Chapter 34: The Flame Passage

Qu Yi moved in a catlike gait, walking slowly. Accustomed to teleporting through flight, he lacked patience for such a slow pace.
“Artificial God, do we really have to walk like this? Is there any way for me to fly through this Flame Passage?” Qu Yi asked in a pleading tone.
After a while, the Artificial God replied lazily, “Yes. As long as you can withstand the attack of the Fire Origin Energy, you can fly however you want.”
Hearing this, Qu Yi looked frustrated—this was practically no help at all. Emperor Hao had declared that Origin Energy could not be used in the Hao Tian Immortal Mansion. Using Fire Origin Energy to protect himself would be tantamount to seeking death.
“Artificial God, then at least tell me how long it will take to walk like this,” Qu Yi said, giving up and seeking a compromise.
This time, the Artificial God answered quickly, “This Flame Passage is controlled by a ‘Step-by-Step Lowering Formation.’ The first time you walk through it, after taking a thousand steps, you can fly for a distance of a thousand li. The second time, after 999 steps, you can fly for 990 li. And so on, until finally, with each step, you fly one li—until you master the Fire Control Art.”
So that was the meaning of the Step-by-Step Lowering Formation. Upon hearing this, Qu Yi staggered, nearly falling into the raging flames beside him.
He finally understood that this Flame Passage was a severe test of a cultivator’s patience.
Fortunately, with the Artificial God, a master of formations, guiding him, other cultivators who entered this passage without finding a way to break the formation would surely be tortured to death.
Thus, it could be said that the three people from the Lan Yang Palace, who specialized in fire-based techniques, were lucky not to have chosen this passage.
Qu Yi roughly estimated that he would have to travel over half a million li through this Flame Passage to reach the end. What might have taken just a few breaths in normal times would now take several days. Though frustrated, at least he was safe—so that was fortunate too.
After a thousand steps, Qu Yi stopped and was about to take off in flight.
“Qu Yi, don’t rush to fly away. Use your Fire Origin Energy to strike the flame walls nearby,” the Artificial God suddenly called out.
Always trusting the Artificial God, Qu Yi immediately stopped and conjured a sphere of Fire Origin Energy in his palm, striking the flame wall on the right.

The walls of the Flame Cave instantly swallowed Qu Yi’s Fire Essence Ball. Where it was swallowed, a black hole appeared on the cave wall, while the other walls seemed to be pushed by a powerful force, creating waves of flames. Inside the black hole on the cave wall, five red stones of primal Fire Energy—Fire Soaring Stones—suddenly burst forth. Qu Yi happily caught the five stones and immediately stored them in his space ring. When he looked at the cave wall again, it had returned to its original state, with flames raging and scorching heat filling the air. Thus, Qu Yi took off immediately, flew a thousand li in a short time, then landed back on the ground and continued to move forward in a catwalk-like gait.

…

The thirty-five powerful warriors from the Nine Sects chose the “Life or Death” path, one sect after another. Four cultivation sects were at the front, two demon cultivation sects in the middle, and three beast cultivation sects at the back. All thirty-five warriors walked in a catwalk-like gait along that single path. If the disciples of the Nine Sects had seen this, they would have found it hard to believe that these were the respected elders and sect leaders. Although they came from different sects and were competitors with each other, in this place where only one foot could step at a time, none dared to harm the warriors from other sects. After all, if anyone attacked, the flames around them would surge, harming everyone. Therefore, everyone walked honestly.

The four members of the Taiyuan Sect, who were at the front, suddenly stopped after walking a thousand steps. Ahead, two Flame Gates appeared, splitting the flame path into two sides. Each side had a Flame Gate made entirely of blazing red flames, with darkness surrounding it. On the left Flame Gate, three words suddenly appeared: “Do you want to live?” On the right Flame Gate, the same three words appeared: “Do you want to die?” It was indeed the Life or Death Gates.

At this moment, the four Taiyuan Sect members faced a choice: enter the Life Gate or the Death Gate. After some deliberation and discussion with the other three Taiyuan Sect warriors, they quickly decided to choose the Life Gate, the one with the words “Do you want to live?” The four members of the Taiyuan Sect channeled their Golden Essence into their palms and struck the Flame Gate. Suddenly, the flames vanished, followed by a cracking sound, revealing the flame path behind the gate.

