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Translator: SilverNeko

Editor: Dancing Dolphins Yo!

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In lower cultivation worlds, there were only four stages: Qi Refining, Foundation Building, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul stage. There was not enough spiritual Qi within the world, causing many restrictions. Once a cultivator had reached the Lian Xu stage, they could ascend to an upper cultivation world. There, where the cultivators, demonic cultivators, and mythical beasts gathered, was another completely different world.

The Punishing Immortal Tower was precisely a Lian Xu stage treasure that was very rarely seen in the lower cultivation worlds.

That day, Wen Jing threw a daunting slash at the Punishing Immortal Tower, immediately causing everything to spin as his body was compressed and taken in. Before he had time to react, the rumbling and exploding sounds around him all stopped, as if a sandbag fell onto a hard and slightly hot area of the ground.

Wen Jing, dizzy and disoriented, touched the ground. Then he raised his head and looked at the walls around him that were gradually becoming red. Frightened, he immediately broke into a run.

The walls were becoming hot. Soon, the Punishing Immortal Tower would be filled with flames!

According to the descriptions in the second volume of《A Calamity for All Living Things》, there were eight openings that spouted incomparably terrifying flames in the tower. Normally, they were peaceful and quiet, completely calm. But, if someone entered, they would spout Xuan De Ming fire continuously until the person was burned into bacon and then turned into ash. 

However, although the Xuan De Ming fire could burn people to death, there were a few dead angles in the tower where the flames couldn’t burn temporarily. Nevertheless, these flames weren’t vegetarian. They changed directions every hour. Jun YanZhi had to move through the flames and rush to the new dead angles frequently.

He was trapped in the tower for over a year, without a moment’s rest, and was burned beyond recognition by the flames before he finally, luckily found a way out of the tower and was able to keep his life.

This method, which was found after countless hours of suffering and hard work, Wen Jing was able to know without the slightest effort. 

Except, knowing was one thing, but whether or not he could succeed would depend on his luck and strength.

The most important thing, though, was to first make sure he didn’t get burned to death by the flames.

“Swish—” His surroundings suddenly brightened. Raging flames blasted out, orange and scalding, filling up the inside of the tower instantly.

Wen Jing used all his strength to fly around inside the tower while anxiously thinking,‘Where is that dead angle?!’    

Run, run, run, run, run——!

Jun YanZhi’s cultivation level and speed were more than ten times that of Wen Jing’s, yet he was only faster than the flames by a hair. Wen Jing, who was in a panicked and flustered state, suddenly felt stinging pain from his butt. His eyes instantly widened as he loudly cursed, “F*ck you, Punishing Immortal Tower!” The eight openings were now all completely opened. It was as if there were fire wheels under his feet as he began to circle around the tower along the fire red wall.

“This is the literal version of setting your ass on fire!”

The hidden potential that burst out in emergency situations astounded even Wen Jing himself. A heatwave swept in from behind. Wen Jing’s heart was thumping widely, his body covered in sweat, as he leaped! 

In the next moment, his body was attached tightly to the hot wall. The flame behind him, however, stopped an inch from him and couldn’t reach him.

With lingering fear in his heart, he turned around. The raging flames filled the tower. That sight was like enlarging the sun’s surface infinitely or standing in front of the opening of a volcano and watching lava burst out. Clusters of flames swallowed each other and waved in the air, shocking and frightening all those who saw. It could even be considered majestic and breathtaking, causing people to unconsciously feel small and insignificant.

At the critical moment, he finally hid within a dead angle.

His butt hurt a lot. Wen Jing wasn’t able to take a look for himself, so he could only carefully feel around. Fortunately, he ran fast. But, he was still burned. There was even the scent of something burning.

He instantly felt sad and aggrieved.

He fumbled around his clothes for a while and then pulled out a pill that Lu ZhiShan had given him. Using a Golden Core stage pill to treat the burn from a Lian Xu stage treasure had minimal effects. It was only a drop in the bucket. His injury, naturally, didn’t get better, but it could at least alleviate the pain.

As expected, his butt didn’t hurt anymore.

Now that his butt didn’t hurt, his brain could function normally. Even though the heat caused him to sweat buckets, he was just going to treat it as if it was a free sauna.

