Nine Nether Heavenly Emperor
Chapter 42 Sacred Flame

Chapter 42: Chapter 42 Sacred Flame

Shi Feng looked at the trembling Bloodthirsty Sword in his hand, then turned back to gaze at Tianmu Ice Soul Peak. Shi Feng realized that the Bloodthirsty Sword seemed to resonate with something on Tianmu Ice Soul Peak.

"Wasn’t the Artifact Spirit of the Bloodthirsty Sword eradicated by the Source of All Things?" Shi Feng frowned, intently focusing on the Bloodthirsty Sword. He sensed that indeed, the Artifact Spirit was no longer present.

"So, is it the inherent instinct of the weapon that has been activated? What exactly exists on Tianmu Ice Soul Peak to cause what was once a Divine Artifact to react so intensely?" Shi Feng pondered, his gaze once again fixed on Tianmu Ice Soul Peak ahead as if trying to see through the continent’s foremost icy mountain.

Zhang Hu noticed that Shi Feng seemed to stop moving again, as if lost in thought looking at the ice peak ahead. Seeing Shi Feng in this state, Zhang Hu stood quietly without speaking, not interrupting.

Suddenly, Shi Feng felt a strange force surge towards him from ahead, and following that, a weak voice echoed in his mind: "Descendant of the Blood Pattern Tribe wielding the Sacred Sword, have you finally come to rescue me?"

"Hm? Who is it?" Shi Feng was startled, "Sacred Sword?" He glanced at the Bloodthirsty Sword in his hand.

"What’s wrong, Young Master Feng?" Zhang Hu, having heard Shi Feng suddenly speak up, was startled as well and asked.

Shi Feng gestured with his hand for Zhang Hu to be silent and continued to gaze at Tianmu Ice Soul Peak. "Descendant of the Blood Pattern Tribe?" Shi Feng recalled the bloodstained man, covered in runes like blood patterns, whom the Blood Sword Spirit had shown him when he traveled back to the Ancient Period in the underground chamber of the Hai Family.

And that Blood Skull whose marrow he had absorbed.

Then, the weak voice spoke up again: "Ah, has the once-mighty Blood Pattern Tribe declined so far that the Sacred Sword has fallen into the hands of someone as weak and with such impure blood as you?"

Shi Feng was almost certain that the person speaking to him was related to this Bloodthirsty Sword, the Blood Skull, and the blood-patterned man shown to him by the Artifact Spirit.

Calling his blood impure, he assumed he was mistaken after having absorbed the marrow of the Blood Skull.

"Who exactly are you? How do you know of my Blood Pattern Tribe, and even our tribe’s Sacred Sword?" Shi Feng spoke, becoming very serious and respectful, he even ostentatiously raised the Bloodthirsty Sword high in his hand.

Zhang Hu looked at Shi Feng with confusion, showing complete bewilderment on his face, not understanding what was happening.

"Could it be that the now-decrepit Blood Pattern Tribe only remembers the Sacred Sword, yet has long forgotten the Sacred Flame?" the weak voice spoke again.

"Sacred Flame?" Shi Feng’s heart trembled, he didn’t know of the Sacred Flame, but he did know of a peculiar flame born between heaven and earth called Heavenly Fire.

Heavenly Fire, a kind of flame with life, with its own consciousness. There are many types of Heavenly Fire, among the Martial Emperors who slew Emperor Nine Nether, Emperor Fiery Flame Wan Guqiu possessed a kind of Heavenly Fire named Limitless Fiery Flame.

Thunder God Emperor Ao Laixing also harbored a kind of Heavenly Fire, Destructive Thunder; although it took the form of flame, it was a special existence with the attributes of thunder and lightning.

Once, Emperor Nine Nether had also sought the Heavenly Fire, but alas, such a marvelous species was something one could encounter but not seek.

Shi Feng hesitated for a while, then his face showed excitement as he shakily said to the thing in front of him, "Sacred Flame? Are you truly the Sacred Flame of our clan?"

