The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 438 Immortal Mansion
An Rong glanced at Wu Chang, who remained calm and collected, and then at Zhu Yinhai, who was screaming incessantly. For a moment, he was unable to react.

The Gate of Hell is an ultimate attack targeting the divine sense and soul. Once the Gate of Hell is opened, no one can escape. If a cultivator cannot escape before the Gate of Hell is fully formed, they will almost certainly die.

Even he could only run away when he saw the Ghost Gate, but Wu Chang stood still and withstood the damage from the Ghost Gate, and even destroyed the Ghost Gate with a lightning spell.

If he hadn't just experienced the pain of the candle worm entering his body, he would have thought that the candle spirit skeleton appearing before him was not the real one, but a little demon who knew how to transform into human form.

Could it be that Wu Chang's long-term experience in fighting demons allowed him to see through the weaknesses in the demons' abilities and thus choose the most suitable attack to counter them?
Yes, that must be it.

An Rong looked at Eileen, who had stopped him earlier. The Tang Clan leader and his wife had been fighting on the front line of exorcising demons. They had a tacit understanding and could tell at a glance that the Gate of Hell had not harmed Wu Chang, which was why they were so calm and composed.

Once he understood the key point, he felt a pang of shame. Compared to these true old-school masters, he was still not composed enough.

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

Wu Chang's ability to withstand the Heart Flame gave him hope of defeating Zhu Yinhai. Without the Heart Flame, Zhu Yinhai was like a toothless tiger, only able to unleash half of his full strength.

Now that Zhu Yinhai has left the Demon Realm to attack him, the three of them working together might be able to defeat this Fire Demon King.

He quickly shouted:

"Sect Leader Tang, if we join forces, we must capture this demon. If it escapes back to the Demon Realm, it will be extremely difficult to kill it again."

Wu Chang nodded; he had never intended to let Zhu Yinhai go.

Faced with Wu Chang walking straight toward him, Zhu Yin Hai took two steps back. It had no facial features, and its tumor-like body showed fear at this moment.

The lightning that destroyed its two arms contained divine power and could truly harm it.

It sensed that Wu Chang was not someone to be trifled with, yet it was unwilling to leave just like that.

The Heart Flame controlled by Zhu Yinhai is a fire in the heart that burns both enemies and itself, making it irritable, bloodthirsty, and exceptionally vengeful.

It will pursue anyone who has offended or harmed it to the ends of the earth and burn them to ashes.

It left the demon realm to launch an attack on An Rong because An Rong had once injured it.

Even before leaving, it would first inflict damage on the damned human cultivators in front of it, leaving a traceable mark.

The two arms that formed the Gate of Hell could not harm Wu Chang, so this time, Zhu Yinhai used four arms.

The four arms separated from the tumor body, and the five fingers of the hands that were in contact with the ground at the bottom of the arms quickly flicked, causing the arms to move in four directions.

The candle flame at the other end of the arm left a trail of fire in the air. Looking down from above, one can see that the four arms, centered on the Candle Shadow Corpse, form a cross of flames.

The four arms rotate counterclockwise, causing the flames to rotate in a cross shape, turning the flames into a circle.

"Sect Leader Tang, be careful! It's the Dry Fire Formation! Quickly block the fire line!"

As An Rong shouted, he punched the tree he had been leaning against, pulled out a three-meter-long halberd that flashed with lightning, leaped up, landed on the back of the mountain-suppressing beast, and was about to rush to the battlefield to help Wu Chang.

He wasn't as nervous as he was when he saw the Gates of Hell when he faced the Dry Fire Formation.

The Dry Fire Formation may seem to employ four arms, but it is actually easier to deal with than the Gates of Hell. However, the premise for dealing with it is that one of the four fire sources must be extinguished before the Dry Fire Formation is fully formed.

The resulting dry fire formation will have missing corners, which will create safe zones within the formation that are not covered by fire. This is an experience they gained at the cost of their lives while exploring the demon realm.

We must act quickly to stop the Dry Fire Formation. If we allow it to take shape, the Dry Fire Formation formed by our four arms will be even more powerful than the Gates of Hell.

But before he could even begin his charge, the longsword that had previously blocked him was now in his way once more.

He looked at Eileen, who was floating beside him. Eileen's gaze was fixed on the battlefield, and she continued to speak:
"no need to worry."

Again? Is he getting impatient again?

Wu Chang stood around the Zhuyin skeleton, coldly watching the formation take shape.

He didn't need An Rong's reminder; he already knew how to break the Dry Fire Formation. The time he entered the world instance was not long after the Human Alliance's exploration of the Demon Realm.

