“Finally leaving this blasted place!” The little fox popped her head out of Lu Yun’s robes and heaved a long sigh of relief.

“Leaving?” Lu Yun shook his head. “Not yet. I’ve given my wisp of hellfire to Tianqi, so I have to go to the Sea of Hellfire to get a little more.”

He had no treasures on him at the moment.

“Besides, that Patriarch Darkriver is a two-faced, two-timing crook. He’s extremely calculative and does things in the background that are completely different from what he presents to others. He pretended to be immensely fearful just now, but if I’d shown him any weakness, he would’ve attacked me as soon as I left the netherdark!” A cold sneer crossed Lu Yun’s face when he looked back at the Blood Sea.

A premier connate demon god bending the knee and scared mindless by the mere mention of Hongjun and Leize’s name?

As a human from Earth, he would never believe the scene he’d just seen. Whoever believed that Darkriver really was as timid as a mouse and terrified of death would be dead themselves before they knew it.

“Come on, let’s go check out the Sea of Hellfire.” He headed off in the opposite direction from the Blood Sea.

Down in the Blood Sea, Darkriver’s expression was broodingly ominous. He sat cross-legged on a scarlet seat cushion and looked out with slightly lidded eyes. Next to him, two vicious swords sparkling with crimson light howled with killing intent.

“Is he gone?” His voice was cold as ice.

“Patriarch, they’ve gone to the fiery sea.” Bashe swam down from the surface.

“The Sea of Hellfire? What are they going there for?” Darkriver’s expression remained unchanged and he murmured, “Lie Shan is no simple character, I wonder where Fuxi found him. Though he’s human, he’s wholly different from the humans now. He can attract and cause enormous changes in the connate great dao…

“But no matter what, I must obtain Tushan’s Bell of Chaos! With it in hand, I will be able to protect myself when the future cataclysm arrives!”

……

The Sea of Hellfire was directly opposite the Blood Sea. This was the true zone of prohibition in the netherdark and its most dangerous site. If ordinary beings approached within five thousand kilometers of the hellfire, their souls would be burned to nothingness by the deadly flames.

Hellfire was called such because legends spoke of a hell deep within the ocean of fire. It imprisoned all of the most infamous and villainous beings in the history of the great wilderness.

Such were the natural laws bestowed by nature.

Lu Yun didn’t know whether the saying was true or not, but from the depths of the fiery sea, there were indeed occasional wails of anguish that barely seemed to exist in the ear.

“The torch dragon has been born… who would’ve thought that the Sea of Hellfire would be its home?!” Shock filtered through Lu Yun’s eyes as he looked at the fiery ocean not in the least bit inferior to the Blood Sea.

The torch dragon was a guardian of human dao and a connate divine beast born of hell. Well, that was how he was described in the human dao era. According to how things were now, he’d be called a connate demon god.

“Wait, my death arts have returned to me?” He blinked with surprise.

A tremendous life form was being nurtured in the depths of hellfire—it hadn’t fully taken shape yet as it was currently a fetus and hadn’t even formed a consciousness. This ponderous being was the yet unborn torch dragon.

Spectral Eye!

Lu Yun’s death arts could somehow be activated again in the Sea of Hellfire, and he could even call upon the Gates of the Abyss if he so wished. However, he wouldn’t be entering his kingdom of hell in that case, but the hell at the deepest part of the Sea of Hellfire!

The locale of a naturally occurring hell and where countless great masters who’d sinned were interred!

Lu Yun put one foot out and stepped into the fiery ocean.

“W-w-wh-what WHAT are you doing?! Don’t go rushing to your death!” the little fox shrieked upon seeing Lu Yun walk straight into the flames of doom.

The Sea of Hellfire was a prohibited zone that spelled death for all who set foot in it unless they were a special life form. Even Leize was no exception and would be burned to a crisp if he dared venture forth.

Even though Lu Yun had once seized Dusk Snake’s hellfire, the little fox didn’t think the boy would be able to survive this blinding inferno. And even if he wasn’t afraid, the little fox didn’t think the same went for her at all.

“Eh?” Dazed, she suddenly realized that the terrifying flames that could incinerate her true spirit were harmless, despite burning merrily on her.

“What’s going on?” She tilted her head up at Lu Yun.

Lu Yun was completely submerged in the fiery ocean now and hadn’t used his own strength to fend off the flames. Hellfire seemed to be sentient in this moment and nuzzled him affectionately like a docile little kitty.

“Is this because of the Tome of Life and Death?” Lu Yun could come up with no other reason than the treasure lodged deep within his soul.

Fire surged to his hands when he turned them outward, condensing into an enormous fireball. With that, his body sank into the depths of the sea.

“He… he went inside?!” Darkriver had appeared by the shores of the Sea of Hellfire at some point and was staring incredulously into it.

Even he didn’t dare dip a toe in it, and neither had Dusk Snake, who’d once possessed the Stone of Three Lives and a strand of hellfire. But this human boy had submerged himself into its fiery depths just like that and vanished into them!

Darkriver could still sense Lie Shan’s enormous life force. Instead of beginning to dwindle, it seemed to grow ever more vigorous.

“Darkriver, do you know something? Lie Shan saved your life just now.” A solemn voice descended from the heavens as a man in purple robes with purple hair appeared in front of the patriarch.

Appearing in the form of whoever looked upon him, he was a middle-aged man with stern gravity written across his face. Indistinct beams of hazy purple light shot out of his purple eyes and he exuded a wild and unrestrained presence at all times, as if the very world was his to keep underfoot.

“Leize!” Darkriver shrieked with fear after he saw the man. This was his greatest nightmare come to life!

“If Lie Shan suffers any attacks after leaving the netherdark, I will kill you,” Leize proclaimed coldly. “No matter who the attacker is.”

Darkriver turned as white as a sheet; even his eyeballs were white.

“But since Lie Shan means to let you live, I will pardon you this one time as well.” Leize stood on the shore with his hands behind his back and quietly watched the youth in the flames.

Darkriver didn’t dare say a word. Leize was too strong! Even Taiyi could only fight him to a standstill if he was equipped with the Bell of Chaos. Without that treasure… Leize could probably beat Taiyi to a pulp with one hand behind his back!

“But if Lie Shan is injured in the Sea of Hellfire at all… I’ll still kill you.”