Chapter 613: Birthplace of the Netherworld Flame
Those people who used to occupy the top position would definitely be incredulous. Avoiding clashing with the King Grade True Dragons from the other great realms would be impossible for Xiao Chen.
“Chi!”
A sharp bird cry resounded, and a black Demonic Beast with a leopard’s head and an eagle’s body appeared before the scarlet throne. A savage aura spread out, and the Demonic Beast eyed Xiao Chen with ill intentions.
It was a Demonic Beast, not a Spirit Beast, so the killing Qi that the throne emitted did not frighten it. Instead, the killing Qi attracted it. It thought that after it ate Xiao Chen, it might become stronger.
Xiao Chen opened his eyes and punched calmly. An azure dragon head formed on his fist, and he executed the Dragon Claw Fist’s Berserk Dragon.
“Bang!”
A fist wind exploded and a berserk dragon howled. The Demonic Beast did not even have a chance to dodge. The punch immediately smashed it into a bloody mist.
“You overestimate yourself. You are just a mere peak Rank 7 Demonic Beast, and you dare to obstruct my way.”
Xiao Chen closed his eyes again. The scarlet throne did not stop even for a moment. It burst through the blood mist and continued flying forward quickly.
Half a month ago, Xiao Chen successfully broke through the bottleneck of the Firmament Body Tempering Art, reaching the sixth layer. Now, he could bring out five hundred tons of force with a casual punch.
Just by using his physical body, Xiao Chen was already unrivaled among half-step Martial Monarchs.
—
Xiao Chen could now see the vast Heavenly Extermination Lake below. The islands of the Heavenly Extermination Lake were as numerous as the stars in the sky. The number of people flying around also became more plentiful.
Not wanting to attract too much attention, Xiao Chen had already put away the scarlet throne. He used his Essence to fly quickly. Occasionally, the Martial Kings that he passed would feel intense pressure, prompting them to distance themselves from him.
“What an intimidating aura. Since when did the Ancient Desolate Land have such a strong youth?”
The onlookers watched with dubious eyes, unable to understand what was going on. Xiao Chen’s aura was already very drawn-out. Even some of the veteran experts sighed at such a sight. He had truly become unrivaled among half-step Martial Monarchs.
Head a kilometer northeast from that island in front. Then, descend rapidly, and you will reach the place I told you about. Ao Jiao’s voice rang out in Xiao Chen’s mind.
Xiao Chen looked around quickly before increasing his speed. He turned into a beam of purple light and landed on the water surface in a few breaths. Then he plunged into the water with a ‘splash.’
“Gurgle…! Gurgle…!”
Xiao Chen circulated his Vital Qi and increased his weight, deliberately sinking into the water like lead. As he submerged quickly, bubbles surged out around him.
At first, Xiao Chen could still see some light. After a kilometer, darkness covered the bottom of the lake. Even with his excellent eyesight, he could not see anything farther than a hundred meters.
The water current refracted the light underwater, so Xiao Chen could only see blurry images through his Spiritual Sense as well. He could barely make out a rough image of things.
“Ai….!
Just at this moment, Xiao Chen sighed softly, frowning slightly. A large patch of blood drifted over from the front, bringing a bloody stench.
As he continued to sink, an increasing amount of blood appeared. He did not see any of the multitudes of Demonic Beasts that Ao Jiao described. It was like someone had killed them earlier.
“Bang!”
Xiao Chen’s figure suddenly stopped. He finally reached the bottom of this Heavenly Extermination Lake at an unknown depth, stepping onto solid land.
With the information gleaned from his Spiritual Sense, Xiao Chen could roughly tell that there was a majestic underwater mountain range five hundred meters in front. The mountains were at least a kilometer tall and stretched over a long distance.
This underwater mountain range was unexpectedly even more extensive than the Lingyun Mountain Range where the Heavenly Saber Pavilion was.
The blood was most concentrated here. When Xiao Chen looked around, he found blackish-red blood everywhere. It seemed coagulated and did not dissolve into the water, giving off an unpleasant stench.
Occasionally, Xiao Chen could see the corpses of Demonic Beasts drifting around. It was easy to tell that these were the parts of the Demonic Beasts that were worthless.
After seeing this, Xiao Chen felt sure that someone had cleared out the place slightly before he had arrived.
“Ao Jiao, does anyone else know about this place?” Xiao Chen asked worriedly. If someone came here first and obtained what he had come for ahead of him, then he would have wasted a lot of time.
Ao Jiao shook her head and said, There is no need to worry. These people should have another purpose. This place is the birthplace of the Netherworld Flame, an extreme Yin flame.
Five thousand years ago, the Thunder Emperor discovered that Spirit Vein by accident when he was here to harvest some flame seeds. He laid down some restrictions, so it would be hard for outsiders to find it.
Netherworld Flame?
Xiao Chen entered deep thought. His Lunar True Flame had already formed an Origin Flame. However, it had not been absorbing Yin-attributed flames, so it was significantly weaker than the Purple Thunder True Fire.
If he could strengthen the Lunar True Flame, then it might be possible to execute that Taiji Diagram of Yinyang Flames that he experienced in the Ancient Desolate Tower’s gate of desire.
However, the primary purpose of this trip was still the Spirit Vein’s origin. There was no need to dwell too much on the Lunar True Flame. He would deal with matters as they came.
Stretching out his right hand, Xiao Chen formed a suction force at his palm with his Essence. The blackish blood in the water quickly gathered by his palm.
“Hu chi! Hu chi!”
A scarlet whirlpool formed over Xiao Chen’s palm. The surrounding lake water became clear. After a while, all the blood compressed into a ball of blood.
Xiao Chen casually tossed the compressed blood ball, and it flew up very quickly. After a long time, a pillar of water shot up into the sky from the surface of the Heavenly Extermination Lake.
