After being reborn, the villain comes with a spoiler tag.

"It seems I underestimated you."

Huang Xiao sneered, and the black mist that filled the entire passage behind him suddenly contracted, eventually being completely drawn back into his body.

Huo Yu dared not relax for a moment, and the fire phoenix let out another loud cry, protecting Huo Yu's body.

However, after withstanding the attack of the ghost claw, the golden light on the feathers formed from flames had become dim and lifeless.

"You are worthy to witness my innate divine power. As a human cultivator, you can rest in peace now!"

Before he finished speaking, an enormous black dragon materialized behind Huangxiao.

This dragon's body was mostly composed of black mist, with only one horn, one eye, one claw, and one tail as solid objects. Its enormous body almost filled the entire passage, and the arrogant look in its single eye was exactly the same as that of the Emperor Xiao.

The black dragon roared to the sky and raised one claw to press down on the ground.

The dragon's roar contained a strange power that could tear apart divine consciousness. Huo Yu felt a sharp pain in his soul and almost lost control, but the sense of crisis that followed grew stronger.

The moment the dragon claw landed, the fire phoenix in front of Huo Yu let out a mournful cry, and its body shone with golden light once again, transforming into a ball of golden flame to block Huo Yu's path.

At the same time, a deathly aura, seemingly capable of annihilating all things, emanated from the spot where the dragon claw landed and swept towards Huo Yu.

The golden flames that the fire phoenix had transformed into only held out for a moment before vanishing without a trace, as easily as extinguishing a wisp of lamp flame.

Huo Yu was completely exposed to that eerie deathly aura, feeling his life force rapidly draining away and his body aging quickly.

However, just as Huo Yu was transforming from a young man into an old man, his life force completely extinguished, a wisp of golden flame suddenly surged from Huo Yu's body, rapidly spreading throughout his entire body and completely enveloping him, yet Huo Yu's face showed no sign of pain.

After the flames burned out, the same young man Huo Yu appeared before Huang Xiao as before!

"Little tricks!"

First came the supreme Yang Dao intent, then this bizarre rebirth from the ashes. After witnessing one supernatural power after another that seemed specifically designed to counter him, Huang Xiao's killing intent towards Huo Yu had reached its peak.

Huang Xiao's eyes narrowed, and he uttered a string of strange syllables. The black dragon behind him merged directly into him.

After merging with the black dragon, the royal dragon grew two horns on its forehead, its arms transformed into dragon claws, and black scales appeared on its face, transforming it into a half-dragon form.

After a loud shout, the half-dragon form of Huangxiao flashed over at a speed that could not be detected by the naked eye, and its right claw went straight for Huo Yu's dantian.

At the same time, Huo Yu lightly tapped his feet and leaped backward.

Just as Huo Yu retreated, a crimson sword light suddenly descended from behind him, colliding with the dragon claw and blocking it directly.

The aura emanating from the sword light startled Huang Xiao, who crushed the sword light in his hand and abruptly withdrew his attack.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the source of this sword energy was actually a human cultivator at the first level of Qi Refining, and the sword held by that human cultivator was none other than the Crimson Flame Sword, the natal spirit sword of Zixiao before his ascension!

"You old man Zixiao! You actually left this sword behind as the core of the formation!"

Huang Xiao roared to the sky, his voice mixed with a dragon's cry that stung the mind. Huo Yu, whom he had previously found an eyesore, had been completely forgotten. Now, his mind and eyes were filled with nothing but the Crimson Flame Sword.

With a wave of his hand, a black dragon formed from death energy rushed straight towards Long Yucheng.

The sword energy that was released earlier was automatically released by the Crimson Flame Sword. After it was released, the spiritual energy stored on the sword dissipated directly, and the light red spiritual light on the sword body also disappeared without a trace.

No matter how hard Long Yucheng tried to urge it, he couldn't control the Crimson Flame Sword with his meager spiritual power at the first level of Qi Refining.

In a moment of desperation, Long Yucheng shouted "Senior Brother Yu!" and threw the sword directly to Huo Yu!

At the same time, Long Yucheng was sent flying by Huang Xiao's attack, crashing heavily into the stone wall and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

If it weren't for the mixed-race dragon who had been carrying him receiving Huo Yu's order and taking some of the impact for him, Long Yucheng would have already died on the spot.

This series of sudden changes happened in the blink of an eye.

While Long Yucheng was drawing all of Huang Xiao's attacks, Huo Yu caught the sword. With his spiritual power flowing in without reservation, the Zhu Yan Sword once again emitted a red spiritual light.

With a slight flick of his wrist, Huo Yu released a crimson sword beam about the thickness of a finger from the Zhu Yan sword in his hand.

Taking advantage of Huang Xiao's distraction in defending himself, Huo Yu moved swiftly and appeared in front of the dying Long Yucheng in the next second. He reached out and pulled the man into his arms while stuffing something into his hand.

"Activate directly after three breaths."

That thing was, of course, a teleportation jade slip used to escape from this place.

At this moment, Long Yucheng felt as if all the bones in his body were shattered by the violent impact, and his internal organs were probably in a mess. He could even hear his flesh and tendons making sounds of unbearable strain as Huo Yu moved.

When the black dragon passed through his body, it left behind a strange aura. Wherever it passed, unbearable pain surged like a tide, making Long Yucheng wish he could immediately fall into a coma.

Even so, he still tried to remind Huo Yu that teleportation jade slips could not be used here.

However, as soon as he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of black blood mixed with unidentified fragments.

Huo Yu noticed the struggle of the person in his arms, and the arms around Long Yucheng's waist tightened involuntarily. He only uttered two words:

"trust me."

Long Yucheng forced back the blood that surged to his throat again. At this moment, he was extremely weak due to his internal and external injuries, but his consciousness was unusually clear due to the excruciating pain. He felt that he was worse than dead.

When he heard those two simple words, he suddenly understood:

There's no hope left, so let's listen to Senior Brother Yu and fight for it!

On the other side, Huang Xiao was only blocked by the sword energy for a moment. At this moment, his hatred for Zi Xiao had completely overwhelmed his greed for Huo Yu's soul. In his rage, he completely killed Huo Yu, who was holding the Zhu Yan Sword.

Huo Yu was completely focused. Facing the impending attack, he neither dodged nor fled, but instead poured all his spiritual power into the Crimson Flame Sword.

On the golden longsword, the crimson spiritual light suddenly shone brightly, and an aura that was even more yang and righteous than Huo Yu's Heavenly Yang Supreme Tranquility Path, capable of suppressing all evil, emanated from the sword.

However, Huang Xiao seemed completely oblivious to this and continued charging straight toward Huo Yu.

The second breath has now passed!

Just a moment before Huangxiao's right claw was about to pierce Huo Yu's brow, Huo Yu finally unleashed that decisive sword strike!

This sword strike nearly exhausted all the spiritual power in his body, and combined with the supreme yang sword intent of the Crimson Flame Sword itself, he finally managed to block Huang Xiao for a moment.

At the same time, Huo Yu's spiritual power suddenly erupted, directly breaking through the Foundation Establishment stage and reaching the Nascent Soul stage!

The power capable of obliterating everything suddenly appeared in the world, but Huo Yu remained unmoved and roared:

"Certainly!"

The Emperor Xiao's figure suddenly froze in mid-air.

And at this moment, it is that crucial third breath!

As Long Yucheng poured all his spiritual energy into the teleportation jade slip, a teleportation force quickly enveloped the two of them, and in just a moment, their figures vanished without a trace.