Chapter 545: Abhira Fiery Hell (Two in One)

“Are they finally coming in?”

Xu Zhi, hidden in a meteorite crater furthest from the giant solar furnace, watched everything quietly with a curious expression. “He estimated that planting these ancient star trees would take about a day... or a hundred years in their time. He decided to use this period to create a complete history for them, and also to observe what happens to normal powerhouses in such a desperate environment, so close to the sun and the cosmos, with its high concentration of deadly radiation!”

Nuclear radiation and cosmic rays are among the forces most difficult for life to resist.

They can be called the “Poison of Death.”

At the same time, they cause various pathological changes, and bodies develop various deformities and mutations in order to adapt.

“Deformities and mutations are also a form of evolution, though usually negative, destructive, and leading to genetic collapse... Those who endure are simply the survival of the fittest.” Xu Zhi’s expression remained calm.

Although he had halted the accelerated evolutionary rate of the ancient star trees and elemental spirits, returning to the normal speed of a hundred years per day, he still felt that their evolution speed in this environment was infinitely faster than that of life in other sandboxes.

In fact, this precisely aligned with the principle of survival of the fittest.

The more treacherous and dangerous their environment, the more they had to force themselves to adapt, mutate, and deform to survive... thus, the more perilous the environment, the faster the evolution!

Was there any environment more treacherous than cosmic rays?

No, there wasn’t.

“Let me see if you can adapt to a place like this, whether your bodies can adjust, if your talents and obsessions also undergo some mutation and enhancement... or even if you develop some special evolution!” Xu Zhi sat in a corner of the cabin, facing the blazing sun in the sky, and munched on a piece of fruit.

“It seems quite interesting....”

The mechanism of the Six Paths of Reincarnation meant they had no fear of death. Xu Zhi directly used them as guinea pigs—portable guinea pigs, an advance force that would later be responsible for scouting various treacherous environments and collecting data for him.

“It’s rare for me to go on a long trip, so I brought you all out for an excursion... Just play around, don’t mind me.” Xu Zhi sat leisurely in his mechanical battle armor and stretched.

With a soft whir, a lounge chair appeared behind him.

He basked in the intense golden sunlight from the sky, wearing black sunglasses, as leisurely as if on a beach vacation in the meteorite crater... Watching the little ants playing and chattering on the distant golden “beach,” he surprisingly felt a sense of peaceful serenity.

A brilliant golden radiance covered the earth.

Emperor Yun led a group of people, stepping into this completely transformed Burning Sky.

Experts at the Heavenly Emperor realm could temporarily exist in a vacuum, but not for long.

Emperor Yun mumbled to himself, his face visibly tense, “What on earth is going on? The Burning Sky of our Human-Heaven Path has suddenly lost all its air, the mountains and rivers have vanished, and it’s completely overgrown with these strange, mysterious plants??”

It was worth noting that while the warriors from the Hungry Ghost Path had all perished, these plants remained completely unharmed, showing how terrifying and bizarre they were!

Snap! He gently reached out and snapped one.

A tree instantly burst apart.

He then discovered its incredibly peculiar structure: it had two air sacs that stored air internally, allowing it to survive in this vacuum. Moreover, the current air was permeated with terrifying high-energy rays, constantly swirling and sweeping through it—these were the mysterious and terrifying poisons!

One after another, the Heavenly Emperors began whispering among themselves.

“An unimaginable land.”

“Incredible, mysterious plants.”

“This place is filled with searing fire poison, causing death.”

“The scorching heat here has burned away all the air, making it impossible to breathe!”

At this moment, their faces were all filled with shock.

However, they then realized that the Burning Sky was now connected to another space, which had caused this anomaly. Following this connection, they stepped out into an external space and witnessed a sight that defied belief!

An enormous, mythical golden fireball obscured the entire sky.

A vast, silent, and desolate arc of land stretched out, its soil mixed with black and grey metal rust, scarred and pitted, resembling a rusty world.

Sparse, bizarre, emerald-green trees grew on the ground, vigorous and robust, shimmering with vitality. Their leaves were as translucent as imperial jade, surrounded by glowing mist, absorbing strands of radiation.

Even stranger, peculiar, beautiful men and women walked through the meteorite craters, jumping and playing. They seemed to possess low intelligence, like wild beasts, like apes or monkeys, yet this perilous environment appeared to have no effect on them.

“How is it possible that creatures can survive here?” They were utterly astonished, their pupils dilated.

Lord Yun Zhong looked up, his throat dry, gazing at the enormous, intensely radiating fiery sun that scorched the entire land. “This is a mysterious, broken world! For some unknown reason, it has breached our Human-Heaven Path’s Burning Sky Realm and linked with it.”

“I suddenly feel an eternal sense of ancient time. That colossal fireball in the sky seems to have existed for tens of thousands, even hundreds of millions of years, and every grain of sand on this ancient land beneath my feet, lying peacefully, has lived tens of thousands of times longer than me.”

“History... yes, I feel the sedimentation of a long history. This feeling is very real. This world is filled with desolation and stillness, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of years... it cannot be faked.”

