Chapter Eighty-Nine: Forcing a Crossing Through the Feeble Waters of Earthfire
The danger of the Netherwater is renowned throughout the heavens.
The Netherwater, the Yellow Springs, and the foul waters of the Demon Pool are all spoken of together as the most fearsome lethal waters across the realms, past and present. Rumor even claims that such dreadful waters appeared in the primordial age of ignorance.
Across Heavenly Star Lake, dark blue flames leaped and burned. Though no trace of heat radiated outward, they still sent a chill of dread through the souls of every warrior and beast present.
The earth fire, buried underground for hundreds upon thousands of years, contained the power of ultimate yang. The Netherwater, which had appeared in the ancient age of ignorance, contained the power of ultimate yin.
These were two utterly terrifying opposing forces. Once they invaded the body, there would be only death, never survival. No one would dare take such a risk without certainty.
“Grandfather, how are we supposed to get the Jade Crystal Lotus?” A trace of worry flashed through the clear eyes of the girl in white, but this time the silver-haired elder did not answer at once. Instead, his eyes shone as he looked at the lotus platform in the center of the lake, at the jade-green Jade Crystal Lotus with its two leaves and five blossoms.
“You again. What, you still refuse to give up?” In the ancient forest, Luo Hao had once more covered his face with black cloth just in case, but when he appeared beside the girl in white, she still recognized him at a glance.
To her words, Luo Hao merely lifted his eyes toward the lake center and said calmly, “I must have the Jade Crystal Lotus.”
Then he looked to the silver-haired elder beside the girl and asked, “Senior, do you have a way to obtain this Jade Crystal Lotus?” After personally witnessing the bloody spectacle just now, he had to admit that this earth fire and Netherwater were indeed extraordinarily terrifying.
The silver-haired elder’s gaze flickered, but he said nothing. Luo Hao simply stood quietly beside him and did not speak again. Fortunately, the area where the girl and the elder stood had fewer warriors, so even with an extra person appearing suddenly, no one paid much attention. Of course, at that moment everyone’s attention had already been drawn entirely to the Jade Crystal Lotus.
After a long while, the divine light that had surged in the silver-haired elder’s eyes finally receded, and he let out a sigh. “The Azure Blood of Heaven is indeed no small matter.”
Luo Hao was left bewildered by the elder’s words. I asked about the Jade Crystal Lotus. What do this Azure Blood of Heaven and the Jade Crystal Lotus have to do with each other?
“Ho, brat, you still won’t give up? You still want to take the Jade Crystal Lotus?” Seeing Luo Hao beside him with his face covered in black cloth, the silver-haired elder took a swig from his wine gourd, then spoke again in a languid tone.
“That’s right. However, this junior is very curious about the Azure Blood of Heaven you mentioned just now.”
Before Luo Hao could finish, the girl in white, You Yu, also blurted out like a curious child, “Grandfather, I also want to know what this Azure Blood of Heaven is.”
The silver-haired elder glanced at the girl with affection, then, in a rare display of solemnity, put away his wine gourd and said gravely, “Ancient records once stated that the Jade Crystal Lotus was originally nothing more than an ordinary lotus flower, but after being stained by a drop of Azure Blood of Heaven, it underwent a mutation and became an ancient medicine.”
“An ancient medicine!”
Luo Hao and the girl in white both gave soft cries, their hearts shaken to the core. A single drop of blood giving birth to an ancient medicine? It sounded like fantasy. One must know that ancient medicines require thousands upon thousands of years to form; they are the finest of spirit medicines, exceedingly rare.
Seeing the astonishment on Luo Hao’s and his granddaughter’s faces, the silver-haired elder continued, “Brat, have you heard of the Blood Jade Path?”
At the elder’s words, Luo Hao shook his head in confusion. He had only just arrived in the ancient world; how could he know so much?
Seeing him shake his head, the silver-haired elder seemed to sink into memory, his voice becoming incomparably solemn. “At the end of the Middle Antiquity, there appeared in human history a peerless hero who shook the heavens. He swept through many powerful ancient races of that era, and alone on the battlefield of ten thousand races he directly confronted the Ten Kings of the Immortal Race and personally slew three lords of the Demon Race.”
“This matter shocked every race on the battlefield of ten thousand races at the time, and it even drew terrifying beings of the immortal and demon races to act in person and kill him. Yet this man was ultimately favored by the fortune of the human race. Though he narrowly escaped death, he survived in the end and then vanished without a trace.
To sweep the ancient races, to contend alone against the Ten Kings of the Immortal Race, to slay three lords of the Demon Race—each of these feats was beyond anything Luo Hao could even dare imagine. So the human race, which had been regarded by the great ancient clans as weak, had once produced such an unmatched fierce man.
The silver-haired elder’s eyes grew solemn as he spoke again. “Nine hundred years after his disappearance, when he reappeared, the heavens were horrified and the Blood Jade Path came into the world. On the day the Blood Jade Path was born, Azure Blood of Heaven overflowed the firmament. In the endless skies and vast star seas, all that remained was a flood of jade-blue blood; the heavens trembled in fear, and the world quaked. King Bi Luo, ah, he was once a mighty figure of our human race who struck awe into an entire era!”
