Several days later.
Supreme Immortal Aperture.
Dreamscape.
After a fierce battle of life and death, the opponent before Meng Qiuzhen finally collapsed to the ground.
"Let me see what kind of person you really are!" Meng Qiuzhen suddenly lost control — the character he was playing was a youth, and at this moment the boy stepped forward in rage and tore off his opponent's mask.
The opponent's face left the youth stunned.
"Father, why is it you?!" the youth cried out in shock, his entire body trembling violently.
The one who had fallen was the youth's father. He smiled with satisfaction: "My son, you've done well. You've learned all of the family's killing moves, but your heart still lacks enough hatred and sorrow. Your father already has an incurable illness and won't live much longer — I might as well sacrifice myself for your sake."
The youth wept bitterly: "Father, why can't we give up our grudge and live in seclusion? Why must we pursue revenge at any cost?"
His father stared fixedly at the youth: "Our entire clan was slaughtered by our enemies — your mother, your grandparents, your younger brothers and sisters, all killed by them. This enmity is irreconcilable — why wouldn't you seek revenge?! Remember, your father died for this. If you don't take revenge, your father will have died in vain — and it will be your doing!"
The youth's body and mind trembled, his voice hoarse beyond recognition: "Father…"
He wept in agony, and at the same time, a sorrowful blue flame began to ignite across his body.
His father saw the flame and was overjoyed: "Good, good, good — such a rich and resplendent Sorrowful Blue Heart Flame! It's enough for revenge, enough for revenge…"
After those words, the youth's father breathed his last.
"Not good," Meng Qiuzhen thought in alarm.
The youth saw his father die completely, and the Sorrowful Blue Heart Flame blazing across his body surged violently, raging with an intensity that increased at least tenfold!
Meng Qiuzhen's soul was still within the dream. Immediately, a tidal wave of grief, fury, and hatred crashed over him, like a waterfall pouring backwards, slamming into the depths of his heart.
"I can't lose myself! This is the greatest trial of this dreamscape." Meng Qiuzhen struggled to hold on, but after just a few breaths, he began to buckle.
Dream Creation!
With no other choice, he immediately activated his Dream Path Immortal Move to protect his mind and spirit.
In the newly formed dream within a dream, he found himself inside a vast house.
The house was on fire, being consumed by roaring blue flames.
Meng Qiuzhen sprang into action immediately, rushing about to extinguish the flames and save the house.
After a frantic effort, the great fire gradually died down. The originally grand and sturdy house had been burned beyond recognition, leaving only a single guest room still intact.
"I made it through." Meng Qiuzhen let out a long breath and dismissed the dream within a dream, returning to the main dreamscape.
The final trial of this dreamscape was practically life-threatening!
Meng Qiuzhen had very nearly been completely devoured by the emotions, losing all sense of truth and falsehood, sinking irretrievably into the dream.
Of course, each time he ventured in, his main body stood guard outside. Should any danger arise, the main body would intervene to save him.
At last, this dreamscape was conquered.
Combined with the gains from several previous dreamscapes, Fang Yuan's Flame Dao realm skyrocketed to Grandmaster!
"My Flame Dao realm has risen to Grandmaster. Those few Flame Dao Cave Heavens in the two ancient days — I can devour them now. By my calculations, Wu Shuai's methods should already have been set in motion." Fang Yuan's main body mused.
The Two Ancient Days.
Fire Origin Cave Heaven.
Across a vast and sprawling plain, Fire Hu Grass blazed red in every direction.
It was harvest season, and the Gu Masters within the cave heaven had begun deploying their Gu Insects to reap the Fire Hu Grass.
"Crunch, crunch…"
A rustling, skin-crawling sound suddenly rose from beneath the ground.
The Gu Masters had barely registered their alarm before they suffered devastating blows.
Countless ants surged up from the earth — some no larger than a finger, others as big as horses and carts. The swarm was enormous beyond measure, filling the air in every direction, and in a single instant the entire Fire Hu Grass plain was overrun.
Bone Armor Cave Heaven.
"What's happening?! What's happening?!" The Gu Immortal responsible for raising the Bone Armor Dogs was panic-stricken, at a complete loss.
The thousands of Bone Armor Dogs under his care had begun howling in agony — some collapsed and writhed on the ground, others bit and tore at themselves in madness.
The Gu Immortal's face was ashen: "It's over, it's over. Grandmother warned me again and again to look after these Bone Armor Dogs, and I've let this disaster happen under my watch!!"
Some of the Bone Armor Dogs quickly died, and from their corpses swarmed enormous numbers of ants.
The Gu Immortal gritted his teeth in fury: "So it was these ants causing trouble! I'll— Ugh!"
The Gu Immortal's expression shifted to one of alarm and disbelief.
The ants pouring out of the Bone Armor Dogs only multiplied, and countless more were emerging from underground as well.
The ants surged like a tide, their sheer numbers sending a chill through the Gu Immortal's heart. Among them, he could sense the faint aura of Immortal Gu, and he dared not linger — he immediately retreated.
Hua Wen Cave Heaven.