Chapter 589 – Flame God, Void, Outer Region - Part 2

Another hour passed.

“Xia Wuqi said he used to be Emperor of the Xia Dynasty. Got a little too clever for his own good, though. He faked his own death by staging an assassination, just to dodge being buried in the royal mausoleum and turned into the Northern Dipper’s puppet.”

“Smart,” Han Feng said. “Among the six thousand or so resting in the Deathless Tomb, Xia Wuqi’s one of the strongest. He’s one of the few closest to breaking into second rank.”

The little crow muttered, “Yeah, well, he’s just an old man trying to trick me.”

Li Yuan asked, “What did Xia Wuqi say?”

The crow replied, “He said he once heard a strange rumor back when he was Emperor. He never shared it with anyone, but he did dig into it himself.”

Li Yuan waited, eyes narrowing.

“He said he encountered a monster in the Outer Regions. Incredibly powerful. No mind to speak of, but just barely shaped like a person. Back in his prime, he tested its strength. His conclusion? That monster was about as strong as he was. The only reason he survived was because it lacked intelligence. If it had been even a little smarter, he might never have made it out.”

Han Feng thought for a moment, then said hesitantly, “I’ve heard of something like that too. It might be called a blood walker, a monster of blood and flesh, stripped of skin.”

She paused, then added, “The old woman I possessed once read a book called

Wonders Beyond the Realm

. It mentioned a creature like that. In the West, dwells the blood walker. Blood and flesh without skin. Eternally searching for robes. Loves to peel the skin from the living and wrap itself within...

“But the old woman and the book never said how powerful the blood walker actually was. No, wait...that memory of hers was just a piece of idle folklore. Something from a collection of strange tales. Not exactly credible or important.”

Li Yuan closed his eyes, repeating softly, “In the West, dwells the blood walker. Blood and flesh without skin. Eternally searching for robes. Loves to peel the skin from the living and wrap itself within.”

Then he asked, “Is it possible the ancient gods, those skilled in the heaven seal, somehow became these blood walkers?”

Everyone shook their heads.

The little crow passed the question around, but no one had an answer.

This was one of those mysteries where you could argue it either way. Say it’s true? Sure. Say it’s nonsense? Just as valid. No evidence either way, just a mess of speculation.

Li Yuan followed up, “Then...what if the disappearance of the heaven seal is what

caused

the ancient gods to become blood walkers?”

Meng Xingxian gave a thoughtful smile. “Papa’s idea makes sense.”

Ying Zhuoyao, eager to show her usefulness, added, “Young Master, if your guess is correct, then surely the ancient gods weren’t just a handful. There must’ve been many. If

all

of them had turned into blood walkers...wouldn’t the Xia Dynasty have been thrown into chaos back then?

“But there was no trace of such a disaster. In fact, the name blood walker survives only in a book nobody’s ever verified. And aside from someone like Xia Wuqi, no one’s even encountered such a thing. That just doesn’t add up.”

Li Yuan nodded. “You’re right.”

He stopped entertaining the theory and leaned back slightly, closing his eyes to rest.

After a while, the wolf-drawn carriage came to a halt. Li Yuan climbed down and chipped some ice off the glacier hitched behind the carriage, then melted it into water. Some of it he gave to Ying Zhuoyao and Han Feng for bathing; the rest he set aside for drinking.

It was during these moments that Han Feng would recede back into the soul of the Wolfmother she had possessed.

The girl herself lived in a dream. Open her eyes, and she was in one place. Close them, and she woke in another. Everything in between was a blur. When awake, she was respectful and quiet, asking no questions, simply convinced she was part of some sacred journey, serving divine beings.

After bathing, exhaustion would hit her hard, but she never dared sleep without permission. It was always that youthful-looking god, the boyish one, who would gently tell her, “Go get some rest.”

Only then would she curl up inside the carriage, wrap herself in a fur blanket, and drift into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, Ying Zhuoyao, freshly washed, quietly slipped back into Li Yuan’s arms like a clingy cat that simply refused to leave.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

And just like that, several days passed.

Then one day, without warning, the wolf carriage came to a stop.

The once cold and lifeless night suddenly ignited with tension. An eerie light flickered across the sky. It was unnatural, distorted, and shimmering with a burning hue.

Li Yuan stepped out onto the coachman’s bench, eyes narrowing as he stared into the distance.

“Run! Papa, there’s something bad coming!” the little crow cried, flapping her wings in a panic as she raced back.

Behind her, caught in the strange glow, was a mass of torn red haze, like shredded twilight, a bleeding wound in the sky.

It had no shape, no limbs, no face. But the moment it sensed the little crow, it gave chase with unrelenting force, pure instinct, like a predator locked onto prey.

“A flame god!” Meng Xingxian’s expression changed completely. Flame gods were far more terrifying than ghosts.

Ghosts, even at their worst, might trap you in an illusion, keep you wandering in circles, slowly wearing you down.

