Volume One: The Mist-veiled Immortal Palace, Chapter Eighty-five: A Duel of Heroes for Command

In the fathomless dark, there was no telling above from below, no telling east from west, no telling the length of time. It was an abyss belonging to an immortal’s spirit, the deepest core of the inner world, the farthest edge of the mind’s domain.

A scarlet lotus drifted through that abyss. Even with its dazzling crimson radiance, the boundless darkness remained desolate and pitch-black. Not merely in the distance, but even before one’s eyes, there was only a blackness so dense that it seemed to swallow the hand reaching out. This place was as though it were the beginning of chaos, or the remnant of all things undone. Whether beginning or end, it was eternal darkness.

“Searching for so long, where on earth is Zhou Hao’s soul? I haven’t even seen a shadow,” the scarlet lotus muttered to itself in human speech.

“What am I thinking? It’s so pitch-black here—how could there possibly be a shadow?”

Elsewhere, Zhou Hao’s inner demon had also entered Zhou Hao’s spiritual realm. His expression was frostily ruthless, stripped of even the slightest human feeling. Just now, when Zhou Hao’s body had collapsed to the ground, he had hurried in here to intercept and slay the Nine-Bladed Fire Heart Lotus.

“I have to kill that damned woman quickly. The lightning tribulation will soon discover that Zhou Hao only feigned death. By then both body and immortal soul will be struck to ruin, and I’ll be finished too.”

It turned out that just now, the inner demon had poured all his strength into resisting the Five Thunder Righteousness Tribulation. The Great Blazing Sun Palm had been driven beyond its limit, leaving Zhou Hao’s body grievously exhausted. Yet because the inner demon had slipped into the spiritual realm, the tribulation could not determine whether Zhou Hao had failed the trial. Though this could deceive even the heavens for a time, it would soon be exposed. The inner demon had to stop the Fire Heart Lotus at once. Otherwise, once Zhou Hao’s soul burst forth from the spiritual abyss, the suppression of the immortal soul would be broken, and he would be imprisoned in that abyss once more.

“Aha, found it—that’s the light of Zhou Hao’s soul!” From far away, the Nine-Bladed Fire Heart Lotus spotted a faint glimmer of gold flashing in the dark void beneath her.

Whoosh. Just as she was about to accelerate downward, an unwelcome guest also arrived. He moved even faster, but instead of pursuing the soul-light below, he barred her path.

“You think you can really save him?” Zhou Hao’s inner demon gazed coldly at the alluring scarlet lotus before him.

“Oh dear, you still caught up to me,” said the Nine-Bladed Fire Heart Lotus, taking human form with a dejected look.

She appeared as a tiny girl in red, with long scarlet hair falling over her shoulders. Small in stature, with a tender pink face and a cherubic charm, she looked like a little maiden in the first bloom of youth.

“Then go to hell!” Perhaps anyone else, upon seeing such a lovely, adorable girl, would have softened and indulged her in every possible way. But the one standing before her now was not a human being. He was a devil, a creature wholly devoid of human feeling, a demon of slaughter.

Zhou Hao’s inner demon’s palm lit up, and a golden lightning sigil emerged within it. Instantly, lightning intertwined and crackled, and he intended to crush the Nine-Bladed Fire Heart Lotus with a single strike.

“I only just came out today, and I’m in a wonderful mood, so I’ll spar with you for a couple of moves,” said the Fire Heart Lotus, far from unprepared. Her hands were already forming seals at blinding speed.

Sizzle. The inner demon’s great hand struck toward the girl’s chest, lightning erupting from his palm like hundreds of silver serpents dancing wildly. But the instant that hand entered within three feet of the scarlet-clad girl, the lightning vanished in a strange way, and the inner demon was sent flying backward.

