Everlasting Immortal Firmament

“Brother-in-Law, are you planning to send someone into the East Spiritual Fire Sea? Be cautious; it’s not a place anyone can enter easily. Fire? I think Vairocana seems to have a fire-attributed body! There’s Mao Tianyun, too!” Long Wanyu said.

“Vairocana and Mao Tianyun?” Gu Hai frowned slightly.

“The eight lines of lifespan cultivators correspond to the eight trigrams. Lifespan Xiahou corresponds to the Li Trigram, which is also of the fire attribute!” the Unborn Man explained.

“Capturing Lifespan Xiahou shouldn’t be too difficult, right?” Gu Hai analyzed.

After all, capturing Lifespan Nangong, Lifespan Beiming, Lifespan Dongfang, and Lifespan Chunshen had not been challenging, having caught them off-guard; the cultivation of the lifespan cultivators was not exceptionally high.

“Let’s wait for three days. Waner will be back in three days; she has a fire cauldron physique!” Gu Hai suggested.

“Understood.” The Unborn Man nodded.

As Gu Hai, Long Wanyu, and the Unborn Man discussed Lin Waner, a guard’s voice came from outside the study. “Reporting to Your Holy Eminence, the Yan Heavenly Dynasty’s War God Marquis Xingtian seeks an audience!”

“Huh?” Gu Hai’s face darkened.

Wasn’t Xingtian here just a while ago? Why is he back?

Gu Hai stepped out of the study.

Long Wanyu and the Unborn Man followed him, their curiosity piqued.

In the plaza, Xingtian showed an extremely complicated expression, a mix of guilt and frustration, as he waited anxiously.

“Xingtian? Why are you back? What happened?” Gu Hai asked in puzzlement.

“Heavenly Emperor Gu, I’m extremely sorry. Something happened. Her Holy Eminence asked me to come and apologize!” Xingtian said anxiously.

“What happened?” Gu Hai inquired.

“Princess Jingwei was taken by Yinggou. Her Holy Eminence requests that the three-day deadline be extended. Her Holy Eminence will definitely bring Princess Jingwei back. Heavenly Emperor Gu, please allow us a little more time!” Xingtian explained worriedly, then recounted the events that had occurred.

Afterwards, Xingtian watched Gu Hai, concerned about Gu Hai’s reaction.

Gu Hai looked extremely sullen, but he suppressed his anger and nodded. “Thank the Yan Heavenly Emperor for us. We understand the situation. After waiting so long, waiting a bit more won’t make a difference!”

Xingtian raised his head abruptly, surprised that Gu Hai was so understanding.

“You can go back and convey our message,” Gu Hai said solemnly.

“Very well,” Xingtian replied and left Borderless Heavenly Capital.

“Is Elder Sister Lin going to have to wait again?” Long Wanyu asked in surprise.

“Yinggou? She’s the new commander of the shaman race, even though she’s the only one. She took Jingwei with her, but who knows what danger lies ahead!” The Unborn Man frowned.

“Send for Meng Tai!” Gu Hai ordered.

“Yes!”

Soon, the guards summoned Meng Tai over.

“Your Holy Eminence!” Meng Tai greeted respectfully.

“Where is Mister Cangjie? Does the Embroidered Uniform Guard know?” Gu Hai inquired.

“Mister Cangjie has not concealed his whereabouts. He is currently in Xuanyuan City, at his former residence. Using his status as a corps commander, he directed the local Embroidered Uniform Guard to search for some objects,” Meng Tai reported.

“That’s great. Send a message to the Embroidered Uniform Guard there. Tell them we need to know Jingwei’s whereabouts or Yinggou’s whereabouts. We only need the location, nothing else. Of course, if Mister Cangjie doesn’t want to say, don’t force him. Just ask once!” Gu Hai instructed.

“Understood!” Meng Tai promptly returned to the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters and sent a message using a zither puppet.

In the meantime, Gu Hai waited anxiously.

“Brother-in-Law, didn’t you say that Cangjie mentioned he wouldn’t do anything for the Han Heavenly Dynasty? He definitely won’t tell us if we ask him like that, right?” Long Wanyu asked curiously.

