Towering Fiend Flame

Myriad Immortals Planet…

The once thriving planet was almost empty. All the living beings had been reduced to bones except for a few lucky ghosts and demons, who managed to flee the calamity and were hiding in deep pools or isolated valleys within remote mountains and forests, or bottomless trenches at the ocean floor.

Where the capital of Great Yan, Ji City, had once stood, was now turned into a sinkhole that went a hundred miles deep. Countless corpses were piled up along the edge of this vast pit, and steady streams of blood were pouring from the mountain of corpses, filling the sinkhole. Hundreds of thousands of miles were fully covered by corpses and bones, so dense that not even an inch of dirt could be seen.

The corpses included not only human bodies, but also the carcasses of various birds, animals, and sea creatures, and even numerous one-inch-long shrimps, three-inch-long centipedes, half-foot-long green snakes, and caterpillars as thick as fingers. The carcasses of countless creatures piled up here into mountains; some had turned to bones, some were half decayed, and some had just been killed, with their blood constantly flowing out of their bodies into the vast sinkhole.

A massive dark cloud, more than a hundred miles thick and hundreds of thousands of miles wide, came pressing down from the sky and hung only a thousand feet above the ground, as if the sky itself had been lowered. This place gave a very depressing feeling. A bloody light and green fiend flames flashed from time to time in the dark clouds, rushing across the rolling clouds along with sharp whistles, filling the air with a pungent smell of blood.

There were no flies, vultures, dogs, or maggots. No creatures that those were there to feast on dead bodies in this hell-like land as all of these creatures had been killed and become part of this sea of corpses and blood.

"Oh heaven! Can you open your eyes and look at this? Are you really going to make my people extinct?"

Accompanied by a long, mournful roar, a black flying sword soared through the air, cutting off the head of a Long Bo man who stood a thousand feet tall. A massive column of blood spouted from the wound. The steaming hot blood flew hundreds of feet and poured into the huge lake of blood. Tiny bubbles emerged and popped on the sticky surface of the blood lake, as if it was joyfully receiving the new blood.

The mournful roar was let out by a Long Bo senior who seemed to be dying of old age. He was about a hundred feet tall and his skin was covered with wrinkles and cracks like bark. Leaning on a wooden staff, he was shouting into the sky. The corners of his eyes had cracked, but there were no tears or blood coming out of them. He was so old that most of his bodily functions had deteriorated, and there was not much blood left in his body.

Not far in front of the old man, lines of Long Bo men were being slaughtered by the black flying sword. Around him, some fifty or sixty thousand Long Bo men fell into neat formations, and were marching over the corpses of their own people toward the vast lake of blood one step at a time. As soon as they were within thirty feet of the lake, the flying sword would fly down and cut off their heads.

The old man raved in a hoarse voice, but the heavens did not answer him. His people were marching toward the lake, their eyes clear and their expressions a mixture of anger and fear. They knew exactly what happened to them, but they could not control their bodies. An evil force had controlled them, forcing them to march step by step toward the lake.

These Long Bo men were the last remaining people on Myriad Immortals Planet. When the sudden attack descended upon them, the powerful Long Bo men awakened several Elders who were in a deep, prolonged slumber. With their overall strength as strong as Heaven Immortals, these Elders routed their enemies over and over again.

But, the battles had drained the Elders of their strength and blood essence, while the enemy grew stronger and stronger. When the last Elder was killed by the enemy with an upper-grade immortal sword that emitted a dreadful heat, these Long Bo men, like the rest on Myriad Immortals Planet, were brought to this nightmarish place and forced to march to their death.

The old man was the last Oracle of the Long Bo men who lived on Myriad Immortals Planet. When he saw that his people had been killed one after another, and that no one's soul could ascend to heaven but was sent with the blood into the lake, he knew what the enemy wanted to do. He knew his clan was at stake. By burning his soul, the old Oracle broke free of the evil force that had imprisoned his body and then screamed into the sky. He wanted to seek the help of the ghosts and deities to save his people!

But, the heavens did not answer his prayer, and the ghosts and deities seemed to be non-existent. Beneath the dark clouds, no ghosts or deities answered the old Oracle's call.

Tens of thousands of Long Bo men who had not been killed were weeping, blood mixed with their tears falling down their faces. They were weeping for the death of their own people, for their own fate, and for the impending annihilation of their clan.

Of many human races, Long Bo men were perhaps the most united, traditional, conservative, and stubborn, and they never attacked their own people. They treated each other like brothers and sisters, and although they were divided into different tribes, they were all like one family. So, when they saw their brothers being brutally killed, all those who were still alive felt their hearts broken.

Blood and tears pouring out of their eyes, and their deafening cries even pushed the dark clouds up by dozens of feet.

