A sea of blood, boundless and endless.
Evil, infinite and inexhaustible evil!
It filled the entire sky.
No one knew what kind of existence this blood sea flame was, how it could be so evil—so evil that even the nine Purification Dragons' wrathful incarnations dimmed before it, so evil that even the five Wisdom Kings' wrathful incarnations retreated three paces in fear.
One must know that the nine Purification Dragons were beings born from the origin of the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao, hailed as incarnations of Great Radiance, purifying all things in the world.
And the five Wisdom Kings were beings born from the origin of the Western Heaven Buddha Dao, also hailed as incarnations of the Sacred, transcending all things in the world.
How could they now be dimmed and forced to retreat, burned and devoured by this blood sea flame!
Was it that the nine Purification Dragons of the Immortal Dao and the five Wisdom Kings of the Buddha Dao were too weak, or was Gu Qingfeng's blood sea flame too evil, too terrifying?
No!
Everyone knew that neither the Purification Dragons nor the five Wisdom Kings were weak. Even if they were merely wrathful incarnations, they were absolutely beings of Great Radiance and Great Sacredness.
This couldn't help but make one wonder: what exactly was this blood sea flame Gu Qingfeng had summoned?
Su Hua did not know.
Xuanyuan Wan from the Sacred Ground also did not know.
But she knew that Gu Qingfeng had once ascended to the Nine Nethers Emperor's throne, had once commanded the Nine Underworlds, and possessed the Nine Nethers Ancestral Flame. She also knew that back then, Gu Qingfeng had nearly burned down the Nine Heavens with that very Nine Nethers Ancestral Flame.
However.
Gu Qingfeng was no longer the Nine Nethers Emperor now. The Emperor's throne upon him had long since vanished, and he no longer commanded the Nine Underworlds.
Could it be that he still possessed the Nine Nethers Ancestral Flame?
But even so, the Nine Nethers Ancestral Flame could not possibly be this evil, could it?
After all, Xuanyuan Wan was from the Sacred Ground. She clearly understood that although the nature of the Nine Nethers Ancestral Flame was fierce and violent, it absolutely could not be this evil. Moreover, the most obvious characteristic was that the Nine Nethers Ancestral Flame was of a violet-abyssal hue, not this sea of bloody flames at all.
Xuanyuan Wan also noticed that this sea of bloody flames was not only evil but also permeated with an aura of Death. It was precisely this evil aura of Death that suppressed the nine Purification Dragons, making them grow increasingly dim, and forced the five Wisdom Kings to retreat!
Evil?
Death?
Xuanyuan Wan murmured to herself. Suddenly, as if realizing something, she exclaimed in horror, "Could it be that this is...
This is the Purgatory Flame?"
Heavens!
That couldn't be possible, could it?
What kind of existence the Purgatory Flame was, Xuanyuan Wan likewise did not know. She only knew that the Purgatory Flame was a taboo—an ancient taboo at that. Legend had it that the Purgatory Flame represented Death, hence it was also called the Flame of Death. Precisely because its existence represented both sinister and Death, it was listed as a taboo by heaven and earth. Even the land of Purgatory had long, long ago vanished without a trace.
This sea of bloody flames shouldn't be the Purgatory Flame, should it?
Xuanyuan Wan truly could not be sure.
If it were anyone else, she might dare to affirm it was not. But the person now was Gu Qingfeng—a man of Original Sin from the Daoless Age, a variable of the Present Era, a man who could even achieve something like All Beings Pay Homage to the Floating Pagoda. For him, it seemed there were never any absolutes in this world. For such a man, who would dare say it was impossible for him to possess the Purgatory Flame?
Moreover, the Present Era was a special age. Many ancient existences were reviving one after another. Even the most mysterious Daoless Age would reappear between heaven and earth. Who would dare say the vanished land of Purgatory would not revive?
That the Purgatory Flame would not reappear in the mortal realm?
Xuanyuan Wan hoped it was not.
If it were, that would be too terrifying!
Gu Qingfeng had opened a Path of Slaughter with his Supreme Killing Domain.
