Beast Mountain had changed. What once stood as a borderland teeming with spirit beasts and rare herbs now festered with unnatural silence. Chu Xiao moved silently through the thick, twisted foliage, his breath still ragged from the failed breakthrough. Master Han floated behind him, half-transparent, a pale flicker of soul light in the dark. The black jade fragment pulsed faintly at his side.
"Here," Chu whispered. The ground before him was barren, choked with dry vines and ancient bone fragments. He pressed the fragment into a nearby stone.
A click.
The earth trembled softly. A ring of runes glowed around the clearing, and then the stone face split, revealing an ancient tunnel descending into pitch blackness.
Chu Xiao hesitated. "This feels wrong."
Master Han's voice was weaker now, but firm. "Wrong, yes. But necessary. You're being chased. This might be our only path."
They entered the cave. The air changed immediately—no wind, no sound. Just the press of heat and the smell of scorched iron.
---
From a ridge high above, Lin Feng watched with narrowed eyes. The Eye of Destiny shimmered within his left pupil like a star trapped in ink.
"They've found the entrance," his guardian whispered.
Lin Feng's lips curled. "As expected. He's carrying that jade. The entrance was bound to respond."
He stood, arms behind his back. The Eye flared briefly, pulling strands of fate into his vision. Others were coming—Wang Kuang and his elite disciples. Behind them, sects like Shadow Moon, Cloud River, and Iron Bone followed, drawn by the vague rumor Lin had spread of a treasure trove hidden deep within Beast Mountain.
"They're walking into death," the guardian muttered.
"I know." Lin's voice was calm. But in his chest, something stirred. A hunger. A need that was buried in his blood since birth.
His God and Demon Divine Body—still dormant—was different from others. It wasn't merely a bloodline; it was a furnace. To awaken it, he needed the blood essence of both a peak human warrior… and a true demon. That was why he was here.
"The blood of the Demon Emperor," Lin whispered.
He would wait. Let the demon consume and grow strong. Then, he would strike.
---
Inside the cave, Chu Xiao and Master Han moved deeper. The walls glowed faintly with a reddish hue. Patterns were etched into every surface—demonic runes, archaic sigils long since lost to human cultivation. Heat pressed against their skin, dry and choking.
Then they found it. A great underground chamber. Bones—mountains of them—littered the floor. In the center, chained by obsidian tendrils and half-buried beneath a pool of glowing red magma, lay a monstrous heart. It throbbed slowly, each beat pulsing with pure demonic energy.
Above it floated a wisp of flame—black at the edges, crimson at the core.
"The Demonic Heart Flame…" Master Han's voice cracked. "One of the Heavenly Flames… fused with blood essence. This is…"
That called heavenly treasure, are created from the essence of heaven and earth. One type of them is heavenly flame, as its name suggests these are a type of flame with the essence of heaven. Demonic heart flame is also one of them, as can ranked middle tier strength in all the known heavenly flame. It seems demonic nature, but its have pure nature, special in combat power and increase cultivation speed. That's why it was very popular in heavenly flame.
"A Demon Emperor," Master Han whispered, eyes wide. He was once a king realm warrior so it was not hard to find out emperor realm expert presence with his blood pressure, even if he died.
Then came the whispers. Soft. Malevolent. Crawling across the walls.
"Blood… blood… awaken me…" The heart pulsed. Suddenly, the sound of boots, dozens of them, echoed from behind.
Wang Kuang was first to appear, blade drawn, eyes blazing. Behind him came his sect's elite: inner disciples, formation experts, talisman masters. Seconds later, other sects poured into the cavern entrance—Shadow Moon Sect's Grand Elder, robed in night-silk; Cloud River's prodigy twins; mercenary hunters drawn by greed.
Chu Xiao stood in the middle of the chamber, blade out, black jade glowing. Wang Kuang laughed darkly. "So this is the treasure you were hiding."
"This is a tomb," Master Han rasped. "Flee, or die here."
But it was too late.The ground shook. The chains around the demonic heart snapped one by one, each break accompanied by a thunderous boom. The bone piles shuddered. The magma churned, pulling the blood from slain beasts above, siphoning it through invisible veins that fed the heart.
The Demonic Heart Flame flared. A soul—a massive one—rose from the magma, a looming figure with curved horns and blazing eyes.
"Who… disturbs… my resurrection?"
The cultivators drew their weapons. And the Demon Emperor laughed.
Blood.
That was all that could be smelled as chaos erupted. The Demon Emperor's soul opened its maw and roared. A wave of flame surged through the chamber, incinerating five cultivators instantly. Others screamed as the heat melted their defensive talismans and scorched their Qi veins.
"Formation!" Wang Kuang roared, signaling his men. A dozen warriors moved into battle stance, attempting a Sealing Array.
But it failed, the demonic flame pierced through it like butter. Three more died. Shadow Moon Sect's elder unleashed a Night Reversal Slash, cutting into the demon's form—but it only bled more magma, which burst into sentient flame serpents and chased him down.
Chu Xiao gritted his teeth. He couldn't run now. He had to make a choice. But the decision was made for him. The demon's eyes locked onto him.
"You… hold… my key." The jade fragment in Chu's pocket lifted into the air, drawn to the pulsing heart.
Master Han moved, despite his weakening soul.
"Get back!" He threw out nine spirit seals, forming a warding cage.
The demon hesitated, then turned away—for now.
---
From far above, Lin Feng observed, still hidden in the shadows of the upper cave wall.
The Eye of Destiny shimmered. He saw it all—lines of fate, threads of death and luck and chaos. He had to wait. The Demon Emperor would rise stronger the more blood it absorbed. Its heart would grow denser, its flame more refined. The moment it neared true rebirth—that was when Lin would strike. He would harvest both the demon's blood and the heavenly flame, feeding his God and Demon Divine Body.
"And once I absorb both…" Lin smiled coldly. "No one in this realm will stop my rise."
The cave burned.
The Demon Emperor laughed again.
And below, trapped between a hellish flame and hungry sects, Chu Xiao braced for a fight that would decide the path of destiny itself. In such a short time, half of people have already died. And with massacre, it didn't seem their path would be different from others.