343: Chapter 343 Ingratitude and Enmity: Desire to Seize the Immortal Body

The name Heavenly Gate has always been something that makes people on Azure Blue Star change color—it is not a legend, but a taboo written in blood.

The Heavenly Fire Sect knows this best: when the lifespans of past sect leaders were exhausted, they all ventured into this place alone, just to fight for a glimmer of hope—if they could break through all three gates, they might obtain the ancestor's lost treasure, defy heaven to change their fate, and continue their path of cultivation.

Yet, for thousands of years, not a single person who went in has ever returned.

Ten thousand years ago, the number one figure of the Demon Sect, Mo Wuhun, had already reached the pinnacle of the Heavenly Immortal realm, just a paper-thin distance from being a True Immortal. Upon hearing that his master had passed away and learning the secret of the Heavenly Gate, he immediately tore through space and entered, vowing to knock open the door to eternal life. In the end, not even an echo was left behind.

Wuming clenched his fists, his voice tight: "Sect Master Chi Wen, it is rumored that the three trials of the Heavenly Gate are filled with murderous intent at every step. That is a life-and-death gate set up by the founder of the Heavenly Fire Sect, Hunyu, who exhausted his remaining soul and burned his origin to create it. It is unpredictably dangerous. Although my master is strong, if he rushes in... can he really escape unscathed?"

Chi Wen's expression was solemn, and he spoke word by word: "Lord Jiang Chen and our sect's founder are both True Immortals with similar cultivation levels; there is no reason for him to be trapped. However, the difficulty of the three gates is something even our founder personally asserted—even at the peak of the True Immortal realm, one might not be able to pass all of them."

Wuming suddenly stepped forward, anger surging: "Chi Wen! Is your Heavenly Fire Sect intentionally using my master as a test subject? If he falls inside, Azure Blue Star will collapse into chaos in an instant. Can you bear such monstrous karma?"

Chi Wen did not even lift his eyelids, but his tone was like iron hitting the ground: "If he cannot even step past the three gates, what virtue or ability does he have to command my Heavenly Fire Sect?"

After a pause, his gaze burned brightly: "How can one see the blue sky without experiencing thunder? Lord Jiang Chen's bearing is as deep as an abyss; how can he be compared to ordinary True Immortals... Do you not trust him, or do you not trust yourself?"

Wuming choked, his anger suddenly stalling.

Chi Wen said slowly: "Did you not notice? When he stepped into the Heavenly Gate, there was no hesitation in his eyes, only certainty—that was not arrogance, but the composure of looking down upon ants."

Wuming was stunned, then smiled bitterly and shook his head: "... It was my recklessness. Lord Jiang Chen once suppressed the Ferocious Beast Clan's King Peng with one hand; even such a ferocious creature that rampaged across the eight wildernesses trembled under his palm for only three breaths. No matter how heaven-defying Founder Hunyu was, the barriers he set up ultimately cannot trap the pinnacle of True Immortals."

He cupped his fists in a salute: "Sect Master Chi Wen, I spoke out of turn just now, please forgive me."

Chi Wen laughed heartily and patted his shoulder: "No matter! Hearing you say that, I feel even more at ease—there is hope for ascension in the future, and I fear it will depend on Lord Jiang Chen's favor. Once he breaks through the gates, we will be one big family, and I hope you, Sect Master Wuming, will look after us!"

He appeared rough and straightforward, but in reality, he was as meticulous as a hair, his words hiding needles, leaving no gaps. Wuming sighed inwardly: Heavenly Fire Sect firmly sits in the third chair of Azure Blue Star, and the name Chi Wen is truly worthy of holding up half the territory.

At this moment, Jiang Chen was already standing inside the Heavenly Gate.

The moment he crossed the threshold, the formation patterns under his feet blazed brightly, light and shadow surged, and the surrounding scenery was violently replaced—

He stood in an ancient stone chamber, the walls mottled and the cold air piercing the bone.

In the center of the dome hung a crimson crystal. Inside the crystal was sealed a man in black robes, his brows arrogant and his demonic energy like a tide.

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes slightly and walked forward slowly, his gaze sweeping over the upper right of the stone wall—a line of etched small characters came into view:

"First gate of the Heavenly Fire Sect: Unseal the person inside the crystal. Those who succeed will be granted a Acquired Spirit Treasure—the Heavenly Fire Seal, personally refined by the founder, Hunyu."

The corners of his lips curled up slightly, and he lifted his fingers lightly. A wisp of dark demonic light burst from his palm, like a poisonous snake biting the air, and slammed into the crystal!

