Chapter 516

The cave entrance was narrow, but after advancing no more than a few dozen zhang, it suddenly opened into a vast natural cavern.

The cavern walls were lined with crimson crystalline stones, emitting a dim red glow that barely illuminated the space.

The temperature inside was much lower than outside, yet the ancient aura of antiquity grew even thicker.

Ahead in the cavern, three branching paths appeared.

At each branch's entrance stood a broken stone stele.

The inscriptions on the steles were equally ancient, but far clearer than those outside.

The left stele bore an ancient character, its strokes twisted like flames rising—"Yan."

The central stele bore an ancient character, its structure expansive like growing vegetation—"Rong."

The right stele bore an ancient character, its brushstrokes sharp, evoking the clang of metal and iron—"Ge."

The three ancient characters each carried distinct meanings.

The "Xia" character token in Ning Zhixi's hand now glowed and trembled faintly, pointing toward the left branch marked with "Yan."

"'Yan,' 'Rong,' 'Ge'…"

Ning Zhixi murmured, lost in thought, "Ancient texts record: 'Xia is Zhuming, Changying, Haotian, Shu, Yang, Yan, Rong, Ge…'"

"These 'Yan,' 'Rong,' and 'Ge' are all alternate names for 'Xia,' or phenomena associated with Xia!"

Chen Mu scanned the three steles, then looked again at the token, its glow clearly pointing toward the "Yan" path.

"It seems the 'Xia Yao' points to the 'Yan' path. If I'm correct, the other two paths may be reserved for other 'keys,' or perhaps different trials or branches."

He walked to the "Yan" stele and carefully sensed it.

The stele was ancient, but emitted no other spiritual energy.

He gazed into the depths of the other two branches—dark and profound. When his spiritual sense probed in, he felt a vague obstruction, clearly shielded by some force.

"We enter the 'Yan' path first." Chen Mu made his decision.

Since the token clearly pointed the way, they would follow it first.

The two stepped into the left "Yan" branch.

The passage sloped downward, and the temperature gradually rose, becoming scorching.

After walking about a quarter-hour, light appeared ahead—not an exit, but a much larger cavern.

At the cavern's center was a blazing magma pool, but unlike the one outside, this one was relatively calm. In its center stood a small stone platform, upon which something appeared to be enshrined, emitting a faint golden-red aura.

Yet along the only path leading to the central platform—

a narrow, one-person-wide crimson stone bridge—stood a man.

It was the red-robed elder from the earlier group.

He faced the stone platform at the magma pool's center, his back to the entrance, his body trembling slightly, as if struggling fiercely against something, or fighting desperately.

His five subordinates lay sprawled near the bridge's starting point, alive or dead unknown; their bodies bore no wounds, yet their faces were twisted in extreme agony and terror.

The red-robed elder seemed to sense their entry and slowly, painfully turned his head.

When Chen Mu and Ning Zhixi saw his face, their hearts tightened.

His face was utterly distorted by desire, greed, brutality, and other negative emotions; his eyes glowed crimson as blood, saliva dripped uncontrollably from his lips, his facial muscles spasmed constantly, and his throat emitted a guttural "huh-huh" sound.

His aura was wildly unstable, alternating between chilling cold and searing heat, as if suffering qi deviation.

His gaze first wandered blankly, then locked onto Ning Zhixi's glowing "Xia" token, his crimson eyes blazing with terrifying intensity as he rasped broken syllables.

"Key… key… mine… give it to me!"

Saying this, he staggered forward, taking a step toward Chen Mu and Ning Zhixi.

But he seemed to endure immense pain; as he stepped, he clutched his head and let out a bestial roar, his chaotic true qi exploding violently, cracking the stone bridge beneath his feet.

Chen Mu's gaze, however, passed beyond the frenzied red-robed elder, fixing on the stone platform at the magma pool's center—and the object enshrined upon it.

Was it a fragment of an ancient, dark-red stone stele?

Faint characters flickered across the fragment.

The red-robed elder's condition was bizarre—not merely bewitched by an external object, but as if his spirit had been internally corroded and ignited, unleashing all his negative emotions.

His gaze fixed on the "Xia" token was naked, insane greed, mixed with indescribable agony.

"Something's wrong."

Ning Zhixi whispered, her body enveloped in the soft true energy unique to the Medic King Valley, attempting to resist the invisible heat permeating the air.

"This cavern is strange—it stirs heart demons and amplifies desires. They've likely fallen prey to it."

Chen Mu nodded slightly.

His spiritual sense had already scanned the entire cavern.

The magma pool itself held no special properties, but the stone platform and the fragment upon it emitted an extremely subtle yet extraordinarily powerful spiritual fluctuation.

This fluctuation carried the essence of "Xia."

Not merely heat, but the restlessness, ferocity, and brutality born from growth reaching its zenith.

It silently influenced the spirits of all beings entering, easily stirring deep desires, inner heat, and even heart demons in those with insufficient cultivation or weak wills, ultimately causing them to burn themselves alive.

The red-robed elder possessed the Fifth Qi of the Earth Altar realm—his will should have been strong—but his cultivation method leaned toward dark, fiery malevolence, subtly resonating with the brutal essence of "Xia," making him more susceptible to corruption. Combined with his greed for the "Xia Yao," he had instantly fallen in, unable to escape.

"Key… give it to me! With it, I can… be freed… gain power!"

The red-robed elder roared, struggling forward again, his chaotic true qi scorching the air with crackling sounds; his reason was nearly extinguished, leaving only bestial madness.

Chen Mu's expression remained blank as he stepped forward.

This step was not onto the bridge—it was a void step into the air.

An invisible field radiated from him, instantly enveloping the entire magma cavern.

The invisible, spirit-stirring heat that had been inciting heart demons struck an invisible wall and was forcibly severed and suppressed; the suffocating, maddening aura within the cavern cleared instantly.

The red-robed elder shuddered violently; a sliver of clarity returned to his crimson eyes, but was immediately drowned again in deeper agony and madness.

Chen Mu had sealed off external spiritual erosion, but the "fire" ignited within him could not be easily extinguished; instead, it grew even more furious and chaotic due to the external interference.

"Ah—"

The old man let out a scream not of this world; black-red blood began oozing from all seven orifices, his true qi completely spiraled out of control, and beneath his skin, countless tiny rats seemed to scurry, his body swelling at a visible rate.

"He's going to self-detonate!"

Ning Zhixi cried out.

The self-detonation of a Ground Altar Realm Five Qi Unification martial artist, if unleashed without restraint, would be powerful enough to completely collapse this cave!