Heart Always Persues Freedom

Crimson Flame world

In this vast universe of boundless potential, people strive to cultivate their energies to ascend through higher realms and scale higher planes of existence, aspiring to reach the apex.

In a secluded mountain, the peak expert of the Crimson Flame world, the Pure Yang Lord, reached the cusp of a breakthrough—one that would push him to the highest realm known in these lands, the Martial Emperor Realm. Excitement surged through his veins as he focused his energies pushing his cultivation to its limit.

Suddenly, peace in the clear sky was disturbed as dark storm clouds started gathering in the sky, teeming with ominous and destructive aura.

BOOOOM!

Before he could prepare himself, a flash of silver lightning streaked down, faster than the blink of an eye, sending shockwaves for thousands of miles. The large mountain under his feet was also struck with immense force, crushing it into pieces with broken rocks flying in the air creating large clouds of dust.

With a shout, a disheveled figure broke out from the dust clouds, coughing up blood. The remaining aura of thunder and lightning was still shimmering around his armor which had broken into numerous pieces.

Before he could catch his breath, another lightning struck, more fierce than before. This time, he hastily gathered all the remaining qi in his body, creating a shield that unfortunately was unable to obstruct the strike.

The lightning tore through the defense, forcing him to face it with his own body, accumulating even more injuries.

Despite the battered and burnt body, he summoned a sword with the last of his energies.

A smell of charred flesh wafted out but a man with tattered clothes stood up trembling, using his sword as a crutch with determination burning in his eyes.

Instead of panic and fear, a strange serene expression appeared on his face.

"I, Pure Yang Lord, have roamed the myriad worlds with this sword in my hand. Even if my journey ends here, so be it. I will not back down," he declared.

He beckoned the lightning proactively like a madman with a shout. "Come! Give me your best shot!"

The clouds churned and the thunder rumbled in response, preparing an even more deadlier attack as if angered by his words.

Pure Yang Lord regained his footing and pointed his sword at the sky preparing for the worst.

Finally, a blood-red lightning bolt struck his sword. But this time, something strange happened. The sword absorbed the whole attack, glowing ominously but the Pure Yang Lord closed his eyes and entered a mystical state facing an illusion attack.

The whole battlefield suddenly became eerily quiet.

Faint sounds of movement and murmurs could be heard in the surrounding area, unbeknownst to the Pure Yang Lord.

After a few moments, he finally dispelled the illusion and opened his eyes to witness the transformed clouds in the sky shimmering as golden drizzle fell from it. These golden droplets that touched his skin slowly started healing his body.

Meanwhile, a large vortex surged, gathering energy from the surrounding three thousand miles, pouring into his body, giving him a euphoric feeling.

But this feeling was cut short when a formation suddenly sprang up and transported him into an unknown place.

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"Nine-nine Extreme Yin Formation, activate!"

He heard a loud voice of an old lady and saw thousands of yin lights suddenly lit up in the surroundings, dancing like ethereal wisps of moonlight. Thousands of young maidens could be faintly seen in the distance, sitting cross-legged in rows, collectively powering the formation.

A beautiful young lady sneered. "The Pure Maiden sect has surrounded you with the Nine-nine Extreme Yin Formation. There's no escape for you. Today, the enmity between our two sects will end with your death."

"Your Pure Yang sect has disrupted the harmony of the world, reducing its population by half. You cannot be allowed to grow any further!" a sage-like old man declared in a serious tone.

Another voice sounded—a white-robed beauty wailed, "You snatched my lover and made him a celibate! Not even death by thousand cuts can atone for your sins!"

Amidst the accusations, a woman exclaimed in a sultry tone. "You rejected me for the 9,999th time! I'd rather turn you into a puppet to serve me for life than allow you to stay single!"

A man with eyes blazing with anger stepped forward. "You destroyed my entire dual-cultivation sect! Today, you'll get retribution for the sins you've committed."

Then, he laughed in an evil tone, "Before you die, I want you to know that I've killed every last disciple of your Pure Yang sect, fulfilling the debt of blood for all my fallen disciples. Now, you can experience the same agony of it."

