Nine Flames Protect the Emperor

Central Plains, Emperor Ruins Plains.

Heaven and earth fell silent, all flames sank into stillness. The Nine Flames Emperor Stele floated in the void, nine crimson-gold pillars of flame soaring from it and piercing the chaos to form a vast formation spanning past and present—the Nine Flames Emperor-Protection Grand Formation. With the Nine Flames Emperor Stele as its eye, the Emperor Flame inheritors as its conduits, and the Central Plains' earth veins as its foundation, it gathered every strand of emperor flame power between heaven and earth to protect one person alone—Xiao Yan.

He sat cross-legged at the formation's heart, his eyes closed, Nine Flames flowing around him like nine coiling fire dragons. The Dou Qi within him had condensed to its utmost limit. Just one more step, and he would shatter that seal of countless ages—the Dou Di Realm.

"The tribulation is coming." Yao Chen stood above the formation's eye, his remnant soul trembling faintly within the Emperor Flame. His soul had already been scattered into oblivion, but because the Emperor Flame remained undying, Xiao Yan had used the Nine Flames Return to Origin Art to reconstitute his remnant soul. Now, with his last lingering resolve, he stirred the Emperor Flame, vowing to guard his disciple through this final stretch.

"Yao Lao..." Thunder Venerable stood at the formation's western corner, his Dou Sheng body riddled with cracks left by the earlier bloody battle against the Ancient Soul Alliance Army. "This battle... can we win?"

Yao Chen chuckled softly. His remnant soul swayed in the wind, yet remained undying as a blazing fire. "Win? We've already won. The Emperor Road has opened, the Nine Clans United Execution has been thwarted, and every hero beneath heaven can contend for the imperial realm—that is our greatest victory."

He lifted his eyes toward the heavens. "But they won't stop. The Gu Clan, the Soul Clan, even those 'False Emperors' hiding deep within the chaos—none of them will allow a true Dou Di to return. Because... a Dou Di means their end."

"So this battle isn't fought for Xiao Yan."

"It is fought for the Will of the Emperor Flame."

"It is fought for the Cultivators Oppressed for Eternity."

"It is fought so that—Everyone Can Become an Emperor!"

"Inheritors of the Nine Flames, heed my command!" Gu Ling raised the Emperor Fire Seal high, his voice shaking the nine heavens.

"Here!"

Thirty-six Emperor Flame inheritors stepped forward together, taking the formation's thirty-six celestial circuit positions. The Emperor Fire Seal on each person's brow shone, resonating with the Nine Flames Emperor Stele. Gu Ling, Yao Lao, Thunder Venerable, Medusa, Xiao Yi Xian, Yan Jin, Han Feng, Zi Yan... the nine core inheritors further used themselves as conduits, pouring emperor flame power into the formation's core.

"With my flame, I shall shield the emperor through his tribulation!"

"With my soul, I shall guard the emperor's road!"

"With my life, I shall kindle the emperor's light!"

“Nine Flames Protect the Emperor—activate the grand formation!”

"BOOM—!!!"

Nine Emperor Flames soared skyward, becoming a crimson-gold curtain of fire that enveloped the entire Central Plains. The laws of heaven and earth were forcibly rewritten—space froze, time slowed, all flames bowed, and only the Emperor Flame remained undying. Once this formation took shape, even a Dou Di arriving in person would need three breaths to break through before entering.

And just then—

"RUMBLE—!"

The sky over the Central Plains abruptly tore apart. Nine black abysses opened in the void like nine enormous mouths devouring the light. The remains of nine Emperor Corpses stepped out from those abysses, chaos swirling around them. Their eyes were hollow, yet they exuded suffocating pressure—False Emperor Bodies! These were beings the Gu Clan and Soul Clan had borrowed from the depths of chaos through secret arts. Though they were not true Dou Di, they possessed Dou Di bodies and genuine imperial might—killing weapons brought forth expressly to slay Xiao Yan!

"Xiao Yan! You opened the Emperor Road through a heaven-defying art and disrupted the order of the Heavenly Dao. Today, we shall mete out punishment on heaven's behalf—slay the emperor!" The Ancient Clan Chief's remnant soul stood above the black abyss, his voice like heavenly thunder.

"Punishment on heaven's behalf?" Yao Chen sneered. His remnant soul suddenly ignited, becoming a crimson-gold stream of fire that rushed straight into the formation's core. "You can't even control the Heavenly Dao, yet you dare speak of acting on heaven's behalf?"

"Yao Chen—remnant soul kindles the flame, Emperor Flame returns to its place!"

"BOOM!"

His remnant soul burned away completely within the emperor flame, becoming the purest emperor flame origin and pouring into the Nine Flames Emperor Stele. In an instant, bloody light blazed from the stele, and the Nine Flames Emperor-Protection Grand Formation's power tripled. The fire curtain solidified like a shield, impervious even to the imperial might of the False Emperor Bodies.

