The Steward Demonic Emperor

Proofreader: Papatonks

"The sacred beast behind him is the most violent of the five ancient sacred beasts, the Decimating Dragon Ancestor."

Zhuo Fan closed his eyes in thought, recalling the Nine Serenities Secret Records and finding out what beast had Ye Lin's back.

[Yes, that little flame was none other than the heaven-refining Decimating Golden Flame of primal chaos.]

Zhuo Fan's expression was heavy.

Legend had it that the primal chaos split into yin and yang, which created the world. This led to everything existing in two versions, yin and yang, flames included.

If Vaulting Kunpeng gave him a soft, yin flame, the azure flame, then the Decimating Golden Flame was a strong, yang flame. When it came to achieving ethereal with one's soul, the best was a soft flame. The azure flame was truly remarkable in this regard.

But this strong flame was better when it came to fighting and destruction.

So while Kunpeng was called vaulting, keeping the world order and nourishing all living things, the Dragon Ancestor was his antithesis: pure destruction.

As the two flames mix and endear each other, it encompasses life and death with their every move.

Thus, Zhuo Fan and Ye Lin might have gotten a sacred beast inheritance, but one was focused on cultivation, while the other was set on brute force.

Regarding cultivation speed, Zhuo Fan was certain that if he focused on training alone, he would catch up to Ye Lin in five years at the latest.

However, here and now was a competition, one that had him at a disadvantage.

His gentle azure flame stood no chance against that almighty golden one. They were all part of the primal chaos, but it was the same as fighting the sword with a pen, simply impossible.

Luck had it that he wasn't entirely hopeless. While azure flame lacked fighting power, the purple lightning made up for it. He could clash against the golden flame with this!

Though, as Ye Lin saw, Zhuo Fan's powers were so messed up inside him. Having not taken one particular side further, the purple lightning fell short in power, even worse than the azure flame.

[For crying out loud! I have the Nine Serenities Secret Records, the greatest secrets ever known, at my fingertips, yet I'm still nothing more than a jack-of-all-trades.]

Now that he was facing a true expert, these weapons all fell short.

[If I lose now, I'd be thrown into the pits of despair.]

Shaking his head, Zhuo Fan felt like crying, but he didn't have any tears. He took a moment to calm down before beginning to analyze his chances. They were looking very small at the moment.

Ye Lin's simple pointing just pulverized a 4th layer Ethereal Stage expert. It was obvious he took the golden flame to an almost perfect level. Coupled with all kinds of art from the Sacred Domain that the dragon gave him, the fight would spell grave danger for Zhuo Fan.

As he was deep in thought, Ultimate Clarity Sect and Universal Righteous Sect's singles round came to a close.

To begin with, Universal Righteous Sect wanted to keep their strength up. Then when Ye Lin killed one of their own, they were even more scared of fighting.

This made it, so the Universal Righteous Sect lost all their spirit in the next matches, making them lose almost all fights with Ultimate Clarity Sect.

The same happened when they fought Hellion Flame too. However, Hellion Flame was not as gentle as the Ultimate Clarity Sect. They fought to the death.

Universal Righteous Sect's disciples had no time to even say surrender before they were done in. With such disastrous casualties, the Universal Righteous Sect was forced to forfeit before they even walked up there. To top it all off, they even had the nerve to curse demonic cultivators for being despicable and ruthless.

Though having already seen their hypocrisy, the audience sighed at how much humanity had fallen.

When Hellion Flame and Ultimate Clarity Sect fought out of destiny or sheer dumb luck, the first match was between their captains.

Yan Mo walked on the stage filled with thirst for battle. Wu Qingqiu smiled at his determination, finally relieving that fight's anger.

"Yan Mo, you're not going to yield after two moves like that, Zhao Dezhu, are you?" Wu Qingqiu stared Yan Mo in the eye.

Yan Mo's face was hard as he snapped, "As if! Who the hell do you take me for? You dare compare me with that coward? Wu Qingqiu, today we are going to fight to the death!"

"My thoughts exactly. Come, ha-ha-ha…" Wu Qingqiu laughed, filled with mettle and excitement.