Wen Jing calmed down. His lips were tightly pursed as his eyes scanned the raging flames, searching for what was described in the novel, the exit that he yearned for.

Because the flames changed directions, Jun YanZhi had to switch locations every hour. Being trapped in the tower for a year, the Xuan De Ming fire exhausted him physically and mentally. He was covered in injuries and almost in complete despair, yet he was supported by a strong and unextinguished hatred. He made an oath that if he was able to escape one day, he would kill everyone who harmed him.

One day, he happened upon a dead angle.

This dead angle was a bit strange. The image of a sword was carved into the wall. The lines were twisted and crooked, extremely ugly.

Although Jun YanZhi had been to that dead angle before and also felt that the sword carving was a bit strange, he couldn’t figure out what to do with it. That day, he felt hopeless and resigned. So, for some inexplicable reason, he used his finger and traced that sword seven times. Suddenly, a loud bang sounded. White light blinded him. Once he awoke, he was no longer in the tower.

What Wen Jing was looking for was that dead angle.

In other words, he needed to try them one by one while dodging until he found the right dead angle.

This did not sound that difficult, right?

After about an hour, the flames suddenly became smaller. Wen Jing rubbed his hands together and rapidly leaped forward, flying closely along the wall and quickly yet carefully scouring the slightly red wall.

After only two minutes, the flames once again soared. Wen Jing swore, “F*ck, why is it so    

  fast?!” Then he quickly, as if running for his life, flew forward.  

Right now, he couldn’t care less if there was a sword carved there. As long as it was a dead angle, then thank heavens! 

Narrowly dodging a fierce strand of flame, Wen Jing lowered his head and wiped his cold sweat. Suddenly, it became bright to the left of him. Wen Jing hadn’t yet reacted when harrowing pain came from the left side of his face. From his ear to his cheek and from his left eye to his chin, it started burning.

That moment, his skin let out “sizzling” sounds, sounds that seemed to have come out of hell. It spread from his skin to his blood and then finally to the depths of his soul. The strong burning smell lingered in his nose.

“Ah——!”

How much pain Jun YanZhi was in and what it meant to be burned beyond recognition, he finally experienced it. However, he couldn’t experience the same hatred that Jun YanZhi had. He only felt distressed and saddened.

Wen Jing’s steps were unstable, and his body was swaying. His left eye was so painful that he couldn’t open it, but his remaining right eye revealed a cold gleam. He gritted his teeth and rushed forward.

He didn’t want to die! He didn’t want to die ah!

The flames were still burning on his face. Wen Jing couldn’t extinguish it. His pace slowed a bit, and his back caught on fire.

Wen Jing was in a complete panic, jumping around without any aim. The circulation of his Qi wasn’t as good as before. He was like a headless fly as he bumped into the wall repeatedly yet couldn’t find a safe dead angle.

He felt sad. Was he going to die in this place? No matter what, he needed Jun YanZhi to be by his side and send him off!

Anxious and agitated, Wen Jing pulled out his sword and, like a fierce wind sweeping a falling leaf, swung it!

The novel had said to never attack the flames no matter what. The flames seemed to have a bit of temper. The more you provoked it, the fiercer and more ruthless it became. In the beginning, Jun YanZhi didn’t know, so he used various techniques to resist, but he ended up being burned half to death.

As expected, after the flames were blown away a bit, they suddenly let out a howl, as if angered by the sword Qi, waving their claws and bearing their teeth, extremely domineering. Wen Jing raised his head and glanced at it. Then he was scared by the flame that seemed to want to devour him and thought, For a second, I couldn’t hold back, and now my life is gone!

At the moment between life and death, Wen Jing thought vexedly, Since I’m going to die either way, I’ll just risk it all instead of being indecisive and whiny.

As if venting, he swung three consecutive times with his sword. The flames dexterously avoided and charged towards him.

This time, he was really going to die.

The flames hit his body, and searing pain came from his entire body. Wen Jing gritted his teeth while feeling sorrowful. Jun YanZhi’s face once again appeared in front of his eyes.

When he was about to die, the person that he was the most concerned about was, as expected, him.

In a trance, some strange symbols slowly appeared and gathered in his mind, forming a sentence.