"Yao Lao—!" Gu Ling roared hoarsely, his eyes bloodshot.

"Hold the formation!" Yao Chen's final words faded into the wind. "Buy Xiao Yan... three breaths! Three breaths will be enough!"

"It's enough." Xiao Yan finally opened his eyes. Nine Flames flowed within them like nine rising suns. "With this formation, with this flame, with these brothers..."

He slowly rose, the Emperor Fire Seal spinning in his palm, his crimson-gold robes snapping in the wind.

"I, Xiao Yan—shall attain the imperial realm today!"

"BOOM—!!!"

Above the heavens, chaos churned, and a crimson-gold lightning tribulation slowly gathered. This was no ordinary lightning tribulation, but the Dou Di tribulation—the Emperor-Fall Tribulation, which no one had truly survived throughout the ages. Within its clouds, nine figures were faintly visible: the Nine Fallen Dou Di of history. Their eyes were hollow, and they seemed to whisper:

"Do you... truly believe becoming an emperor can change everything?"

"At the end of the Emperor Road... there is only solitude."

"Return... return..."

Xiao Yan raised his head and stared straight into the tribulation clouds. Emperor Flame surged skyward, a pillar of fire piercing directly into the chaos. "I, Xiao Yan, seek neither immortality nor eternal existence. I seek only—justice beneath heaven, the right for everyone to contend, the right for everyone to become an emperor!"

"This tribulation—I will not evade!"

"BOOM—!!!"

The first imperial tribulation descended. Crimson-gold lightning and fire poured down like the celestial river overturning, hurtling straight at Xiao Yan. He neither dodged nor retreated, taking it head-on with his flesh. His skin split, his flesh charred black, yet in the next instant, Emperor Flame flowed through him and his body was reborn.

"Again!"

The second, the third... the ninth!

Nine imperial tribulations descended in succession. Heaven and earth split apart, chaos churned, and the Nine Flames Emperor-Protection Grand Formation shook violently, cracks appearing in its fire curtain. All thirty-six Emperor Flame inheritors spat blood, yet not one stepped back.

"Hold the formation!"

"Guard the emperor!"

"Protect the flame!"

Just as the ninth imperial tribulation hovered on the verge of falling, the nine False Emperor Bodies struck together. Nine streams of imperial might pierced straight toward the formation's weak points like nine heavenly swords!

"No! They're breaking the formation!" Thunder Venerable roared, turning his body into lightning and hurling himself beyond the formation.

"BOOM—!"

The fire curtain shattered!

But the instant the False Emperor Bodies stepped inside—

"Ninefold Windfire Transformation—Nine Flames Burn Heaven!"

A crimson-gold wave of fire swept outward, driving back all nine False Emperor Bodies. Xiao Yan stood at the formation's heart, emperor flame coiling around him like dragons. His Dou Qi had broken through the limits of Dou Zun and entered a realm untrodden for countless ages—

Half-Step Dou Di!

"This... is impossible!" The Ancient Clan Chief's remnant soul recoiled in terror. "He broke through in the middle of the imperial tribulation?!"

"Nothing is impossible." Xiao Yan raised his eyes, his gaze piercing the nine heavens like a sword of flame. "What you've feared was never me, Xiao Yan. It was the hope kindled by Emperor Flame."

He slowly lifted his hand. The Emperor Fire Seal condensed, the power of Nine Flames Return to Origin spinning in his palm. "Today, I swear by Emperor Flame—"

"If the Emperor Road is ever sealed again, I shall return with heaven-burning fire and break it open!"

"If Emperor Flame is ever extinguished, I shall defy the world to rekindle it and protect it!"

"If the Common People are ever forced to their knees again, I shall step down from the imperial heights and raise them up!"

"I, Xiao Yan—pledge to become the Lord of the Emperor Flame and stand eternal watch over this world!"

"BOOM—!!!"

The final imperial tribulation descended and collided with Emperor Flame. Heaven and earth fell mute, and all flames bowed in submission.

Though the Nine Flames Emperor-Protection Grand Formation had shattered—

An emperor had been born.

Next chapter preview: "The Emperor Descends upon the Central Plains"

Xiao Yan survived the tribulation, Emperor Flame descended upon the world, and the Nine Flames Emperor Court ascended to an Emperor Court. The remnants of the Ancient Soul Alliance Army sought to flee, but Xiao Yan burned the nine heavens with a single flame, annihilating every False Emperor Body. The myriad clans of the Central Plains came to pay homage, and the name of Emperor Flame resounded throughout the cosmos. Deep within the chaos, that indistinct figure finally spoke: "You... have finally come."