The Magus Era

Fire burned ragingly in the palace. Except for the essence sun fire and the other few types of top-grade divine flames, all the other divine flames and spirit flames could be seen in the palace. Different colored fires were so bright and dense, they even seemed to be tangible. The fires burned, and made the space inside the palace quake intensely, seeming ready to collapse anytime.

The fire power gathered in the palace was way too strong, to the extent that every type of fire had even turned conscious, transforming into all kinds of legendary creatures, flying, walking in the palace, or lying on the ground and taking a nap.

Fire dragons, fire phoenixes, fire horses, fire snakes, fire Qi Lin, leopards, tigers, boars…All kinds of creatures could be seen in every corner of the palace. They were all flame spirits, condensed from fires, but without fleshy bodies.

The temperature in the palace was incredibly high. Ji Hao took a deep breath and sensed a hot stream of air surging into his chest through his nostrils. The hot airstream roared inside his chest like an erupting volcano, which Ji Hao spent quite a while to absorb.

Ji Hao had been pursuing the great Dao of sun. Therefore, every inch of his body was filled with the purest sun power, that allowed him to stay unharmed in this palace. Standing in this palace for a short while could kill any ordinary person, and even a steel body would be melt into liquid in this place.

Zhu Rong gave a shout, followed by which, a few flame spirits who had been chasing each other for fun obediently stepped back and cleared a path, leading straight into the inner area of the palace. On the red bronze floor, fist-sized fire lotuses gradually bloomed. Zhu Rong trod on those flowers, walking quickly forwards while telling Ji Hao how to do it.

Ji Hao fixed his eyes on where Zhu Rong stepped and dared not to make any mistake. Zhu Rong clearly told him that these fire lotuses were also a powerful trap. If he made a wrong step, a poisonous, prehistorical flame would be released. The poisonous flame could kill a person with a single touch, without leaving a chance to cure, unless this person was as powerful as Zhu Rong.

Walking along the path paved by fire lotuses for tens of miles, dense clouds of purple mist could be seen in the front. Fire reached high into the sky, and ninety-nine fire dragons coiled on a fire column that emerged out of a hole in the ground. Five-colored spheres of flame flew all over the ground, and because of the great heat released from the column, even Ji Hao didn’t want to approach it.

The temperature was wildly high, burning Ji Hao’s skin and causing him a great pain. The Gold Crow cloak was activated automatically and released spheres of golden flame to wrap his body up, fending against the high temperature.

The temperature in the palace had been raised to an unreasonable, unimaginable degree, by the fire column, such that even Ji Hao felt it hard to withstand. Ninety-nine fire columns stood in a strange formation, and every single column had ninety-nine fire dragons coiling around it. Those fire dragons largely opened their mouths, letting out thin threads of transparent, colorless flame.The transparent and colorless flame formed an invisible cage, sealing a water-tank-sized head in midair.

Just like the seventy-two muscular men chained on the square, this head had a pair of sharp, bull-like horns. The face on this head was square and his skin rough. At first glance, this face might seem to be a bit ugly, but if one looked closer, they would discover the specialty of this face. The longer one looked at it, the more charming it would become.

Hearing the footsteps of Zhu Rong and Ji Hao, the eyes on this face suddenly opened, showing a pair of watery eyes in front of Ji Hao, with black pupils. This pair of eyes could even be counted as beautiful. The eyes formed a strong and magical contrast against the square face. It was like seeing a creature with the body of a muscular boar and the head of a beautiful girl.

Zhu Rong stood before the head, pointed at it and said, ”This is Chi You, the first Chi You, the true and the only Chi You. Each of the subsequent leaders of Chi You Army had only absorbed a drop of his spirit blood, and attained a slight part of his original power.”

Ji Hao looked at Zhu Rong in shock. Back in Pan Xi world, he encountered the current Chi You, which was an especially powerful enemy. However, such a powerful enemy was created merely with a drop of blood of this original Chi You? In this case, this true Chi You, how powerful was he?

”I’m flattered.” said Chi You with a gentle tone, ”I admit I have an extraordinary power. But at last, I was defeated by your ancestors. Besides, they tore me to pieces, limb from limb, with five horses. They killed me in such a humiliating way.”

Sighing slightly, Chi You looked at Ji Hao and continued a bit pitifully, ”Tearing me apart, that I could accept, because I killed many of your people, slaughtered many of your clans. Whatever cruel punishment was to be given, I deserved it.” Pausing for a second, Chi You carried on with his eyebrows knitted, ”But, there was a slight imperfection. The five horses your ancestors chose were not equally strong, and neither were their moves ordered. As a consequence, my body was split into six parts, but my two legs and two arms were left with different lengths. My wounds were imperfect as well…I’ve been suggesting that you should let my body remerge, then tear me apart again, perfectly. But why don’t you just accept my suggestion?”

The head swayed as Chi You continued murmuring to Ji Hao, ”For example, you see, my head, Emperor Xuan Yuan chopped it off himself. But his sword was a bit deflective when he launched the move. As a result, a section of my neck bone was cut at a tilt. You see, my wound is not flat and smooth enough, this is not perfect.”

With a dark face, Ji Hao looked at Chi You, who was complaining all the time. ‘Is this guy an OCD patient? You’re torn into pieces already, why are you still complaining about your imperfect wounds?’ thought Ji Hao. ‘Back in the ancient time, this guy nearly destroyed the army of the alliance of human clans that was led by Emperor Xuan Yuan, and the human civilization in Pan Gu world, was that even true?’

”Zhu…A-Abba!” Ji Hao looked at Zhu Rong and said, ”Zhu Rong Family had been suppressing Chi You since generations. This must be a top secret… Why did you bring me to this place?”

Zhu Rong narrowed his eyes, looked at Chi You and said in a deep voice, ”I have a presentiment. Recently, I always feel that something bad is going to happen. Tong Gong, your big brother, he has now reached a crucial stage of his cultivation. I can’t disturb him, and the other few of your brothers have all been guarding important places, so they cannot come either. Therefore, I brought you here.”

”Take this as a preventive action.” continued Zhu Rong seriously while looking at Ji Hao, ”If nothing happens, that will be the best. But if anything happens…”

Chi You narrowed his eyes, looked at Zhu Rong and laughed, ”If anything happens, what could this kid possibly do to me? I am an eternal being. I have immortal life and a deathless body. The lives of my seventy-two brothers are connected with mine. As long as I am alive, they will never die either.”

Laughing again, Chi You continued asking Zhu Rong with that gentle tone, ”If any bad thing did happen, what could this kid do? Could he kill me? Could he destroy me?”

Sighing slightly, Chi You looked at Zhu Rong and grinningly continued, ”Do you remember the suggestion I made when you were little? Your Zhu Rong Family suppressed me generation after generation, but in the meanwhile, didn’t you throw yourselves into the cage as well?”

”Why don’t you set me free? Once I have regained my power and conquered this world, I will surely pay you back with heavy rewards.”