At the entrance of the lava cave, the scorching airflow resembled the breath of a giant beast, carrying with it the foul odor of sulfur and blood, licking at the rock walls. Lin Feng sat cross-legged on the ground, his body resembling a weathered stone sculpture, covered in a fine layer of sweat beads that instantly evaporated under the terrifying heat, leaving behind streaks of grayish-white salt deposits. His face remained pale, but the visibly visible greenish-black poison gas that had spread to his neck had subsided by half, leaving only a stubborn deep purple bruise at the wound on his left shoulder. Every breath brought a burning sensation and a faintly sweet smell, but there was no longer that suffocating pain.
Inside the dantian, the extremely dangerous refinement process was nearing its end.
The deep purple scorpion venom and the pitch-black torrent of resentment were forcibly torn and decomposed by the power of the Origin under the suppression of the golden runes surrounding them in the "Nine Abyss Suppressing Hell Sutra". The violent lava energy contained in the venom was stripped out and transformed into tiny streams of red-gold color; the remnants of the weaponry and evil qi fragments in the resentment were transformed into specks of dark golden light. These refined and purified energies, no longer corrosive, instead flowed like the purest nutrients into the rice-grain-sized seed of the suppressing hell true essence.
Hmph!
The seed of the true essence of the Hell-suppressing Qi emitted a low, deep buzzing sound, as if originating from the depths of the soul! It voraciously devoured these homologous yet distinct energies, expanding visibly in size! The originally dim and dark golden light became solid and radiant, like a miniature star slowly spinning in the Qi sea of the Dantian! A new type of true essence, heavier and more refined than before, with a lava-like heat and a weapon-like sharpness, like awakened rivers, began to surge and flow through Lin Feng's dried meridians!
Level 7 Qi Refinement! Everything will fall into place!
Not only that, the newly born Hellish Essence Energy was impressively infused with the characteristics of refined lava energy, carrying a searing intent to burn everything! The integration of the martial and sinister aura gave the Essence Energy itself an unbreakable and sharp edge!
**Zhenyu·Guixu Furnace! **
Lin Feng understood in his heart. This frenzied refinement in the hopeless situation not only cleared away most of the poisonous resentment, but also brought about a qualitative transformation in the foundation of his "Nine Abyss Suppressing Hell Sutra"! The suppressing hell essence no longer merely suppressed and annihilated, but also possessed the tyrannical characteristic of devouring, refining, and melting everything! The power of the Origin became the core fire of this furnace!
He slowly opened his eyes, and deep within his pupils, there seemed to be dark golden lava flowing, or perhaps a fleeting shadow of icy weapons. Although the deep purple color of the wound on his left shoulder had not completely faded, the numbness and corrosion that had penetrated deep into his bones had been firmly suppressed by the newly generated hot true essence, preventing it from spreading any further. The wound on his right rib was also rapidly healing under the nourishment of strong vitality.
Power! An unprecedented sense of power fills my entire body! Although my realm has only advanced by one level, the quality and quantity of my true essence, as well as my control over the power of the Origin, have undergone earth-shattering changes!
"Hmm..." A very faint moan came from beside me.
Lin Feng immediately turned his head. Su Wan was still unconscious, but her condition had undergone a strange change. Her previously pale, gold-paper-like complexion now showed an unusual flush, as if there were a flame burning inside her. The dark red mark on her collarbone was no longer a faint birthmark, but rather resembled a genuine, ancient rune imprinted beneath her skin, emitting a faint yet continuous red glow. Most astonishingly, her originally weak breath, which had almost ceased, now flickered tenaciously like a candle in the wind. Although it remained weak, it had gained a newfound resilience and vitality!
Is it the pure essence of lava energy that escaped during Lin Feng's refining process? Or is it the transformation of her own bloodline after breaking through the first bloodlock, in the face of imminent death? Lin Feng cannot be certain, but Su Wan is still alive, and that is enough.
He quickly checked on Su Wan's condition and confirmed that she was not in immediate danger. Then, he gently picked her up and placed her in a relatively sheltered rock indentation at the entrance of the cave.
It's time!
Lin Feng's gaze shifted to the depths of the lava cave. There, the surging dark red light resembled the throbbing heart of a giant beast, and the violent lava aura came crashing in waves, carrying a provocative pressure. The resonance between the Warlord's Order and the fragment reached its peak, and on the map on the back of the fragment, the flame symbol representing the second lock of the blood sacrifice shone brightly.
