novelraw Chapter 332 : Slumbering in the Three Thousand Worlds
Chapter 332 : Slumbering in the Three Thousand Worlds
The Fire of Creation coldly smirked, swiftly giving chase. Fierce flames shot forth from her palm, but the Abyssal Evil quickly pulled a disciple in front as a shield.
"Ah—" The disciple was instantly incinerated into a wisp of smoke.
In that brief moment, the black energy vanished without a trace.
The figure of the Fire of Creation also disappeared.
In the years that followed, Quan Yu saw her less and less frequently. The last time he saw the Fire of Creation was a month before his coming-of-age ceremony. She didn't look well, indicating the numerous fierce battles she must have fought with the cunning evil god over the years.
The evil god's power wasn't particularly strong, but it could exploit every weakness, parasitizing on every person's evil thoughts... Unless all the deities in the entire Upper Realm disappeared, it could find any opportunity to slip through the cracks, spawning countless avatars that seemed impossible to eradicate completely.
"Big sister, are you still unable to completely kill that evil god?"
"This thing is very cunning. It has created many avatars, making it impossible to guard against completely." The Fire of Creation had severely wounded the evil god again a couple of days ago, but she had only destroyed avatars, unable to find where the true body was hiding. Unfortunately, it had escaped again. "We can't continue this stalemate. It will quickly seek another host. We must eliminate it before it finds its next host."
"Its power... seems to be growing stronger," Quan Yu observed thoughtfully.
Over these years, the number of evil spirits in the Upper Realm had increased rather than decreased. There must be other hidden forces secretly driving all this... but unfortunately, there were no leads at present.
"Is there no other way? Is there anything I can do to help?"
"The evil god's power is not something deities can contend with. You can't help me. Only I can subdue it, but there is one last method..." she said slowly. "Using my primordial fire produced by burning myself, I can completely destroy it."
"But then you'll..." His eyes suddenly widened.
"Die? Is that the word you want to say? Heh, have you ever seen an ancient innate deity die? There is no death in my life, only slumber. The 'me' you see now is merely a form manifested from one awakening in tens of thousands of years of sleep. When I awaken next time, I will erase the memories of this time and be reborn in another form..."
The Fire of Creation spoke indifferently.
This was perfectly normal for her, just as ordinary people sleep at night and wake during the day. The only regret was that this time she had only been awake for a few short years, not having had the chance to experience the interesting things of this world before facing another slumber.
It was unknown how many years would pass before she would awaken again from this slumber.
Quan Yu seemed to want to say something but hesitated. After a while, he shook his head and looked at her earnestly, "Actually, you don't need to do this. You once told me that you don't care about the survival or destruction of the Upper Realm, nor do you care about the struggle between deities and evil spirits. In your eyes, these are just endless cycles of minor squabbles. Even if evil spirits eventually destroy the entire Upper Realm, they would dissipate shortly after losing the supply of deities' evil thoughts. The Upper Realm would restart after becoming completely desolate, ushering in a new cycle... Newly ascended cultivators from the lower realms would rebuild a new Upper Realm. Thereafter, more and more new deities would ascend, and the Upper Realm would once again prosper. Whether human or deity, the desires and greed in their hearts can never be fully satisfied, which would then give birth to new evil spirits, repeating the cycle..."
She was an innate deity who acted on whims, an indifferent passerby and spectator. Whether to save the Upper Realm or not made no difference to her.
One cycle was just a few tens of thousands of years, which to her was merely the time of one slumber.
"You're right, saving or not saving makes no difference to me. But as you know, I act on my whims, and this time, I want to save it. It's as simple as that," she chuckled lightly.
"...Where is your place of slumber?" he suddenly asked, looking at her.
"I don't know. Perhaps in the Upper Realm, or perhaps in some corner of the Three Thousand Worlds."
"...The fire seed lives by burning resentful energy. Small worlds are naturally constrained by heavenly laws, perhaps insufficient for your power to revive." Quan Yu frowned slightly, then a beam of light flashed from his palm, entering her body. "I've made a divine artifact that might help you."
"What is this?"
"This... I don't know what to call it. In these years since leaving the Quan family, I've traveled to many diverse small worlds and seen many interesting little things... I was fortunate to obtain a wisp of primordial chaos energy. This divine artifact was made using that chaos energy, based on your divine nature. You live by devouring resentment and malice; it can transform people's malice into your own power." Quan Yu explained, "If you truly descend to the lower realms, this divine artifact should help you recover your power in the shortest time possible, allowing you to return to the Upper Realm quickly."
"An interesting little trinket. I'll accept it then, thank you—"
"I'll wait for your return. I'll miss you... big sister." Quan Yu suddenly embraced her, interrupting the conversation.
The Fire of Creation smiled, gently pushing him away. "Let's not talk about this. Next month is your coming-of-age ceremony. I've prepared a decent gift for you. Here, this piece of supreme divine iron contains ten thousand years of cultivation. It's enough to help you break through to become a divine-rank artifact forger in one go."
This was an immense surprise for Quan Yu. Although his power wasn't as great as Quan Yi's, his talent for artifact forging was exceptionally high. Even before coming of age, he was just one step away from becoming a divine-rank artifact forger. However, this final step was also the most difficult breakthrough stage. If he could successfully forge a top-tier divine artifact, it would certainly help him step into the realm of divine-rank artifact forgers!
But the materials for forging divine-rank artifacts were extremely precious, most of them extinct. This piece of ten-thousand-year divine-grade mysterious iron was like sending charcoal in snowy weather.
After that day, Quan Yu went into seclusion and saw no visitors, unaware of the events occurring in the outside world. He almost missed his own coming-of-age ceremony.
When he emerged from seclusion, the atmosphere in the Upper Realm was different from the deathly silence before his retreat. There was joy on the faces of passersby.
He felt uneasy and inquired, only to learn that the Fire of Creation had perished together with the evil god a month ago—sacrificing herself by burning to annihilate the army of evil spirits, buying at least a thousand years of peace for the Upper Realm.
The fire seed had fallen into the Three Thousand Worlds to slumber, to awaken again tens of thousands of years later.
Quan Yu's seclusion was too short; he had only forged the embryonic form of the divine sword, lacking the crucial final stage. He spent several more years meticulously refining it, forging it into a guardian sword. He sent it to the lower realms, hoping it could find the slumbering fire seed and protect her on her journey back to the Upper Realm.
Quan Yu also had no interest in the power struggles within the Quan family. He voluntarily requested to become a Path Guardian under the Laws, dedicating his life to guarding the gate of the Upper Realm, quietly waiting for her return.