A mixture of blood and organs flew from Dyon's lips. The crimson mixture was so solid that it could have depicted a massacre on its own.
Still, none of this described the sheer horror of the flames Dyon was enduring. The heat was like nothing he had felt before, even the star they faced to enter this mystical world paled. Although it was true that they never faced that star's true might, Dyon's feelings weren't unwarranted.
Dyon's skin charred black. He felt too weak to even lift his head, too weak to even circulate his energies to block. He withstood the full brunt of the first purgatory, not even receiving the grace of a moment to breathe before a second, larger pillar descended.
Vast expanses of land were laid to waste. Aside from Dyon's practically crippled body, nothing existed besides destroyed forest as far as the eye could see. Even if the foliage didn't directly suffer the impact of the flames, the residual heat was more than enough to incinerate everything to ash.
A third pillar descended. Then a fourth. And a fifth. By the sixth, they no longer came down in the form of a pillar, but rather took the form of ancient flood dragons, descending from the skies with scales of crimson rubies and roaring toward Dyon as though to remind him that this was the consequence of going against the Heavens.
How dare you forcibly shatter Our tribulation? How dare you cross the sainthood boundary without Our consent? Weren't you very arrogant then? Why haven't you raised your head now?
The seventh purgatory descended. Twin scarlet flood dragons twisted around each other, their roars resounding through the skies as they drilled through the air.
The eighth purgatory didn't wait, the red-gold clouds trembled as a demonic Hand slowly tore the skies apart. If Dyon's eyes had been open, he would have been reminded of the first time he saw the entity's true body… It was just a hand, emitting a heat that he couldn't comprehend… One filling him with an unquenchable fear…
The massive Hand grasped at the air. The heat from the surroundings gathered even as the ground shattered below.
A halberd formed – The ninth purgatory.
The skies split apart, tearing into two halves as the Hand swung downward. A vacuum of hot wind shot upward.
Dyon's chest heaved. He suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe, like all the matter in an around him was being pulled away. And then, his blackened, charred beyond recognition of a body suffered its last blow.
BOOM!
An almighty halberd descended from the skies. If this scene had to be depicted in just one word, there was none more fitting than Armageddon.
Devils seemed to cackle in the skies, a dividing line of bad and evil split the mystical world in half, and a sea of fire overwhelmed the ground. There didn't seem to be a path to life under such a tribulation. How could a human, let alone one already nearing the gates of death already withstand such a blow? If the first strike could already turn a higher celestial to ash, the cumulation of the seventh, eighth and ninth was one even a pseudo dao expert would be forced to take seriously.
However, the enraged Heavens neglected to consider one point.
From the time the Golden Flame Mystical World first opened to this very day, the remainder of the Golden Crow Clan slowly allowed news of its mysteries to permeate. Legends, folk lore, and secrets of the Sovereign Flame were disseminated to the masses. Just why was this?
Since its creation, this very world had opened almost more than 10 000 times, once every few million years. Every time this happened, only the greatest Fire Dao geniuses would pass the test to be allowed in. And, every time they were, the death count would reach an unholy number.
What Orcus wanted wasn't the pitiful comprehension of mere celestials, what he wanted were the unique flames that could only be birthed to geniuses. Only by compiling them and fusing these unique flames together could he form the seed of the Sovereign Flame and give birth to the first ranked flame in all of existence.
Time and time again, Orcus would shatter the hopes and aspirations of young geniuses, ripping out the root of their talent to satisfy his depraved needs. While their deaths also fueled the restructuring of his body, what he always sought after was the birth of this flame.
The Nine Purgatories of Hell Tribulation wasn't just the third ranked flame tribulation, it was powered by one of the most destructive flames to ever exist, a flame that wouldn't rank any lower than the top three in offensive power, a flame backed by the rage of the Heavens themselves.
So, what would a Sovereign Flame seed on the very edge of awakening do in the face of such oppressive power? Wasn't this like placing a meal before a starving person? Like giving a glass of water to a woman who spent the last months of her life in the driest place in existence? Or like placing a naked woman in front a man who had just taken an aphrodisiac?
While Dyon's body took the brunt of the pressure, in truth being just a hair's breadth away from being burned to ashes, the Sovereign Flame greedily ate the residual Purgatory Flames, basking in it time and time again like a complete glutton.
The golden seed pulsed. Every time it did, a radiant ring of gold would emit from Dyon's charred body.
The skies trembled. It was obvious that the Heavens wouldn't wait for the Sovereign Flame to finish its deed. Even as hundreds of miles worth of Purgatory Flames surged into Dyon's body, a bronze door decorated with feats of War descended slowly from the skies.
Dyon's body continued to lay unmoving. His limbs had shriveled up to stumps and his face was completely unrecognizable. Whether he knew his second of three trials was coming was completely up to anyone's guess.
Little Yin's face contorted when she looked toward the descending bronze doors. They loomed over a kilometer high and several hundred meters across. The stories of war that etched across its surface were like nothing any of them had ever seen before. It was as though their consciousness was thrust within with every image their gaze laid upon.
"War God Heart Trial? It's actually the first ranked Heart Demon Trial in existence…"