He took a deep breath of the scorching air, and a faint protective shield of Zhenyu True Essence, which blended the shimmering light of dark gold and red gold, quietly emerged on his body, shielding him from the terrifying heat and toxic gas. He took a step forward, like a war god treading on fire, moving deeper into the cave.
Inside the cave, the scene is even more terrifying than at the entrance.
This is a vast lava cave filled with a dark red glow. In the center of the cave lies a boiling, rolling **lava blood pool** with a diameter of tens of yards! The pool is not pure magma, but a viscous dark red liquid, like coagulated blood boiling under high heat, emitting a nauseating stench of blood and sulfur mixed together! Countless bubbles burst, splashing out burning blood flames!
In the center of the blood pool, a **Lava Altar** made of pitch-black volcanic rocks stood tall. At the top of the altar, there was not a stone pillar, but an extremely thick, crimson, and seemingly solidified magma-like **Lava Giant Pillar**! On top of the giant pillar, there were nine huge chain shadows that shimmered with metallic luster but flowed with lava patterns! One of the chain shadows was currently trembling violently, emitting a low rumble like a blast furnace! On the surface of the chain, there were no longer ghostly faces, but twisted, burning humanoid shadows of flames, emitting silent wails full of the pain of burning their own bodies!
**The second lock of blood sacrifice - the lock of melting heart! **
Around the base of the altar, on the edge of the molten blood pool, stood nine stone sculptures of exotic beasts with even more ferocious forms, as if composed of lava and obsidian! One of them resembled a giant lizard, with lava spikes growing on its back and a red-gold flame burning in its eye socket. The stone skin on its surface was peeling off wildly! A much more violent and scorching aura than that of the giant scorpion outside the cave erupted like a volcano about to erupt!
The Guardian is awakening!
Lin Feng's eyes were cold, showing no hesitation. He knew deep down that he had to seize the initiative before the Guardian fully awakened!
He suddenly stepped on the ground, his body resembling an arrow launched from a bow, and he shot towards the transforming guardian of the lava monitor lizard! At the same time, he opened his right hand with five fingers extended, and the seed of the Zhenyu True Essence, which had been fused with lava energy, spun crazily in his dantian!
**Summon the Hell Prison, the Origin Destruction Furnace, and the Guide! **
Boom!
An invisible and overwhelming devouring force was not directed at the enemy, but at the boiling lava blood pool beneath them! In the lava blood pool, several scorching, dark red lava streams suddenly rose into the air as if pulled by an invisible hand, like several roaring fire dragons, instantly entwining around Lin Feng's right arm!
The violent lava energy surged into his arm, bringing a tearing pain, but it was forcibly restrained and compressed by his newly born Zhenyu Essence, which contained the characteristics of lava! His entire right arm instantly turned crimson and transparent, as if magma was flowing under his skin! A terrifying aura that could incinerate everything condensed on his fist!
**Hell Suppression · Heart Melting Break! **
Roar!
The guardian of the Lava Dragon has finally completed its metamorphosis! It let out a deafening roar, its massive body covered in lava armor suddenly standing upright. Its gaping maw, filled with sharp teeth, opened wide, and a condensed, extreme red-gold lava breath, like a pillar of destruction, spewed out with terrifying heat that could incinerate everything in its path, ruthlessly targeting the charging Lin Feng! Wherever it passed, the air twisted and the rocks melted!
Facing this terrifying breath that could instantly vaporize a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Lin Feng showed no fear in his eyes. Instead, he burst out with an even stronger fighting spirit! His forward momentum did not weaken, and with a resolute determination, he charged forward with his right fist, which was entangled with several lava fire dragons, and boldly slammed into the devastating pillar of lava light!
**With lava, break the lava! **
Boom——!!!!!!!
An indescribable loud explosion erupted in the lava cave, akin to the collision of two volcanoes at their cores!
The fiery breath of crimson-gold lava clashed fiercely with the dark red lava fire dragon! Violent energy erupted instantly, forming a constantly expanding lava fireball with a diameter of several dozen feet! The dazzling light illuminated the entire cave, and the terrifying heat wave swept around like a tsunami, causing the lava blood pool to be stirred up into towering waves!
A standoff! Just for a moment!
