Kong Xuan was already on the verge of succumbing to the demonic aura. It had been preparing to break out of the seal and leave. However, Shangguan Hen’s words stopped it cold. They came as a severe challenge to its pride.
One day. Gu Hai lasted for a day in the eighteenth layer of hell, equal to double my time. I already find it unbearable, but he still thinks it’s insufficient? Insufficient?!
He wants me to wait for him?
Should I wait?
Kong Xuan’s eyelids twitched wildly.
“Alright, alright, alright. I’ll wait for one more round,” Kong Xuan said with a ferocious expression.
Kong Xuan’s pride prevented it from admitting defeat. Even so, it had already lost. Perhaps it was just doing this out of pride. Initially, it laughed cockily at Gu Hai in disdain. Now, Gu Hai was going to spend fourfold the time it was going to spend here. How could it shrink back in fear?
“That is good. Hah…I have had enough of the eighteenth layer. If not for His Reverence, I… However, it’s fine now. Waiting in the sixteenth layer is much better. I can bear it,” Shangguan Hen said with lingering fear.
“Humph!” Kong Xuan snorted coldly, feeling depressed.
Gu Hai waited for one round. Shangguan Hen did too. Is Shangguan Hen’s endurance even better than mine?
While Kong Xuan waited, the Future Buddha came many times. The gargantuan peacock just looked at him coldly, ignoring him, nursing deep resentment in its heart. This continued until the new cycle began.
Boom!
The eighteen layers of hell closed once more.
Kong Xuan looked coldly at Shangguan Hen, who was in the distant lava.
Shangguan Hen was swimming in the lava. Surging flames burned around him, but they did not hurt him in the slightest.
“Kong Xuan, if you are bored, you can chat with me. I’m going to sleep for a while,” Shangguan Hen said.
“Humph! The Tortoise Breathing Technique. So, you spent your time sleeping?” Kong Xuan showed some disdain.
“I did spend most of my time sleeping, but I was awake for tens of millions of years. There is no point in trying to agitate me. The Classic of the Dao and Virtue that His Reverence passed to me can deal with hell’s bloodthirst. Do you want to learn it?” Shangguan Hen offered with a smile.
“Humph! I don’t need it. The bloodthirst can temper me. Humph! Sleep? To think I thought you were incredible!” Kong Xuan said coldly.
“I did sleep, but His Reverence never did. He even felt that one round was insufficient. How could he be sleeping? If you don’t want to admit to your loss, just say it. Why make such accusations of His Reverence?” Shangguan Hen sneered.
“Humph!” Kong Xuan snorted coldly and turned its head away.
Shangguan Hen went to sleep again.
After the new round started, Kong Xuan’s eyes slowly turned bloodshot, and the demonic aura around it intensified. The darkness in the sky spread further.
Time passed slowly, straining Kong Xuan’s endurance.
The eighteen layers of hell were really not suitable for human habitation. Even someone with strong willpower, like Kong Xuan, could not last much longer.
“Roar!”
Kong Xuan roared, shaking the sky. Overwhelming lava waves soared up.
This woke Shangguan Hen in the depths of the lava sea. He saw that the distant Kong Xuan’s eyes had turned entirely bloodshot as if it had lost itself.
“Kong Xuan!” Shangguan Hen bellowed angrily.
Boom!
Kong Xuan trembled, startled to its senses.
Was I about to transform into a demon a moment ago?
“You! Did you lose yourself earlier?” Shangguan Hen asked while glaring.
“Roar! No!” Kong Xuan argued.
“Let me pass you the Classic of the Dao and Virtue,” Shangguan Hen coaxed.
“There’s no need!” Kong Xuan said stubbornly.
This happened many times before Kong Xuan finally admitted that if not for Shangguan Hen’s intervention, it would have lost itself.
Now, Kong Xuan finally saw how extraordinary Gu Hai was.
“His Reverence’s one day is much longer than yours. Furthermore, the bloodthirst in the eighteenth layer of hell is even…,” Shangguan Hen said with a bitter smile.
“Humph!” Kong Xuan snorted coldly.
“How about I pass you the Classic of the Dao and Virtue?” Shangguan Hen smiled.
“There’s no need. In any case, this round will be over soon. The entrances of the eighteen layers of hell will be opening. You…you…you should go and call Gu Hai out. If he does not want to leave, I’ll be leaving first. Unlike you, I cannot keep sleeping!” Kong Xuan said with a fierce scowl.
“Hahahahaha! Alright!” Shangguan Hen guffawed.
Quite obviously from Kong Xuan’s words, it had finally submitted.
The eighteenth layer of hell:
Gu Hai sat cross-legged at the entrance of the decrepit palace hall, his consciousness sunk into his middle heavenly palace.
The whirlpool-like suction above the Earthly Soul Register had already vanished.
“The Earthly Soul Register can absorb the lingering Essence in the world. Although hell is separated into eighteen layers, it is still one Hell Path Secret Realm, one whole, so the Earthly Soul Register was sucking in the Essence of the entire Hell Path Secret Realm. However, it cannot take in even a single wisp now?” Gu Hai said bitterly.
“This means that the Earthly Soul Register has already collected all the Essence in the entire Hell Path Secret Realm. That is to say, I have already absorbed the boundless Essence accumulated in the eighteen layers of hell? Staying here any longer will be pointless. However…however, what about my cultivation?” Gu Hai said incredibly bitterly.
The Middle Heavenly Palace Realm’s eighth layer?
