Darkness.
Endless darkness, with no high or low, no large or small, no near or far, no before or after. No comparison could be made here. Even darkness itself could not be ascertained, for there was no corresponding light.
Yet now, a faint candle flame flickered to life.
"Beyond the Heavens-"
Xu Xuan sensed all of this. Having broken through a boundary, he had ascended to what was called Beyond the Heavens.
The farther he ventured into the darkness, the weaker time, space, and cause and effect became. He could even slip free of his fruit position with ease and fall into utter unknowability.
Only by using shock thunder as a beacon could Xu Xuan sense the existence of his original world. Otherwise, he might well lose his way.
Dazzling dark-red fire spread. The red dust seethed with turmoil, and karmic fire swept through the sky.
An immense, boundless divine body emerged, seemingly condensed from billowing yin flame. Its scales were dark red, its limbs nowhere to be seen. A mask cast from red iron clung tightly to its face, with only a single eerie, dark-red vertical pupil opening and closing.
[Candle Yin]
"Shock thunder. Very clean."
The Torch Dragon gazed at the wind and thunder before him, seemingly smiling.
"Only Thunder Marsh remains. Why not summon him?"
A Dharma form stood quietly upon the Torch Dragon's head, wearing immortal robes and a dark crown. Billowing red dust and karmic fire flowed over him, while behind him gathered all the suffering of denied immortality, heavenly decline, and exhausted lifespans.
The Primordial Gate appeared behind Xu Xuan. Wind and thunder roared, radiance streamed, and the seven revelations on his body continually brought forth the mysteries of thunderbolts. The ultimate might of severance emerged.
As the two confronted each other, all manner