The blood ball shattered and showered the area with blood, startling the passing cultivators.
Now that the lake water was clear, Xiao Chen could see better. He circulated Essence to his eyes and saw a crack in the mountain range in front. That was the entrance that Ao Jiao had mentioned.
Xiao Chen gently pushed off the lake bed and moved as fast as lightning. A short while later, he quickly squeezed into that crack.
At first, the crack was very narrow. After ten minutes, it started to broaden. Xiao Chen could even see the footprints left by other people on the ground.
Looking at the sizes and the number of footprints, there were at least a hundred people. It was unknown which power of the Ancient Desolate Land was here.
Ten more minutes later, the water in the crack had drained away completely. The front became an open area, and a vast land appeared before Xiao Chen.
Upside-down stone pillars hung a kilometer above Xiao Chen, growing in strange shapes. Fissures extended throughout the ground, spanning long distances. Occasionally, strands of Yin flames drifted out from them.
Xiao Chen revealed a shocked expression in his eyes. It was hard to imagine that there was such a strange sight at the bottom of the lake.
“Halt! The Holy Fire Manor is handling some matters here. Would your distinguished self please return first.”
Two middle-aged men suddenly appeared above Xiao Chen. They were dressed in the same uniform and held sabers in their hands. They looked at him with extreme caution.
Because Spiritual Sense was not very useful within the Heavenly Extermination Lake, Xiao Chen did not keep it released. So he only discovered these two people after they came out.
Glancing at them, Xiao Chen immediately discerned their cultivation. They were both peak Superior Grade Martial Kings. Their auras were not weak, so the Cultivation Techniques they used were probably pretty good.
They could be considered experts within the Ancient Desolate Land. However, they were inadequate in Xiao Chen’s eyes.
Xiao Chen still had some impressions of the Holy Fire Manor. Back then, Xiao Chen and Bai Lixi had directly destroyed its branch in Desolate City.
Xiao Chen and Bai Lixi had killed its Young Manor Lord and an inner sect Elder. Unexpectedly, he ran into the sect again today.
They definitely need a Martial Monarch expert in order to extract the Netherworld Flame. Xiao Chen, you have to deal with these two people quickly; you cannot drag this out! Ao Jiao reminded Xiao Chen.
Seeing that Xiao Chen did not move, the person at the right pointed at Xiao Chen and shouted, “You do not know what is good for you. Our First Manor Lord and Second Manor Lord are here. Given your half-step Martial Monarch cultivation, they can destroy you with one finger. If you know what is good for you, you will scram and return to where you came from.”
Xiao Chen had long heard that the Holy Fire Manor had two Martial Monarchs. It looked like they were both here today.
No matter what level of cultivation they had, if two Martial Monarchs worked together, Xiao Chen would not be a match for them. However, since he was here already, there was no point in him returning.
Xiao Chen squinted slightly and suddenly attacked. He stomped heavily, leaving a deep footprint on the ground, and executed the Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art.
A resonant dragon cry came from behind Xiao Chen. The person who spoke earlier felt as though an Azure Dragon was flying towards him.
“Breaking Armor!”
Xiao Chen punched. A sharp Qi formed over his fist and tore that person’s protective Essence apart like it was paper. A bloody bowl-sized hole appeared on that person’s chest.
“Seizing the Heart!”
Xiao Chen turned his right hand into a claw in the time it took for a spark to fly. Then, he pierced through the second person’s chest before that person’s shocked gaze.
However, before that person died, a short arrow hidden in his sleeve shot out. That short arrow had a special fuel coating that burned quickly in the air.
Xiao Chen pointed with his finger and fired out a strand of purple fire. The short arrow only flew a short distance before the purple fire knocked it down.
“Chi!”
However, before that short arrow exploded, it gave off a piercing sound. Its sound waves reverberated everywhere, clearly audible within five kilometers.
“Go!” Xiao Chen had not expected this short arrow to be so effective. His expression changed as he quickly rushed in another direction.
Over a kilometer away, a hundred people of the Holy Fire Manor were fighting a large group of flaming giants. These flaming giants were fire spirits that the Yin flame formed after long periods of time.
They did not have physical bodies and could not feel pain. Furthermore, there were many of them. They were extremely difficult to deal with.
Two old men quietly hovered above the troops’ heads, emanating powerful auras. Occasionally, they sent out casual attacks, taking down a fire spirit in their way.
When these two old men heard the piercing sound, their expressions changed at the same time. The gray-robed old man on the right said, “Big Brother, unexpectedly, there really are other people, aside from us, who know about the Netherworld Flame.”
The blue-robed old man on the left said sullenly, “I move faster. I will go and check out the situation. I’ll leave this place to you.”
“Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!”
Right after the blue-robed old man spoke, he quickly rushed out. He moved extremely fast, to the point where the space he passed could not endure it; mottled cracks appeared in those places.
Xiao Chen was rather unfortunate. The main troops of the Holy Fire Manor had met with the fire spirits’ obstruction and had not gone very far.
The blue-robed old man, who was a kilometer away, arrived within a few breaths. When he rushed over and looked around, he immediately saw the fleeing Xiao Chen.
The blue-robed old man relaxed his expression, and a murderous intent appeared in his eyes. Smiling coldly, he said, “Just a half-step Martial Monarch and yet he dares to try to get in on the action. He is too gutsy.”
“Chi! Chi!”
The blue-robed old man raised his speed to his peak, creating a pitch-black spatial tear behind him as he chased after Xiao Chen.
Executing the Azure Dragon Cloud Soaring Art, Xiao Chen moved like a flood dragon, leaping about on the ground. He had activated the Blood Flame Shoes long ago but still could not shake off that blue-robed old man.