But flame gods didn’t bother with tricks. They just charged at you with overwhelming power, relentless, mindless, consuming. They didn’t care about conserving energy. They had none to spare.

Ghosts were born of obsessions wrapped in Yin energy.

But flame gods...no one knew where they came from.

No one had ever managed to study them either. Their lifespan was unpredictable, some vanished in the time it took to brew a cup of tea, others lingered for ten days or more before burning themselves out.

Ying Zhuoyao was flustered, panic showing for once.

“Young Master, I...I didn’t know there’d be a flame god on this route, I swear, I didn’t know! I’m sorry!”

The Wolfmother sat in stunned silence, her face blank with shock.

So this is the world of gods?

From the depths of her soul, Han Feng suddenly surged forth and shouted, “Meng Xingxian! What are you spacing out for? Run! That’s a greater flame god! One that can trap dozens of third rank cultivators and burn them all to death!”

Meng Xingxian wasn’t actually slow to react. But the direwolves pulling the carriage had been seized by primal terror, their legs had gone weak, trembling. Even with her trying to steer it, there was a noticeable delay.

Then finally, the direwolves spun around and bolted.

Just in that one moment of turning, the small glacier hitched behind the carriage instantly vaporized.

Inside, everyone felt like they were about to be skewered on a spit and roasted alive.

And then, just ahead of the carriage, a speck of light flared into existence.

It expanded rapidly, and in an instant, became a towering figure a hundred feet tall, a giant made entirely of flame, radiating a divine aura.

The flame god paused. Its attention snapped toward the blazing figure.

The shredded red haze in the air suddenly churned into a frenzy. Flame upon flame erupted, forming fiery whirlwinds that crashed toward the flaming giant with thunderous force. At the edge of this foreign dark realm, waves of heat and crimson fire surged like a tide, swallowing everything.

Meng Xingxian stared at the massive, fiery golden figure. She knew it was Li Yuan’s manifestation.

But...why was it

so small

? It used to be a thousand feet tall. This was barely a tenth of that.

Li Yuan, on the other hand, understood immediately.

The Yang energy in this place was disturbingly scarce.

That was why his Immortal Form could only manifest at this diminished scale.

What he didn’t understand was how was

that

thing so big?

If this world lacked Yang energy, how could the flame god absorb so much of it? Was there some kind of queue for power? A hidden ranking system? Some secret priority?

BOOM!

A wave of flame exploded outward, sending a scorching surge through the air, but it struck nothing.

Li Yuan had already dispersed his Immortal Form in time.

He stepped forward calmly. And from a hidden corner behind him, he reached out and pulled forth a long, narrow case.

The case snapped open with a metallic click.

In an instant, a black blade shot out like lightning. Jagged gray patterns rippled along its surface as Li Yuan caught it mid-air, stepping between the wolf carriage and the encroaching inferno. His fingers flexed around the hilt, tightening. His mind stilled, sharp and focused.

Then he stepped forward and slashed.

A full-force Great Moon Blade.

The blade swept forward, curving wide like the crescent of a rising moon. The very air compressed, pulling the surrounding space taut. The massive flame god, caught in the arc, was forced into a tighter form, more solid, more grotesquely defined.

Li Yuan could feel the silent echo of the spirit sleeping within the blade.

Without hesitation, he burned a month of his life force to fuel the strike.

For the flame god, in that single instant, it was as if a whole month had passed.

BOOM!

Just moments ago, the flame god had surged forward, a roaring furnace of heat and chaos.

Now it shattered, bursting into a thousand scattered crimson sparks, like embers quenched in a winter wind. One by one, they faded, snuffed out in the frigid air. In the blink of an eye, it was gone. Ash to ash.

Li Yuan stood motionless, still gripping the black blade, eyes narrowed.

He felt it clearly, the Yang energy in the air had just...vanished. Gone in a flash.

It wasn’t supposed to work that way.

But there was no time to ponder. With a flick of the wrist, he tossed the blade back into the long case, slung it behind him, then turned and tugged the reins.

The direwolf carriage ground to a stop.

Inside, the three women, still bracing themselves for a desperate escape, turned to look and froze in shock.

The flame god was gone. Not subdued. Not sealed. Just...gone.

Not even a sound of battle had reached their ears.

That enormous thing,

how

had it just disappeared?

“How much farther?” Li Yuan said calmly.

Ying Zhuoyao forced her pounding heart to slow. “We’re close. I’ve been through this area before, but...there wasn’t anything like this last time.”

Li Yuan nodded. “Xingxian, be careful driving the direwolves.”

The little crow flapped her wings and took off once more to scout ahead.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

A long time later.

The group spotted another secret art stele in the barren wasteland.

Li Yuan didn’t waste time. He hoisted the stele onto the carriage himself, then prepared to search for the next one.

“Flame god!”

“Another one!!”