After absorbing all the Essence in hell, I did not make it to the consummation of the Middle Heavenly Palace Realm?
The Middle Heavenly Palace Realm’s eighth layer?
Gu Hai felt unwell at the thought of it.
Should I remain here? What a joke! If I remain here any longer, I might turn into stone. I would not be able to take this much longer.
However, what about my earthly soul? I have already absorbed all the Essence in the entire Hell Path Secret Realm, yet I still have not filled my earthly soul. The rest would be even more challenging to cultivate. What should I do after leaving the eighteen layers of hell?
Previously, Long Zhanguo had explained to Gu Hai his process of obtaining Essence.
Long Zhanguo had cultivated to the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm first. Afterwards, he had converted energy into Essence to build up the middle heavenly palace, then converted Essence to divine nature to build up the lower heavenly palace. Once he had brought the lower heavenly palace to consummation, he had converted divine nature to energy to build up his upper heavenly palace.
However, Gu Hai did not do it in this order. He did not cycle back like Long Zhanguo had. Instead, he reached consummation in his heavenly palaces one after another. This gave him the most solid foundation. However, this method was the hardest to cultivate.
As Gu Hai’s earthly soul held the Earthly Soul Register, it returned to the middle heavenly palace feeling depressed.
Gu Hai’s consciousness returned to his physical body, feeling slightly bitter.
“Hah…the Middle Heavenly Palace Realm’s eighth layer? Never mind. There is no point in waiting further. It is about time,” Gu Hai sighed softly.
Then, Gu Hai stood up and waved.
Boom!
Suddenly, something large flew over from the distant astral region. It appeared to be dragging an entire galaxy with it. As it approached, the galaxy shrank and eventually entered an energy bubble that returned to Gu Hai’s right hand.
The energy bubble appeared indistinct, gently giving off starlight.
Gu Hai took a deep breath and said, “This immortal firmament? From today on, you shall be called Gu’s Immortal Firmament!”
The Gu’s Immortal Firmament trembled slightly as if Gu Hai had given it life from this moment on.
Gu Hai waved, and the Gu’s Immortal Firmament vanished.
Now, only Gu Hai could see it. Gu’s Immortal Firmament was still around him, right in front of him. Others could not see it, but it was there. Only he could see it—a world that only he could see, a world that belonged to him.
Buzz!
Gu Hai stepped forward and vanished. He had entered the Gu’s Immortal Firmament.
When he entered this world, he stood in the sky and looked down.
Previously, the Warring Nation Immortal Firmament had lush fields and blue seas. However, it had all changed now. Now, there was a vast desolate land with countless stars above. Nearly all life had been destroyed, but they did not completely vanish. Some had managed to survive.
Human civilization had been destroyed, returning to nothing. Some of the humans had devolved into savages eating raw meat. It was similar to the Stone Age that Gu Hai had seen on Earth. There were even dinosaurs.
Gu Hai raised his head and waved.
Whoosh!
The stars above immediately rearranged themselves, forming a Thirty-Three Line-Pair World Ritual Array.
Buzz!
The moment the ritual array appeared, it generated a suction, pulling Spiritual Energy into the Gu’s Immortal Firmament from outside.
Of course, the Spiritual Energy was pitifully sparse. After all, the eighteen layers of hell did not have much Spiritual Energy. However, Gu Hai believed he could gather boundless Spiritual Energy when he returned to the Divine Continent.
“During its repair, the Gu’s Immortal Firmament gained some of the Hell Path Secret Realm’s attributes. The time in here is countless times faster than outside. I will spread some of Earth’s cultivation techniques everywhere. Hopefully, there will be some changes,” Gu Hai said.
Then, Gu Hai waved.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Large mountains rose from the ground of Gu’s Immortal Firmament. Their summits had Earth’s cultivation techniques recorded on them.
After doing all that, Gu Hai took another step forward and left the Gu’s Immortal Firmament.
Boom!
The instant Gu Hai left the Gu’s Immortal Firmament, a loud sound rang out nearby. The entrances to the eighteen layers of hell had opened once more.
Gu Hai took a deep breath, then waved, pulling in the planet underfoot into the Gu’s Immortal Firmament.
Just as he was about to step into the exit, he suddenly frowned slightly and turned his head to the largest planet, which was nearby.
This planet had many stars around it, presenting a vast Go puzzle.
This Go puzzle was unusual, with thirty-four horizontal and thirty-five vertical lines.
Gu Hai flung out his sleeve.
Boom!
This strange Go puzzle exploded, turning to fragments chaotically strewn about.
Gu Hai glanced around coldly before stepping into the exit leading to the seventeenth layer.
The sixteenth layer of hell:
“Roar!”
The instant the entrances of the eighteen layers of hell opened, Kong Xuan roared. A boundless demonic aura filled the entire sixteenth layer of hell.
Amid the black aura, Kong Xuan’s eyes turned bloodshot. Then, it flapped its enormous wings, kicking up towering lava waves.
Shangguan Hen watched quietly from a distance.
“Chains, break for me!” Kong Xuan roared ferociously.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The five chains exploded. The five mountains shuddered, and the manifested mountain suppressing Kong Xuan shook.
Kong Xuan howled. It looked like it would struggle free of the Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus Seal.
Just then, the Future Buddha and a group of monks stepped through the passageway leading to the fifteenth layer of hell.
The monks’ expressions turned horrified when they felt the surging demonic aura.
The Future Buddha opened his mind’s eye, and his expression changed dramatically.
“Kong Xuan? You dare?” the Future Buddha suddenly exclaimed.
