Just as the old patriarch forced me to my death, I achieved the unity of Dao and fruition.

Gu Changjin stepped into the main hall.

Rumble!

The two crimson-gold palace doors behind him, sealed for countless years, slowly closed.

As the last crack disappeared, the entire hall trembled slightly.

An invisible force rose from all directions, blocking all outside prying eyes.

Whether it was the divine thoughts of true immortals or the various secret techniques attached to it, they were all blocked outside the palace gates at this moment.

Outside the Fire Virtue Immortal Palace, several faint thoughts did not immediately dissipate.

They came from four other Five Elements Immortal Palaces.

These gazes had already fallen on Gu Changjin as he walked along.

Now, watching him enter that long-silent hall, one of his thoughts finally couldn't help but sigh softly.

"That Huo De guy, his luck is as good as ever!"

"Of the five of us back then, he was the first to find a suitable position. Now, to break free from these shackles, he is still the one who is at the forefront."

Another voice came from behind, its tone filled with undisguised envy.

"A pure Fire Dao True Immortal, and he has just broken through, his foundation is clean, and he has not yet become entangled with other Great Daos."

"Such a successor may not appear even once every tens of thousands of years."

"With a little nurturing, if he reaches the pinnacle of True Immortal, he will be able to take over his current position."

After a moment of silence, a deep voice chuckled coldly.

"That's easy for you to say."

"Over the past tens of thousands of years, I have nurtured four True Immortals. Countless elixirs, immortal materials, and cultivation techniques have been consumed, but what has been the result?"

"Two of them had mixed foundations, one switched to other paths midway, and the last one, although he followed the Earth Path, still lacked a bit of purity and could not withstand the backlash from the Earth's origin."

"What a waste of my tens of thousands of years of hard work!"

Upon hearing this, the other thoughts also quieted down.

Aren't they the same?

Sitting in my current position, I can indeed draw upon the power of the source, making me nearly immortal.

You have to give as much as you receive.

They have long been integrated with the five elements of this world.

As long as no one takes their place, they will never truly escape this cage.

Normally, they cannot even easily leave the celestial palaces they guard.

Not to mention, when the Immortal Leap Gate descends, they will personally compete for the only spot that offers a chance to escape this world.

"That's enough."

The first thought to speak said in a low voice.

Whether Huode can succeed depends on whether Zhenyan is willing.

"Are you willing?"

Someone scoffed.

"What reason could a junior who has just achieved true immortality have to refuse the immortal medicines, Daoist scriptures, and primordial authority accumulated over tens of thousands of years?"

"That's true."

The several thoughts slowly receded.

Before leaving, they couldn't help but glance at the tightly closed palace gates one last time.

The envy was impossible to hide.

……

Inside the main hall, it was unusually quiet.

It's much larger than it appears from the outside.

The crimson pillars of the palace pierced the darkness above, as if supporting a separate world.

The pillars of the hall are carved with fire dragons, fire phoenixes, and many ancient fire-attribute creatures that Gu Changjin has never seen before.

Those carvings are not inanimate objects.

As Gu Changjin walked forward, pairs of eyes formed from flames slowly opened, silently watching him.

If an ordinary Mahayana cultivator were to come here, they would probably be instantly burned to ashes by the omnipresent pressure of the fire.

Gu Changjin, however, seemed oblivious to the situation and calmly walked to the center of the hall.

Only then did he see the figure high up clearly.

To be precise, it couldn't even be called a figure.

On the high platform, there was neither an old man with an air of otherworldly wisdom nor a majestic and imposing celestial palace master.

Yes, but it was just a flame the size of a palm.

The flame had no fixed shape; it sometimes gathered and sometimes dispersed, like a slowly flowing reddish-gold liquid.

With each jump, the fire channel rules of the entire hall fluctuate accordingly.

It was as if it were not a living being, but the very essence of fire itself!

A strange light flashed in Gu Changjin's eyes.

The thing before me is remarkably similar to the source of fire that I swallowed into my Dao Fruit back then.

The only difference is that the source of fire has no self-awareness.

But the fire in front of us is alive.

It seems that my previous guesses were mostly correct.

The thought flashed through his mind, but at just the right moment, a look of shock appeared on Gu Changjin's face.

He quickly lowered his head and bowed with his hands clasped in greeting.

"Zhenyan greets the Palace Master!"