A strange laugh suddenly came from afar, and the black flying sword halted its massacre. Before long, a red cloud descended from the sky, on top of which stood Patriarch Yuan Hua. He wore a black Daoist robe with a white skull embroidered on his chest. Holding an immortal sword that emanated a dreadful heat, he flew toward the lines of Long Bo men while laughing wildly.

"Why are you crying? What are you crying for?" Patriarch Yuan Hua shook his head and laughed. "All the living beings who ever lived on this planet except you are dead. You should be happy to join them soon! And, when you are dead, you'll become part of my immortal energies and help me break through the realm of Gold Immortal! So, why are you crying?"

Pointing proudly at the huge lake of blood, he said with a guffaw, "With the help of this Myriad Beings Blood Pool, my Blood Sea Technique will soon break through the realm of Gold Immortal! Haha!"

Suddenly, there was a flash of blood in Patriarch Yuan Hua's eyes. "How strange? Why do I know the Blood Sea Technique? Why do I know how to build the Myriad Beings Blood Pool?" He muttered to himself and frowned. "Well, who am I? Am I Patriarch Yuan Hua? No? Am I Lord Blood Ocean? Wrong! Am I the ancient celestial fiend, Lixue Zi? No... NO... But, who am I actually?"

After pondering for a while, Patriarch Yuan Hua suddenly slapped his head hard and gave a funny laugh. "Why should I think so much? That mighty Senior had promised me that when I became a Gold Immortal, he would send someone to pick me up, and then take me in as his disciple! Hehe... after all these years of hard work, I finally have a chance to become his disciple!"

Patriarch Yuan Hua shook his head and gave three loud laughs as he looked triumphantly at the Long Bo men crying in front of him. Then, he spun around a few times, before suddenly beckoning at the dark clouds overhead.

A blood-colored cloud flew out of the dark clouds. Measuring about an acre, the cloud was shrouded by green ghost flames, and a row of dozens of stone pillars was erected on it, each carved with the likenesses of countless evil ghosts. Patriarch Jiang Yun and his two wives, Qing Xia and Bai Wu, as well as Qing Xin, Qing Yi, and Qing Shen, the three old Daoists, along with a group of core disciples from both White Cloud Immortal Sect and Tranquil Vimalā Sect, were all tied to the pillars. Their orifices were locked by the ghost flames that gushed out of the ghost skulls on the pillars; therefore, none of them could move or speak.

Patriarch Yuan Hua flew to Patriarch Jiang Yun and said with a smile, "Jiang Yun, you are my disciple! Listen to me and kill the rest of the Long Bo men! When I become a Gold Immortal, you'll also be benefited!"

With a wave of his hand, he removed the ghost flame from Patriarch Jiang Yun's face, and asked, "Will you obey me?"

Patriarch Jiang Yun, with a dull look in his eyes and his spirits on the verge of collapse, stared blankly at Patriarch Yuan Hua. At last, he suddenly howled at the top of his lungs, "No, NO, NOOOOO! I will never obey you, even at the cost of my soul! You are not Patriarch Yuan Hua, you are the fiend from the outer domain! You are... Old Demon Blood Ocean! You beast, why did you kill all the people on Myriad Immortals Planet?"

While frowning, Patriarch Yuan Hua slapped Patriarch Jiang Yun in the face. "What a fool! Is it that hard for you to just kill a few people? Of course, I'm Patriarch Yuan Hua. Who else could I be? Old Demon Blood Ocean? Well, it's a familiar name... Is it me? Or, is it not me? Who is the ancient celestial fiend, Lixue Zi? My master's master? So, am I the disciple of Lixue Zi's disciple?"

After talking to himself for a while, Patriarch Yuan Hua shook his head and sighed. "Why think so much? I am me? Of course, I am me!"

He snorted coldly, then turned to look at the three old Daoists. "Since Jiang Yun won't obey me, I'm sure you are the same!"

The three old Daoists could neither move nor speak, but their eyes were wide open, revealing a strong will to die rather than give in. Patriarch Yuan Hua shook his head and sighed deeply. He did not want to waste his energy on removing the restrictive spells on their faces. "I'm giving you a chance to live, but you've chosen to die! Are morality and justice really that important for you?"

As he spoke, Patriarch Yuan Hua suddenly burst out laughing and ripped open Bai Wu and Qing Xia's dresses. "Why think so much? I'm going to be a Gold Immortal soon! Hehe… Jiang Yun, since all of you have no intention of living, I'll enjoy both of your wives before you die! We can't let these two pretties go to waste, can we?"

Bai Wu and Qing Xia's faces fell, while Patriarch Jiang Yun was struggling wildly and cursing, "Patriarch Yuan Hua, you son of a b*tch! You're not a human at all!"

His roar was so loud that it ripped his vocal cords, causing blood to gush out of his mouth.

Patriarch Yuan Hua paid him no heed. Instead, he lifted Bai Wu up while emitting a strange laugh, ready to throw her to the ground.