Chapter 181

The entire underground cavern was suddenly filled with the sounds of intense explosions and the pained roars of the Lava Giants.

The glow of fire and the streams of spell light intertwined, and Jie Ming, surrounded by his "Great Light Aspect," was as invincible as a true demon god.

His floating turrets continuously cleared away low-level obstacles, while he focused most of his energy on the Tier 2 Lava Giants, concentrating the firepower of the Great Light Aspect on those elite targets.

This battle lasted for nearly half an hour.

Because the Lava Giants had gained astonishing enhancements in the high-temperature environment, their physiques and regenerative abilities were greatly boosted, which forced Jie Ming to expend quite a bit of energy—even while firing at full capacity and maintaining his "Great Light Aspect" stance—to finally achieve victory.

When the last Lava Giant crashed to the ground, the underground cavern returned to a deathly silence, save for the muffled sounds of magma squeezing under high pressure.

Jie Ming's breathing was slightly rapid; although his internal power consumption wasn't high, his spiritual sense felt a trace of fatigue after such high-intensity combat.

He casually retracted his floating turrets and the small rune-inscribed wizarding tools circling him, his gaze sweeping coldly across the battlefield.

Every single Lava Giant, including the Tier 2 peak—nearly Tier 3—leader, had been successfully killed by him.

"Hiss... cough, cough!!"

He instinctively tried to take a deep breath, only to be choked by the underground toxic fumes.

Jie Ming shook his head, pulled out a wizarding tool engraved with Soul Search, and walked forward.

From the soul of the Lava Giant leader, Jie Ming obtained intelligence far more complete and detailed than before.

Within those fragmented memories, he found the specific location and entry method for a higher-level, more secretive advanced gathering point of the Lava Giant race.

Without a moment's hesitation, Jie Ming suppressed all excess aura and, like a ghost, sped toward the target location.

On the desolate scorched earth of the Blazing Sun Realm, Jie Ming wove between lava and jagged rocks.

He did not use flight spells, instead relying on physical strength to sprint across the land at an extraordinary speed.

His footsteps were light and swift, precisely avoiding the lava fissures bubbling with heat on the ground each time he landed.

Just as he was about to reach the target area, a fluctuation alert suddenly came from his reconnaissance guide.

Jie Ming hesitated for a moment after looking at the information, then continued to rush toward that direction.

Not long after, a burst of intense energy fluctuations and the roars of Lava Giants came from afar.

Jie Ming immediately stopped, his figure flickering as he hid behind a rock.

He put away his Reconnaissance Eye and switched to the more stealthy Shimmering Eye, carefully scouting.

In his field of vision, three wizards were engaged in a fierce battle with a group of Lava Giants.

This was a hunting squad composed of one Tier 2 wizard and two Tier 1 wizards.

They were struggling to entangle with over a dozen Tier 2 Lava Giants.

Although wizards rely on prying energy levers to contend with large numbers of creatures of the same tier, Tier 2 Lava Giants were, after all, elite individuals.

The numerical advantage, combined with the high-temperature environment of the Blazing Sun Realm boosting the Lava Giants, made these three wizards appear somewhat overstretched, their spiritual sense fluctuations becoming chaotic.

Jie Ming did not rashly intervene.

His goal was not to kill, but to infiltrate deeper.

Moreover, although the three wizards looked like they were struggling, it was all because they were trying to acquire more live war loot.

Revealing himself during the heat of battle would easily lead to misunderstandings.

He waited patiently.

After paying a significant price in energy, the three wizards finally routed the dozen Tier 2 Lava Giants.

When the wizards began to count their spoils and seal the remaining live war loot, Jie Ming finally released a faint but clear energy fluctuation as a signal.

The three wizards froze, immediately setting up a defensive formation, guarding against potential enemies.

When they saw that the person walking out from behind the lava flow was merely a Tier 1 wizard, they relaxed.

"Fellow colleague, why are you here?" the Tier 2 wizard asked cautiously.

While asking, he also quickly scanned Jie Ming for dangerous items.

He soon noticed the floating turrets with precise runes behind Jie Ming, as well as the glowing rune-inscribed wizarding tools on his wrists.

Even without knowing exactly what they were, one look told him these things were definitely not to be trifled with.

"I was originally planning to head to a Lava Giant gathering point, but I sensed unusual activity here, so I came to check it out. I didn't expect to run into you all," Jie Ming said gently.

"A gathering point?" The Tier 2 wizard raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise appearing in his eyes.

Jie Ming keenly noticed the change in his emotions: "What is it?"

The wizard did not answer immediately, instead turning to consult with the other two wizards. After a long while, he turned back and nodded at Jie Ming:

"To be honest, we are also planning to head to a gathering point nearby."

