Chapter 1719: Human Nature's Karmic Fire

A'chou was dragged by one leg, his head hitting the ground repeatedly as he was pulled across the terrain of Youdu in the Primordial Realm. He sustained no physical injuries; his powerful Karmic Fire Golden Body instantly healed any wounds. His soul was also incredibly strong, arguably the most powerful primordial spirit in the world.

Yet, he felt as if he had suffered the most grievous injury. Heavenly Venerate Void's words and actions, like the most potent divine abilities, invaded his Dao Heart, transforming his hopes of becoming human and his expectations of familial love into self-consuming karmic fire. This was the very human karmic fire he had longed for, a condensed essence of human emotions, yet its burning was so excruciating, so heart-wrenching.

If he endured, he would become an enlightened being of the Youdu Grand Dao, achieving a feat even his previous incarnation, Earth Count, could only dream of. But if he failed to endure, he and his soul would turn into ashes within the karmic fire.

At this moment, A'chou's thoughts were not on whether he could achieve enlightenment, but on their relationship as father and daughter. With every thought, the karmic fire intensified, and the pain grew more severe. For the past eight hundred thousand years, he had endured boundless karmic fire from all sentient beings across myriad worlds, forging his Karmic Fire Golden Body. While those karmic fires tormented him, they also perfected him, and he could bear them. However, the karmic fire born of familial love struck the deepest weakness in his Dao Heart with such ferocity that he could not withstand it.

The weakest link in A'chou's Dao Heart was the karmic fire stemming from his father-daughter bond, a type of karmic fire he found impossible to resist. This was precisely why Qin Mu had always sent Heavenly Venerate You to confront Heavenly Venerate Void, avoiding any encounter between A'chou and Heavenly Venerate Void. Qin Mu knew that A'chou's familial affection for Heavenly Venerate Void had become his ultimate inner demon. His eight hundred thousand years of expectation, and his purpose in forging his golden body with the karmic fire of all beings, were for this father-daughter bond. How intense must this obsession be? The stronger the obsession, the more terrifying the karmic fire, potentially even burning Earth Count to ashes!

Heavenly Venerate Void dragged A'chou's body, step by step, towards Lanfeng Valley in Yankang. Numerous divine cities floated in the sky above Lanfeng Valley, with formidable passes stretching for thousands of miles, forming a barrier across the land. From Youdu in the Primordial Realm, both the divine cities and passes appeared illusory, like shifting shadow puppets projected onto a screen. Youdu in the Primordial Realm coexisted in an overlapping space with the Primordial Realm itself. From here, Heavenly Venerate Void could see the Yankang soldiers guarding Lanfeng Valley, observing their life-and-death divine treasures, their physical bodies, and their primordial spirits. On the Yankang side, only those who had cultivated special divine eyes or possessed profound mastery of the Youdu Dao could perceive Youdu and Heavenly Venerate Void. Youdu was indeed this peculiar. If Youdu's demonic gods and monsters were to invade Yankang, they would appear as invisible enemies to Yankang's gods and devils, inevitably leading to a bloody, one-sided slaughter.

"Heavenly Venerate Mu is at the Heavenly Court's main camp, Heavenly Venerate You is blocking Youdu's demonic gods, and Heavenly Venerate Yue and Lang Wo have both fallen several realms. Only Lan Yu Tian is left to guard this place!" Heavenly Venerate Void, pulling A'chou Earth Count, strode vigorously towards Lanfeng Valley, laughing, "Lan Yu Tian, even in Youdu, can't be my opponent! This Yankang is an undefended pasture to me. I can rampage through it, killing and feasting at will! Father God, this is *our* power, the power you dare not use!" Her eyes gleamed with delight, like a little girl full of inner darkness, about to knock over and smash a porcelain object she desperately wanted to destroy. Her heart was filled with anticipation, excitement, and an intense urge for destruction. "But I dare!" she laughed.

At that moment in Lanfeng Valley, the village chief was preaching, and Lan Yu Tian looked down, spotting Heavenly Venerate Void dragging A'chou by the leg. He stood up. If Heavenly Venerate Void were to invade Lanfeng Valley, he feared no one would be her match. Only he could still fight Heavenly Venerate Void! Just as he was about to enter Youdu in the Primordial Realm, he suddenly stopped.

