Ye Feng, his entire body almost falling apart, could no longer feel pain. At this moment, he couldn't move a finger. He could only watch as the Spear of War surged with a gray-red light, tearing through space and piercing his chest.
"Whoosh~ Riiip!"
In an instant, a large bloom of blood erupted from Ye Feng's chest. The Spear of War had run him through and then pinned him to the ground.
"No!"
Seeing this, Qiao Ying let out an incredibly piercing cry. Her face contorted almost wildly as her bloodied wings flashed, and she rapidly charged towards Ye Feng.
Ares squinted slightly, withdrew the Spear of War from Ye Feng's chest, and with two sounds, "Clang! Bang~," he sent Qiao Ying flying.
Ares didn't stop there. He gripped the Spear of War, turned, and launched an attack on Yue Yan and Shen Potian.
"Whoosh~"
"Bang~ Bang~!"
"Clang! ~ Clang, clang!"
After a series of intense fighting sounds, Qiao Ying, Yue Yan, and Shen Potian all vomited blood and were sent flying backward.
Ares did not pursue Qiao Ying, Yue Yan, and Shen Potian. Instead, he picked up the pathetic Ye Feng from the ground, tossed him into the air, and with a surge of red-gray light from the Spear of War in his hand, thrust it towards Ye Feng once more.
"Is this it... Xiaoxiao... Lingxi... Bing... Jiang Shishan... Leng Yue... Shen Yun Yao... Shen Potian... Suddenly I don't want to leave this world..."
In his dying moments, Ye Feng saw Xiaoxiao running towards him with tears streaming down her face, as well as the heavily injured Yue Yan, Qiao Ying, and Shen Potian. Scenes from his past flashed rapidly through his mind.
"Farewell... Xiaoxiao..."
"Little one, giving up so easily and waiting to die?"
Just as Ye Feng thought he was dead, a rather gentle male voice, sounding like it belonged to an elder, abruptly sounded in his mind.
"Wh... What?"
Ye Feng was very surprised, not understanding what was happening.
"How troublesome... to be injured so badly by your own tribulation fire... Why are you afraid of the tribulation fire within you?"
While Ye Feng was confused, the elder's voice sounded again.
"You are indeed injured by the tribulation fire now... but have you ever thought about why you weren't injured by the tribulation fire when you were surrounded and burned by vast amounts of it in the heavenly tribulation..."
He paused, and the elder spoke again.
"Yes... why..."
Ye Feng's consciousness murmured in his mind. He recalled the two instances of being in the tribulation fire and gradually regained his senses. "It was that trace of peculiar energy..."
"You have never truly accepted the tribulation fire within you!"
The elder followed up, "You control the tribulation fire by wrapping it in arcane energy, indirectly controlling it. Subconsciously, you still regard the tribulation fire within you as a power that will harm you..."
"But the tribulation fire truly does hurt me!"
Ye Feng felt a little wronged. He had tried many times before to directly control the tribulation fire, but each time he was injured by it.
"Ignorant little one!"
"This tribulation fire is the ultimate pure yang, the most refined essence of heaven and earth, far surpassing the heaven and earth energy you absorb through your own cultivation, let alone your arcane energy which can barely be considered true energy!"
"You try to control the tribulation fire with something as low-level as arcane energy, naturally, you'll be burned through by it..."
The elder slowly explained to Ye Feng.
"Whoosh!~"
While the elder was speaking, Ares's Spear of War surged with red-gray light, mere inches from Ye Feng's head. It looked as if it was about to pierce Ye Feng's head, just as it had pierced his chest.
At the critical moment, Ye Feng slowly raised his right hand. Although it looked incredibly slow, as if in slow motion in a movie, with a "Bang!" it firmly grabbed the Spear of War that was rapidly stabbing towards him.
"Wh... What?"
Ares's face, originally filled with ferocity and joy, intending to savor Ye Feng's spraying blood and brain matter, suddenly found his Spear of War being grabbed by Ye Feng's hand. Moreover... it was completely immobile.
"You... You..."
Ares was horrified because he realized that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't budge the Spear of War an inch. It couldn't pierce forward, nor could he pull it back.
"Since you could comprehend that trace of mysterious energy in the tribulation fire of the heavenly tribulation, allowing the incredibly violent tribulation fire to temper your physical body, why did you forget about it afterward!"
At this moment, the elder's voice sounded again from Ye Feng's mind. "Only when you truly accept the tribulation fire within you will the tribulation fire be the power you possess!"
As the elder's words faded, Ye Feng's mind became clear. He recalled his two experiences in the tribulation fire, remembering the trace of mysterious energy he sensed when he was being scorched by the tribulation fire.
"Tribulation fire... is it the energy of heaven and earth..."
Gradually, Ye Feng's consciousness began to blur. He seemed to return to the time when he was being scorched by the tribulation fire, and the feeling of that trace of mysterious energy resurfaced.
Almost simultaneously, golden light appeared all over Ye Feng's body. The golden light flickered continuously, which was the tribulation fire.
"This... this is trib... tribulation fire?"
"How is this possible?!"
Ares's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed, his eyes filled with killing intent. In his hand, he instantly conjured several red-gray divine energy spears, which rapidly stabbed towards Ye Feng's head, chest, and other vital areas.
"Buzz! Bang!~ Whoosh!~"
The red-gray divine energy spears instantly struck Ye Feng, but the tribulation fire on Ye Feng's body flashed and flickered, and in an instant, it shattered those red-gray true energy spears.
Under Ares's astonished gaze, Ye Feng slowly extended his hand and pushed a palm towards Ares's chest.
Ye Feng's movements were very slow. Ares wanted to dodge but felt that he couldn't dodge at all.
"Bang!"
"Puff!"
Just like that, Ares was hit in the chest by Ye Feng's seemingly extremely slow, even somewhat light palm. His chest instantly caved in, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, sent flying backward.
"Buzz!"
At this moment, golden tribulation fire surged in Ye Feng's hand. He deflected the Spear of War he had just grabbed and hurled it towards Ares.
"Whoosh!"
An ear-piercing sound of breaking air instantly rang out.
Ares's eyes widened. He conjured a barrier of spatial energy with both hands, and red-gray divine power surged as he directly grabbed at the Spear of War Ye Feng had thrown.
"Screech~ Screech!"
As soon as Ares's hand grasped the Spear of War, a rotating cluster of golden tribulation fire erupted from it.
The golden tribulation fire instantly shattered Ares's conjured spatial energy barrier and cut through his red-gray divine power.
...