Chapter 397: Chapter 397: Within the Storm
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the boundless depths of the void—
Darkness was the sole theme here; beyond it, no other color existed.
Wooo... wooo...
The gale roared, growing ever more violent — far fiercer than the black storm over the Great Plains of the Black Region, many times over.
Black mist veiled everything, a true realm where one could not see their own hand before their face.
Against the headwind, Wei Yang and his group of five pressed forward.
As they advanced, Wei Yang’s gaze swept into the distance, feeling both the storm’s growing ferocity and the strange stir of the Death Life Flame within his body.
He knew then — they were close.
Here, the Death Life Flame could clearly lock onto the unique aura belonging to another Heavenly Flame.
This aura was unmistakable.
Wei Yang’s certainty of finding the Nine Serene Wind Flame had grown from over fifty percent to more than ninety.
If not for the possibility of some unexpected mishap, he would have claimed a full hundred percent.
"Ah Da, how far have we traveled?" Wei Yang sent a sound transmission to the man leading the way ahead.
In moments, Ah Da’s voice rang in his ears.
"Master, we’ve been traveling for about a month now. As for the distance... I can’t estimate it. I fear we’ve long surpassed ten thousand li."
"A month already?" Wei Yang clicked his tongue in mild astonishment.
The distance was staggering.
How the winds from this deep void managed to blow all the way to the Great Plains of the Black Region was beyond him.
Nature’s methods were truly strange and unfathomable.
At that moment, the wind ahead suddenly weakened somewhat.
Such changes no longer surprised them — along the way, the gale would occasionally lessen for short intervals, as though taking a rest or shifting direction.
Then, as they moved on, the winds would return with renewed force, growing even stronger than before.
"Ah Da, pick up the pace. We should be getting close to our target. The Death Life Flame has caught the scent of the Nine Serene Wind Flame — it’s just ahead."
"Yes!" Ah Da’s voice carried a note of excitement.
Hearing this, Qing Lin and the others also felt a surge of joy.
Wei Yang and Ah Da’s voice transmissions were audible to all five of them — a method of keeping in contact and ensuring no one got separated.
After all, they couldn’t constantly keep their soul perception scanning everyone’s position; that would be exhausting.
Instead, they scanned intermittently and relayed messages to everyone in this manner to maintain formation.
After such a long journey, they were finally close!
With spirits lifted, the five seized the moment while the storm’s power had eased, advancing quickly.
Ahead—
Wooo... wooo... wooo...
The wind once again grew fiercer. The temperature dropped further still.
Crack... crack... crack...
From time to time, they could faintly hear the sound of air freezing solid somewhere in the void nearby.
Then, at a certain moment, Wei Yang and the others seemed to cross into a Nine Nether Cold Domain.
The wind that struck them was bone-chilling, lashing against their Dou Qi barriers like icy blades, making their protective auras ripple violently.
Yet, within this frigid wind lurked a strange, searing heat.
Standing in it felt like being torn between fire and ice.
Cold... and hot.
Unbearably so.
Wooo... wooo... wooo...
A ghostly wail drifted on the wind, threading into their ears like a demonic chant, worming its way into their minds.
It brought with it an inexplicable irritation that none could ignore.
The constant, eerie sound, coupled with the strange environment, sent all their emotions surging uncontrollably.
Wei Yang shook his head sharply, summoning a layer of Dou Qi to seal his ears, hoping to dampen the maddening noise.
Even so, it was useless — covering his ears did nothing to block the sound.
It was as if the noise rang directly in his heart.
"Damn, what kind of strange Heavenly Flame is this? The sound is so awful." Wei Yang couldn’t help but complain, "This is basically the ultimate weapon for disturbing the peace — more annoying than an alarm clock."
That sudden, ridiculous thought popped into his head, and oddly enough, it helped. It distracted him just enough so that he wasn’t so focused on listening to that maddening noise.
After advancing for a while longer, Wei Yang paused, sensing the area ahead, then stopped in place and sent a voice transmission: "Gather up. I think we’re here — everyone come to me!"
Hearing this, Ah Da, who was leading up front, and Xian’er, who was in the rear, immediately moved closer toward Wei Yang’s position.
Qing Lin and Du Jiao were already nearby, so they reached him in moments.
"Young Master, this sound is so irritating." Qing Lin frowned.
"Yeah, it’s annoying." Wei Yang chuckled, "Whoever ends up with this Heavenly Flame will definitely be hated by both gods and ghosts."
He then deliberately teased Qing Lin, "If I give this flame to you, do you want it?"
"I don’t want it." Qing Lin quickly shook her head and grabbed his arm.
"Uh..." Ah Da, who had just arrived, felt a little awkward.
If nothing unexpected happened, it seemed like this flame would ultimately end up in his hands.
Saying "hated by gods and ghosts" right to his face felt a little much...but then again, he thought about it and didn’t care.
Please — this was the mighty Tenth Ranked Heavenly Flame. Even if someone wanted to be hated by gods and ghosts, they wouldn’t get the chance unless they had something like this.
Only an idiot would dislike it.
"Pfft~" Xian’er, who had just caught up, couldn’t help but cover her mouth and laugh softly.
Perhaps in this world, only these two oddballs — Wei Yang and Qing Lin — could complain about the Nine Serene Wind Flame like this.
After that little moment of humor, the five of them gathered smoothly together.
Feeling the surrounding environment — both cold and hot at once — and the wind like blades cutting at them, each of them couldn’t help but feel a little shocked.
Every gust of wind here was terrifyingly strong — even a random wind blade could seriously injure an ordinary Dou Huang expert.
Staying in this kind of environment burned through their energy at an alarming rate.
"Brother Yang, what do we do now?" Xian’er frowned.
In this place, they were practically blind.
Everywhere they looked, it was nothing but endless darkness. Even at full effort, the naked eye couldn’t see far.
Soul perception was also heavily suppressed. After just a few hundred meters, the feedback became hazy.
And in such a vast unknown space, a detection range of a few hundred meters was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
"Let me try." Wei Yang took a deep breath.
A vast surge of soul power erupted from the center of his brow, spreading rapidly in all directions.
With his full power unleashed, his perception quickly covered a radius of ten li.
But here, that seemed to be the limit — pushing further only made the sensing fuzzier.
Of course, under normal conditions, his perception could extend far beyond this.
But in this environment, even for Wei Yang, ten li was already the edge of his limit.
He slowly closed his eyes, carefully feeling the feedback from his scanning.
Soon, he opened them again.
Lifting his hand, Wei Yang pointed in one direction: "That way — the wind is gradually getting weaker. It should be the edge of this area. Let’s get out of here first."
"Alright." Xian’er and the others nodded quickly.
Better to leave first. The consumption here was too great — no one could last long.
Wei Yang tilted his head back and opened his mouth.
Instantly, a small green sun flew out, hovering above them in midair.
Weng weng weng~
As the green sun trembled, its size expanded rapidly in the wind. In the blink of an eye, it grew to over two meters in diameter.
Then, it descended, engulfing all five of them inside its light.
"Go!"
With a thought from Wei Yang, the green sun shot forward at high speed in the direction he had pointed.
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