Yan Mo grinned as he started making gestures.

Suddenly, a circle of two snakes biting their tails formed behind him. The red and blue flames were constantly changing through their interactions, unleashing a scorching heat that would burn anything.

The judge cried out, "A-a domain soul? It is such a high grade that not even the barrier can contain it. What power!"

The Exalted Double Dragons were stunned as well. They did not think this Double Dragon Gathering would have so many promising talents. While they did not match Ye Lin and Zhuo Fan's true potential, the others weren't just props either, each a genius in their own way.

Yan Mo, for example, had the Yin Yang Union Flame. The exalted knew that even with it, it was truly hard to keep the yin and yang balanced.

But for Yan Mo to not only do that but even unleash a domain to such a stable degree, he was truly a rare talent.

Wu Qingqiu felt the bubbling heat rising higher and higher from the two flames. He smiled, "Yan Mo, you've released your soul right from the start. Is it to go all out or declare yourself the winner? You're not going to fight and dash, are you?"

"Hey, I'm not suicidal, nor am I that confident in beating you. But on such a rare occasion, I want to let loose and fight you with all I have!"

"Yes, let loose. I may be a righteous cultivator, but I just love how forward demonic cultivators are, ha-ha-ha…" Wu Qingqiu laughed and made a sign himself in his excitement.

Hum~

Wu Qingqiu squinted and turned still. Then, black and white spread from his feet as they rotated, dissipating the scorching heat around as it did.

The people watched in shock as a yin-yang symbol took shape under Wu Qingqiu as it spun and spun.

Yan Mo's fire domain faded slowly once inside this symbol and returned to normal.

Another domain soul!

Yan Mo's face grew grave, "Ultimate Clarity Sect's Clarity Domain!"

"Correct. A soul's form is based on the cultivation method, but it can also base itself on outside things, just like how brother Yan's soul is based on demonic fires, that of Yin Yang Union Flame. But Ultimate Clarity Sect is focused on clarity, not allowing external objects to affect the soul form. So whenever the soul forms, the disciples of Ultimate Clarity Sect go to the secret realm of our sect where they absorb the energy of heaven and earth to form the purest Clarity Domain."

Grinning, Wu Qingqiu spoke, "I'm sure brother Yan knows about our secret realm as well. That is where the energy of heaven and earth is interlocked. Forming one's soul there would make one no less strong than brother Yan's. That's why, brother Yan Mo, do take care, ha-ha-ha…"

Yan Mo snorted, "Enough small talk. I've heard of Ultimate Clarity Sect's secret realm, but so what? The strong are always strong for a reason. What could a weakling ever gain from going into that realm anyway? I only care about you, Wu Qingqiu. I only want to defeat you. No matter how strong or weak your soul is, I'll give my all in fighting you!"

"Brother Yan, you flatter me!" Wu Qingqiu smiled, cupping his hands, "Since brother Yan holds me in such high regard, I can't disappoint and will reply in kind."

Wu Qingqiu held his palms together and made a sign. The taiji symbol spun faster and faster.

Yan Mo laughed, and his hands went through his gestures. The two snakes also rotated faster, "Then let's fight to our heart's content!"

With a bang, the two domains clashed.

Yan Mo's side was bubbling with power in blue and red colors, while Wu Qingqiu's side was traced by a cooling breeze, peaceful and serene.

But everyone could see that this breeze was deadly.

"Infernal Flood!"

Yan Mo's hands stopped and shouted. The red flames suddenly turned into a churning sea as it shot for Wu Qingqiu's domain. The clash pushed the Clarity Domain on the verge of collapse.

Tongues of scorching flames slipped into the domain, and Wu Qingqiu's surroundings began to heat up.

Frowning, Wu Qingqiu pointed with both hands, and countless blue edges shot for the burning inferno.

"Calming Sword!"

Ugh~

With groans, those blue edges entered the world of fire and vanished. But soon after, the inferno rumbled one last time before it ebbed. Its rage subsided, and soon, it became still as it blended into the Clarity Domain.

Yan Mo's face was hard. Zhuo Fan was watching the fight from the side, and his eyes shone with curiosity…