Yang Province, Dry Commandery.
The commandery was an endless expanse of black and gray. The occasional blood-red bulges were volcanoes on the verge of eruption. Beneath them stood many grand, sinister halls and towering palaces, with monsters roaming among them.
In the south of the commandery, the Fire Pool burned.
Dazzling Bloodfire surged within it, savage as wolves and jackals, fierce and brutal. It rendered the hundred li around it barren, devoid of vegetation save for a few apricot trees.
Beside the pool stood a black-and-white Heavenly Stele, inscribed with [Great Xia suppressed Ashen Death here]. Eight streams of Pure-White Mysterious Radiance poured from the stele, weaving and transforming to lock down the being within the pool.
The Great Void split open. Black light flashed, and a black-iron Golden Man descended. The auras of Baleful Swallow and Hidden Metal instantly swelled, holding back the savage Bloodfire. "This is where Ashen Death resides, suppressed with the Eight Handles artifact."
Ming An turned his head, amusement in his voice:
"What do you think, Demon King Stolen Script?"
A glimmer of clear blue-green light escaped behind him, revealing a woman in a white dress wearing Golden Rings. Nine fox tails were faintly visible behind her, and the aura of her Divine Ability had already reached perfection.
The pinnacle of Supreme Rites!
Years ago, Stolen Script had left the Central Plains and fled into the Southern Border, dispatching foxes to govern the Far Piao Kingdom. In the end, however, she had been unable to withstand Great Xia's pressure and had merged it into the Xia Lands.
She had gained some benefits, at least. Not only had her bloodline advanced greatly, but her Divine Ability had also reached perfection.
"[Eight Handles] was used to suppress Song Lang's Dao fruit, [Nine Merits] was given to me...