Xiao Leng had been frightened as well. If Jiang Yi had stood where he was and not moved about so much, Xiao Leng would have long found him. Although there was a maze set-up—for a formidable martial artist of his level, his divine senses could search a long distance; and it would not have been hard for him to find Jiang Yi.
Xiao Leng had fought with the Netherworld General for a long time and had finally killed him. When he went to look for Jiang Yi, Jiang Yi had already run off to somewhere else. Xiao Leng had thought that Jiang Yi had been killed by another Netherworld General and was just feeling remorseful, unsure of how to report back to Xiao Hong. Only when the maze formation had been destroyed, his divine senses were no longer restricted, and he found Jiang Yi did he finally breathe easy again.
“Brother Jiang, didn’t I ask you not to run about wildly? You had me frightened to death!”
After Xiao Leng flew over, his ugly face was convulsing as he looked at Jiang Yi reproachingly. Jiang Yi heard these words but was actually not that irritated. He actually felt a little warmth towards Xiao Leng. Regardless of what he was really worried about Jiang Yi or was more worried about reporting back to Mo Lingqiu and Xiao Hong, Jiang Yi appreciated that Xiao Leng was concerned about his well-being.
Jiang Yi smiled a little and said, “Old Xiao, I also did not want to run about senselessly. If I did not, I would have been killed long ago. There was a formation here, and I could not find anyone else. I wanted to go back and look for you. If it wasn’t for the Assistant Pavilion Lord just now, I would probably have died already…”
“That’s true!”
Xiao Leng nodded and said, “I had also not noticed the maze at the start. It was my carelessness!”
Buzz!
A dozen-odd small Netherworld Pearls and a big one appeared in Xiao Leng’s hand. He gave them all to Jiang Yi, saying, “A Netherworld General’s Netherworld Pearl is worth ten small Netherworld Pearls. You should have completed the mission now, right? Should we fly back directly now?”
“Let’s wait awhile!”
Jiang Yi wanted to get his hands on the Nine Nether Cold Flames below; how could they leave now? Seeing that the situation was under control and there wasn’t any danger anymore, Xiao Leng also did not insist. The two stood in mid-air and waited patiently.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
From all directions came countless explosive sounds. The Demon-Killing Pavilion members were now hunting the black demonic beasts. While the latter’s speed was fast, they were still slightly slower than Demon-Killing Battle Kings. With so many Demon-Killing Pavilion formidable martial artists around, it was only a matter of time before all the black demonic beasts were killed.
“Let’s head down!”
Jiang Yi had just used a lot of his Power of Heaven and Earth and suddenly felt as if his body could not take it anymore. He flew towards a mountain peak below and sat cross-legged to rest and cultivate. Xiao Leng, on the other hand, stood guard at the side.
Indeed, once he started to rest, a sense of fatigue swiftly hit him. The more Power of Heaven and Earth he used, the more tired he would become after its effects wore off. Jiang Yi almost fainted and rested for a full hour before recovering himself.
“Let me practice flying!”
As he could not cultivate in silence here, Jiang Yi took the chance to fly about quickly around this mountain peak. He wanted to get used to gravity and master the technique of flying. Previously, Jiang Yi already could fly. Hence, he only needed to try it out for a short while, and he would be able to fly straight and fast.
“Alright!”
Two hours later, many people had returned. The Assistant Pavilion Lord and company had returned as well. From the abyss below, two Demon-Killing Battle Gods also flew up. The Assistant Pavilion Lord sent a voice transmission: “There are some spirit herbs in the abyss. Everyone can go and dig at them to try your luck. We will be waiting here for two hours. If you guys are not back by then, head back to the Primordial Demon City on your own. Also, remember not to enter the deepest parts of the abyss. There are Nine Nether Cold Flames in there and it is very dangerous.”
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Many people had already returned some time ago and had gathered in the nearby cliffs and peaks. Hearing the Assistant Pavilion Lord’s words, all of them immediately flew downwards. Jiang Yi’s eyes glistened; he was just nice looking for an opportunity for others to leave first and for him to head down himself. Now, such a good opportunity had presented itself; he was not going to let it go. He looked at Xiao Leng, motioned, and said, “Old Xiao, wait for me here. I will go down and take a look, too.”
“…”
Xiao Leng’s ugly face got worked up again. He sent a voice transmission: “There’s no need to go. There won’t be anything good there. The valuable things would long have been taken by those two old men. They were down there for so long just now precisely to dig for spirit herbs. Although the Demon-Killing Pavilion is still considered united, what if someone were to attack you stealthily?”
How could Jiang Yi not go? He motioned and said, “It will be fine, it will be fine! Things are not as serious as you imagine. I only want to go and try my luck. I will be back soon. You don’t have to follow me.”
After speaking, Jiang Yi immediately flew downwards. Xiao Leng, however, kept on following. Jiang Yi was in a bind now. He gritted his teeth and prepared himself that even if Xiao Leng kept on following him, he would still go ahead and take the flames. After all, there were so many people around; Xiao Leng would not dare to act rashly.
Although the formation had been broken and the black fog had dissipated, there was still a faint white fog present.
