Eight Fierce Deities that still endured there, spinning at frantic speed and flickering with an eerie aura. There the flames the Beast Lord had once merged into had grown ever more white-hot, and the mystic incantations filling the air ever more urgent.
The heart of the flame, ceaselessly expanding and faintly contracting and swelling, was like an egg of crimson fire being hatched, gestating something dreadful; and as the surrounding temperature went on climbing at a furious pace, that ancient and mysterious place was bit by bit gathering the strength it had lost for tens of millions of years, descending upon this world once more.
Lu Xueling and Ming Li had both been squeezed all the way back against the walls at the very edge of the stone chamber; the overwhelming power of the blaze seemed to be roasting their bodies and souls, wringing out every drop of moisture in them.
There was no sweat, for every bead of it had turned to vapor before it could even surface; within the roaring flames, their flushed faces were reflected.
Lu Xueling suddenly sensed something and looked toward Ming Li beside her. At some unknown moment, the man had taken hold of her hand. She felt no astonishment or surprise, even here in this sea of fire of despair, facing that unknown mysterious power.
In her palm, at her fingertips, there came warmth.
She must have known it once before, must have known it thus ten years ago, that past of hands tightly clasped in the darkness!
Ming Li shifted, leaving the wall the two of them had leaned against, and placed himself in front of Lu Xueling. A pale cyan light, shot through with faint glimmers of gold, flashed from his hand and formed a wall of light before him.
At once the searing heat eased greatly; yet Ming Li's back gave a slight shudder, and then he drew a deep breath.