“The sea of fire hasn’t fully retreated to shore yet,” Jun Beiyue remarked, standing atop the Unicorn Horn and gazing down at the flowing, intensely red sea of fire beneath her feet. Though thick water-element spiritual energy had already enveloped both her and Lei Xiuyuan, the extreme heat waves still felt as if they could roast them alive.
The once-alluring blue waters of the East Sea had been entirely consumed by the Guixu. Now, the deep sea abyss contained only a vast expanse of raging flames. Smoke and fire intertwined, resembling a scene from the underworld. Only Jun Beiyue’s bottomless pit of spiritual energy could barely withstand the power of the sea of fire. Without her, even the iron-boned Yasha wouldn’t dare to cross this fiery sea so brazenly—they wouldn’t make it a hundred li before suffering severe injuries.
Lei Xiuyuan leaped onto the Unicorn Horn, bending to rest his chin on her shoulder. Like her, he silently gazed at the endless sea of fire beneath their feet. Jun Beiyue grasped his hand and asked softly, “How did you escape from the sea of heavenly thunder and fire back then? Weren’t you afraid?”
Lei Xiuyuan replied in a low voice, “I went to the Central Plains alone and returned with two people. Quite a good deal, I’d say.”
It wasn’t as if they were doing business, yet he spoke of it as a good deal. Jun Beiyue tapped him lightly on the head. Ahead of them still lay the sea of fire, and beyond that, the bottomless ocean abyss concealing who knows what. But past these natural barriers, the mysterious overseas lands awaited them.
Her birthplace, Lei Xiuyuan’s birthplace, along with all those strange and marvelous sights, customs, and the bizarre, unpredictable overseas people. All that her master had seen, and even what he hadn’t, she would experience carefully, one by one.
The Central Plains, where she had lived for seventeen years, gradually receded behind them. It was incredibly beautiful, yet also unbearably cruel. If given the choice, even at this moment, she would still be willing to give up her identity as the Jianmu Fruit, return to Qingqiu, to that small courtyard, live in anonymity, and even never use immortal techniques again—pretending to be a complete mortal would be fine.
But they had left nonetheless, heading towards her origins—origins utterly foreign to her.
Unwilling to let melancholy and reluctance occupy her mind, Jun Beiyue smiled and said, “Master said there’s a type of flower on the island closest to the Central Plains that’s particularly delicious. When we get there, we must try it before anything else.”
“You mean the Twelve Lives Flower?” Lei Xiuyuan seemed quite knowledgeable, mentioning a flower name she had never heard before.
“Twelve Lives Flower?”
“Remember the flower sealed in the glass ball we saw in that town during the Guangsheng Assembly? Although that one was fake, it wasn’t entirely made up. The Thousand Isles truly have such a flower, called the Twelve Lives. It blooms and withers once every two hours, twelve times a day, hence the name Twelve Lives Flower.”
Jun Beiyue found this fascinating and asked eagerly, “Can you eat it? Is it delicious?”
Lei Xiuyuan couldn’t help but laugh, “This flower is extremely rare. It’s said that eating it produces an illusion of having lived twelve lifetimes in a single day. As for the taste, I’ve heard it’s exquisite, but I’ve never tried it myself.”
To think there was such a strange flower in the world! Jun Beiyue had initially just mentioned it offhandedly to force a smile, but his explanation genuinely piqued her interest. In truth, as long as Lei Xiuyuan was by her side, no matter where they went, the regret in her heart wouldn’t be too deep. Even now, as they crossed this sea of fire, scorching and sweltering, she could still manage to smile.
However, they had been flying over the sea of fire for far too long. The remaining fire sea in the East Sea’s abyss that hadn’t yet reached shore was only about four hundred li, yet they should have traveled over a thousand li by now. Why was the sea of fire still beneath them? In the far distance behind them, a faint dragon’s roar could be heard—a familiar sound, the mournful wind created by the intertwining of heat waves and cold air as the sea of fire approached.
Jun Beiyue suddenly halted the Unicorn Horn, hesitantly looking down at the sea of fire. It was rapidly flowing and surging toward the overseas lands—the sea of fire hadn’t retreated to shore. It was receding?!
A sense of foreboding suddenly gripped her. She turned to look back towards the Central Plains and the East Sea. The dragon of heavenly fire that had been contained by the spiritual energy wall spanning the sky and earth had vanished at some point. She could even sense numerous fluctuations of immortals’ spiritual energy pursuing them from an extremely distant place behind them.
What was going on?!
Lei Xiuyuan’s arm gradually tightened around her. His voice sounded very grave, “Those beings hiding in the sea abyss have all retreated… Are those thunder clouds?”
Jun Beiyue narrowed her eyes. Indeed, the previously clear division between east and west on the horizon was gradually becoming overcast. The sea of fire was receding, while thunderclouds were gathering and drifting toward them. Those immortals who had finished reading the stone inscription seemed to have finally come to their senses. Seeing the sea of fire retreat, they had given chase.
The thunderclouds approached with astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, the entire sky darkened. Within the dense black and vivid red intertwined thunder clouds, muffled thunder rumbled incessantly. The terrifying pressure felt like a giant palm pressing down from above, making it difficult to breathe. Jun Beiyue decisively steered the Unicorn Horn to fly swiftly back towards the Central Plains. They could still cope with the sea of fire, but if struck by heavenly lightning, they would likely face death or severe injury.
However, no matter how fast the Unicorn Horn flew, it couldn’t outpace the speed at which the thunderclouds were gathering. The feeling of pressure on their bodies grew stronger and stronger. Just as the heavenly lightning was about to strike, Jun Beiyue channeled what little spiritual energy she had left in her body, preparing to cast a spiritual energy net over Lei Xiuyuan. Suddenly, Lei Xiuyuan forcefully pushed her down onto the Unicorn Horn, his entire body pressing against her.