“Is this the mythical Sun Ancient Path? The Blazing Sun Purgatory?”

Many fell silent. Such immense spans of time were astonishing, simply inconceivable!

Among them, a Human-Heaven Emperor felt the tree leaves were magnificent and couldn’t resist reaching out to touch a jade-like emerald branch. Before he even made contact, he felt an intense burning sensation on his fingertips.

“Don’t touch it!!”

Lord Yun Zhong exclaimed, quickly warning, “These mythical plants are exquisitely beautiful. Under that golden sunlight, they emit colorful glows and absorb the fire poison. The poison in their leaves is concentrated countless times over, making it difficult even for Heavenly Emperors to resist!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the person immediately retracted his hand in fright.

After all, such terrifying poison was hard enough to resist merely by being present in the air. If one were to physically touch such a high concentration of it, even they might suffer.

“This place is enigmatic, with mortal dangers everywhere! Be vigilant!” Lord Yun Zhong said, yet he suddenly moved to grab one of the running creatures himself.

“Yet these creatures completely disregard the immense pressure of the vacuum and the pervasive, decaying poison that affects all other life, living here as if it’s nothing!”

“Don’t touch them.”

Emperor Yun suddenly stopped him. Although these creatures appeared small and harmless, acting rashly might trigger some danger. He simply pointed into the distance, “Look...”

Everyone followed his gaze.

In the distance lay the ruins of an ancient building, vaguely discernible as an old temple with bricks and tiles. A solitary bronze lamp flickered at its entrance, and before the door, an ancient, bronze colossal stele stood on the ground, covered in verdigris and mottled rust. It seemed to depict blurry bronze carvings from an ancient era, seemingly of ancient deities rushing about and crying out, their roars filled with anger, their eyes streaked with tears.

“Ancient murals!?”

At that moment, everyone felt a chill of fear run down their spines, as if an ancient scroll of history was slowly unfurling before them.

An aura of desolation and immense antiquity flowed through the air. The crumbling walls spoke of the vicissitudes of a mythical era, stirring their minds uncontrollably, filling them with an indescribable sense of mystery and obscurity.

“What exactly is written on this ancient bronze stele? It’s already blurred.”

“Why are the depicted deities covered in tear stains, and why does an atmosphere of sorrow and desolation emanate from it?”

“In the distant past, these ancient gods... what made them angry? And what made them cry?”

Disregarding everything else, they exclaimed excitedly. They couldn’t stay long in this harsh and desperate land, so they immediately saved time and headed straight for the stele.

As they drew closer, the stele was too blurred; only a few fragmented murals remained.

The murals depicted a terrible war that had shattered this place, scorching the land, burning away the air, and leaving it full of fire poison. A mysterious sun in the sky had been pulled into a close orbit, turning the world into a death trap.

This place had become a living hell.

As for the creatures before them, they were the descendants of the defeated, suppressed here to endure endless torment, generation after generation, unable to reincarnate!

Emperor Yun murmured, “Forever suffering here? Could this be the mythical Eternal Hell? A drastic change in the Underworld... With reincarnation torn apart at this moment, could it be that the Human-Heaven Path coincidentally opened a path to the legendary world of the dead?”

He gazed at the giant fireball furnace in the sky, its fiery poison incinerating and permeating the entire land. If this truly was hell, then it certainly lived up to its name.

Perilous, terrifying, mysterious, and full of crises everywhere.

“Is this hell? The Karmic Fire of Avici, burning everything...”

All the Heavenly Emperors present were astonished, their faces showing expressions of disbelief.

At this point, the group immediately felt compelled to leave the stele and approach the nearby architectural ruins, the mysterious ancient temple, and the bronze stele, to physically examine these ancient remnants of civilization.

The shattered temple, the solitary bronze lamp, the bronze inscriptions—how vast and majestic this land was! It appeared extraordinary, with a faint glimmer of brilliant golden light, as if a magnificent war god in golden armor was shining, like a golden divine fire burning.

But just as they were about to take a step, Emperor Yun’s face darkened, and blood suddenly trickled from the corner of his mouth.

“This is bad! Quick, let’s go!”

He cried out, his face extremely urgent, “Hell is not a place for us living beings to stay long! It has no air, it’s full of deadly poison! Perhaps... only departed souls can endure it!”

The surrounding Heavenly Emperors also felt a growing sense of dread. Their bodies were rapidly deteriorating. Only then did they realize that while engrossed in the murals, they had already been deeply poisoned. If they stayed any longer, they feared they wouldn’t be able to return, so they quickly retreated.

A moment later, upon returning to the Human-Heaven Path, their expressions turned completely grim. They began to treat their injuries; many of their bodily tissues had already rotted and were festering, a truly horrifying sight.

Emperor Yun’s thoughts solidified.

This was utterly inconceivable. Could that realm truly be the mythical hell of legend?

“No! That ancient temple!” He stood up. “We must go back and explore those mythical ancient ruins. It’s very likely the legendary hell.”

“But the environment is so terrifyingly harsh.” He pondered for a few seconds, then directly addressed Lord Yun Zhong, “Where is that tree from the Asura Path? It’s about time for a body examination. Bring him up.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lord Yun Zhong descended.