“Hahaha, fun, fun! This move of mine is called absorption and rebound force. Within three feet around me, any immortal power or spell is absorbed by an invisible wall of qi, and the attack you send out will be bounced back. If you strike me with one measure of force, the wall of qi will return double. Isn’t it impressive? Heehee...” Seeing Zhou Hao’s inner demon blasted hundreds of meters away and left face-down in the dirt, the scarlet-haired loli laughed until she nearly doubled over, all while explaining the name of her technique.

“How outrageous!” The inner demon was seething. With one hand he formed seals, so quickly it was nearly a blur, and at the same time his right palm was covered in a layer of pale golden light.

“Bad news—this palm is not something I can take. I’d better run for it!” The Fire Heart Lotus inwardly cried out in alarm, ready to slip away at any moment.

“Take your despair to the underworld, Great Blazing Sun Palm!” Zhou Hao’s inner demon pushed out with one palm, and a golden handprint took shape, swelling rapidly as it advanced. From afar, it looked as if the inner demon were pushing a blazing sun forward.

“Flee!”

The Nine-Bladed Fire Heart Lotus knew she could not possibly withstand that palm, and so she immediately unleashed her unique secret art: the Boundless Escape Technique.

As its name suggested, this art could hide and escape from anything, in any setting, in any environment. Given the present battle, she employed Void Escape.

Golden light blossomed, brilliance bursting in all directions like the detonation of a sun. The spiritual abyss shook violently, the tremors spreading far and wide. Yet the Great Blazing Sun Palm struck empty air. The Nine-Bladed Fire Heart Lotus successfully vanished, hurrying to bring Zhou Hao’s soul out of the abyss.

“You can’t escape. Since you insist on saving him, I’ll kill the two of you together. From this day on, I’ll be the true Zhou Hao!” The inner demon looked around at the vacant abyssal void and laughed coldly.

In a stretch of dark void, golden light flickered. A figure sat cross-legged within it, eyes tightly shut. In the darkness, he seemed to be deep in meditation, as if realizing some profound truth. This figure was none other than Zhou Hao’s soul.

And now the Nine-Bladed Fire Heart Lotus had finally arrived. Without the least hesitation, she rushed forward and seized one of Zhou Hao’s arms, intending to drag him away. Yet he did not move at all, as though dead. However hard she pulled, he neither opened his eyes nor changed his cross-legged posture.

“What is going on? Zhou Hao, wake up! I came personally to fetch you, and you still won’t wake? I slept for so long and woke up just fine—you mustn’t learn from me and go back to sleep!” The Fire Heart Lotus shouted at the top of her voice, nearly roaring into Zhou Hao’s ear.

“Wake up already!” Smack. The girl’s smooth jade-like hand landed across Zhou Hao’s soul-face.

“Damn it all! Wake up, wake up, wake up for me right now!” She stamped a foot against his chest, grabbed the collar of Zhou Hao’s soul-body, and screamed without restraint.

“Wake up, wake up, little brother. Big sister brought you something tasty! Wake up, hmm. If you don’t wake up, big sister will eat it all by herself and leave none for you.” The Fire Heart Lotus put on an adorable expression and spoke in a soft, childlike voice into Zhou Hao’s left ear.

“Hey, Hao, you’re so bad. I’ve tried so hard, and you still won’t give me any face. Wake up already. I’m scared—this place is so dark. Come protect me, won’t you? Wuwu, I’m really scared. What should I do, what should I do, wuwu...” The little loli let out a sweet, plaintive sob.

To her surprise, Zhou Hao’s soul actually stirred. His nose twitched, as though something had stung it, though the little loli was so deeply immersed in her performance that she failed to notice. She kept calling to him in a crying voice.

“Don’t cry. Qingqing, don’t cry. Big brother will protect you. Don’t cry, don’t cry. Be good, Qingqing. The bad men have been driven away. Big brother is right beside you. Don’t cry. I will always stay by your side, protecting you and cherishing you.”

Suddenly, Zhou Hao’s soul spoke in a gentle voice. He lightly soothed the scarlet-haired loli in his arms with his hand.