He only had time to say one sentence: “Take care of yourself!”
A blood-colored lightning bolt suddenly struck down. The Unicorn Horn shook violently. Three bolts of heavenly lightning struck in succession. It was a long while before that strange and terrifying energy field finally exploded open. The Unicorn Horn shook so violently that it nearly threw them both off. Jun Beiyue felt her head buzzing, her vision alternating between darkness and light. Lei Xiuyuan’s body remained motionless on top of her. Amidst the violent shaking, she could barely make out his body shimmering with golden light, brighter than ever before.
Another three bolts of heavenly lightning struck in quick succession. The blood-red color illuminated the entire sky and earth. Jun Beiyue felt something scalding hot dripping onto her face and chest, drop by drop, slowly at first, then faster. Her chaotic thoughts suddenly calmed.
A spiritual energy net as thick as water instantly enveloped the man who lay on top of her, covered in blood yet still trying to act tough. She embraced his limp body, his blood falling in clumps on her face and clothes. Along with the blood, a slender, blood-stained horn fell.
Her heart seemed to stop. She tightly gripped the broken horn and called out softly, “Xiuyuan.”
Why? Why had the sea of fire retreated, and why had the heavenly lightning appeared again? It was as if they had been waiting specifically for her. Six bolts of heavenly lightning—he had been foolish enough to silently use his body to block six bolts of heavenly lightning for her without a word. Did he want to die right before her eyes? Always so stubborn, always like this. Whether as the disciple Lei Xiuyuan or the Yasha Lei Xiuyuan, he had never changed. This habit of his was infuriating to the bone.
Lei Xiuyuan’s short, labored breaths fell on her neck. As if mocking himself, he said in a low voice, “It’s not… a curse…”
Not a curse? What did he mean?
There was no one left to explain to her. Lei Xiuyuan’s head fell heavily on her chest, unresponsive. The sea of fire beneath their feet rose, while the thunder clouds above descended like a heavy curtain. Jun Beiyue could only hold him tightly, not allowing the fire or lightning to touch him even slightly.
The heavenly fire burned her body, and countless bolts of lightning struck her. It felt as if her body had shattered into countless pieces, yet somehow it remained intact. Her entire body had lost all sensation except for her hands, which still tightly protected Lei Xiuyuan in her embrace. So the sea of heavenly thunder and fire wasn’t a natural barrier after all, but something waiting specifically for her? To destroy her?
But she didn’t die. She couldn’t even lose consciousness like Lei Xiuyuan had. There was only pain—a heart-wrenching, shattering pain that was infinitely worse than when Zhen Yunzi had forcibly refined her. Every time she felt her body was about to split open, bleed, or burn to ashes, the next moment she would find her body intact, not even her clothes burned.
Why? Why? She couldn’t understand.
But now she no longer wanted to understand. The original spiritual energy within her body instinctively and continuously poured into the spiritual energy net. She wouldn’t let Lei Xiuyuan die. No one could let him die, whether it was those immortals from the Central Plains who bore grudges against them or the most terrifying force of heavenly thunder and fire in this world.
The immortals who had been chasing them from afar watched in shock at the incredible sight before them. After reading the spiritual stone inscription left by Jun Beiyue, they realized that the sea of fire trapped within the spiritual energy wall had somehow retreated to the East Sea. She had left behind so many records and secrets, yet far from satisfying the immortals, it only made them even more frantically curious.
Taking advantage of the retreating sea of fire, the unsatisfied immortals gave chase. After pursuing about a thousand li, they saw thunderclouds gathering in the distance. Flames from the sea abyss leaped high into the sky. Black and blood red suddenly merged into one. The thunder clouds and sea of fire, which had originally stretched for thousands of li, instantaneously shrank into a sphere-like object only a few zhang high. Within it, two shadowy figures could be vaguely seen trapped inside.
Although the sudden transformation of the heavenly thunder and sea of fire into this form was utterly shocking, no one dared to approach. The earth-shattering power remained, and the terrifying sound of exploding thunder continued one after another, only now it all struck the person within the sphere. The sea of fire raged on, its heat unbearable, but it too only burned the person inside.
Immortal Cui Xuan watched for half a day before suddenly speaking, “This must be heavenly punishment! A punishment for the various evil deeds of the overseas barbarians!”
These words, once spoken, found few supporters. The so-called heavenly punishment for evil deeds was nothing more than a fantasy born from fragile human hearts. All things in the world have causes and effects; the Heavenly Dao makes no judgments of good or evil. Sow an evil cause today, and you shall reap evil consequences in the future. All the heavenly tribulations faced by cultivators are the result of various causes they have sown.
But this sea of heavenly thunder and fire—when had Jun Beiyue sown such a cause?
No one knew, and no one was willing to leave. Countless other immortals guarding the East Sea coast also rushed over to witness this strange phenomenon.
Lord Sang Hua frowned as he observed for half a day, then sighed softly, “If she can’t withstand it and dies in there, what shall we do?”
Before his words faded, they saw a slender, exquisite, and lustrous small horn fly out from inside. It spun rapidly, and while others might not have recognized it, Immortal Cui Xuan and the others who had suffered before immediately exclaimed in alarm, “Not good! She’s about to absorb spiritual energy! Quickly retreat!”
This warning came too late. The Unicorn Horn spun faster and faster. The gathered immortals felt the spiritual energy within their bodies draining at an unprecedented speed, eagerly being absorbed into the spinning small horn.