“You dare touch that flame-source?”

When the dragon-soul saw Qiong Qi heading for the fire, it tried to threaten him one last time.

Qiong Qi didn’t even turn his head.

“Just erase it,” he said to Ye Liuyun. “It’s past saving. A dead dragon is all it is—stop dithering.”

Ye Liuyun thought for a moment, then yanked the dragon-soul into his own sea of consciousness to rifle through its memories first. If the soul’s attitude toward the Dragon Race was acceptable, he’d rather not destroy it outright.

But what he found was exactly what Qiong Qi had guessed: the soul planned to possess a dragon body, then refine other dragons to strengthen itself. He couldn’t keep it alive. Send it back to the Dragon Race and it would probably wipe them all out.

In its eyes, only an ancient true dragon like itself counted as “dragon.” A girl like Long Nu was too weak—nothing but fuel.

Ye Liuyun sighed and stopped hesitating. He had the Myriad-God Token refine the soul then and there. He’d said everything worth saying; stubborn relics were beyond help.

After the soul was converted into soul-energy, he split it evenly among his own souls, then sent the avatar-souls back to their bodies.

A sweep with his golden pupils and divine sense confirmed no more threats, so he followed Qiong Qi, who was already using his furnace to collect the abyssal flame.

“Would’ve been faster if you’d listened to me,” Qiong Qi grumbled. “No need to waste time on that thing.”

“Peace of mind,” Ye Liuyun said with a shrug. “I promised the Dragon Race.”

He didn’t jump in to help, wanting Qiong Qi to absorb more, but Qiong Qi spoke first.

“The abyssal flame’s mine; the true-dragon flame’s yours. Their power’s about equal.”

“Keep both,” Ye Liuyun said. “Your flame’s even weaker than mine now.”

“You suddenly grew a conscience? Forget it. I live in your pocket world—the stronger you are, the safer I am.” 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Qiong Qi sounded casual, but he was grateful.

“I don’t have to rely on flame to advance,” Ye Liuyun said.

“Stop being stupid,” Qiong Qi shot back. “Special attributes need luck. Miss this chance and there may not be another. I’ve already scored the abyssal flame by riding your coattails—that’s plenty. This stuff’s leagues above ordinary fire, enough to keep me busy for ages. Your Golden-Crow Saint Fire still can’t threaten real experts; it’s just decoration unless you power it up.”

Only then did Ye Liuyun agree.

Afraid he’d try to refine on the spot, Qiong Qi added, “Use the Heaven-Swallowing Cauldron. That true-dragon flame looks small, but it rivals the abyssal stuff. Bottle it, refine it later.”

“Fine.” Ye Liuyun produced the cauldron and, together with Qiong Qi’s furnace, they harvested their respective fires.

Afterward they didn’t leave; they siphoned the surrounding magma, unwilling to waste a spark. They worked upward while they absorbed; by the time they leapt out of the under-sea vent, the remaining magma was already cooling into stone.

“My job’s done—put me back,” Qiong Qi said. He knew he was too weak for the coming fight and didn’t want to be baggage.

Ye Liuyun sent him into the pocket world, then released Zhan Kong, Wu Ying, and Bao Long with orders to stand ready. He himself slipped into First Avatar’s world to refine the true-dragon flame, leaving the two avatars outside to sharpen themselves in battle.

First Avatar’s inner world held hordes of ancient fiends, archaic demon puppets, and elite guards; Ye Liuyun also handed him the captured Heaven-Unity Six experts and the remaining aliens to deploy.

The avatars still didn’t rush. They sent a few aliens ahead as scouts. Good thing: in the murky water the aliens ran into hostiles—two human cultivators wielding strong flame power.

“Zhan Kong—warp one of them out,” First Avatar ordered.The avatar instantly sent a mental message to Zhan Kong: teleport a martial cultivator right in front of them so the avatar could devour the man’s soul. Then do the same to a second cultivator and kill him too.

“That easy?”

Zhan Kong’s group hadn’t expected two Unity-Seventh cultivators to die so casually.

One avatar nodded. “With our teamwork, Unity-Seventh shouldn’t be any trouble.”

“True. Our true essence, soul force, spatial power, heaven-and-earth energy, and blade intent are all top-tier. Higher-level cultivators don’t stand a chance.”

The more they thought, the more it made sense—this lineup rarely met its match.

Moments later, the alien scouts the avatar had dispatched confirmed no other experts remained in that stretch of sea. The avatar released a dozen more aliens to guard them, then everyone burst outward.

They shot out of the abyss and broke the surface—only to find the blue whale gone. In its place stood two Unity-Seventh martial experts.

The pair swept them with a glance, then laughed.

One unleashed crushing pressure and demanded, “You took the fire source?”

“Kill!”

The avatar refused banter; even a denial wouldn’t spare them. Better to strike first.

Zhan Kong and Wu Ying teamed on one cultivator; Tyrannosaurus closed in while two avatars hurled blade intent from range at the second.

Zhan Kong and Wu Ying’s spatial and heaven-and-earth energies caught their opponent off guard, yet the Unity-Seventh cultivator wasn’t injured—he simply burned a chunk of true essence to block.

On the other side, the blade intent startled the second expert, and Tyrannosaurus was blasted back in a single exchange.

But as the cultivator lunged after Tyrannosaurus, the avatars struck with soul attacks: two golden soul-blades pierced his sea of consciousness and instantly severed both his primary and secondary souls.