Chapter 47: Chapter 47: Burning Bridges After Crossing the River (Seeking Favorites, Seeking Recommendations)
Lu Yu and Ouyang Lie stood on a piece of broken ground with only a two-meter diameter, drifting towards the secret realm’s exit along the magma flow.
A vine was wrapped around Ouyang Lie’s waist. After failing to borrow from Lu Yu, he remembered that he had a few vines in his storage bag. So, he took them out and tied them around his waist, barely covering his vital parts from exposure.
"Aren’t you trying to cover it up? I think you’d better not wear it properly. This way, no one can tell you’re streaking." Lu Yu quipped, looking at the bunch of vines around Ouyang Lie’s waist.
Magma spewed from the volcano’s mouth, flowing in all directions, spewing into the black clouds above, with fire meteors crashing down, shattering the ground into pieces.
The entire landscape of the secret realm changed drastically, all originating from the sacred object mentioned by the flame giant shadow.
Judging from the stream of light that flew out of the valley at the beginning, the Martial Cultivator who took away the sacred object of the Fire Spirit race had likely already reached the secret realm’s exit.
From the pursuing Fire Spirit race experts, it could be seen that those people probably hadn’t taken the sacred object out of the secret realm yet, and Lu Yu thought he might be able to see the sacred object at the exit.
He was very interested in the sacred object too.
The sacred object of the Fire Spirit race might help him cultivate the Seven Layers of Ice and Fire.
Bang~ Two relatively intact chunks of earth collided.
"Hand over the fire crystal stone on you, and I’ll spare your lives." said a short person standing on the opposite chunk of earth.
The tall person glanced at Ouyang Lie and whispered to the short person, "Big brother, that red-haired guy also has the Fire Spirit Fruit."
"Uh... right, also hand over the Fire Spirit Fruit, or Black Wind Double Trouble won’t let you off easy." The short one added after hearing this.
Looking at the two in front, whose clothes were burned down to a few patches, Lu Yu didn’t want to say much and directly took out the Overlord Saber, smashing it onto the chunk of earth beneath the opponents’ feet.
The earth mass crumbled, tilting to one side, as Black Wind Double Trouble hurried to the raised side, jumping up and down to press the tilting earth back down.
Unexpectedly, the weight of the two on the earth mass caused it to break in the middle, splitting into two pieces, nearly dropping the two into the magma below.
The distance between them and Lu Yu had exceeded Lu Yu’s maximum attack range, so Lu Yu could only watch as they hugged each other, drifting farther and farther away on the chunks of earth.
Ouyang Lie saw the Overlord Saber in Lu Yu’s hand, his eyes lit up, and he said, "Quick, use your saber as a paddle; that way, we can move faster."
"No, this is my weapon." Lu Yu refused.
Moments later, Lu Yu slapped the magma with the Overlord Saber, pushing their rock forward several meters, slightly speeding up the rock’s drift.
Lu Yu was willing to use the Overlord Saber as a paddle only because the drift was too slow and the Overlord Saber wouldn’t be damaged by the magma.
"Damn! Turn quickly, turn quickly, there’s a lava monster ahead." Ouyang Lie shouted.
"Lava monster?" Lu Yu turned his head forward and saw a lava monster the size of a turtle, about three meters in diameter, floating on the magma, moving in the direction of the secret realm’s exit.
Seeing the black shell floating on the magma, Lu Yu’s eyes brightened, "Why paddle when we can ride the turtle."
"How to ride? What if it sinks, isn’t that looking for death?" Ouyang Lie asked full of doubt.
"You’ll see in a moment." Lu Yu accelerated his slap on the magma, accelerating the rock under his feet towards the turtle-shaped lava monster.
With Lu Yu’s strength, the two caught up to the lava turtle. Ouyang Lie looked at Lu Yu, "You go first. If you fall into the magma, don’t blame me for not saving you."
