Cause and Effect, Not Reason

After the Dragon-Han Tribulation truly swept across the Primordial World, the Purple Emperor Star instead became one of the rare tranquil places between heaven and earth.

The stars of the heavens still followed their eternal trajectories. Starlight fell into the newly formed Lotus Pond, where the Twelfth-Grade World-Cleansing White Lotus stood quietly amid the Three Lights Divine Water, occasionally sending out rings of pure radiance.

Thirty-Six Heavens of Great Luo.

Qing Yi and Qing Xuan had now officially entered the nineteenth and twentieth heavens.

Qing Yi sat by the pond. Noticing Qing Xuan emerge from the Purple Emperor Palace, she raised her eyes.

Qing Xuan sat down beside her and glanced at the Pure World White Lotus in the pond.

"We should make a trip to the Netherworld Blood Sea."

"For the Karma Fire Red Lotus?"

"Mm." Qing Xuan nodded. "The tribulation has already begun. If the Karma Fire Red Lotus is truly in the Blood Sea, then now is the best time."

The Primordial World legends he had heard in his previous life could only help him identify a general direction.

There was no Yellow Central Plum on the Three Immortal Islands, and the origins of many spiritual treasures differed from his memories as well.

However, the claim that the Karma Fire Red Lotus was born in the Netherworld Blood Sea was one of the few accounts with almost no disagreement.

Since they already had the Creation Green Lotus and the Pure World White Lotus, they had to see it for themselves.

Qing Yi asked no further questions and merely nodded lightly.

The gates of the Purple Emperor Palace then closed. Two figures crossed the sea of stars and soon vanished beyond the northern horizon.

The Netherworld lay beneath the Primordial World, yet it could not be entered simply by finding any underground location.

When they had used the Earth Book to sort out the western Earth Veins, Qing Xuan had once seen a place where Yin and Yang converged among the mountains and rivers reflected by the Earth Book.

That place never saw daylight. After countless yin veins sank into the earth, they all ultimately vanished in the same direction.

The two followed that old path downward. Once they crossed the final boundary between Yin and Yang, the mountains, rivers, and daylight behind them receded into the distance.

The wind blowing toward them carried a thick stench of blood.

A dark red sea stretched to the end of their vision, viscous waves of blood surging layer upon layer into the distance.

No sun or moon could be seen above the sea. Only murky qi and baleful qi condensed into dark clouds that slowly churned. The occasional low roar was swiftly swallowed by the next wave.

The Blood Fiend Aura, resentment, and lingering thoughts left behind by beings who had fallen during the tribulation were constantly sinking here from all across the Primordial World.

Qing Yi stood at the shore and watched for a while, her brows knitting slightly.

"The aura here is even more chaotic than at the North Sea Ancient Battlefield."

"The North Sea is ultimately just an Ancient Battlefield." Qing Xuan gazed at the boundless Blood Sea. "What this place receives is the filth accumulated throughout the entire Primordial World."

After Pangu fell, a mass of filthy blood from his navel sank into the Netherworld. Only after endless years did it evolve into the Blood Sea before them.

And born alongside Pangu's filthy blood was an Innate Divine Being destined to leave behind a fearsome name in the Primordial World.

Minghe.

Although Qing Xuan knew the name, he had no idea where in the Blood Sea the other party had been born.

Fortunately, there were scarcely any other complete lifeforms within the Blood Sea. Finding an Innate Divine Being here was still easier than blindly searching for a red lotus.

The two did not split up. They simply followed the occasional Great Dao fluctuations coming from the depths of the Blood Sea.

Several decades later, towering waves suddenly rose from the once restless sea.

They were not tides naturally formed by the Blood Sea.

A river of blood was drawn in from afar, carrying boundless water force as it crashed heavily into the center of the sea.

The next instant, hundreds of millions of innate Dao patterns appeared in the void. The blood river came fiercely but retreated even faster. Vast amounts of bloodwater were blasted into the sky, then fell back into the sea as a dark red downpour.

A blood-robed Daoist retreated from between the waves.

The Daoist had a youthful face and cold features. His cultivation had already reached the late Taiyi Golden Immortal stage.

The killing intent around him was exceedingly heavy, yet not a trace of disorder showed in it.

He clearly had not expected outsiders to suddenly appear in the Blood Sea.

After sensing the Great Dao aura on Qing Xuan and Qing Yi, far surpassing his own, the blood river circling his body slowly came to a halt.

The Daoist did not rashly attack. He merely cupped his hands and bowed from a distance.