The four of them immediately flew into the flame passage behind the door. There, the walls of the passage were also filled with raging flames, while the ground allowed two people to stand side by side.

After the four from Taiyuan Gate left, four from Qingyun Sect followed and arrived at the fork in the passage, facing the choice between the Door of Life and the Door of Death.

“Everyone, what are your opinions on these two doors of life and death?” asked Qing Xu, the sect leader, with concern.

Although the four from Taiyuan Gate had set an example, Qing Xu was still uneasy and decided to seek the opinions of the other three powerful figures.

“Sect leader, since all four from Taiyuan Gate chose the Door of Life, let’s choose it too.”

“Sect leader, the title of the Emperor Hao contains the character ‘Hao’—he surely won’t play tricks on us. The Door of Life gives us a chance to survive.”

“I also agree to enter the Door of Life.”

Seeing that all three powerful figures agreed, Qing Xu didn’t say anything further and headed straight for the Door of Life. He channeled his Wood Energy into his palm to open it.

Subsequently, the powerful warriors from the seven sects, just like those from Taiyuan Gate and Qingyun Sect, chose the Door of Life.

Just as the last group of warriors from Jiugong Island entered the Door of Life, the voice of the Emperor Hao suddenly rang out.

“Congratulations, everyone, for entering the Door of Life—it means you still have a chance to live. Those who entered the Door of Death have already died. Be careful; the real test is about to begin.”

As soon as the Emperor Hao finished speaking, he disappeared.

At that moment, the warriors from the nine sects were relieved to have chosen the Door of Life.

At the same time, they noticed something: from the Emperor Hao’s words, it seemed he had pre-recorded this message rather than giving guidance based on the current situation. After all, none of them had entered the Door of Death, yet he mentioned that those who had entered were already dead.

Since the ground now allowed two people to stand side by side, the warriors from the nine sects could walk more easily.

Suddenly, the four from Taiyuan Gate, who were leading the way, found themselves faced with another choice.

The flat ground was divided into two sides, corresponding to the nine flame passages ahead. Each passage had a number marked on it—1, 2, 3… up to 9.

The nine flame passages matched the nine sects.

With such an obvious indication, the four from Taiyuan Gate immediately understood that each sect could only enter one of those passages.

After further discussion, the four powerful figures from Taiyuan Gate entered Passage Number 5.

When the four of them entered Passage No. 5, the entire passage vanished, replaced by a wall of flames. The powerful warriors from the eight major sects sensed the movement of the four from Taiyuan Sect and realized that their own sects also needed to enter one of the flame passages. The four from Qingyun Sect entered Passage No. 3, the three from Lanyang Palace entered Passage No. 6, the four from Yingtian Sect entered Passage No. 2. The four from Jinyang Sect entered Passage No. 1, and the four from Cangyang Valley entered Passage No. 7. The four from Baishou Peak entered Passage No. 8, the four from Xianyue Cliff entered Passage No. 4, and the four from Jiugong Island entered Passage No. 9. All nine flame passages disappeared! … Just as the powerful warriors from the nine sects entered their respective flame passages, Qu Yi had already completed the 990-step journey. He channeled fire energy from his right hand into the walls of the flame cave and obtained five more Fire Soaring Stones. Now, in this passage, he had already gathered 45 Fire Origin Stones. Although the journey was monotonous, the large number of Fire Soaring Stones kept Qu Yi excited. Just as he obtained the five Fire Soaring Stones, suddenly the voice of the Artifact God came through: “Qu Yi, you truly are the embodiment of luck. That inferior immortal weapon, the Fire Soaring Sword, has appeared here. You must have found a way to obtain it.” Qu Yi was shocked. He remembered that the three passages in the Flame Cave led to three possible outcomes: either the Fire Control Technique, either the Fire Soaring Sword, or an uncertain fate. He had chosen the passage of the Fire Control Technique, yet the Fire Soaring Sword from the other passage had come to interfere with him. With the reminder from the Artifact God, Qu Yi immediately began to think. Considering that he couldn’t use his origin energy to attack, he wondered what other methods he could use to obtain this inferior immortal weapon. Suddenly, it seemed as if Qu Yi had come up with an idea. His brows raised, and his lips curled in ecstasy.