Above the Realm of Karmic Flas lay a vast expanse of cracked crimson earth.
The land was webbed with fissures, spider-like cracks sprawling endlessly, as if intent on ensnaring all existence within its grasp.
From their vantage high above, even the dog-headed observers felt suffocated just by looking.
Yet below, countless demons, gods, and cultivators traversed the fractured terrain.
Each wore a face brimming with joy.
Those with higher cultivation soared effortlessly, vanishing and reappearing in the blink of an eye.
Those weaker found their powers suppressed by the Realm of Karmic Flas, forced to advance step by step.
Still, even these steps were ten thousand tis faster than a mortal’s pace.
Scorching waves of heat lashed at every soul in the realm, making endurance a tornt.
Gradually, even breathing beca laborious.
The karmic flas of this forbidden land seared the energy within their bodies. The longer they lingered, the faster their strength drained away.
In this tiless dinsion, where neither day nor night existed, the passage of ti blurred into oblivion.
Step by step, ten feet, a hundred paces… The army, numb to the march, moved forward with a singular purpose.
Ho.
This obsession drove them beyond death itself.
But the Realm of Karmic Flas was vast. How long had they walked? Months? Decades?
Slowly, the weaker among them—humans, demons, spirits—began to falter.
Their flesh and souls withered under the forbidden land’s relentless tornt.
Each step grew heavier, each movent more labored.
Until, at last, their very souls began to fade into transparency.
A soul turning fully transparent ant not re death—but annihilation.
No reincarnation. No return. Only utter dissolution.
A one-ard warrior’s soul was among the first to reach this state.
Amidst the marching throng, his legs buckled, his pace slowed, until he collapsed.
Those around him watched with grief-stricken eyes, helpless to intervene.
Now, they could not save their fallen comrade—nor even know when their own souls would scatter into the void.
In his final monts, the one-ard warrior mustered the last dregs of his energy, wrenching free a wisp of his fading soul.
"General… take … ho…"
His whisper, frail as a mosquito’s hum, carried the wisp of near-transparent soul toward the distant sky.
The mont it left his body, his burly form crumbled to the ground.
Then vanished entirely.
Not even ashes remained.
At the head of the army, the general, astride his winged steed, caught the wisp in his palm.
He turned to look behind him.
An endless sea of soldiers stretched into the horizon.
Gasping, exhausted, desperate, resolute—an army on the brink.
The general gazed at the soul-fragnt in his hand, sighed softly, and clenched his fist.
"Advance," he commanded.
Ti blurred again. Then another voice, weak beyond asure, rose.
"General… take ho…"
Another wisp soared toward him.
"General… you must… take ho…"
"General… take …"
"General…"
One after another.
Pale souls, on the verge of vanishing, streaked across the sky like falling stars or the first light of dawn.
Countless fragnts converged upon the general, forming a river of souls—vast, tragic, and heartrending.
The general lowered his head, palms open, watching the endless stream of souls with bloodshot eyes. His lips pressed into a thin line, silent.
If he had once felt excitent for ho, now it was an obsession bordering on madness.
No retreat. No surrender. The general repeated it like a mantra.
They had fought for millennia to win this war.
He would bring his soldiers ho.
Steeling himself, he raised his head, fists tight, gaze clear.
"Double the pace!"
The order sent the army surging forward.
By the ti they reached the end, only half remained.
The rest had not fallen in battle—but on the journey ho.
When the Mountain Fire Barrier ca into view, the survivors trembled.
No cheers, no elation. Only silent stares, clenched jaws, and muffled sobs.
Only the general allowed himself a rare flicker of relief.
The Mountain Fire Barrier was a range of towering ridges, veins of fire threading through the earth—not an unbroken inferno, but scattered flas.
If they could navigate past the fires, they would escape.
But… the entrance to the barrier could only be seen up close.
The general’s eyes settled on Piao Yunchu, who was polishing his sword.
"Yunchu."
Startled, Piao Yunchu snapped to attention. "Here!"
"Scout the Mountain Fire Barrier. Find the entrance."
"Yes, sir!" Sword in hand, Piao Yunchu vanished.
The general turned back to his exhausted troops, expression softening.
"The rest of you—halt and rest."
After relentless marching, their spirits and strength were spent. Those not already drained by the journey had been hollowed by the forbidden land’s tornt.
Now, with escape so near and the order to rest given, nearly all collapsed where they stood.
They needed this.
