"boom!"
It was like moving mountains and overturning seas, or like a raging flood. With the cultivation of a peak Dou Sheng, a full-force attack could be described as changing the wind and clouds and causing the world to lose its color.
"A mere trick, since that's how it is, I'll play along with you!"
Jiang Liu watched as the attack caused even the void to collapse. His hair flew wildly in anger, and he raised his fist to smash the sky. On his seemingly inconspicuous, mortal fist, patterns immediately began to intertwine, giving rise to the trajectory of the Dao.
Shock, crack, break, boom... destroy everything, annihilate everything.
With a single punch, everything shattered into tiny particles.
"Buzz!"
The line of Battle Saints could clearly see the void trembling like a tattered cloth, almost torn apart by Jiang Liu's astonishing physical body.
This is an invisible, immense force, like a galaxy falling from the sky, penetrating everywhere and destroying everything in its path, crushing all obstacles and obliterating any tangible substance.
"Just one punch..." The Northern Dragon King shuddered, feeling both disappointed and relieved.
"The Abbot is as invincible as ever! Even your powerful physical bodies, those of the peak nine-star Dou Sheng of the Ancient Dragon of the Void, cannot withstand him. He is truly terrifying... Fortunately, fortunately, the Soul Emperor taught us a profound lesson, otherwise we would be the ones in trouble!"
With a single punch, he shattered the dragon seal, and the intent of his punch swept outwards. Even the powerful body of the Dragon Emperor Zhukun cracked and popped, and strands of pale golden blood oozed from between the purple dragon scales, eventually staining half of his body red.
"Come on, come on, it's been a while since you've had any exercise. Your physical body is still alright, you won't be killed by me..." In an instant, Jiang Tong's body shone brightly, divine flames surged, as if cast from gold, full of powerful energy. Even his hair was dyed with golden light, like a cluster of golden divine fire dancing.
He was like a god standing in the heavens, his blood energy soaring to the sky, a terrifying wave of energy surging like a vast ocean, and an incomparably powerful aura bursting forth.
"Stop...stop...I give up...Ouch! Stop it, I..."
Jiang Liu ignored it completely, and the giant dragon crashed down again in an instant. It struggled bitterly in the magma, suffering repeated injuries and having no power to fight back.
When it was completely on its last breath, Jiang Liu threw it away, and it landed not far from the long line of Dou Sheng. The ground shook, and even the mountains almost collapsed.
"Old Dragon Emperor, why are you doing this?"
The Northern Dragon King was unsure whether to save him, but the other Battle Saints around him kept a distance of three meters, regarding him as a plague god.
At this moment, Gu He once again rode the wind, throwing out several pills that landed in the giant dragon's gaping maw. He said to the Northern Dragon King, "Your first-generation Dragon Emperor of the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan, talk to him about the rules. Don't be impulsive anymore. The Abbot has spared him once, but that doesn't mean he can be offended again and again..."
Guhe's pills were very effective. After swallowing the pills, the old dragon emperor Zhukun let out a long breath and transformed into a middle-aged man with a full head of purple-gold hair, but he was in a sorry state, with a bruised and swollen face.
"Huh... are they all Dou Sheng?" Zhu Kun stared wide-eyed in surprise at the long line of Dou Sheng. "What are you doing? You're from the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan, a five-star Dou Sheng... and there are three nine-star Dou Sheng... What's wrong with this world? Even Dou Sheng are so well-behaved..."
"Old Dragon Emperor, I am the Dragon King of North Dragon Island..."
"..."
The Northern Dragon King recounted the current state of affairs in the world, and then focused on introducing the Hidden Dragon Temple, leaving Zhu Kun dumbfounded.
Zhu Kun looked up at the sky and sighed, saying, "I never imagined that ten thousand years have passed, and this world is no longer the one where I reigned supreme... Alas... What has happened to this world? How could he have reached an invincible level? Where did this person come from?"
Chapter 417 Ancient Emperor's Legacy
After throwing the Dragon Emperor Candle Kun out of the magma area, Jiang Liu began to fully control the Tuoshe Ancient Jade. Light overflowed from his palm, and the stone door of the ancient emperor's cave began to rumble.
Subsequently, the fluctuations emanating from the massive ancient stone gate grew increasingly fierce. However, as the fluctuations spread, the gaps in the giant gate also widened. Finally, with a deafening roar, it completely stabilized!
"Bang!"
Just as the ancient stone gate was fully opened, a wave that seemed to originate from the primordial era suddenly surged forth, causing the entire magma sea to explode with towering waves. The earth trembled, and the surrounding mountains instantly collapsed, splitting open countless enormous and bottomless abysses.
