Chapter 288: Killing the Fire Kirin

A beast's roar, tearing through the clouds, exploded. The black miasma enveloping the Fire Qilin violently burst apart, surging skyward like thousands of molten lava streams, incinerating the poisonous barrier set by the Plague God with a sizzling sound.

The Plague God transformed into a wisp of shadow, flying backward into the void. The black mist twisted in the flames like a flickering candle, eventually dissipating into wisps of smoke to temporarily retreat.

At that moment, Qi Miaoxuan's charging figure suddenly blurred, transforming into a massive blade, its mystical light surging, during his rapid charge.

The blade, imbued with the force of wind and thunder, struck the Fire Qilin's flank. A metallic clang echoed through the valley, and a half-foot-long gash immediately opened on its azure-gold scales. Scalding red blood gushed from the wound, scorching the rock surface and creating wisps of white smoke as it hit the ground.

"It's you, you bastard!" The Fire Qilin's scarlet pupils suddenly contracted, and it spoke human words, roaring at Qi Miaoxuan, who was floating in the air, "Where is my child?"

Qi Miaoxuan floated in the air, chuckling. "Beast," he said, "your little beast was taken by me to make soup, and it tasted quite good. So, I've come to capture you again to continue making soup!"

"You deserve to die!" The Fire Qilin's body erupted with flames like a volcanic eruption, its veins beneath the scales swelling like crimson snakes from rage. It stomped its front hooves heavily on the ground, and eerie blue tongues of flame shot out from the cracked earth. Accompanied by a second roar that shattered the clouds, the entire beast had entered a state of burning, heart-devouring rage.

"Let me test your mettle!" Gu Mo, holding the Taixu Sword, struck out. A surging sword energy, like a river bursting its banks, surged towards the Fire Qilin.

The Fire Qilin's scarlet pupils suddenly contracted, and the molten lava churning in its chest erupted with furious rage. It violently shattered the ground with its front hooves, and blue-purple tongues of flame shot out from the cracked earth. A roar, capable of shattering the cloud cover, had already exploded.

The sound waves spread out in tangible rings, making the air hum. The surging sword energy was instantly shattered and dispersed.

"What a formidable Fire Qilin, I'm no match!" Gu Mo exclaimed loudly. Tapping his foot on the rubble, he parried with the Taixu Sword, forming a half-bloom of sword-flowers in front of him. The air blast pushed him back several steps, his robes flapping loudly.

Qi Miaoxuan looked bewildered. However, he had no time to think, because the Fire Qilin had leaped through the air and lunged at him, like a surging sun.

At that instant, Qi Miaoxuan's figure suddenly dissipated, like ink dropped into boiling water. The Fire Qilin had just swept its long, flaming tail when a cold light burst forth from beneath its ribs—a broad-bladed ghost-head saber!

The blade sliced through the air with a sound of wind and thunder, striking the scales with a clang and ploughing a half-inch deep blood groove amidst sparking flames. Before the Fire Qilin could turn around, the blade's light transformed into a streak and flew backward, re-materializing into Qi Miaoxuan's form ten meters away. He flicked his fingertips, and blood beads rolled off the blade, scorching the rock with a sizzling white smoke as they hit the ground.

"ROAR—!" The Fire Qilin, in pain, suddenly raised its head and spewed a fan-shaped column of fire. The flames were not ordinary red, but golden-red with a glazed texture; wherever they passed, even space itself rippled with distortion.

The Plague God's black mist, like a phantom, coiled around its neck at that moment. Dark green poisonous mist seeped from the black mist, permeating into its flesh through the gaps in its scales. The flames around the Fire Qilin's neck instantly dimmed, and spiderweb-like black spots appeared on its scales.

"Die, beast..." The Plague God's sinister sneer echoed from the black mist. He allowed the Fire Qilin's flame attacks to repeatedly pass through his body, continuously burning away the black mist, only for it to reform the next instant. No matter how the Fire Qilin burned him, it caused no harm.

"Primal Spirit!" The Fire Qilin furiously shook its head, explosive cracking sounds erupting from its mane. Sound waves, like heavy hammers, crashed in all directions. Suddenly, the Fire Qilin spewed a crimson-purple flame from its mouth, instantly forming a lotus of fire. The illusory fire lotus violently bloomed, then the next moment, it instantly closed into a fireball. The air incinerated into ash in that instant, and the earth cracked and scorched inch by inch.

The Plague God, like a moth to a flame, was engulfed within the fire lotus. A shrill shriek erupted from the black mist; no matter how it struggled, it could not break free. This flame was capable of incinerating and imprisoning even a primal spirit.

"Ah! Beast, you deserve to die..." The Plague God transformed into streams of poisonous mist, wildly crashing within the fireball like headless flies. It suddenly roared, "You two, stop watching the show!"