"I am Minghe. Greetings, fellow Daoists."

Qing Xuan returned the salute and gave his Daoist name.

Minghe's gaze lingered on the two of them for a moment before finally settling on Qing Xuan.

"The Netherworld rarely receives outside guests. May I ask what brings you two fellow Daoists to the Blood Sea today?"

Qing Xuan did not beat around the bush. His gaze passed over Minghe and fell upon the place that had just endured the blood river's impact.

The sea there seemed to have returned to calm, but layer upon layer of formations overlapped within the surrounding space.

The formation continuously borrowed the Blood Sea's currents to conceal itself. Even if a Great Luo divine sense entered it, it could only see an ever-changing expanse of dark red waterlight.

"We came looking for a lotus."

Minghe's expression paused slightly, a hint of unease rising in his heart. "The red lotus you seek... is it the one within the formation?"

"Exactly."

The sea fell quiet for an instant. The bloodwater that had just retreated gathered once more beneath Minghe's feet.

"This Innate Grand Formation was discovered by me nearly ten thousand years ago."

Minghe looked at Qing Xuan, his voice still steady. "I have remained here all these years, deducing the formation. Though I have yet to truly enter it, I have already broken quite a few of its outer restrictions."

Qing Xuan looked around.

There truly were many shattered Dao patterns scattered beneath the Blood Sea. In some places, the blood river had repeatedly struck thousands of times.

But this grand formation was rooted in the Blood Sea. As long as its waters continued to flow, the broken restrictions would restore themselves.

For Minghe to accomplish this much with his current cultivation was already no easy feat.

"I can see that." Qing Xuan withdrew his gaze and did not deny Minghe's efforts over the years.

"However, that red lotus accords with Qing Yi's Great Dao. Since we have come, we will not leave it behind."

Minghe did not respond, but the blood river beneath his feet silently tightened a little.

Qing Xuan did not urge him. After waiting a moment, he continued, "There is more than one spiritual treasure in the formation."

"The red lotus goes to Qing Yi. The remaining spiritual treasures go to you. I will break this formation."

A clear trace of surprise finally appeared in Minghe's eyes.

"You have not even entered the formation, yet you know there are other spiritual treasures within?"

"I have a slight guess." Qing Xuan smiled. "Whether there are any or not, we will naturally know once we enter."

Minghe did not agree immediately. He turned to look at the formation that had trapped him for nearly ten thousand years, then asked after a moment, "What if there is only the red lotus inside?"

Qing Xuan said nothing, merely looking at him with an ambiguous smile.

The Primordial World was a place that spoke of Cause and Effect, not reason.

There was a vast difference between the two.

Whenever opportunities and the struggle for the Great Dao were involved, all that could be judged was the height of one's cultivation.

Minghe looked at him for a long while before finally stepping aside, though he did not withdraw far. "I will enter the formation with you two."

"As it should be."

Qing Xuan arrived before the grand formation but did not immediately bring out the Hongmeng Measuring Heaven Ruler.

Instead, he studied the traces Minghe had left behind for a while, then raised a hand and pointed beneath the sea.

"Qing Yi, stabilize this Blood Sea first."

Twenty-four Sea-Calming Divine Pearls rose one after another beside Qing Yi.

The instant their pearl-light spread, the blood waves across hundreds of millions of miles seemed to be gently brushed by an invisible palm.

The waves did not shatter, nor did the water currents reverse. Yet every rise and fall slowed at the same instant.

The Innate Grand Formation, which had constantly shifted its position by borrowing the Blood Sea, revealed its complete outline for the first time.

Only then did the Hongmeng Measuring Heaven Ruler appear in Qing Xuan's hand.

Purple-gold divine light spread inch by inch along the formation's edge, establishing true dimensions for that endlessly folded space.

The world behind Qing Xuan unfolded as well. Vast world power passed through layer upon layer of Dao patterns and slowly descended toward the deepest part of the formation.

Minghe stood to one side, his expression unconsciously growing serious.

The next moment, the long ruler in Qing Xuan's hand finally came down.

The calm Blood Sea suddenly parted to both sides, and the Innate Grand Formation that had lain dormant for endless years shook violently.

A scarlet blaze shot into the sky from the depths of the rift, followed by two clear yet utterly distinct sword cries.

Two incomparably intense innate killing auras swept through the formation gate before it had fully opened, one from the left and one from the right, engulfing the entire Blood Sea in an instant.

Minghe abruptly raised his head.