Saints Expounding the Dao

"I use the twelve-grade Karma Fire Red Lotus to suppress my sect's fortune!"

Boom—!

The twelve-grade Karma Fire Red Lotus beneath Styx Ancestor's feet suddenly erupted with an unprecedented blood-red radiance. Upon its petals, the red lotus karmic fire fueled by karma surged violently, transforming into a colossal blood-red pillar of light that shrouded the Blood Sea and shot straight into the nine heavens!

That pillar of blood seemed poised to tear through the curtain of interwoven Sword Qi and charge straight at the crowd.

Tongtian merely waved a hand, and the light curtain pulled back across an immense distance, once more bringing the figure above the Blood Sea and that sky-piercing pillar of blood into view.

Within the blood-red pillar, countless blossoms of red lotus karmic fire flickered through birth and extinction. Fueled by endless karma, so long as karma remained, the karmic fire would never die!

"The Asura Sect, arise!"

Styx Ancestor's voice was like rolling boulders cast into a tranquil lake, instantly stirring a transformation between heaven and earth!

Streams of golden merit light descended from the boundless void, vast and majestic!

The instant its dazzling golden radiance descended, it scattered the filthy blood clouds that had blanketed the Blood Sea for hundreds of millions of years, illuminating the endless sea of blood in glorious gold and crimson. It was as though this were no longer a desolate death ground of the primordial world, no longer a forbidden zone for living beings, but rather a supreme blessed grotto-heaven.

The power of merit contained within that golden ocean was only slightly inferior to what the Three Purities had gained when founding their sects, and what the two Western Saints had received when establishing theirs!

"The Blood Sea again!"

"Styx Ancestor! He really never stops!"

"Don't tell me he'll truly attain sainthood?"

"..."

The gazes of all the innate sacred beings who knew the reason behind this—whether benevolent or malicious—were fixed firmly upon that Blood Sea shrouded in gold, watching to see whether Styx could become a pioneer!

If an innate sacred being without Primordial Violet Qi could truly become a Saint, it would utterly rewrite the landscape of the primordial world!

Golden light surged like a tide, pouring wildly into Styx Ancestor's body. He stood upon the Karma Fire Red Lotus, with two murderous innate spiritual treasures circling around him.

Styx's aura began to rise rapidly! Under the perception of countless great powers, the barrier of the late Quasi-Saint realm was pierced as easily as thin paper, and he instantly reached the perfected Quasi-Saint realm!

"Roar—!"

Styx let out a roar that shook the Blood Sea, charging toward the solid barrier of sainthood.

Rumble—!

"Pfft!"

The Three Purities and their disciples watched Styx Ancestor's aura soar within the light curtain. Yet the aura that had risen to the very limit of the Quasi-Saint realm suddenly became like a punctured balloon, instantly collapsing and falling!

As the golden light gradually faded, the scene at the center of the Blood Sea emerged within the curtain. Styx, standing upon the Karma Fire Red Lotus, remained upright, but amid his pride and bloody killing intent was an unmistakable air of... dead stillness, as though the Great Dao held no hope for him.

He had failed.

The churning bloody waves of the Blood Sea slowly returned to calm. Only the mindless lonely souls within it continued their mournful wails.

Styx raised his head and looked around, as if meeting the gazes of the Saints and innate sacred beings watching his humiliation. The petals of the Karma Fire Red Lotus suddenly expanded, enveloping Styx within before sinking into the Blood Sea and vanishing without a trace.

Upon the preaching platform of Three Purities Peak, Tongtian looked at the light curtain now devoid of Styx's figure and lightly waved his hand. The curtain woven from Sword Qi abruptly shattered, turning into specks of starlight that dispersed.

As Yellow Dragon watched the light curtain fade, he looked around and saw that Nanji, Duobao, and the others remained immersed in the sight of Styx failing to break through to sainthood, unable to pull themselves free. When he looked up at the Three Purities before him, he found all three masters watching him as well, and could not help but freeze.

The Three Purities looked at this disciple, who from beginning to end had never been affected by Styx, and felt that he seemed to have become somewhat different.

The Three Treasures Jade Ruyi in Yuanshi's hand swayed gently, giving off a crisp sound like a fresh breeze after rain, blowing away the haze shrouding Nanji and the others' Dao hearts.

Only then did the disciples realize how deeply they had been affected, to the point that they needed their masters to awaken them.

Just as they were about to rise and bow in thanks to Yuanshi, the jade ruyi in his hand gave a gentle sway, and a mild force pressed them back onto their meditation cushions.

"Your hearts in seeking the Dao still require tempering. Yellow Dragon did very well in this regard—he was never affected from beginning to end!"