The Punishment at the Execution Platforms

The Dragon Slaying Platform was soaked in blood, shrouded in a bleak, black Yin Wind. Phantom true dragons with deer antlers and serpent bodies circled and roared, their venomous hatred almost tangible.

Walking through it, Meng Qi felt nothing like he was in an immortal realm. Instead, it was as if he had entered the depths of the Nine Abysses. The chill seeped into his bones, his inner landscape was suppressed, and connecting with Heaven and Earth was difficult. No change of species could alter this; only when a Dharmakaya had formed, and its inner landscape could truly generate Heaven and Earth on its own, could it seek help from the outside—or no longer need to.

Roar!

A golden-scaled true dragon, its tail still attached to the Dragon Slaying Platform, stretched out its body and came howling toward him. Two eyes like little suns, teeth sharp as swords, and bloodstained whiskers all came into Meng Qi's view. Its overwhelming will and irrepressible hatred surged straight into his mind.

A Golden Lotus in Meng Qi's Niwan Palace shone with countless rays of light, resisting the invasion of its bitter resentment. He calmly took a step to the left, dodging the phantom true dragon at just the right moment. The Yin Wind that brushed past him merely made him shiver.

The true dragons slain on the Dragon Slaying Platform had long since died beyond all doubt. All that remained was their hatred, their obsessions, and a little vital essence. Under normal circumstances, immortals and gods would slowly dispel these until they vanished without a trace. But after the Heavenly Court fell and the Nine Heavens shattered, immortals became hard to find, and the remnants gradually became what they were now. Their nature, however, had not changed: they had no intelligence or bodies,