The cultivators who explored the Demon Realm were at least renowned experts. Zhu Yinhai, who had wreaked havoc on cultivators in the Demon Realm, still harbored a great deal of resentment.

Through these resentments, he understood better than An Rong what abilities Zhu Yinhai possessed and what effects they would have on him.

The only pity is that perhaps these masters were not strong enough, or perhaps they were too terrified, because they did not leave behind any bloody last words, only ordinary grievances.

Wu Chang knew the power of the Dry Fire Formation, but he had no intention of stopping or destroying it.

Why not avoid it? Because there is no fear.

As the four arms of the Candle Shadow Corpse rotated, the internal fire lines connected to form a circle, from which yellowish-green withered flames rose.

Within the array's range, anything, whether grass, trees, or animals, that comes into contact with the scorching fire will instantly lose all its moisture and turn into a dried-up corpse.

Unlike the Heart Flame, the Dry Fire, though not very hot, is a tangible flame. It was created by Zhu Yinhai after he became the Fire Demon King, using the imagery of drought to condense the flame.

Wu Chang felt his dry, tight skin and his eyes showed approval. It was amazing that it could pass through the energy shield that prevented the knight from dying by hand and directly affect his body. The ability of the withered fire was indeed remarkable.

Unfortunately, the Dry Fire was an external force, not cultivated by the Candle Shadow Skeleton. It did not master it deeply enough and failed to reach the point of connecting with the source.

He reached out and took out the Four-Sided Fire Lamp from his personal space.

"Item Skill: Teru Xu."

"Skill Description: The Four Directions Fire Lantern can command flames of a lower level than itself, and transform the controlled flames into the Fire of the Year, illuminating evil, dispelling plagues, and repelling demons."

After he obtained the wick from the Master of Fire, the Four Directions Fire Lamp changed from controlling earthly flames to controlling flames of a lower rank than itself.

Wu Chang rarely uses this ability, but now is the opportunity to use it.

He waved the palace lantern in his hand lightly, stirring up a vortex in the blazing dry fire array. The dry fire was continuously drawn into the four-sided fire lantern along the vortex.

The level of the withered fire is far inferior to that of the year fire. If Zhu Yinhai could master it to the root level, it might be able to put up some resistance, but with its current level, it is no match for the four directions of the year fire lamp.

In the time it takes to breathe four or five breaths, the scorching fire within the entire formation was completely absorbed, and even the flames on the four limbs and arms separated from the Candle Yin Corpse were all absorbed by the Four Directions Fire Lamp.

The candle-like arms, with nothing at the ends, continued to run in circles following the trajectory of the withered fire formation. After running only two laps, they lost all their strength and collapsed to the ground.

Wu Chang weighed the Four-Sided Fire Lantern in his hand; the lantern body, filled with flames, felt noticeably heavier.

As the Fire Demon King, Zhu Yin Hai is considered a high-level elite monster even if he is not a mini-boss in the world dungeon.

The Four Directions Fire Lantern is only a B-grade upgradeable item. It's a bit of a stretch to directly confiscate one of the major skills of the Candle Shadow Skeleton.

Since we can't hold it all, let's release some of it.

He raised the Four Directions Fire Lamp, and a large stream of fire transformed from withered embers surged forth, enveloping the Candle Shadow Corpse within.

The screams came from Zhuyin's mouth, even more shrill than when the Gates of Hell had been breached.

An Rong, who witnessed everything, was filled with shock. His previous judgment had actually been wrong again.

Unexpectedly, Wu Chang easily broke through the dry fire that even a grandmaster would find difficult to deal with by using only a magic weapon.

More importantly, he recognized the magical artifacts that Wu Chang used.

He would never forget the palace lantern that the bandits used as the core of the New Year's Eve ritual.

Before he began his cultivation, he only thought that the palace lantern was extraordinary. He never expected that after Wu Chang took it away and refined it again, it would have such a miraculous effect.

His gaze toward Wu Chang and Eileen held even more reverence. There were differences among grandmasters. Compared to the pampered sect leaders and elders who rarely took action, the grandmasters of the Tang Clan, who fought their way to the top, were the true grandmasters.

He must take this opportunity to learn more about demon-slaying from Master Tang.

While sighing, he realized that Zhu Yinhai was planning to escape, so he rode his mountain-suppressing beast to block Zhu Yinhai's escape route.

This time, Eileen didn't stop him.

On the battlefield, Zhuyinhai, being the Fire Demon King, controlled the fundamental power of fire and was protected by flames. It wailed pitifully in the Blazing Fire, but its appearance was only damaged; its essence remained intact. Having failed in both the Gate of Hell and the Dry Fire Formation, six of its arms were gone. It needed to absorb a large number of living beings to rebuild its six arms.

