The Wrath of the Endless Furnace

High above the chasm in the Chenyu Mountains, four figures had appeared. At their head was a golden-robed, horned man, his gaze dark and turbulent as the depths of the sea. Behind him stood three figures: the bald, black-robed ‘Black Rain Celestial Immortal,’ the golden-haired ‘Gold Cloud Celestial Immortal,’ and the Heavenly Mystery Celestial Immortal.

All three Celestial Immortals followed respectfully behind this ancestor.

“Who is that horned man?” “Isn’t that the Heavenly Mystery Patriarch? Why is he standing respectfully behind that man? And the other two standing with the Heavenly Mystery Patriarch are also being extremely deferential… their auras seem formidable as well. They should be at the Celestial Immortal level.”

The various Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals of the Shaoyin clan who were watching from within the distant formation barrier were all somewhat stunned.

They had already seen five Celestial Immortals earlier. And now they were seeing four more!

They knew the Heavenly Mystery Celestial Immortal. He was an existence of extremely high status within the Shaoyin clan, and they would occasionally come into contact with the Patriarch. But now, the Heavenly Mystery Patriarch was standing respectfully behind that horned man, as were the other two Celestial Immortals. This caused countless thoughts to arise in their hearts.

“Could it be that horned man is our Shaoyin clan’s true ultimate existence?” “Five Celestial Immortals before, and now four more. Does our Shaoyin clan have a total of nine Celestial Immortals? Are we really that powerful? Or perhaps… that horned man isn’t a Celestial Immortal, but a legendary True God or True Immortal?”

All sorts of ideas raced through the minds of the watching Shaoyin Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, making them watch nervously.

…

The golden-robed, horned man and the other three Celestial Immortals looked down from above. From the depths of the chasm, they could see that enormous fiery-red copper pillar. Beside it, five Celestial Immortals were attacking it with all their might, trying their best to slow it down. And at the very bottom… the three-hundred-zhang-tall giant, Ji Ning, was using all six of his arms simultaneously, furiously trying to pull the pillar out.

“Touching my furnace… seeking death.” The golden-robed, horned man’s face darkened as he gave the order. “All of you, move out. Push that copper pillar back down.”

“Yes!”

The three subordinates, the Gold Cloud Celestial Immortal, Black Rain Celestial Immortal, and Heavenly Mystery Celestial Immortal, acknowledged the order and flew downwards together.

The golden-robed, horned man then opened his mouth.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Three small, black specks flew out, swelling instantly in the wind. In the blink of an eye, they transformed into three terrifying monsters, each thirty thousand zhang in size. One was the bizarre insect with sixteen razor-sharp legs, its shell gleaming like armor. Another was a beast with incredibly thick hide, looking very much like an enormous rhinoceros, but with twelve pairs of wings on its back. The last one was a massive serpent with rings of black patterns, its markings incredibly beautiful, forming a crown-like pattern on its head.

The golden-robed, horned man then sat down on the back of the winged rhinoceros. All three monstrous creatures, each thirty thousand zhang in size, shot downwards with lightning speed.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The faint sound of rumbling came from deep within the fiery-red rocky cliffs.

Ji Ning was frantically pulling on the massive copper pillar, which was rapidly rising upward. The more of it he pulled out, the more dazzlingly bright the countless runic patterns that emerged from the endless fiery-red stone beneath his feet became. They pulsed and flickered, and the boom-boom-boom sounds grew faster and louder.

“Eh?” As he pulled, Ji Ning vaguely sensed a force beginning to strengthen deep within the ground below the pillar, within the fiery-red rock. It was as if some terrifyingly huge beast was straining to push the pillar back up.

The more he pulled out… The stronger that ancient, deep force below the pillar became, constantly pushing it upward. This made Ji Ning’s task of pulling the pillar out surprisingly easy.

“Don’t bother dealing with Ji Ning; it’s useless,” the Heart-Eroding Celestial Immortal sent a frantic mental message as he saw the arrival of the Heavenly Mystery Celestial Immortal and the other two. “Ji Ning has the Eight-Nine Arcane Art protecting his body. We can’t hurt him. He’s also tightly gripping that copper pillar, so there’s nothing we can do about him. Focus on stopping the pillar from rising.”

“Understood.”

The three newly-arrived Celestial Immortal also understood this and immediately used their own methods to try and force the pillar back down.

“Oh?”

From three thousand li away, the three-hundred-zhang-tall, six-armed giant, Ji Ning, looked up. A faint candlelight-like glow burned in his eyes, letting him see everything clearly. He saw the three Celestial Immortals, including Heavenly Mystery, joining the fray. He also saw those three terrifying monstrous beasts flying down towards him, and the horned, golden-robed man sitting on the back of the winged rhinoceros.

“More and more of them are coming.” Ji Ning grinned. “The Shaoyin clan’s power is truly formidable. It’s no wonder they’re one of the top ten ancient tribes of the Grand Xia Dynasty. It seems I’ve really stirred up a hornet’s nest this time. The Shaoyin clan is truly panicking.”

Indeed, to the Shaoyin clan, ordinary tribesmen would be replaced over a few hundred years. Mortals and ordinary cultivators weren’t that important. Even if everyone in the entire Chenyu Mountains were killed, at worst it would be a loss of face for the clan, with no real impact on their power. After all, they had two other main lairs and could repopulate the Chenyu Mountains quickly.

Besides these three lairs, the Shaoyin clan also occupied countless small worlds, their bloodline spreading far and wide. They weren’t worried about being wiped out.

In truth, destroying the Chenyu Mountains… the Patriarch might not have even shown himself. But by touching the Endless Cupping Furnace, Ji Ning had touched the clan’s very foundation, forcing even this Patriarch to act.

