Mystic Flame: Five Demon Emperors

  Yue Qing rushed to the Xuanbing Valley, where a thousand years of accumulated ice and snow were piled up, with fierce winds whipping up countless ice particles and snowflakes into numerous cold waves that rampaged and howled between heaven and earth. Yue Qing hastened his pace, seeing from afar that someone was engaging in a magical duel in the valley - a dark, thin old man with a goat-like beard, accompanied by a group of ghostly disciples, was launching a fierce internal attack, his fingers pointing as massive Yin Ghosts rolled towards the valley like small mountains, filling the air with ear-piercing wails and howls, while piles of ghost fires burned amidst the snow-covered valleys.

  In the valley, the White Spirit shot out a toxic cloud of mist and flames, enveloping the entire valley. The ghostly fire descended, and as soon as it touched down, it ignited with a burst of green and red flames that seemed to have a life of their own, twisting and turning in a mad dance, each one trying to strangle the others. As they clashed fiercely, there was suddenly a series of sharp, ear-piercing cracks, and then they exploded into wisps of smoke.

  On the opposite mountain, Liu Quan was fighting with someone. His opponent was an eleven or twelve-year-old boy, with a round and chubby red face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, high nose and wide mouth, full of white teeth. He wore a red half-sleeved jacket with two strings of paper money with symbols and a string of skull beads around his neck. In one hand he held the Five Old Hammers, in the other he held the Magic Fire Golden Banner. His whole body was surrounded by a red halo of smoke and fog, rising and falling on the snowy slope. A group of skulls as big as five car wheels flew around him, with black smoke swirling in his eye sockets and magic fire spewing from his mouth. He let out a strange laugh, surrounding Liu Quan in the middle, opening his mouth to tear and bite.

  Liu Quan wielded the Wind and Fire Twin Swords, shaking his spirit, displaying his lifelong skills, dancing out a vast expanse of sword light, continuously chopping at the skull's head, with a series of explosions, igniting clusters of demonic flames, striking the skull flying, yet unable to cause any damage. Those skulls retreated and returned, chaotically flying around Liu Quan's front, back, left, and right, forcing him to retreat repeatedly. That youth was the most formidable opponent he had ever encountered, aside from Si Kongzhan. He successively launched the Six Hidden Needles and the Divine Thunder Golden Light Shield, but neither could harm his opponent. Then, he released the Seven Orbits Qi Yuan Dart, blasting that youth into a snow pit, where he fell headfirst. When he emerged again, he gnashed his teeth in anger, shaking the golden canopy, unleashing a torrent of demonic flames that wildly burned towards Liu Quan.

  Liu Quan had originally intended to use the Qingcui bottle to absorb the magic fire, but unfortunately, the five skulls surrounding him were pressing in too tightly. If he wasn't careful for a moment, he would be bitten on his right shoulder. Under the skin and flesh, he couldn't feel any pain at all. When he turned his head back, the skull's sharp teeth were clenched together, biting onto his own shoulder and shaking it constantly. A burst of eerie laughter came from inside the skull, and the blood flowing out of him was sucked away by it, pouring into its mouth shrouded in black smoke.

  At this time, the four-sided demonic flames began to surround him, trapping him in a sea of fire. Just as he was about to be burned to ashes, Liu Quan had already prepared for his escape. He waited for his physical body to perish, then exerted his utmost effort to deploy his mystical skills and have his primordial spirit flee back to Mount Wutai. However, the flames stopped three feet in front of him, and upon closer inspection, they were blocked by a sheet of five-colored misty haze. Although the flames roared and surged, they could not advance even an inch.

  "Big Brother!" Liu Quan was overjoyed, and saw the colorful misty clouds rapidly expanding, covering the sky above and spreading across the ground below, wrapping up the fire demon that filled the sky and pushing it out more than ten feet away. Suddenly, Yue Qing appeared beside him, holding the Pure Yang Heavenly Seal in his hand, a white light shot out from the seal and flew towards the skull, the skull that was biting on his shoulder seemed to have been struck by lightning, trembling violently, then loosened its jaws, wanting to follow its companion to pounce on Yue Qing. Five dazzling light circles flew up around Yue Qing's body.

  "Guangchi!" A child's voice came from the air, and he appeared in the midst of the demonic flames. He raised his hand and summoned the skull back, transforming it into its original form as the Five Old Hammers on his back. "Yueqin Bin, you've actually obtained Lian Shan Dashi's ancient magic treasure."

  Yue Qing smiled and said: "This is what I called with the Six Ding Six Jia Shénmó calabaza, are you five ghost kings doing well?"

  That young boy was none other than the leader of the Eastern Demon Sect, Five Ghosts Heaven King Shang He Yang. He shook his golden banner and retracted the flames that filled the sky, walking slowly towards Yue Qing with a pair of round eyes staring at him: "I heard you stole the treasure manual from the Hunyuan Ancestor, drove away over ten fellow disciples, and joined forces with Xu Fei Niang to take over the foundation of Wutai Mountain. You're not wandering freely in the north, what are you doing here on Mount Daxue?"

  Yue Qingdao said: "One of my disciples was captured by the Drunken Daoist of Mount Emei and taken to the Azure Spiral Palace, I have to go get him back."

  Shang He Yang raised his thick, fiery eyebrows: "This is interesting. The elder of the Emei Sect has captured a disciple of the Wudang Sect and wants to send him to the lair of the Devil's Cult. I happen to know the master of the Qingluo Palace, so why don't I go and negotiate with them, get your disciple released, and avoid any conflict between our two families? That way, we won't be laughed at by those old ghosts from the Emei Sect."

