Black-Corner Region (43k)

"Lad Liu, unless my senses deceive me, the Heavenly Flame you possess is the Green Lotus Core Flame, ranked nineteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, isn't it?" Yao Lao asked, looking at Liu Yu.

At Yao Lao's words, Liu Yu raised a hand slightly, and a blue-green flame appeared in his palm. A closer look would reveal the space around it silently warping!

After being fed ten strands of his Source Power, the "Green Lotus Core Flame" had undergone a complete transformation. Green and blue intertwined within it, wondrous beyond measure, so he had named it the "Green Lotus Profound Blue Flame"!

"That cannot possibly be Green Lotus Core Flame!" Yao Lao exclaimed. The terrifying power contained within that blue-green flame fully rivaled his bone spirit cold flame!

He considered himself reasonably knowledgeable about Heavenly Flames and recognized almost all those on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. Yet he had no recollection whatsoever of the blue-green flame in Liu Yu's hand. It could only be a Heavenly Flame outside the ranking!

"This indeed isn't Green Lotus Core Flame. It's called Green Lotus Profound Blue Flame, and it's the flame I was born with!" Liu Yu said calmly. At the same time, he slowly raised his other hand, revealing a green flame whose aura was far weaker than that of the Green Lotus Profound Blue Flame. "This is Green Lotus Core Flame."

"Impossible! Two Heavenly Flames cannot exist inside one person!" Yao Lao was shocked once again, looking at Liu Yu as though he were a "monster."

For a moment, Yao Lao's expression shifted repeatedly. By all rights, anyone who wished to house multiple Heavenly Flames had to cultivate the Flame Mantra. Could Liu Yu possess that strange cultivation method as well?!

Xiao Yan, standing nearby, was also somewhat startled. He remembered his teacher saying that only the Flame Mantra could grant someone the ability to possess multiple Heavenly Flames. Could Elder Liu have cultivated the Flame Mantra?

"Yao Lao, this Green Lotus Profound Blue Flame has existed within my dantian since the moment I was born. As I grew older, it gradually began transmitting information to me. From that, I learned that my constitution is special and can accommodate multiple Heavenly Flames. There is also a cultivation method in this world particularly suited to me. It can evolve continuously, and combined with my special constitution, it can nurture Heavenly Flames!"

Liu Yu launched straight into his performance, speaking to Yao Lao with effortless confidence.

Hearing Liu Yu's account, Yao Lao fell silent. Unless he was mistaken, the evolving cultivation method suited to Liu Yu had to be the Flame Mantra!

He had acquired that cultivation method by chance long ago. It had originally been nameless; he was the one who had named it the "Flame Mantra."

If so, Liu Yu's background was probably far from ordinary. He might even be a member of some vanished Ancient Era race who had been left in the outside world.

If that were true, everything would make sense: a teenage Dou Emperor, a Spirit Realm soul, multiple Heavenly Flames—and the Flame Mantra could very well be his clan's inherited cultivation method!

After all, the Dou Qi Continent had a long history. Throughout those bygone ages, there had been many Emperor Clans, with powerful constitutions and mysterious cultivation methods emerging one after another. But as time passed, many mighty Emperor Clans had gradually declined, leaving only the Ancient Eight Clans!

"Can your special constitution truly nurture Heavenly Flames when combined with that cultivation method suited to you?" Yao Lao stared intently at Liu Yu, his expression unreadable.

"Yes. According to the information the Green Lotus Profound Blue Flame transmitted to me, all I need is a sliver of heavenly flame origin. Combined with my constitution and that cultivation method, I can recreate a Heavenly Flame!" Seeing Yao Lao begin to take the bait, Liu Yu answered with certainty, then sighed. "Unfortunately, that cultivation method isn't in my inherited memories. Otherwise..."

A flicker of conflict crossed Yao Lao's eyes. Then, as though he had made an important decision, he looked at Liu Yu and said slowly, "Perhaps I can help you!"

Liu Yu froze, a flash of delighted surprise crossing his almost unearthly handsome face. "Could you have news of that cultivation method, Yao Lao? If you're willing to help me recover it, I'll certainly repay you generously!"

"I have no news of it, but I do have a cultivation method similar to the one you described. I'm not sure whether it's the same one." As Yao Lao spoke, his palm shifted slightly, and a solid black scroll appeared floating above it. The scroll then drifted over to Liu Yu.

Liu Yu was briefly stunned. He's just giving it to me? Still, he did not hesitate. He reached out and accepted the black scroll, and a surge of Soul Power flowed from between his brows to read its contents.

In mere moments, delight appeared on Liu Yu's face. He said to Yao Lao, "Yao Lao, this is the cultivation method suited to my constitution!"

As he spoke, Liu Yu tried to return the black scroll to Yao Lao. Yao Lao did not take it, however, and instead sighed. "In that case, this counts as returning something to its rightful owner. Keep it!"

