"Heart as clear as water, clear water is the heart. No breath of wind arises, no ripples on the lake's surface stir... This, isn't this the 'Heart-Cleansing Formulas'?" Long Xuhu repeated a few phrases after Li Qingming and suddenly let out a surprised gasp, "What is Big Brother trying to do?"

"Hephaestus, the righteous path in this world is heartless, the Demon Path is heartless, the Divine Tao is heartless! Only the path of the self is the true path of heartfelt sincerity! Bah!" At this moment, Li Qingming suddenly opened his eyes wide, and with a sound like Heavenly Thunder, it burst forth, deafening, ripping through the Heavenly Vault!

"Boom rumble!"

A tremendous sound erupted, causing the magma covering the entire Hephaestus Planet to suddenly surge into chaos, with fiery magma waves towering thousands of feet high.

The red-hot magma turned the space a burning red, and the Cangqiong no longer retained the color of the sea's blue.

"Damn it, what happened now?" Man Niu cursed as he casually knocked the magma waves in front of him back into the sea of magma.

"Wow! Uncle Man Niu, Second Uncle... look quickly, Hephaestus' whole body is glowing!" Yang Jian exclaimed with excitement, as if he had discovered a new continent, pointing at Hephaestus not far away and scratching his head in surprise.

"Amitabha Buddha! Such a strong surge of Leaving Fire, this alien race is probably about to make a breakthrough!" Shakyamuni clasped his hands together, a smile appearing on his face.

That's right, after being provoked by Li Qingming's harsh words and with the attractant of the Tao Runes brought forth by the 'Heart-Cleansing Formulas' that had floated into his body, Hephaestus had completely realized his true heart, about to break free from his current shackles and step into a brand new world.

"Whirr..."

The blood within his body boiled violently, producing a sound like waves crashing uncontrollably, and a rich aura of Leaving Fire formed a halo behind his head that was like a miniature Sun, brilliant and blinding, making it impossible to look directly at it.

And this massive tide of magma was precisely caused by the pull of the fire of the Leaving Fire, resonating with the sea of magma and the Void, hence stirring up towering magma waves!

"Boom crackle!"

As time slowly passed, the sky above suddenly changed as the Cangqiong turned pitch black, and cracks began appearing in the scorching space.

It wasn't the descent of the Heavenly Tribulation but rather because, as one of the twelve main gods of the Titan World, Hephaestus naturally possessed a subordinate rank. As his Cultivation advanced and affected the subordinate rank, it naturally caused the Void to shatter.

Hephaestus' body glowed all over, with the Leaving Fire emitting an intense, red light, like fierce and terrifying Divine Dragons roaming and writhing on his body.

"Bang!"

The magma sea once again raised a huge wave, roaring with an extremely hot breath as it frantically gathered in the direction of Hephaestus.

Hephaestus began to consciously absorb the omnipresent power of the magma; with every bit of the magma wave he swallowed, his body naturally shook.

Soon, the magma that originally covered the entire Hephaestus Planet, triggered by Li Qingquan and Ares, was visibly diminishing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

By the time Hephaestus' body looked like those top-tier bodybuilders on Earth, the magma that covered the planet had been completely absorbed by him. Naturally, his Cultivation also leaped over two levels and advanced to the peak of the Late Sub-Saint stage, ready to break through to the Sub-Saint Peak at any moment.

"Ah!" Watching his planetary territory now devoid of magma, Hephaestus pounded his chest and roared in rage, the vast soundwaves filled with a sense of power, enough to shake mountains and rivers!

Far away, the myriad high mountains that had been swallowed and smelted by magma suddenly rose from the ground once more, their crimson crystal stones as mesmerizingly colored as they were before being devoured!

After venting his rage, Hephaestus reined in his surging power and transformed back into the eight-feet tall, brawny man he was, except now his previously ugly countenance had somehow become sharply defined and much more handsome.

He walked up to Li Qingming, knelt down on one knee, and said, "I, Hephaestus, Fire God of the Twelve Olympian Gods! Vow to follow the great being before me to the death, to serve at your side! Should I break this oath, let the Power of Fire Rules burn my body, obliterate my heart, and devour my soul! This oath, is made!"

No sooner had he finished his declaration, Hephaestus fiercely bit his right thumb and drew a mysterious rune on his forehead.

"Hum!"

The spiritual energy between heaven and earth suddenly converged, and from Hephaestus's forehead floated out a rhombic ice crystal glowing with red luminescence. He held it in his hand and presented it before Li Qingming.

"What are you doing?" Li Qingming looked at the kneeling Hephaestus, fell silent for a long while, and then spoke.

Hephaestus respectfully replied, "My lord, this is the Main Soul Crystal of my Fire God Divine Status, where my soul resides. With but a thought from you, my soul would be instantly annihilated! This is my loyalty, please accept it!"

"Forget it! I accept your loyalty, but you can keep your Main Soul Crystal," Li Qingming said lightly as he swept the Main Soul Crystal back into Hephaestus's mind, "I don't need this thing to control you!"

"My lord..." Upon hearing this, Hephaestus's body trembled, his lips quivered for a long time but ultimately, he couldn't utter a complete sentence.

"Alright!" Li Qingming waved his hand and added, "Now that we've killed Ares, I suppose there should already be some sense of it amongst you Divine Kings! We should hurry to the Sea of Death God in the Netherworld God Star Domain and rescue Poseidon!"

Hephaestus stood up, collected his thoughts, and said, "You are correct, my lord! There is indeed a strange mental connection between us twelve main gods. Moreover, considering Ares and the current Divine King Apollo have always been close, I am afraid he already knows of Apollo's demise and has sent someone to investigate!"

"What? Then let's hurry and go! Although we are not afraid of that Apolo, Ares or whatever... It's still going to be troublesome," Man Niu stroked his shaven head and shook his head with some distress.

...

Three hours later, at the southernmost edge of the boundless universe of the Titan World, there was a vast expanse of dim star river.

Li Qingming and his companions stood in the cosmic void, surrounded by emptiness and nothingness.

"What's going on?"

Li Qingming frowned as he stood on a small planet thousands of miles wide, his terrifying Power of Primordial Spirit wildly sweeping out and covering a star domain spanning billions of light-years.

He discovered that within tens of light-years of this star domain, there was not a single creature in existence.

"Hephaestus, are you sure this is the Netherworld God Star Domain?" Li Qingming asked, frowning.

"This, according to the star domain map in my memory, there is no doubt this place is indeed the Netherworld God Star Domain!"

Even Hephaestus was somewhat puzzled. Though he had never visited the Netherworld God Star, he had heard there were countless followers of the Death God in the Netherworld God Star Domain, whose territories spanned several star domains. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to recommend and cast your monthly ticket at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

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