  Yue Qing smiled and said: "Then I'll have to trouble Tian Wang."

  Shang Heyang suddenly changed the subject, pointing to the valley below: "There's a disabled woman there, who is none other than the infamous female demon Deng Baigu. She has a Snow Soul Pearl in her hand, which is the bane of my magic fire. I won't be able to rest or eat until I get that pearl. That snake spirit and child are probably her followers too? You go down and tell them to move out of the way, then I'll take the Snow Soul Pearl and bring you all to Qingluo Palace as guests."

  Yue Qing smiled and said, "That Deng Ba Niang, when it comes to the past, was also our fellow practitioner. Although she has obtained the Xue Hun Zhen, she may not necessarily use it against Tian Wang. She is now crippled and trapped in Zuixian Valley, so why would Tian Wang, as the leader of a sect, need to force her to hand over her treasure?"

  Shang Heyang looked at him and suddenly sneered, "No wonder people say you're cunning and sly like a fox, treacherous like a ghost. You just want to obtain the Snow Soul Pearl to counter the Golden Light Fiery Sword that Qi Xuanming refined in the East Sea, and you're fighting me for the same purpose. Yet you still try to make it sound so righteous and noble. It seems what people say is true, you've also learned to be a hypocrite like those Emei Sect people!"

  Yue Qingdao said: "My purpose with the Heavenly King is not entirely the same, and our methods are as different as clouds and mud. If I want to deal with the Golden Light Fiery Sword, I don't need to use the Snow Soul Pearl at all. Moreover, even if I had the Snow Soul Pearl, could I deal with the Three Sages of the Eastern Sea? The Heavenly King is using a villain's heart to measure a gentleman's belly."

  Shang Heyang sneered coldly, "No matter what, I must get the Snow Soul Pearl today. Whoever tries to stop me... Hehe." He stretched out a chubby little hand to stroke the skull that had crawled up from behind, and the skull rubbed against Shang Heyang's hand like a pampered dog, letting out a strange laugh. "I just so happen to need to refine two more White Bone Lock Heart Hammers, and your Six Yang Charms' dimensions are just right."

  Liu Quan had already applied medicine to his wound, but he was still suffering from the intense heat and poison of the demonic fire, which left him feeling dizzy and weak, with golden stars flashing before his eyes. Upon hearing Shang He Yang's words, he suddenly burst into anger: "What is so special about you, a demon child, that you dare to speak such big words in front of my senior brother?"

  Shang Heyang said: "Liu Quan, when I was cultivating with my master Wuxing Zun, you had just entered the door of Xieli Shibo. At that time, you were in the West and I was in the East. We both belonged to the Demon Sect. What qualifications do you have to speak to me like that?"

  Liu Quan said: "When I first entered the sect, my master Xili had not yet established the Western Demon Sect. Later, he entered the demonic path, and Lei Shigu and Gong Ye Shu successively left far away. Not long after that, Master Xili went mad and died in meditation. I then followed Suti Shizun to cultivate, so although I am a fellow disciple of Du Long Zun, I am not from the Western Demon Sect. Please do not confuse the truth, Master Mo."

  Shang Heyang felt that arguing with him was pointless, so he ignored him and turned to Yue Qing: "I only ask you, are you fighting for the Snow Soul Pearl or not?"

  Yue Qingdao said: "I want to bring Deng Baigu into the door, Xue Hunzhu is nothing, if she is willing to give it to you, you can take it."

  Shang Heyang's face turned red with rage: "How could that despicable person possibly give away such a precious treasure? Yueqin Bin, you've occupied the Five Peaks Mountain and driven out the Golden Arhat and others to the Ciyun Temple. We don't care about your internal affairs, but if you dare to stop me from getting the Snow Soul Pearl, then you'll have to become enemies with our Four Directions Demon Sect! Your newly established Five Peaks Sect will probably be destroyed soon!"

  Yue Qingdao said: "Many years have not seen, the Tianwang is still so big fire, since then, I will teach Tianwang's Baigulock Heart Hammer!" He took out the Pure Yang Heavenly Emperor's Token and a jade bottle to hand over to Liu Quan, "I and Tianwang will cut off the Taoist method, this is the Five Thousand Years ago Guang Chengzi left behind the聚魄炼形丹, you go with her to take it down, within three hours, will be cured."

  Shang Heyang's eyes gleamed with a fierce light as he heard this, and the five skulls behind him sensed their master's overwhelming killing intent. They opened their mouths and let out a shrill howl, spewing out demonic flames wildly. A colorful glow appeared in front of Yue Qing, blocking the magic fire. As long as it was within the range of the light circle, it would immediately dissipate.

  Yue Qingdao said, "Younger brother, hurry up and leave!" Liu Quan immediately mounted his sword and slid down the mountain slope towards the valley below. Shang Yangben wanted to release the skulls to chase after him, but was hindered by the light circle. In a moment of urgency, he shook the magic fire golden banner, releasing a fierce flame that engulfed the sky, wildly smashing towards Yue Qing's location. At the same time, he shifted his body and disappeared from sight. The next instant, he reappeared in front of Liu Quan, blocking his path, his entire body ablaze as he fiercely pounced on Liu Quan. Just as Liu Quan was about to use his sword to defend himself, a burst of intense light suddenly erupted from the top of his head, causing searing pain to his eyeballs. Shang Yangben recognized it as the renowned Wutai Sect's Gengyuan Heavenly Needle, and in a state of shock, he hastily transformed into a stream of firelight and retreated backwards. At the same time, the 108 skulls on his necklace began to move, swirling around him and protecting him.