In just a few days, Lord Yun Zhong brought the treant couple.

“I want to see our son!” As soon as they appeared in the great hall, one of the treants cried out.

“Bring them up,” Emperor Yun instructed.

Soon after, four children were brought in, rosy-cheeked and with gourds on their heads. However, they seemed not to recognize their own parents, looking at them with complete unfamiliarity.

“Who... are you?” they asked blankly, looking rather adorable.

“I’m your dad,” Yuan Qinghua said, tears in his eyes.

“I’m your dad!” Bai Xiaojun exclaimed in anguish.

“I know both of you are from the Asura Path; otherwise, the four offspring you bore wouldn’t possess consciousness...” Emperor Yun stated calmly. “I also know that many from the Asura Path are lurking within the Animal Path, simply remaining undetected by us.”

Yuan Qinghua remained silent internally, realizing they had been discovered.

Which player isn’t intelligent? They would feign ignorance, pretending to be ordinary animals and plants. It was hard to detect them just by their appearance... after all, the difference only became apparent during evolution.

Current players were highly skilled at “tunnel warfare,” taking the reincarnated infants of the Animal Path as their “sons” and conducting guerrilla activities everywhere.

Now, players from the Animal Path took pride in having “sons” and “daughters.”

These were high-potential “babies.” In modern society, who among game players doesn’t train a pet or companion?

Even if they couldn’t find gifted beings to reincarnate, plants would try to pollinate each other, blossoming and bearing fruit on their branches, producing a hybrid tree. Then the two trees would begin “severe training,” providing all sorts of compulsory education, hoping their “child” would achieve greatness and lead them to rise, essentially completing a “Chinese-style parenting” simulation game.

“What do you want with us?” Yuan Qinghua asked cautiously, after all, his children were in their hands and had already accepted them as parents.

“I know you possess a way to contact other Asura Path members. I want you to help me get in touch with a few Asuras, specifically those of lower cultivation levels who are still capable of evolving,” Emperor Yun stated.

Yuan Qinghua was stunned for a moment, and the live stream exploded.

“They want to create another high-level breeding stock? To mass-produce Asura Path warriors?”

“Let me do it! I’m proficient in a hundred positions!”

“Damn! If I don’t go to hell for this kind of abuse, who will?”

No one was foolish; wasn’t this a chance to gain the Heavenly Emperor realm?

Yuan Qinghua also took a deep breath, yet he felt something strange. What was Emperor Yun doing? And with a glance, he discovered a horrifying fact: everyone in the Human-Heaven Great Hall, including Emperor Yun, was pale, seemingly having sustained some internal injuries that required recovery.

This was truly terrifying.

Who had injured them?

In the Six Paths of Reincarnation, in the world of the living, who could possibly contend with the current Human-Heaven overlords?

Emperor Yun coughed twice, then continued, “We’ve discovered a mysterious place connected to the Human-Heaven Path. We suspect a recent drastic change in the Underworld, causing instability in the Six Paths of Reincarnation... leading to a tear in reincarnation and a connection to the depths of hell.”

Reincarnation unstable, space torn, connected to the depths of hell?

Yuan Qinghua’s eyes widened.

It was indeed possible, because that mysterious majesty had taken reincarnation out, so instability was normal. Could it really be...

Emperor Yun looked at this Asura Path member, seeing the expression in his eyes, and thought, “The Asura Path truly knows about matters in the Underworld, many secrets that we don’t. It even seems to agree that it might be a spatial tear? Connected to hell?”

There really is a hell?

He immediately became even more convinced.

“It’s a pity, though, that torture is useless.” Emperor Yun lowered his brows. “However, we might be able to glean some information from his expressions.”

He extended a hand, and a mirrored surface appeared.

It displayed the scenes of their exploration: crumbling walls, a dilapidated ancient temple, a solitary bronze lamp, and a stone wall.

Emperor Yun said, “The environment in hell is extremely harsh. There’s a world-destroying scorching sun in the sky, no air, and poisonous karmic fire burning. Living beings cannot stay there for long; it’s like a furnace!”

Yuan Qinghua was instantly bewildered. This description was identical to the hells in myths. “So hot? Could it be Avici Hot Hell?”

Emperor Yun paused, a little surprised internally. He quietly noted down the term, then added, “In such a treacherous environment, I want to see if your Asura Path can evolve creatures capable of adapting to it... That’s why I wish to contact you to make this attempt.”

Yuan Qinghua was completely astonished again. “Ancient temple, solitary lamp... Could it be that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva resides in the temple of hell, vowing not to become a Buddha until hell is empty?”

Emperor Yun, Lord Yun Zhong, and the others were all surprised. They indeed knew!

“Until hell is empty, I vow not to become a Buddha!” That phrase was terrifying; the will it embodied was astonishing. Could there truly be remnants of an ancient powerful being in that old temple?

“We are willing to go,” Yuan Qinghua said, his eyes wide.

He thought to himself, “Are we going into a dungeon now? An ancient ruins exploration event?”