Chapter 6589 Top Three Heavenly Flame Rankings
As far as their eyes could see, golden lotus leaves blanketed the world. Giant blossoms bloomed overhead, some so vast they seemed to prop up the sky itself.
Long Chen’s jaw slackened in disbelief.
Suddenly, a small fox leaped into his chest with a squeal of excitement—the same little fox he had once saved in the Heavenly Flame World.
“We meet again.”
Aunt Gong appeared, stepping lightly across the lotus leaves. She looked the same as ever. That gentle and loving smile of hers had not changed.
“Aunt Gong!” Long Chen was both shocked and delighted. He hastily bowed.
At this sight, the white-robed woman stiffened in surprise. She hastily followed Long Chen’s example and bowed to Aunt Gong.
Seeing the little fox still rubbing against Long Chen’s body, Aunt Gong chided, “Alright, stop playing. Let me speak to our honored guests.”
The little fox finally hopped down from Long Chen’s body and buried its way into a golden lotus leaf, vanishing from sight.
Turning to the white-robed woman, Aunt Gong asked, “Child, what is your name?”
“Senior, this junior is Yun Chi of the Preservation Heavenly Dao,” she answered.
Only now did Long Chen learn her name.
Aunt Gong nodded. “The Preservation Heavenly Dao... Yes, I remember. A seed that inherited the power of karma once fell from this golden lotus world. It was taken by a woman named Luo Minghui. Through that seed, she comprehended the Grand Dao and established the Preservation Heavenly Dao. She vowed to shoulder the pain and suffering of all living beings.”
“Yes, senior. Luo Minghui is our Dao-Founder. But...” Yun Chi lowered her gaze to the withered lotus seed in her hand, her expression dimming.
Aunt Gong said, “But after the primal chaos war, your Golden Virtue Lotus started to fade and lose its power. It gradually withered. You sought Long Chen for help, yet have you ever questioned why it withered in the first place?”
“Perhaps the spiritual qi of heaven and earth is too sparse. Perhaps our karmic luck was severed. Perhaps our successors lacked talent... Senior, we’ve thought of many problems and are doing our best to save the Golden Virtue Lotus. But nothing has worked,” replied Yun Chi with a sob.
Long Chen couldn’t help but interject, “So you never once thought that the world itself had changed? Under the current heavens, everything you do is no longer virtuous and might even be... well, you understand.”
“What...?” Yun Chi froze.
Aunt Gong merely smiled, urging him to continue.
Seeing this, Long Chen explained, “So, after the primal chaos war, your lotus seed began to wither. Did you never think that perhaps your actions were no longer virtuous to this world? You may have the desire to save everyone, but you do not have the means to overcome the evildoers. I do not know what kind of world order existed before the primal chaos war, but afterward, heaven and earth were thrown into chaos. What this world needs is not blind forgiveness—it needs order restored to chaos.”
When Long Chen had just entered the Sovereign Emperor Heaven, this woman had tried to stop him. It had irritated him then, because he could see clearly what she could not: the people she saved weren’t pitiful out of remorse but because they feared death.
“You saved people who deserved death,” Long Chen continued. “As a result, they’ll keep doing what they always did, spreading chaos wherever they go. As their strength grows, so will the damage they cause. Shouldn’t you bear the responsibility for the sins committed by those you spared?”
Yun Chi stared at her withered lotus seed. Her face turned deathly pale. Long Chen’s words were overturning the very foundation of her Dao—her principles, her convictions, and everything she believed in. How could she accept that the mission of the Preservation Heavenly Dao was wrong?
Aunt Gong reached out and held Yun Chi’s hand.
She softly said, “Every Golden Virtue Lotus was born to face its own destiny. They can rise and fall according to fate. However, other people are unable to help you cross the sea of bitterness. You must do it yourself.”
Yun Chi nodded, seemingly understanding what Aunt Gong meant. Golden light enveloped her, and she slowly faded from sight.
Her pale face and lost expression were painful to see. She was a kind girl. But in this lawless world, what good was kindness without strength?
As her figure vanished, Long Chen sighed softly. If she failed to grasp this truth, her lotus seed would wither completely. The Preservation Heavenly Dao would vanish with it, becoming nothing more than a forgotten speck in history.
Seeing Aunt Gong’s gentle smile, Long Chen shook his head with a wry look. “Aunt Gong, you tricked me. You should have told me you were the other Gong.”
Aunt Gong smiled. “Did I ever say which Gong I was?”
“If I had known you gave me the legendary Golden Virtue Lotus, I wouldn’t have tormented myself for so long,” Long Chen said with a bitter smile.
Had he known it was the Golden Virtue Lotus, then with its guidance, he never would have doubted his own path. He wouldn’t have questioned whether his actions were righteous or not. Those days of uncertainty were torture.
Long Chen’s Golden Virtue Lotus had been thrumming with life the entire time, proving that his path was correct. However, he always worried about whether he had ended up on a doomed path.
Meanwhile, Yun Chi had clung stubbornly to the original doctrine of her sect, convinced her path was unquestionably righteous. However, her lotus continued to wither before her eyes, and no one in the Preservation Heavenly Dao seemed to have realized what that meant.
Aunt Gong stepped closer and gently straightened Long Chen’s robes, her movements warm like a kind mother.
“A little suffering is not a bad thing. No path in life is walked for nothing. Each time you endure hardship and rise above it, it is a kind of nirvanic rebirth. Only by searching through the darkness can you find the shore beyond the endless sea of bitterness.”
Long Chen felt as though he were hearing a mother’s comfort—something he had never truly felt from either of his mothers in the mortal or immortal worlds.
Before Aunt Gong, he felt completely at ease. This golden lotus world was like the safest home he had ever known.
Aunt Gong said softly, “Child, your appearance in the golden lotus world again is guided by the nine heavens. What you told Yun Chi shows that you’ve already brushed against the essence of this world. But the closer you draw to that essence... the greater the danger becomes.”
“Aunt Gong, I’m not afraid!”
Long Chen was practically brimming with confidence now. Knowing he had the Golden Virtue Lotus by his side, he felt his conviction crystallize.
“Good child. I know you are brave, but I have no choice but to give you a warning. What do you know of the Heavenly Flame Rankings?” asked Aunt Gong.
Naturally, Long Chen was more than familiar with the Heavenly Flame Rankings. “The ninth rank Heavenly Rainbow Flame, the eighth rank Ice Soul Divine Flame, the seventh rank Moon Flame, the sixth rank Sun Flame. The fifth rank Heaven Vein Dragon Blaze is said to have already vanished, and the fourth rank is the Yan Xu Flame.”
Aunt Gong smiled and asked, “And what about the top three?”
Startled, Long Chen replied, “The top three Heavenly Flames? It’s said they have no form or name. They’re ranked only out of reverence to heaven and earth. No one knows whether they exist now—or whether they ever did. In reality, the strongest flame in the nine heavens today is the Yan Xu Flame.”
Aunt Gong shook her head. “No. The top three flames not only exist—they have names. But the significance of those names is so great that those who know them do not dare to speak them.”
When Long Chen heard this piece of information, his eyes widened, and his heart started to pound wildly.