With the Plague God's roar, Qi Miaoxuan leaped into mid-air, transformed into a long spear, and stabbed towards the fireball. Thousands of spear auras, like silver rain piercing through a forest, under their dense impact, actually pierced through the fireball.

The Plague God immediately floated out, his body of poisonous mist re-coalescing. He shouted, "Don't be careless, this beast controls the Great Dao Flame Source; theoretically, it can burn anything..."

However, before the Plague God could finish speaking, the Fire Qilin had already charged into the void, its figure like a meteor crashing to earth. Blinding sparks erupted from the air as its front hooves landed.

The long spear that Qi Miaoxuan transformed into hummed and vibrated under the crushing force of the beast's iron hooves. The mystical light of the spear body shattered inch by inch, and his true form was flung away like a kite with a broken string.

At this moment, the Fire Qilin spewed a beam of light from its mouth towards Qi Miaoxuan. The instant the light beam pursued and reached him, Qi Miaoxuan crossed his arms in front of him, and a brilliant golden light erupted around him. A massive golden bell, inscribed with patterns, violently expanded.

"Clang—!" Before the bell's sound fully resonated, it shattered into thousands of golden flakes. The light beam, imbued with the dominant power of the Great Dao Flame Source, sent Qi Miaoxuan flying backward, ploughing a charred, deep gully in the ground along the way, and igniting rubble into flowing fire in the air blast.

He finally crashed into the stone wall beside Gu Mo. The splashing lava, however, was casually sliced into dust by Gu Mo's sword.

Gu Mo twirled the Taixu Sword, creating sword-flowers. The sword energy from the tip extinguished the flames on Qi Miaoxuan's robe, and he scoffed, "Old Qi, you're not doing so well. How did you injure this Fire Qilin by yourself back then?"

Qi Miaoxuan quickly stood up, dusted himself off, and grumbled via spiritual transmission, "You brat, stop making sarcastic remarks here. I do have a move that can kill the Fire Qilin, but wasn't I saving it to help you deal with the Plague God later? If I use it now, how will we fight the Plague God later? Don't think the Plague God is suppressed by the Fire Qilin right now. In reality, that guy is holding back!"

Gu Mo said, "You don't need to hold back, I really want to see that move of yours..."

"Stop messing around," Qi Miaoxuan said, "Kid, I know your swordsmanship is unmatched in killing power. Later, I'll get the Plague God to cooperate; he and I will forcibly restrain the Fire Qilin. You take the opportunity to stab half a zhang below its right front leg. There's a wound there that I left back then; it can kill the Fire Qilin!"

At this moment, the Fire Qilin repelled the Plague God once more, then descended with a sky full of fire clouds. What spewed from the beast's nostrils was no longer flames, but solidified golden sound blades, like countless ring-hilted sabers slashing in crisscrossing patterns.

In an instant, the city wall and ground were cleanly sliced and shattered by the sound waves. A terrifying might surged towards Gu Mo and Qi Miaoxuan.

A bow instantly appeared in Qi Miaoxuan's hand. He pulled it taut, and countless arrows appeared, transforming into thousands of streaks of light that shot forth, severing the sound waves. His entire being also transformed into an arrow and shot out at that instant, instantly creating several wounds on the Fire Qilin and knocking off several scales. The blood seeping from the gaps in its scales had turned into burning sparks, but those wounds were visibly wriggling and healing.

The Plague God's black mist, like a venomous snake, darted towards the Fire Qilin's knee joint. Illusory human faces churning within the poisonous mist gnawed at the newly formed scales.

The Fire Qilin lashed its burning tail, and fireballs bursting from its tail tip, like meteors, crashed into the arrow rain shot by Qi Miaoxuan.

Golden-red flames violently collided with the thousands of streaks of light. Amidst the rubble flung by the air current, Qi Miaoxuan's figure was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string. But just before hitting the rock wall, he suddenly transformed into a short blade, its gleaming, cold edge thrust directly at the Fire Qilin's wide-open eye socket.

The Fire Qilin violently shook its head, its sharp claws creating a scorching fiery wind that struck the short blade. With a crisp "clang," sparks flew everywhere, and Qi Miaoxuan's form dispersed again, transforming into various weapons like long spears, halberds, and shields, attacking the Qilin's entire body in turns. Each transformation carried a different martial dao true meaning: spears shot forth like dragons, breaking through flames; halberds swept like surging waves, shaking scales; shields stood like mountains, blocking fire streams. This continuous assault caused the Fire Qilin to roar repeatedly, and the clash of weapons in the void was as dense as a sudden downpour.