The dark sky rippled, breaking out in fish-scale patterns of flame. Dozens of lesser flame gods were converging, drawn by the scent of life.

Meng Xingxian turned pale.

Han Feng had gone numb. There was nothing she could do in this kind of fight. If she got caught, it was simply death.

Li Yuan vaulted to the front of the carriage and drew the black blade once more.

Then, before their eyes, he moved.

The blade flashed like lightning, faster than the eye could follow. A flickering blur of afterimages, each stroke erasing a flame god.

One slash. One vanished.

This time, Han Feng and Meng Xingxian saw it with their own eyes.

And they couldn’t speak.

Mouths wide open, they stared in disbelief, all words forgotten.

Moments later, the last of the lesser flame gods vanished into nothing.

Li Yuan sheathed the blade.

A flicker of concern crossed his face. He didn’t want the spirit sleeping within the blade to wake.

The being inside, the one who called herself Yan Hongxiu, was undoubtedly tied to the Northern Dipper. Li Yuan had no desire to empower his enemies, but right now...there wasn’t much choice.

As he mulled it over, he caught sight of the two women still staring at him, eyes fixed not just on him, but on the case slung across his back.

Li Yuan casually tossed the case toward them. “If you’re that curious, take a look. Give it a few swings if you want.”

Ying Zhuoyao, knowing full well what that blade truly was, didn’t even want to touch it.

Of the two women, Han Feng was the curious one. She reached out, wanting to touch the blade.

But before her fingers could make contact, Meng Xingxian suddenly spoke. “This belongs to you, Young Master. I won’t look. I won’t touch.”

Han Feng jerked her hand back, startled.

In that same instant, she noticed the woman in the green robe, Ying Zhuoyao, watching her with a faintly amused expression, as if watching a show unfold.

And the moment she pulled her hand back, that look vanished.

Han Feng didn’t know what that was all about, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d just narrowly escaped something...

something

she wouldn’t have walked away from.

She gave the wooden case a long, uneasy look.

That blade is dangerous,

she thought to herself.

Seriously dangerous.

When she glanced back at Ying Zhuoyao, the woman was smiling at her.

Ying Zhuoyao said softly, “If we’re all in the same boat, then everything should center around the Young Master. There’s no room for doubt or disloyalty.”

“Thank you.” Han Feng replied quietly.

Li Yuan put away the Red Sleeve Blade.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The wolf carriage rolled on, looping through the wasteland in search of more secret art steles.

But after another hour or so, they found no steles, only a strange gravitational pull creeping in from the distance.

Up in the sky, the little crow suddenly shrieked, “Papa! There’s a shattered void up ahead! I’m getting sucked in!”

Li Yuan shot into the air, catching her mid-flight with a swift motion. As he grabbed her, he glanced toward the source of the pull.

A void, black as ink. Floating in it were fragmented

islands

of space.

It looked like this stretch of land had been struck by some cosmic wave and shattered, broken into drifting chunks like debris on the sea.

Li Yuan hadn’t expected the shattered realm to be this close to the Great Zhou. From the Nine Flames Tribe to here had only taken a little over a year.

But there was no time to dwell on it.

WHOOSH!

The wolf carriage, as light as a leaf in a hurricane, was lifted off the ground and hurled through the air, spinning toward the broken horizon.

Inside, three women, one a jade husk and two whose combat roles weren’t exactly front-line, could do nothing but brace themselves. Pale-faced and powerless.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

To be fair, their expressions hadn’t improved much since they crossed into the borderlands of the Outer Region. They’d been on edge from the moment they entered.

Li Yuan, still holding the little crow, dropped back to the ground like a meteor.

As he descended, his body began to shift.

With a thunderous impact, he landed, sending a tremor through the earth. And when the dust settled, he had become a massive, ape-like beast.

This was one of the forms of his Myriad Beasts Transformation, a power that let him take the shape of any number of monstrous creatures.

The next moment, the ape-beast raised its enormous, fur-covered hand and caught the airborne wolf carriage. He tucked it under his left armpit, securing it like a precious bundle, then looped his right arm around it to shield it from being pulled away by the void’s suction.

And like that, still holding the carriage in one arm, he turned and ran racing across the crumbling land with large thuds

He didn’t stop for half a day.

When he finally came to a halt, he gently set the carriage down.

The two direwolves that pulled the cart had collapsed, legs twitching, too scared to even stand.

Li Yuan returned to his human form, opened the carriage, and helped the three women out so they could rest.

Meng Xingxian and Han Feng stared at him like he was some kind of mythic beast, but their expressions were also filled with hesitant curiosity.

They wanted to ask if that was his true form, but they didn’t dare.

And it wasn’t surprising that they wouldn’t know. Even at the peak of the Xia Dynasty, not even the Celestial Sovereign himself had mastered a transformation beyond a human one. Mortal World Transformation was as far as they’d ever seen.

What Li Yuan had done was equivalent to a divine art.