A woman beside him ranted in a grand tone, afraid of being left out. "You also have to pay using your balls for my husband's destroyed ones. An eye for an eye! Blood for blood!"

"Humph!"

But she fell silent under her husband's fierce gaze.

Another person chimed in. "Stupid! Why did you tell him? What if he breaks his balls before dying?"

The women who spoke became pale at the thought.

A powerful man with a fierce gaze spoke, breaking the awkward atmosphere. "Quietly hand over your mystic sword and I'll give you a quick death!"

Pure Yang Lord's mentality took a great hit as he looked around at the large crowd of people who surrounded him. Almost all of the peak experts in this world had gathered.

Disregarding his few enemies, most of them were comrades who had shared several life-and-death situations with him. But now they were avoiding his gaze. The feeling of betrayal hung heavily in the air.

He had sacrificed many things, restricting himself and his desires for the greater good of the world.

He had successfully defended this world against invasion from devils and demons. He went to the brink of death several times to resolve problems from foreign calamities.

He was the most righteous person in this world—extremely righteous, to the point of madness.

He even dared to spare the defeated invaders, preventing the invading world from being completely massacred. But today, the moral compass has turned against him, as the world and the people he worked so hard to protect, stood in front of him pointing their weapons at him, with their righteous reasons.

In fact, many people dared to confront him because they knew that due to his extremely righteous nature, he wouldn't strike back with the ruthlessness they deserved.

Despite the physical pain and his broken mind, he was also experiencing a newfound vigor and vitality as he noticed subtle changes happening in his body.

Though he was deprived of the baptism from the heavenly tribulation, his body was instinctively absorbing the invisible qi in the air due to the power of his newly achieved Martial Emperor Realm cultivation, slowly filling him up with a new level of energy.

Ignoring the outside situation for a moment, a smile bloomed across his face as he rejoiced at the thought of reaching this realm, something no one had been able to attain since the previous era.

The history books talked about a world rich in etheric content, where mythical creatures like dragons and phoenixes, heartless devils, and evil demons roamed freely. However, a great cataclysmic war broke the world into several fragments, reducing the overall strength of the cultivators.

The stories of people ascending realms higher than the Martial Emperor realm before breaking the limit of this world, reaching a higher plane of existence, had always been his inspiration.

Even in this strange atmosphere, he felt excited as he reached one step closer to his dream.

Pure Yang Lord clenched his fists as he perceived this new feeling of power and strength that was coursing through his body.

Ignoring the sadness from being betrayed and the pain he felt remembering the faces of his sect disciples, most likely dead—he pointed his sword ready for battle, with an unyielding gaze.

He noticed the intricacies of this Nine-Nine Extreme Yin formation which was subtly affecting his body slowly sealing his powers. Even with his Martial Emperor Realm strength, he felt this formation was far more powerful, bringing an extreme sense of danger in his heart. Even at the height of his powers, escaping this formation would be nearly impossible, not to mention his current state.

He finally realized that even with his Martial Emperor level strength, this might be his last day.

Looking back, his righteous ways of life have always restricted him from indulging in desires and simple pleasures that even a normal man enjoys. The only thing he regretted in his life was choosing to follow his righteous doctrines over his freedom-seeking heart.

He sighed and took a deep breath.

"If I'm going to die, I want to die as a free man," he muttered in a slow and deep voice.

Suddenly, his eyes sparkled with a different glimmer that had never appeared before in his life. Something deep within him shattered—a barrier he had never realized was there.

"Haha, Ahahaha!"

A maniacal laughter erupted from him, sending chills down the spine of everyone present. The image of righteousness and invincibility they once held in their hearts towards him suddenly overlapped with a sinister tyrant, cackling with wicked delight.

He prepared to throw caution—and righteousness—to the wind as his grip on his sword tightened, and a crazed grin appeared on his face.

"Whatever your reasons, come forth! I'll battle until the last drop of my blood is spilled."

He wanted to let himself loose, celebrating his ascension into this new realm by indulging in a bloodthirsty spree, filling up rivers of blood and mountains of corpses.

He laughed out loud. "This is your final warning. Today, I'll kill to my heart's content."