“Senior means that King Bi Luo had the Azure Blood of Heaven within him?”
To create a path, and on the day that path reaches completion, a tide of jade-blue blood staining the firmament, its color suppressing the heavens—that was a scene Luo Hao could not possibly imagine, yet it made his battle blood surge hot all the same.
“That is so. Legend says that a single drop of Azure Blood of Heaven is equivalent to half a Medicine King. But the Blood Jade Path is an exceptionally difficult road. If one cannot succeed, one is doomed to vanish into obscurity. Many warriors once attempted to cultivate the Blood Jade Path, but few succeeded. Those who did, without exception, became the strongest of their age.”
“Comparable to half a Medicine King!”
Luo Hao was completely stunned. A Medicine King was an existence even more precious than an ancient medicine, requiring at least tens of thousands of years to grow. Once it appeared in the world, it would inevitably trigger a bloody slaughter, perhaps even a war.
Fortunately, cultivating the Blood Jade Path was unimaginably difficult. Otherwise, if Azure Blood of Heaven truly possessed such power to ripen spirit medicines, it would simply be intolerable to heaven and earth.
“Grandfather, I never imagined the Jade Crystal Lotus had such a history. It seems the wrinkled old books at home are still useful after all.” The girl in white, You Yu, also sighed in wonder, though the gaze she cast upon the Jade Crystal Lotus grew even hotter.
The dark blue earth fire still roared furiously over the lake, and beneath its blue flames the Jade Crystal Lotus upon the platform slowly began to bloom.
Buzz!
Countless blue lotuses descended like a heavenly maiden scattering flowers, and at the same time a vast surge of vital blood rushed skyward like a tidal wave from a furious lake. In an instant, the firmament was painted in blue-red hues, dazzling brilliance stretching for thousands of miles.
“Azure Blood of Heaven!”
“Blood Jade Path!”
As they looked up at the blue-red tide of blood qi extending for thousands of miles across the sky, the forces of Blazing Fire Sect, West Mountain Ridges, Five Peaks Spirit Academy, and others could not help but raise their heads, their eyes filled with shock.
These were all long-established sects and knew something of ancient secrets. Within that blue-red blood qi, they sensed a trace of majesty and a fighting intent that seemed ready to ascend to the Ninth Heaven.
“Grandfather, what is that?” Suddenly, the girl in white, You Yu, pointed at the blooming Jade Crystal Lotus and asked. Following the direction of her finger, Luo Hao’s pupils contracted sharply. In the center of the five blossoming petals floated a jade-red lotus seed.
“This is...” Even the silver-haired elder could no longer remain calm at this moment. His voice even trembled slightly. At the same time, the other great powers who saw this scene also changed color drastically, without exception.
“No matter the cost, we must obtain the Jade Crystal Lotus!” The once composed leaders of Blazing Fire Sect, West Mountain Ridges, and Five Peaks Spirit Academy could no longer remain calm either. Each major faction’s leader decided at once that, at any cost, they had to seize the Jade Crystal Lotus.
“Charge!”
Among the crowd, Left Qingfeng of Blazing Fire Sect was the first to rush out. With a single step, his figure instantly appeared above Heavenly Star Lake. The dark blue earth fire and the surging Netherwater swept over like an eternal barrier. Left Qingfeng’s expression was grave; the earth fire containing ultimate yang and the Netherwater containing ultimate yin were not to be trifled with.
Buzz, buzz!
Suddenly, a golden conch-shaped magical vessel appeared in Left Qingfeng’s palm and swiftly expanded. The golden conch enveloped him within, and the burning earth fire and devouring Netherwater were both blocked by it.
“Divine Light Heavenly Spirit Cover!”
Seeing the golden conch, Dan Yixiao of Five Peaks Spirit Academy revealed an admiring expression. He had actually brought out such an ancient artifact!
As he spoke, Dan Yixiao was not to be outdone. A white jade bridge appeared in his hand.
Given the gravity of the matter, he did not hesitate at all. He immediately rode the white jade bridge toward the lake’s center. Standing upon the bridge, Dan Yixiao remained untouched by all laws; no matter how fiercely the earth fire burned or how violently the Netherwater surged, neither could ever wash over the white jade bridge.
With Blazing Fire Sect and Five Peaks Spirit Academy making their move, the West Mountain Ridges and Elder Qingyang of Heavenly Sea Sect also acted, while the silver-haired elder beside Luo Hao could no longer remain seated and instantly vanished from before the eyes of the girl in white and Luo Hao.
“So fast!”
The silver-haired elder’s strength was indeed unfathomable, but Luo Hao was not shaken in the slightest. On the contrary, a flash of sharp light crossed his eyes, and then he strode firmly toward the lotus platform at the center of the lake. For Xiao Hei, there was no other way but to force his way through this earth fire and Netherwater.