Chapter 156: Karma Fire Red Lotus

The magnificent great hall was incomparably vast and imposing; it was truly so large that one could not see the end at a single glance.

What kind of giant palace was this, to actually possess the momentum of forming a world of its own?

Mist swirled here, and crimson rays of light flickered; as they walked forward, they would occasionally see massive pillars standing tall in the great hall, as if supporting the firmament.

The great hall was empty and boundless; only Mengchen and the others followed the little Zhenhuang forward, and they saw no other living creatures along the way.

Suddenly, faint, indistinct chanting reached them, startling the soul and putting one on alert; it was so sudden, and the further they walked, the more grand it felt, until finally, it became deafening.

"What is this?" Mengchen whispered; he heard it vaguely and could not capture its true meaning.

Heizi's brow furrowed slightly, and he pricked up his ears to listen, yet he also felt it was deeply indistinct.

Yuechan, the Tianhu girl, and Xiyao also knitted their brows; the sound was grand yet they could not hear it clearly, and they were quite shocked.

The Dao sound was distant, as if coming from beyond the Nine Heavens; the further they walked, the more grand and deafening it felt, and in the end, they faintly saw that all around them, golden-red bells were booming, with the mysteries of the heavens flowing and endless runes flickering.

They followed the footsteps of the little Zhenhuang forward, and the chanting and the sound of the bells became clearer, as if ringing right beside their ears, shaking one to the core.

Finally, the little Zhenhuang leading the way stopped; she brought Mengchen and the others to a place where there was a tall Dao Platform made of red rock, upon which floated a red lotus burning with flames, exuding an ancient aura of the Great Dao, and within the flames burning on the red lotus, strings of runes flickered.

"What? This is..."

The ancient Great Dao aura of the red lotus made Mengchen's mind tremble, and he associated it with the World-Extinguishing Black Lotus and the Merit Golden Lotus he had seen in the Xuantian Mijing.

"Karma Fire Red Lotus, it is actually the Karma Fire Red Lotus." In this instant, Yuechan's eyes went blank, and she could not control herself.

The Tianhu girl also spoke out in shock at this moment: "This... this is actually one of the six great Creation God Lotuses; rumor has it that this is a supreme Dao seed! They existed at the beginning of creation, containing infinite Great Dao; if one says that the World Tree, the Purple Qi Primordial Seed, the Universe Embryo, and others are Dao seeds that each possess a flawless Great Dao, then these six great Creation God Lotuses are the carriers of all kinds of Great Dao, the origin of the Great Dao."

Mengchen, Xiyao, and Heizi, though they found it somewhat obscure and difficult to understand, felt their blood surging at this moment.

Heizi turned his head to look at Mengchen; he remembered that back in the Xuantian Mijing, Mengchen had once harvested the World-Extinguishing Black Lotus gifted by his father and the Merit Golden Lotus gifted by the Jin Fu.

If one followed what the Tianhu girl said, how peerless would the future bearing of Mengchen, who held two Creation God Lotuses, be!

At one moment, Heizi felt a sense of injustice in his heart; his father had given the World-Extinguishing God Lotus to Mengchen but not to him, but slowly, he let it go; he believed that his father must have done this after careful consideration and with special arrangements, and it was definitely not because he did not care about him as a son.

At this time, Mengchen, after hearing the Tianhu girl's words, was likewise shocked and exceptionally excited; now that Gangzi had already helped him keep two God Lotuses, if this were to spread, the whole world would surely be astonished.

At one moment, his eyes flashed with brilliance, as if reflecting a great universe where hundreds of millions of stars floated, giving him the appearance of wanting to transcend the mundane and the intent to dominate the heavens.

At this moment, he felt an urgency in his heart, an urgency to come into contact with the God Lotus as soon as possible, to perceive the root of the Great Dao, to realize that transcendence, and to possess the power to dominate the heavens.

This urgency was not only due to the thoughts of the moment, but also because of that terrifying dark memory of his; he did not know how much time was left for him in this life.

These thoughts, which were currently far-fetched, were quickly cast aside by him.

He had not expected that coming here to seek the Zhenhuang Law would lead him to encounter the Karma Fire Red Lotus, which made him very surprised.