Such a vast aura could only be withstood by a Dou Sheng expert; everyone else was forcibly shaken away.
Several Dou Zun who wanted to try their luck at becoming immortals were at the end of the line. They were struck by this power and thrown thousands of meters away.
"Buzz!"
Strange ripples suddenly appeared on the ancient stone gate, and then space distorted, forming a seemingly transparent passage within the giant gate.
"Walk!"
Jiang Liu led his men into the passage first.
"We're going too! Everyone stay close together, don't panic..."
Seeing this, Gu Yuan let out a low shout and led the way, flying out like a shooting star, braving the intense pressure, directly into the passage. Behind him, a long line of various powerful figures followed in single file…
As everyone rushed in, the surroundings became empty, with only the ancient giant gate still standing quietly above the lava sea!
Dragon Emperor Zhukun stared blankly as everyone entered the ancient emperor's cave, unsure whether he should follow.
But in the end, I still felt that I had just been defeated by that abbot, which made me lose face, so it would be awkward to follow him.
So he wandered aimlessly toward the outer perimeter. At a glance, he naturally noticed many onlookers, most of whom were at the Dou Zun realm, but they could not resist the aura of the ancient emperor's cave and could not get close.
His gaze swept around the room, finally settling on the girl named Zi Yan.
...
A light mist enveloped this strange space, making the entire area hazy and misty.
This space was completely silent, as if it had been quiet for tens of thousands of years.
In this boundless and vast space, there floats a piece of land called 6, suspended in space without any support, like a castle in the air.
"laugh!"
The solitude that had permeated for millennia was suddenly shattered today. In the hazy space, space suddenly distorted, and then a huge spatial passage appeared. Immediately afterwards, figures burst out from it and finally landed on that piece of land.
Jiang Liu swept up the people around him and disappeared from the spot in an instant. After they disappeared, Gu Yuan and the others quickly caught up.
An ancient stone palace appeared on the vast plain before them. The stone palace stood silently on the boundless plain, and an ancient aura rippled out, echoing between heaven and earth.
In front of the stone hall, there was a vast plaza. On both sides of the plaza stood towering pillars, each thousands of feet tall, exuding a majestic and imposing aura.
"There are some strange flames here. Although they are almost exhausted, they still retain some of their original power. Gu He, now that you have entered the path of alchemy and are cultivating fire-based divine abilities, you should collect these strange flames if you can! They will be of great benefit to your understanding of the original power of fire..."
Jiang Liu pointed to the ancient pillars that reached the sky and gave instructions to the ancient river channel.
"Strange fire?" Gu He was somewhat puzzled, but he still headed towards a towering stone pillar.
Jiang Liu collected all kinds of strange fires from the Dou Qi Continent, but that doesn't mean there were none left. Some strange fires remained in the cave of the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor.
Gu He returned shortly after leaving, carrying a pill furnace in his hand, inside which a deep yellow flame was rising. This flame was the Xuanhuang Flame, ranked twenty-third on the Strange Flame Ranking.
“This strange fire is too weak. Its original power has already dissipated, and it was almost extinguished…” Gu He said.
"It's remarkable that something left behind by the ancient Emperor Tuoshe ten thousand years ago has survived... You can restore it by nurturing it with your alchemy furnace."
Next, Gu He successively collected twenty different flames ranked at the bottom of the Flame Ranking, including the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame, the Fallen Heart Flame, the Sea Heart Flame, the Bone Spirit Cold Flame... and even one Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame.
The last two stone pillars were completely empty. The top three on the Strange Flame Ranking were not among them. Generally speaking, as long as the Pure Lotus Demon Flame and the Void Devouring Flame existed in the world, a second one would not be born.
Jiang Liu devoured all the strange flames and comprehended the rules of the flame path in the "Battle Through the Heavens" world. To condense the supreme flame again, it would require at least tens of millions of years of accumulation from the entire world before it could be born again.
Gu He turned his gaze away from the stone pillar, somewhat disappointed. His alchemy furnace had already shown some miraculous effects after absorbing so many strange fires, but the two most important strange fires had not, so he was naturally a little disappointed.
"These flames are enough for you to study for a while. Don't try to do too much at once. Once you have a deep enough understanding of flames, this one flame should be enough for you to explore and comprehend for a lifetime..."
In an instant, a blue lotus bloomed on Jiang Liu's palm, formed from the Samadhi True Fire. The blue lotus stood alone, full of vitality, as if a vivid world had sprung up around it, surrounded by chaotic mist, mysterious and hazy.
