Gods of the Nation: You worship the God of Longevity, I worship the King of Hell!

Chapter 215 Unbelievable Move! Subduing Heavenly Soldiers as Underlings?!

Deep within the passageway, a mighty column of Fire Spirit Guards came into view, their bodies ablaze with Samadhi True Fire, scorching the surrounding walls until they glowed a deep red.

"Big brother, what...what is that?!"

The heavenly soldiers who arrived later were all shocked by the sight before them.

In front of the column of Fire Spirit Guards stood an exceptionally terrifying figure.

Not only is it twice the size of the other Fire Spirit Guards, but a crimson fire dragon is also wrapped around its fiery body!
The dragon's eyes were blood-red, and its scales and claws were faintly visible, as if it were about to devour someone at any moment.

Coupled with its enormous fire spirit body, it appears even more domineering and ferocious.

Even the heavenly soldiers, who were used to fighting for years, couldn't help but feel terrified when they saw it.

"Could it be... the legendary Fire Spirit General?!"

The underling gasped.

"General Fire Spirit?"

The rest of the heavenly soldiers mostly looked bewildered.

They did not reside permanently in the Seven Treasures Pagoda; they rotated every three years, and therefore their knowledge of the pagoda's secrets was limited.

The junior leader said in a trembling voice, "It is said that every hundred years, the Samadhi True Fire Heaven will give birth to a Fire Spirit General, one in ten thousand, whose strength is comparable to, or even surpasses, that of a Heavenly General! Judging from its appearance, it is almost certainly one! What's even more remarkable is that it is accompanied by a Fire Essence Crimson Dragon, and the purity of the Samadhi True Fire around it far exceeds that of other Fire Spirit Guards. It is undoubtedly a Fire Spirit General! Perhaps... it has already gained sentience!"

"hiss--"

The heavenly soldiers were astonished and exclaimed in shock, "We never imagined that the Samadhi True Fire Heaven would contain such a terrifying existence!"

"If they develop sentience, wouldn't that be even more terrifying?!"

The murmurs of the heavenly soldiers ahead reached into the shadows.

Lu Chen and Lan'er were both startled at the same time.

"—General Fire Spirit?!"

Lu Chen's magical power was almost exhausted at this moment, so he was naturally unable to transmit his voice.

Fortunately, Lan'er quickly transmitted her voice: "I... I've never heard of this before. Master has never mentioned it. I don't know if it's true or not. However, they seem to have been fooled!"

Just when there was nowhere to retreat, Lu Chen came up with this plan in a moment of inspiration: he used the Samadhi True Fire refined by the fire in the stove to condense the shape of the Fire Spirit Guardian.

As for himself—

Since Lan'er had previously stated that heavenly soldiers and generals never set foot on the ground during their patrols, the Fire Spirit Guards would likely be even more so.

But now that he has lost all his magical powers and is no different from an ordinary person, how can he fly?

Lan'er could not bear the weight of her physical body.

So Lu Chen simply had Lan'er coil around him, enveloping the two of them in true fire, "burning" out an even larger and more ferocious fire spirit form.

The gamble was that the heavenly soldiers would not dare to approach.

It seems to have had a remarkable effect.

Even Lan'er had never heard of "General Fire Spirit," so how could this little leader of the heavenly soldiers know about it?
Lu Chen's mind raced, and a guess suddenly popped into his head:
Could it be that this petty leader made it up on the spot to show off his knowledge and win people over?
—Very likely!
As the lowest ranks of the Heavenly Court, the Heavenly Soldiers face fierce competition, so it is entirely understandable that they would take the opportunity to elevate their status and win over the hearts of the people.

Thinking about it this way, Lu Chen burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay, has this person encountered a mind reader?"

"Wait a minute, bro!"

Just then, a celestial soldier suddenly raised a question: "The Fire Spirit Guards should be stationed at the Samadhi True Fire Heaven, so why are they on the third level?!"

Lu Chen's heart suddenly raced, and Lan'er's dragon body couldn't help but tremble slightly, realizing something was wrong.

"Hmph, you're clearly ignorant. For the past hundred years, for some reason, strange things have been happening to the Seven Treasures Exquisite Pagoda. Not to mention the Fire Spirit Guards, I've even seen the Weak Water appear in this realm. I always feel that the divine power of this pagoda is somewhat erratic, and even the great evil spirits imprisoned there are becoming increasingly restless!"

“That’s true…” The heavenly soldiers all nodded in agreement.

"Big brother is truly knowledgeable!"

"We are newcomers here, and we will have to rely on your help in the future!"

The heavenly soldiers readily flattered him.

"No problem, we're all brothers, no need to be so polite." The petty leader said smugly, his laughter booming.

Lan'er immediately denied it: "Impossible, how could Weak Water appear on this floor? This guy is talking nonsense!"

Lu Chen: "..."

It seems I was right—this little boss was just putting on an act!

