Evan Yang looked around for quite a while before finally regaining his senses. This wasn't just any place—it was Rising Sun Sect, the very first sect he ever joined, and the place where he began his path of cultivation.
But Evan couldn't understand why he appeared here. Logically, this scene shouldn't exist in his heart's illusion. He frowned, feeling that this place had nothing to do with his inner world, but since he couldn't break out, he could only wander around Rising Sun Sect.
Here, Evan saw crowds coming and going, but it seemed no one could see him. He tried to block their path, but they simply walked right through him.
"That's really strange—they can just pass through me," Evan muttered suspiciously.
Curious about the situation, Evan continued to wander around. He realized he didn't recognize anyone here, and seeing this, he murmured, "Looks like this has nothing to do with my heart's illusion. But why did I end up here?"
With questions in mind, Evan kept searching, until suddenly a mass of fire fell from the sky and crashed into a certain spot within Rising Sun Sect. The sudden change shocked everyone nearby, and they all rushed toward the impact site.
Here, Evan couldn't use his Divine Sense—maybe because of this place. Curious, he followed the crowd, quickly arriving at the front since no one could block him. When he saw the familiar scene before him, Evan was stunned.
He saw that the stone which once bore the words 'Lecture Cliff' was now blank, and at this moment the stone was fiery red, radiating a crimson glow.
As Evan wondered what was going on with the stone, a phantom appeared in the sky. The phantom moved incredibly fast, and with a few swift strokes, carved three characters—Lecture Cliff—onto the stone. The crowd saw the words appear but didn't see anyone, thinking someone was playing tricks and looking around in confusion.
"Could it be they didn't see the person in the sky?" Evan wondered suspiciously.
After the person finished carving the three characters, he gently touched the stone, then smiled at Evan Yang before disappearing.
Evan was shocked. No one here could see him, yet that person noticed him. Just as Evan wanted to ask, the person vanished. The crowd glanced at the stone and left, uninterested, while Evan approached and wondered, "Why did he touch this stone?"
Curious, Evan placed his hand on it. Instantly, the 'General Chapter' of Ninety-Ninefold Purefire and detailed instructions for each realm appeared in his mind. Most importantly, at the end, a line was left: "To the fated one: see you in the Chaos Hellfire Abyss!"
Seeing this line, Evan was shocked. At that moment, the surrounding scene slowly faded, and he returned to normal. Meanwhile, a flood of purple light surged around him, and the Strongest Weapon stopped absorbing Sacred Lightning.
The Patriarch cheerfully withdrew the Sacred Lightning. As it faded, the purple currents around Evan's body remained. When he realized his internal lightning attribute had mutated to purple, he was stunned.
"You truly didn't disappoint," the Patriarch said excitedly, putting away the Strongest Weapon and smiling at Evan.
Burch didn't dare approach Evan, intimidated by the terrifying aura around him. He asked, "Can you retract that current from your body?"
Evan finally snapped back to reality, withdrew the current, and immediately asked his first question—not about the Strongest Weapon or anything else, but looking at the Patriarch: "What is the Chaos Hellfire Abyss?"
"Chaos Hellfire Abyss?" Burch asked suspiciously, while the Patriarch stared at Evan in shock. "How do you know about that place?"
Seeing the Patriarch's expression, Evan realized the Sacred Lightning must have brought him through time, letting him meet the founder of Ninety-Ninefold Purefire.
"Just now, the Sacred Lightning brought me back to a place I once stayed. There, I met an unnamed senior who left this for me," Evan said.
"A miracle, a miracle," the Patriarch exclaimed twice.
"Patriarch, what does this actually mean?" Burch asked, puzzled.
"That place is regarded as a holy land by our clan, and our Sacred Lightning is drawn from there. But reaching it is nearly impossible—unless you become a Heavenly Dao expert. Not only that, you also have to pass through the Ninefold Outer Frontier. Only after that can you reach the Chaos Hellfire Abyss," the Patriarch explained.
"Then, Patriarch, do you know how to get through the Ninefold Outer Frontier?" Evan asked eagerly. He wanted to find that unnamed senior, mainly because of Ninety-Ninefold Purefire. He realized the true ultimate of Ninety-Ninefold Purefire wasn't the ninth layer, but something even higher. As for why the senior left him this message, it was surely to guide him there.
"I don't know," the Patriarch replied helplessly, shaking his head. Though he knew it was a holy land, he had never been there. The knowledge was passed down through the clan, but no one knew the details.
Hearing this, Evan looked a little disappointed. His earlier excitement faded, until the Patriarch spoke: "Young man, no matter what, you've helped me complete something important. I'll give you some benefits and tell you what you want to know about the Divine Pill Chapter."