"Master, what kind of flame is this?"
"Samadhi Fire!"
After Jiang Liu finished speaking, he waved his hand, and the blue lotus headed towards the stone palace at the end of the square, shrouded in thick fog.
Like the sunrise and the clearing of clouds, the pervasive mist, amidst the swaying of the blue lotus, dissipated without a trace of smoke or fire. It was not absorbed, nor dispersed, but simply vanished, as if burned to nothingness, yet without the slightest trace of heat remaining.
The Samadhi True Fire can be strong or weak depending on who wields it.
For example, Red Boy, after cultivating in seclusion in the Flaming Mountain for three hundred years, could only clench his fists and punch his own nose twice, then breathe fire to burn the enemy. Although his power was immense, it was ultimately a inferior method.
For example, Sun Wukong, during his rampage in the Heavenly Palace, stole and ate the immortal peaches of immortality. As the saying goes, delicious food is hard to digest. In one day, he stole a quantity of food that was considered precious by the gods of Heaven. Even as a stone monkey born from a celestial stone, Sun Wukong, with his profound destiny, could hardly digest it fully. He could only regulate his internal energy and rely on external forces, and these external forces were the Samadhi True Fire.
Having comprehended the "Samadhi True Fire," Jiang Liu naturally wouldn't use it crudely like Red Boy. Instead, he integrated the techniques and supernatural powers he had learned from various worlds to create his own Dao and Dharma.
And so this blue lotus came into being!
As a blue lotus broke through the thick fog, a huge shadow suddenly enveloped the square. Everyone hurriedly looked up and were shocked to see a stone statue that was ten thousand feet tall suddenly appear in their eyes!
The stone statue was in the shape of an old man, and Jiang Liu and the others were already familiar with his appearance. He was the master of the ancient emperor's cave, the legendary Tuoshe Ancient Emperor!
The stone statue stood between heaven and earth, exuding an aura of supreme power that seemed to dominate the world. Under that aura, even Gu Yuan and the others who followed felt as if Mount Tai was pressing down on them. Those Dou Sheng who were not strong enough even knelt down on both knees, shattering the hard stone slab into powder.
However, it's reassuring that the formation remained intact.
Numerous orbs of light danced around the stone statue, creating a dazzling spectacle from afar.
"These are... cultivation techniques and fighting skills? They are the legacy of the ancient emperor Tuoshe!"
Gazing at those orbs of light, the Dou Sheng who had lined up to enter all narrowed their eyes, and then their hearts trembled slightly, because they discovered that those orbs of light contained ancient scrolls. On those scrolls, they sensed extremely strong spirituality, which was in no way inferior to the so-called high-level Heaven-rank techniques or fighting skills in the outside world!
Hundreds of Heaven-rank cultivation techniques and combat skills—such a treasure trove caused even those present, who were not ordinary people, to breathe a little heavier. Heaven-rank cultivation techniques and combat skills were quite rare even among the eight ancient races and the three magical beast races, yet here… they were as common as cabbages, filling one's eyes.
However, while Heavenly Rank cultivation techniques and combat skills are attractive, they don't hold much allure for powerful figures like Gu Yuan, Yan Jin, and Lei Ying.
Needless to say, Yan Jin and Lei Ying, after obtaining Jiang Liu's cultivation technique, found these Heaven-level fighting skills utterly unappealing.
But just because they don't care doesn't mean the other Dou Sheng don't care!
"Let's line up! One person chooses once, taking turns, in the current formation..."
After Jiang Liu finished speaking, a divine thought was transmitted. The green lotus seemed to have just emerged from the water, with only three green leaves. It had a natural Daoist quality, as if it was interpreting the beginning of heaven and earth: the Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things.
In an instant, the overwhelming pressure dissipated.
"Thank you, Abbot..."
"We can all receive the inheritance of the ancient emperor? The abbot's magnanimity is beyond our reach!"
The Dou Sheng who received the rankings expressed his heartfelt gratitude, as being ranked lower meant a lack of strength. Now that Jiang Liu had spoken, it meant that everyone would benefit.
Just then, a faint, aged voice suddenly descended from the sky, resounding in everyone's ears.
"What is this blue lotus? Why does it have the aura of flames, yet it doesn't feel like flames? It possesses supreme divine power, yet it feels extremely ordinary. What exactly is it?"
The sudden, aged voice startled everyone. Their gazes quickly shifted, finally settling on the stone statue's shoulder, where an elderly figure stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes fixed intently on the blue lotus, as if he were looking at a priceless treasure.
"Tuoshegudi?!"