With the Heart Flame ineffective, the Dry Fire crushed by the Year Fire, and more than half of his arm broken, Zhu Yinhai, already physically and mentally exhausted, dared not entangle with Wu Chang any longer. He took to the air and fled, his body covered in Year Fire.

Seeing Zhu Yinhai escape, Wu Chang showed disappointment. He hadn't expected that the Fire Demon King, whom An Rong feared, was only of such low quality.

Since the other party can't come up with anything more, we can only let it retire.

His current identity is that of a native of this plane. To deal with the Candle Yin Skeleton, he must use methods that are in line with the world's dungeon plane.

When Zhu Yinhai appeared, he brought with him a large cloud of dark clouds, which served as material for Wu Chang's magic.

As Wu Chang's consciousness locked onto Zhu Yinhai, thunder rumbled in the dark clouds above.

An Rong, who was blocking the road, couldn't help but look up at the sky and asked in surprise, "Has a thousand thunderbolts been summoned?"

The skill Wu Chang used at this moment was the Thousand Thunder Summoning, which he hadn't used for a long time.

However, unlike the original version, the Thousand Thunder Summoning he used at this moment contained the demon-slaying power of the Heavenly Thunder from the Five Thunder Technique in every single bolt of lightning.

boom!
The first bolt of lightning struck down, its beam as thick as a person could hug. Zhu Yinhai couldn't dodge in time and stretched out his two arms to block it.

Under the heavenly lightning, its two arms were instantly reduced to ashes. The remaining force of the lightning struck its tumor-like body, cleaving it from the sky.

The tumor hit the ground hard, and before it could even get up, a second bolt of lightning struck.

The Thousand Thunderbolts summoned lightning bolts, each bolt increasing the damage by 50%. The second bolt not only crippled the remaining arm of the Candle Shadow Skeleton but also turned half of its body into charcoal.

Then came the third, the fourth...

When the fifth bolt of heavenly lightning struck, it split into dense, tree-like branches upon landing, instantly killing all the countless candle insects that Zhu Yinhai had transformed into, and Zhu Yinhai's aura completely disappeared.

The Fire Demon King, once considered a major threat by the Human Alliance, has thus perished.

Wu Chang arrived at the corpse of Zhu Yinhai, crushed the charred flesh, and found a crystal-clear candle worm, as red as jade, in the ashes.

"Item name: Burning Heart Insect"

Item Type: Special

"Item Description: The core left behind by the Fire Demon King Zhuyin after his death. Absorbing it will grant you the skill - Heart Flame."

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow, not expecting him to actually reveal Zhu Yin Hai's signature skill.

The Heart Flame was ineffective against him, but that doesn't mean it wasn't powerful enough. Judging from the resentment on Zhu Yinhai's body, the Heart Flame, as a mental attack method, was extremely effective.

Even a grandmaster-level expert, the leader of a major sect, has to use most of his energy to resist the inner flames in his body. If he is not careful, the inner flames will burn into his sea of ​​consciousness, and he may even fall into panic and madness.

It's obvious that this type of mental attack skill is related to the inspiration attribute.

Just when he was lamenting that he had nowhere to unleash his inspiration, Zhu Yinhai offered up his signature skill. Once he mastered Heart Flame, he would no longer need to use "Mind Resonance" to launch mental attacks.

As he picked up the Heart-Burning Worm, a series of prompts popped up in front of him.

"You killed the Fire Demon King, making a great contribution to the Humanity Alliance in vanquishing demons and protecting the righteous path. Contribution value +1000."

"Your current contribution value is 1000, ranking 1st among all players."

He almost forgot that in the multiplayer competitive mode of the world instance, completing the duties of one's faction would earn corresponding contribution points.

Since he is currently the only player in the instance and has not completed any other tasks, it is difficult to assess the concept of 1000 contribution points. However, judging from An Rong's attitude towards Zhu Yinhai, the contribution value is definitely not low.

As Wu Chang observed the Burning Heart Worm and the system notification, An Rong had already arrived beside him. An Rong repeatedly checked the charred remains on the ground and then saw the Burning Heart Worm in Wu Chang's hand before he was certain that Zhu Yinhai was truly dead.

He took out a red fish-shaped metal talisman and waved it above the ashes. A visible red aura surged into the metal talisman, and the fish-shaped talisman seemed to come alive, becoming lively.

An Rong handed the fish-shaped talisman to Wu Chang and said:

"Sect Leader Tang, once the Ziwei Exorcising Array is completed and the Human Alliance breaks through the Demon Realm, you can use the aura recorded in this talisman to enter the Fire Demon King's lair in the Demon Realm and shatter the core of the fire source it guards."

