Chapter 86: Crisis and the Brave

The scorching light seemed to want to melt people; Ji Chen and Ceng Yue were like being in a giant oven, the surrounding air twisting like a picture in a funhouse mirror.

Heat waves came one after another, steaming people until their hair stood on end, and breathing became difficult.

"Damn, what kind of ghost place is this? It's so hot I doubt my life!" Ji Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead, feeling like he had just come out of a sauna.

He subconsciously pulled Ceng Yue behind him, vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

Ceng Yue was still in her cold manner, but the slightly furrowed brows exposed her inner tension. "Be careful, the energy fluctuations here are very strange."

The two stopped talking nonsense and cautiously continued forward.

Every step was taken with extra caution, as if walking on thin ice.

Besides the glaring light, there was suffocating silence all around, suppressing people until they couldn't breathe.

Suddenly, the ground under their feet began to loosen. Ji Chen only felt his feet go empty, and his whole person instantly fell down.

"Not good!" He exclaimed, subconsciously grabbing Ceng Yue's arm.

However, a powerful suction force came, and Ceng Yue was also pulled, the two falling together into a quicksand-like trap.

"Damn, I messed up!" Ji Chen couldn't help but curse.

He tried to gather flames to break free, only to find that the supernatural energy in his body was being rapidly swallowed, as if he had fallen into a bottomless pit.

He could feel the supernatural power within his body being crazily devoured; the originally boiling energy was like being splashed with a basin of cold water, instantly cooling down.

This feeling was like having his soul extracted, making him feel unprecedented powerlessness and fear.

"Damn it!" Ji Chen gritted his teeth, using all his strength to try to stabilize his figure, his hands constantly struggling in the quicksand, but it was like being trapped in a mud pit, sinking deeper and deeper.

He could feel his body being swallowed by the quicksand bit by bit, and a sense of powerlessness instantly surged into his heart.

Ceng Yue's situation was no better; her face was pale, her lips tightly pressed into a straight line. She tried to use ice-type supernatural ability to freeze the quicksand, but it was like a stone sinking into the sea, having no effect.

Just when the two were about to despair, a cold voice suddenly rang out: "You, stop here."

A figure slowly rose from the quicksand vortex, appearing before the two like a ghost.

He wore a black robe, the hood covering his face, revealing only a pair of cold eyes flickering with heart-palpitating cold light.

"Just relying on you small fries, and you dare to break into the forbidden land?" The man in black's voice was low, carrying a hint of disdain.

He slowly raised his hand, and a powerful energy fluctuation instantly swept out; the surrounding quicksand seemed to be guided by something, and the speed of rotation became faster.

"Damn, this act of pretending, I give it full marks!" Ji Chen cursed inwardly, but didn't dare to be the slightest bit careless in his heart.

He knew that the enemy he encountered this time was probably more powerful than any previous one.

"Stop talking nonsense, think of a way to get out of trouble!" Ceng Yue said in a low voice.

The two looked at each other and instantly reached a consensus.

Ji Chen took a deep breath, mobilizing all the remaining fire-type supernatural ability in his body to form a burning fireball.

At the same time, Ceng Yue also released ice-type supernatural ability, condensing the surrounding air into sharp ice blades.

"Fire Dance Ice Blade!" The two shouted in unison.

The fireball and ice blades intertwined, forming a spiral energy storm, sweeping toward the man in black.

The man in black clearly didn't expect the two to be able to erupt with such powerful strength.

He sneered, his hands forming seals, and a black barrier instantly appeared before him, blocking the energy storm's attack.

However, the fusion of the fireball and ice blades was not a simple addition, but produced a brand-new energy, its power far exceeding the sum of the two.

The black barrier only supported for a moment before shattering with a crash.

The energy storm continued unabated, directly swallowing the man in black.

After a scream, the man in black was blasted away, falling heavily to the ground, life or death unknown.

"Phew, finally solved." Ji Chen let out a long breath, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Don't relax your vigilance; the situation here is very strange." Ceng Yue remained calm, her gaze vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

Suddenly, a series of "crack, crack" sounds came from underground, and the ground began to vibrate violently...

The ground cracked, countless metal parts clattered, rapidly assembling into mechanical puppets, flickering with cold metallic luster, surrounding the two.

"Damn, what is this thing? Buy one get one free and it comes with an upgrade?" Ji Chen complained, but his hands didn't slow down in the slightest. Flames surged out, turning into a fire dragon roaring toward the mechanical puppets.

Ceng Yue's ice blades danced, the cold air biting, fighting side by side with Ji Chen, like ice and fire heaven.

The mechanical puppets were numerous and fearless of death; even if melted by flames or cut by ice blades, they still surged up one after another.

The battle was extremely intense. Ji Chen was careless for a moment and had his arm scratched by a mechanical puppet's sharp claw, blood instantly staining his sleeve.

"Hiss—" He gasped, but couldn't care about the pain, continuing to fight.

"You're hurt!" A hint of worry flashed in Ceng Yue's eyes, her movements becoming even sharper, the ice blades turning into cold lights, defeating all the mechanical puppets approaching Ji Chen.

During the battle interval, she quickly came to Ji Chen's side, her slender fingers gently brushing over his wound, and a cool energy slowly injected, the wound healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Ji Chen felt the warmth coming from the wound, a sense of inexplicable emotion surging in his heart.

He held Ceng Yue's hand, his eyes firm: "It's fine, just a small wound, let's continue!"

During the fierce battle, Ji Chen keenly discovered that although these mechanical puppets attacked fiercely, they lacked autonomous consciousness, and their action patterns were single.

His eyes condensed, and he had a guess in his heart: "These puppets should have a control core; as long as I find it, I can solve these troubles!"

While resisting the puppets' attacks, he carefully observed the surrounding environment and finally discovered a device flickering with strange light in a hidden corner.

"Found it!" He shouted, rushing toward the control core regardless of everything.

Ceng Yue understood, fully covering for him, the ice blades forming an airtight barrier, blocking all the approaching mechanical puppets outside.

Ji Chen withstood the huge pressure and finally arrived in front of the control core, the flames condensing into a sword, stabbing fiercely into the core.

"Boom—" With a loud noise, the control core exploded, and the surrounding mechanical puppets instantly stopped their movements, turning into a pile of scrap iron scattered on the ground.

The two hadn't had time to relax when a huge energy door suddenly appeared in front, exuding heart-palpitating fluctuations.

Ji Chen stood before the energy door, feeling the powerful energy fluctuations; he took a deep breath and said to Ceng Yue: "Let's go, let's see what's inside..." ===== CHAPTER 87 =====