Yellow Court Daoist

"Karmic Fire?!"

Raging karmic fire burned furiously, threatening to spread toward the three along the Blood Sea.

"Retreat!"

"Get out!"

Ao Zhuo bellowed.

With three swords to protect their bodies, he and Ao Jue beside him shifted toward the heavens to escape. Ao Shang was quick to follow.

In an instant.

They emerged from the Blood Sea, landing above the vast sky. Exchanging glances, their eyes still held lingering fear.

"Yu Gong, Miao Yu have committed such atrocities. Bound by karmic fire, doomed if not dead."

"But before that."

"Us True Immortals can't approach them, nor can we enter the Blood Sea!"

Ao Shang's brows were tightly furrowed.

Looking at the raging karmic fire, who would dare to come close?

One slip, and death would claim the soul, destroying countless years of Dao ability—how could anyone not fear?

But unable to enter the Blood Sea meant they couldn't stop it from rising.

At this rate, East Xian State was bound to be submerged by the Blood Sea eventually, turning into a land of the dead.

The three fell silent, momentarily at a loss for a solution.

...

Ghostly Wailing Mysterious Realm.

Lu Qingfeng, seeing the three great True Immortals—Ao Zhuo, Ao Shang, and Ao Jue—appear and then immediately flee in shock, remained unfazed.

Such was the terrifying nature of the karmic fire.

Even True Immortals felt fear at the mere sight.

Ignoring the commotion.

Lu Qingfeng continued to watch.

Seeing no one else in the Blood Sea, the karmic fire that once was a mere strand on Yu Gong and Miao Yu had grown to engulf their entire bodies.

Giants monopolizing the Shang River Navy and numerous True Immortals were now declining.

Amidst the Blood Sea's rise, vast territories were in turmoil.

Lu Qingfeng's thoughts stirred—

"Now is the time!"

As the thought passed.

In the Blood Sea, twin whirlpools expanded, stirring up furious waves. A mysterious transformation, indescribable.

Strange fluctuations rippled.

Much like the thoughts themselves, covering the vast Blood Sea, these peculiar vibrations instantly spread throughout.

"Hmm?!"

In the midst of the Blood Sea, startled and doubtful voices sounded.

Yu Gong and Miao Yu opened their eyes at once. Holding each other, they looked around with Divine Thoughts sweeping everywhere in search.

After a moment.

Nothing was found.

Hiss, hiss, hiss!

The karmic fire burned relentlessly, scorching even the Divine Thoughts that covered them. The Magic Gate protected them, preventing disintegration into nothingness, but the pain intensified a thousand, ten thousand times over.

Enduring the agony, they found nothing.

"Senior Brother."

"The karmic fire is fierce. Just now, those three vermin entered and fled immediately upon seeing the karmic fire."

"With its protection, no one can peer into the Blood Sea."

Miao Yu said in her crisp voice.

"Mm."

Yu Gong nodded.

His thoughts sinking, he continued to exert the Great Method while resisting the boundless torment of burning by karmic fire.

Thus.

Thirteen breaths later.

Boom!

Yu Gong and Miao Yu's Divine Thoughts simultaneously swept out thunderously, covering all directions, plunging deep into the Blood Sea.

Hiss, hiss, hiss.

The karmic fire scorched without any care.

The previous cease in exploration was but a ploy for misdirection.

Their Divine Thoughts swept for a moment, Miao Yu frowned. "Senior Brother, have you discovered anything?"

Yu Gong, enduring the karmic fire with a fierce expression, sensed all around, his face showing shocked doubt, "This Blood Sea—"

"Blood Sea?"

Miao Yu felt carefully, her eyes suddenly revealing great horror, "Has the Blood Sea developed a will?!"

This shock was no small matter.

Within the vast Blood Sea, it evoked a feeling reminiscent of a Life Spirit's creation, how terrifying was that?

"Senior Brother!"

Miao Yu's mind was momentarily thrown into chaos, making a mistake, and losing coordination with Yu Gong.

The next moment.

Boom!

The karmic fire erupted, burning Miao Yu's half left side into ash amid the roaring flames.

"Ah!"

Miao Yu screamed, only half of her face remaining, blood splattering in a horrifying sight.

"Don't get distracted!"

Yu Gong held Miao Yu close, whispering gently beside her ear, filled with tender affection.

