Book 23, Endwar, Chapter 24 – The Kindlefire is Eternal
“Protect Suiren.” Daoist Three Purities frantically exerted the power of his Immortal Slaying Swords. He was fairly far away from Keeper Everwood, and so he could afford to take a moment’s respite and temporarily ignore his opponent. A dazzling, freezing sword pierced out through the Void, stabbing directly at the flood of water surrounding Suiren.
Boom!
A raging river of water immediately turned to smash head-on against the Immortal Slaying Swords. The sword-light shattered and the Immortal Slaying Swords were knocked flying backwards.
“Rescue Suiren.” Ji Ning and Buddha Jueming strove to intercept the attacks, but the raging rivers swirling around them had completely tied them down, giving then no way to advance at all.
“Don’t even think about leaving.” The Lord of All Fiends easily blocked the black-robed Ning and Lord Tathagata from moving.
All of the major powers of the Nuwa Alliance wished to save Suiren, but none of them were able to draw close to him.
“Shennong, be careful!” f.u.xi called out furiously.
Boom!
The raging waters once more came cras.h.i.+ng against Suiren.
It must be understood that of the six rivers of water which the Lord of the Demonheart had manifested, two were being used to die down Ning and Buddha Jueming, two were being used to kill Suiren, and the final two were striking out against various other individuals. Shennong was in command of a Pangu Genesis Formation and was using it to fight in close combat, which was why he had charged the farthest and was the closest to Lord Demonheart.
The water came cras.h.i.+ng towards Shennong. Shennong sought to evade, but the endlessly growing bamboo stopped him at every turn. Soon, the raging river had completely enveloped Shennong as well.
Boom! Boom! Boom! As the waters of the river crashed against Shennong, his Pangu Genesis Formation began to shudder and shake. It was at the verge of breaking apart.
“Not good.”
The faces of every member of the Nuwa Alliance changed.
Suiren was an Elder G.o.d, and his body could be dematerialized into endless flames. As a result, he was able to resist Lord Demonheart’s attacks for quite some time. Although the situation looked dangerous, he would still be able to hold for a bit longer. Shennong, however, was somewhat weaker. His Pangu Genesis Formation most likely wouldn’t be able to survive Lord Demonheart’s a.s.saults for very long before being destroyed.
“Three Purities, f.u.xi, protect the Three Realms.” Suiren’s voice suddenly echoed through the Void…and then, his voice became incredibly calm and peaceful. “Kindle the fire and make it eternal…”
Although his voice was peaceful, it brought terror to the hearts of those who heard it.
Suiren’s body had been covered with flames that were weak but still seemed capable of fighting back. Suddenly, the light around him increased dramatically. Moments later, all of the light around his body solidified into small flames. Suiren himself completely vanished, leaving behind just those eight little flames.
Hiss…crackle…
The eight flames seemed tiny and weak, and they rose and fell alongside the river waters that were surrounding them.
These bizarre flames seemed to carry endless life force with them. Although the raging waters of the rivers around them continued to do their best to smother these flames, it was the water that ended up hissing and bubbling as it began to boil away. The two rivers began to quickly shrink in size, becoming thin and weak. As for those eight little flames…slowly, they began to be extinguished. One flame. Two flame. Three flames…
As one river was completely boiled away and half of the second river was destroyed, the final few flames were extinguished.
Suiren’s aura had completely vanished.
Suiren…had died.
Boom! Boom! Boom! In the instant that Suiren’s body had dematerialized into those eight flames, a series of arrows had struck the waters of the rivers as well. Their primary target was the river which had wrapped itself around Shennong. As they landed against the river, the river began to dramatically weaken to the point where it was no longer a threat to Shennong.
The arrows moved with incredible speed. Although Lord Demonheart had launched a series of final, berserk attacks, Suiren’s own final burst of power resulted in Lord Demonheart’s death being hastened.
“I can’t accept this…I can’t accept this…I can’t accept this…” Lord Demonheart’s furious roars could still be heard echoing within the waters of the raging rivers. As Houyi continued to fire off arrows, the river continued to shrink in size and wither away, until finally it completely disappeared completely.
The entire Void was completely quiet.
The Nuwa Alliance and the Seamless Gate had both fallen silent.
Everyone felt dazed and stunned. This war had been instigated by the Lord of the Demonheart, and he had done so to escape from the confines of the Heavenly Daos. As the former king of the Seamless Chaosworld, Lord Demonheart’s reputation and power was known to everyone on this field of battle. The Nuwa Alliance had been quite terrified of him, as he truly was incredibly powerful.
But…
He had died just like that?
“How could this have happened…” The black-robed G.o.dking stared blankly into the Void. When he saw his master come out, he had been exceptionally happy. After all, although he was the nominal leader of the Seamless Gate, its actual leader was really the Lord of All Fiends! Most of the older generation of major powers didn’t pay much attention to him, which was why he was delighted by the thought of being able to shelter under his master’s auspices once more. But…his master, the Lord of the Demonheart, had actually died just like that!
