Quest for the Heavenly Abyss

Chapter 3: Netherworld Flame

The moment the Nine Dragon Eyes of the copper furnace opened, Ye Mo felt that his sea of consciousness was injected with countless starlight. The remnant soul of the demon god let out a shrill scream in the golden light and turned into black mist and was sucked into the furnace body. The furnace lid slowly opened, revealing the star tracks engraved inside. In the central depression lay a bronze key.

"Tai Xu Sword Sect... inheritance." The moment Ye Mo held the key, memories flooded in like a tide. In the earth-shattering battle three thousand years ago, the first sect master fused his own soul with the copper furnace. Only those with the Nine Yin Meridian can awaken this power.

"So... you are the real guide." Ye Mo murmured to himself. His skin began to peel off, revealing the new flesh glittering with golden light underneath. The patterns of the yin-yang hybrid flowed on the surface of his body, and each one corresponded to the star map on the copper furnace.

"It's time to go out." Ye Mo inserted the key into the furnace body. Suddenly, the entire Abyss of Demons flipped. Holding the copper furnace, he fell into the void crack. At that moment, the sigh of the first sect master rang in his ears: "Remember, the Netherworld Flame is both your power and a thorn in the eye of the Heavenly Dao."

When Ye Mo opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in a mass grave. Under the moonlight, three hundred corpses formed a strange formation. In the center of each corpse's brow was embedded a black crystal. Just as he was about to get up, a sharp pain suddenly came from his chest - the blood bead transformed from the Foundation Establishment Pill was suspended above his heart, and the word "Slay Heaven" appeared on the surface.

"Who dares to break my Blood Shade Formation!" A gloomy voice came from underground. Ye Mo suddenly looked up and saw seven black-robed men crawling out of the graves. Their eye sockets were sunken, and their skin was covered with pulsating veins.

"Demonic cultivators?" Ye Mo frowned. According to his memory, righteous cultivators call those who fall into the demonic path "demonic cultivators". These people specialize in cultivating evil skills and have an inextricable connection with the remnant soul of the demon god in the Abyss of Demons.

The black-robed man leading the group stared at the copper furnace in Ye Mo's hand, and his pupils instantly shrank to the size of a needle tip: "The treasure of the Tai Xu Sword Sect! No wonder it can break my formation." He suddenly spread his arms, and three hundred corpses stood up at the same time. "Leave the copper furnace behind, and I'll let you die quickly."

Just as Ye Mo was about to make a move, the Netherworld Flame in his body suddenly erupted. His left hand involuntarily pressed on the ground. The dark red flame spread along the pattern of the formation. In the blink of an eye, three hundred corpses were burned to ashes. The black-robed men retreated in horror, only to find that their bodies were also starting to burn.

"This is... the Netherworld Flame!" He let out a shrill scream. "Impossible! This fire has already been annihilated with the demon god!"

Ye Mo looked at his burning palm and suddenly realized the words of the first sect master: The Netherworld Flame is both power and a shackle. He tried to control the flame but found that his consciousness was pulled into a sea of fire. In the sea of fire, there were nine bronze tripods floating. Each tripod was engraved with a different fierce beast totem.

"Devour them." The voice of the first sect master rang out. "For each one you devour, you can control a kind of Netherworld law."

Ye Mo instinctively pounced on the nearest bronze tripod. When his hand touched the tripod body, a phantom of a nine-headed snake suddenly shot out from the tripod. The snake heads bit Ye Mo's limbs at the same time. The intense pain almost made him faint, but the Netherworld Flame was happily licking the snake shadow at this time.

"This is... the evolution of the Netherworld Flame?" Ye Mo was shocked to find that after the nine-headed snake was devoured by the flame, a snake-shaped demonic pattern appeared on the back of his right hand. The other eight bronze tripods began to vibrate, and different fierce beast phantoms flew out from the tripods respectively.

"Interesting." Ye Mo showed a crazy smile. "As many as come, I'll devour as many!"