The abyss was extremely large and deep; it was at least a few thousand kilometers deep. Along the way, Jiang Yi could see many Demon-Killing Pavilion martial artists searching on the cliffs; some had already started digging and found some spirit herbs.
This abyss had been around for a long time. Recently, a small troop of Demon-Killing Pavilion disciples had been killed and turned into lackeys for the Netherworld Realm. That had triggered the Demon-Killing Pavilion’s activation to deal with this threat. Normally, no one would dare to come here. Hence, there were naturally many spirit herbs here. As Jiang Yi kept on flying downwards, he indeed managed to dig up a few spirit herbs. Although they weren’t worth much, that was at least something.
The lower he flew, the more erratic the temperature became. Strangely, the temperature alternated between extreme cold and extreme warmth. Jiang Yi looked at Xiao Leng, confused, as the latter explained. “This is the effects of the Nine Nether Cold Flames. It is ranked as the thirty-sixth rarest flames in the Earth Emanations Domain. It is very powerful. If one is not at the Demon-Killing Battle King level and went near, that person would definitely die. If a single flame were to singe you, probably even a peak-stage Demon-Killing Battle King would be severely wounded.”
“So powerful? How does it compare to the Golden Geocentric Flames?” Jiang Yi asked curiously.
“The Golden Geocentric Flames?”
Xiao Leng’s brows knitted together as he thought, “The Golden Geocentric Flames seem to be ranked fifty-nine? The Nine Nether Cold Flames are far stronger!”
“That’s terrifying; let’s not go too close.” Jiang Yi feigned terror as he looked down again. He was thinking furiously as to how to divert Xiao Leng away.
“Eh?”
A moment later, a strange look flashed in Xiao Leng’s eyes. He was fixated on a spot to his right as his eyes revealed his slight agitation. His eyes gleamed as he suddenly sent a voice transmission: “Jiang Yi, stay here and don’t move. I have discovered a rare poisonous toad; it is priceless. I will go and catch it. After I sell it, I will split half of the proceedings with you! Please do not wander off on your own.”
Jiang Yi was secretly elated. He hurriedly waved, “You are too kind. If you can catch it, that is your good fortune; I wouldn’t dare to take a portion of the profits. Quickly go, quickly go! There are so many people here; no one would dare to do anything funny. I will wait for you here.”
“Alright!”
Xiao Leng looked around and saw that there were tens of people around. There shouldn’t be anyone who had the balls to attack Jiang Yi. He immediately shot downwards. Jiang Yi waited for a second before he transformed himself into a beam of light and flew in another direction. At the same time, he circulated his Power of Heaven and Earth to increase his speed exponentially. After flying straight for tens of kilometers, he then abruptly stopped and shot downwards instead.
“It’s so cold. No… it’s so hot!”
After flying for a while, Jiang Yi first started to shiver and then felt extremely hot. After heading down for another hundred thousand feet, he could not take it anymore and took out his Fire Spirit Pearl. A wave of energy came forth, and the sudden coldness and sudden warmth vanished. Jiang Yi was energized as he increased his speed even more.
After activating the Power of Heaven and Earth, Jiang Yi’s speed was now at least that of a Demon-Killing Battle King’s. Soon, he reached the bottom of the abyss and within a small marshland. Jiang Yi then dimly saw tens of balls of white-yellow flames.
“Since at such a close distance, these flames cannot harm me; then the Fire Spirit Pearl should be able to absorb them, right?”
Jiang Yi’s eyes shifted as he threw caution to the wind. He was desperately in need of powerful attacking ability. Since he had encountered such powerful flames, how could he give up now? He gritted his teeth as he flew towards those balls of white-yellow flames.
“Hahaha, there’s no problem at all. They have all been absorbed!”
After he touched the Nine Nether Cold Flames, Jiang Yi realized that balls of flames were swiftly sucked into the Fire Spirit Pearl and was elated. After all of them had been absorbed, Jiang Yi immediately leaped into the sky and shot upwards.
Now that the flames had been absorbed, the formidable martial artists above would be feeling curious and surprised. If someone found him here, they would definitely suspect he had a fire-warding cardinal treasure in his possession.
As he had entered the abyss from the middle section and the treasure-hunters were all around the cliffs, no one had noticed him. Jiang Yi easily flew up hundreds of thousands of feet before he found someone’s divine senses sweeping across him. However, after that person realized it was Jiang Yi, he immediately retracted his divine senses and continued his dig for spirit herbs.
“Alright!”
Jiang Yi determined his course and returned to the spot where he had separated from Xiao Leng. Seeing that Xiao Leng had actually not yet returned, Jiang Yi sighed in huge relief. He was slightly agitated as he took out his Fire Spirit Pearl, wanting to take a look at those precious flames.
“Damn!”
Alas, when he looked into the Fire Spirit Pearl, he saw a sight that enraged him. The Primitive Spiritual Treasure—that little beast—had actually woken up and was consuming the Nine Nether Cold Flames right now. More than half of the tens of balls of flames had already been eaten by it; less than ten balls were left.