The Nine-Bladed Fire Heart Lotus froze as well, instantly flustered by the wind. She simply let Zhou Hao gently stroke her back, the two of them resting their heads on each other’s shoulders like a pair of siblings leaning upon one another.

“Qingqing, though we are not blood brother and sister, I will always be your big brother. Don’t worry. I’ll stay with you and protect you.”

Zhou Hao’s soul still had not opened its eyes, yet his tender words continued to spill forth.

“Bro... big brother!” The Fire Heart Lotus’ heart trembled. Leaning against Zhou Hao’s shoulder, she began to sob aloud.

“Big brother, Huahuo misses you so much. Are you finally coming to take Huahuo home? Big brother, Huahuo never wants to be separated from you again. Huahuo misses you. I’ve always, always missed you!”

One man and one woman both seemed to recall countless things from the past. One thought of his little sister: if he had not gone off to serve as a soldier back then, perhaps his negligence would not have led to her tragic death. Zhou Hao blamed himself for failing to protect his younger sister Qingqing that year. The other thought of her elder brother: if not for the tricks of fate, the two siblings would not have been separated for thousands of years without meeting. Huahuo of the Nine-Bladed Fire Heart Lotus had waited all this time for her brother to take her home.

“What a touching scene. Pity I am not human, so I cannot be moved. I’m afraid I can’t allow you to keep huddling together for warmth.”

A figure emerged from the dark void, and every word it spoke dripped with mockery and cruelty.

The moment Zhou Hao’s soul heard those words, he opened his eyes. Two beams of golden brilliance shot from his pupils like lightning, and he was instantly fully awake.

“Hm? You are... the Nine-Bladed Fire Heart Lotus?” Zhou Hao asked in surprise, looking at the loli girl in his arms.

The little girl gently nodded. Still immersed in the emotions of the moment, her longing for her brother left her unable to calm down. Her swollen eyes continued to spill tears.

In this state, the Nine-Bladed Fire Heart Lotus truly bore a wistful, poetic beauty, delicate as pear blossoms in the spring rain.

“My true name is Huahuo! Thanks to you drawing forth the essence of solar fire for your cultivation, I was able to awaken so quickly from my slumber. My cultivation has advanced hundreds of times over, and now I too possess an immortal body!”

The girl named Huahuo paused to gather herself, then introduced herself anew to Zhou Hao.

“Congratulations, Huahuo! That’s a lovely name, very girlish, haha!” As a man, Zhou Hao kept his emotions under perfect control. In the blink of an eye, he could smile cheerfully, utterly forgetting the self-reproach and longing of moments before.

“Is that so? Then this little woman thanks you for the praise, heehee...” Hearing Zhou Hao’s compliment, Huahuo’s mood improved at once. Coupled with her naturally cheerful and lively disposition, she could laugh away all her worries in an instant.

“Looks like you two get along quite well. Chatting happily, are you? I almost hate to kill you before you’ve finished your conversation.” Zhou Hao’s inner demon let out a sinister, icy laugh from the side.

“You really do look exactly like me. I let you slip through my fingers before, but this time you won’t be so lucky!” Zhou Hao’s soul turned his gaze to the inner demon and sized him up from head to toe.

“I know you inside and out, while you know nothing about me. Do you really think you can defeat me? As long as I kill you, I’ll be the genuine article. Heh, hahahahaha!” Zhou Hao’s inner demon laughed uproariously.

“True is true. False is false.”

Zhou Hao’s soul flipped his palm and struck out. Golden radiance blazed, brilliant as the noon sun. Zhou Hao’s inner demon was equally unwilling to yield; his right palm rushed forward to meet the blow, and blinding golden light illuminated the space around them.

Boom, boom, boom!

The two ZHOU Hao clashed palm against palm, while their left fists thundered into each other. The void rumbled at once, as though nine heavens of thunder were exploding. Merely that force alone far surpassed the limits of an ordinary Golden Immortal.

A great duel began: two heroes contending for the command!