In Huo Lingshan’s eyes, Ye Wushuang was like a piece of firewood, slowly being burned away.
Soon, his flesh and blood were completely scorched, leaving only a skeleton behind.
However, this skeleton did not turn into withered bones, nor did it crumble to ashes like the others. Instead, it remained seated upright, its bones glowing faintly.
To an outsider, it might have seemed like one of the undying spirits of the Netherworld, but Huo Lingshan knew better—this was a sign of Ye Wushuang’s continuous self-improvement.
Sure enough, five or six days later, a change occurred.
His bones seemed to be infused with the power of time, and from within them, flesh and blood began to regrow.
Though the process was excruciatingly slow, Huo Lingshan could clearly sense that Ye Wushuang’s physical strength was increasing at an astonishing rate.
She didn’t know just how far he would progress, but she could feel that his newly formed flesh already possessed a strong resistance to fire.
If this trend continued, Ye Wushuang would soon be able to withstand the flames of the eighth layer of the Fire Prison with his physical body alone.
This transformation filled Huo Lingshan with envy.
Then, as she gazed at the flames of the eighth layer, she fell into deep thought.
An impulse stirred within her, urging her to take a risk—to push herself to the limit and grow stronger through adversity.
After hesitating several times, she finally made up her mind. She would draw a single strand of the eighth layer’s flames into her own body and use it to temper herself.
With that, she guided a wisp of flame into her being.
Instantly, her screams eclipsed even Ye Wushuang’s in their agony.
“AHHH!!”
The moment the flame touched her, it felt as though her entire existence was being incinerated.
The pain was unbearable, worse than death itself.
Her shrieks seemed endless, a continuous testament to the torment she was enduring.
Anyone who heard them would know she was suffering unimaginable torture.
Her reaction was completely different from Ye Wushuang’s, and it made her admire him all the more. She couldn’t fathom how he had endured such agony without uttering a single cry.
But now, Huo Lingshan had no time to dwell on that. She could only focus all her energy on resisting the pain and refining herself against the flame’s devastation.
And so, Ye Wushuang and Huo Lingshan began their secluded cultivation within the eighth layer of the Fire Prison.
Their retreat lasted an entire month.
This prolonged silence made the two Immortal Emperor-level experts from the Divine Dragon Imperial Family, who had been secretly tailing Ye Wushuang, begin to suspect that something had gone wrong.
Fortunately, their perception far surpassed his, and they could sense that despite the relentless flames scorching his body, his life force remained steady and unshaken.
Thus, they stayed hidden in the distance, with no intention of revealing themselves.
“Be careful—that girl has sharp senses. We can’t let her detect us and report back to His Majesty!”
“Don’t worry. She can only sense hostility and killing intent. Right now, we’re in complete stealth mode. She won’t notice us!”
With that, the two Immortal Emperors fell silent, suppressing even the faintest trace of their presence to avoid detection.
True enough, neither Ye Wushuang nor Huo Lingshan noticed them.
After a month and a half of secluded cultivation, the two finally emerged.
By now, Ye Wushuang’s physical strength had reached an even more terrifying level. His body radiated divine light, as though it were a treasure forged in the heavens.
His Eight-Nine Heavenly Art had also advanced another tier, granting him strength in the range of tens of trillions of jin.
Now, even without any defensive measures, the flames of the eighth layer could no longer harm him.
As for Huo Lingshan, though she couldn’t rely on her physical body to resist the eighth layer’s flames, her sensory range had expanded significantly.
For their mission, this was undoubtedly a boon.
After gathering themselves, they decided to press onward.
“Let’s go—deeper in!”
“Alright!”
The deepest layer of the Fire Prison was their ultimate destination. Not only did it contain the True Phoenix Blood, but also the True Phoenix Feather, the Phoenix Divine Art, and the Undying Heavenly Flame.
There might even be other treasures they weren’t yet aware of.
The thought invigorated them both.
Without delay, they advanced toward the Fire Prison’s core.
The moment they stepped into the deepest layer, they immediately sensed that the flames here were the most ferocious of all.
Even with Ye Wushuang’s enhanced Eight-Nine Heavenly Art and his Immortal King-level mana shield at full strength, he could still feel that the flames here could reduce him to ashes at any moment.
This was the most brutal and deadly fire in the entire prison—even an Immortal Emperor might perish within it.
Ye Wushuang’s first instinct was to find a suitable spot to acclimate to the flames.
But before he could voice this thought, Huo Lingshan suddenly let out a sharp cry.
“We’re in trouble—someone’s coming for us!!”
The moment she spoke, an enormous figure loomed before them.
It stood hundreds of zhang tall, its body composed of countless bones, its form distinctly inhuman.
More terrifyingly, the aura it exuded was unmistakably that of an Immortal Emperor.
The sheer pressure of its presence plunged Huo Lingshan into despair.
“We’re done for… An Immortal Emperor… We’re dead!!”
She never expected that the moment they entered the deepest layer, they would be confronted by an Immortal Emperor-level foe.
She hadn’t even had time to warn Ye Wushuang before the enemy was upon them.
This was an inescapable death trap.
Once again, Huo Lingshan regretted her decision to return to the Fire Prison.
After finally escaping and gaining strength, she had come back only to throw her life away.
She couldn’t accept this outcome.
But against an Immortal Emperor, she was powerless to resist.
All she could do was shut her eyes in resignation.
However, while Huo Lingshan had given up, Ye Wushuang had not.
The arrival of the Immortal Emperor did fill him with immense pressure, but he refused to retreat.
Instead, he drew his sword.
He was not the kind of man to surrender to fate—especially when they weren’t truly at the end yet.