The lava fire dragons entwined around Lin Feng's fists, bolstered by the power of the Origin, unleashed a terrifying annihilation trait! They were akin to voracious gluttons, frantically devouring and decomposing the energy contained in the red gold breath! Simultaneously, the newly born Hell Suppressing True Essence within Lin Feng's body, which also possessed lava traits, served as the toughest armor, resisting the all-consuming high temperatures!
Click!
A subtle cracking sound emanated from the core of the frozen fireball! The fiery red-gold lava was actually forcefully torn open from within!
Lin Feng's figure, like a rock piercing through raging waves, emerged boldly from the center of the exploding fireball! Although the Molten Lava Dragon on his right arm had dimmed significantly, the "Melt Heart Break" power condensed on his fist was even more refined and terrifying!
In the eyes of the Lava Monitor Guardian, which were burning with red-gold flames, reflected Lin Feng's face as cold as the Grim Reaper and the crimson fist shadow that tore apart everything and burned everything!
**Seal the Prison, Melt the Heart, Slay Through! **
Boom!!!
The terrifying punch, which condensed all the power of Lin Feng after his breakthrough, drew the power of the molten blood pool, and contained the annihilation characteristics of the Origin Deity Realm, landed solidly and without any fancy moves on the relatively fragile throat area that the guardian of the molten giant lizard had just raised!
"Pfft——!"!
Like a red-hot iron being plunged into solidified grease! The hard lava shell of the Lava Dragon was instantly pierced through like paper in the face of the homologous yet more domineering lava energy! The violent punching force, mixed with the power of the Origin, was poured into its body without reservation!
"Aaaah——!!!" The molten lizard let out a deafening, tragic howl! Its massive body was sent flying off the ground by this terrifying punch! A huge, gaping, charred hole in its throat was shockingly evident! Red-gold molten blood gushed out like a fountain! The violent molten energy inside it lost control, and under the influence of the power of the Origin, it erupted violently from within like a barrel of gunpowder that had been ignited!
Boom!
The massive body of the Lava Dragon exploded in the air, transforming into countless burning lava fragments that plummeted into the boiling lava pool like a meteor shower, splashing up waves of fire across the sky!
One hit! Instant defeat!
However, before Lin Feng could catch his breath, a sudden change occurred!
At the moment the Lava Dragon burst into flames, the shadow of the Molten Heart Chain that was violently trembling at the top of the altar seemed to be utterly enraged! It emitted a piercing screech akin to the collapse of a massive furnace! The entire shadow of the chain suddenly turned a blinding crimson, and the flame-like humanoid shadows on its surface twisted and merged crazily!
Roar!
An even more ancient and ferocious roar echoed from deep within the chains! The crimson shadow of the chains suddenly twisted and swelled, condensing into a towering, ten-meter-high shadow of a **molten lava beast** made entirely of boiling lava above the altar! Its form was indistinct, yet it emitted a terrifying pressure comparable to that of a late-stage Foundation Establishment realm cultivator! Its huge lava claws tore through the air, carrying a destructive aura that could incinerate the entire world, as it ruthlessly slammed down at Lin Feng, who had just landed! This was a fusion of the core grievances and lava energy of the Molten Heart Lock! It was the manifestation of the will of the chains themselves!
This power far surpassed that of the previous Guardian! Lin Feng had just unleashed his full strength to kill the Lava Basilisk, and his aura was in a low point where old strength had just faded and new strength had not yet emerged! He was about to be smashed into powder by this Lava Basilisk's giant claw!
At this critical moment!
"S-Senior Lin!" A weak yet distinct voice called out from the entrance of the cave!
It was Su Wan! She had struggled to sit up somehow, her face still pale, but her eyes were astonishingly bright, as if they were burning with two flames! With both hands firmly pressed on the hot, dark red rune on her collarbone, she shouted with all her might, "Chains... Blood Attraction... Resonate with it!"
Hum -!
As she screamed, the dark red rune suddenly erupted with an unprecedentedly dazzling blood-red light! A condensed, solid-like dark red beam, ignoring spatial distance, instantly spanned the cave and hit the core of the shadow of the molten giant beast above the altar with unparalleled precision - the violently trembling molten heart chain body that was still connected to the molten giant pillar!
**Blood resonance! **
Hmph!
The instant the dark red beam touched the fiery red chains of the molten core, it was akin to pouring cold water into boiling oil! The chains trembled violently, emitting a piercing screech of pain and rage! The shadow of the molten giant beast, which was patting towards Lin Feng, suddenly halted, and its massive body began to fluctuate violently, as if it was about to disintegrate at any moment! The molten energy and resentment that composed its body fell into chaos and conflict under the impact of Su Wan's bloodline power, which originated from the same source as the Warlord and the blood sacrifice!
opportunity!