“Eight Celestial Immortals? Still can’t stop me.” Ji Ning continued to pull the pillar up rapidly. In truth, the combined downward pressure from the eight Celestial Immortals was incredibly strong. But now, as the pillar rose, the power from below was growing stronger and stronger, even reaching a level comparable to Ji Ning himself!

So, with the eight Celestial Immortals all acting together, Ji Ning was having an easier time than before.

Boom!

The first of the three monsters to fly down was the huge, armored poisonous insect. Its sixteen legs wrapped themselves tightly around the fiery-red copper pillar! To this terrifying, thirty-thousand-zhang-long insect, the ninety-nine-zhang-thick pillar seemed rather slender. As the poisonous insect exerted its strength, Ji Ning felt the pillar suddenly sink down!

“This monster is incredibly strong. If I weren’t using my Three Heads, Six Arms technique, I probably couldn’t match its strength alone.” Ji Ning was surprised as he looked at the insect monster.

Whoosh.

The ten-thousand-zhang-long black serpent also flew down, coiling itself around the pillar. An additional force, no weaker than the poisonous insect's, was added, making the pillar feel even heavier to Ji Ning.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Ji Ning could feel the rumbling from deep within the fiery-red rock beneath his feet growing faster and faster. The force below the pillar was increasing without stop, and it had already completely surpassed Ji Ning’s own. With this force aiding him, Ji Ning continued to pull the pillar upwards!

“Roooar!” The winged rhinoceros brought one of its forelegs directly down onto the top of the pillar, causing the entire pillar to sink heavily.

“That winged rhinoceros monster… its strength is greater than the serpent and the insect combined?” Ji Ning was shocked. “With six arms and the Starseizing Hand, I’m probably only a match for this rhinoceros monster.”

Ji Ning held onto the pillar. He could sense the power building beneath it, becoming almost a perfect counterbalance to the pressure from above. Ji Ning himself was the final weight tipping the scales.

“Let’s get this out.” Ji Ning used all six arms, exerting a force that matched about eight Celestial Immortals by himself—a match for the strongest being on the other side, that winged rhinoceros.

“What?!” The golden-robed, horned man on the back of the winged rhinoceros changed expression drastically. His subordinate Celestial Immortals were all Ki Refiners, naturally at a disadvantage in a contest of pure power! But those three monstrous beasts of his were far stronger. He had thought that sending them out would easily push the pillar back down.

…

In the main hall of the Seamless Gate outpost in the Western Seas of the Grand Xia world. “Hahaha, Old Freak Poison-Clown has run into some trouble now.” The Blackwind Celestial Immortal laughed, waving his arms and dancing with unrestrained glee.

“That’s the Shaoyin clan’s founder?” The woman beside him, Purpgrass, looked curiously at the golden-robed, horned man in the image. She had heard of the Shaoyin clan’s founder, but knew very little about him.

The Blackwind Celestial Immortal laughed and nodded. “That’s right. He’s the founder of the Shaoyin clan. Back during the primordial Pangu world, there was a very powerful tribe called the Divine Flame tribe, which even had a Daofather seated within it. It was considered a top-tier tribe among the human race. A woman from this tribe was raped by a fiendgod and gave birth to a child with fiendgod blood. That child was born ugly, looking more like a monster than a man. Rejected by his tribe… he never thought of himself as a member of the Divine Flame tribe. He left them long ago and founded the Shaoyin clan himself!”

“This ugly child is the founder of the Shaoyin clan, ‘Shaoyin Clown.’ A true monster—eccentric, cautious, scheming, and sinister.” The Blackwind Celestial Immortal said in a low voice, “Although he’s only a Celestial Immortal, even I wouldn’t want to be his enemy.”

Purpgrass nodded gently. Of course, she had heard the legends of the Poison-Clown Celestial Immortal.

In the Three Realms, those who could become Pure Yang True Immortals or True Gods were few. Powerful figures like Patriarch Lu (Lu Dongbin) of the Three Realms were treated with respect even by the Celestial Thearch. True Immortals and True Gods were too rare… Celestial Immortals were far more numerous. And among Celestial Immortals, there were some truly heaven-defying freaks who, despite being stuck at the Celestial Immortal level and unable to break through to the True Immortal realm, possessed reputations that rivaled True Immortals and True Gods.

The Blackwind Celestial Immortal was one! The Poison-Clown Celestial Immortal was another!

“This Poison-Clown has many clones, though each one is of average strength.” The Blackwind Celestial Immortal sighed with admiration. “But because he has so many clones, it’s almost impossible to kill him. The Poison-Clown you see here is just one of his clones.”

“Poison-Clown’s own combat power is average, but his poison insects are terrifying. His skill at raising them is top-tier within the Three Realms. I have no idea where he got such a legacy.” The Blackwind Celestial Immortal continued, “These three poison insects each possess the combat power of a top-tier Celestial Immortal. And since they have no fear of death, they’re even more terrifying than most Celestial Immortals. Even back in the primordial Pangu world, the Poison-Clown Celestial Immortal was a notoriously troublesome figure. It’s very hard to kill him. Unless a Daofather takes action and finds all his clones to destroy them. He’s lost a few of his insects before, but as time passes, he can always just breed more terrifying ones.”

“So, it would be best to win the Poison-Clown Celestial Immortal over from the Grand Xia Emperor’s side.” The Blackwind Celestial Immortal said, “That would be a huge gain for us.”

…

The eccentric, cautious, scheming, and sinister golden-robed, horned man watched the scene below. He found that even his three monstrous poison insects couldn’t stop the pillar from continuing to rise. Growing anxious, he sent a mental message directly. “Ji Ning, boy! If you don’t want to die, stop immediately!”

(End of this chapter)