Rest—then freedom.
As they gazed at the barrier, weary smiles flickered across their faces.
Finally.
The halt let many sink into ditation, so even slipping into hibernation. Recovery, naps, deep sleep—all took hold at once.
The sudden release of tension left them utterly vulnerable.
The general, too.
He was beyond exhausted.
They had all let their guard down.
Forgotten that the Realm of Karmic Flas held unimaginable dangers.
Too long without incident had made them complacent.
So when the subterranean currents shifted, no one noticed.
When the ember-radiation breached the surface in a cataclysmic eruption, no one reacted.
The apocalyptic inferno erupted beneath them, swallowing the entire army in an instant—under the horrified eyes of the dog-headed watchers.
Every last soldier awaiting ho.
Screams filled the air, turning the land into a living hell.
Even knowing this was but a vision from another dinsion, the observers trembled, jaws slack.
The Spirit King clung to the dog’s leg, scalp prickling with terror.
Below, the horror continued.
Those caught in the flas vanished instantly to ash.
Those spared the direct blaze but seared by the radiation writhed in agony, begging for death.
When Piao Yunchu returned, this was the sight that greeted him.
He stood frozen, eyes wide, body shaking.
Even the general was now writhing in the scorching currents.
All those scorched by the karmic flas, all those struck by its raging currents—none could survive.
Even those who clung to life by sheer luck would bear the curse of hellfire.
"General!!!" Piao Yunchu's eyes burned red as he scread, lunging forward in desperation.
Hearing the commotion, the general struggled to lift his gaze. The mont he saw Piao Yunchu, he struck out with a palm, sending the young man flying backward.
"Yunchu…" The general's voice trembled as he spoke, his eyes flickering toward the mountain of blazing barriers—his heart filled with bitter resentnt.
So close… They had been so close…
"General!" Piao Yunchu stood frozen, terrified by the scene before him. Tears welled in his eyes, his mind blank with helplessness.
The general tore his gaze from the inferno and looked back at Piao Yunchu.
"Yunchu… we won’t make it out," he gasped, each word a struggle.
"Only you…" The general closed his eyes and opened his palm.
In an instant, countless fragnted souls gathered in his hand, surging like a river into Piao Yunchu’s body.
"Only you now, Yunchu." The general forced his eyes open, his voice breaking. "Take us ho."
"Yunchu… take ho too…" Those still clinging to life amid the flas tore their own remnants of soul free, sending them flying toward Piao Yunchu.
One wisp after another.
Then—suddenly—the earth trembled once more.
The air itself seed to freeze.
The general turned, gritting his teeth as he forced himself upright into a ditative stance.
A furious roar split the heavens: "Tear open space! Send him away!!!"
Beneath them, a catastrophe was brewing—one that would consu them in an instant. They would not survive.
They wouldn’t even leave behind fragnts of their souls to return ho.
They were fated to sleep forever on this battlefield.
Now, with their last shreds of strength, they could only ensure that those whose remnants remained would have a chance.
Even in death, even in annihilation—they would send their surviving comrades onward.
Ripping open the Dual Forbidden Cosmos was the only way.
But tearing through the Dual Forbidden Cosmos led to random dinsions.
Perhaps… the path ho.
Or perhaps, a universe more perilous than the Dual Forbidden Cosmos.
Or worse—lost forever in the endless currents of the void.
Yet even so… even if the chance was one in a hundred million… there was still hope.
Those not yet dead, those barely clinging to life under the assault of the scorching winds, forced themselves upright.
Those still burning, their bodies wreathed in flas, rose as well.
Countless souls on the brink of death stood together.
They were not yet gone—only seared to the edge of death. Aside from the tornt of the flas, their energy remained intact. After gathering themselves, they still retained seventy or eighty percent of their cultivation.
Countless wills and energies rged into a single, heaven-rending force. In their final monts, they unleashed everything—pouring every last drop of their power into the general.
With another earth-shaking roar, the general channeled all that energy, straining to tear open the faintest sliver—just the barest crack—in the Dual Forbidden Cosmos.
"Yunchu… take them ho." The general’s gaze burned with desperate intensity as he locked eyes with Piao Yunchu.
Piao Yunchu scread the general’s na, his vision blurred with tears as he watched the general shove him forward with one last push.
Then—
Another cataclysmic firestorm erupted from the depths, serpentine tongues of fla lashing upward.
Everyone… was swallowed by the inferno.
Gone without a trace.
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