Emperor Blood Altar

Central Plains, Emperor Ruins Plains.

Night was dyed black as ink. A blood-red fissure split the sky, and nine beams of bloody light shot skyward from the forbidden grounds of the Gu Clan and the Soul Clan. They converged at the center of the void, forming a pitch-black altar inscribed with the Ancient Forbidden Curse—the Emperor Blood Altar. Its body had been forged from the marrow of nine fallen Dou Sheng, and a million vengeful souls lay buried beneath its base. Every rune was written in emperor blood, radiating suffocating pressure.

"With our Nine Saints' Blood, we make an offering to the Firmament—Emperor Gate, open—for us!"

The Ancestor of the Gu Clan and the High Priest of the Hall of Souls slit their wrists at the same time. Nine Dou Sheng knelt in unison, their blood essence pouring into the altar like rivers. In an instant, heaven and earth wailed, and laws snapped apart. The space where the Emperor Gate had closed began to twist and tear. Crimson-gold cracks emerged, as though the Emperor Road and the mortal world were about to be forcibly reconnected!

"No! They're going to force the Emperor Gate open and sever Xiao Yan's Emperor Road!" Yao Chen's eyes flew open. His Medicine Cauldron shook violently, crimson-gold firelight seeping through its cracks.

Thunder Venerable's wings were mutilated, yet he still forced his Dou Qi to surge. "Teacher, we can't stop them... they have the Emperor Blood Altar, and three Ancient Emperor Corpses haven't even moved yet!"

Medusa's scales had yet to recover, but she had already assumed her true form as the Nine-Colored Giant Serpent, coiling atop the Emperor Stele. "Even if we can't stop them, we must. Little Yanzi's road cannot be cut off."

"Nine Flames Emperor Court—heed my command!" Yao Chen slowly rose, his Medicine Cauldron hovering above his head. The crimson-gold flame seed burned at its heart, faint yet like an undying star.

"With my broken body as the catalyst, the Nine Flames Emperor Stele as the formation, and my Medicine Cauldron's self-destruction as the sacrifice—"

"Seal the Emperor Blood Altar! For three breaths, the Emperor Gate must not open again!"

"Teacher—!" Gu Ling wept blood and tried to rush forward to stop him.

"That's an order!" Yao Chen roared, his white hair flying, yet tenderness flickered in his eyes. "Yan'er... your teacher can no longer walk beside you... but with this explosion, I'll blast you—a road to survival!"

"BOOM—!!!"

The Medicine Cauldron exploded. The crimson-gold flame seed resonated with the Nine Flames Emperor Stele, becoming a towering wave of fire that swept across heaven and earth like a raging dragon. Wherever it passed, space was annihilated and laws were reforged. Thirty percent of the blood-red runes on the Emperor Blood Altar were forcibly erased!

"What?! Yao Chen used the self-destruction of an emperor flame seed as the catalyst?!" the Ancestor of the Gu Clan roared. The fire wave hurled the ancestor a thousand feet away, leaving a charred chest.

"Quick! Restart the altar! If we can't reconnect the Emperor Gate after three breaths, the altar will turn on us!" the High Priest of the Hall of Souls howled, forming seals with both hands and driving the remaining Dou Sheng into action.

But just then—

"Wind and thunder—move!"

Thunder Venerable charged out first, his wings turning into lightning as he hurled his broken body at the altar's base. "Teacher, I'll sustain this third breath for you!"

"BOOM—!"

Thunder Venerable's body exploded, but his soul endured, becoming a lightning talisman that nailed itself firmly into the altar's core.

"Count me in, too." Venerable Feng chuckled softly. The laws of wind wound around him, forming an azure barrier. "Yan'er, if you return... take a look... at spring in the Central Plains for me."

"BOOM—!"

Venerable Feng vanished, his laws becoming a stele that sustained the seal for another breath.

