Shao Tianqi’s Sword Qi was in full display. His Fire Qi was well-honed, and he intended to go all out without holding back anything. The Fire Domain was an ideal environment for a monk trained in the esoteric rule for fire. His powers would certainly be heightened here.

Gu Jingman’s cultivation was already at the level of the Primordial Soul realm, but even so, she was still no match for a Shao Tianqi. Nor was she a Mo Wen, whose cultivation was thoroughly tempered through fateful encounters with the luminaries of the age, and who had been reborn in the Creation Pool.

Gu Jingman’s level of cultivation was respectable, and she was certainly superior to the average monk of the Primordial Soul realm. Her powers were mostly due to her Blood God heritage. However, she would be hard-pressed to face a monk of Shao Tianqi’s stature. He was a master of the Tide Changing realm.

But Gu Jingman had a special gift. She was adept in the use of voice and words, and she could use it well. She now intended to use her gift to mock and fluster him in combat. A monk who couldn’t keep his head would simply lose his fighting edge in battle.

Gu Jingman was succeeding in her clever scheme, easily getting under his skin. Exasperated, Shao Tianqi was unable to maintain his focus and began losing his footwork. Fumbling left and right, he was allowing a less superior fighter to easily best him. He looked a far cry from the famed master that all have come to fear.

“Demon, you die today!”

Shao Tianqi’s voice pierced the air, cold and resentful. His hatred could only be quelled with nothing less than her death!

“You old fool, you’ve been saying that over and over again for three days now, and yet I am still standing.” She giggled.

Dancing rings around the old master, Gu Jingman continued to mock him. He was trapped in her spell, totally disorientated, and thrown off his rhythm. Shao Tianqi was repeatedly making uncharacteristic errors of judgment, one after another. And countless times, he allowed her to get away from his strike zone, despite neatly setting her up for the kill. He was losing easy opportunities to dispatch her.

Incensed, Shao Tianqi took a deep breath. He now settled into a low stance, ready to launch another attacking move. He kept his feet wider apart this time, giving himself a better chance of reacting to his opponent’s deceiving feints. It was perplexing. A monk of Gu Jingman’s level, fighting against a great master such as himself, should have succumbed a long time ago. At the back of his mind, he couldn’t help thinking of the consequences if he lost the fight here. It would certainly ruin his reputation.

But Gu Jingman was no ordinary monk, she belonged to the line of the Blood God, and this allowed her to persist through the long battle.

For three days now, Gu Jingman had appeared unscathed from the grueling duel. But this battle had waged on for too long, and had finally taken its toll on the young fighter. At a closer glance, her face was beginning to appear pale with fatigue.

“You spew filth from your mouth even in the face of death, demon!”

Shao Tianqi laughed coldly. He could tell that his young opponent had already reached her limits. He felt a sense of relief but hid it from his foe. She was merely a monk of the Primordial Soul realm, so it was indeed shocking that she had managed to stay in the fight against him for such a length of time. It was unheard of, until today. But as his fighting mettle began to return, he couldn’t help feeling how completely absurd this was making out to be!

Feeling more confident now, he allowed himself a moment to ponder. Wasn’t it a good thing that he had discovered her abilities when he did? Given a chance to cultivate herself further, she would’ve presented him with the risk of facing an invincible foe in time to come.

Shao Tianqi thought to himself, “Even now, she already seemed more threatening than the great Mo Wen himself!”

Her decision to remain close by the people of Ming Palace had put her at a distinct disadvantage. Even so, she had matched him, skill for skill, over three days of fighting. Shao’s fighting style was ideal for the Fire Domain realm, and yet he had been pushed to his very limits. Had she led him off elsewhere, there was a real chance that he would’ve been comprehensively defeated. This is what convinced Shao Tianqi that she was a formidable opponent.

Shao Tianqi was now determined to slay Gu Jingman on this very day. The idea of letting her off was unthinkable!

As things stood, both the combatants had sustained heavy injuries. His wounds being less serious, Shao Tianqi believed that it was only a matter of time before he would overcome his rival. He moved in for the kill.

Boom!

A loud, sickening crash resounded across the abyss, and instantly Gu Jingman was sent flying. Crimson blood splattered onto the burning surface of the magma sea, at once evaporating upon contact.

“Die, you demon!”

Shao Tianqi’s eyes glinted, he could see that his young foe would not be able to take another blow. He gripped his fell sword firmly with both hands. It was a heavy sword, plain and unadorned, resembling a large plank. And from its blade, an evil aura of destruction emanated. Its dark repute renown across the realms, this was Shao Tianqi’s greatest treasure.

Seeing his chance now, he strode towards Gu Jingman with a slow, heavy gait. His eyes burned with cruel intent. Ominously, he positioned himself right in front of her. Time seemed to stand still as he slowly raised his sword arm. Then with pure malice, he swung the giant blade with all his might.

Blood trickled from the edge of Gu Jingman’s mouth. But even as she saw the heavy blade falling yet again in a downward arc, she was restored immediately. Miraculously, her wounds crystallized, appearing to take the form of a glowing, magical seal. A strange glow seemed to form around her entire body. In the next instant, the shroud of light transformed into a hard shell of crystal, the color of blood.

Alone in this body of light, she could be seen pulling herself to her full height, proud and defiant. And there Gu Jingman stood, fearless in the face of danger, her eyes sparkling like blood-red diamonds. Her long hair now took on a similar hue, extending rapidly to the length of her toes.

Shao Tianqi moved in, his eyes betraying a hidden fear.

Boom!