The Unborn Man also looked at Gu Hai in surprise. Gu Hai seemed quite accommodating to Cangjie.

Not long after, Meng Tai returned.

“How did it go?” Gu Hai asked.

“Mister Cangjie said it was of insignificant effort. He divined Jingwei’s location and said Jingwei was now in the East Spiritual Fire Sea. As for the specific location, he didn’t know because he couldn’t divine anything within the East Spiritual Fire Sea!” Meng Tai explained.

“The East Spiritual Fire Sea?” Gu Hai was taken aback.

“So coincidental?” Long Wanyu exclaimed.

“Did Mister Cangjie say anything else?” Gu Hai inquired.

“No, but he requested twice the number of Embroidered Uniform Guards and assistance with various tasks!” Meng Tai replied.

“Deliver them to him as soon as possible. Does he need personnel urgently? Send ten times the number of Embroidered Uniform Guards!” Gu Hai ordered.

“Erm…understood,” Meng Tai replied.

“The East Spiritual Fire Sea? Well, well, the East Spiritual Fire Sea again.” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes.

“Your Holy Eminence, the depths of the East Spiritual Fire Sea are quite complex, with numerous bewildering ritual arrays. I don’t dare to venture deep inside, and even those at the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm might get trapped by the bewildering ritual arrays. Yinggou definitely has a significant motive in taking Jingwei to such a dangerous place!” the Unborn Man remarked.

Gu Hai nodded. “Lifespan Xiahou has remained there for thirty years. It’s indeed suspicious that Yinggou took Jingwei inside.”

“Brother-in-Law, should I ask Mao Tianyun to investigate?” Long Wanyu suggested.

Gu Hai remained silent for a while but eventually nodded. “Very well, ask it to go in. It must come out in three days. Regardless of whether it finds anything or not, it must return and report!”

“Alright!” Long Wanyu called out.

Under Long Wanyu’s command, Mao Tianyun reluctantly went to the nether realm and entered the East Spiritual Fire Sea.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, but Mao Tianyun did not emerge.

The Unborn Man waited anxiously.

Gu Hai’s expression grew graver.

“Brother-in-Law, could something have happened to the big cat?” Long Wanyu asked, her face filled with worry.

“Three days have passed. Perhaps something indeed went wrong,” Lady Houtu said uneasily.

Beside her, Vairocana took a deep breath and asked, “Should I go in as well?”

At this moment, the Unborn Man was visibly anxious. All eyes were on Gu Hai.

Gu Hai naturally felt even more anxious inside, not just about Mao Tianyun or Lifespan Xiahou but also worried about Lin Waner. After all, Yinggou was no easy adversary; she was formidable. Although she was the water-attributed zombie ancestor, dealing with zombie ancestors was no simple task—except Houqing, of course.

“No, we’ll go in person. Unborn Man, come with us,” Gu Hai said with a grim expression.

“What? Brother-in-Law, you are going personally?! It’s very dangerous!” Long Wanyu exclaimed with concern.

“I’ll accompany you,” Vairocana offered.

Gu Hai shook his head and explained, “Vairocana, you have the fire attribute, so it’s safer for you to stay behind as insurance. After we enter, my clone in the nether realm can sense the situation inside. If anything happens, it can notify you for backup. If both of us get trapped, no one will be able to help.”

“Alright, then.” Vairocana nodded reluctantly.

“Father, let me go with you!” Gu Ming and Gu Han both insisted.

Gu Hai shook his head again, saying, “No one else should go. Having the Unborn Man is enough. If it weren’t for needing the Unborn Man’s help to understand the lifespan ritual array, we’d prefer to go alone. Too many people might not be a good thing.”

“But, Husband, if you go, what if…” Chen Xianer trailed off, her heart uneasy.

“Don’t worry. We’re not going by ourself to prove anything. Our physical body is more than capable of handling any danger. Besides, even though we don’t specialize in fire-attributed cultivation, our fire deity is not weak,” Gu Hai assured them.

“Alright,” the others conceded reluctantly.