"You are capable of shattering the core of the fire source. As long as this demon-slaying is successful, your fame will surely be passed down in the cultivation world for a long time."

“I know you look down on these empty titles, but no one but you deserves this achievement.”

What An Rong said was all top-secret information from the Humanitarian Alliance. The fact that he was willing to reveal these things without taking any personal benefit made Wu Chang think even more highly of him.

Wu Chang accepted the fish-shaped metal talisman and said softly, "Thank you."

If it were just an empty title, he wouldn't care about it. But he knew without a doubt that shattering the Fire Source Core would be linked to the dungeon's contribution points. He really valued this kind of empty title that had contribution points.

Seeing that Wu Chang had accepted the talisman, An Rong took the opportunity to ask, "Sect Leader Tang, was the Taoist magic you just used summoned by the Thousand Thunders?"

Wu Chang nodded and asked, "You also know about Thousand Thunder Summoning?"

An Rong said, "When Uncle Yuan saw me off from Huai Mountain, he gave me a handwritten copy of a fragment of the Thunder Technique. I studied the Thunder Technique in it."

Wu Chang glanced at the halberd in An Rong's hand. No wonder it was wrapped in lightning. Given how much Chi Yuan valued An Rong, it was not surprising that he would pass on the incomplete lightning technique to An Rong.

An Rong continued, "Over the years, I have also collected several other fragments of thunder magic and compiled them into a complete set of thunder magic. However, the Thousand Thunder Summoning technique that I use seems to be quite different from the one you use."

Both were summoned by a thousand thunderbolts, and each thunderbolt was stronger than the last, so why was the first thunderbolt Wu Chang used more powerful and imposing than the fourth thunderbolt he used?

If Wu Chang's previous abilities could be attributed to experience, then the power displayed by Qian Lei Zhao seems to be more than just experience.

Moreover, the thunder summoned by Wu Chang contained a soul-stirring power far beyond anything his thunder magic could match.

Thunder magic was just one of Wu Chang's methods, and An Rong was a native of the instance plane, so there was no need for him to hide it. He then said:

"The Thousand Thunder Summoning technique I use incorporates another thunder technique I have acquired. Another day, we will discuss the Dao through thunder and verify each other's learning."

An Rong said, "That's excellent."

Wu Chang gleaned a great deal of information from the resentment within Zhu Yin Hai. In addition to Zhu Yin Hai's various skills, he also discovered that the highest-ranking commander among the cultivators tasked with defeating Zhu Yin Hai was none other than An Rong, standing before him.

Moreover, everyone treated An Rong with great respect, which showed that he was of extraordinary status.

Now that Zhu Yinhai is dead, there's no need to rush to leave, so Wu Chang asked the question from before:
"Young Master An, were your injuries caused by it chasing you all the way?"

An Rong shook his head and smiled bitterly, "If it were just the Candle Shadow Skeleton, I might not be able to defeat it, but I wouldn't be in such a sorry state."

Speaking of his injury, An Rong's tone carried a hint of anger. He said:

"Three days ago, the Humanity Alliance organized an exploration of a celestial abode. I explored the deepest part and was injured by the arrangements within the celestial abode."

"When I left the manor, I was recuperating with other Dao Alliance cultivators. While I was recuperating, someone tampered with the pills I took, mixing in candle worm eggs. The candle worms entered my body and attacked me with Heart Flame from the inside out, which is why I couldn't resist them."

“The Candle Shadow Skeleton holds a grudge. I caused it a lot of damage when I was in the Demon Realm. It left the Demon Realm to seek revenge on me, so it followed the Candle Insect Egg and chased me here.”

"I originally intended to feign weakness and fight it to the death when it got close, even if it meant my own death. Fortunately, Master Tang happened to pass by and offered his help, which allowed me to escape this calamity."

Wu Chang frowned upon hearing this. "You mean, someone in the Humanitarian Alliance poisoned you?"

Upon hearing An Rong's description, Wu Chang regretted killing Zhu Yinhai too early; he should have tried to find out who was cooperating with it before taking action.

An Rong said, "Perhaps it's not a traitor, but someone who is hostile towards me and wants to harm me."

Wu Chang snorted and said, "No matter what the reason is, when we get back to the Humanitarian Alliance, give me a list of people you suspect."

An Rong said, "This matter is not urgent. Rather than finding the poisoner, I am more worried that the immortal abode we entered earlier will be taken away by villains beforehand."

"There's no time to lose. Why don't you come with me to the Immortal Abode first? There's a true immortal destiny hidden within that Immortal Abode."

(End of this chapter)