I Sacrifice Myriad Things, Myriad Things Sacrifice Me

There was no sense of time in cultivation; in the blink of an eye, a year had passed.

Eighth Layer of the Fire Domain.

"Damn it, another failed batch! It must be the materials!" After routinely ruining another furnace of divine iron, Crow Daoist emerged from the flaming cave, cursing under his breath. Just as he was about to find someone to vent his anger on, he caught sight of Hua Yue at the edge of the Eighth Layer—and the rage in his chest miraculously vanished!

It was not because he feared or dreaded her, but because he admired and sympathized with her!

Their branches entwined, their tomb shared; in death and life alike, they would lie in the same grave. What a tragically beautiful love story—even an old monster like him had been moved!

"Little girl, stop waiting. The person you're waiting for... is already dead!"

At first, he had been stunned by the two of them splitting the sea of fire apart, and had thought that young man truly possessed some hidden trump card.

But now, a year had passed, and the youth still had not emerged!

He had never heard of anyone remaining in the Ninth Layer of the Fire Domain for an entire year. Even supreme experts relying on heaven-defying divine artifacts could only stay for a short while at most; after all, even divine artifacts possessed limited divine power!

Clearly, that youth had to be dead!

"Too arrogant! He thought that gaining a great opportunity meant he could run rampant through the Fire Domain!" Crow Daoist sighed inwardly.

Hua Yue treated his "curse" as though she had not heard it, staring blankly toward the deepest reaches of the Fire Domain.

She could sense Shen Ye enduring boundless agony. Before her eyes rose the image of Shen Ye being smelted until not a shred of flesh remained, yet still gritting his teeth and persevering, never taking even half a step back. A'Ye can endure such pain for his people. I may not possess ambitions as great as his, but I absolutely cannot be left too far behind. At the very least... I must be able to stand in the place closest to him!

Crow Daoist shook his head. If anyone else had dared ignore him like this, he would have long since burned them to death with a single flame. But this little girl's stubbornness truly moved him!

"Ah, artifact forging, artifact forging. Back to forging artifacts!"

At the deepest point of the Fire Domain.

Shen Ye's brows were tightly furrowed as he rejected the thirteenth version of his method. "Still not right!"

It had to be said, the Sea of Wheels Scroll of the "Dao Scripture" was simply too perfect. The scripture he had created made him feel as though it was too ugly to behold.

In truth, any one of the thirteen cultivation methods he had created would have been regarded as a sect-defining legacy by any great sect—though only the Dao Palace Scroll portion, of course.

Shen Ye calmed himself. Rather than continuing to create a new method, he began seriously dissecting his own true heart.

"What exactly is my true heart? Protection? Conquest? Freedom? Or unyielding defiance?"

The experiences of his previous life flashed before his eyes like scenes from a grand play: the scene of being thrown into Jumu's core, only to gain the protection of divine blood through a stroke of fortune; the scene of stubbornly joining hands with his inner demon; the scene of being misunderstood and betrayed by his disciples, then personally killing the beloved disciple he had raised; and... the scene of carrying a determination to die as he completed his final redemption!

Shen Ye closed his eyes, then finally laughed at himself. "In truth, my true heart is the self!"

Though he had sacrificed everything to protect his clansmen in his previous life and endured boundless suffering, when he examined his true heart, he realized that he had not acted for some so-called great love or righteous cause. Rather, he had stubbornly and selfishly fulfilled the duty of a High Priest!

People of Ziwei Star Fate had always been domineering and forceful, proud and confident, fiercely competitive—and he had taken all those traits to the extreme!

Just like the words he had quoted from Mencius in his previous world: "In this world today, if not I, then who?" He truly believed that only he could save his people.

He could have escaped alone, broken free of his shackles, and lived unfettered and free. Yet throughout his entire life, he had never set down the chains upon his shoulders.

With his talent, as long as he suppressed his Dao Injury, cultivated wholeheartedly, and ignored worldly affairs—ignored the burdens in the City of Flowing Moon—he would eventually become one of the strong among immortals and gods. But he was too proud, too self-centered. He would never willingly sever all ties like a coward and live on alone!

Even though no one had ever asked him to sacrifice himself for the City of Flowing Moon, he stubbornly and selfishly believed that, as High Priest, he had to do so!

He went his own way, unrepentant even in the face of nine deaths!

