Just as the grand formation was in peril.
The Vermilion Bird Profound Fire Formation was struck, and the formation's power pouring down from the top was instantly affected and interrupted.
In Lan Family Fort, Ling Fan, who had been controlling the formation's power to balance the first tribulation of the Nine Deaths Spirit Phoenix Body, the blood fire, was suddenly hit as if by a heavy blow. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his aura instantly weakening to its extreme.
And without Ling Fan's balance.
The blood fire, which had been suppressed, instantly surged, revealing its true ferocious nature.
The terrifying blood fire spread, instantly engulfing Lan Xueyi's entire body, intending to burn her blood dry!
Lan Xueyi cried out in pain. Her beautiful face was covered in large beads of cold sweat, her expression filled with immense suffering.
Ling Fan forced himself to sit up.
An unprecedented cold glint erupted in his eyes.
Who was it that dared to disrupt the Vermilion Bird Profound Fire Formation!
They were truly courting death!
Just as Xueyi's first tribulation of the Nine Deaths Spirit Phoenix Body was about to be successfully completed.
This interruption had nearly caused it to fail!
Furthermore, with the formation's suppression power lost, the tribulation-burning blood fire would be like a fierce beast breaking free from its shackles, completely destroying Xueyi.
Seeing Xueyi's increasing pain, Ling Fan's killing intent grew stronger.
However, now was not the time for killing.
He had to quickly suppress this terrifying and violent blood fire, otherwise, if he delayed any longer, even the most powerful immortal could not save Xueyi.
As for the injuries he sustained from the formation's backlash, he could no longer afford to care.
Ling Fan reached out and grabbed, bottles of pills being brought to him.
These were the very pills he had prepared for Xueyi's tribulation.
All of them were spiritual pills of Yellow-tier high-grade or above.
Blood-generating pills!
One by one, the pills were fed into Xueyi's mouth by Ling Fan, temporarily controlling her injuries.
At the same time, the powerful stimulating effect of the blood-generating pills temporarily stabilized Xueyi's newly formed Spirit Phoenix bloodline, preventing it from drying up and withering.
Concurrently, Ling Fan took out three jade talismans, each about half a palm in size, arranging them in a triangular formation and suspending them around Xueyi.
These were also protective talismans he had prepared for Xueyi.
This was originally just a contingency measure Ling Fan had prepared for unforeseen circumstances, but he never expected it to be used.
The blood fire surged again. A jade talisman instantly flared with light, forming a protective barrier around Xueyi's body.
But this blood fire was too terrifying, far exceeding Ling Fan's estimation.
The jade talisman was, after all, a Yellow-tier spiritual treasure carved from ordinary spiritual jade, not a powerful spiritual treasure made from rare materials. Its protective effect was limited.
*Bang!*
A faint cracking sound soon echoed.
Within seconds, the blood fire directly burned through the light barrier, and the jade talisman was rendered useless.
Following that, were the other two talismans.
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
The last two jade talismans also exploded in succession.
The blood fire was once again out of control.
Ling Fan quickly pointed into the void, and dense formation patterns instantly appeared.
A total of eighty-one small Water Dragon Wall defensive formations were activated.
Countless transparent water chains, like tiny dragons and snakes, burrowed into Lan Xueyi's body, confining the blood fire raging within and outside her body.
However, soon the water chains turned scarlet, steaming and hissing as they were burned by the blood fire.
*Pfft!*
*Pfft!*
*Pfft!*
Chains formed by the Water Dragon Wall formations exploded one after another.
The first Water Dragon Wall formation exploded...
The second...
The fifth.
The tenth.
The twentieth.
The fortieth.
...
Formation after formation exploded, and Xueyi's situation became increasingly precarious.
Since his rebirth, this was the first time Ling Fan had encountered such a dire situation.
His mind raced, searching for a way to resolve this crisis.
Soon, the fiftieth Water Dragon Wall formation exploded.
...
The sixtieth!
Sixty-one.
Sixty-two...
The seventieth!
As the number of formations decreased, the suppression of the blood fire also lessened, and the blood fire expanded and raged again.
The seventy-first.
...
The eightieth!
Ling Fan looked around and realized that he had no more prepared means to use.
"Husband, give up. You've done all you can for me. I have no regrets in dying!"
Xueyi opened her eyes and looked at Ling Fan with affection.
Her eyes were misty, and her face trembled and contorted from the intense pain of the blood fire's burning.
Although her beautiful eyes held deep reluctance, she was smiling.
A truly happy smile.
Everyone dies eventually.
Sooner or later.
But to die by the side of the one you love, is it not a fortunate thing?
*Bang!*
The last Water Dragon Wall formation finally couldn't bear the strain and exploded.
Just as Lan Xueyi was preparing to accept her fate.
Ling Fan's eyes erupted with an unprecedented sharp brilliance.
Those eyes.
Were vaster than the starry sky.
Brighter than the sun and moon.
More defiant than any living being!
He was the reborn Azure Cloud Emperor!
Although his current strength was still a hundred thousand miles away from his peak, and countless methods could not be used.
But who said that he, the Azure Cloud Emperor, was out of options!
Did they really think he couldn't deal with the tribulation-burning of this mere Nine Deaths Spirit Phoenix Body?
"Xueyi, if I don't let you die, even the Ten Halls of Yama can't take your life!"
Ling Fan's gaze was incredibly firm as he looked directly into Xueyi's eyes.
[Great Netherworld Wheel Technique!]
He whispered in his heart.
At that moment, an incomparably grand and majestic aura descended from the boundless void.
Ling Fan seemed to transform into a divine being from the Nine Heavens, his aura instantly becoming incredibly lofty and immense!
This was the supreme ultimate skill of the Nether Luo Heavenly Realm.
The unparalleled profound method that only successive Nether Lords could cultivate—
[Great Netherworld Wheel Technique!]
By employing this technique, one could temporarily boost their strength significantly, essentially borrowing power from their future self.
This was a forbidden secret technique that stole heavenly secrets and fortune, and was not tolerated by heaven and earth.
Therefore, it would rapidly burn the practitioner's lifespan.
Even for those whose cultivation had reached the level of Nether Lord, a single use of the Great Netherworld Wheel Technique would consume at least one-tenth of their lifespan.
Let alone Ling Fan.
He was currently only at the late stage of Qi Refining, and was countless billions of miles away from the Heavenly Venerate realm.
Although he was merely forcefully using the Great Netherworld Wheel Technique, borrowing the power of the Heavenly Origin realm, in that brief moment, it had consumed ninety-nine percent of Ling Fan's lifespan.
In other words, if Ling Fan, with his current Qi Refining realm, could live for over a hundred years.
Using the Great Netherworld Wheel Technique had already consumed ninety-nine years of his lifespan.
He now estimated he had only about a year left to live.
Ling Fan's hair instantly turned gray at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The once vibrant youth instantly became decrepit and full of weariness.
Lan Xueyi stared blankly at Ling Fan.
Although she didn't know what was happening to Ling Fan at that moment.
But seeing his graying hair and the dense, lingering weariness and death aura emanating from him, she vaguely understood the immense price Ling Fan had just paid!
Her heart ached as if being sliced by a knife!