"No need for such formalities."

The flame flickered slightly, and the voices remained indistinguishable as male, female, young, or old.

A scorching aura descended from the high platform, sweeping back and forth over Gu Changjin.

Sensing the extremely pure fire aura emanating from him, the flames flickered noticeably faster.

"Haoyu said that when you became a true immortal, you manifested a world of pure fire."

"Unfold your realm of immortality and let me see it."

"Yes."

Gu Changjin did not hesitate for a moment.

The next moment, a crimson world slowly unfolded behind him.

Within this world, there are no mountains, rivers, plants, or living things; as far as the eye can see, there is only an endless sea of ​​fire.

The sky was ablaze with crimson flames, the earth ablaze with lava, and great suns, formed from the laws of fire, hung high in the sky.

All laws, all power, all return to one fire.

Pure and without a trace of impurity!

For Gu Changjin, who had already devoured the true source of fire and had the Dao Fruit suppressing his own Great Dao, manifesting such a world was far too easy.

Don't even mention that the person in front of you is only probing through the source of the fire path.

Even if several more true immortals came, they wouldn't be able to discern the slightest problem.

Sure enough, the moment they saw that world of fire, the crimson-gold flames on the high platform suddenly expanded.

What was originally a small flame, no bigger than a palm, instantly transformed into a pillar of fire several meters high.

Strands of crimson-gold liquid splashed outwards, then eagerly rolled back, illuminating the entire hall.

"good!"

"Okay, okay!"

"The Great Dao is pure, and the world is spotless; it is even more suitable than I had imagined!"

For the first time, the voice showed a clear emotional fluctuation.

Gu Changjin dispelled the world behind him, looked up at the high platform, and a look of bewilderment appeared on his face.

"What the Palace Master means by 'suitable' is..."

Don't rush.

The flames subsided, but the excitement was no longer concealed.

It gently brushed against me.

The next moment, beams of celestial light suddenly rose in the previously empty hall.

Crimson Sun Immortal Marrow, Nine-Turn Fire Lotus Pill, Burning Realm Dao Crystal...

Numerous treasures, enough to drive ordinary immortals mad, floated in mid-air.

Many of these treasures exude an aura powerful enough to directly advance one's cultivation to the True Immortal realm.

"You have just broken through, and your cultivation is still shallow."

"These things were prepared by me for my successor over tens of thousands of years."

"If you are willing, I will personally protect you and help you reach the ultimate realm of True Immortal in the shortest possible time."

As Gu Changjin gazed at the treasures scattered across the sky, a hint of a smile appeared deep in his eyes.

As expected of a fish that has been raised for tens of thousands of years, it certainly has a rich heritage.

However, the expression on his face became increasingly puzzled.

"Successor?"

The flames on the high platform fell silent for a moment, then their sound gradually became low.

"In ancient times, demons from the upper realm invaded this realm. In the ensuing great battle, the five elements collapsed, and the source of the fire element was nearly destroyed."

"If the source of fire is completely extinguished, the extinction of fire magic in the world will be secondary. What is truly terrifying is the imbalance of the five elements, the collapse of the world, and the annihilation of billions of living beings."

"Back then, I couldn't bear to see all living beings suffer, so I had to give up my immortal body and merge my own Great Dao into the broken source of fire, using my own strength to mend the world."

"For tens of thousands of years, I have not dared to leave this place even a step, just to maintain the operation of the fire system in the world."

"But I am ultimately not the origin of heaven and earth."

"Now that my spirit is failing and my lifespan is coming to an end, I can't hold on much longer."

The sound echoed in the empty hall, carrying a hint of pity, and a sense of desolation as if burning itself out for the common people.

If someone else were standing here, they would probably be deeply moved and eager to take on the heavy responsibility of protecting the world.

Gu Changjin just kept his head down, almost bursting out laughing.

He clearly wanted to occupy the position of the source of fire, but he was trapped here by the whole world and could not get out.

In this person's mouth, however, it became sacrificing everything for the sake of all living beings.

These old things that have lived for tens of thousands of years, none of them are thin-skinned.

"Suppress the Flames".

On the high platform, crimson-gold flames slowly descended, like a pair of expectant eyes watching over him.

"Are you willing to accept this destiny, to become the new fire in this world, to guard this realm for me, and to protect all living beings?"