He had opened a Path of Silence with his Supreme Stillness.
He had opened a Path of the Absolute with his Supreme Physical Body.
And now he intended to open the Path of Humanity with the supreme All Beings Pay Homage to the Floating Pagoda!
If this sea of bloody flames truly was the Purgatory Flame, then him opening a Path of Purgatory would probably be only a matter of time.
Heavens above!
Earth below!
Xuanyuan Wan dared not continue thinking. The more she thought, the more afraid she became; the more afraid she became, the more panicked she grew!
What made her even more panicked was that as the evil and Death contained within the sea of bloody flames grew increasingly potent, the more she looked, the more this sky-filling sea of bloody flames resembled the Purgatory Flame.
"No!
Absolutely not!"
Xuanyuan Wan comforted herself thus.
The boundless sea of blood boiled, the endless flames devoured, the infinite evil roared, the limitless Death enveloped!
The nine Purification Dragons were no longer radiant, growing increasingly dim, burned and devoured by this blood sea flame until they grew blurred, twisted by the enveloping evil Death, emitting bursts of dragon roars. Only, these roars were no longer mighty, more like wails of agony.
Such was the state of the nine Purification Dragons, and the five Wisdom Kings' wrathful incarnations were no exception. The five Wisdom Kings perched in the east, south, west, north, and center were also no longer sacred, growing increasingly dim, their Buddha Light growing weaker and weaker, similarly burned and devoured by the blood sea flame until blurred, similarly twisted by the enveloping evil Death.
Perhaps realizing that the wrathful incarnations of the nine Purification Dragons could no longer deal with Gu Qingfeng, or perhaps worried that something might happen to the Purification Dragons' wrathful incarnations, affecting the awakening of their true selves and the re-derivation of the Immortal Dao's origin, the Immortal Dao sought to recall them.
Whoosh!
Nine radiant suns of the Nine Heavens Immortal Dao rose slowly within the sea of bloody flames, and five sacred suns belonging to the Western Heaven Buddha Dao also rose slowly.
Clearly.
The Western Heaven Buddha Dao had also realized that even the wrathful incarnations of the five Wisdom Kings could not deal with Gu Qingfeng. Under such circumstances, they too worried that something might happen to the Wisdom Kings' wrathful incarnations.
Moreover, right now, the Three Thousand Great Daos had only unleashed their judgments; they had not gotten serious. After being scattered by Gu Qingfeng, the judgments had not reappeared.
But that wasn't important. The Immortal Dao and Buddha Dao did not expect the other Daos to get serious. As long as the Heavenly Dao was willing to step forward, the Immortal Dao and Buddha Dao would have the confidence, daring to go all out and fight Gu Qingfeng to the death. To eradicate Gu Qingfeng, they were willing to risk affecting the re-derivation of their Dao origins.
The key issue was, for some reason, the Heavenly Dao side had suddenly gone silent. The Immortal Dao and Buddha Dao had struggling to hold on for so long without seeing any movement from the Heavenly Dao. This immediately made the Immortal Dao and Buddha Dao lose their confidence, not daring to continue persist. They immediately unleashed their Great Dao judgments.
Heeding the summons, the nine Purification Dragons let out dragon roars, swinging their dragon heads, and charged toward the nine radiant suns.
The five Wisdom Kings' wrathful incarnations also ceased their transcending, preparing to return.
"Since you've already summoned them, why bother recalling them?"
Gu Qingfeng did not look, merely speaking faintly, "Today, unless I nod, no one even thinks of leaving!"
As his words fell, he took a step forward, soaring into the air once more. Whoosh!
The bloody sea boiled again, the flames devoured again. A series of crackling sounds rang out as the nine radiant suns and five sacred suns that had just risen slowly instantly plummeted downward.
This time, the Immortal Dao and Buddha Dao grew even more panicked!
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
One radiant sun after another appeared in succession—ten, a hundred, countless radiant suns. Sacred suns also condensed and derived one after another. In the blink of an eye, the entire sky was filled with one radiant sun and sacred sun after another, uncountable, inexhaustible.