The Plague God's black mist remained like a shadow. The moment the Fire Qilin raised its head to block Qi Miaoxuan's battle-axe, the mist suddenly transformed into thousands of poisonous needles, shooting into its gaping maw.

The instant the poisonous mist exploded in its throat, the column of fire spewed by the Fire Qilin was stained a bizarre dark purple, like ink dropped into boiling water. Even the accompanying air current carried a pungent, cloying smell.

It furiously stomped and shattered the ground. The magma gushing from the cracks, upon contact with the Plague God's pervasive poisonous mist, immediately solidified with a sizzling sound into purplish-black crystals, which then stabbed back into the Qilin's paws like sharp thorns.

At the same time, the mountain-splitting axe that Qi Miaoxuan transformed into struck its shoulder blade with the force of wind and thunder. With a mighty clang, its azure-gold scales cracked, but at the wound, granulation tissue wildly surged like insects, forming even harder new scales within a few breaths. The surface of the scales shimmered with a glaze-like sheen, as if from cooled lava.

Within the battle circle, Qi Miaoxuan's shifting weapons, like a kaleidoscope, restrained the Fire Qilin's movements; every attack precisely targeted old wounds or gaps in its scales. The Plague God's poisonous mist, like maggots clinging to bone, always seeped into its flesh during the Fire Qilin's defensive openings, slowing its regeneration speed.

The man and the primal spirit cooperated seamlessly: when Qi Miaoxuan transformed into a long whip and coiled around the Qilin's neck, the Plague God's black mist seized the opportunity to burrow into its ear canals; when the Fire Qilin lashed its tail to shake off Qi Miaoxuan's halberd, the Plague God had already laid down a poisonous barrier on the ground where it landed.

Although the azure-gold beast possessed heaven-burning flames and an immortal body, it gradually became overwhelmed under such continuous assaults. Its body flames flickered due to the poisonous erosion, and every roar carried suppressed agony. It was steadily suppressed by the two in the center of the scorched earth.

And at this moment, Gu Mo swept backward to the roof of a ruined wall, the Taixu Sword already radiating a glow. He stood, his feet crushing roof tiles, his robes billowing like sails from an invisible sword intent. The moment his sword tip pointed diagonally at the sky, the clouds were actually split by the sword intent, creating a silver seam.

True energy flowed and gathered along the sword spine, condensing into an inch-long bead of light at the blade's tip. The light bead flickered erratically, each flicker causing the air to emit tiny crackling sounds. He was infusing his full true intent into the sword embryo, brewing the "Vertical and Horizontal Sword Intent," powerful enough to pierce the Fire Qilin's defenses.

"Roar." The Fire Qilin sensed Gu Mo preparing his attack, suddenly arched its body, and spewed a circular wave of fire, sending Qi Miaoxuan and the Plague God flying, then charged towards Gu Mo.

Just then, Qi Miaoxuan's figure suddenly dispersed, transforming into a thousand mystical iron chains that burst forth from ground fissures and rock crevices' shadows. The chains coiled and danced like spirit snakes, weaving into an iron net in mid-air to ensnare the Fire Qilin's neck.

The Plague God's black mist seeped into the chain links like oil stains, every inch that touched the scales emitting corrosive white smoke.

"ROAR!" The Fire Qilin furiously thrashed its head, the sound waves bursting from its mane making the chains hum and vibrate. But the poisonous mist was seen spreading backward along the chains, corroding spiderweb-like cracks on the scales around its throat. The chains suddenly tightened, and an endless immense force erupted from the interlocked links, tying the Fire Qilin's ground-shattering four hooves together like a bundled zongzi. Even its thrashing tail was tightly coiled by several chains.

"Gu Mo, strike!" The instant the Fire Qilin struggled furiously, its scales spraying sparks, Qi Miaoxuan's loud shout came from the void.

Gu Mo's figure, like a meteor tearing through the sky, caused the world to instantly lose its color the moment he landed. The morning light within a ten-li radius was swallowed by ink-black ripples, the city walls faded into a plain white like Xuan paper, and the entire world plunged into black and white.

The burning Fire Qilin's flames solidified into glazed, crack-like patterns all over its body. Even the splashing sparks hung suspended in mid-air, like scattered diamond dust.

Time twisted into a still string at this moment. The trajectory of wind-swept clouds froze into an ink wash scroll, the cracks in shattered stones hung suspended in mid-air, and even the violent light in the Fire Qilin's wide-open pupils transformed into fireflies trapped in amber.

At the same time, Gu Mo unleashed the Great Dao Heart Demon Cultivation Method. A light stream of pale golden primal spirit surged from his glabella, coiling around the Taixu Sword spine like a living entity. The sword body hummed like a dragon's roar in the black and white world. Ancient runes appearing on the sword body lit up one by one, like stars linked into a river. Gu Mo's primal spirit power flowed along the sword guard, and the instant his fingertips touched the hilt, a soaring sword intent suddenly erupted from the scabbard.