In the next three days and three nights, Ye Mo engaged in a life-and-death battle with the eight fierce beast phantoms in the mass grave. Every time he devoured one, there would be an additional demonic pattern on his body, and the copper furnace would also absorb the corresponding power. When the phantom of the ninth Taotie was devoured, the soil of the entire mass grave turned dark red.

"The Nine Netherworld Transformations are complete." The voice of the first sect master was filled with relief. "Now, you can control nine kinds of Netherworld laws."

Ye Mo stood up and found that his body had undergone astonishing changes. His originally silver-white hair had turned blood red. Nine-colored flames burned in his pupils. The flowing patterns under his skin converged into a Tai Chi pattern. He tried to mobilize his spiritual energy and found that there were both immortal qi and demonic qi in his dantian, like two intertwined dragons.

"This feeling... is so wonderful." Ye Mo whispered. With a wave of his hand, the Netherworld Flame turned into chains and penetrated the mountain. The entire mountain collapsed with a loud rumble. When the dust settled, he saw hundreds of righteous cultivators standing at the foot of the mountain. The leader was holding the Demon-Slaying Sword, and on the sword body were engraved the four characters "Ling Xiao Sword Sect".

"Evil creature! Die!" The Demon-Slaying Sword let out a deafening phoenix cry. Ye Mo instinctively operated the Devouring Heaven Technique but found that the immortal qi and demonic qi in his body were in violent conflict. His throat was instantly stained with blood.

"Be careful! They have set up the Demon-Locking Formation!" The voice of the first sect master was filled with anxiety. "Forcefully break the formation with the Netherworld Flame!"

Ye Mo bit the tip of his tongue to force himself to stay awake. The Netherworld Flame sprayed out from his seven orifices. The runes of the Demon-Locking Formation sizzled in the flame. The righteous cultivators were horrified to find that their magic treasures were melting, and even their protective qi was penetrated by the flame.

"What... what kind of flame is this?" Elder Zhao Gongming of the Ling Xiao Sword Sect staggered backward. "Even immortal artifacts can be corroded!"

Ye Mo did not answer. His consciousness was immersed in a wonderful state. The moment the Netherworld Flame touched the Demon-Locking Formation, he "saw" the weakness of the formation - at the position of the seventh flag in the southeast, there was an extremely weak fluctuation of spiritual energy.

"Die!" Ye Mo turned into a blood shadow and pounced on the flag. Zhao Gongming hurriedly waved his sword to block but was pierced through the scapula by the Netherworld chain on Ye Mo's left hand. When the flag was ignited by the Netherworld Flame, the entire Demon-Locking Formation let out a reluctant moan and turned into black smoke and dissipated.

"Impossible!" Zhao Gongming collapsed to the ground. "This is a formation personally passed down by the Grandmaster Taiqing..."

Ye Mo grabbed Zhao Gongming by the neck, and the Netherworld Flame danced on his fingertips. "Tell me, why is the Qinghe Sect chasing me?"

Zhao Gongming looked at the nine-colored flame in Ye Mo's eyes in fear. "The Foundation Establishment Pill... it was used to set up the Blood Sacrifice Formation. The sect master said that as long as the heart's blood of someone with the Nine Yin Meridian is used..."

Before he could finish his words, a bell rang suddenly from afar. Ye Mo looked up and saw nine huge bronze bells descending from the clouds. Wherever the sound of the bells passed, the Netherworld Flame began to condense into ice.

"Not good! This is the Demon-Suppressing Bell of the Tai Xu Sword Sect!" The voice of the first sect master trembled. "Hurry up and leave! They can seal the Netherworld Flame!"

Ye Mo turned to escape but found that his body was fixed in place by the sound of the bells. The nine huge bells began to rotate counterclockwise. The sound of the bells turned into substantial chains and wrapped around his limbs. At the last moment before losing consciousness, Ye Mo saw the eight big characters engraved on the bell body:

"Netherworld Flame, not tolerated by heaven and earth."