While preparations stirred in Blaze City…
On the other side, within the heart of a massive formation, tens of thousands of people were trapped. The suffocating heat pressed down like a smothering blanket. Sweat streamed from every pore of their body. Children's cries echoed amid the murmuring fear, casting a shadow over the already heavy atmosphere.
At the center of the formation, atop a black stone platform, stood a plump young man with hands clasped behind his back, staring toward the horizon. The crowd around trembled at the mere sight of him.
They would never forget what this man did.
Just one day earlier, this man had descended upon their village like a nightmare. Before they could react, they were struck down and taken away. When they woke up… they were already here, trapped within this hellish place.
They had screamed and cursed him non-stop. Some had even tried to escape.
But no matter how much they cried out, no matter how vicious their insults, no matter how far they ran none of it had worked.
Now, with only the faint whimpering of children and the hollow stares of the elderly who could no longer stand, the villagers had fallen into despair.
What did this man want? Why would he bring them here?
Atop the platform, He Pingfan murmured quietly to himself. His eyes glinted with complex emotions.
"Father, Mother… After today, I'll finally avenge you. After that, we'll be reunited…"
"When those Royal Family dogs from the Firegrave Estate ambushed you in the Moltenfang Mountains, you exhausted everything just to escape… You could only raise me for twelve years and pass on your martial path… but then… you died."
"I searched desperately to find the truth, but it always ended up with nothing. Until that day… the day I inherited the legacy of a Transcendent-realm expert. Within his jade scrolls, I found about your injuries… and the culprit's martial technique by which you guys were killed."
"Forgive me, Father. Mother. I failed to keep my promise… I didn't live as a humble rogue cultivator… didn't build the He Clan anew…"
He Pingfan's fists clenched. He'd tried to live a peaceful life that he promised to his his family before they were killed, he'd tried to let go of the resentment in his heart.
But the memories of his parents' warmth, their sacrifices, their gentle smiles… haunted him.
In the end, he couldn't let it go.
He'd learned that the one who struck the fatal blow killing his parents was long dead.
But that wasn't enough.
During the Firegrave's memorial ceremony, he'd made a bold, irreversible move he infiltrated the ancestral tomb, found his parents killer's body and ground that man's bones into dust. He then stole his grave treasures on the way out.
He hadn't planned to stick around any longer.
But the Firegrave Family's response was swift as he barely escaped to the Moltenfang Mountains.
And now, surrounded and cornered, he was done running.
"If I'm going to die anyway, I'll take that damned woman with me."
His eyes gleamed with madness.
"All of this… began because of you, Serena Firegrave," he whispered coldly.
"I know you were nothing but a child. But to grant you a foundation for your future, the Royal Family ordered my parents ambushed to seize the Dragonbeard Grass they had found. The Dragonbeard grass had been their result of their luck and hardwork"
"In the end they refused… and were slaughtered."
"I've already scattered the bones of the one who struck them down and now it's your turn. When you die… this entire debt will be settled. And I can finally face my parents in the afterlife."
Murderous intent rose in his eyes.
At that moment, from outside the glowing walls of the volcanic formation, a corridor parted through the crowd of cultivators encircling it.
Through that corridor walked a young woman clad in white robes.
Serena Firegrave.
A frosty aura clung to her every step. Her presence was serene yet cold, like snow descending into a furnace.
But as she drew closer to the formation, a strange warmth stirred in her chest.
For the first time in years… she felt warmth.
Ever since her Extreme Yin Constitution awakened at the age of twelve, her world had been wrapped in coldness. Even the spring sun could not chase the chill from her bones.
Until now.
"Blood Stage… peak tier…" He Pingfan narrowed his eyes, sensing her cultivation. "As expected of a princess of the Firegrave Clan… with enough resources thrown at you, even someone like you can stand above me."
There was no jealousy in his tone but only weariness and bitterness.
If he had her fortune… her background…
He would've cultivated every waking hour.
But he couldn't.
He had only felt pain from the young age, he had seen blood more than she will ever do in her whole life. And so he had revenge that he wanted to fulfill.
"…Release the hostages, He Pingfan," Serena's voice rang out. It was calm but also unyielding.
He stared back at her in silence.
Then—
"Scoundrel! Her Grace came as you demanded. Release those innocent people!"
"Release them!"
"Let them go!"
Cries erupted behind Serena as the Blaze City cultivators shouted in righteous fury, their auras surging toward He Pingfan like a crashing tide.
But He Pingfan only sneered.
"Spare me your theatrics."
His hands then formed a strange seal. After a single breath's tine the formation beneath his feet roared in response.
"Moltenflame Eruption Array… Ignite."
Boom!
The air trembled as an oppressive, searing heat descended upon the land, thickening until each breath scorched the lungs. The very ground beneath groaned, fissures splitting the earth as veins of molten magma pulsed beneath the surface, casting an eerie and hellish glow.
At the heart of this disaster, the formation a rare peak fourth-grade battle array roared to life. Its intricate runes blazed crimson, drinking deep from the molten rivers below. Waves of blistering energy erupted outward, rolling across the battlefield in cascading infernos that forced even seasoned high-tier cultivators to stumble back.
This was no ordinary array. When fully unleashed, its fury could rival that of a late-stage Transcendent cultivator.
Though He Pingfan had only just stepped into the Blood Stage and his cultivation still frail compared to the true masters of the martial world, he could still channel a flicker of the formation's devastating might.
A mere flicker of the formation's power was all it took, to annihilate everything inside the radius of the formation.