In Youdu of the Primordial Realm, Heavenly Venerate Void also halted, releasing A'chou's foot. The karmic fire on A'chou's body was too intense, burning her hand and causing unbearable pain. She turned, seeing A'chou's Karmic Fire Golden Body scorched black by the raging flames, like a giant made of charcoal, yet that charcoal was now ablaze.

"Father God, do you still begrudge letting go of humanity?" Heavenly Venerate Void chuckled, mocking, "To become human, you killed Mother and your children. Now, for the sake of humanity, are you going to kill your only remaining daughter, too?"

A'chou slowly rose, the karmic fire on him intensifying. The pain from his burning physical body was infinitesimal compared to the agony scorching his primordial spirit. Yet, the pain in his primordial spirit was vastly inferior to even a fraction of the torment in his Dao Heart.

"My children, I so wanted to protect you all..." His back to Heavenly Venerate Void, his shoulders trembled. He raised a hand to cover his face as tears of fire streamed from his three eyes.

A'chou was not Earth Count. A'chou was merely a child who resembled Earth Count, a person with an ugly face but a kind heart. A living, breathing human. He was kind to others, helping his neighbors. Initially, the villagers feared him, but eventually, they all accepted him, realizing he was a very good person. He never wanted his wife and children to suffer any harm, and he desperately wished to sacrifice his life to protect them. When his old mother died, he yearned to be Earth Count, to possess the power to revive the dead, to save his mother's life, fulfill his filial duty, and care for her.

Yet, he couldn't do it, not at all! He was merely a mortal who strongly resembled Earth Count. Earth Count possessed the world's most powerful primordial spirit and boundless strength, but constrained by his identity as Earth Count, he could not overstep the will of the Youdu Grand Dao. But A'chou was human. As long as he retained his humanity, he could not wield Earth Count's power.

The hardships of life, the wickedness of the world, the ugliness, oppression, and slaughter by gods and devils—none of these made him abandon his identity as a human or relinquish his humanity. He was the ugliest person in the world, yet his grotesque appearance concealed the purest heart. He remained full of hope for the future, believing it would become beautiful.

When his wife and children left him one by one, when demigods lifted his children and threw them off cliffs, when his children were smashed into bloody pulp before his very eyes... A'chou died. His humanity died. But the death was not complete. His humanity transformed into demonic nature, acquiring power, and at that moment, A'chou died. Earth Count was reborn within him, but the resurrection was incomplete. Endless rage burned within him. Youdu's demonic nature and aura filled his body and mind. Vengeance, also a human trait, consumed him, driving him to invade the Heavenly Court, to obliterate the enemies who had inflicted such suffering upon him!

Yet, another aspect of humanity remained within him: his love for his only daughter. Dominated by both rage and love for his daughter, he stormed the Southern Heavenly Gate, heading towards Jade Capital City. Even with countless shackles of the Youdu Grand Dao binding him and innumerable chains entwining him, he could not be stopped for an instant! But ultimately, he was thwarted by Heavenly Emperor Grand Initial, who forced him back to Youdu. As he fell into Youdu, he saw his daughter fall into Heavenly Emperor Grand Initial's grasp. His vengeful rage vanished. Earth Count was fully reborn, his compassion for his daughter, his sole remaining humanity, preserved within Earth Count's heart, taking root and sprouting. Breaking free from the Youdu Grand Dao and becoming human transformed into Earth Count's obsession, for which he had schemed until now.

His compassion for his daughter prevented him from harming Heavenly Venerate Void; A'chou would never hurt his own daughter. This was a hurdle he could not overcome. The karmic fire of familial love would utterly consume him, destroy his physical body, incinerate his primordial spirit to ashes, and completely shatter his Dao Heart. If he could pass this trial, he would become an enlightened being of Youdu, mastering the Grand Dao and controlling life and death. He could not pass this trial.

A'chou was merely a person who resembled Earth Count, as ugly as Earth Count, but not Earth Count himself. He was human. But at this moment, he had to make a choice.

