Everlasting Immortal Firmament

Eight Directions Sea:

Flames soared into the sky, and the magma in the sea raised one colossal tsunami after another. The sounds of wind and thunder came from all directions as the massive eight trigrams ritual array activated.

Three individuals stood atop a mountain in the center of this eight trigrams ritual array: Jiang Lianshan, Jingwei, and Yinggou.

Beneath the mountain stood Gu Hai and the Unborn Man on a large ship.

Both sides stared coldly at each other.

Gu Hai fixed his gaze firmly on Jiang Lianshan, trying to discern the truth by observing Jiang Lianshan’s body.

Jiang Lianshan stood confidently, a faint smirk curling on his lips. “Gu Hai? We already knew you were no ordinary person back in Divine Farmer City. But who could have imagined you would establish the Han Heavenly Dynasty in such a short time? What’s more, you even manipulated others to wipe out the Spirit Mountain Holy Land and the Huang Heavenly Dynasty?”

“Are you really Jiang Lianshan?” Gu Hai’s eyes flashed with disbelief.

“Eight hundred thousand years ago, Six Paths fought me with a clouded mind. He thought he had killed me, but that might not be the case. How can you expect someone with a clouded mind to kill me?” Jiang Lianshan said solemnly.

“Gu Hai, he is my eminent father. Why are you here? Are you still thinking of snatching my body away?” Jingwei glared at Gu Hai.

Gu Hai stared at Jiang Lianshan for a while, neither confirming nor denying anything. There were many questions regarding Jiang Lianshan’s appearance, and he could not determine the truth so quickly.

Gu Hai looked at Jingwei.

“Princess Jingwei, you left too early. I sent a message to you via Ba. You want the Vermilion Bird Deity, and I have already agreed to give it to you on Waner’s behalf,” Gu Hai said.

“What?” This startled Jingwei, shock crossing her face.

“What we want is Lin Waner. As for you, you need the fire cauldron physique and the Vermilion Bird Deity. Ba has found a body with the fire cauldron physique for you, and we have already agreed to give you the Vermilion Bird Deity. Why do you need to run? You lose nothing, and we get our woman back. It’s that simple. There’s no need for us to be at odds. Furthermore, while we’re not intentionally seeking favors, you can’t repay kindness with ingratitude, can you?” Gu Hai’s voice was firm.

After Gu Hai finished speaking, Jingwei appeared momentarily perplexed. Gu Hai is willing to give me the Vermilion Bird Deity? If that is true, there was no need for me to oppose him.

“Why should I trust you?” Jingwei bit her lip, seeming to have softened her stance.

“Am I a person of empty promises? You can easily confirm this matter with Ba. Everything will become clear. How about that?” Gu Hai said solemnly.

Jingwei lowered her head, contemplating. Gu Hai had already gone this far, and there was no need for her to persist.

Just as Jingwei raised her head, about to answer Gu Hai, Jiang Lianshan sneered, “Gu Hai, you can forget it. Jingwei will not leave Lin Waner’s body for now.”

“Why?” Gu Hai’s face sank.

Jingwei also looked at Jiang Lianshan in confusion.

“Because I said no, so no. Jingwei, will you listen to me?” Jiang Lianshan looked at Jingwei.

Jingwei appeared shocked. However, this was her closest family, so she immediately nodded. “Father, I’ll listen to you.”

“Jingwei!” Gu Hai suddenly called out.

Jingwei turned her head to look at Gu Hai. “Gu Hai, say no more. I will not listen to you unless my father agrees.”

“However, Jingwei, how sure are you he is your father?” Gu Hai asked seriously.

“Huh?” Jingwei’s face sank.

“Hah! If he is your father, why did he not appear when you were nearly forced to death at the Divine Yan Hall? Isn’t he your birth father? Yet, he watched as Ji Dihong and Jiang Gautama humiliated you and pushed you towards death?” Gu Hai questioned.

Jingwei’s expression stiffened. Then she shook her head. “My father is unmatched in strategy. He calculated a divination about me a long time ago and knew I was in no real danger, which is why he didn’t intervene.”

“What about Chiyou? He’s his son, too. Did he just watch as Chiyou got tortured to death?” Gu Hai sternly questioned again.

Jingwei’s expression changed.

Regardless of anything else, Jingwei knew Chiyou’s identity. Although this eldest brother of hers was not that close to her, he was still her eldest brother.

Jingwei looked at Jiang Lianshan with some suspicion.

“What a glib tongue you have! We do not need you to determine whether or not I am the real Jiang Lianshan,” Jiang Lianshan said calmly.

“However, you are preventing me from reuniting with Lin Waner!” Gu Hai countered coldly.

“We haven’t seen each other for eight hundred thousand years, but you’re still the same as back then, trying to twist words to your benefit? Hah! Let me tell you this: the birth of the Vermilion Bird Deity was no accident. It’s not something that could happen with just Flame Monarch, Jingwei, and Lin Waner!” Jiang Lianshan said.

“Huh?” Gu Hai frowned at Jiang Lianshan.

“The birth of the Vermilion Bird Deity requires the Southern Bright Li Flame, which can only be found in the East Spiritual Fire Sea. I collected it for countless years before I gathered just a little bit, and I also found the Vermilion Bird Prime’s feathers. Only then did I think of allowing the Vermilion Bird Deity to undergo nirvanic rebirth. I altered the Flame Monarch’s deity here and treated Jingwei’s soul body the same way. I sent her here when she was still in swaddling clothes. What was still missing was a fire cauldron physique. Lin Waner is indeed a coincidence, but do you know that her being a coincidence is indispensable? As long as Jingwei leaves Lin Waner’s body, the Vermilion Bird Deity will immediately scatter!” Jiang Lianshan said seriously.