In Zhang Hu’s eyes, Shi Feng seemed to have gone insane; his behavior was clearly a sign of being possessed by evil spirits.

"I, who has been sealed in this place for countless years by that beast, can finally see the light of day again upon seeing the Sacred Sword. As long as I unite with the Sacred Sword’s..." The weak voice paused suddenly, as if something had abruptly caught in its throat. Following that, nobody knew where the burst of energy came from, but it roared loudly, "Sacred Sword! Why has the Sacred Sword of the Blood Pattern Tribe come to be in such a state! Where is the Artifact Spirit? The Artifact Spirit is gone! How has the mighty Sacred Sword become nothing more than scrap metal, who did this!"

The Source of All Things did it!

Of course, Shi Feng wouldn’t say that, nor would he tell that the Source of All Things was within him.

This member of the Blood Pattern Tribe clearly harbored a deep hatred towards the Source of All Things. Otherwise, in the Hai Family’s basement, the Source of All Things wouldn’t have "fought" the Blood Sword upon encountering it, ultimately still extinguishing the Artifact Spirit.

This Heavenly Fire had actually been suppressed here by an Ancient Supreme Power using the Tianmu Ice Soul Peak, and this Heavenly Fire belonged to the same origin as the Blood Sword—all of which the Blood Pattern Tribe had crowned "sacred." The Blood Sword had once been of Divine Artifact grade; could it be that this Sacred Flame had also advanced to a Divine Grade existence?

If even a Divine Grade Heavenly Fire had been suppressed, just how powerful was that person?

If I could subdue this Divine Grade Heavenly Fire, imprint my own Soul Imprint on it, and take control of it...

"O Sacred Flame, you may not be aware, but the glory of my Blood Pattern Tribe belongs to the past. The Sacred Sword has already been in this condition when passed down to my generation. However, the ancestral teachings have always echoed in my ears. The revival of the Blood Pattern Tribe is my only mission in life, but I am truly powerless. I earnestly plead for the Sacred Flame to return, guide me on the path of restoration, and lead our clan back to greatness," Shi Feng said earnestly, his voice full of passion and fervor, as if the situation were indeed as he had described.

"Sigh," Shi Feng only heard a sigh in his mind, followed by, "Think of how powerful the Blood Pattern Tribe was in the past, and now it has fallen to such a state. No matter, since I am indeed the Sacred Flame of the Blood Pattern Tribe, let me be born into this world, and help the Blood Pattern Tribe return to its glory."

Upon hearing this, Shi Feng quickly asked, "O Sacred Flame, is there a way for you to come out?"

"During the years I have been imprisoned, I have constantly hammered against the Ice Evil Punishment Heaven Array, but that beast used a heaven-defying method to move the Tianmu Ice Soul Peak here, adding another layer of suppression onto me and providing the Ice Evil Punishment Heaven Array with a constant supply of energy. However, after so many years, I have still managed to breach a crack in the Ice Evil Punishment Heaven Array. I originally thought that seeing the Sacred Sword today, with my power combined with the power of the Sacred Sword, we would surely destroy the Ice Evil Punishment Heaven Array, but alas..."

Just as the weak voice reached that point, it suddenly paused, then asked Shi Feng, "Young member of the Blood Pattern Tribe, are you afraid of death?"

"If it can lead the Blood Pattern Tribe back to its former glory, even if I were to die immediately, what of it!" Shi Feng declared firmly, as if he truly was a descendant bearing the mission to restore the Blood Pattern Tribe.

"Good! Good! Good!" The voice said ’good’ three times in a row, then continued, "You indeed have the noble bloodline of the Blood Pattern Tribe flowing through your veins. What comes next will be very dangerous, and a single misstep can lead to your immediate demise. But rest assured, if I can successfully be reborn, I will seek out your clanspeople and help the Blood Pattern Tribe return to its former glory."

"O great Sacred Flame, tell me, what should I do next!" Shi Feng took on the appearance of someone resolved to meet his death, his mind racing as he started to scheme.

"Young Master Feng." Zhang Hu couldn’t hold back any longer and softly called out to Shi Feng.