Looking at the scroll in his hand, Liu Yu felt a little moved. Then he turned his gaze to Xiao Yan and asked, "Xiao Yan, you've cultivated this method too, haven't you?"

Xiao Yan froze. After some hesitation, he nodded. Seeing this, Liu Yu conjured a ball of green flame in his hand—the young green lotus core flame. At the same time, energy surged from his hand and enveloped it. "Consider this green lotus core flame my gift of thanks for Yao Lao finding that cultivation method for me!"

Xiao Yan's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. This was a Heavenly Flame! Although he possessed a purple flame, a beast flame like that was in an entirely different league from a Heavenly Flame! With this Heavenly Flame, his cultivation method could evolve again!

Still, Xiao Yan first looked toward his teacher, as though asking whether he should accept it. Yao Lao nodded lightly.

Seeing that, Xiao Yan prepared to take the green lotus core flame from Liu Yu's hand. Then another thought struck him. This is a Heavenly Flame. If I grab it just like that, won't I burn to death...?

Liu Yu chuckled. Under his control, the green flame in his hand slipped straight into Xiao Yan's body, giving Xiao Yan a fright. Seeing his reaction, Yao Lao felt rather embarrassed.

"This green lotus core flame is wrapped in my Dou Qi. It won't hurt you. All you need to do afterward is refine it," Liu Yu explained with a smile.

"Then thank you, Elder Liu." Xiao Yan was a little embarrassed, but still thanked Liu Yu.

"I'm only a little older than you. Just call me Big Brother Liu," Liu Yu said with a smile.

Seeing Xiao Yan standing there in a daze, Yao Lao felt exasperated at his failure to seize the opportunity. Such a fine chance, and he was still daydreaming! With an elder brother like this, wouldn't there be hope for advancing his cultivation method in the future?!

"Big Brother Liu!" As though he had heard Yao Lao's thoughts, Xiao Yan hurriedly responded.

And just like that, Liu Yu gained a "little brother."

The Black Domain Great Plains was a pitch-black expanse that, like a dark dividing line, completely separated the world outside from the world within.

The Black Domain Great Plains was also the gateway into the "Black-Corner Region"!

At that moment, a purple figure and a graceful green figure suddenly appeared above the quiet plains. They were none other than Liu Yu and Yun Yun!

A month had passed since Protector Wu's destruction. After obtaining the Flame Mantra from Yao Lao, Liu Yu had also acquired two slivers of bone spirit cold flame origin from him. One was for himself to nurture, while the other was for Xiao Yan, who naturally owed him a favor for it.

After receiving the sand mandala from him, Xiao Yan had left the Snake-People Tribe. Once Liu Yu had settled the tribe's affairs, he had taken Yun Yun directly to the Black-Corner Region. As for Xiao Zi, the magical beasts deep within the Magical Beast Mountain Range needed him to manage them, so Liu Yu had not brought him along.

Across the boundless plains, everything within sight was a monotonous black. Against the slightly dim sky, an oppressive, aggravating atmosphere hung over the land.

"So these are the Black Domain Great Plains?" Yun Yun murmured. Raised by her teacher from childhood, she had spent almost all her life in the Jia Ma Empire. This was her first visit to the Black-Corner Region.

Of course, as the sect master of the Misty Cloud Sect, she had heard of the Black-Corner Region. It was a region infamous for its chaos, vast enough to rival a small country, where the various major factions fought and slaughtered one another endlessly for their own interests.

However, the Black-Corner Region could also be called a "treasure land." All manner of high-level cultivation methods, Dou Techniques, pills, and other rarities circulated within it. To obtain those things, though, there was one prerequisite—sufficient strength!

You could lack money, but you could not lack strength! This was a paradise for the strong and a graveyard for the weak!

"Let's go," Liu Yu said calmly. The blood-colored wings on his back shifted slightly, and he vanished from the spot. Yun Yun followed him.

As Liu Yu and Yun Yun flew over the quiet plains, strange black fog instantly swallowed the entire sky, which had previously been merely gloomy. Had Liu Yu not known this was one of the Black Domain Great Plains' distinctive phenomena—a Black Storm—he might have thought the truth about Protector Wu had come to light and the Hall of Souls had come for him.

Beneath the boundless black fog, visibility was severely restricted. But to Liu Yu, who possessed a Spirit Realm soul, this was child's play.

Yun Yun looked toward Liu Yu. The black fog did affect her somewhat, interfering with her sense of direction. Liu Yu gently took her delicate hand and led her into the fog.

Suddenly, howling winds swept down from the dark sky. The black gales roared downward like demons with their enormous jaws spread wide, devouring everything in their path.