“Scatter?”

“Your thoughts are too simple. Helping Jingwei to change to another body? Once that’s done, the Vermilion Bird Deity will disappear!” Jiang Lianshan said.

Gu Hai’s expression darkened.

“I don’t mind telling you this. I didn’t go to save Chiyou because I can’t leave the East Spiritual Fire Sea. I have all my memories of you, but I didn’t tell my past self because I didn’t want history to change. Everything is according to the guidance I received when I met my past self. It’s like a loop. I passed on countless fire-attributed secret techniques to myself, and that self passed it on to the next me, and so on, until now, where I jump out of the loop!” Jiang Lianshan said in a deep voice.

“You can’t leave the East Spiritual Fire Sea? Why?” Gu Hai asked solemnly.

“No reason for you to concern yourself with. I only said that so your glib tongue will not wreck our father-daughter reunion!” Jiang Lianshan said coldly.

“That’s right! Gu Hai, you’d better leave. Provoking my father will not end well for you!” Jingwei called out.

However, Gu Hai shook his head. “Leave? No, I haven’t brought back Lin Waner. How can I just leave?”

“If you don’t want to leave, then don’t! You will never leave this place, then,” Jiang Lianshan said indifferently.

Jiang Lianshan waved his hand.

Boom!

Boundless flames and lava poured towards Gu Hai.

“True Flame Calabash, absorb!” Gu Hai commanded.

Boom!

The True Flame Calabash instantly generated a tremendous suction, drawing in the surrounding flames. However, the flames were overwhelming, seemingly too much to handle.

“Hold the True Flame Calabash to protect yourself!” Gu Hai handed the True Flame Calabash to the Unborn Man.

“Thank you, Your Holy Eminence!” The Unborn Man grabbed the True Flame Calabash and shielded himself.

The scorching liquid fire instantly engulfed Gu Hai.

Even so, these flames posed no threat to Gu Hai’s physical body.

Boom!

With a step forward, Gu Hai suddenly leaped towards the mountaintop where Jingwei was standing.

This Jiang Lianshan was extremely enigmatic, and Gu Hai somewhat believed he was the real Jiang Lianshan. However, Gu Hai was determined to take Jingwei away today.

Breaking through the abundant liquid fire, Gu Hai reached the mountaintop in an instant.

Jiang Lianshan’s gaze was icy and unmoving.

On the other hand, Yinggou immediately stepped forward.

“Gu Hai, I heard you’ve obtained Chiyou’s world devouring. Let me see just how strong your physical body really is!” Yinggou shouted coldly.

As she shouted, she threw a punch.

Boom!

Gu Hai’s and Yinggou’s fists collided violently, causing the surrounding space to tremble.

It seemed that there was Sa’s imprint here. Despite the powerful clash of fists, space remained intact.

Water-attributed zombie ancestor vs. world devouring.

After the intense collision, boundless flames exploded all around. Gu Hai stopped abruptly, while Yinggou involuntarily took a step back.

“What? This can’t be possible. You are this strong?” Yinggou exposed a hint of disbelief and charged again.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Gu Hai threw three punches. With each punch, he advanced a step while Yinggou retreated a step.

In terms of physical strength, Gu Hai had the upper hand.

“This is the East Spiritual Fire Sea. You are a water-attributed zombie ancestor. Here, you are greatly restricted. Losing to him is nothing strange,” Jiang Lianshan said indifferently.

“But I refuse to accept this!” Yinggou’s expression darkened.

However, Gu Hai ignored Yinggou. Instead, he walked straight towards Jingwei.

Jingwei hid behind Jiang Lianshan. “Don’t come any closer!”

“Jiang Lianshan, I don’t care what plans you have or what you intend to do, but I feel you’ve been plotting for a long time, and it’s definitely not in Lin Waner’s favor. Regardless, I’m taking Lin Waner with me! Sorry for the offense,” Gu Hai said firmly.

“Hah! Gu Hai, you’ve become so arrogant after defeating Ji Dihong? I was the one who taught Chiyou his world devouring. I know much more about it than you. Do you really think you can take my daughter away in front of me? You’re overestimating yourself!” Jiang Lianshan scoffed.

After speaking, Jiang Lianshan threw a palm strike at Gu Hai.

As the palm came down, Gu Hai felt a force even greater than Yinggou’s earlier. His expression darkened, and he counterpunched.

Boom!

The collision of palm and fist caused the surrounding space to shudder, the two reaching a stalemate.

“Jiang Lianshan, that’s all you’ve got?!” Gu Hai sneered.

“You’ve forgotten that I’ve been here for eight hundred thousand years. I’ve already made meticulous preparations in this Eight Directions Sea!” Jiang Lianshan retorted coldly.

The massive trigram symbols arranged in the eight trigrams diagram appeared in different directions of the raging Eight Directions Sea, with each trigram apparently controlling a direction of the sea region. Suddenly, the eight trigrams seemed to drive the power of the sea, sending it converging on Jiang Lianshan in the center.

Boom!

When the first trigram rushed into Jiang Lianshan’s body, his strength immediately doubled.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A second…a third… This continued until the eighth trigram rushed into his body. His back seemed connected to the entire Eight Directions Sea. The power of the sea became his strength.

Jiang Lianshan’s strength instantly soared to the peak.

“What about now?” Jiang Lianshan sneered.

Jiang Lianshan attacked ferociously again.

“Do you think this is all I have? Jiang Lianshan!” Gu Hai’s expression turned stony.

“Roar!”

The roar of a black dragon came from Gu Hai’s body as a horrifying force rushed at Jiang Lianshan.

A golden-red light and a pitch-black light erupted when the two experts’ fist and palm clashed.