“《Five Elements Returning Sword Method》, the first chapter: Rise from the ashes.”

Huh?!

Heng Yang palace’s inheritance?

Suddenly, the heat on his body lessened. The flames seemed to have perceived something as they slowly retreated from his body. The bright light around him slowly faded away, only leaving a basketball-sized ball of flames bouncing in the air.

Wen Jing’s left eye still couldn’t be opened, and his body was still in pain. However, he was completely stunned.

Why did the flames stop?

That ball of flames didn’t have a face or expression, but Wen Jing felt that it was observing him. It spun around Wen Jing a few times and then lightly touched the Su Xin sword in his hands before returning to its original position and stopping, facing Wen Jing.

Wen Jing was so nervous that his heart was about to jump out of his chest.

He stood still while quietly and secretly searching the carving on the wall. That flame ball floated in the air without moving, and only its little tail lightly wagged, drawing out a small circle of light.

Wen Jing didn’t know what it wanted to do. He only wanted to leave!

All of a sudden, out of the corner of his eye, he caught faint markings on the wall. He couldn’t see it clearly, but the general shape was a bit long. There was a very good chance that it was a sword!

He looked straight at the flame ball that was a meter away.

“Can you hear my words? What do you want?”

The flame didn’t answer, its little tail continuing to wag.

“ You want me to play with you?”

“……”

Wen Jing flew up with a tap of his feet towards the carving on the wall.

His movements were extremely fast, arriving in front of the carving in an instant. He was extremely excited and wanted to shout loudly.

As expected, it was a sword!

Soon, he’ll be able to escape!

He stretched out his trembling finger to touch it. Who knew that before he was even able to touch it, that flame ball had already flown in front of him and stopped in front of the sword carving on the wall, blocking it completely.

Wen Jing hurriedly pulled back his finger!

What was the meaning of this? It wouldn’t let him leave?

With the flame ball blocking in front, tracing the sword carving seven times was completely out of the question. It could probably melt off his finger in only ten seconds!

It, it, it was too evil!

Wen Jing was so angry that he couldn’t breathe properly. Calming down, he tried to discuss, “I think you aren’t trying to burn me to death. How about this. Let’s be friends, and you let me out.”

That flame didn’t move.

Wen Jing then tried, “I can see that you’re kind. You’re a very good ball of flame. How about I bring you outside to play. There are thousands of worlds outside. It would definitely be more fun than being in this tower. Such as, ……”

Having talked for a long time, Wen Jing’s throat and tongue were all dry, his mouth foaming. He was almost about to faint. Unfortunately, even if he had the talent of Su Qin and Zhang Yi, that flame ball still remained motionless.

Wen Jing ground his teeth and laughed dryly as he said, “Since you are the Xuan De Ming fire, you must have some arrogance. How about you tell me what you want, and I’ll try my best to satisfy you?”

That flame still didn’t move.

One person and one flame completely fell into a stalemate.

Wen Jing fell onto the ground, pulled out another pill, and swallowed it. The pain on his body eased, but he felt more tangled and uncomfortable.

That flame also followed him and dropped down, stopping a meter away from him.

Wen Jing said, “I see that you can’t speak. That’s also inevitable. Are you lonely inside the tower and want to find someone to play with you?”

That flame shook its tail without any emotions.

Wen Jing angrily rested for a while before finally recovering some energy, and then he decided to try running away once again. This flame ball seemed to have made up its mind to get in his way, following him like a shadow. Although it didn’t harm him, it prevented him from running away.

Wen Jing’s heart beat frantically like a wild horse without reins. After wasting a day and night with the flame, he finally dispiritedly dropped his head.

He completely admitted defeat.

“Please, just let me go……”

It was still useless.

Talking, negotiating, pleading, and threatening the flame was all just a waste of time. It was unmoved by both the soft and hard approach, completely invulnerable. No one could deal with it. After many failures, Wen Jing finally pulled out his sword and waved it.

Since he couldn’t run, practicing the sword was better than doing nothing.

At this time, the flame unexpectedly moved, flying over.

Wen Jing froze. What did this flame want to do?

A vague idea appeared in his head, but Wen Jing couldn’t be sure. In his confusion, he remembered the《Five Elements Returning Sword Method》chapter one that appeared in his head.