"Alright." Evan perked up at the mention of the Divine Pill Chapter—after all, that was his main reason for coming here.
"But first, watch the power of our Strongest Weapon. I'll tell you after that," the Patriarch said with a smile.
Evan was curious about how they'd test its power—surely they wouldn't actually grab a Heavenly Dao expert for an experiment, right?
The Patriarch just smiled without saying a word, leading Evan and the others through a tunnel to another, still-developing area of the underground space.
What greeted Evan's eyes was all Blood-Black Stone. "It's huge," he muttered.
Seeing a block of Blood-Black Stone several hundred zhang across, Evan was shocked. Even after being chipped away at with special attacks, only a tiny bit was removed—just the tip of the iceberg.
"See this? It's one of the hardest stones in the world, comparable to a Heavenly Dao expert's defenses. If this can be pulverized, then even a Heavenly Dao expert wouldn't be able to escape," the Patriarch said, pointing at the massive stone.
Evan looked at the Patriarch suspiciously. "You're not planning to use this for the experiment, are you?"
"Of course. Watch closely," the Patriarch said, taking out the Strongest Weapon. As it gathered a massive surge of purple current, the arrows on it were ready to fire. Under Evan's gaze, the Patriarch pulled out the purple command token, muttered something, and the Strongest Weapon began to move.
Evan and the others soon noticed a spatial distortion around them, all caused by the Strongest Weapon's overwhelming aura twisting the space.
Seeing the Strongest Weapon's might, Evan muttered, "What a terrifying weapon. Whoever runs into this is really out of luck."
As soon as he finished speaking, all the arrows on the Strongest Weapon fired, shooting from every direction into the giant stone. Everyone heard a series of crackling and sizzling noises, and finally saw the massive stone shatter—some parts even turning to powder.
It was clear just how terrifying the Strongest Weapon really was.
The Patriarch was very satisfied with the weapon he had created, so he smiled at Evan and asked, "What do you think?"
"Patriarch, you're truly impressive. I admire you," Evan replied, shaking off the lingering fear from that terrifying aura.
"There's just one drawback—it can only be used once every hour," the Patriarch sighed. Evan also noticed that after the earlier barrage, the arrows on the Strongest Weapon were slowly recharging.
"That's already amazing," Evan said, trying to reassure him.
"I like hearing that. Also, thank you for your help this time. You can now move freely anywhere you wish. If you have questions, just ask Burch or Little Thunder. I'll go back to improving the Strongest Weapon," the Patriarch said with a smile.
"Thank you," Evan replied.
"As for the Divine Pill Chapter you mentioned, it's probably in the Dead-Forbidden Zone of Ridge Grotto Cave. I'll have Burch take you there so you won't waste time, but once you reach the entrance, it's up to you. We can't get close to that place," the Patriarch said to Evan.
Evan was surprised to hear that Ridge Grotto Cave had a place called the Dead-Forbidden Zone. The Patriarch left to work on improving the Strongest Weapon, while Burch led Evan away from the dwarves' territory.
Back inside the stone passage, Evan said with a smile, "Sorry to trouble you again."
"Don't mention it. You helped us complete such a great project—next time a Heavenly Dao expert comes, we'll show them what we can do!" Burch said with a laugh.
"Do Heavenly Dao experts often show up around here?" Evan asked curiously.
"Yeah, every so often. It seems they're all after the Dead-Forbidden Zone. But to get there, you have to take a lot of twists and turns—many can't find it, some get stuck here for years, and some just give up after a while. If I didn't worry about them breaking my stone, I'd have taken them out myself long ago," Burch said.
"Good thing I was lucky, or I'd have ended up on the receiving end," Evan said with a wry smile.
"No fight, no friendship," Burch said with a grin.
Evan was glad he wasn't afraid of lightning—otherwise, Burch wouldn't have gotten close, and he wouldn't have been able to help finish the Strongest Weapon or learn about the Dead-Forbidden Zone.
From the Patriarch's tone, it seemed that thing was indeed in the Dead-Forbidden Zone. So Evan asked, "Why does everyone want to go to the Dead-Forbidden Zone? Is it all for that scripture?"
"No idea. The Patriarch said there are lots of treasures there—the scripture is just one of them," Burch told Evan.
Hearing this, Evan became even more curious about the Dead-Forbidden Zone.
As Burch led Evan through a winding path, Evan kept asking about Ridge Grotto Cave.
Eventually, Burch stopped at a certain spot, then stepped aside and said, "Look, there's a shimmering barrier ahead. Go through it and you'll be in the Dead-Forbidden Zone. Be careful—this is as far as I can take you."