Chapter 77: Nine Abyss Fire?

Chapter 77: Nine Abyss Fire?

He Ci quickly caught up with the two of them, "Shen Nian? Get your hands off A Lian."

Shen Nian turned his head and laughed, "A Lian? So you don't even know his real name, huh?"

He Ci was taken aback and looked at Shen Lian.

Shen Lian's head throbbed. This Shen Nian—whose true identity was still uncertain—had stopped pretending entirely once exposed.

He pushed He Ci away and said coldly, "I've got legs. I can walk myself."

Shen Nian suddenly found his arms empty, and He Ci quickly shook off that inexplicable panic, sneering at him before falling into step beside Shen Lian.

Behind them, the snow mounds finally burst open, revealing all the demons and demonic beasts they'd wondered where they'd gone.

Daytime was their time to rest, but now that the blood moon hung high in the night sky, they emerged one by one.

At this moment, all their eyes were fixed on Shen Lian and the other cultivators.

Shen Lian glanced back and saw that those creatures were all ugly and ferocious in their own ways. This area seemed to be full of demonic beasts, all in a frenzy.

The moment they woke and could move again, they charged madly at them.

As they ran, their eyes gleamed with greed and excitement.

"So hungry..."

"Such delicious prey."

He Ci cursed under his breath, "Damn it, where the hell did we end up?"

Something was chasing them from behind, and ahead of them, more demonic beasts and demons kept showing up.

That was a massive Bone Dragon demon. His body was that of a normal human, but his back sprouted a pair of bone wings.

A pair of enormous horns also grew from his head.

Someone exclaimed in shock, "Could this be the infamous Bone Dragon lord of the demons?"

"Who is that!"

The cultivator who spoke was pale-faced, "I've heard he loves capturing cultivators, torturing them in every way imaginable, and then cooking and eating them."

"Later, I heard he was so cruel that even the demons in his territory were miserable. And because he slaughtered tens of thousands of demons in one night over a fit of rage, the other demons joined forces to banish him here."

At that moment, the demon licked his lips, then morphed into a massive Bone Dragon. "Hahaha, I never thought I'd find so many cultivators in a godforsaken place like this!"

"Where do you think you're going!"

The Bone Dragon snapped its jaws around a cultivator's body.

The cultivator didn't even get a chance to scream before being torn to shreds, and even his soul was seized and devoured.

Seeing this, the other cultivators gritted their teeth, "Run!!"

But the Bone Dragon kept chasing them relentlessly, clearly not full yet.

Just as it was about to catch up to them, several cultivators beside Shen Lian and He Ci let their expressions harden, "Sorry, brothers. Once we get out, we'll honor your memory!"

Hearing this, He Ci's eyes widened, "What the hell are you doing?!"

They saw those cultivators throw a magical artifact at the three of them.

They just looked like pretty-faced weaklings with low cultivation. Better to leave them behind as sacrificial lambs.

He Ci finally realized their intentions, "You animals!"

Shen Lian remained expressionless. That was just how the cultivation world worked—you couldn't trust anyone. Too bad he'd learned this lesson too late.

But unexpectedly, when the high-grade artifact was thrown at them, Shen Nian caught it with one hand. With a light squeeze, the treasure shattered into dust.

Shen Lian, who had been about to pull out his own artifact, stopped and looked at Shen Nian.

Such a high-grade treasure, and Shen Nian had crushed it like it was nothing.

He suddenly realized he couldn't figure out Shen Nian's cultivation at all.

Shen Nian seemed to know what he was thinking, "Once things quiet down, I'll explain, okay?"

But Shen Lian looked away, "You don't owe me an explanation."

Shen Nian caught the hidden meaning: you're insignificant, so no explanation is needed.

Shen Nian said nothing more, instead continuing to throw his own artifacts—but at those cultivators.

Since they wanted to leave others behind as sacrifices, let them get a taste of their own medicine.

Those cultivators let out muffled groans, suddenly unable to move.

In those few seconds, Shen Lian and the others had already sprinted past them.

Those cultivators glared with fury, "Don't you dare run!"

Before they could even scream, they felt a chill at their backs.

Shen Lian didn't bat an eye.

But they hadn't expected that the Bone Dragon would simply swat those cultivators to death with its tail, then continue chasing after Shen Lian and the other two. Its eyes were sharp—it knew who would be tastier.

Though it had sensed something off about the person on the far left, that thought was quickly pushed aside by its hunger.

He Ci turned his head and cursed, "You've eaten that much and you're still hungry?"

Shen Lian said nothing, trying to figure out how to escape.

Their spiritual energy had been mysteriously drained, yet this Bone Dragon seemed to have already adapted to this environment.

If they kept running like this, they'd die sooner or later.

Just then, the demon lost patience. It suddenly accelerated and attacked Shen Lian and the other two.

Seeing this, He Ci shoved Shen Lian out of the way.

But Shen Lian pulled him back, and a flame suddenly appeared in his hand. The eerie blue fire burst to life the moment it appeared, forming into a long fire dragon in midair.

It shattered the Bone Dragon's attack and hurtled toward it. The moment that flame touched the Bone Dragon, its exposed skeleton began to burn.

But Shen Lian heard a roar from deep in the Bone Dragon's throat.

"How do you have Nine Abyss Fire?"

Nine Abyss Fire? This was the first time Shen Lian had heard a name for this flame of his, but now was clearly not the time to dwell on it.

After unleashing the fire, Shen Lian looked at He Ci, who was equally stunned. He Ci's spiritual power was almost completely drained now, to the point where he couldn't use even a shred of it, which was why he'd been chased so badly.

But surprisingly, Shen Lian could still pull off this kind of fire.

Shen Lian looked at him. "Still not running?"

He Ci snapped out of it. Shen Nian's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, his gaze landing on Shen Lian's hand.

Shen Lian glanced back and saw that the Bone Dragon had hacked off the burning part of its wing, leaving just half of it, but strangely, it stood in place and no longer chased them.

Instead, it stared straight at him.

Shen Lian averted his gaze.

Along the way, they encountered many more wandering demonic beasts, but fortunately, they didn't run into any demons. Compared to demons, these frenzied beasts were clearly easier to deal with.

Shen Lian used a considerable amount of Nine Abyss Fire.

And He Ci, who'd always had the lowest cultivation of the group, was now barely able to stagger along.