Chapter 634 – The Soul Furnace Fails to Burn, Dragons and Serpents Rise from the Earth - Part 3

Li Yuan could feel it... The creature was dying, and fast. It reminded him of an incident over two decades ago, the

Birthing Monsters Event.

A shroud of gray fog had descended, and from that point on, anything pregnant, human or animal, would give birth to a powerful abomination.

But those monsters, despite their frightening stats, often exploded at the slightest touch.

This Black Ram King was sturdier, sure. But at its core, it was cut from the same cloth.

Feeling the creature’s life force collapse at an alarming pace, Li Yuan suddenly called out, his voice sharp and urgent.

“Han Feng! Now!” Then he added, “Prepare soul-repairing elixirs, immediately!”

The former Sect Master raised a hand, and several third rank envoys from the Immortal Alliance flew forward without hesitation.

Everyone carried those pills. It was a standard precaution.

The former Sect Master retrieved one himself and delivered it directly to Li Yuan.

Meanwhile, Han Feng shivered involuntarily.

She knew exactly what Li Yuan was asking of her.

And though fear pricked at her spine, she didn’t dare refuse. Gritting her teeth, she flew to his side.

Li Yuan accepted the pill, then looked at her and said, “I’m going to open a gap. You search the Black Ram King’s soul.”

Han Feng, an ancient cultivator who had lived for thousands of years, who once ruled the Western Extremes and played the mastermind behind countless generations of Wolfmothers, actually felt fear for the first time in ages.

She had seen what the Black Ram King was just moments ago. That was no ordinary monster.

But she couldn’t say no because she also understood that whatever Li Yuan needed to find, it was important.

And among everyone here, she was the only one capable of pulling it off.

Li Yuan kept monitoring the black lotus, sensing the final moments of the dying creature within.

In a low voice, he said, “No matter what happens, my promise to you remains.”

Then, as if sensing the last thread of the Black Ram King’s soul about to vanish, he barked, “Now!”

Without waiting for Han Feng’s reply, he forced the gateway open.

The black lotus ghost tide churned on the outside while the red lotus burned at its core. The countless eyes embedded in the writhing flesh caught a glimpse of the opening, like ghosts seeing a crack of daylight. Then they immediately swarmed toward it, stepping on heads, trampling over shoulders, fighting to be the first to escape.

But for every foot they climbed, the black lotus rose two. For every yard they struggled upward, the tide surged higher still.

Under the dual forces of the black lotus’s devouring pull and the red lotus’s crushing gravity, the blood-flesh amalgam of eyes never made it far. Every time it climbed, it was dragged down again, like Sisyphus pushing his boulder uphill, doomed to fail again and again.

Each fall left it weaker than before. Its struggle became slower, more desperate. Anyone watching could see it—it was dying.

Han Feng had been forced into this, pushed onto the stage whether she was ready or not.

And she knew if she missed this chance, Li Yuan would not forgive her.

So she closed her eyes, and sent a wisp of consciousness drifting toward the twitching mass of flesh.

The moment it touched, she was overwhelmed.

A flood of howls and memories, limitless and furious, tore through her spirit and shredded her thought.

Gritting her teeth, she sent out a second thread. This time, it came from the very peak of her fifth stage soul, resolute and defiant, surging toward the Black Ram King with grim determination.

At once, her body froze midair. Even the spiritual force that kept her aloft vanished.

Li Yuan moved instantly, his domain power wrapping around her to prevent her from falling.

Time passed, and passed...

The cries of the Black Ram King grew fainter and fainter.

Then, nothing.

The space within the black lotus was completely empty.

Li Yuan raised a hand. The ghost tide condensed back into twelve black lotus petals. The red lotus, too, returned.

The tri-colored lotus now circled slowly around him.

In the distance, the gathered cultivators stared in silence.

This was no longer just a battle. The image of an invincible emperor, towering against the end of the world, was seared into their minds. An unshakable figure. A force of nature.

Li Yuan descended to the ground, bringing Han Feng down with him.

She opened her eyes slowly, her face the color of pale gold paper, utterly drained.

Li Yuan let out a breath, took out the soul-repairing pills he'd prepared in advance, and placed two gently into her mouth.

Then he asked, “What did you see?”

Han Feng swallowed the pills, took a moment to gather herself, then began to speak in a faint voice, describing everything, in careful detail.

As she spoke, the images became vivid in Li Yuan’s mind, as if he were there himself.

The ancient, decaying gate loomed ever closer. Upon stepping through, one saw strange, grotesque souls, some standing, some crawling, wandering aimlessly through the dark.

And farther in, there came a sound. It was a terrifying hiss like something being burned alive. From within that faint glow of multicolored flame, a shape slowly emerged.

It was a furnace.

A vast, incomprehensibly grand furnace, brighter than any star, radiant with divine power.

Above the furnace, something could be seen falling into it.

And below, countless openings were visible.

Some of these openings poured out a smooth, unknown substance, liquid, perhaps, or something else entirely.

Others were blocked, sealed tight. They would rumble and shake violently for a moment before ejecting rough chunks of slag, some large, some small.

And when those chunks hit the ground, they began to writhe, crawl, and rise.

Perhaps it was because that opening happened to be near this ancient gate. A portion of that soul mass had drifted to it, drawn to the threshold, and began trying to pass through.

Han Feng, her voice weak, murmured, “That place...it’s where all souls are burned and then rebuilt.”

“...” Li Yuan fell silent.

Piecing together the fragments, he was already forming a complete picture in his mind.

If he wasn’t mistaken, this gate was a

Gate of Rebirth

.

