Taking advantage of the fisherman without authorization

While the azure light pillar controlled Crimson Flame, thousands of thin lines branched out from the mirror surface held high by Hongxi, like long needles piercing into Crimson Flame's body.

Crimson Flame's black and red body instantly flickered like a candle in the wind.

Li Fan even keenly observed that the azure threads seemed to be extracting something; Crimson Flame's size was slowly shrinking, and its Aura was continuously weakening.

Crimson Flame tried to struggle free, but like a flying insect caught in a spider web, the more it struggled, the tighter the threads wound around it.

The giant azure net firmly locked Crimson Flame in place.

That wretched appearance formed a sharp contrast with the scenes in Li Fan's memory from previous lives, where even if it ultimately failed, it at least displayed the Dao Integration combat power of a heaven and earth spirit.

"The power of a heaven and earth spirit comes from the world. However, the Profound Heaven Sealing Spirit Array can precisely replace the heavens and deprive it of its connection to the world. No wonder Crimson Flame's performance is so pathetic," Li Fan thought to himself as he witnessed Crimson Flame's miserable state.

"I just don't know if this Formation can suppress Ink Death. If Ink Death is still being refined, will the world continue to send down even more powerful heaven and earth spirits?"

Just as everyone watching the battle in the Congyun Sea thought the situation was settled…

A giant palm suddenly reached out from beneath the sea surface.

In a flash, the five fingers closed, clutching Hongxi and Crimson Flame in its palm!

"Tianyang!" Almost instantly, Li Fan recognized the origin of this giant palm.

But this time, Tianyang did not shout his signature phrase, "Tianyang's life is second to none." Instead, he silently lurked beneath the two who were previously at a stalemate.

The oriole waited behind, catching them both in one fell swoop.

"Courting death!" Faced with Tianyang's sneak attack, Hongxi's expression changed drastically.

While carefully maintaining the Profound Heaven Sealing Spirit Array, he manipulated layers of mountain ranges to crash against the five finger-like prison bars surrounding him.

Boom!

To Hongxi's surprise, the giant hand did not resist his attack at all. It allowed his manifested mountain ranges to crash directly into it. At the moment of impact, those peaks—indistinguishable from real mountains—seemed to encounter something a hundred times harder than themselves.

They were pulverized one after another on the spot.

Immortal Lord Hongxi's body trembled slightly. Under the backlash of the immense force, he almost lost control of the Profound Heaven Sealing Spirit Array.

Crimson Flame, sensing an opportunity within the Formation, stopped its struggling.

It merely contracted and accumulated its strength, waiting for Hongxi to reveal another flaw.

"Damn it!" Having suffered a setback, Immortal Lord Hongxi cursed under his breath and simply ignored Tianyang's giant hand for the moment. Hardening his heart, he pushed the Profound Heaven Sealing Spirit Array to its limit to refine Crimson Flame.

But Tianyang, who had been strengthened by Li Fan at any cost and had grown subtly more intelligent, clearly would not let Hongxi's wishful thinking succeed.

The five fingers of the giant palm instantly turned glowing red, as if earth fire and lava were slowly flowing within them. Some of it even overflowed from the Puppet's body, circulating through the air to draw something.

Like fire dragons dancing around, a complete Formation was formed in an instant, trapping Hongxi and Crimson Flame inside.

"Earth Fire Return to Origin Formation!" A sharp glint flashed through Li Fan's eyes.

"It seems Tianyang's transformation is quite obvious. He no longer relies solely on brute force to face enemies, but has actually learned to use Formations!"

"Hongxi is also too greedy. During the significant amount of time the Formation was being set up, he didn't dodge. He just couldn't bear to let go of the already suppressed heaven and earth spirit."

"Now we'll see who is faster. Whether Hongxi will first drain and kill Crimson Flame to step into the Dao Integration Realm, or if Tianyang will first drain Hongxi dry to finally become a Dao Integration Immortal Venerable…"

Li Fan watched the confrontation between the three in the air with the mindset of someone watching a play.

However, some Cultivators within Congyun City could no longer sit still.

"The heaven and earth spirit belongs to the virtuous! Fellow Daoists, the opportunity to defy heaven and change fate is right before our eyes!"

Under the agitation and encouragement of those with ulterior motives, dozens or hundreds of Cultivators could not resist the temptation and launched attacks one after another at the three in the stalemate.

They hoped to be the lucky fisherman who profits from the fight, ascending to the heavens in a single step from then on.

Li Fan saw that He Zhenghao almost couldn't hold back either, having already flown forward. But halfway there, for some reason, he suddenly snapped out of it and turned back.

"Wait a bit longer, wait a bit longer."

Li Fan heard him muttering softly under his breath.

His tightly closed eyes and trembling body all indicated that he was currently suppressing his desire to the extreme.

Li Fan smiled faintly and turned his gaze back to Tianyang and the others.

The Earth Fire Return to Origin Formation had been pushed to its limit by Tianyang. Earth fire and lava continuously erupted from the bottom of the Congyun Sea, forming a spectacular sight of fire dragons surging through the ocean. Li Fan knew that Tianyang was fully mobilizing the power of the Congyun earth fire.

Originally, the power of earth fire was attached to and limited by the ley lines. It would not be so easily controlled by Cultivators.

But earlier, in order to force out Crimson Flame, Hongxi had activated the Tianyuan Transformation Formation, completely destroying the ley lines of the Congyun Sea.

Therefore, the earth fire and lava were no longer constrained, running wild like runaway horses.

This allowed the Earth Fire Return to Origin Formation to exert two hundred percent of its effectiveness.

So in a sense, it was a matter of cause and effect. Immortal Lord Hongxi was also digging his own grave.

Sensing that the rate of his own energy loss was faster than Crimson Flame's, Immortal Lord Hongxi's expression kept changing.

At this point, if he withdrew the Profound Heaven Sealing Spirit and gave up on suppressing Crimson Flame to respond with his full strength, he might not be unable to escape from the Earth Fire Return to Origin Formation.

But this Profound Heaven Sealing Spirit Mirror could only be used once. After use, the mirror would become an ordinary object. Only after returning to the Myriad Immortals Alliance Headquarters to apply for a recharge could it be used again. This meant that if the process was interrupted, all previous efforts would be wasted.

He might save his life, but as for advancing to Dao Integration, he shouldn't even think about it.

However, if he fought to the death, while there would certainly be a risk to his life, there was also a certain probability of achieving the Dao Integration Realm! From then on, the world would be wide, and his fate would never be the same again!

With a ferocious look on his face, Immortal Lord Hongxi made his final decision in an instant.

Beams of light flew out from his body, striking the Earth Fire Return to Origin Formation in an attempt to slow down the process of being refined and absorbed.

Hongxi's eyes were resolute. He completely forgot everything else and concentrated solely on controlling the Profound Heaven Sealing Spirit Array to suppress and refine Crimson Flame.

As time passed minute by minute, Crimson Flame's body became increasingly dim.

It was already very transparent, appearing as if it could disappear from the world at any moment.

"Die for me!"

Hongxi roared, transforming into a streak of earthy yellow light and crashing toward Crimson Flame without looking back.

At the same time, the Profound Heaven Sealing Spirit Array erupted with its most brilliant radiance.

Azure and yellow intertwined like a sharp blade, about to be thrust ruthlessly into Crimson Flame's body.