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**
"Creating a Dou Di?"
The moment Zhu Kun uttered those words, the atmosphere seemed to freeze.
Aside from Mo Yu, who had guessed some of the hidden truths, the rest of the group, including Gu Yuan, were left utterly stunned, mouths agape as they stared at Zhu Kun in disbelief.
The oppressive silence lingered for a long moment before slightly easing. Once the initial shock faded, everyone regained their senses, only to find the notion utterly absurd.
Creating a Dou Di? Even if these words came from Zhu Kun, they were beyond belief. For tens of thousands of years, not a single Dou Di had been born in this world, making it clear just how distant and illusory that legendary realm truly was.
"Old Dragon Emperor, are you joking?"
Yan Jin opened his mouth, his voice unconsciously dry. Though he found the statement utterly impossible, an inexplicable glimmer of hope still surfaced in his heart.
The coalition army was already fighting with their backs against the wall. If Hun Tiandi successfully advanced to Dou Di, their side would lose all chances of victory. That level was beyond human resistance.
But if Zhu Kun's words were true, then this seemingly hopeless battle might actually have a way out!
"Senior Zhu Kun, this… isn't the time for jokes, is it?" Xiao Yan hesitated before carefully asking.
Gu Yuan remained silent, simply fixing Zhu Kun with an intense gaze, waiting for confirmation.
Seeing the skeptical looks from the crowd, Zhu Kun grinned and said, "Relax, I wouldn't joke about something like this. If fate truly favors us, then we may indeed have the chance to see the birth of a Dou Di on our side."
"Can you explain?" Gu Yuan's hand trembled slightly as he spoke.
Zhu Kun slowly lifted his head, his gaze falling upon the massive plaza of Heavenly Flames he had transported from the Ancient Emperor's Mansion. After a moment of silence, he finally said, "The Di-grade Embryonic Pill is not the most precious thing in the Ancient Emperor's Mansion."
"Senior Zhu Kun, you mean… that thing?" Xiao Yan's eyes flickered as he pointed toward the floating Heavenly Flame Square.
"Why else do you think I went through all that trouble to bring it out?" Zhu Kun rolled his eyes before waving his sleeve. Space distorted, and in a flash, everyone found themselves standing atop the vast Heavenly Flame Square once more.
Their gazes swept over the towering pillars of flame surrounding the plaza, yet no energy fluctuations could be sensed. In the end, their eyes landed on the colossal stone statue standing thousands of meters tall.
"What's so special about this place?" Lei Ying muttered after observing for a while without discovering anything.
Zhu Kun stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze complicated as he looked up at the ancient emperor's statue. "Do you know the origins or true identity of Tou She Ancient Emperor?"
At these words, everyone froze and exchanged uncertain glances, all shaking their heads.
Seeing their confusion, Zhu Kun clasped his hands behind him and, after a brief pause, suddenly changed the topic.
"The Heavenly Flame Ranking lists twenty-three flames, each one a supreme fire of the world. But do you know the name of the flame ranked first?"
A tremor ran through the crowd's hearts. The first-ranked flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking…
Not even the strongest individuals of the continent knew its name because that position was blank!
No one knew what the top-ranked Heavenly Flame was. Yet strangely, many alchemists had an instinctive feeling that something should exist above Nihility Devouring Flame. They just didn't know what.
Mo Yu's eyes narrowed slightly. He had a feeling that Zhu Kun was about to reveal the secret behind Tou She Ancient Emperor's identity.
As if sensing the anticipation, Zhu Kun spoke slowly, "From what I know, a certain Heavenly Flame was born into this world. It took a thousand years to take form, ten thousand years to gather spiritual essence, and countless millennia to refine itself. During this process, it underwent a peculiar mutation.
"As you all know, once a Heavenly Flame is born, it rarely leaves its place of origin. But this flame was different. Upon gaining intelligence, it roamed the world beneath the earth's magma, wandering for thousands of years—feeding on other flames."
"It devoured only those listed on the Heavenly Flame Ranking—twenty-one of them, to be precise."
"Devouring flames? That should only be possible for Nihility Devouring Flame, right?" Xiao Yan, deeply familiar with Heavenly Flames, hesitated.
