Chapter 127: The End (Part 3)

A gentle green light radiated, illuminating the darkness and becoming the sole beacon in the void. It cast a soft glow upon the faces of Lu Fei and Jun Muyu, as mild and soothing as the morning sun or a gentle lamp.

The flower before them gradually bloomed, swaying rhythmically. Lu Fei recalled Qin Bailing telling him that the pollen of this flower could elevate one’s power level. He immediately cast out a formation, sat cross-legged beside the bloom, and began circulating the Dragon Emperor’s Hegemony Art. As he drew the pollen toward him, it drifted into his nostrils, traveled down into his lungs, and then surged through his limbs and veins. He felt immense power pouring into his body, a gift from the pollen.

Every muscle in Lu Fei’s body trembled—a sensation of exquisite delight. He leapt from the third stage to the legendary third stage, reaching seven hundred times the strength of an ordinary man. Then, he broke through to the fourth stage. Upon reaching the legendary fourth stage, the progression was no longer additive but multiplicative, doubling his power from three hundred to six hundred times.

He inhaled the pollen once more, sending the energy coursing through his meridians. His power swelled further, thrusting him into the legendary fourth stage with thirteen hundred times the strength of an ordinary man.

Next, he shattered the bottleneck of the fourth stage and entered the fifth. He inhaled again, and a powerful surge of energy flooded his veins. He rose from the fifth stage to the legendary fifth stage—a qualitative leap in power, reaching twenty-two hundred times the strength of an ordinary man.

He broke through the fifth-stage bottleneck and arrived at the sixth. With another inhalation, violent energy surged through him, elevating him to the legendary sixth stage, where his power reached forty-five hundred times that of an ordinary man.

He inhaled once more, reaching the seventh stage and its legendary level, granting him nine thousand nine hundred times the strength of an ordinary man.

He tried to inhale again, but there was nothing left. The flower, having exhausted its pollen, withered rapidly and dissolved into stardust, vanishing from the world. Lu Fei was stunned. Was this a flower that lived only to help others? It had given him its pollen and then withered away, returning to dust. Lu Fei felt a complex mix of emotions—gratitude for the boost, yet a strange melancholy for the flower’s sacrifice.

Now, he didn’t even need the second layer of the Dragon Emperor’s Hegemony Art to crush powerful opponents. If he did use the first and second layers, he would be invincible—nine thousand nine hundred times his base strength multiplied by ten, totaling ninety-nine thousand times. Who could possibly stand against him?

Lu Fei stood up and retracted his formation. He noticed Jun Muyu staring at him blankly.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Are you mesmerized by my handsome face?"

"Pfft, you are far too narcissistic. You seem stronger now. What were you doing, inhaling that pollen?" Jun Muyu asked, looking at him with great curiosity.

"I was raising my cultivation level, of course. That pollen contains immense power. But you have to find the truly miraculous flowers to do it. Don't tell anyone else," Lu Fei said, walking forward with evident confidence.

"So that’s how it is. No wonder I thought you were a bee earlier!" Jun Muyu followed him, delighted. She realized there was a way to rapidly enhance her own strength. This fellow was truly mysterious; he had managed to slice a massive tornado in half just to reach this place.

Ahead stood a dilapidated temple. The surrounding area was barren, devoid of all plant life, shrouded in gray mist and a sense of profound desolation, like a land of the dead. The temple door stood ajar, and Lu Fei walked straight inside.

"Is the Yin-Ming Cold Flame in there?" Jun Muyu asked, scurrying after him, visibly excited.

Lu Fei walked in calmly. Inside, without any resistance, he saw a young man in golden armor standing motionless. Before the youth hovered an orange flame, burning softly and coating the surroundings in a thick layer of frost. The youth was shivering violently, unable to draw the flame any closer.

Lu Fei smiled and approached. He manifested the Burning Art, and the Yin-Ming Cold Flame was drawn toward him without the slightest obstruction. It entered Lu Fei’s body, merging with his Nirvana Rebirth Flame.

Because one was a cold flame and the other hot, the two forces clashed, and Lu Fei endured the agony of being caught between ice and fire. However, with the Burning Art, he quickly resolved the conflict, successfully fusing the two flames.

Lu Fei was overjoyed. With the Yin-Ming Cold Flame, he could extract the cold poison from Qin Bailing’s body and restore her to health. Just the thought of it made him happy.

Meanwhile, the young man, Xia Shi, snapped out of his illusion to find the Yin-Ming Cold Flame gone. Furious, he saw a youth standing nearby, smiling with excitement. Had this kid snatched his flame?

"You! Did you steal my Yin-Ming Cold Flame?" Xia Shi demanded, his voice cold and venomous.

Lu Fei, still in high spirits, turned to look at him. The youth’s golden armor was shattered and battered; he must have paid a heavy price to reach this place.

"Indeed, I obtained it. I am the destined master of the Yin-Ming Cold Flame. Even if you died trying, you would never have claimed it," Lu Fei mocked. He felt pity for Xia Shi—a man who had defied his family and risked his life only to become a stepping stone for Lu Fei.

"You bastard! Do you have any idea what I sacrificed? And you just take it so calmly?" Xia Shi’s voice trembled with rage; he gritted his teeth, wishing he could kill the youth on the spot.

"Whoever has the ability to claim it is its master. Do you expect me to pity you and hand it over? Keep dreaming. Turn back now, and I might spare your life. Otherwise, I could snuff you out with a single finger," Lu Fei said confidently. He wasn’t joking. The man’s subordinate, Zhao Ritian, had tried to kill him earlier, and he hadn’t even settled the score with his master yet.

"You damn brat! You’re asking for death. You think because you got the flame, you can kill me with one finger? You have no idea who you're dealing with," Xia Shi spat.

"Brother Lu, be careful. Don't be too arrogant. That is Xia Shi, the greatest genius of the Xia family. His strength is formidable," Jun Muyu warned him earnestly. How could he be this confident?

"What is there to be careful about? I can wipe him out in minutes. Don't you believe me?" Lu Fei replied, looking at Jun Muyu.