With a thought, Liu Yu summoned a blood-colored longsword into his hand. The strange patterns on its blade radiated an eerie bloody glow. With a light swing, he unleashed a sky-shaking slash of blood-colored light. Its sinister radiance stained the darkness, effortlessly tearing apart the black gale that was fierce on the outside but hollow within, and ripping an enormous opening through the vast bank of black fog as well.

After dealing with the oncoming gale, Liu Yu continued onward, holding Yun Yun's hand.

After an unknown stretch of time, the black fog and fierce winds gradually began to dissipate. Some commotion up ahead caught Liu Yu's attention.

"Brothers, kill all the men in these caravans! Keep the women alive so we can have some fun first! Hahaha! Kill!" a vicious, burly man who appeared to be their leader roared. His blade rose and fell, and a guard's head was severed from his body.

"Kill!"

"This woman's mine! Hahaha!"

"Fuck off! I had my eye on her first!"

"..."

Seemingly without end, wave after wave of Black Bandits charged a large caravan formed from several smaller ones. Beneath the suicidal press of their numbers, the caravan lost more than half its guards in mere moments!

Meanwhile, each of its high-level Dou Shi guard captains was surrounded and attacked by hundreds, nearly a thousand, Black Bandits.

Most of these Black Bandits possessed seventh- or eighth-stage dou qi, a few were Dou Zhe, and a tiny minority had third- or fourth-stage dou qi. Yet their terrifying numerical advantage forcibly kept those high-level Dou Shi on the defensive. Even when someone died, replacements poured in without end, all with the aim of grinding their opponents to death!

Liu Yu and Yun Yun naturally witnessed the scene from a distance. But Yun Yun was detached by nature, and very little could stir her emotions. Even when she had seen Yao Lao in soul form that day, she had only felt slightly surprised before paying him no further attention. Liu Yu alone could make her emotions fluctuate wildly.

No matter how many people with little connection to her died before her, Yun Yun would merely watch with calm eyes. Just like now, as those caravans were being slaughtered by the Black Bandits, she only watched, her lovely face unchanging. Had Liu Yu not "enjoyed watching the excitement," she would have turned and left long ago.

Compared with Yun Yun's "heartlessness," Liu Yu chose to follow his inclinations. When he could help without much trouble, he generally offered a hand.

Of course, he would stay far away from anything beyond his abilities. But these Black Bandits clearly did not fall into that category. The strongest were merely Dou Shi, while the weakest possessed only second- or third-stage dou qi. He could crush them with a casual gesture.

He raised his hand slightly. Amid a flash of bloody light, the blood sword in his hand transformed into an extraordinary blood-colored laser gun.

Taking slight aim at the dense, dark mass, Liu Yu gently pulled the trigger. Powerful energy gathered inside the gun. Bloody light flashed, and a thick blood-colored laser beam shot toward the Black Bandits.

At that moment, the vicious, burly man was groping the lifeless woman in his arms when his hair suddenly stood on end. An intense sense of unease welled up inside him. For some reason, he raised his head. The last thing he saw was blood-red light swelling rapidly across his vision!

Boom!

The blood-colored laser slammed into the densely packed Black Bandits, instantly vaporizing hundreds of them. The blood-colored energy spilling outward turned into ripples that washed over the others. Every Black Bandit swept by those ripples inexplicably began burning. Human-shaped flames joined together, gradually forming a raging sea of blue-green fire!

"Ah... ah... ah..."

Blood-colored laser beams fired without pause. The sudden "natural disaster" terrified the previously packed Black Bandits into fleeing in every direction. Meanwhile, the caravan members who had survived beneath the Grim Reaper's scythe stared dumbstruck at the terrifying sea of flames. They would probably never forget this scene, which seemed nothing short of a "miracle"!

Beside Liu Yu, Yun Yun was now studying the unfamiliar weapon in his hand with curiosity. Noticing her gaze, Liu Yu chuckled. "This weapon is called a laser gun. Want to try playing with it?"

Yun Yun was tempted, but she had never seen this weapon before and did not know how to use it.

Seeing that, Liu Yu gently drew Yun Yun into his arms, placed the laser gun in her hands, and began teaching her hand over hand, their bodies pressed together.

"First, aim. Then channel the Dou Qi inside your body into the gun. Finally, pull the trigger!"

A thick green laser beam shot smoothly toward the fleeing Black Bandits. But Yun Yun, firing a gun for the first time, clearly failed to react in time. The tremendous recoil sent her bumping back against Liu Yu...

A blush instantly spread across Yun Yun's lovely face. She kept firing at the fleeing Black Bandits to conceal her embarrassment, while Liu Yu, caught somewhat off guard, could only silently enjoy it...

Because of Yun Yun's sudden burst of enthusiasm, every fleeing Black Bandit was blasted to death. Thus, this force of tens of thousands of Black Bandits was completely slaughtered.

Thanks to Mingxin Ruoxiangyi for the tip of 1,500 Qidian coins!

Thanks to Mo Mei for the two monthly votes!

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