“Is this destiny?” The Lord of All Fiends sighed softly.
Lord Demonheart had secretly stirred up this entire mess. This had actually enraged the Lord of All Fiends, as he was a person who hated to fight over power. However, there was no way out; the relations.h.i.+p between the Seamless Gate and the Nuwa Alliance was now like the relations.h.i.+p between fire and water, utterly irreconcilable. His only choice had been to follow Lord Demonheart in pressing the a.s.sault against the Nuwa Alliance.
But now…Demonheart had died. Truly died. He had survived the battle that ended the Primordial Era, but this he did not survive this one.
Last time, he had been able to fuse himself into the Heavenly Daos. However, now that he had broken free from them once, there was no way the Heavenly Daos would allow him to merge into them again. This was why there was nowhere for him to run when Houyi’s final arrows had come for him.
“Suiren.”
The Nuwa Alliance didn’t celebrate at all. All they felt was grief. When Daoist Three Purities, Ji Ning, f.u.xi, Tathagata, and the others had seen Suiren transform himself into those eight flames, their hearts had been plunged into grief.
“Big brother…” Shennong’s eyes were wet with tears. “Was it worth doing this for my sake?”
Those six raging rivers were like Lord Demonheart’s body. The smaller it became, the weaker he became. Suiren’s final suicide attack had completely burned away nearly two of the rivers, causing Lord Demonheart’s body to be dramatically lessened and weakened, buying time for Houyi’s final arrows to arrive and save Shennong.
“Don’t blame yourself too much. Suiren was already in a desperate situation. Even if he didn’t launch a suicide attack, he still would’ve been killed by Lord Demonheart.” Daoist Three Purities let out a sigh, then said consolingly, “He just didn’t wish to see you die alongside him. Better for one to die than both.”
“Alright.” Shennong nodded slowly, but he couldn’t disguise his grief.
The major powers of the Nuwa Alliance all joined together.
“Houyi.” They all turned their heads towards Houyi as the latter flew towards them. Houyi’s face was ashen, but he still looked quite calm.
“You alright?” Kuafu, in command of a Pangu Genesis Formation, immediately inquired after his well-being.
“Not dead yet.” Houyi nodded and smiled, quickly flying to the side of Ji Ning and Buddha Jueming.
“Senior apprentice-brother Houyi.” Ning looked at Houyi. “It was all thanks to you.”
“If it wasn’t for Houyi, it would’ve been hard for us to survive this battle.” The nearby Buddha Jueming let out a sigh. “I really didn’t expect the cause of this war to be the Lord of the Demonheart. He truly was quite powerful, even more powerful than he was during the war that ended the Primordial Era.”
Ning could sense that Houyi’s aura was very weak right now. He didn’t fully understand what each arrow had cost Houyi, but he could sense that the price had been enormous.
“Too bad about Suiren.” Houyi sighed softly.
“He transformed his body into kindle, using his life to fuel the flames and ensuring that it would continue unto perpetuity. This…this is the true meaning of the ‘Eternal Kindlefire’.” Buddha Jueming folded his palms together into prayer. “Amitabha.”
Ning nodded slowly as well.
During the Primordial Era, Suiren had led the puny, weak race of humans to slowly rise to power. He had watched as countless human heroes had perished for the sake of their race, and thus he had developed his own ‘Eternal Kindlefire’ technique. However, the Eternal Kindlefire could only unleash its most terrible flames when it was truly infused with the essence of sacrifice.
Although the Nuwa Alliance was filled with grief, they were also filled with confidence that they had taken control over the battlefield. Old Man Yuan, Daofather Ink Bamboo, Keeper Everwood, and the others had all retreated for now. Without the Lord of the Demonheart, the Seamless Gate no longer felt any confidence in their ability to win.
“Three Purities. Tathagata.”
The two bodies of the Lord of All Fiends merged into one. He stood there in midair, looking at them and speaking in a calm voice. “The outcome of this war is very clear. It was Demonheart who caused this war, all for the sake of escaping from the Heavenly Daos. In addition, the Heavenly Daos themselves acted in ways to mislead us and instigate this war, precisely because there were too many living creatures within the Three Realms. Many of us have died on both sides, and the burden on the Three Realms is now much lower. I think we should bring this war to an end.”
“Bring this war to an end?” Shennong’s face was a mask of grief, but his eyes blazed as he growled out, “What, the Seamless Gate still intends to live here within the Three Realms?”
“The Three Realms is also the home of the Seamless Gate.” The Lord of All Fiends sighed softly.
“Ahahaha…”
Daoist Three Purities laughed coldly. “What a joke! You had your chance…and in fact, the Nuwa Alliance didn’t wish for all of this to come to a war. It was your side which continuously caused problems, furiously a.s.saulting us and provoking us. You even went so far as to cause chaos throughout the Three Realms, a.s.sa.s.sinating the friends and family members of our major powers. Do you think we can just wipe out all these debts at one stroke?”
“We were foolish enough to let you return once…do you really think we would be foolish enough to do so again?”