The surrounding flames grew increasingly violent, waves of fire already beginning to surge toward Chu Feng, as if they weren't fire at all, but bloodthirsty beasts intent on devouring him whole.
Making matters worse, Chu Feng could neither dodge nor resist. His Dantian had been sealed shut—both his martial force and Mental Power were rendered useless. He was like a fish on a cutting board, completely at the mercy of the blade.
And all he could do was watch helplessly as others carved him apart.
Fortunately, this fire was merely ordinary flame. It couldn't even harm Chu Feng, let alone burn through his clothes.
Yet what truly unsettled him wasn't the fire—it was the unknown entities drawing ever closer, their piercing roars growing louder by the moment.
The flames surged higher and higher, rising like tidal waves until they blotted out the sky and sun. Chu Feng found himself in the heart of a sea of fire. Though the flames couldn't hurt him, the sensation was still deeply unsettling.
Happily, once the fire reached its peak, it began to die down. At last the flames vanished entirely, and with them went the lush green meadow.
Now the landscape below perfectly matched the oppressive gray sky above—thick columns of black smoke rolled across a scene of utter desolation.
But at this moment, Chu Feng felt even more helpless—in fact, a dull, almost comical wave of frustration coursed through him.
Because once the wall of fire blocking his vision had cleared, he discovered that several terrifying beings had appeared all around him.
There were humanoid figures standing three meters tall, clad in dark armor and gripping long spears. Their faces were completely hidden, their features impossible to discern. Apart from their muscular builds, the only thing visible was a pair of ghastly green eyes radiating killing intent.
There was a colossal beast that reached a hundred meters in height. What exactly it was defied description—it had dozens of eyes, dozens of claws, and dozens of tails. It resembled an octopus, yet it was a creature of the land.
What was certain was that it was utterly revolting. Its entire body was coated in slime that dripped steadily downward, some of it landing on Chu Feng's head and shoulders.
But that wasn't the strangest thing. Even more bizarre was a centipede with bat-like wings, stretching a full ninety-nine meters in length, coiling through the sky like a flood dragon.
But it was no flood dragon—it was a centipede, because each of its many legs gleamed with the cold light of a reaper's scythe.
Beyond these three, there were fifteen more bizarre yet terrifyingly powerful beings. Eighteen in total, each one more formidable than the last.
Chu Feng couldn't gauge their exact cultivation levels, but he could feel their overwhelming pressure—a crushing weight unlike anything he had ever experienced. The weakest among them had to be at least Martial Emperor-level existences.
Any single one of them was utterly invincible. Forget Chu Feng, who couldn't even move—even the ancestor of the Flame Clan or the Left Heavenly Sovereign of the Alliance of Spirit Masters would be no match.
"What the hell—where have I landed? Is this the underworld?" Chu Feng couldn't help but curse.
Because all eighteen of those monstrous beings were staring at him with predatory eyes. They didn't look like eighteen starving creatures eyeing a delicious morsel.
They looked more like eighteen beings who harbored deep, ancient grudges and had finally tracked down their enemy.
Just from the vicious hatred burning in their gazes, Chu Feng knew—they didn't merely want to devour him. They clearly intended to torment him.
Whoosh—
Without warning, one of them moved—the armored spear-wielder. He raised his spear, murderous aura billowing around him, and thrust directly at Chu Feng's Dantian. The strike was merciless. He intended to destroy Chu Feng's cultivation.
"Damn it."
Seeing the attack coming but unable to move, unable to channel martial force, unable to deploy a barrier—there was nothing he could do but await death.
"Could it be that I, Chu Feng, am going to die here?" Unwillingness churned in his chest. He felt as though he'd been duped—duped by the Flame Clan ancestor, lured into an impossibly terrifying trap.
The beings in this trap were not human, nor were they ordinary demon beasts. They were demons—one and all, horrifying demons.
But on second thought, that didn't add up. Which of these eighteen terrifying beings wasn't vastly stronger than the Flame Clan ancestor? How could the ancestor possibly control them?
For a moment, Chu Feng's mind went blank. He couldn't work it out, but he couldn't be bothered to try—because right now, what awaited him was being stabbed to death.