Battle Through the Heavens: Harmony of Flame and Shadow

"The Demon Slayer King's intention is something Lin Jingtian is willing to support!"

Soon, the first voice of agreement rang out. Lin Jingtian, with a resolute expression, looked at Jiang Yun, his eyes full of anticipation and fervor.

Jiang Yun's previous actions had completely conquered this palace hall master of the Great Thousand Palace. Besides, Jiang Yun was the Demon Slayer King of the Great Thousand Palace, whose status was far more noble than his. He was merely obeying his superior's order—what was wrong with that?

"We are willing as well."

Following Lin Jingtian were the four Supreme Beings stationed here who had been saved by Jiang Yun. They too voiced their support with cupped fists.

"This..." Watching this scene, the remaining Supreme Beings who had come to support felt somewhat embarrassed. The Crimson Flame Continent had not yet been unified, and no one could say that Jiang Yun's actions were wrong. Besides, as the Demon Slayer King, he indeed had the authority to mobilize this branch hall. However, why did they feel a bit out of place?

"The Demon Slayer King's righteousness is unparalleled; however, should we consult the headquarters on this matter?" After a long while, the elder who had spoken earlier sighed and voiced his concern slowly.

"I will explain the situation to the Great Thousand Palace headquarters. But as the current state of the Northern Territories is unclear, and whether the extraterrestrial evil tribes will counterattack is still unknown, during this period, to cope with the war, I hope there will be only one voice on the Crimson Flame Continent!"

Jiang Yun glanced at those who hadn't responded but had no objections. Many of them were not from the Great Thousand Palace but rather held honorary positions and had their own forces. It would be foolish to join Jiang Yun's newly founded power.

"Yes!"

Jiang Yun's reasoning made sense. The crowd had no more opinions and could only nod in agreement.

With the assistance of the Great Thousand Palace, the Crimson Flame Continent soon had a unified voice. Originally, there wasn't much power on the continent, not even an absolute Supreme Being. Using the Great Thousand Palace's strength, Jiang Yun easily unified the Crimson Flame Continent. The Great Thousand Palace had the authority to command all heroes during wartime, and now the Crimson Flame Continent was under the shadow of war, leaving no one to question Jiang Yun.

If anyone had objections, they could ask his fists if they agreed!

Within a mere three days, the events of the Crimson Flame Continent spread like a storm throughout the Great Thousand World. No one had expected that in just a few months after the battle of Sacred Abyss, a demonic emperor invasion would occur again in the Northern Territories of the Great Thousand.

Fortunately, the Demon Slayer King Jiang Yun happened to be in the Northern Territories, saving billions of lives and even slaying a demon emperor. Otherwise, if the extraterrestrial evil tribes had broken through the Northern Territories, the consequences would be unimaginable.

After this battle, Jiang Yun's fame soared. Previously, he was known for confronting a demon emperor; now, he had slain one, a terrifying feat that made people start discussing his name alongside many veteran saint-rank experts.

However, following this came even more shocking news: the Demon Slayer King Jiang Yun planned to establish his power on the Crimson Flame Continent.

What kind of place was the Crimson Flame Continent?

It was the main battleground in the Northern part of the Great Thousand World against the extraterrestrial evil tribes. Once war broke out, the entire continent would be within the evil tribes' attack range.

Amidst the swirling smoke and demonic atmosphere, it was certainly not a good place. Moreover, the continent's violent spiritual energy made it difficult for most to survive, making it naturally not the first choice for strong beings to settle.

If it weren't for this, many of the Great Thousand World's superforces wouldn't have left this piece of fat meat alone, leaving only the Great Thousand Palace to establish fortress cities on it, guarded by several Supreme Beings.

Historically, the Great Thousand World's strong beings only used the Crimson Flame Continent as a battlefield.

If an ordinary person claimed they wanted to settle on the Crimson Flame Continent, the various forces of the Great Thousand World would at most treat it as a joke. However, Jiang Yun was different. This peerless talent, who had made a name for himself since the Fire Spirit Tribe's debate, had achieved great accomplishments in a short period.

A miracle in itself, and now Jiang Yun aimed to unify the Crimson Flame Continent, personally stationed in the Northern Territories. Besides the initial shock, everyone praised Jiang Yun's high integrity and selflessness!

Meanwhile, many forces sent people to the Crimson Flame Continent to probe into Jiang Yun's reality. Amidst the chorus of praise, there were still a few discordant voices, claiming him to be "pretentious," "putting on airs"…

As forces surged in the Great Thousand World and Lin Jingtian and the other Supreme Beings managed affairs on the Crimson Flame Continent, Jiang Yun quietly arrived at the mouth of a volcano.

Looking at the small volcano, barely a thousand feet wide, Jiang Yun secretly grumbled. Who could have thought that such an inconspicuous volcano hid the most terrifying divine flame in the Great Thousand World?

Had it not been for the demonic emperor of the Flame Demon Tribe's stir, this world-extinguishing flame, slumbering here, would have never appeared before the world. Even Jiang Yun had almost lost its trail, showing how deeply it was hidden.

Following the volcanic mouth downward, a cavern soon appeared. Red light from underground lava lit up the cavern blindingly. Sulfur-black smoke filled the lava-formed passages, with occasional flames bursting out. The surrounding temperature continued rising.

The passages led deep underground, with red the predominant color. A vast magma lake moved slowly, red magma flowing within, occasional massive bubbles rising and bursting open.

Accompanied by light popping sounds, bubbles burst with a bang, hot magma shooting out like fireworks.

In the endless magma depths, a strange flame shadow flickered constantly. It seemed like a lively little person yet appeared unreal, exceedingly strange.

"Finding you wasn't easy!" Jiang Yun smiled as he looked at the flame. 