However, this show-off actually helped him a lot!
"Get out of the way! The Fire Spirit Guards are coming! We can't withstand that Samadhi True Fire!"

The leader suddenly shouted, and the ten heavenly soldiers hurriedly retreated to the side, using their divine light to protect themselves, but they were still scorched by the high temperature and their faces turned bitter.

"This Fire Spirit General is truly terrifying... The Samadhi True Fire is so pure!" The little leader had barely finished speaking when the entire column of Fire Spirit Guards suddenly turned around and stopped right in front of them.

"Brother, this..." The heavenly soldiers' expressions changed drastically, and their hearts jumped into their throats.

Lu Chen had expected the Fire Spirit Guards to take another passage, but instead, they were staring intently at him, motionless. Little did he know, their position was precisely where Lu Chen intended to go.

In an instant!
--quiet!

--silence!
A deathly silence permeated the passageway.

The heavenly soldiers were on high alert, sweating profusely.

Lu Chen and Lan'er's hearts were pounding at their peak.

The two were only a few meters apart. At such close range, if Lu Chen showed even the slightest weakness, he would surely die!
Lan'er had already held her breath; if she hadn't been holding on, she probably wouldn't have been able to keep her coiled dragon body steady.

"What do I do? What do I do?" Lu Chen screamed frantically in his mind, "You guys better move aside! What are you standing there for?!"

"Gudong-"

The heavenly soldiers opposite swallowed hard, their Adam's apples bobbing.

"Brother, did our discussion offend it? Otherwise, why is it keeping an eye on us?!"

A celestial soldier asked in a trembling voice.

"This... I don't know either!" The squad leader was also flustered at this moment.

At such close range, if these inexplicable Fire Spirit Guards, especially the one in front of them, were to suddenly launch an attack, their entire squad would likely be wiped out!
Seeing that the other party remained silent.

Every second that the stalemate lasts increases the risk.

Lu Chen gritted his teeth, knowing he had to break the deadlock.

But he couldn't speak; if he opened his mouth, he would surely give himself away.

Then, he slowly raised the arm formed from Samadhi True Fire...

"Oh no! It's moving!" a heavenly soldier exclaimed in alarm.

--Oops!
The leader's pupils contracted sharply, his silver spear tightened in his grip, and a dark light flashed within him; he was ready to fight to the death.

However, the terrifying Fire Spirit General simply waved his hand at them.

"This is..." The squad leader was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized what was going on and shouted sternly, "Make way! Make way for the general!"

The rest of the heavenly soldiers were completely dumbfounded, their heads buzzing.

This Fire Spirit General has actually gained sentience and even knows to signal them to make way!
—"Whoosh!"

The heavenly soldiers dared not hesitate for a moment and immediately scattered and retreated, making way for the passage.

Lu Chen suppressed his heart pounding so hard it felt like it was about to burst, and secretly quickened his pace, leading the "Fire Spirit Guard" formation forward.

A gasp came from behind: "This is terrifying! It has truly developed sentience, though not a high level of intelligence..."

"Snapped!"

A loud slap suddenly rang out.

"You brat, what nonsense are you spouting! How dare you disrespect the general? Do you want to die?!"

The minor leader flew into a rage, immediately took out his silver spear, bowed deeply, and appeared extremely devout:
"Your subordinate respectfully sees off General Huo Ling!"

Upon seeing this, the remaining heavenly soldiers all shouted in unison, "Your subordinates respectfully see off General Fire Spirit!"

Lu Chen: "..."

Lan'er: "..."

Although he was both amused and exasperated, he dared not stop for a moment.

He led the group quickly toward the boundary hub.

"Phew! That scared me to death..."

Only after the firelight had completely disappeared did the leader shakily stand up and curse at the celestial soldier who had spoken out of turn: "You idiot, you almost killed us all!"

“Yes! That Fire Spirit General has already gained sentience, yet you dare to say to its face that it is not very intelligent? Isn’t that just courting death?!” The other heavenly soldiers also chimed in with their criticisms.

The beaten heavenly soldier felt wronged: "I never expected it to be so terrifying..."

"Terrifying?" The leader scoffed, still shaken. "Terrifying? It's more than terrifying! If it really attacks, we won't even be able to withstand a single blow. We'll all be reduced to ashes!"

"Brother, is it really that powerful?! No way! Even if a heavenly general were to attack, we could still put up a fight!"

"What do you know! Do you know just how terrifying it is?" the leader said in a deep voice. "Didn't you all notice just now that the Fire Spirit General was able to stand on the Demon-Subduing Stone unharmed! What does that mean? It means that it not only successfully transformed into human form, but also completed its spiritual metamorphosis! Even a celestial general entering this tower might not be able to achieve such a level! Think about it yourselves, just how terrifying it is!"

Upon hearing this, the heavenly soldiers were stunned into silence.

Looking in the direction where the Fire Spirit Guards disappeared, they were all trembling with fear.

If what my elder brother said is true...

They really did escape with their lives just now!

(End of this chapter)