"Let me do a little experiment first." Lu Yu took out the Fire Spirit Fruit.
As soon as the Fire Spirit Fruit was taken out of the backpack, the slowly moving lava turtle in front immediately turned its head and swam quickly towards Lu Yu’s direction, at a speed not as slow as before.
"Damn! You’re screwing me!" Ouyang Lie screamed in panic as he saw the lava turtle charging towards the rock under his feet.
He quickly glanced around to see if there was any place to land, but in this area, the largest rock floating in the magma sea was the one under their feet, while the other rocks were only head-sized, incapable of supporting a human’s weight.
Lu Yu jumped onto the lava turtle, landing steadily on its back, while the lava turtle stretched its neck long to bite the Fire Spirit Fruit on its back.
Any fire-type monster can’t resist the Fire Spirit Fruit.
Unfortunately, it’s not a real turtle, so its neck wasn’t that long, and after a little stretch, it couldn’t reach any further.
The lava turtle, not watching where it’s going, crashed head-on into the rock, causing a small part of the rock to collapse. With its size reduced, the rock started to sink into the magma sea, and Ouyang Lie, having no other choice, had to follow Lu Yu onto the lava turtle’s back.
"If I die, I won’t let you go even as a ghost, you’re really going to kill me!" Ouyang Lie said fiercely.
"Don’t worry, in this place, if you die, you can’t even become a ghost." Lu Yu took out a sturdy stick, tying the Fire Spirit Fruit to it with a section of vine.
Like fishing, he dangled the Fire Spirit Fruit in front of the lava turtle, controlling the direction of the Fire Spirit Fruit to control the direction of the lava turtle.
As long as the Fire Spirit Fruit is slightly lifted, the lava turtle can remain floating on the magma sea without sinking.
Driving the lava turtle, Lu Yu charged towards the secret realm’s exit.
Perhaps it’s due to the lava turtle, the fire spirit fruit was taken out without attracting any fire spirits.
Ouyang Lie stood on the back of the lava turtle with bated breath, ready to leap off at any moment to escape.
Playing in the water like this, Ouyang Lie could endure it, but here it’s the sea of lava. If the lava creature below doesn’t want to chase the fire spirit fruit and sinks, he would be finished.
"This is just too thrilling," Ouyang Lie squeezed out a sentence after a long time.
Riding the lava turtle, their movement speed increased greatly. The lava turtle was so eager to eat the fire spirit fruit that it swam rapidly, almost giving Lu Yu the illusion of speeding.
Soon, the two saw a complete surface. The ground at the edge of the secret realm wasn’t shattered by the fire meteors.
Many people were gathered at the edge area, along with numerous fire spirits, among which, one blue, hemisphere-shaped light screen was the most eye-catching. In front of the screen stood a female fire spirit enveloped entirely in flames — the Fire Spirit King, towering at two meters tall.
The Fire Spirit King continuously sprayed scarlet flames from its body, burning the blue light ball, inside which was the stolen sacred artifact of the Fire Spirit clan.
Originally, the edge area of the secret realm was the safest place, also the least populated, but now it seems the situation is quite the opposite.
Everywhere was chaotic. Under the command of the flame giant shadow, the fire spirits and lava creatures united to reclaim the sacred artifact. However, on the human side, things were very messy.
Occasionally, there were martial cultivators pretending to fight with fire spirits, seizing the chance when others were injured, exhausted of spiritual power, to launch sudden attacks and rob belongings.
Rather than laboriously slaying fire spirits with uncertain rewards, killing injured martial cultivators yielded greater benefits. Many ill-intentioned martial cultivators were engaging in such acts.
Anyway, the secret realm’s exit was not far away, making the threat of fire spirits secondary. Acquiring sufficient profits was the main goal.
Entering the Fire Rain Mountain secret realm required a ticket. The Fire Rain Mountain secret realm was a public secret realm controlled by the authorities, who charged for the tickets. Whatever profits, gained or lost, depended entirely on oneself.