And if the great cycle of existence could be divided into paths, then this gate likely belonged to what one might call the Beast Path.

That mighty Soul Furnace devoured the souls of the dead, incinerated them, stripping away their power and memories. What remained was reforged, a blank soul, pure and new, then cast out through the Gate of Rebirth.

But those souls didn’t reincarnate immediately. After passing through the gate, they entered a corridor, a transitional passage.

That corridor...was the Hall of Life.

Its exact purpose remained unknown.

Only after traveling through the corridor would the soul re-enter the world, begin a new life, and eventually cycle back to the Soul Furnace after death, completing the loop of reincarnation.

The full structure was something like this...

Soul Furnace → Gate → Rebirth Path

There were likely many such gates. Many such paths.

But some of them had gone terribly, terribly wrong.

Some rebirth paths had

closed.

And some gates, like this one...had appeared in the human world.

No wonder I kept smelling burnt flesh earlier,

Li Yuan thought grimly.

That was the Soul Furnace breaking down.

And now, these massive clumps of fragmented soul matter? That was further proof that the furnace’s flames were failing.

With not enough fire, powerful souls couldn’t be fully burned away. Instead of being reduced to blank slates, they crawled out of the furnace, unfinished, unraveled, still clinging to remnants of their former selves.

They were broken, incomplete, yet still fused together into grotesque new monsters.

Li Yuan could easily imagine how terrifying those souls must’ve been in life if they could survive the flames of the Soul Furnace at all.

The weight of that thought pressed heavily on him.

What was the use of immortality, if the world itself was falling apart?

This apocalyptic landscape unfolding before him, it was just a glimpse of the deeper truth behind reality. A sliver of the iceberg breaching the surface.

And soon...it would vanish again beneath the waves.

This sickness, the rot in the world’s bones, would sink back down. But when it surfaced again, it might truly be the end.

And now that he had seen it, guessed at it...he could do absolutely nothing about it.

Afterward, Li Yuan had someone help Han Feng off to rest. As for himself, he sat down cross-legged before the gate.

Alone, he stood watch, suppressing the monsters that tried to crawl out from the other side.

Though the spiritual energy of the land had grown thin, there was still more than enough for him to draw upon.

With him here, this so-called Beast Path, which by all rights should have triggered a world-ending disaster...was sealed.

No catastrophe. No mass death. Just silence.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Half a month later, the gray mist fully dispersed.

And the gate of the Beast Path lost its power.

With a soft

crash

, it toppled to the ground.

What remained was nothing more than an old wooden door. Ordinary. Unremarkable.

But it was only when one tried to destroy that wooden door that its true nature became clear, utterly indestructible.

Li Yuan let out a slow breath.

By now, the Hall of Life expedition team had regrouped and was ready to set out again.

Their goal this time was to continue deciphering the painting.

Li Yuan carefully stored the wooden door away in the secret vault beneath the Lotus Heart Pavilion. After a brief rest, he prepared to join the exploration party heading back into the Hall of Life.

That was when he noticed, Han Feng wasn’t among them.

Puzzled, he asked about her.

Meng Xingxian replied, eyes filled with admiration, “Han Feng found unexpected fortune in misfortune. After witnessing the cycle of reincarnation, she said she feels a powerful opportunity for breakthrough. She’s in seclusion now, meditating. Said she won’t be joining us.”

Beside her, Ping'an added, “Father, I went to check on her too. Besides what Sister-in-law said, her soul also suffered a serious injury. Right now, she needs massive amounts of soul-nurturing herbs every day, and even bathes in medicinal brews to help recover. Honestly...even if she wanted to come, she couldn’t.”

Then, with a spark in his eyes, Ping'an clenched his fists and said excitedly, “But this just proves what Radiant Treasure Buddha said! Witnessing reincarnation

can

lead to transcendence! We really have a shot! Second rank, we can do it. I know we can!”

Li Yuan watched his son’s fiery determination and gave a satisfied nod.

Ping'an continued, “Why don’t you come with us this time? This might be a golden opportunity. It could even be the

last

chance.”

Li Yuan smiled faintly and shook his head. “Your old man’s too tired for chances. I just want to play it safe now.”

The moment he said that, the others around them all went speechless.

But after a moment’s thought, Ping'an understood. His father wasn’t retreating out of age or fear. He had always been this steady. Cautious, deliberate. That was just who he was.

After a short exchange, the team set off for the Hall of Life once more.

A little black crow perched on Li Yuan’s shoulder, but today...something felt off about her. She was fidgety, uneasy.

Li Yuan noticed right away and asked, “What’s wrong, Sheng’er?”

The little crow spoke, “I had an idea. I’ve been using my second stage clones to feed energy into one of my Tree’ers, trying to consolidate all my strength so they can break through to the fifth stage. But no matter what I tried, the Yang energy was never enough. Even worse, the fourth stage Tree’er started showing signs of regression. I had to burn through a pile of Heavenly Flame Spirit Stones just to stabilize her again. But now...I feel cold. Really cold.”

Li Yuan’s first instinct was possession backlash and qi deviation.

He reached up and gently stroked her head. “Don’t worry. Even if you can’t make it to the fifth stage right now, your dad will figure something out.”

The little crow nodded, then quietly burrowed into Li Yuan’s chest, curling up as her inky-black eyes gazed out at the long road ahead.

The path swayed in the distance, faintly rippling with a strange distortion.

A subtle chill crept up from the depths of her soul, soft and uncertain.

She clutched at Li Yuan’s robe with her claws, wrapping it around herself like a blanket, then nestled in and drifted into a deep sleep.