Rise from the ashes.

What was the deal with this sword method?

Wen Jing frowned and fell into thought. Taking a closer look at the line of words that appeared in his head, the Su Xin sword in his hand unconsciously waved according to it.

The Su Xin sword instantly became an orange-red color, the fire-colored light flowing inside. With one swing, it was imposing like a rainbow. The sword Qi instantly split that flame ball and crashed into the wall, letting out a deafening sound of collision that echoed in the tower. 

Wen Jing was stunned.

The sword Qi from this sword method was so strong!

That flame ball immediately formed again, once again waving its little tail in front of him.

Wen Jing’s thoughts were a mess as he waved his sword again.

That little flame ball was once again split, but it quickly formed again. He didn’t know if he saw it right, but this time, the reforming of the flame seemed to be slightly slower than last time?

Wen Jing raised his head and looked towards the black, dark tower ceiling.

He seemed to have guessed the intention of this flame. Only once his sword skills had reached a certain level, and he could split the flame, making it unable to recover for a long time, would he be able to escape.

He would only be able to leave once he had scattered the flame and then run to the sword carving and trace it seven times.

He had wondered before why it had to be traced seven times. Now, he finally understood. The more times that was needed, the greater the difficulty of getting out of the tower.

Looking at it this way, this Punishing Immortal Tower didn’t seem to be a place for killing people, but rather a place used by previous Qing Xu Sword sect disciples to practice the sword.

…………

After an unknown amount of time.

On this day, the weather was sunny, and two little birds on a tree were currently chirping at each other happily and cleaning each other’s feathers.

Suddenly, a dirty and messy clump appeared in mid-air, falling straight down. The tree branch that they were sitting on broke with a “crack.” The female bird flapped her wings, flew up, and then quickly protected the male bird that flew into her chest, angrily yelling.

“Chirp chirp! Chirp chirp chirp chirp!”

The dirty clump that fell onto the ground was black all over and unbearable to look at. His clothes were torn and ragged. There was even the smell of burnt meat. 

After a long time, that thing finally slowly and awkwardly climbed up, using the sword in his hand to support himself. His voice was a bit choked up, “I, I’ve come out……”

That thing looked around as if he completely couldn’t hear the sound of the birds complaining. His bright eyes were filled with tears.

“I have come out…… I have finally come out……”

Suddenly, that black clump started to loudly cry and yell, scaring those two little birds into a daze.

So it was a crazy person……

That thing sat on the ground and cried for a long time before finally feeling refreshed. He shakily walked to a calm lake and messily washed his face with the clear water.

The lake water gradually calmed, reflecting a very strange face. The right half was very clean after washing. The left half, however, was like it had been stuffed into a stove by someone and burned. The face, as well as the scalp, was covered in scars. There was not even a strand of hair on that side.

Wen Jing had some mixed feelings.

Originally, his face could only be considered clean and delicate. Now he was disfigured.

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Footnotes:

Lian Xu stage: It means that they have understood the essence of the world, such as the rules of how the world works. There really isn’t a clear stage of power that it is associated with since various authors have their own way of specifying the power structure, and this author didn’t specify it. 

Lower and upper cultivation worlds: In cultivation novels, it is believed that there are three thousand worlds, consisting of the lower, middle, and upper worlds. The upper worlds are basically just more vast and contain more spiritual Qi, making it easier to cultivate. Upper worlds also have rarer herbs and creatures that you wouldn’t see in lower worlds. 

Su Qin and Zhang Yi: They were both influential strategists in the warring states period of ancient China. 

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Tn: Poor Wen Jing. Also, author, tell me how much time has passed! You’re scaring me by not specifying since experience tells me that it has definitely been a long time if the author doesn’t specify it! 

I also love how Wen Jing tried to talk to the flame lol. Like, are you lonely little flame? How about I take you outside for some fun. Wen Jing, you kinda sound like a kidnapper, especially since that flame responded with silence and judgemental ellipses. Hahahaha

Also, site changes! I’m testing things out, so if you can leave your thoughts, that’d be great. Depending on the feedback, we’ll either keep this look or revert it back to how it looked previously. If you’re on phone or tablet, there’s probably not much change.

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