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**
At the top of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
Due to the relentless assault of the Fallen Heart Flame and the retreat of the other Elders, the Grand Elder—now isolated and alone—had no way to hold on any longer.
All he could do was watch helplessly as the black energy membrane at the top of the tower grew increasingly thin.
That layer of dark energy was constantly engulfed in invisible flames, burning intensely.
The energy glow on its surface had also become extremely dim.
After nearly five minutes, the energy membrane had faded to the point where it was nearly invisible.
Clearly, it was on the verge of collapse.
"Damn it... Over the years, who knows how much energy this thing has secretly absorbed. I'm afraid the seal of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower is about to break this time."
Even with Su Qian's composure, his face was filled with alarm. His voice rose sharply as he barked down to the Elders below, "Send someone else to urge the Outer Academy again! Tell them to get here as fast as possible!"
"I'll go right now!"
A wind-attributed Elder responded immediately, shouting as he turned and shot off at full speed toward the Outer Academy.
He knew very well just how disastrous it would be if the Fallen Heart Flame broke through the seal.
"All Elders, take your positions immediately! The seal of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower can't hold much longer. We must now rely on the sealing formation left behind by the Headmaster back then. Let's see if it can seal it once more!"
Watching the departing Elder, Su Qian's expression flickered between gloom and urgency. A moment later, as if he'd made a firm decision, he waved his hand fiercely and shouted with a cold edge.
At his command, multiple Dou Wang-level figures soared up around the tower.
In the blink of an eye, more than twenty figures hovered around the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
Wings of Dou Qi in various colors vibrated gently behind them, painting a striking image from afar.
At this moment, the figures were scattered throughout the sky in seemingly casual positions, but a closer look revealed a faint trace of hidden structure.
If one observed carefully, they'd see that a faint glow of multicolored energy enveloped each of the twenty-plus figures.
Fine threads of energy, nearly invisible to the naked eye, began to extend outward in silence.
At the exact moment the formation in the sky took shape, a deafening explosion like a mountain collapsing split the heavens!
Immediately afterward, the seemingly indestructible tip of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower exploded with a thunderous boom.
A scorching column of magma erupted, surging upward under the shocked gazes of all present!
In that instant, the energy throughout the entire Inner Academy was thrown into chaos and violent upheaval.
From within the broken seal of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, a sharp, excited screech burst out like a sudden clap of thunder, echoing across the land.
Endless magma shot in all directions, raining down from the sky. Anything it touched instantly burst into raging flames.
In just the blink of an eye, several miles surrounding the tower were transformed into a sea of fire.
Alongside the falling magma, a massive, formless fire python—hundreds of meters long—suddenly blasted into the sky.
Tasting freedom once more, the giant serpent's enormous triangular pupils gleamed with a terrifying, human-like joy.
High above the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, Su Qian's expression shifted as he saw the Fallen Heart Flame, in its fire python form, break free from the seal so swiftly.
Then, he roared in a commanding voice: "All Elders, form the Thousand Layer Sealing Formation! Now!"
As his voice rang out, the Elders suspended in the sky immediately responded in unison.
Streams of powerful Dou Qi burst forth from each of them, interweaving with lightning speed. In just moments, they constructed a dense energy net in the sky above.
The energy threads layered atop one another, resembling a thousand-fold mesh.
Seeing that the formation was nearly complete, Su Qian's hands swiftly formed a complex seal. Then, with a sharp motion, he pointed at the center of the energy net.
In that instant, the overwhelming might of a Two-Star Dou Zong erupted.
A vast surge of energy poured straight into the formation!
Completing the final step of the formation, Su Qian pressed both hands downward toward the earth.
Immediately afterward, the massive energy net in the sky—nearly a hundred meters wide—suddenly descended, enveloping the Fallen Heart Flame and sealing it in tightly.
Because it had expended an enormous amount of energy breaking through the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower earlier, the flames rising from the invisible fire python's body were now noticeably dimmer.
Moreover, the Thousand Layer Sealing Formation had been left behind by a Dou Zun, making it extremely formidable. For the moment, the fire python couldn't break it.
"Master, it looks like Jia Nan Academy's trump card is quite powerful... Could the Fallen Heart Flame really be sealed away again?"
Watching the tide turn in the Inner Academy's favor, Xiao Yan couldn't hide the urgency in his voice.
He didn't want to let this rare opportunity slip by. If this fire python regained full strength, even his master might not be able to take it on alone.
"Heh."
Yao Chen chuckled softly. As someone who had once stood at the threshold of the half-saint realm, he easily saw through the situation.
He spoke calmly, "No rush. This formation was indeed left by their Headmaster, and it is very powerful. But unfortunately, the people operating it aren't up to par. Those Dou Wang-level Elders... they'll likely become the weak link."
At the same time, the Fallen Heart Flame—having just tasted the sweetness of freedom—naturally refused to be sealed back into that dark, sunless magma chamber beneath the earth.
"Jiiiii!!"
With a piercing screech that echoed across the heavens, a sharp sonic wave erupted from the fire python's mouth, spreading outward as if it had taken physical form.
The energy threads of the formation tensed up all at once in response.
Many of the Elders were struck by the sonic wave, causing their Dou Qi to falter for a brief moment. As a result, the energy net dimmed noticeably.
The triangular eyes of the massive fire python swept across the Elders in the sky. Then, it slowly coiled its enormous body and began absorbing more energy from the magma below.
Moments later, the fire python suddenly tensed its tail and launched its vast body with a force that could barely be perceived by the naked eye—directly toward the side where the Elders were weaker.
Boom!
Its enormous body, empowered by nearly all of the Fallen Heart Flame's strength, slammed violently into the brilliant energy net.
The impact was equivalent to a full-force collision between two four-star Dou Zongs. Not only did the energy web tighten once more under the immense pressure, but the sheer force of the blow sent the threads snapping dangerously close to several Dou Wang Elders nearby.
Ripples spread through the surrounding space from the impact, distorting it visibly.
It looked as if countless invisible wrinkles had suddenly appeared across a smooth sheet of paper.
"Not good! Fall back! Retreat now!"
Seeing this, Su Qian's expression suddenly turned to horror, and his voice trembled with fear.
As a Dou Zong-level expert, he fully understood what such spatial distortion meant.
For a Dou Wang, it was like standing made of tofu—utterly defenseless.
Sure enough, before Su Qian's voice had even faded, several Dou Wang Elders who hadn't managed to escape in time were sucked into those spatial folds.
In the terrified eyes of the Inner Academy students watching from below, those Elders were instantly crushed into a mist of blood by the collapsing space.
With the loss of several energy anchors, a section of the formation quietly collapsed.
At the very instant that gap appeared, an extremely violent surge of energy burst out from the opening.
It blasted straight into the sky, and the overwhelming force of that eruption could be sensed clearly even from a thousand miles away!
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