Anything he had set his mind on had to be accomplished!

His true heart was the self. Yet now, in order to lure the immortal flame into joining him, he had made slight compromises in the cultivation method he created, losing the true heart of "I am the master." Naturally, no matter what he did, he could not satisfy himself!

The fact that he had developed the unorthodox divine ability Driving Gods and Employing Ghosts was enough to show that he had never been someone who followed rules and kept to his place!

If he changed himself for a wisp of immortal flame, then he would no longer be Shen Ye!

"To know others is wisdom; to know oneself is enlightenment! Sure enough, seeing oneself clearly is the hardest thing of all!" Shen Ye exhaled a breath of turbid air, already having made his decision. "The Dao I seek is the Path of Sacrifice—the deepest imprint running through both my past and present lives, etched into my bloodline!"

The mortal world was full of turmoil, while he sat withered and still in the Fire Domain. In the blink of an eye, another three years passed.

Shen Ye sat upright within the Fire Domain, his black hair fluttering, his body crystal-clear as immortal flames tempered his flesh. He resembled a deity amid the blaze!

Opening his eyes, two tangible beams of golden light shot forth from them. "My Dao is complete!"

Though those words were somewhat exaggerated, in his excitement, he could not be bothered with such things.

He had finally taken this step only through heaven-defying comprehension, immortal flames tempering his body, the inheritance of divine blood, and the Destiny Orb burning his fortune!

The hardest step of creating his own cultivation method had already been crossed. What lay ahead was now a broad highway, a smooth road to heaven!

Ordinary people found things easy at first and difficult later, but he was the opposite—difficult first, easy later. Creating the Dao Palace Scroll scripture had cost him three years, but the subsequent Four Extremities Scroll would likely not take nearly as long.

In his excitement, his heart fire blazed fiercely, and with a single thought, a boundless sea of bitterness arose.

Yet through these three years of comprehending the Dao, Shen Ye's Dao heart had grown ever firmer, already tempered until it could not be shaken or broken!

If his former Dao heart had been a stubborn rock in a river, standing immovable, then it was now a lone island in the great river, enduring through the ages!

No matter how violently the heart fire raged, it could not stir the slightest ripple in his heart!

Completely ignoring the effects of the immortal flame tempering his body and the heart fire burning him from within, Shen Ye looked toward Little Flame, lively and cheerful like a tiny sprite. "I'm leaving. Do you want to come out with me?"

Little Flame hesitated. Though its intelligence was not high, its subconscious seemed to know that leaving might cause some very bad things to happen!

Shen Ye beckoned to it. "Enter my divine treasury, become my divine spirit!"

This was the mystery of his Dao Palace Scroll: the Path of Sacrifice. It sounded utterly lacking in style, but as the High Priest, he did not preside over ordinary rites—he sought to preside over the Grand Heaven and Earth Sacrifice!

The core of the path he cultivated consisted of only eight words: I sacrifice all things; all things sacrifice to me!

"I sacrifice all things" did not mean worshipping Heaven and all creation as deities. Rather, Heaven's heart was his heart; when all things sacrificed to him, they revered him as the Heavenly Dao.

Put simply, the prerequisite for sacrificing to Heaven and all things was this: I am the master, and all things are for my use!

Those for my use are benevolent gods; those who defy my will are wicked demons!

For his cultivation in the Dao Palace Secret Realm, he intended to use five supreme treasures to sacrifice to himself!

The heart ruled over the five viscera and six bowels, so cultivation in the Dao Palace Secret Realm naturally ought to begin with the Heart Divine Treasury!

And since the heart was the fire organ, illuminating all things, the immortal flame before him was precisely the finest treasure to help him advance into the Dao Palace Secret Realm!

Little Flame sensed Shen Ye's sincerity and slowly flew closer. After circling him three times, as though it had made some decision, it hovered in midair for a moment before plunging headfirst into Shen Ye's body.

Though he had not cultivated deliberately, four years of having his body tempered by the immortal flame had brought his transformation in the Other Shore realm to its utmost limit. The Dao Palace had long been just one step away; now, there was naturally nothing left to hinder him!

Even the vast amount of spiritual energy needed to break through to the Dao Palace was rendered unnecessary, as the immortal flame itself contained boundless fire energy, directly skipping the process of absorbing spiritual energy!