As soon as Shao Tianqi struck the blood-hued crystal again, the Fire Domain shook in violent tremors. Gu Jingman’s body was sent flying, smashing hard against the rock-strewn ground. Her crystal mantle broke into tiny shards, flying in all directions, and rained down like a shower of crystals.

Arghh!

Without warning, Shao Tianqi found himself thrown in the opposite direction! The recoil from that horrific blow reverberated throughout his body, causing him to spit out blood.

“What is this?!” Shao thought, picking himself up shakily, as he stared at the figure now lying prone. He was baffled. Was she really, just a monk of the Primordial Soul realm? Not even a monk of the Tide Changing realm could match this!

Gu Jingman’s body had been thrown against a low hanging precipice, and she was broken. Around her, boiling magma spewed actively from the force of impact.

Seeing this, Shao Tianqi once again found his martial spirit. He put up a brave front.

“Can’t get up now, can you? little demon!” he growled.

Consciously ignoring the grievous hurt to his body, he forced an icy smile as he slowly advanced towards Gu Jingman. He refused to believe that she could still climb up from the edge of the precipice, not after taking a blow that he had put all his strength into.

“Old man, do you want to go down with me?” Gu Jingman quipped coyly, wiping away the blood from the corner of her mouth. She was back to her calm self, her voice ringing like melodic notes.

“Go down with you?”

Shao Tianqi laughed aloud, glaring down at Gu Jingman in utter disdain. He refused to believe that Gu Jingman could ever recover from this position. In the centuries that he had ruled his realm, there was little he had not encountered. He would not succumb to the games of a lesser monk, struggling to stay alive.

“You don’t believe me?” Gu Jingman fawned, smiling derisively.

“Why don’t you show me, then? Can you do that? Stop bluffing, little doll. I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice,” Shao retorted. He found it ridiculous.

“It is you who will die, not I. Is there still any doubt?”

Gu Jingman ignored Shao Tianqi’s scorn. She kept her head lowered as she carefully straightened out her clothes, as if preparing for a dignified death.

“I’ll send you off first, let’s see how you drag me down with you,” Shao Tianqi hissed, aiming his huge sword at her slender neck, his mind already seeing her decapitation in morbid detail.

Gu Jingman sat calmly on the rock-strewn ground, and nonchalantly raised her head, still straightening out her clothes with exaggerated care. As Shao stared down at the hunched figure, he caught her blood diamond eyes, and they seemed a little strange now. A bright apparition, what resembled a blossom, reflected ominously from each eye. Then it steadily enlarged until it formed a distinct outline of the red lotus.

A deep, red shadow formed where her brows had been. The sight was enchanting in every sense; fell and evil, yet pure beyond compare. It glittered with a cosmic radiance never seen before.

Then everything came to a sudden lull, a strange aura was cast over her, and time seemed to stop.

Shao Tianqi stood frozen with his sword-hand still raised, rooted to the ground. He stared at Gu Jingman in disbelief, looking pale and confused. Try as he might, he could no longer brandish his weapon. Then, it dawned on him.

“Red Lotus Hellfire!” Shao spurted out the words, almost without thinking.

The realization that, right in front of him, was an object he thought to be mere folklore, made him stumble backward. “It is real then! This world is insane”, he muttered incoherently. “Have I already moved on to the next one?”

According to legend, the Red Lotus Hellfire was an incarnation so evil, that all the living spirits of the heavens deeply feared it. The slightest touch of its unholy flames could entrap them in eternal enmity and sin, dragging them down into darkness forever. Even the Heavenly Path Sages wouldn’t dare handle such an ancient and dark artifact. The Red Lotus Hellfire possessed the power to destroy all before it, even burning a Heavenly Path Sage alive!

Shao breathed a heavy sigh, seemingly resigned to his fate.

“Let’s die together then! I’ve gone my whole life thinking I’d never touch the Red Lotus Hellfire in this lifetime. I fear it not!” His brave words disguised the sense of hopelessness he now felt.

Gu Jingman looked composed again, her expression impassive. Red Lotus Hellfire now completely cloaked her, emitting shimmering rays of supernatural light. A thing so evil, and yet, emitting a light so pure and sacred.

She had stumbled upon the Red Lotus Hellfire while roaming the seventh level of the Goddess’ World. How that came to pass was rather by fate, and it had stayed within her since. The artifact had been ensnared by the Sacred Heart Lady. Knowing its true nature, she imprisoned it

in a void created out of all the sins and desires of that world.

Gu Jingman was well aware of the destructive powers of the Hellfire. The moment she unleashed it, she would be turned to ashes, her soul shattered and unable to reincarnate.

It was foretold that those able to survive the scorch of the Red Lotus Hellfire, would be reborn in its flames, and emerge as a Red Lotus Sacred Maiden.

“Wait. Let’s talk this through. Stop, stop now.”

Shao Tianqi stuttered in fear, feeling his very soul leave him. He knew that the moment he was scorched by the Hellfire, he would never be able to reincarnate again. “D*mn it, how did this woman come to own something so evil?” He asked himself.

“Too late for that, you fool! Weren’t you acting all arrogant just a moment ago? Didn’t you want to push me off the edge?” Gu Jingman replied coldly.

“Look. We’ll both die and we’ll never be able to reincarnate. Don’t do this.” Shao Tianqi pleaded, stricken with fear. Had he known, he would never have tormented her the way he did.

“You have the Red Lotus Hellfire. Good friend, where did you get it? Please, let’s put an end to all this. Or this Source World will perish because of your folly.”

The standoff continued. Then a beam of light suddenly appeared from above. It steadily descended into the Fire Domain. On it, stood a young man of solemn mien, dressed in sagely white robes. He moved lightly in their direction, one measured step at a time, and he wore a somber look.

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