"Little Yanzi, I'm leaving now." Medusa cast one final glance toward the Emperor Gate. Her nine-colored body crashed into the top of the altar, and her emperor blood erupted into nine colored flames, melting through three of the altar's chains.

"BOOM—!"

The altar shook, its bloody light dimming. The power of nine flames return to origin was forcibly cut off.

"No—!" the Ancestor of the Gu Clan roared. "The Nine Flames Emperor Court actually sealed the Emperor Gate with their lives?!"

Yao Chen stood at the center of the sea of fire. His body had begun to turn insubstantial, yet his back remained straight. Looking toward the Emperor Gate, he whispered:

"Yan'er... your teacher... can only help you this far...

This explosion buys you an Emperor Road.

This life protects yours, boundless and free."

"BOOM—!!!"

The final trace of the emperor flame seed exploded. Yao Chen's body turned into motes of light and drifted away on the wind. Only a remnant soul remained, merging into the Nine Flames Emperor Stele. The bloody glow of its inscriptions burned brighter, like tears, like an oath.

Deep within the Emperor Road, on the Golden Light Avenue.

Xiao Yan had reached the Eighth Tribulation—the Soul-Burning Tribulation. Nine soul flames coiled around him, seeking to burn away his Primordial Spirit. Suddenly, a piercing pain struck his heart. The Emperor Fire Seal shook violently, and the Nine Flames Fragment emerged on its own, displaying the scene of Yao Chen's self-destruction!

"Teacher—!"

Xiao Yan's eyes turned crimson, and his furious roar thundered through the Emperor Road. "Gu Clan! Soul Clan! For this vengeance—I, Xiao Yan, will burn all Nine Clans of your people with emperor flame!"

"BOOM—!"

The ninth level of the Nine Flames Return to Origin Art—"Nine Flames Burn Soul"—forcibly awakened! With fury as his fire and hatred as his catalyst, he swallowed the flames of the Soul-Burning Tribulation by sheer force. Nine flames became one, the Emperor Fire Seal reformed, and his Dou Zong realm reached complete perfection, pressing straight toward Dou Zun!

"Purifying Lotus Demon Flame Origin, here I come!"

He stepped forward. At the end of the Golden Light Avenue, that cluster of deep-blue flame finally began to turn, and an ethereal female voice rang out:

"You've finally... come. In this life, you won't disappoint me again, will you?"

Emperor Ruins Plains.

Though the Emperor Blood Altar had not been completely destroyed, it had stopped functioning. Of the nine Dou Sheng, only three remained, all gravely wounded and near death. The Ancestor of the Gu Clan and the High Priest of the Hall of Souls exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with terror.

"Yao Chen sealed the gate with his life... is the Nine Flames Emperor Court truly this hard to kill?"

"Pass down the order—retreat! The Emperor Road remains intact, and Xiao Yan will return. We must lay down the 'Nine Emperors Burning Body Formation' and kill him with a single strike when he comes back!"

"Yes!"

The allied army withdrew, and the Emperor Ruins Plains returned to deathly silence.

Only the Nine Flames Emperor Stele remained, towering alone in the wind. The fragments of the Nine Flames Token upon it flickered faintly, as though waiting—waiting for that figure to return from the Emperor Road, wield the emperor flame, and reforge the mountains and rivers.

Next chapter preview: "Nine Emperors Burn the Body"

Xiao Yan merges with the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame Origin and faces the ninth tribulation, "Nine emperors burn the body." Nine Ancient Emperor Corpses appear together, seeking to crush and kill the master of the road home. Xiao Yan confronts them head-on with the ninth level of the Nine Flames Return to Origin Art, perfecting his windfire emperor body and entering the Dou Zun realm. The Emperor Gate opens again, and he will return bearing the might of the emperor flame. Meanwhile, the Ancient Soul Alliance Army has already laid the "Nine Emperors Burning Body Formation" across the Central Plains, waiting only for him to step into the trap. An Emperor Battle is about to begin!