Immortal Fire Painting, Devouring the Soul

But Evan Yang's speed was already pushed to the limit; all he could do was hope the other side would slow down.

Yet as time ticked by, his opponent's spiritual power remained abundant. When Evan stared closely at him, he realized—the guy was popping pills.

He would fly for a while, then take a pill to replenish his energy. Those pills restored his power.

"Are those instant-recovery pills?" Evan wondered aloud, watching the man's actions with suspicion.

At this moment, the man was praying for his ally to arrive quickly. He'd burned through his stash, using up all his most precious pills.

Evan had no idea the man was using his rarest resources just to avoid capture. Meanwhile, Evan kept using his Spirit-Draining Box to recharge himself.

Until a strange aura descended again, startling Evan. "He got here so fast!"

The man quickly met up with the owner of that aura—a figure with a face covered in red hair and large eyes, staring intently at Evan and the man who'd just flown over.

"Brother Lie, you finally made it!" the man said, dragging his wounded arm, thrilled.

The man called Brother Lie laughed, "Old Jiang, don't tell me this little punk is the one who messed you up like this?"

"That's right," muttered Old Jiang, the fugitive.

"Alright, we'll split the loot fifty-fifty later," laughed Brother Lie.

One was Jack Jiang, wounded by Evan Yang; the other was his close friend, Leo Lie. The two often worked shady schemes together, and once again, Evan had drawn them both in.

Jack Jiang nodded at Leo Lie's words, then turned to Evan, who was hovering in midair, and grinned, "Kid, since you followed us here, you might as well stay."

"And if I want to leave? Can you stop me?" Evan stared at both men.

"Bold kid—your attitude's even wilder than I was at your age!" Leo Lie sneered.

"He only acts tough because he's got treasures," Jack Jiang chuckled.

Evan didn't know Jack Jiang was nearly out of pills, and his own Spirit-Draining Box reserves were low too. If he tried to run, he'd eventually be caught by their pills, so Evan had already resolved to fight. With his remaining spiritual power, he had a shot at challenging an injured foe and a late-stage powerhouse.

"Come on then," Evan said, smiling.

"Not running? Then I'll make sure you die whole," Leo Lie laughed when Evan refused to flee.

Then he sent a message to Jack Jiang, coordinating an assault on Evan Yang.

The two together put far more pressure on Evan than Jack Jiang alone. Evan's plan was to knock out the wounded Jack Jiang first, then focus on Leo Lie.

So Evan targeted Jack Jiang, but Leo Lie and Jack Jiang quickly caught on. Jack Jiang kept dodging, forcing Leo Lie to confront Evan head-on.

Evan didn't hesitate—he kept pressing Jack Jiang, forcing him to circle around Leo Lie.

Once Jack Jiang ran out of pills, his speed dropped sharply, and his badly injured arm slowed him even more. Evan spun past Leo Lie and slammed a powerful blow into Jack Jiang's back before he could escape.

Jack Jiang crashed from the sky, landing with a thud. He lay on the ground, coughing blood, staring at Evan in unwillingness. "Brother Lie, it's up to you now," he said.

Seeing this, Leo Lie was shocked by Evan's methods. Only now did he start treating Evan as a true equal. "Kid, you're tough, but that's just because of your treasures. Now that I've run into you, they're not yours anymore."

"Funny, the last guy said almost the same thing. Want to end up like him?" Evan pointed at the badly wounded Jack Jiang lying on the ground, unable to fly.

"Him? His fire attacks were restrained by you. Otherwise, you think you'd have hurt him so easily?" Leo Lie glanced at Jack Jiang and laughed.

Evan nodded inwardly, admitting Leo Lie had a point. But in battle, only victory matters—who restrains whom is just luck.

"Oh? So you're that confident you'll beat me?" Evan sneered.

Leo Lie grinned, "Take this!"

A blazing ball of fire shot from Leo Lie's hand, rolling toward Evan like a fireball.

"This move again? Are you two from the same sect or something?" Evan joked.

"That's right. His fire attack got countered by you, but I don't believe mine will!" Leo Lie sneered.

Evan replied, "You're too arrogant." He waved his hand, and the fire went out before it could reach him.

Leo Lie was surprised but said, "Looks like you really do have some treasures. In that case, I'll just have to use something else."

With that, Leo Lie took out five glowing rings. Heat radiated from them so strongly that Evan could feel it even from in front.

"Those five rings... they're no joke," Evan said, startled as soon as he saw them.

Seeing Evan's reaction, Leo Lie laughed, "Go die!"

The five rings instantly shot above Evan's head, expanded to his size, and trapped him inside.