But he understood that this Karma Fire Red Lotus was likely left behind by the Ten Fiends Zhenhuang back then, and it could also be seen that the Zhenhuang Law was contained within that Karma Fire Red Lotus, with Zhenhuang runes flickering.

Meanwhile, the Tianhu girl and Yuechan had their gazes drawn by the red lotus and could not move them away, their eyes already showing a fiery look; it was clear that they each had very strong ideas about this Karma Fire Red Lotus.

Even so, the two of them were also clear that with their current abilities, they could only look at this Karma Fire Red Lotus.

The faint, flickering crimson bells boomed, and runes flickered, hanging over the Dao Platform as if circling the Karma Fire Red Lotus, ringing melodiously.

This great hall was incomparably empty, and seeing such a Dao Platform presenting a red lotus and radiating the Great Dao Divine Sound naturally made one's mind restless.

Xiyao focused her eyes, and ever since hearing the Tianhu girl's words, she had been staring at the red lotus on the high platform.

Although she could not quite understand the Tianhu girl's previous words, it was not hard to hear that this red lotus was definitely no ordinary object.

In the process of gradually observing it, she discovered the mysterious runes reflected in the red lotus.

"Is that... the Zhenhuang Law?" Xiyao was instantly excited, her beautiful, flawless face filled with longing.

In the crimson flames burning on the red lotus, ancient runes flowed, and the aura of the Great Dao permeated; one look told her it was no ordinary object.

"Correct! That Zhenhuang Law is right inside that red lotus!" the little Zhenhuang said upon hearing this.

At this time, the little Zhenhuang's words of affirmation caused the fiery gazes of the Tianhu girl and Yuechan to subside somewhat.

The Tianhu girl looked at Mengchen and then looked at the little Zhenhuang, saying: "This Karma Fire Red Lotus is terrifying; with our current strength, I fear that once we get close, we will immediately turn to ashes, and the Zhenhuang Law is contained within it, making it impossible to comprehend."

"The Karma Fire can burn everything in the world; the Zhenhuang Law is contained within the Karma Fire Red Lotus and is definitely not something we can obtain," Yuechan said.

Mengchen sighed; perhaps Gangzi had a way, but it had already stated earlier that Zhenhuang was one of the powerhouses it worshipped and it did not wish to be disrespectful to it.

Looking at it this way, Mengchen felt that he likely had no opportunity; if the Zhenhuang Law could not be obtained, let alone this Karma Fire Red Lotus.

The little Zhenhuang suddenly walked forward; she had not taken many steps when the red lotus instantly erupted with great power, but it did not harm her, merely sweeping over her body before disappearing.

Subsequently, her fair skin glowed, and the runes in the red lotus resonated with the surrounding Dao sounds, causing one crimson symbol after another to appear on her skin, releasing a mysterious aura.

"With your strength, it is definitely impossible!" The little Zhenhuang looked back, gazing at Xiyao, Heizi, Yuechan, and the Tianhu girl one by one. Then, she looked at Mengchen and signaled to him: "You? Don't you want to try?"

The little Zhenhuang's words were undoubtedly somewhat harsh to Heizi and the other four, but they also understood that she was speaking the truth; with their strength, they were indeed not qualified to approach the Karma Fire Red Lotus.

After hearing this, Mengchen frowned and said: "You say they can't do it, so why do you think I can?"

In terms of cultivation realm, the Tianhu girl and Yuechan were even higher than Mengchen; he was only stronger in terms of techniques and the power of the extreme realm.

Thus! He did not believe that he could resist the Karma Fire Red Lotus and comprehend the true law with his strength.

"Coward! I really overestimated you; I even thought you were really..." the little Zhenhuang said with disdain.

Previously, Mengchen had constructed a bridge to reach the Ancient Palace, which had once made her believe that Mengchen might really be the person her mother had divined.

But seeing Mengchen so timid at this moment, she could not help but feel she had overthought it; what kind of existence was her mother, so how could the person she favored be such a coward?

"This is called not being reckless, you understand?" Mengchen whispered, arguing his case.

Because the other party was powerful, Mengchen did not dare to speak too harshly, lest he provoke her.

"A coward is a coward! And a jerk of a coward at that; making excuses will only make me look down on you even more!"

