Dragon-Marked War God

Niu Tianlang felt somewhat helpless, even indignant, but the situation was stronger than he was. If he wanted to climb to the peak step by step, he had to rely on Fen Gudong, the chief alchemy elder of the Ghost Pill Sect. Although he knew full well that it was like asking a tiger for its skin, he had no choice but to give Fen Gudong all the Heavenly Flame Crystals he had accumulated over tens of millions of years. Those Heavenly Flame Crystals were the very origin of the Hell Karmic Fire. Over these tens of millions of years, he had drained seventy to eighty percent of the Hell Karmic Fire’s karmic fire origin, so refining the Hell Karmic Fire was not impossible.

Little by little, it had all added up. Having its karmic fire origin drained was the most painful thing for the Hell Karmic Fire. But only in this way could the Hell Karmic Fire be refined. Once the Hell Karmic Fire was successfully refined and the Myriad Qi Cauldron obtained, Fen Gudong was confident he could fight even a Great Emperor Realm expert.

Niu Tianlang was unwilling too. All his efforts over tens of millions of years had in the end only benefited someone else. Moreover, if he wanted his second and third brothers to regain their bodies, he would still have to rely on Fen Gudong. After all, the methods of the Ghost Pill Sect’s chief alchemist were far beyond anything he could compete with.

Jiang Chen charged madly toward the Heavenly Dragon Tower, but the moment he appeared, Red Lotus had already been pushed into the eighteenth level of the Heavenly Dragon Prison…

Jiang Chen instantly wiped out the two Hierarch experts there.

“Jiang Chen, farewell forever.”

A faint smile hung at the corner of Red Lotus’s mouth. Her eyes seemed full of regret, but she was already powerless.

“Wait for me!”

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes and, without the slightest hesitation, jumped into the eighteenth level of the Heavenly Dragon Prison.

“No!”

Red Lotus’s beautiful eyes flickered, full of despair, but Jiang Chen still jumped down resolutely. The endless flames instantly swallowed the two of them. In the bottomless abyss, they plunged straight down.

The distance between Red Lotus and Jiang Chen grew shorter and shorter. In that moment, their hands finally clasped tightly together.

“Why, why are you so foolish…”

Red Lotus murmured. Her face was full of bitterness, but the love deep in her heart could not help showing itself.

“You once went through fire and water for me. How could I, Jiang Chen, be someone who fears death? All along this road, you have long since become an indispensable part of my life.”

Jiang Chen said gently. The tears in Red Lotus’s eyes could no longer be held back and poured out. The two embraced tightly. Although Red Lotus was a karmic fire, she still had feelings of her own. She was just not good at expressing them. Liking someone was liking them. At last she could no longer restrain her feelings, and her tears gushed out like a raging tide breaking a dam.

Scene after scene appeared in Red Lotus’s mind. The two of them had come all this way, stumbling along. It always seemed as if they had been cold toward each other, yet every time they had stood by each other in life and death.

Jiang Chen had jumped into the eighteenth level of the Heavenly Dragon Prison’s purgatory for her. Red Lotus’s heart melted completely.

But she knew that the two of them were probably both going to die.

“You’re so foolish. I’m not the only woman in this world. How will you face them?”

Red Lotus said, weeping, soaking the front of Jiang Chen’s robe.

“But I can’t do without you.”

Jiang Chen said quietly.

Red Lotus’s heart trembled slightly. Even if she died, she would be willing.

Jiang Chen pressed a deep kiss onto Red Lotus’s forehead. At that moment the two held each other tightly, as if treasuring their final moments.

At last, the two of them fell to the bottom of the ten-thousand-zhang abyss. Endless tongues of flame spewed fierce, evil fire, and both their faces changed abruptly.

Everything within a few inches around them was endless raging fire. Tongue after tongue of flame, like blazing fire dragons, raged through the void, wrapping the two of them in from every direction.

“What terrifying flames!”

Jiang Chen’s heart turned cold. At this moment, both Jiang Chen and Red Lotus held their ground within that tiny space, resisting the raging fire.

“This Hell Karmic Fire is even more terrifying than I imagined.”

Red Lotus said quietly, her expression grave. She already felt an intense scorching in her heart. That it could make her feel this way showed just how terrifying this Hell Karmic Fire was.

Jiang Chen and Red Lotus both leapt into the Ancestral Dragon Pagoda. At that moment, even the Ancestral Dragon Pagoda became scorching hot. Although the Ancestral Dragon Pagoda did not melt, that blazing fire still drove the two of them into a desperate situation.

“If this goes on, I won’t be able to hold out either.”

Red Lotus said in a deep voice. Although she was the Karmic Fire of the Red Lotus, there was still a considerable gap between the strength of her flames and this Hell Karmic Fire.

“Did you find your father?”

Jiang Chen asked.

Red Lotus shook her head in disappointment.

“His aura disappeared. I was in the mountain range to the north when Fen Gudong and Niu Tianlang ambushed me and captured me here.”

Red Lotus said quietly, her heart full of sighs and sorrow.

Jiang Chen pondered for a moment, then said in a low voice,

“What I’m going to say may sound absurd to you. Even I don’t think it’s very believable. But I have to say it. This Hell Karmic Fire… could it be your father?”

Red Lotus shook her head firmly.

“Impossible. I can’t feel even the slightest bit of closeness in this Hell Karmic Fire. It can’t possibly be my father.”

“First, the direction you were searching for your father led right here. Second, you are the Karmic Fire of the Red Lotus. How many flames in this world are stronger than you? Moreover, the Ancestral Dragon Emperor once told me that this karmic fire was a great power of the ancient era, though he didn’t say clearly what its identity was. And this Hell Karmic Fire happens to be the very thing Fen Gudong and Niu Tianlang want to devour. The Heavenly Flame Crystals they’ve accumulated over tens of millions of years are in fact its karmic fire origin. The danger you sensed your father was in, could it be related to this? It’s only a guess, but I think this Hell Karmic Fire is very likely connected to you.”

The more Jiang Chen said, the more Red Lotus was moved. Yet she could not feel the slightest trace of her father’s aura. The feeling she had before was not this at all.

For a time, Red Lotus fell into confusion. She had no idea whether this was really her father, but now she felt nothing. Besides, she and Jiang Chen probably could not hold out much longer.

“Whoosh—”

Tongues of fire filled the eighteenth level of the Heavenly Dragon Prison. The raging flames gave off a black light as they burned, as if heaven and earth, spiritual qi, everything could be burned.

Jiang Chen and Red Lotus’s situation grew worse and worse. They were inside the Ancestral Dragon Pagoda, but that scorching heat almost drove Jiang Chen to collapse.

“Azure Lotus Sapphire Starfire!”

Jiang Chen summoned the Azure Lotus Sapphire Starfire and began to surround himself with its terrifying firepower, but the terror of the Hell Karmic Fire was even harder to deal with than either of them had imagined.