Lin Feng's eyes sparkled with brilliance! Su Wan's burst of energy bought him a crucial moment! He forcefully summoned a mouthful of true essence, and the seed of the Zhenyu true essence, which was a blend of dark gold and red gold, spun at an unprecedented speed within his dantian! His hands suddenly clapped together in front of his chest, and the power of the Origin and the power of the Lava were frantically compressed and colliding in his palms!
**Conflagration of the Inferno · Origin Deity Furnace · Cast! **
Boom!
A miniature furnace, the size of a grinding disc, composed entirely of dark golden runes, yet with crimson lava flames burning inside, suddenly materialized between Lin Feng's palms! Within the furnace, the power of the Origin condensed into an invisible forging hammer, while the lava flames transformed into a furnace fire of annihilation! A terrifying will to smelt all things and forge divine weapons descended with a bang!
"Break!" Lin Fengbao shouted, fiercely pushing out with both palms towards the Molten Heart Chain's main body at the top of the altar, which was violently fluctuating and being disrupted by the dark red light beam!
Hum -!
The shadow of the Dark Gold Forge tore through the air, carrying the ultimate will of destruction and forging, and slammed fiercely against the fiery red Molten Heart Chains!
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
There was only a heart-throbbing "chichi" sound, akin to a red-hot iron being quenched in ice water!
The shadow of the Origin Deity Forge erupted with terrifying devouring and refining power! The lava energy surging on the chains was forcibly stripped and devoured! The resentful will that formed the core of the chains was frantically refined and annihilated like impurities under the forging of the Origin Deity's power!
Crack, crack, crack!
The crunching sound of fragmentation was incessant! The thick shadow of the molten heart chain, under the frenzied refining of the Origin Deity Furnace, resembled divine iron being thrown into a real furnace. Starting from the point of impact, it fractured and disintegrated inch by inch, eventually turning into countless red energy fragments, which were completely devoured by the shadow of the furnace!
Boom!
The altar shook violently! The giant pillar of lava flashed brilliantly and then instantly dimmed! The other eight shadowy chains entwined around it wailed frantically! The lava blood pool stirred up a towering wave! The rocks on the cave ceiling rattled and fell!
The shadow of the molten giant beast, manifested by the will of the chain, let out an unwilling roar, then collapsed with a loud boom, transforming into a shower of flames that plummeted into the blood pool!
The second lock of the blood sacrifice, break!
Hmph!
The Armament Master Token once again flew out on its own and hovered in midair. The word "Armament" shone brightly, even more dazzling than before! A more massive crimson flood, composed of molten lava and burning resentment, rose from the broken chains and was immediately devoured and refined by the dark golden light emitted by the Armament Master Token, like a whale sucking in water! The word "Armament" on the token seemed to have gained a hint of scorching red gold pattern as its light flowed, and its aura became even more powerful and domineering!
On the fragmented map, the second pattern of the flame chain quietly shattered!
Pluck!
At the moment the chains broke, Su Wan seemed to have exhausted her last bit of strength, her body softened, and she fell into a coma again. But her face wore a sense of relief and calm, and the glow of the runes on her collarbone slowly subsided, becoming deep and steady.
Lin Feng retracted the commander's token, feeling the surging power within it. He glanced at the unconscious Su Wan, then looked towards the eight stone statues of molten lava beasts beneath the altar base. The beasts' breaths were violently fluctuating due to the broken chains, but they were temporarily bound by some kind of rule and could not immediately awaken.
This place is not suitable for a long stay! The anomalies triggered by the two lock breaches have probably already alerted the entire Bloody Tears Valley, and even the entities outside the valley!
He swiftly moved to Su Wan's side and picked her up. The newly born Zhenyu True Essence, imbued with the properties of lava, surged through his body, filling him with power. He took one final glance at the boiling lava altar and the scattered chains' silhouettes, then his figure transformed into a stream of light intertwined with dark gold and red gold. Without hesitation, he rushed out of the lava cave, following the lava plank road he had come along, and sped towards the direction indicated by the fragmented map, towards the third lock of the Blood Sacrifice!
Behind him, within the lava cave, eight pairs of soul flames, each burning with a distinct hue, slowly illuminated under the glow of the collapsed altar, fixed intently on the distant stream of light