Mengchen's current performance, combined with his previous jerk-like behavior toward Yuechan and the others, made the little Zhenhuang look upon Mengchen with even more distaste.

"Go! Don't let this little one look down on my Immortal Monk lineage." At this moment, leisurely, the voice of the Vajra Pestle sounded in his heart.

"Ah, this...!" Mengchen was stunned for an instant.

Afterwards, the Vajra Pestle, knowing Mengchen's concerns, spoke again: "Rest assured! This might be a test left by Zhenhuang; you should display your Cave Heaven extreme realm and go comprehend it."

"Alright!" Mengchen replied in his heart.

Since the Vajra Pestle had spoken thus, he certainly had to follow suit; the only thing he believed in was that the Vajra Pestle would never harm him and could be completely trusted.

"Boom..."

In an instant, Mengchen opened all his Cave Heavens, his radiance becoming brilliant and dazzling, and he resolutely stepped forward.

At this moment, the little Zhenhuang's disdainful gaze was startled, "He... is he not cowering anymore?"

Beside him, Yuechan, the Tianhu Shaonü, and the others looked at Mengchen's back with surprised expressions, while faint traces of worry appeared on the faces of Heizi and Xiyao, though they found it difficult to speak up and stop him.

But apart from Yuechan, the Tianhu Shaonü, Heizi, and Xiyao all knew that there was an extraordinary existence behind Mengchen, and they believed that at a critical moment, it would surely help him escape danger.

Thus, the worry that had emerged gradually vanished, and they began to watch with focused attention.

After Mengchen took seven steps, he seemed to have stepped into a certain range, and the Karma Fire red lotus within the high platform surged with red light once again.

In response, Mengchen formed seals, his ten Cave Heavens circling around the eleventh Cave Heaven, scattering divine light to protect his body.

The red light rippled over, sweeping across and enveloping Mengchen, and for a moment, Mengchen's body was covered in a layer of crimson light.

That layer of light flowed with red radiance, yet under the watchful eyes of the little Zhenhuang, Yuechan, and the others, it shattered in an instant like glass, turning into numerous red starlike specks and vanishing.

"He is actually unharmed!"

Yuechan was astonished; the Karma Fire red lotus was something that even a leader-level expert would likely retreat from upon seeing, yet he had only been enveloped by the red light for a moment without the slightest injury—this was simply too incredible.

After sensing that no ill omens had occurred, Mengchen sat cross-legged, facing the red Dao Platform, closed his eyes, and began to silently sense the Zhenhuang Rune reflected within the red lotus, wishing to resonate with it and comprehend the true meaning of the Zhenhuang Technique.

Regrettably, apart from hearing the grand chanting and the sound of the Great Dao Bell, he remained unable to resonate with the Zhenhuang Rune in the red lotus.

After sitting for about half an hour without any gains, he stood up and continued to approach the Dao Platform, while carefully observing and staring at the flickering Zhenhuang Rune in the red lotus.

"You... cannot sense it?" the little Zhenhuang asked with a look of confusion and loss, feeling very puzzled in her heart.

By all logic, this shouldn't be! He was able to build a bridge to reach the Ancient Palace and was not harmed by the red lotus, so he had clearly received her mother's approval.

It should be very easy to sense the Zhenhuang Technique in the red lotus, so how could it be...

"Mm! I cannot sense it," Mengchen replied, looking back.

He then looked at the little Zhenhuang and smiled: "Why don't you just pass the Zhenhuang Technique to me directly? Why go through all this trouble? If you give me the Zhenhuang Technique, I will give you the Kunpeng Technique and the Jiuyou Ao true technique; wouldn't that be a win-win for everyone?"

"In your dreams! I brought you here for a reason, as I need to verify some things," the little Zhenhuang flatly refused.

She had brought Mengchen here simply because she felt he was highly likely to be the person her mother had divined, so she brought him here to verify whether it was truly him.

If it were him, he would be able to obtain the Zhenhuang Technique without her needing to give it to him.

If it were not, how could she let the true technique of her Zhenhuang clan be spread so casually? Did he really think the Zhenhuang clan was that loose?!

Updating one chapter first, will write another before 12 o'clock later.

(End of chapter)