Chapter 460: The Path of Life and Death
When Bu Xu entered the Heavenvoid Hall and saw so many Nascent Soul eccentrics appear, he felt as if he had been drenched in cold water.
Any Nascent Soul cultivator that arrived here would naturally go hunt for treasures in the Inner Halls. The Heavenvoid Cauldron was certain to be the most important among them. Although Nascent Soul cultivators had also attended previous openings of the Heavenvoid Hall, there would only be about four of them. But now, there were actually eight Nascent Soul cultivators, causing his hopes to grow very faint.
But since he had already arrived, he was unwilling to cowardly return. As such, he entered the path of molten rock, holding a slight sliver of hope that it would prove to be as smooth as it had been with the ghost mist.
To tell the truth, he did hold some fear towards the ghost mist and a later trial, the Fantastical Boundary of Illusion. However, he didn’t hold much regard for the path of ice and fire and never doubted whether or not he could pass it. This was because he cultivated a cultivation art well known amongst the Scattered Star Seas, the Tranquil Yang Art.
This cultivation art had forcefully inserted itself among the top ten mental cultivation arts among fire cultivation techniques. He had lost count of how many enemies he had exterminated, turning them entirely to ash with his Tranquil Yang True Fire. As such, he held complete confidence towards treading the path of molten rock and resisting the heat with complete ease.
Naturally, given his many years of cultivation, he wouldn’t arrogantly think of treading the path of molten rock without any hesitation. He had also prepared two fire protection magic tools, but it wasn’t that he didn’t want to prepare more. It was just that purchasing the Fire Dragon Worm had left him nearly destitute.
With the assistance of two magic tools and his Tranquil Yang Art, he felt that he would be able to traverse the path of molten rock without problem. But now, Bu Xu felt a deep regret churning in his guts.
After a short time on the path, he unexpectedly discovered that despite the wondrous fire resistant effects of his Tranquil Yang Arts, he was forced to continuously use his Tranquil Yang Arts at full strength in order to resist the scorching heat that surrounded him. His original thought of ignoring this hostile environment was impossible as his magic power was being depleted far faster than he had anticipated.
Outside the Heavenvoid Hall, he ordinarily only had to make use of the Tranquil Yang Arts in order to resist scorching flames.
It was clear that the heat emitted by the path of molten rock was completely different from common flames on the outside. There were certain to be restrictions put in place that suppressed fire attribute cultivation arts.
As for his two fire resistant magic tools, they had a very limited effect in this strange environment, much to the dismay of Bu Xu.
In his six hours of walking the path, his magic power had been drained at a visible rate despite having continuously replenished his spiritual Qi with spirit stones. He’d only be able to persist for a day more before his magic power was exhausted, allowing the heat to turn his body to ash.
Bu Xu naturally didn’t wish to fall here. He nervously rushed forward while sweeping his gaze in every direction. However, his surroundings were quiet and was completely absent of any others. This caused his thoughts of plundering the fire resistant magic treasures of others to prematurely perish.
The further he rushed forward, the more intensely Bu Xu felt despair. After a quarter hour later, Bu Xu eventually stopped with apprehension contained in his eyes.
Although he had both skilled techniques and magic power, he didn’t have any hope of arriving at the canyon’s end at this pace. In addition, if he were to encounter any other cultivators in his rush forward, his magic power would be in a sorry state. Forget about him attacking others, he would likely be preyed upon himself once they saw how weak he was.
Bu Xu anxiously paced back and forth. As time passed, thoughts began to bubble from his mind, looking for a method of survival.
Suddenly, he raised his head towards the deep red sky with fluctuating expressions.
After a determined expression momentarily appeared on his face, his body flashed with yellow light and started to float. His eyes were unblinking and his face appeared cautious.
After he rose up to ten meters in the air, he was extremely joyful to discover that nothing had happened. At this altitude, he could make use of his techniques to fly and reach the canyon’s end after only a short time.