Lu Yu didn’t have to pay money because he was participating in the Divine Weapon Pavilion’s trial, for which the pavilion covered the ticket costs, freeing him from the pressure of loss.
Other martial cultivators who entered the Fire Rain Mountain secret realm by purchasing tickets carried the pressure of loss, resorting to any means to extract profits. Of course, some actions couldn’t be too excessive, as official figures were also present within the secret realm.
Thus, they needed to cover up, pretending to fight fire spirits, and after killing other martial cultivators, disguise them as having been killed by fire spirits. This wasn’t difficult; throwing the corpses into the fire spirit crowd easily destroyed the evidence.
Lu Yu jumped off the lava turtle and stashed away the fire spirit fruit. Just a brief moment arriving at the secret realm’s edge, the fire spirit fruit had already drawn much attention from the fire spirits. Had he not timely retrieved it into his backpack, he might have been besieged by many fire spirits.
Ouyang Lie, upon stepping onto the ground, felt an unprecedented steadiness; he had never so desired to have his feet firmly planted as he did now.
The lava turtle, furious upon seeing the fire spirit fruit vanish, suddenly dove into the lava and emerged again, spitting a column of lava fire towards Lu Yu.
"Such a hot temper!" Lu Yu hurriedly dodged the lava turtle’s attack.
In return, he smashed a heavenly collapse on the lava turtle’s shell, typical of burning bridges after crossing them.
The lava turtle’s shell cracked under the blow, and its whole being was pressed into the lava with great force, sending lava splashing into the air. Lu Yu was nearly splattered by his own attack, having narrowly avoided being hit by the lava creature’s lava fire spray.
"Ah woo!"
Ouyang Lie yelped as lava splashed onto him, enraged and flustered, he pulled out a spear and thrust it toward Lu Yu.
Lu Yu hurriedly evaded, "It was unintentional, unintentional, you see, I almost got splattered too."
He could tell that Ouyang Lie wasn’t seriously exerting himself, only briefly provoked.
Ouyang Lie gritted his teeth as he peeled off the solidified lava from his buttocks, Lu Yu could even see a white patch appearing on his rump.
Viciously he threw the piece of lava that almost sent him to see King Yan onto the ground. Ouyang Lie glanced at Lu Yu with malice, seemingly wanting to avenge his scorched behind.
"Don’t look at me like that, I’ll feel guilty." Lu Yu felt his face redden being stared at like this, especially since he was currently only wearing a grass skirt, capable of easily exposing himself.
"Puff~" Another column of lava fire sprayed out.
His spear struck like a dragon, in a flash of lightning, Ouyang Lie scattered the lava fire with a spear thrust, sending myriad splashes towards Lu Yu, as Lu Yu realized Ouyang Lie was utilizing the lava turtle’s attack as a means of revenge.
Sizzling~ Blue-purple electric light flickered on the spear, Ouyang Lie once again thrust deep into the lava lake, piercing a deep hole, bottomless.
Ouyang Lie retrieved his spear, shortly after, the body of the lava turtle floated to the surface of the lava sea, its back pierced through, leaving a basin-sized hole.
Yet the lava creature wasn’t dead, merely severely injured. It could recover from its injuries by soaking in the lava sea for some time.
Unlike fire spirits, lava creatures were not easy to kill. It had no core, or rather, its core was spread throughout its body, with the flowing lava inside its body acting as its energy core.
Only by extinguishing all the lava within its body, or thoroughly shattering its form, could one kill a lava creature.
Lu Yu opted not to expend effort in dismembering the lava creature, as the land was full of fire spirits waiting for him to harvest fire spirit stones. Why exert energy uselessly on killing lava creatures?
With the effort to kill a lava creature, he could slay more fire spirits, gaining more experience.
Lu Yu headed towards the mass of flame-shaped fire spirits.