“Thank you, Your Holy Eminence!” the Unborn Man said, nodding.

“Husband, please be careful!” Long Wanqing pleaded.

“Don’t worry,” Gu Hai replied with a faint smile.

After bidding everyone farewell, Gu Hai’s true body, accompanied by the Unborn Man, headed towards the East Spiritual Fire Sea in the nether realm.

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Cangjie’s residence, Xuanyuan City:

Embroidered Uniform Guards were busy packing Cangjie’s belongings. Cangjie took out a disk with a red dot moving rapidly on it.

“The East Spiritual Fire Sea? Heh, when His Holy Eminence Ji Dihong went there years ago, he returned empty-handed. Heavenly Emperor Gu, what can you achieve?” Cangjie shook his head.

With a wave of his hand, the disk disappeared, and Cangjie paid no more attention to Gu Hai’s whereabouts.

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The East Spiritual Fire Sea, the extreme east of the nether realm:

An expansive sea of flames stretched endlessly, unaffected by the strongest winds and coldest waters. It had burned since ancient times without extinguishing.

Gu Hai and the Unborn Man arrived in a desolate city outside the East Spiritual Fire Sea.

All the ghost inhabitants had vanished from this city.

A group of black-clad men stood respectfully before Gu Hai.

“Blood Uniform Guard’s East Spiritual Fire Sea regional commander salutes Your Holy Eminence!” the leader of the group in black clothes said deferentially.

“Is this the city where two hundred million ghosts were captured?” Gu Hai inquired, his voice solemn.

“Yes, at that time, Lifespan Xiahou laid a ritual array, like a huge net, which enveloped all the ghosts. Ghosts, phantoms, monsters, skeletons, all were caught. I managed to escape because I was at the edge. The net trapped all the ghost inhabitants and entered the East Spiritual Fire Sea from that direction,” the black-clothed man replied deferentially.

The Unborn Man examined the surroundings and eventually frowned, saying, “It wasn’t a lifespan ritual array; it was a lifespan treasure, the Ghost Trapping Net crafted by Fuxi! This makes sense. Lifespan Xiahou had it. The Ghost Sealing Net is in his possession!”

“Is there any other clue?” Gu Hai asked the Unborn Man.

Shaking his head, the Unborn Man replied, “I can’t discern his intentions from here.”

“Then let’s go in,” Gu Hai said firmly.

“Alright,” the Unborn Man agreed with a nod.

“The rest of you, stay outside and wait for further orders!” Gu Hai instructed the Blood Uniform Guards.

“Understood!” the Blood Uniform Guards replied in unison.

Gu Hai and the Unborn Man entered the area where Lifespan Xiahou had disappeared.

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On the other side of the East Spiritual Fire Sea:

Ba stood with her hands clasped behind her back, gazing silently at the vast East Spiritual Fire Sea. Hou Yi stood behind her, appearing exceptionally serious.

“Your Holy Eminence, what you said earlier, is it true? Is the previous emperor still alive?” Hou Yi asked with uncertainty.

Ba’s expression darkened slightly as she replied, “It should be Yinggou deceiving Jingwei. With her intelligence, she wouldn’t be able to distinguish the truth.”

“However, this East Spiritual Fire Sea is indeed strange. When the previous emperor entered it back then, it seemed he obtained great opportunities inside. His heavenly gift cultivation techniques and knowledge of Jiangchen’s secrets were all acquired here. Moreover, when the previous emperor battled the Six Paths Veritable Lord eight hundred thousand years in the past, although the Six Paths Veritable Lord ultimately won, the previous emperor’s body disappeared without a trace. Could it be that eight hundred thousand years ago, the previous emperor didn’t actually die but has been staying in the East Spiritual Fire Sea all this time? Perhaps, just perhaps, he is truly still alive….” Faint anticipation flashed in Hou Yi’s eyes.

“If he’s still alive, we’ll make him die again!” Ba’s eyes glinted with a cold light.

Ba took a step and entered the East Spiritual Fire Sea.

Hou Yi could not help a wry smile, knowing there was not much he could say. He followed Ba into the fiery expanse.