At the very instant the eerie laughter resonated, Qiongling's face darkened instantly, with scarcely any pause. With a sweeping motion of his sleeve, a mighty stream of combat energy surged forth, tearing through the space with a sharp hiss, rushing toward the spot where Mu Gu elder had previously stood. "Hahahaha..." The powerful energy stream missed Mu Gu elder entirely; the latter, remarkably agile, swiftly retreated. As he stepped back, his hands rapidly formed a series of intricate hand seals, and as each seal was completed, Xiao Yan and the others suddenly noticed subtle energy ripples emanating from the dragon scales on the forehead of the Three Thousand Yan Fire. "Unfortunate!" Xiao Yan and his companions were startled by this development. "Mu Gu, dare you!" Qiongling's expression turned stern, and he roared in anger. "Hah, the world has yet to see anything I cannot do!" "As for the murmurs of the hilly terrain, Master Mu Gu merely sneered, his hand seals shifting swiftly and then solidifying, his strange smile spreading across his face: "Rest assured, I merely wish to help your Dan Tower resolve this troublesome matter." "Explosion!" With a single commanding cry, he suddenly issued from his lips. "Boom!" The cry resonated, and a brilliant, thunderous explosion erupted unexpectedly within the space, like a sudden bolt of lightning. At the very instant the blast rang out, the gaze of Xiao Yan and the others instantly turned toward the three thousand Yan Flame. There, they saw that the stretch of dragon scales on the dragon's forehead—normally devoid of flame—had been violently shattered. As the scales cracked, Xiao Yan and the others were immediately struck by astonishment: the massive dragon was now slowly opening its vast, previously closed eyes. Clearly, the perfect seal had begun to show signs of weakening. "The Three Thousand Yan Fire has awakened!" As the colossal dragon's eyes gradually opened, a gasp rang out immediately, followed by a wave of excitement. The vast dragon's eyes slowly unfurled, radiating a cold brilliance that swept over Xiao Yan and the others. Then, the Three Thousand Yan Fire roared skyward with a thunderous, majestic dragon's cry. The Three Thousand Yan-Yan Flames struggled fiercely, their roaring voices echoing through the void. The deep purple and black flames fiercely scorched the black thread-like runes, while at the same time, a subtly cool stellar energy continuously seeped out from the void, steadily flowing into the vast body of the Three Thousand Yan-Yan Flames. Faced with this renewed, desperate assault from the Three Thousand Yan-Yan Flames—after years of dormancy—the once-dominant black thread runes now seemed outmatched, growing dim under the relentless blaze. "Mu Gu! You're dying!" The sudden awakening of the Three Thousand Yan-Yan Flames had even surprised Qilong. When he regained his composure, his face turned ashen, and with a thunderous roar charged with infinite fury and intent, he surged directly toward Elder Mu Gu. "Hah! Since your Dan Tower can't contain this extraordinary flame, what's the point of keeping it here? Why not let my Huan Pavilion take it over and enjoy the show?" "Facing the hills who surged forward with blazing fury, Master Mu Gu's face slightly paled, then he coldly chuckled. "Xiao Yan, you break the jade beads and notify the chairman!" Nevertheless, even in his rage, the hills retained a measure of composure, shouting as he charged toward Master Mu Gu. Upon hearing the hills' cry, Xiao Yan and Cao Ying quickly nodded, retrieving the jade beads from their storage scrolls. As they reached to break them, a sharp gust of wind suddenly appeared—unexpectedly—then transformed into a slender needle that struck the jade bead with precision. Due to the suddenness of the attack, all the jade beads in Cao Ying's and the others' hands were knocked out of their grasp and flew off toward the distance. "Hmph!" Xiao Yan snorted, swiftly pressing his fingers together in the air to catch the needle, then broke his own jade bead with the other hand. His gaze shifted toward where the gust of wind had originated—revealing that the attacker was among the two contestants who had also secured spots in the top ten." "It's surprising that there are people from the Soul Palace here..." observing these two, Xiao Yan couldn't help but let out a cold laugh. He had underestimated the Soul Palace's strength—besides Master Mu Gu, there were others among the top ten. The number of entrants was now comparable to that of the Dan Tower. "Hmph, what good will your message do? The Three Thousand Yan Fire are struggling fiercely. To maintain the seal of the Star Domain, the three leading figures of the Dan Tower will inevitably be unable to divert their attention. Add to that the current chaos in the Sacred Dan City—their top warriors simply won't be able to free themselves!" A middle-aged man with a slightly gloomy expression sneered. "It seems the Soul Palace has made thorough preparations for today's operation..." Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes. From what he heard, the Soul Palace's strong forces must already be stirring up disturbances within the Sacred Dan City. This would tie down a significant number of their warriors. As for the three leading figures, the Three Thousand Yan Fire would serve as the perfect means to keep them occupied. To maintain the stability of this prison-like star domain, they couldn't act freely—otherwise, once the domain was breached, the three thousand flames of Yan Yan would erupt, utterly destroying the entire Sacred Dan City. "Xiao Yan, what shall we do?" Cao Ying and Dan Chen stepped forward, standing behind him, and asked softly. At this moment, Qiu Ling was engaged in fierce combat with the Mu Gu elder, making Xiao Yan their central pillar. Seeing this, Song Qing's face had grown stern, yet after a moment's hesitation, he could only stand reluctantly behind Xiao Yan. "What else can we do? We simply can't intervene at either of those two battlefronts. We'll have to wait and see, and hope the strong warriors from the Dan Tower come to assist us..." Xiao Yan's expression was also serious. Upon hearing this, Cao Ying and Dan Chen exchanged glances, then gently nodded—indeed, there was no room for them to intervene at either of the two battle sites. As Xiao Yan and the others spoke, the void suddenly surged with intense vibrations. A mighty, surging force erupted from the emptiness and converged upon the body of the Three Thousand Yan Fire Dragon. With this influx of powerful energy, the black line glyphs on its body shimmered with renewed brilliance—clearly, the three giants had now stepped in. "Roar!" Faced with the intensifying seal, the crimson hue deepened in the Three Thousand Yan Fire Dragon's eyes. Today was the perfect moment for it to break free. Though it could not overpower the three giants, nor could they defeat it. If it did not seize this chance to escape now, the next opportunity might not arise for years. Over the years, the seals imposed by the three giants had brought it countless hardships. As the crimson glow rippled through the eyes of the Three Thousand Yan Flame Dragons, a devastating aura surged forth from their immense bodies... Feeling this overwhelming sense of destruction, Xiao Yan's eyes flickered slightly—his own Destroying Flame Lotus carried a similar essence. It seemed the Three Thousand Yan Flame Dragons were truly giving everything. "Roar!" The deep, furious roar echoed continuously throughout the void space. Suddenly, the purple-black flames upon the dragons' bodies began to ripple and surge, rapidly coalescing under the astonished gaze of all present. In a matter of moments, a strange, chilling black flame emerged, then split into fine droplets of black fire that cascaded down upon the vast dragon body like a deluge. Sssshhh! The deep black flames struck the body of the Three Thousand Yan Flame, and those black lines of script rapidly dissolved and vanished. However, this method seemed to consume immense energy, as the radiance in the Three Thousand Yan Flame's eyes dimmed slightly at that moment. "For all these years, you've relied on these same techniques, thinking they would seal me for life?" Though the energy cost was significant, the Flame's eyes predominantly reflected excitement—after so many years, it had finally devised a means to break through the seal that had plagued it for decades. The Three Thousand Yan Flame writhed violently, and the black lines of script swiftly disappeared. Although the powerful forces emanating from the space continuously repaired the damage, it appeared that they were far unable to keep up with the rate of destruction. "Trouble! The Three Thousand Yan Flame is breaking through the seal!" Gazing at the increasingly thin black glyphs on the body of the Three Thousand Yan Flame, Cao Ying, Dan Chen, and Song Qing all grew slightly pale. As members of the Dan Tower, they were well aware of the catastrophic consequences should the flame escape its confinement. In contrast to their pale expressions, Xiao Yan's face remained calm and composed. If the Three Thousand Yan Flame truly managed to break free, his chances of subduing it would actually improve—though the situation was certainly perilous. After all, fortune often lies in adversity, and at this point, they could hardly afford to dwell on such risks anymore. As the laughter faded, the massive body of the Three Thousand Yan Flame spun wildly in the void, and then, a sound of something breaking quietly resonated through the space. Hearing that sound, Cao Ying and the others couldn't help but gently tremble. "The seal... has failed."