"In the world of flames, just as in the human world, power structures exist. Even if one is born into greatness, they can still be overthrown. Devouring is a natural instinct among flames, though typically the strong consume the weak," Zhu Kun sighed. "But this particular flame was different. It knew how to seek fortune and avoid calamity, targeting weaker flames first.
"By the time it had devoured twenty flames over thousands of years, even supreme flames like Nihility Devouring Flame and Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame could only bow before it."
At this revelation, everyone sucked in a sharp breath. Heavenly Flames were already rare treasures of the world—how could one possibly devour twenty of them?
Even if a human managed to find these flames, who would dare to consume twenty of them? The sheer power would undoubtedly lead to self-destruction!
"Senior Zhu Kun, are you saying… that the first-ranked flame isn't a specific flame, but rather the one that successfully survives the brutal devouring process and emerges victorious?" Mo Yu stroked his chin as realization dawned.
In a way, Tou She Ancient Emperor was the ultimate underdog—a mere flicker of fire that climbed to the very peak of the continent, becoming the last Dou Di. The cunning and ruthlessness required to achieve this were beyond ordinary comprehension.
"That's right. But the process of devouring other flames carries an immense risk—two flames clashing could easily lead to self-destruction.
"Only by successfully consuming twenty-one other Heavenly Flames and surviving could a flame earn the right to be called the strongest—claiming the title of the first-ranked Heavenly Flame."
"So that's the truth behind the number one flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking…"
Understanding the details left everyone sighing in amazement. It turned out the number one Heavenly Flame was not a specific flame, but a fusion of twenty-two different flames—the ultimate existence among Heavenly Flames!
"Once it succeeded, it named itself 'Emperor Flame' and spent another thousand years refining its strength before finally breaking through to the world beyond."
At this point, Zhu Kun's eyes flickered with deep emotion.
"And after the Emperor Flame emerged, it gained another title across the Dou Qi Continent."
He took a deep breath and fixed his gaze on the towering stone statue before him. His next words exploded like thunder in the ears of everyone present, leaving them completely dazed.
"Back then, people called him… Tou She Ancient Emperor."
Tuo She Ancient Emperor… the number one ranked Heavenly Flame on the list…
Upon hearing this, the entire square fell into complete silence once again. The expressions on everyone's faces were incredibly fascinating, as they were clearly stunned by this near-unbelievable revelation, unable to recover from the shock.
"Zhu Kun, are you certain of your words?" Even Gu Yuan, known for his composure, couldn't help but lose some of his usual steadiness. He took several deep breaths before speaking.
"If we were to compare by age, none of you could even match my grandchildren. When it comes to such ancient matters, who in the entire Dou Qi Continent could possibly know better than me?" Zhu Kun chuckled.
Hearing this, the crowd could only let out bitter smiles. Zhu Kun had no reason to deceive them, so after the initial shock wore off, they gradually accepted this hard-to-believe truth.
"But what does this have to do with achieving the realm of Dou Di?" Gu Yuan finally asked the most critical question.
"There are two most precious treasures in the Ancient Emperor's Mansion. One is the Di-grade Embryonic Pill that Hun Tiandi obtained. The other is..."
Zhu Kun paused momentarily, his gaze locked onto the towering stone statue before him. Then, he slowly enunciated each word: "The Emperor's Origin left behind by Tuo She Ancient Emperor!"
"The Emperor's Origin?!" Everyone's hearts trembled as they murmured in disbelief.
"It can also be considered Tuo She Ancient Emperor's inheritance. This is the true supreme treasure within the Ancient Emperor's Mansion. Compared to this, even the Di-grade Embryonic Pill is somewhat inferior," Zhu Kun said with a smile.
"If we can obtain the Emperor's Origin, we too can give birth to a Dou Di. When that time comes, even if Hun Tiandi relies on the Di-grade Pill to break through to Dou Di, what does it matter?"
At those words, the eyes of everyone present suddenly lit up. Just when they thought they had lost all hope of resisting, a new opportunity had appeared before them—truly a case of finding a path through the darkness!