"My daughter..." A'chou clenched his fists and roared skyward. The Youdu Grand Dao unleashed from within him, Youdu's power awakened, and Earth Count inside him revived once more. His body swelled and expanded continuously, his physical form transforming. The worlds destroyed in wars, the shattered Youdu, the beings who died in battle—their grievances, their demonic natures, their sins and kindnesses from their entire lives—all surged towards him at this moment!

Earth Count within A'chou awoke, and the Youdu Grand Dao once again surged towards him. He turned, his three eyes brimming with fiery red tears, and reached out to Heavenly Venerate Void. "My daughter, come home. I'll take you home." A'chou suppressed the rules of the Youdu Grand Dao, showing Heavenly Venerate Void an ugly smile. "Come home, don't create any more slaughter. I can't suppress the Youdu Grand Dao any longer..." The Youdu Grand Dao would not permit Heavenly Venerate Void to use Youdu's divine abilities to indiscriminately slaughter living beings. If Heavenly Venerate Void insisted on destroying Yankang, Earth Count would enforce the law. A'chou faced the same situation as before, only this time he was not driven by revenge, but by the protection of Yankang's populace.

A flicker of confusion crossed Heavenly Venerate Void's eyes, quickly overshadowed by hatred. Without hesitation, she unleashed the Styx River whip towards him, sharply declaring, "Hypocrisy! I won't go back with you! I am Heavenly Venerate Void, the supreme Heavenly Venerate Void! All beings will submit to me, will fear me! You are willing to be poor, willing to be humiliated, but I am not!" The Styx River whip swept towards A'chou, but then became supple, floating gently beside him. Heavenly Venerate Void turned and charged towards Lanfeng Valley, towards Yankang.

More tears of fire gushed from A'chou's three eyes, spreading like butterfly wings. Though Earth Count had awakened, the familial love and compassion for his daughter still remained within him. This love transformed into a blazing karmic fire, an unstoppable inferno that consumed his entire being. He reached out and grabbed Heavenly Venerate Void. None of Heavenly Venerate Void's Youdu divine abilities or the Youdu Grand Dao had any effect on him anymore! The moment he seized Heavenly Venerate Void, the karmic fire suddenly became incredibly fierce and violent, the roaring flames engulfing both him and Heavenly Venerate Void! The bloodshed caused by Heavenly Venerate Void was also ignited by the karmic fire on his body, burning wildly. The grievances of countless wronged souls who had died tragically by her hand fueled this karmic fire to its peak!

"Grand Initial was right; I would achieve my desire. But I never imagined the outcome would be like this..."

Before Lanfeng Valley, within Youdu of the Primordial Realm, the intensity of the karmic fire was unimaginable. It was as if the accumulated karmic fire of sentient beings from an entire cosmic epoch had ignited and erupted all at once.

"Earth Count!" Heavenly Venerate You turned, looking at the boundless karmic fire. Within the flames, two figures were burning and disintegrating. This karmic fire was so potent that even he could not step into it, or he would be burned to ashes and cease to exist. "Abandon your humanity, and become the true Earth Count!" Heavenly Venerate You rushed forward, stopping just outside the inferno, and loudly declared, "Eradicate the last trace of familial affection, and you can survive!"

In the distance, Qin Fengqing, controlling the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel, also sensed it. He looked at the raging karmic fire, his three eyes filled with tears of fire. "Big guy, what are you hesitating for? Don't you act now?"

In the sea of karmic fire, everything turned to ashes. The flames slowly subsided, and the inferno's intensity gradually calmed. In a daze, Heavenly Venerate You saw A'chou again: an ugly yet imposing man walking through the sea of fire, a small girl with tiny bull horns on her head, innocent and charming, sitting on his shoulder. A'chou, in the sea of fire, looked back and smiled at Heavenly Venerate You. Before him, a mountain village vaguely appeared, with an old mother sitting in front of a house, a woman washing clothes, and a pair of children happily running around. A'chou walked towards it with the little girl, disappearing along with the peaceful mountain village, vanishing like a fleeting dream.