Miao Yu immediately detached from the pain, her mind finding a place to rest.

The karmic fire subsided slightly.

"Senior Brother."

A Mahayana True Immortal should be able to regenerate limbs with ease, yet the half of Miao Yu's body could not regenerate. This was due to the burning karmic fire, beyond recovery. Not only was half of her body turned to ash, but her Divine Soul was also severely damaged.

At this moment, even as the karmic fire receded, Miao Yu's cultivation and Dao ability regressed.

Any True Immortal could now slay her.

Barely stabilizing.

"It's nothing."

"Don't get distracted."

Yu Gong, holding what was left of Miao Yu, comforted her while continuing to collect his thoughts, no longer daring to lose focus. Miao Yu did the same. But just the thought of that vague, seemingly non-existent will within the Blood Sea made them wavering and trembled.

Externally—

The karmic fire, which previously couldn't harm them, now slowly burned in a way that caused irreversible damage to their bodies and Divine Soul.

If this continued.

They would eventually turn to ash.

In their urgency, the karmic fire burned even faster.

They were trapped in a deadly cycle.

"In such a state, even without my intervention, the two of them would struggle to succeed."

Lu Qingfeng sat with his legs crossed and his five hearts facing the sky, hands forming seals, while his thoughts flowed like a stream.

A single thought settled into the Blood Sea.

There, a notion bobbed up and down, cultivating the "Blood Sea Scripture."

The Blood Sea Scripture!

This was a secret technique of the Blood Sea lineage that Lu Qingfeng had acquired from the Five Directions Realm, a Mysterious Level Technique. He had always possessed an abundance of magic gates to cultivate, so the Blood Sea Scripture had always languished in a corner, never studied.

Therefore,

When he once crossed swords with Jian Zhang of the Blood Spring Demon Sect, he had no clue as to the full extent of his opponent's arsenal.

Moreover, even if Lu Qingfeng were to cultivate the Blood Sea Scripture,

One being the method of the Blood Spring Demon Sect and the other the true transmission of the Blood Sea, both might be related to the 'Blood Sea,' but it's another question altogether whether they are actually connected. Lu Qingfeng's cultivation of the Blood Sea Scripture didn't necessarily mean he could fully grasp all techniques of the Blood Spring Demon Sect.

It's like—

Just because Lu Qingfeng cultivates the Luofu Sword Scripture, should he be expected to know every Sword Dao in the world and be able to nullify them at will?!

Absurd!

However, more than two hundred years ago, when Luo Fuzi's Avatar joined the Yu Mountain sect, Lu Qingfeng dispatched several avatars refined over many years to East Xian State, East Chen State, and East Xiang State.

Among these, the avatar that went to East Xian State, disguised as 'He Shan,' joined the Ghostly Wailing Mysterious Realm, one of the Blood Spring Demon Sect's branches.

Of course.

That avatar was already secretly sent by Lu Qingfeng into the Blood Sea, where it began to cultivate the Blood Sea Scripture. The one sitting in the Ghostly Wailing Mysterious Realm was actually Lu Qingfeng's true self.

"Blood Sea Scripture."

"Become one with the boundless Blood Sea."

"In normal circumstances, with the vastness of the Blood Sea, even with wonderful methods, to refine and merge with the Blood Sea, and then to control it as one entity—it would take tens of thousands of years of effort, like dripping water wearing away stone."

"But now,"

"Thanks to the machinations of the two Blood Spring Ancestors, and the great opportunity presented by the disturbances of the heavens and earth, along with the upheaval of the Blood Sea, I've found my chance!"

Lu Qingfeng's mind emptied, expressing most of his Heart Power within the Blood Sea avatar.

The other avatars, including Luo Fu and the like, went into secluded cultivation, effectively becoming inert.

Thus,

The Blood Sea Scripture spun wildly.

Long ago, when entering the Blood Spring Demon Sect to set up the Zhenyuan Array for the Evil Venerable, using the rare mastery of arrays to sense the schemes of the Blood Spring Demon Sect, 'He Shan' began practicing the Blood Sea Scripture.

Over two hundred years,

With the aid of the Blood Spring in the Ghostly Wailing Mysterious Realm, he had achieved some results. After the success of the Zhenyuan Array, by leveraging various safeguards left behind, it was easy to journey to and from the Blood Sea. Practicing with the help of the Blood Sea, the advancements in this method were rapid.

