Chapter 1054 - 436: Farewell, An Rong (Part 2)

Chapter 1054: Chapter 436: Farewell, An Rong (Part 2)

These colorful clouds are not the light of any Skills, but purely the light of Destiny.

Even Olivia, the Plane Son, couldn’t compare to the brilliance of Destiny surrounding An Rong.

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow, his face full of surprise. He had always felt, back in Huai Valley Village, that An Rong was destined for greatness, but he never expected An Rong to rise to the level of the Plane Son.

As the transparent flames extinguished, An Rong began to cough violently, and in a retching sound that seemed to expel his organs, a puddle of soft, red and white matter was spat onto the ground.

Upon closer inspection, the red and white puddle revealed a fist-sized white worm. The worm’s body was marked with pale red patterns that shifted as it crawled, appearing like a face in agony.

Splat.

An Rong crushed the red and white worm underfoot and weakly said,

"Xiao Huang, return, he’s not an enemy."

The Mountain Guardian Beast heard An Rong’s call, its hostility reducing, body shrinking to two meters as it retreated behind An Rong.

An Rong took off his conical hat, revealing a handsome young face. He looked at Wu Chang, cupped his hands, and said:

"Sect Leader Tang, the Wu Chang who appeared in Huai Valley Village back then was truly you. You saved me back then, and now, fifteen years later, I’ve been saved by you once more. I am truly ashamed."

Wu Chang returned the courtesy and said, "Brother An, no need to mind. I owe Daoist Chi Yuan a favor, having promised to look after you. I’ve been busy running around these years and haven’t even met you once; it’s me who should be ashamed."

Seeing An Rong now, he was entirely different from his time in Huai Valley Village.

From An Rong’s appearance, he seemed around twenty-six or twenty-seven, no longer the skinny and mad Village Guard boy. His frame had grown, not quite burly but robust and well-proportioned, full of vigor.

The madness of the past had faded away; even after facing life and death, his eyes remained calm and gentle, hard to see through.

An Rong smiled and said, "Sect Leader Tang, you speak too highly. You and the Tang Sect have been battling at the forefront against demons all these years; without you, the calamity would be several times more fierce than it is now. Across the great realm, no one deserves your shame."

An Rong redirected the conversation, his voice urgent: "Sect Leader Tang, this is not the place to talk; let’s return to the Human Dao Alliance before chatting more."

Wu Chang said, "No rush, Brother An, first tell us who harmed you and what you just spat out just now?"

"Let’s leave here first; if we’re late..." An Rong started but then cut off abruptly.

Wu Chang raised an eyebrow, sensing something emerging around them but pretended not to notice, saying:

"What happens if we’re late?"

"If we’re late, we might as well just stay here." A voice suddenly appeared not far away.

In an instant, the sunny sky turned gloomy, the tall trees casting shadows. The forest was already dim, now dark as night.

Wu Chang turned towards the voice and saw a group of transparent flames rising from nowhere.

First one, then two, then three...

Soon after, nine groups of transparent flames formed a circle, rotating slowly in the air.

The flames burned brighter and brighter, illuminating nine enormous candles below. Each candle was large enough for two people to embrace, their surfaces displaying countless twisted limbs and anguished faces.

The nine candles seemed formed by countless humans squeezed together, and as the flames burned, they released constant soul-wailing. At the base of each candle was a giant hand; they worked together, slowly approaching Wu Chang and An Rong.

The nine groups of candlelight merged, coalescing into a large flame at the center. Beneath the flame appeared a hideous lump resembling an apple.

On the lump was a mouth-like crack, from which the voice had issued.

Wu Chang had witnessed many monsters, but rarely any as disgusting as this.

He furrowed his brow and asked An Rong:

"What is that thing?"

An Rong stood as if facing a formidable foe, cautiously guarding against the lump, saying:

"Candle Yin Remains, the Fire Demon King of the Demon Realm."

Wu Chang: "Huh?"

An Rong’s words touched upon a gap in his knowledge; even as Tang Sect Leader, he was unfamiliar with the internal affairs of the Demon Realm. How could An Rong know so much?

An Rong was aware of Wu Chang’s ignorance of the Demon Realm matters, so he concentrated his voice, explaining to Wu Chang.

The monster before them was known as Candle Yin Remains, a creature that appeared at the early stage of Spiritual Qi revival, even before the evil entities in Huai Valley Village.

Candle Yin Remains first appeared in Chu Yang Province during a time of turmoil, with constant natural disasters and calamities.

Chu Yang Province was experiencing a drought at the time, with the fields wilting under the scorching sun, rivers drying up, and over half the province’s population suffering from hunger and thirst.

Desperate, the people invited mages to perform rituals, only to become the target of Candle Yin Remains.

It was during the early Spiritual Qi revival; even a cultivator like Chi Yuan could only manage small Thunder Techniques like the Summoning a Thousand Thunders. The mage they invited was just a charlatan, incapable of calling wind and rain.

He failed to summon rain but discovered the fruit tree camouflaged by Candle Yin Remains, declaring to villagers it was a divine gift summoned by his Immortal magic.

The people rushed to pick fruits from the tree, the fruits never diminishing, leading them to worship it as an Immortal’s gift.

Little did they know that what they were consuming were actually the candle bugs spawned by Candle Yin Remains.