At an unknown corner of the universe.

A terrible, raging fire was spreading swiftly to the surroundings and consuming every star in its way.

This star region was completely devoid of any life. There was only boundless darkness and coldness. .

There was an old man at the heart of the fire. Many divine characters and imprints—the truths of the power of fire—could be seen dancing wildly around the old man.

At a long dead star far, far away from the heart of the fire, there were two men watching this whole scene unfolding.

They were Lieyan Zhong and the Blood Emperor, Li Xin.

“Is master about to enter the ultimate realm?”

Li Xin’s blood red pupils were completely affixed to the center of the fire, Lieyan Yuan, shadows dancing across his face.

“Yes, very soon!” Lieyan Zhong’s eyes burned with passion as he spoke. “That boy Qin Lie will perish when the patriarch reaches the ultimate realm! The Perfect Blood master created, the Flesh Filling Tombstone, and the eight Undying Titans will all return to him when that happens!”

For the past thirty years, Qin Lie’s fame was as bright as the sun. Even Spirit Realm had evolved to become the center of the universe.

However, they had to hole themselves in Nine Lights Realm and keep a low profile.

Even Lieyan Yuan had stopped appearing in public completely. He was completely absorbed in his study of the power of fire.

To most foreign foreign experts, Qin Lie… had surpassed both Lieyan Yuan and Tian Qi and become the strongest person in the entire universe.

Naturally, Lieyan Zhong and the rest of Lieyan Yuan’s subordinates found this very difficult to accept.

The current Qin Lie was far beyond their recognition.

That was why they were all waiting for the moment, the moment Lieyan Yuan entered the ultimate realm.

And now, he was at the most critical moment of his breakthrough!

“Rip!”

A long, narrow spatial rift suddenly burst open next to the Blood Emperor and Lieyan Zhong.

Li Xin’s expression changed drastically as he growled, “It’s Qin Lie!”

Lieyan Zhong was stunned as well.

A gigantic Abyss Devil flew out of the spatial rift immediately.

This Abyss Devil was almost ten thousand meters tall. The mere sight of his figure instilled fear in people’s heart.

“Nine thousand and nine hundred meters!”

Blood Emperor Li Xin shuddered greatly when he saw this.

His eyes were instantly filled with shock and fear.

He knew full well that the rank of an Abyss Devil’s bloodline and power was directly related to their size. He also knew that a true Abyss Master was ten thousand meters tall.

Qin Lie’s Abyss Devil form was currently nine thousand and nine hundred meters tall. This meant that he was just one hundred meters away from transcending rank ten and entering the ultimate realm like Lieyan Yuan.

Thirty years ago, Blood Emperor Li Xin was eager to fight Qin Lie.

Thirty years later, Qin Lie was powerful enough to make him quake in fear.

Back when he challenged Qin Lie to a fight, the young man hadn’t killed or absorbed Castor yet.

At the time, Qin Lie was only seven thousand meters tall.

In just thirty years, Qin Lie had grown to nine thousand and nine hundred meters tall. Just the mere sight of him caused Li Xin’s pores to shiver in fear.

Even his nine-level Soul Altar seemed to be reacting and shaking slightly.

It made him realize that the gap between himself and Qin Lie had become impossibly wide after thirty years.

He had no confidence that he could do anything to Qin Lie. All he wanted to do was escape this place as soon as possible.

“Li Xin?”

Qin Lie looked down on the Blood Emperor playfully.

“Are you guarding Lieyan Yuan?”

Li Xin forced himself to say, “I’m… waiting for master to enter the ultimate realm.”

“Well, you don’t have to anymore.” Qin Lie grinned and shook his head, saying, “He didn’t finish before I showed up, so he no longer has the chance to enter the ultimate realm. You are the former sect master of Blood Fiend Sect, and you helped me back at Spirit Realm. Thus, I’ll allow you to leave. From this day onward, you are a free man. You won’t have to listen to Lieyan Yuan, because today is the day he disappears from the universe.”

“I…” Li Xin bowed his head bitterly and fell into thought. Finally, he nodded and replied, “I understand.”

After that, Li Xin ignored Lieyan Zhong’s shouts and left on his Soul Altar.

He didn’t know why, but Qin Lie had sounded incredibly persuasive at that moment.

It was as if Qin Lie’s words represented the law of the entire universe. It was as if he had the power to judge all lives in the universe.

He knew that he was no match for Qin Lie, and there was nothing he could do even if he chose to stay behind. Therefore, he obeyed and left as Qin Lie told him to.

“Li Xin! The patriarch will kill you and Qin Lie when he reaches the ultimate realm!” Lieyan Zhong roared angrily.

“Too bad you won’t ever be able to see that day come true,” Qin Lie said indifferently.

The second he said that, a shower of light containing hundreds of bloodline powers, truths, and laws suddenly enveloped Lieyan Zhong.

When Lieyan Zhong looked up, he felt as if the powers and laws were merging into one to sever his lifeforce and soul.

He tried to ignite his Blaze Family bloodline, but… he quickly discovered that it refused to burn!

All he could do was scream helplessly.

His screams didn’t change his situation one bit. He was eventually devoured by the foreign light, and his body splintered a billion pieces like he was subjected to punishment by a thousand cuts.

Several seconds later, Lieyan Zhong’s soul and body had been minced into bits.

Lieyan Zhong was a rank ten bloodline warrior. He wasn’t too far behind the current patriarch of the Blaze Family, Lieyan Zhao. However, he was absolutely powerless before Qin Lie.

Li Xin hadn’t left this corner of the universe completely when Lieyan Zhong was killed. He could no longer sense Lieyan Zhong’s presence.

He knew in that moment that Qin Lie had killed Lieyan Zhong in just a matter of seconds, a bloodline warrior who was strong enough to make him feel threatened.

“T-terrifying.”

Terrified, Li Xin flew even faster than before.

It was as if Qin Lie had planted an image of invincibility inside his heart.

He could not muster any thoughts of resistance at all.

“It is different from before…”

Meanwhile, Qin Lie stared at the fleshy bits that used to be Lieyan Zhong and muttered to himself in a daze.

He was aware that his power had reached a level where even he couldn’t imagine after all the bloodline essences he absorbed, and the hundreds of bloodline powers he studied for the past thirty years.

But he didn’t think he would be able to kill Lieyan Zhong, a rank ten bloodline warrior, just like this, in one fell swoop.

Lieyan Zhong wasn’t able to unleash even a single attack during this time. Even his bloodline was separated from his body when he tried to summon the laws of fire within Blaze bloodline.

Lieyan Zhong was terribly powerless without his bloodline power. He had perished in just an instant.

It gave Qin Lie an image of invincibility.

“Lieyan Yuan…”

Qin Lie muttered as he swam slowly toward the heart of the blazing fire.