Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation
chapter-2154

Illusion? Or reality?

To think that the nexus of the eighteen flame veins was a clear lake. Light and shadow flashed, and the lake water churned, looking dreamy and illusory.

Xiao Chen felt confused. For a moment, he did not know whether he was dead or alive.

After the confusion, he suddenly discovered that his remaining Demonic Qi Veritable Essence Energy and Spiritual Energy Veritable Essence Energy, which had been significantly drained, were circulating automatically, forming a weak Taiji force field around him. There was also a Taiji diagram under his feet.

I’m not dead!

Xiao Chen was sure that he was not dead. Everything he saw was real and not a hallucination. He slowly calmed down and looked around, entering deep thought.

This lakewater is not water in the conventional sense.

Suddenly, Xiao Chen understood. With nine extreme Yang flame veins and nine extreme Yin flame veins, this place where Yin and Yang met was actually a region of Primal Chaos. In reality, the seemingly clear lake water contained extremely powerful Primal Chaos Energy.

If an ordinary person soaked in it, the balance between Yin and Yang in their body would go amiss. They would lose control of their body. In severe cases, one might die without a corpse in this Primal Chaos flame vein.

Xiao Chen had survived only because of the Taiji force field.

The flames in a state of Primal Chaos had split into Yin and Yang, which allowed Xiao Chen to find safety in this place where eighteen flame veins gathered.

“So, that is the case.”

Xiao Chen showed an expression of understanding. Everything he saw widened his horizons. When the eighteen flame veins gathered, the resulting Primal Chaos manifested as clear lake water.

Others probably could not imagine such a scene. It would be even less likely that they could view such a scene with composure.

Danger filled the Primal Chaos. Either one forcefully broke the Primal Chaos apart, which required the strength of a Faux God, or one did it like Xiao Chen, using a technique to split Yin and Yang, balancing the nine extreme Yin flame veins and nine extreme Yang veins.

“This is a great opportunity. Here, I can improve the Universe Origin True Flame and the Heavenly Snow Divine Flame at the same time. Furthermore, I can comprehend the Dao here and advance my cultivation. This is killing three birds with one stone,” Xiao Chen analyzed calmly. If one did not die from a calamity, there would definitely be a blessing later.

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Xiao Chen sat down, cross-legged, and placed his hands on his knees with the palms facing up. In the next moment, the Heavenly Snow Divine Flame’s Origin Flame appeared on his left hand, and the Universe Origin True Flame’s Origin Flame appeared on his right hand.

The two Primal Chaos Grade flames started absorbing the Yin-attributed flames and Yang-attributed flames in the lake. The Taiji diagram under him slowly became more distinct.

As the flames in Xiao Chen’s palms slowly grew stronger, the Taiji diagram under him turned increasingly substantial, glowing faintly.

He closed his eyes. At some point in time, the two clumps of Origin Flame in his palms floated up. They swam nimbly, looking like fish.

The two fish chased each other in the water and formed an even more substantial Taiji force field as they wildly absorbed the flame veins’ essence.

After some time, sparks appeared at the bottom of the clear lake. These sparks looked like stars flashing there.

These sparks seemed intelligent. When they saw Xiao Chen, they flew over like moths to a flame. These sparks thronged him, layering over each other.

Xiao Chen did not realize this. He had already sunk to the bottom of the lake while comprehending the Dao. All his injuries healed; he entered an indescribably wondrous state similar to that of a fetus in its mother’s body.

The Ice Fire Wasteland could be divided into the periphery, the inner area, and the core zone.

The periphery accounted for half the area. Previously, Xiao Chen remained in the periphery to kill mastiffs, becoming known as the Dog Killing Wild Demon. He had been like the overlord of the periphery.

The Ice Fire Wasteland’s inner area was a mysterious ice forest adorned with many silver ice crystals.

These ice crystals were crystalline and snow-white, giving the place a sense of antiquity.

Every tree was at least ten thousand years old, and many crafty and strong Faux Beasts lived in them.

Half-step Sovereign Emperor experts or other Sovereign Personages willing to take risks often adventured here.

Adventuring here was much more dangerous than in the periphery. One might fall here at any moment.

Although the inner area was dangerous, many people still understood it or had adventured there before.

However, the Ice Fire Wasteland’s core zone was extremely mysterious. In fact, most people did not know what the core zone looked like.

This place was extremely horrifying. Only the true experts among Sovereign Personages dared to venture here and adventure.

On this day, a group of people arrived at the edge of the Ice Fire Wasteland’s core zone.

This group consisted of Universe Origin Sect disciples who had mocked Xiao Chen for killing dogs. All of them looked extraordinary and stood out. Among them, Fang Shaobai, at the head of the group, stood out the most.

“Senior Brother Fang, we have arrived.”

These people gave off strong killing Qi. On their way here, they had experienced intense killing.

Fang Shaobai remained silent as he looked to the front at a vast and boundless flame sea.

Others probably could not imagine it, but the center of the continent made up of ice actually had an extremely horrifying flame sea.

As the flame sea churned, the temperature would fluctuate between hot and cold, extremely strange. The surging heatwaves materialized many mysterious phenomena. When a wave surged over, it was like the peak strike of a half-step Sovereign Emperor.

That was not the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying thing was that the flame sea was in a state of Primal Chaos, where Yin and Yang had yet to split. This made it hard for people to deal with the flame sea.