Wildly delighted at having found a way out of danger, Bu Xu formed an incantation gesture and turned into a ball of yellow light, disappearing with a blur.
BANG! Just as Bu Xu flew about hundred meters, a silver bolt of lightning struck from the deep red sky. With a miserable scream, his body scattered into ash while two items then silently fell into the shrubbery below.
…
Somewhere on the path of molten rock, a gorgeous, thirty-year-old woman wearing brilliant blue muslin looked hesitantly at the river of molten rock. Apart from a foot wide stone pillar, there was no other way for the woman to cross the scarlet red river that spanned over a hundred fifty meters.
The gorgeous woman frowned as she felt the overpowering heat radiating from the river of lava. After a moment of hesitation, she carefully set foot on the red stone pillar.
When the gorgeous woman stepped foot on the pillar, she immediately wore a pained expression. It was clear that the stone pillar was extremely hot. Even with the protection of the blue muslin, she still felt quite a bit of pain.
However, this woman was someone who possessed unwavering determination. After gritting her teeth, she slowly walked forward on the stone pillar cautiously.
At the start, it went quite smoothly. She ended up walking through about halfway unscathed. But as she approached the pillar’s center, she suddenly heard rumblings in the distance.
The gorgeous woman was stunned and she couldn’t help but turn her head in the direction of the river upstream. Her face then became deathly pale and panic stricken.
A violent maelstrom rushed down the river and transformed into a huge grey dragon. With bared fangs and claws, it arrived in front of the stone pillar in an instant and wrapped around the female cultivator who had just taken flight.
Then with a shriek of despair, the female cultivator disappeared without a trace.
A short moment later, a sparkling blue item sunk to the bottom of the lava.
…
Near an icy mountain on the path of profound crystal, a middle-aged man was back to back with an old man as they faced over ten crystal beasts. Red and white radiance flashed in every direction, but the battle soon came to an end. The crystal beasts stayed for a moment more before dispersing in different directions, leaving behind two badly damaged corpses.
…
At another location on the path of profound crystal, Zenith Yin was leisurely taking a walk along the path of ice. His body was sparkling with black light and didn’t possess the slightest trace of cold. While the crystal beasts would occasionally unburrow from the snow and attempt to ambush Zenith Yin, they would be easily split in two with a flash of black light.
Afterwards, he would then continue on his way as if nothing had happened.
…
On a hill, Han Li blankly stared ahead of him with a trace of hesitation.
After rushing through the fiery overgrowth by making full use of the Shifting Smoke Steps, he had returned to his original speed. After all, the Shifting Smoke Steps put too much strain on his body. Even with the resilient body of a Core Formation cultivator, he couldn’t persist in using it for long. Naturally, he could make use of it far longer than when he was at Foundation Establishment.
After this, he encountered an extremely dangerous swamp of lava. In fact, it appeared more like a pit of lava. Even a person of resilient mind such as Han Li felt cold sweat line his back.
Were it not for the protection provided by the Glacial Ice Bead that Man Huzi had given him, he would’ve suffered blistering skin and roasted flesh, had he managed to survive it.
As for the series of strange trees and three flame spirits he later encountered, they forced Han Li to expend a bit of effort before he could safely continue on his way.
But now Han Li was left stunned by something he had never seen before, an endless black desert with black sand and dunes.
This strange scene caused Han Li to feel uneasy and unwilling to walk into it.
However, taking an alternative route was impossible. The expanse of black desert was far too large. If he wanted to make a detour, it would take at least two days. According to the accounts of cultivators that came before him, this trial must be cleared within five days; else, the transportation formation would be sealed, leaving the rest to die.
As for Han Li, he reckoned that he had only managed to reach the center of the canyon. He didn’t have the time to waste even if he didn’t want to brave this danger. Who knew what monsters laid in wait beneath the black sands?
Han Li tightly creased his brow and gazed at the scene before him, pondering about what strange dangers laid hidden within. At that moment, Han Li’s heart stirred, and he disappeared with a blur.
Sounds soon came from behind where he originally was.