The red crystal exploded instantly, flames rose, and before three breaths had passed, it had all turned into flying ash, drifting down with a rustling sound.

The man in black robes stepped out proudly, his long hair dancing wildly, his demonic might vast, and the baleful aura around his body almost solidified.

He glanced at Jiang Chen with disdain and laughed up at the sky: "Ha—Old dog Hunyu! You sealed me for thirteen thousand years, but today, I, Mo Wuhun, have finally torn open the shackles!"

Before his laughter had ceased, he flicked his fingertip, and a wisp of black light shot straight at Jiang Chen's face: "Kid, well done! A reward for you, catch!"

Jiang Chen tilted his head to avoid it, his brows slightly furrowed: "Who are you? This is the trial ground of the Heavenly Gate, not a place for prisoners to get some air."

Mo Wuhun curled the corners of his mouth, his smile cold and sharp: "Ten thousand years ago, I forced my way into this place, just to find a bloody path to break through the shackles of the True Immortal realm. Unexpectedly, that old demon Hunyu of the Heavenly Fire Sect had long ago set a death trap—a Cold Soul Heaven-Sealing Formation, which froze me alive inside an ice crystal, even freezing my soul into frost patterns. I have been trapped for ten thousand years. I waited day and night, finally changing the first trial into 'break the crystal and save me', just to wait for a qualified living person to personally split open this prison."

"So that's how it is... Then I have passed the first gate." Jiang Chen's eyes darkened slightly, his tone calm, "Mo Wuhun, now it is time to talk about the second gate—how do we start?"

Mo Wuhun suddenly grinned, revealing sharp, white teeth, his smile laced with poison: "Little guy, you are in luck. Saving me from being trapped should be heavily rewarded—so, I will bestow a fortune upon you: let this skin of yours continue my life!"

Before he finished speaking, he straightened his back, and the monstrous demonic evil exploded, black mist surging like a tide, pressing down until the entire stone chamber vibrated with a humming sound, the air itself seeming to be crushed into powder.

"Oh? I pried open the ice coffin to let you out, and you turn around to bite the hand that fed you?" Jiang Chen pressed his brows together, his voice like iron and stone, "What kind of logic is this?"

"Logic?" Mo Wuhun sneered, his sleeves billowing, "What is smashed by fists is logic! I have been trapped here for ten thousand years, my lifespan exhausted, leaving only an empty shell. Your muscles and bones are like a dragon, your bloodline glowing; it is perfect for me to possess and reshape—blame only yourself for coming too late. If you had come three thousand years earlier, perhaps you could have been a named disciple."

"Repaying kindness with enmity?" Jiang Chen sneered, cold light in his eyes, "I have seen too much of it. Back then, I was also called the 'Blood Moon Demon Venerable', but even demons have their boundaries, and evil has its backbone. Bullying a savior? Heh, I find such filthy things dirty my hands."

As a Zombie Ancestor, he never restricted his actions to the words of good or evil, but he adhered to one iron rule: kindness must be repaid, hatred must be avenged, and his bottom line must not be compromised by even an inch.

And this Mo Wuhun before him, treacherous as chewing rotten mud, could even bite back against the grace of saving his life—such a rootless and virtue-less scum only deserves to be ground into the dust.

Jiang Chen always believed in one thing: against a mad dog, one must be crazier than it; against an evil ghost, one must be fiercer than it.

Only by using violence to deter violence, and killing to suppress killing, can these beasts that trample on rules truly taste the flavor of fear.

"Hahaha—" Mo Wuhun laughed wildly at the sky, his pupils suddenly igniting with ghostly green flames, his demonic energy boiling and rolling around him, as if a calamity demon god that had slept for ten thousand years had now opened its eyes of slaughter.

"Kid, is your brain frozen? Even if I, Mo Wuhun, have been sealed for ten thousand years, I am still the first insurmountable mountain of the demonic path on Azure Blue Star!"

He swiped his fingertip, and a red scar split the void: "Today, this Venerable will teach you a lesson—respecting your elders is the rule for survival; not respecting them is the reason for losing your life!"

"Mo Wuhun." Jiang Chen stepped forward half a step, his voice like broken iron, "I am Jiang Chen, the one who will take your life."

The moment his words fell, two pitch-black divine lights burst from his pupils, as fast as a tribulation blade tearing through space and time, striking straight into Mo Wuhun's heart!

"The person who can kill me? They haven't been born on Azure Blue Star yet!"