“Who among them is guiding the way? Why are they heading toward the ‘Bloodfire Gate’?” The sinuous black-armored dragon, lying coiled on the ground, narrowed its golden eyes in suspicion. “Do they have some sort of map leading them to the Bloodfire Gate?”
“Hmph.” A sharp voice scoffed beside it. A massive black-armored avian creature sneered, “You’re overthinking it. With the strength of their group? If they knew about the Bloodfire Gate ahead, they would’ve turned around long ago. Back when we were still Fourth Heaven Realm Gods and first arrived at the Heartlake Island, we all knew about the Bloodfire Gate. But who dared to challenge it? If they truly intend to face the Bloodfire Gate, all four of them will likely lose their lives. Even if they don’t challenge it, merely passing by would be a struggle to survive.”
“The Bloodfire Gate…”
“That place is terrifying. Even when the gate is closed, it’s deadly. Once it opens, it becomes a nightmare.” The black-armored creatures sighed in unison. None of them had ever dared to challenge the Bloodfire Gate—they knew their limits.
“So what do we do? If all four of them die there, word will spread that this region is too dangerous, and no other cultivators will come for a long time. Then we’ll have to continue slumbering.”
“Indeed.”
The black-armored creatures grew restless.
They had their duties. If Dongbo Xueying and his group truly approached certain critical areas, they would intervene. But before that, they hoped to keep these four alive a little longer. If luck favored them, perhaps these intruders might even find some treasures—that would lure more invaders into the region.
Yet they couldn’t simply hand out treasures. Violating their duties would mean annihilation.
“Chase them. Force them to change direction.”
“Make them take another path. There’s a fork three million miles ahead—divert them there.”
“If they change course, they won’t encounter the Bloodfire Gate.”
The black-armored creatures quickly made their decision.
—
Dongbo Xueying and his companions flew at an astonishing speed, covering nearly six hundred thousand miles per second. In mere moments, they had traversed tens of millions of miles.
“Boom—!” A brutal battle erupted. The four of them faced the fiercest combat since entering the caverns—a terrifying black-armored warrior, whose strength rivaled that of a Great Sovereign, attacked them. The four fought desperately.
“Ugh!” Fuqiong Guozhu spat blood as a massive formation materialized around him. Black rulers manifested, swarming the black-armored warrior in a frenzy.
The warrior wielded a massive axe, each strike carrying devastating force. Even under the oppressive rules of Heartlake Island, every swing tore through space, leaving behind chaotic voids.
“Let’s retreat! There’s a fork ahead—we can escape into another passage!” Emperor Qiu Yu transmitted mentally. “This is too much. We can barely hold on. This black-armored monster seems to be guarding this path, blocking us deliberately.”
“No, we stay on this path,” Yu Jingqiu countered.
“Agreed,” Dongbo Xueying added. Changing direction would take them away from where the true divine artifact was hidden.
Fuqiong Guozhu chimed in, “What if this monster is forcing us into the other path because it’s a trap?”
“Possible,” Emperor Qiu Yu conceded.
One side was overwhelmingly strong, while the other had four working in unison. Dongbo Xueying unleashed his domain secret art, ‘Prison,’ one of his three supreme techniques. Yu Jingqiu and Fuqiong Guozhu attacked with their bloodforged divine weapons. Emperor Qiu Yu, the most skilled among them, struck at critical moments, perfecting their coordination.
After a grueling fight, the four finally broke through and fled.
The black-armored warrior didn’t pursue. He merely watched them coldly, muttering, “They insist on this path. I tried to spare them an early death, yet they charge forward blindly. Fine. We can’t outright warn them. If they seek death, so be it.”
His voice echoed in the isolated space, unheard by the fleeing group. Bound by duty, he could do no more.
Though they harbored selfish motives, their actions were confined to the limits of their responsibilities.
—
“Whew.” “Hah.”
The four rested in a quiet passage.
Fuqiong Guozhu and Yu Jingqiu bore heavier injuries. Emperor Qiu Yu, slippery and cunning, remained unscathed. Dongbo Xueying, bolstered by his ‘Taihao Force,’ excelled in close combat and suffered only minor wounds. Yu Jingqiu and Fuqiong Guozhu, less adept in melee, relied on formations and ranged techniques.
“Luckily, these black-armored creatures seem to guard separate zones. If they teamed up, we’d be dead already,” Emperor Qiu Yu muttered. “That last one was too strong. The four of us barely held out.”
“True,” Dongbo Xueying agreed solemnly. “Without Emperor Qiu Yu, the rest of us would’ve been slaughtered quickly.”
Emperor Qiu Yu’s combat prowess surpassed theirs. His battlefield awareness, timely strikes, and sheer strength earned Dongbo Xueying’s respect. He lived up to his reputation as a near-Great Sovereign, on par with Senior Brother Huiming.
“Ah, I’ve just lived a long time,” Emperor Qiu Yu stroked his chin, smug.
“Let’s move. Staying here too long might be dangerous,” Fuqiong Guozhu urged.
“Right. Onward.”
Dongbo Xueying nodded.
The four proceeded cautiously. The journey grew safer, with only occasional black-armored creature attacks—manageable threats, unlike the earlier Great Sovereign-level foe.
“Caw—!” A black-armored bird screeched, splitting into a thousand clones that assaulted the group.
They fled while fending off the attacks, holding their ground through teamwork.
“Careful ahead!” Emperor Qiu Yu suddenly warned.
Dongbo Xueying focused ahead. In the distance lay a vast, hollowed-out mountain chamber. At its center rested a crimson disc—a massive, million-mile-wide circle adorned with carvings of blades and swords. Even through obstructed vision, its details were clear.
“Is that… a door?” Dongbo Xueying wondered.
The disc resembled a circular gate laid flat on the ground, its center marked by a vertical seam, as if it could be pushed open.
“A door on the ground?” The blade and sword engravings, along with bloody patterns, exuded boundless killing intent. Even Emperor Qiu Yu tensed. The invisible menace here dwarfed any previous threat.
Whoosh.
The four swiftly entered the chamber. The pursuing black-armored bird halted outside, cawing as it watched, no longer attacking.
“Stay alert. Watch those ice sculptures,” Emperor Qiu Yu transmitted.
Dongbo Xueying noticed them—two rows of ice sculptures lining the chamber’s sides, numbering over a hundred in total.
“Are these all monsters?” Yu Jingqiu asked nervously. “In Heartlake Island ruins, many creatures emerge from ice sculptures.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions. Not every sculpture is a monster,” Dongbo Xueying replied, though unease prickled his spine. Even one black-armored creature was troublesome. A hundred awakening at once would be catastrophic.
“That disc… My eyes see blood-soaked auras and overwhelming pressure—worse than the Three Ancestors of your Bloodblade Divine Court,” Emperor Qiu Yu observed grimly. “Move carefully. Don’t disturb anything. Skirt around the disc and cross swiftly. Touch nothing.”
“Agreed.” The others nodded, all sensing the looming danger.
“Go.” Emperor Qiu Yu commanded.
The four shot forward like streaks of light, avoiding even the ground.
But the moment they moved—
Crack.
The two rows of ice sculptures fractured simultaneously. Beneath the ice, pairs of eyes snapped open, locking onto the four intruders.
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