"Where is the Emperor's Origin? How do we obtain this inheritance?" Gu Yuan's face was filled with excitement as he eagerly asked.
Hearing this, Zhu Kun let out a bitter smile and replied, "The inheritance of Tuo She Ancient Emperor—how could it be so easily obtained? I have spent all this time exhausting my efforts, yet I have found nothing."
Gu Yuan was taken aback. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "Then where exactly is the Emperor's Origin?"
Zhu Kun walked towards the stone statue and patted it. "It's inside here. However, no one can enter. Even if the two of us attack with full strength, we cannot shatter this stone statue."
At these words, everyone crowded around the statue. They touched its surface, but the texture felt nothing out of the ordinary, nor did it exude any particularly strange aura. No matter how they examined it, it seemed like an ordinary rock.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, Lei Ying, standing nearby, clenched his fist and punched the stone statue with great force.
However, a muffled impact sounded, and the next instant, to everyone's astonishment, Lei Ying's body was sent flying backward, skidding across the square for several hundred meters before he managed to stabilize himself in a disheveled state.
"There's definitely something strange about this…" Seeing this, everyone shuddered inwardly. Even the patriarch of the Lei Clan was injured from the backlash. If even he couldn't break the statue, then who on this continent could?
"This stone statue is protected by the Emperor's Origin…" Gu Yuan murmured in shock.
"Indeed." Zhu Kun nodded helplessly. "The Emperor's Origin is hidden within the statue, but we cannot break it to obtain it."
"There must be some special method," Gu Yuan frowned.
"I think, since this involves the inheritance of Tuo She Ancient Emperor—the number one Heavenly Flame on the list—Xiao Yan would be the most suitable candidate. His Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame has already developed intelligence, making him the one with the highest success rate." At this moment, Mo Yu suddenly spoke.
He knew that in the original timeline, Xiao Yan had accepted Tuo She Ancient Emperor's inheritance. Among everyone present, including himself, no one was a more suitable candidate than Xiao Yan.
Hearing Mo Yu's words, Xiao Yan was slightly stunned. However, he had no leads on how to proceed. Just then, a wisp of pink flame flickered on his shoulder, and Xiao Yi suddenly emerged.
"I can open the stone statue…"
The soft words from Xiao Yi instantly drew everyone's attention. Zhu Kun and Gu Yuan appeared beside Xiao Yan almost immediately, their gazes fixed on the small figure.
Hearing this, Xiao Yan was momentarily taken aback. After a moment of contemplation, he nodded and said, "Then give it a try. But if it doesn't work, don't push yourself."
Xiao Yi nodded. His small body slowly floated upward, and under everyone's watchful eyes, he finally hovered before the heart of the stone statue.
As he ascended, an intense Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame surged from within him, rapidly spreading out before condensing into a beam of firelight that shot straight at the heart of the statue.
"Buzz! Buzz!"
As the beam struck, the towering stone statue suddenly emitted strange ripples, spreading out like waves.
"Buzz! Buzz!"
The frequency of the tremors increased, and soon, a crisp cracking sound echoed. Before everyone's eyes, the chest of the statue slowly split open, revealing a stone chamber.
From within the stone chamber, a soft radiance emanated, spreading across the entire square like a thin veil, enveloping everyone present.
The delicate light swept over the crowd, then gradually withdrew from Mo Yu, Gu Yuan, and the others, finally condensing into a single beam that enveloped Xiao Yan.
"You lucky brat… in the end, it's still you…"
Seeing this scene, Zhu Kun's expression was somewhat complicated. He had once been trapped for thousands of years in his greed for the Emperor's Origin, yet now, this very thing had chosen Xiao Yan instead.
Mo Yu, too, smiled slightly and said, "Xiao Yan, I look forward to your good news."
At the same time, his fist clenched subconsciously. Now that Xiao Yan had found his own path to becoming an Dou Di, he himself… could not afford to lag behind!
-------------------------------------------------------
For exclusive access to 500+ advanced chapters and more, visit my Ko-fi page and support the journey:
ko-fi.com/laoyao95
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or Support me at patreon for 500+ advanced chapters :
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