The sea of fire surged violently as the sky above it was torn open.
A man engulfed in blazing flames appeared, walking through the air.
His entire body was covered in fire, with only his face clearly visible.
He was tall and powerful, like a fire god descending from the heavens. The flames raged freely around him.
“Who are you?” the fiery man shouted, his voice booming like a blow to the head. “How dare you enter this forbidden place?”
“Oh, so you're the one who’s been controlling this space,” Xu Zimo said.
Earlier, he had thought the one in control was the man bound by chains under the waterfall, but now it seemed this was someone else entirely.
The flaming man appeared more like a guardian of this space.
“I am Tribulation Fire of the Flame Race,” the man said proudly. “If you leave now, I’ll let this go. Otherwise, you’ll bring trouble upon yourselves, trouble no one can save you from.”
“Tribulation Fire of the Flame Race?” the God Emperor was slightly surprised and turned to Xu Zimo. “He sounds like a very ancient senior from the Flame Race.”
“Some ‘senior.’ He’s nothing more than a lapdog of the Fairy of Myriad Flowers now,” the chained man sneered under the fire.
“Heaven's Equal Emperor, you’re already dying. Why still speak such bold words?” Tribulation Fire said coldly. “The Fairy of Myriad Flowers promised me that if I guarded you until your death, she’d help me ascend to the Outer Heavens and open my ninth meridian gate.”
Then Tribulation Fire turned back to Xu Zimo and the God Emperor.
“There’s no need for you two to get involved in this mess. The Fairy of Myriad Flowers is an invincible being, even in the Outer Heavens, she’s one of the supreme overlords. Is helping a dying man really worth it? Besides, I can see that both of you have the potential to reach the Outer Heavens yourselves. Do you really want to make her your enemy?”
Tribulation Fire’s words were meant to warn and persuade them. He was trying to scare them by name-dropping the Fairy of Myriad Flowers, while highlighting the little the chained man could offer.
Xu Zimo smiled and said, “You make a good point. But I’m the kind of person who walks right into danger, even knowing it’s there.”
“So you’ve decided to stay,” Tribulation Fire said, narrowing his eyes.
“Bring out your master. You alone aren’t a threat to me,” Xu Zimo replied.
“No matter how strong the Fairy of Myriad Flowers is, the founding ancestor of my True Martial Sacred Ground ascended ages ago. Four Grand Emperors from our lineage are already in the Outer Heavens. We don’t fear anyone.”
As Xu Zimo finished speaking, the God Emperor raised his hands and directly struck down toward Tribulation Fire.
Only then did Tribulation Fire truly feel the pressure.
Their previous encounter had been brief, and he hadn’t felt it this clearly.
The sea of fire swirled around him, transforming into the image of a massive beast that lunged at the God Emperor’s giant hand.
“Foolish,” the God Emperor said with a snort.
Divine power condensed in his palm. In a flash, the fire beast and sea of flames vanished.
His overwhelming power crushed the entire space, slamming Tribulation Fire out of the sky.
As the God Emperor prepared another attack, Tribulation Fire finally realized the vast difference in strength.
In a panic, he pulled a white flower petal from the void and held it in front of him.
The moment the petal appeared, the air around them froze.
The petal began to spin rapidly, and flower petals started falling from the sky.
But these falling petals weren’t beautiful. They gave off a deep sense of sorrow and death.
It was as if they had withered from their most vibrant state.
The petal pierced through space, racing toward the God Emperor with the power of decay and death.
With a loud explosion, the petal detonated in front of the God Emperor, sending him flying back.
Even after hitting the God Emperor, the petal continued its assault, unleashing a rain of flowers to suppress him.
The God Emperor stood up slowly and looked calmly at the incoming attack.
He said coldly, “If your true body were here, I might show you some respect. But trying to suppress me with just a petal? Do you think my tens of thousands of years of cultivation are worthless?”
As he spoke, the space behind him twisted.
A vast domain of worlds took shape behind him. A stream of destiny pierced through time like a silver river hanging from the heavens.
It poured down from the sky, filled with the essence of the Grand Dao and the origin of worlds.
The God Emperor reached out and gently pinched the petal.
With that simple motion, the river of fate purified everything, and the flower petal was instantly crushed.
At the same moment, a thunderous rumble echoed nearby.
The clouds in the sky parted, and a beam of light shone down from above, piercing the heavens.
Inside that beam of light, an image appeared.
It showed a flower garden filled with flowers Xu Zimo had never seen before.
A woman in a purple veil sat among the flowers with her back to them.
Even though it was just an image, the atmosphere around them grew heavy and oppressive.
Xu Zimo stared calmly and deeply at the woman in the image.
“Fairy of Myriad Flowers, help me!” Tribulation Fire shouted in panic.
Behind the God Emperor, the river of fate flowed calmly. A private domain formed around him as he faced the image head-on.
“A flower withers, and the leaves fall too,” a voice came from the image.
Suddenly, Tribulation Fire’s body began to rot.
It happened quickly, as if something was dissolving his flesh.
“Fairy! You can’t do this. I’ve guarded him for tens of thousands of years. You promised me! Aaaah...!”
Before he could finish, his body fully disintegrated, leaving nothing behind.
The image faded away. Even though the woman had never turned around, Xu Zimo felt as if something had stared straight into him.
In that moment, it felt like his blood and soul had frozen.
Only after the image completely disappeared did the God Emperor’s aura begin to fade.
“This world really is full of wonders. Now I’m even more excited to reach the Outer Heavens!” Xu Zimo said with a light laugh.
The two of them returned to the man under the waterfall.
“I heard him call you Heaven's Equal Emperor just now?” Xu Zimo asked.
“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t know. I didn’t become a Grand Emperor in the Primordial Heartlands, so it’s normal you’ve never heard of me,” the man said with a smile.