Jie Ming was taken aback, then immediately reacted: "Then... shall we exchange intelligence?"

"Agreed!"

Both sides exchanged information, and sure enough, their targets were the same gathering point.

"We came for this as well!" the Tier 2 wizard said. "Our detection spells recently discovered unusual energy fluctuations here, and we suspect there is an important Lava Giant stronghold."

Jie Ming was not surprised by this result; after all, the Lava Giants' wartime response strategy was fine against other creatures, but against wizards, this strategy of constantly splitting forces and increasing numbers was essentially handing over intelligence.

He did not hesitate to list other relevant intelligence he had obtained: "According to the intelligence I gathered, there is likely a Tier 3 Lava Giant—a super-conventional combat force—at the gathering point ahead."

His gaze swept over the two Tier 1 wizards, and his tone became formal: "How about it, shall we team up?"

"I have no problem with it. What about you two?" the Tier 2 wizard asked the two Tier 1 wizards beside him.

Wizards are not good at large-scale army operations, but they are very skilled at small-scale squad coordination.

On the battlefield, if conditions are right, even strangers can form a team quickly.

The two Tier 1 wizards naturally had no objections.

Although Jie Ming didn't explain in detail how he obtained the intelligence, the others could basically guess—this Tier 1 wizard had at least killed a Tier 2 Lava Giant.

But according to the Lava Giants' movement patterns, a Tier 2 Lava Giant would definitely be followed by a large group of Tier 1 Lava Giants as a reconnaissance squad.

They knew that Jie Ming could penetrate this deep and solve an entire Lava Giant reconnaissance squad on his own; his strength must be extraordinary.

On the battlefield, having a powerful teammate is equivalent to having an extra chance at survival, so they naturally couldn't refuse.

The Tier 2 wizard immediately made the decision, nodding at Jie Ming: "Since everyone has no objections, then, please advise."

Just like that, the four reached a consensus and formed a new temporary cooperative squad.

On the way, the group also took the opportunity to exchange their combat modes to ensure no problems would arise during their next cooperation.

Guided by a Tier 1 wizard skilled in reconnaissance, they soon arrived at the location mentioned in the information.

It was an inconspicuous primitive cave, the entrance covered by dense volcanic vines.

If not for extremely keen energy perception, it would be hard to discover its existence.

The interior of the cave was pitch black, but a scorching aura emanated from within.

"The environment here is more hidden than ordinary Lava Giant strongholds," the Tier 2 wizard whispered. "Be careful, there might be sentries."

Jie Ming nodded slightly.

They carefully infiltrated the cave, which wound and twisted inside.

After walking a short distance, they saw a massive underground lava lake, its surface glowing with a faint red light, bubbling and hissing.

According to the memories obtained from the soul search, this was the entrance.

The four activated their protective spells and jumped into the scorching lava lake one after another.

Jie Ming felt the embrace of the lava; that familiar heat was like warm water to him.

However, since the other three wizards had all raised energy shields, he naturally wouldn't be an outlier.

They sank along the rugged passages at the bottom of the lava lake, then traveled through the crisscrossing, twisted lava veins for several kilometers.

Finally, after surfacing an unknown number of times, the flowing lava ahead became "thin," and an open space appeared in front of them.

The group's eyes lit up as they emerged from the viscous lava lake—they had arrived in a spacious hemispherical underground space.

This space was extremely vast, with a towering ceiling and a flat floor.

However, contrary to the group's expectations, this was not the barracks or mine they had imagined.

The entire space exuded a rich scent of water vapor and plants, completely out of place with the dry, hot environment of the Blazing Sun Realm outside.

They sneaked in carefully and soon discovered that this was actually a massive "plantation"!

In the center of the cavern, large patches of green plants were growing on the scorching land.

These plants were of various shapes, with thick leaves full of water, exuding a strange glow.

They were clearly special vegetation capable of surviving in extremely high-temperature environments, even capable of synthesizing water from the dry air.

Even more astonishing was that at the top of the massive cavern, an artificial energy sphere hundreds of meters in diameter was installed, emitting a soft and stable light.

It simulated sunlight, providing continuous illumination for the plants below.

According to the intelligence obtained from the Lava Giant's soul earlier, these special plants were used as food for livestock.

This left the three wizards in the squad feeling incredible.

However, Jie Ming clearly remembered that he had discovered through research that Lava Giants also had special digestive systems capable of digesting animal bodies, so hunting other creatures for food was not strange.

But he never expected that these guys, who appeared as elemental creatures, would actually engage in farming.

(Added update today, one more chapter to go!)

(End of chapter)