Chapter 1027 - Red Lotus Hellfire (2/2)

Seeing this, Shao Tianqi once again found his martial spirit. He put up a brave front.

“Can’t get up now, can you? little demon!” he growled.

Consciously ignoring the grievous hurt to his body, he forced an icy smile as he slowly advanced towards Gu Jingman. He refused to believe that she could still climb up from the edge of the precipice, not after taking a blow that he had put all his strength into.

“Old man, do you want to go down with me?” Gu Jingman quipped coyly, wiping away the blood from the corner of her mouth. She was back to her calm self, her voice ringing like melodic notes.

“Go down with you?”

Shao Tianqi laughed aloud, glaring down at Gu Jingman in utter disdain. He refused to believe that Gu Jingman could ever recover from this position. In the centuries that he had ruled his realm, there was little he had not encountered. He would not succumb to the games of a lesser monk, struggling to stay alive.

“You don’t believe me?” Gu Jingman fawned, smiling derisively.

“Why don’t you show me, then? Can you do that? Stop bluffing, little doll. I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice,” Shao retorted. He found it ridiculous.

“It is you who will die, not I. Is there still any doubt?”

Gu Jingman ignored Shao Tianqi’s scorn. She kept her head lowered as she carefully straightened out her clothes, as if preparing for a dignified death.

“I’ll send you off first, let’s see how you drag me down with you,” Shao Tianqi hissed, aiming his huge sword at her slender neck, his mind already seeing her decapitation in morbid detail.

Gu Jingman sat calmly on the rock-strewn ground, and nonchalantly raised her head, still straightening out her clothes with exaggerated care. As Shao stared down at the hunched figure, he caught her blood diamond eyes, and they seemed a little strange now. A bright apparition, what resembled a blossom, reflected ominously from each eye. Then it steadily enlarged until it formed a distinct outline of the red lotus.

A deep, red shadow formed where her brows had been. The sight was enchanting in every sense; fell and evil, yet pure beyond compare. It glittered with a cosmic radiance never seen before.

Then everything came to a sudden lull, a strange aura was cast over her, and time seemed to stop.

Shao Tianqi stood frozen with his sword-hand still raised, rooted to the ground. He stared at Gu Jingman in disbelief, looking pale and confused. Try as he might, he could no longer brandish his weapon. Then, it dawned on him.

“Red Lotus Hellfire!” Shao spurted out the words, almost without thinking.

The realization that, right in front of him, was an object he thought to be mere folklore, made him stumble backward. “It is real then! This world is insane”, he muttered incoherently. “Have I already moved on to the next one?”

According to legend, the Red Lotus Hellfire was an incarnation so evil, that all the living spirits of the heavens deeply feared it. The slightest touch of its unholy flames could entrap them in eternal enmity and sin, dragging them down into darkness forever. Even the Heavenly Path Sages wouldn’t dare handle such an ancient and dark artifact. The Red Lotus Hellfire possessed the power to destroy all before it, even burning a Heavenly Path Sage alive!

Shao breathed a heavy sigh, seemingly resigned to his fate.

“Let’s die together then! I’ve gone my whole life thinking I’d never touch the Red Lotus Hellfire in this lifetime. I fear it not!” His brave words disguised the sense of hopelessness he now felt.

Gu Jingman looked composed again, her expression impassive. Red Lotus Hellfire now completely cloaked her, emitting shimmering rays of supernatural light. A thing so evil, and yet, emitting a light so pure and sacred.

She had stumbled upon the Red Lotus Hellfire while roaming the seventh level of the Goddess’ World. How that came to pass was rather by fate, and it had stayed within her since. The artifact had been ensnared by the Sacred Heart Lady. Knowing its true nature, she imprisoned it

in a void created out of all the sins and desires of that world.

Gu Jingman was well aware of the destructive powers of the Hellfire. The moment she unleashed it, she would be turned to ashes, her soul shattered and unable to reincarnate.

It was foretold that those able to survive the scorch of the Red Lotus Hellfire, would be reborn in its flames, and emerge as a Red Lotus Sacred Maiden.

“Wait. Let’s talk this through. Stop, stop now.”

Shao Tianqi stuttered in fear, feeling his very soul leave him. He knew that the moment he was scorched by the Hellfire, he would never be able to reincarnate again. “D*mn it, how did this woman come to own something so evil?” He asked himself.

“Too late for that, you fool! Weren’t you acting all arrogant just a moment ago? Didn’t you want to push me off the edge?” Gu Jingman replied coldly.

“Look. We’ll both die and we’ll never be able to reincarnate. Don’t do this.” Shao Tianqi pleaded, stricken with fear. Had he known, he would never have tormented her the way he did.

“You have the Red Lotus Hellfire. Good friend, where did you get it? Please, let’s put an end to all this. Or this Source World will perish because of your folly.”

The standoff continued. Then a beam of light suddenly appeared from above. It steadily descended into the Fire Domain. On it, stood a young man of solemn mien, dressed in sagely white robes. He moved lightly in their direction, one measured step at a time, and he wore a somber look.

…