In a short period,

The Golden Core Realm was reached.

A Blood Pill formed within his Dantian.

Boom!

The person burst open within the Blood Sea, merging into it.

Boom!

The Golden Core bobbed and also exploded.

Mana swept out, blending into the Blood Sea, taking the Divine Soul along with it.

Suddenly,

He became intertwined with the Blood Sea, as if they were one entity.

Suddenly, endless malicious qi surged forth.

Countless thoughts attacked, the will of the vast Blood Sea brooked no intrusion, scouring Lu Qingfeng's feeble will.

Lu Qingfeng dared not relax.

He firmly guarded his inner self.

The true intent of the Blood Sea Scripture flowed between his hearts. His true self in the Ghostly Wailing Mysterious Realm and even beyond the Primordial in the Illusion Wave Sea silently recited the Yellow Court.

The reverberating Yellow Bell Great Lv echoed.

Wave after wave of ceaseless assaults came.

Lu Qingfeng's expression did not waver.

While silently reciting the Yellow Court, he maintained the operation of the Blood Sea Scripture, the method of merging with the Blood Sea.

Within the Blood Sea,

Endless sin entwined.

It rapidly tainted that avatar with filth, with blood qi and sin entering the body, and even following the mysterious connection, it surged towards Lu Qingfeng.

It wasn't as violent, more like a trickle.

But even a trickle is relatively vast compared to the Blood Sea, and even a Mahayana True Immortal would not dare to endure it, let alone a newly ascended minor Primordial Spirit like Lu Qingfeng?

In an instant,

Bloody waves churned from who knows where, storming toward Lu Qingfeng's Divine Soul with overwhelming force. In the next moment, they would engulf the Sea of Consciousness and drown the Divine Soul.

"Dutian Demon God!"

Lu Qingfeng, however, remained unperturbed.

At the thought, the bodies of the Twelve Venerable Dutian Demon Gods manifested within the Sea of Consciousness.

In the sea, around Lu Qingfeng's towering Divine Soul, eighteen Divine Thoughts circled. This was what Lu Qingfeng had achieved in thirty or forty years after ascending to the Primordial Spirit Realm.

His Divine Soul, standing thirty-six feet tall, towered within the Sea of Consciousness.

Inside,

Like riverbanks bursting forth, infinite blood waves mixed with malicious qi surged in, staining the Sea of Consciousness crimson. If he could not resolve it, he would certainly fall into the Blood Sea with his avatar, forever sinking into oblivion.

"Merely relying on the Body Separation Technique, to think that as a mere Primordial Spirit I could control an avatar of the Blood Sea — utter fantasy."

Lu Qingfeng's thoughts flowed, aware of the peril.

But this referred to ordinary cultivators.

To seize the Blood Sea, he relied not only on the Body Separation, this Great Divine Power.

"Swallow!"

A thought tumbled.

The Twelve Demon Gods surrounded the Divine Soul.

One by one, they opened their gaping mouths, hungrily devouring the onrushing Blood Sea that breached its banks.

The Blood Sea that came from the void turned into twelve vast rivers, all entering the mouths of the Twelve Demon Gods. This was the magic of demons, and the Twelve Heavenly Demon God Skill was a Supreme Level Magic Gate, with endless Mysterious intricacies.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After consumption, their bellies thundered.

In an instant, they were refined.

Transformed into boundless Mana, untainted by even a hint of the Blood Sea's influence.

This refining processed malicious qi, resentment, and all sorts of negative energies, but it did not include sin.

Sin!

Once it clings to you, it becomes Karma.

And Karma—

"Yellow Court Scripture."

"Karma Removal!"

Lu Qingfeng silently recited the Yellow Court, transforming boundless sin into nothingness.

Leaving him untouched.

Yet the Blood Sea was endless, and the sins were limitless.

The characteristic of 'Karma Removal,' which had remained the same for seventeen lifetimes, now seemed to undergo a transformation. The previously unperceived and unseen Karma momentarily became solid, tangible.

"This is—"

Lu Qingfeng noticed, and his eyes instantly blazed with light. In a moment, a surprise even greater than the prospect of merging with the Blood Sea struck him, sending a tremor through him and leaving him momentarily frozen.

...