The Vertical and Horizontal Sword Intent suddenly erupted. The Taixu Sword transformed into a stream of white light, tearing through the night sky. Before the sword's force even arrived, it had already ploughed a ten-meter deep gully in the ground.

The Fire Qilin's scarlet pupils abruptly contracted. Just as it was about to lower its head to spew a column of fire, the white light had already precisely pierced through the most vulnerable scale gap wound on its chest armor.

The moment the mighty sword intent pierced its heart, a booming explosion erupted within the Fire Qilin. Azure-gold blood mixed with flames gushed from the wound, and ice crystals rapidly condensed around the penetrating wound.

Its massive body trembled violently, the light in its burning pupils gradually extinguished, and finally, it crashed to the ground with a thud. Amidst the splashing flames, Gu Mo stood, sheathing his sword, the blood beads on his blade having been evaporated into wisps of white steam by the sword intent.

"Rumble!" The moment the Fire Qilin collapsed, the earth suddenly trembled violently. The violent light in its burning pupils had not yet fully extinguished, and a low growl, unique to a dying beast and mixed with blood foam, actually came from its throat.

Its fiery red body suddenly arched, and broken ribs crunched beneath its skin. The unhealed wound on its shoulder blade suddenly burst open with crimson-gold sparks. This beast actually used its front hooves to push against the ground, attempting to prop up its mountain-like body, and the extinguished flames in its mane suddenly reignited, transforming into glazed, radiant flames that coiled around its limbs.

"Roar..." That roar carried a resentful, tearing silk sound, shaking the lingering clouds in mid-air into fragments and instantly shattering Gu Mo's black-and-white domain, like an illusion dispersing.

However, just as it placed one hind hoof on the ground, thousands of fierce sword energies suddenly erupted within its body!

The Vertical and Horizontal Sword Intent, imbued with the Great Dao Heart Demon Cultivation Method that Gu Mo had infused into its heart meridian, suddenly erupted like awakened sleeping thunder, spreading in a spiderweb pattern from the penetrating wound to all its limbs and bones.

Azure-gold blood mixed with ice crystals gushed out, each drop solidifying into a burning meteor in mid-air. The sword energy bursting from the gaps in its scales flowed like a river of stars, cutting its attempting-to-stand body with sparks flying everywhere.

"Pfft—!" A wrist-thick sword energy burst out from its tailbone, slicing the city wall behind it into dust.

The Fire Qilin's massive body convulsed violently. Its newly gathered flames were shredded into countless light butterflies by the sword energy, and ice crystals crept along its blood vessels, covering its heart, freezing its last trace of vitality. It futilely thrashed its head, its horns shattering a nearby lava pillar, but more sword energy surged from its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, weaving an impenetrable net of swords on its body surface.

Finally, this giant beast, which once scorched the heavens and split the earth, let out a long and mournful whine. Its burning pupils completely turned to ash, and its massive body crashed down with a thud, shaking the ground into spiderweb-like deep fissures.

At this very instant, a system notification sounded in Gu Mo's mind: Killed a Seven-Star wanted criminal. Gained a star reward—Max-level Tathagata Divine Palm. Do you wish to claim it?

Gu Mo was somewhat surprised for a moment. It had actually been killed, and with such mundane power. The Fire Qilin was very powerful in terms of energy and destructive force, but in terms of life essence, Gu Mo felt it seemed incomparable to an Ascension Realm cultivator. At least, killing an Ascension Realm cultivator with such pure human power would be very difficult. Yet now, this Fire Qilin had been killed.

However, at this instant, Gu Mo suddenly felt a strange energy emerge from the Fire Qilin's body. He looked up and saw a wisp of strange light seeping from the Fire Qilin's body.

It was a thumb-sized purple flame, like a solidified star fragment. As it hovered in the charred air, it actually caused the surrounding flames to lose their color. It was as small as a firefly, yet its surface glowed with glazed patterns like molten crystal, and each flicker released energy ripples that made space itself tremble. Even the primal spirit in Gu Mo's glabella pulsed in response.

He had no time to think further; his fingertips had already drawn forth a chilling aura around him. In an instant, frost mist filled the sky, converging into a profound ice cage, encasing the purple flame like a giant clam closing its shell.

However, as the ice sphere touched the edge of the flame, it felt as if it touched air, without any temperature or substance. The purple flame actually passed directly through the ice wall as if it were a phantom, and the glazed patterns on its surface grew even brighter.

Gu Mo's pupils suddenly contracted, and he instantly expanded his black-and-