"Buzz!!!"

Seemingly sensing Jiang Yun's presence, the extinguishing flame shuddered violently.

Deep within the underground magma, a loud explosion erupted, vast amounts of magma began to erupt back, shattering the rock layers above. A terrifying flame pillar shot into the sky, connecting heaven and earth.

"Boom!"

With a thunderous rumble, a red magma pillar soared. Like a warrior's sword piercing the sky, the magma pillar, glowed red, even painting the sky red.

Terrifying rumbles resounded continuously, and magma columns shot up like heavenly pillars, piercing the sky. The sky over the Crimson Flame Continent turned entirely red, smoke billowing, dense sulfur smell permeating.

Magma columns erupted, and the world's natural forces stunned everyone. Hot waves swept the heavens and earth.

"What's happening?"

"Is the Crimson Flame Continent really cursed? First, extraterrestrial evil tribes, now terrifying volcanic eruptions?"

"..."

The world-extinguishing flame's movement seemed to trigger a chain reaction among countless volcanoes on the Crimson Flame Continent. They erupted one after another. The entire Crimson Flame Mountain Range quaked, even Lin Jingtian and others on the borders felt the ground tremble.

Endless magma columns erupted. The terrifying disturbance alerted numerous strong beings on the Crimson Flame Continent. But it wasn't over yet. With the end of magma eruptions, violent fire attribute spiritual energy converged in the sky.

Up high, fire spiritual energy resonated with celestial power, condensing into heavenly fire light. In the darkening night, the fiery light stood out like never before.

"Did the extinguishing flame have some bad experiences to be this 'irritable'?" Jiang Yun watched the humanoid giant emerging from the flame, feeling the commotion outside. He rubbed his brow, slightly troubled.

From its aura, Jiang Yun could tell this divine fire lived up to its name of being the Great Thousand's best. It felt comparable to the Black Corpse Demon Emperor, equating to a peak saintly Supreme Being.

But…

Watching the fire giant approach, Jiang Yun grumbled inwardly, "Isn't it a bit too overreactive???"

"Roar~~~"

A violent roar emerged from the flame shadow's mouth, waves of blistering heat rolled upward. In the magma lake, massive magma columns surged, fiery red magma splashing out, fire spiritual energy swirling into the sky, forming a vision of sky-burning red clouds.

Jiang Yun waved his hand, scattering the magma columns. Bursting magma splashed smoke and lava everywhere, the magma lake below roiling again.

"Damn…Human, leave, leave here."

A faint voice echoed in Jiang Yun's mind. He squinted slightly; the world-extinguishing flame had developed its own intelligence. The stronger a natural entity, the harder it was to gain sentience and form, examples being the ancient Bodhi tree and the Nine Profound Golden Thunder.

The extinguishing flame's intelligence would be even more robust than those entities, and it seemed to be ahead of them—truly incredible.

"I mean no harm. I can help you solidify your intelligence and, in exchange, I only need the immense energy that you've accumulated over millennia!" Jiang Yun calmly proposed, trying to use the approach he had with the Nine Profound Golden Thunder.

All natural entities had similar issues. Through the molten magma, Jiang Yun saw the flame flickering in the fire giant's heart, brimming with energy even he was moved by.

However, Jiang Yun's proposition seemed to touch on bad memories for the flame. With a roar, it responded, "Humans… can't be trusted!!!"

"Roar~~~"

The fire giant roared, sending streams of magma toward Jiang Yun. Half its body submerged in magma, it emanated blistering heat, and pungent smoke rose around it.

At this moment, the giant seemed to become the master of the continent. Fire energy from the entire Crimson Flame Mountain Range converged toward it. The land spewed magma, streams of lava crisscrossed, making the entire region active. The fire energy gathered around it, waking the entire mountain range.

Magma surged to the surface, dark red flames filled the air, and toxic fumes permeated, turning the mountains into a fiery inferno—truly a death zone.

"Seems like negotiations have failed!"

Seeing that, Jiang Yun regrettably sighed. The next moment, terrifying Samsara Devil Flames erupted from him, spreading in all directions, engulfing the extinguishing flame.

At the same time, Jiang Yun didn't stop. With a wave, countless spirit seals flew from his palm, shining like countless stars, endless and boundless.

Jiang Yun waved his hand, the spirit seals merged into the void, a massive spirit array spread out, enveloping heaven and earth within moments.

With the spirit array's formation, the external sky's anomalies began to dissipate, ultimately shrinking to cover a span of ten thousand feet.

At that point, inside and outside the array seemed like two different worlds, the array forming its own world. Unless the array broke, there was no escape.

"Boom!"

With the extinguishing flame's eruption, the spirit array world trembled, destructive waves spread out, shaking the underground magma violently, evoking the sense of apocalypse.

One could not imagine the terror within.

"Samsara Tribulation · Endless Rebirth!"

Jiang Yun floated mid-air, looking serious, hands forming seals, and shouted.

"Buzz buzz buzz!"

Next moment, within the array, endless life-and-death energy condensed into a massive black-and-white millstone, exuding infinite Samsara aura, slowly descending onto the flame shadow.

"Sizzle!"

The terrifying flame scorched the life-and-death millstone, yet it seemed shrouded by a mysterious power, being constantly torn between destruction and rebirth.

"Booming!"

The flame giant gathered fire energy from the world, erupting torrents of heat everywhere, seemingly boundless. Jiang Yun's array flickered under relentless assaults.

But in the end, Jiang Yun's samsara power withstood the waves of destruction—barely.

"These natural entities are terrifying, but fortunately lack proper intelligence. Despite boundless power, they can't employ it fully." Seeing it momentarily contained, Jiang Yun sighed.