As Fang Shaobai faced this flame sea, he appeared extremely cautious. This was even more so for the other disciples.

Most of the Universe Origin Sect disciples excelled at the Fire Dao. Many of them even comprehended the Fire Dao Domain.

However, that was useless. Yin and Yang had not split in this flame sea, a state of Primal Chaos. If one were careless, one would end up burning themselves when playing with fire. These people had to be even more careful than those unskilled at the Fire Dao.

“It looks like the people of the Profound Heaven Holy Land, the Hidden Spirit Temple, and the Martial God Palace arrived before us,” Fang Shaobai said as he looked at the sea after sizing up his surroundings.

“Senior Brother, there’s no need to worry. The Ice Fire Divine Origin will not appear for a while. Even if they arrived first, it would be useless.”

Fang Shaobai explained softly, “That is not what I am worried about. I’m afraid that these people will join hands in advance… Never mind. Take out the Yinyang Fire Parting Pearls. Let’s go in too.”

At this moment, Fang Shaobai thought again about how great it would be to have a set of Alloy Battle Armor.

The Universe Origin Sect disciples took out Yinyang Fire Parting Pearls and placed them in their mouths. Barriers flickering with bright and dim lights appeared around them.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

With the Yinyang Fire Parting Pearls, the Universe Origin Sect disciples could walk on the flame sea without worries. Without this treasure, they would just be seeking death if they stayed for long.

The people of the other super factions used similar treasures.

Otherwise, not to mention preserving their strength, they might not even survive.

The flame sea churned as the group carefully advanced.

Although that Ice Fire Divine Origin would not appear so soon, the other super faction members had already arrived ahead of them. They could not afford any further delay.

Fang Shaobai’s strength stood out among this group. Occasionally, towering waves surged over.

The billowing flames looked like they would swallow the world, like a huge Faux Beast opening its maw.

“Bang!”

Fang Shaobai did not dodge the flame waves surging over, meeting them with a palm strike and a cold expression each time.

The originally scholarly, gentle, and elegant-looking Fang Shaobai seemed completely different when he attacked.

He became like a wild beast, with his aura surging forth. The palm wind from his palm strikes howled as bright light burst out. The light appeared like swords, looking as resplendent as the sun, as they forcefully parted the huge, terrifying flame waves.

“Senior Brother, Junior Brother Liu cannot hold on any longer.”

Fang Shaobai looked back and saw that a crack had appeared in a disciple’s barrier. The Primal Chaos flames entered through the gap and made things unbearable; both advancing and withdrawing were difficult.

Fang Shaobai took a look before saying indifferently, “Just kill yourself.”

That disciple immediately showed panic on his face. “Senior Brother, save me!”

“You got careless, and you want me to save you? If I save you now, how am I going to fight others when we reach the flame islands?”

Fang Shaobai showed no intention of wanting to save that disciple. He said indifferently, “If the rest of you are not coming, then you can remain here with him.”

Everyone immediately became anxious. Ignoring their companion, who was suffering from the flames, they quickly followed Fang Shaobai.

“Senior Brother! Senior Brother!”

That person screamed very miserably, flustering the others. However, Fang Shaobai’s expression did not change at all.

These disciples followed Fang Shaobai on this adventure to reap benefits after he obtained the Ice Fire Divine Origin.

Given that, they should have known that they had to bear the risks themselves.

Half a day passed. After Fang Shaobai split another huge flame wave, he saw the indistinct figures of people at the limits of his vision.

“We are close.”

Fang Shaobai put in more effort, speeding up. Afterimages appeared behind him, looking like blazing flames.

Soon, the scene in the distance became clear to Fang Shaobai.

A number of small islands appeared in front. A quick count came to precisely eighteen.

More accurately, they should be called reefs as these low-lying islands were only about one hundred meters across. Some of the smaller ones were even only ten or so meters across.

However, these reefs were very important to these people.

The Primal Chaos flame sea did not split into Yin and Yang, showing no patterns. Sometimes, it would be extremely cold; sometimes, it would be extremely hot. This felt exceptionally unbearable.

Only those reefs had a fixed Yin or Yang nature. They would be either extreme Yin or extreme Yang.

One could have a truly stable footing in this flame sea only if they stood on a reef.

At this moment, the islands of various sizes already had many people occupying them. After Fang Shaobai’s group appeared, these people’s expressions all flickered simultaneously.

Once a cultivator became a Sovereign Emperor in the Faux God World, their cultivation would be considered complete, and the Sovereign Emperor would have to leave.

Since the senior members left over time, Fang Shaobai could be said to be the current leader of the Universe Origin Sect group.

Everyone had experienced Fang Shaobai’s strength before, but his ruthless means were even more fearsome.

After Fang Shaobai stood firmly and looked around casually, his face sank.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

The other Universe Origin Sect disciples behind caught up. After they saw the situation, they started cursing loudly.

People occupied the eighteen reefs of various sizes. The people of the Profound Heaven Holy Land, the Martial God Palace, and the Hidden Spirit Temple occupied all eighteen reefs, not leaving even one for the Universe Origin Sect.

Indeed, these people had reached an agreement. The thing that Fang Shaobai worried about the most had happened.

Fang Shaobai showed a cold expression as he flung his sleeves back. He asked gravely, “Is anyone going to hand over some islands, or does this Fang have to make a move and start a massacre?”