Chapter 496: The Sacred Flame Emerges

Xiao Shou then reached out and tightly grabbed a mass of black fox fur that was even taller than himself and transmitted his voice to Tushan Qing.

"Grandfather, I told you that I won’t run away again. No matter who the enemy is, no matter how powerful the enemy is, I will never become a coward who only knows how to flee. This is my choice. Even if I die, I will have no regrets."

"Ah Shou... You’re truly such an... inconsiderate fool..."

Hearing this, the enormous black fox transformed from Tushan Qing paused for a moment before speaking to Xiao Shou, who had made this choice, in a tone whose emotions were impossible to discern.

"Indeed, you’re an idiot. He was even willing to sacrifice himself so that you could escape first, yet you actually ran back here to seek death."

At that moment, golden light flashed before the enormous black fox.

The immortal who had been shrouded in golden radiance had unexpectedly appeared before them once again.

With a mocking tone, he said, "Although neither of you can escape anyway."

"Damn it. He actually caught up so quickly."

Black radiance flashed across Tushan Qing’s entire body. His nine severed and damaged tails instantly regenerated, while a complete set of beast-shaped immortal armor simultaneously enveloped his entire body from head to tail, leaving none of his nine tails exposed.

"Looks like I can’t hold back anymore."

"Hmph! You make it sound as though you weren’t going all out just now. I..."

The figure wrapped in golden radiance coldly snorted and began mocking him.

However, before he could finish speaking, a mass of pitch-black flame suddenly burst out from the crack in the Heaven Origin Realm sphere he was casually holding and playing with.

The golden figure paid no attention to it at all.

He casually reached out, intending to crush the black flame with his hand.

To his surprise, however, the pitch-black flame showed not the slightest trace of fear when faced with his hand covered in immortal radiance.

Instead, it surged upward along his hand.

In an instant, it wrapped around him and completely engulfed his entire body in black flames.

The attack had no effect. Only then did the figure wrapped in golden radiance realize that something was wrong.

He quickly moved, attempting to pull himself free from the pitch-black flames. However, even after instantly moving through more than a dozen different locations, the pitch-black flames seemed to have locked onto him.

They could not be shaken off.

His attacks were ineffective.

He could not escape them.

And the flames continued to pour endlessly from the crack in the Heaven Origin Realm sphere, continuously flying toward him and wrapping around the immortal light protecting his body.

Although these flames could not hurt him, they were incredibly persistent. More importantly, the immortal now faintly felt a terrifying sense of danger from them.

Unable to endure it any longer, he reached out and threw away the Heaven Origin Realm sphere before flying farther away from it.

Yet even this could not stop the pitch-black flames from continuing to entangle him.

This made him angrily say, "What kind of strange flame is this? How can something so troublesome exist without me ever hearing of it?"

"This is the sacred flame belonging exclusively to our Tushan Clan. It rarely appears in the world even once in countless years. Even if Your Excellency is an immortal, it is only natural that you have never heard of it."

As this voice sounded, a small figure with silver hair and silver eyes flew out from the crack in the Heaven Origin Realm sphere.

After emerging from the crack, his body rapidly grew larger. In the blink of an eye, he had returned to his normal size and teleported beside the enormous black fox clad in immortal armor.

The silver-haired and silver-eyed figure was none other than Tushan Shanhe.

Xiao Shou only heard Tushan Shanhe sneer.

"Your Excellency certainly caused quite a commotion! The mountains and rivers inside are now overturned, seawater is flooding backward, and the eternal darkness of the void continues to erode everything. If this continues, I estimate it won’t be long before the entire realm falls into destruction."

"I wonder what deep grudge Your Excellency has against our Heaven Origin Realm that you, as an immortal, would actually attempt to destroy an entire realm belonging to us!"

As soon as Tushan Shanhe finished speaking, another voice came from within the crack.

Following that voice, a Frostheart Fleeting Battleship covered in a protective barrier actually flew out through the crack.

Standing on its deck were many cultivators who looked familiar to Xiao Shou.

They were all Spirit Transformation cultivators whom he had seen during the Heaven Origin Grand Competition.

There were also several unfamiliar faces whose auras were far more ancient and profound. They were peak late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators who seemed capable of ascending at any moment.

At the forefront was Lu Wuchen, the Sect Master of the Holy Sword Sect who had presided over the Heaven Origin Grand Competition.

The voice that had spoken just now seemed to belong to him as well.

What was this?

It was not only the Terrestrial Fox Black Flame that Xiao Shou had left behind in the Heaven Origin Realm that had flown out through the crack. Even Senior Tushan Shanhe and everyone from the Heaven Origin Realm had come out.

Was what Tushan Shanhe had said true?

Was the Heaven Origin Realm really in a state where the mountains and rivers had been overturned, seawater was flooding backward, and the eternal darkness of the void was continuously eroding everything?

And under such circumstances, how were Young’er and everyone in the sect?

Why couldn’t he see Young’er?

Thinking of his beloved disciple, Xiao Shou immediately carefully scanned the Frostheart Fleeting Battleship that had flown out through the crack and landed beside them.

To his surprise, apart from Gou Guangyan, Gou Guangming, and the Water Qilin, there was no one else from his side on the deck.