"Ha! Got you now!" Leo Lie laughed as Evan was caught by the rings.

Evan's face changed—he hadn't expected the rings to be so fast. Before he could react, they were already overhead.

Now Evan's whole body was overheating, all from the heat pouring out of the five rings. Leo Lie grinned, controlling the rings, and the heat only grew stronger.

Heat waves rolled off Evan. Watching from below, Jack Jiang laughed, "Brother Lie's Five-Flame Rings really are the best."

"Of course," Leo Lie replied, grinning.

Evan had no intention of getting roasted alive, so he activated the ice-fire within his body. A cool current swept through him, and the heat from the rings barely affected him at all.

His face, which had been flushed red, returned to normal. Leo Lie was shocked, "How are you fine?"

"What, you want me to be in trouble?" Evan smiled.

Leo Lie was stunned. He knew how strong those rings were—even peak Out-of-Body experts would struggle to withstand their heat.

(This chapter isn't over yet—click next page to continue the exciting story!)

But what happened next shocked both Leo Lie and Jack Jiang—Evan Yang vanished.

Startled, Leo Lie hurriedly retracted the five rings and looked around frantically.

"Where did he go?" Leo Lie cried out, alarmed.

"No idea," Jack Jiang replied, shaken.

Just then, Evan reappeared in his original spot, smiling at Leo Lie. Without noticing, Leo Lie was struck hard by Evan's punch.

The blow wasn't especially powerful, but its impact on Leo Lie was huge. Facing someone who could vanish and reappear at will, he couldn't help but ask, "You have a spatial treasure?"

"Spatial treasure?" Evan just smiled without answering. In truth, he did have the Sky-Piercing Tower, but it always left a faint trace if inspected closely. His Luminous Armor, though, made him vanish completely without a trace.

"So you really do have a spatial treasure, and a powerful one at that. Today, I'm taking it!" Seeing Evan's silence, Leo Lie went from shock to delight.

"Try surviving first!" Evan snorted, then launched a furious assault on Leo Lie, who tried to trap him again with the five rings.

Having suffered once before, Evan dodged away from his original spot as soon as he escaped the rings, making it hard for Leo Lie to predict his next move.

With a thousand threads of spiritual sense, Evan could easily read Leo Lie's attacks. As long as he dodged quickly, he could avoid them—and counterattack.

Again and again, Evan donned his gauntlets and unleashed attacks a hundred times stronger, smashing Leo Lie's back in.

Blood poured out on the spot.

"You—" Leo Lie roared in fury.

"Told you—you need to stay alive first," Evan said, retracting his fist with a smile.

"I don't believe I can't kill you!" Leo Lie was truly enraged and pulled out a painting from his body.

"Immortal Fire Painting!" Jack Jiang exclaimed when he saw it.

Evan heard the name and asked suspiciously, "Immortal Fire Painting?"

The painting instantly expanded, covering Evan. Rays of light burst forth, trapping him in the glow radiating from the painting.

"Damn, I'm trapped!" Evan was shocked—he hadn't expected the painting to have this kind of power.

"Hmph! As long as I hold you for fifteen minutes, your soul will be destroyed. Then all your treasures will be mine!" Leo Lie grinned viciously.

Evan knew Leo Lie wasn't joking, so he fixed his eyes on the painting. He saw countless tiny flames darting around, and suddenly several shot out, heading straight for him. The confined space left him nowhere to dodge, and the flames wrapped around him.

"This fire isn't hot?" Evan had expected it to burn, but the result was completely different.

"Of course it's not hot. You'll find out soon enough," Leo Lie sneered.

Evan watched in confusion as the flames crawled from his feet up his body, finally locking onto his mind, aiming to attack his soul.

"No!" Evan panicked and summoned his ice-fire, but to his shock, it had no effect. He could only watch as the flames reached his mind.

When the flames reached deep into his soul, Evan was horrified—they really were attacking his soul.

He tried every method he could think of, but nothing worked.

Just as the flames neared his soul, his soul suddenly radiated light and extinguished the fire.

"What?" Evan had no idea his soul possessed such power.

After the flames vanished, Evan saw a layer of stone surrounding his soul.

"Luminous Armor?" Evan hadn't expected his soul to have this ability—it was a self-activated defense, not under his control.

This scene shocked Evan. He finally understood the fire's purpose—to devour his soul. If not for his Luminous Armor, he would have been destroyed by the nameless fire.

Leo Lie was even more stunned. He'd seen the flames reach Evan's head—by all rights, Evan should have screamed and then been reduced to ashes. It was a truly vicious attack.