Chapter 71

While Yang Mei was still searching, Yuan Feng and Yuan Huang returned to the Undying Volcano.

Looking at the incessantly surging lava ahead, volcanic ash occasionally spewed out, and the two of them had solemn expressions.

Having just entered the range of the Undying Volcano, a glance showed that there were still hundreds of millions of such volcanoes.

"This time the Undying Volcano's activity level, judging by this situation, far exceeds that of the past few occasions; if not suppressed again, the entire Nan Fang Continent may be destroyed in an instant."

Yuan Feng's voice was full of heaviness; these volcanoes were overly active, and just this one, he had already discovered many worldly strange fires within it.

And this is only at the edge of the Undying Volcano; already we have these, so the central region likely has already given birth to Southern Brightness Departing Fire.

"Huang, organize the clanspeople to prepare to release the fire qi from the volcano; I'll first go scout the central area, I'm worried it might have some abnormal movement."

Yuan Feng began assigning tasks.

Yuan Huang had no objection, merely slightly worried about Yuan Feng's safety.

"Mm, go ahead, be more careful; the might of Southern Brightness Departing Fire is not to be trifled with, do not be lax."

Yuan Huang's concern showed no concealment; the central region of the Undying Volcano is extremely dangerous, where all kinds of heaven-and-earth spiritual and strange fires have been nurtured year-round.

Moreover, earthfiend Qi permeates the area, making divine sense difficult to extend, and sensing danger there becomes much harder.

Even though Yuan Feng is extremely familiar with that place and has rich experience, each time he goes there, he inevitably gets injured upon returning.

"Rest assured, it's no big deal; having gone there so many times before, hasn't there been no problem?"

Yuan Feng took Yuan Huang's hands, gently patted them, comforted her with a sentence, then said no more and flew toward the core.

After passing the outskirts, Yuan Feng's flight speed slowed considerably, his gaze continually scanning the ground, as divine sense here hardly functioned.

Those surrounding volcanoes would erupt from time to time; the volcanic ash-formed black clouds left this land utterly devoid of life.

Those black clouds also block people's divine sense; if divine sense is exposed to them for a long time, there is even a risk of damage to it.

Within the fissures covering the ground, black flame would sometimes burst forth, burning space into distortion.

No matter from which angle one looks, one will always see volcanoes continuously erupting, carrying out vast amounts of volcanic ash.

These volcanic ashes carry earthfiend Qi, which erodes the physical body and primordial spirit; due to spatial distortion, it is impossible to predict from which direction those things will erupt or how much.

After such a span of ten thousand years, Yuan Feng finally reached the core region of the Undying Volcano.

The core region contains only a single volcano, with billions of miles of white land all around; aside from the air being somewhat dry and smelling of sulfur, there seems to be nothing else particularly special.

A Colorful Phoenix Illusory Shadow circled above the mountain, occasionally passing through the volcano crater into the mountain's interior; the shadow cried out silently, yet its call echoed in Yuan Feng's mind and spirit.

Yuan Feng immediately did not linger; his form flickered, the Five Phases circulated, and wherever he passed, the land left a hint of vitality amidst the white expanse.

Some green sprouts sprang from the land Yuan Feng had passed, only to wither and burn shortly thereafter, becoming part of the white land.

The Phoenix Illusory Shadow sensed Yuan Feng's arrival, gently landed on his shoulder, and lightly pecked his earlobe with its beak, as if complaining that Yuan Feng had not come to see it for so long.

Yuan Feng paid no heed to the Phoenix Illusory Shadow's action, merely smiled, then headed toward the volcano crater.

The shadow noticed his movement, lost its playful thoughts, its body blazing with spiritual light, it stared intently at the volcano crater.

After the Great Ferocious Beast Calamity, benefiting from the Phoenix Clan's fortune greatly increasing, the Colorful Phoenix Illusory Shadow's strength rose considerably, barely suppressing the central volcano, resulting in few eruptions.

But every few yuan meetings, the Phoenix Illusory Shadow's transformation ability reaches its limit, and the immense fire qi accumulated in the central volcano will eventually erupt.

However, under the Phoenix Clan's fortune's suppressive management, the condition became much more stable, and the eruptive power became more controllable.

But anything can have unexpected events; the Undying Volcano also has times of extreme agitation and activity.

During that period, millions of volcanoes erupted each day, and at its peak, half of the volcanoes within the Undying Volcano's range were erupting.

At that time, the sky of the Nan Fang Continent was obscured by volcanic clouds, which could even spread, affecting the east, west, and south parts of the primordial wilderness.

Earthfiend Qi would also be carried by the volcanic clouds into high altitude due to the eruptions, randomly scattering across the land.

The wails of living beings across the entire continent never ceased; vast forests disappeared, lava flowed unrestrained across the ground, even rushing into the sea.

Yuan Feng gathered his spiritual power in his eyes, looking down from the volcano crater, he saw only a blaze of red light, within which the flow of lava could be faintly seen, and countless divine fires were fiercely colliding.

Each collision would cause massive explosions; the lava surged like ordinary tides, occasionally rolling up huge molten lava waves tens of thousands of zhang high.

Every wave crest's appearance would give birth to a strange fire, and every huge wave's appearance would cause the fire qi within the volcano to boil.

Among them appeared several kinds of divine fire, not lacking Southern Brightness Departing Fire, Three Flavors True Fire, and Six Ding Divine Fire—these top-tier divine fires of heaven and earth.

Yuan Feng saw this scene, his face drastically changed, and he asked:

"How long has this situation been going on? How did the Undying Volcano suddenly become so active!"

Yuan Feng dared not imagine what scene it would be if these divine fires erupted together with the volcano; the current activity level almost exceeds that of the original great disaster.

Once it erupts, it will inevitably bring misery to all living beings in the entire Nan Fang continent; the Phoenix clan's years of cultivation will be destroyed in an instant, their efforts wasted.

He and Yuan Huang were born here; the great responsibility heaven and earth gave them was to guard the Immortal Volcano, but they never imagined the volcano's activity would grow increasingly violent.

According to common sense, as we continuously release fire energy, it should continually grow calmer.

Since the Great Catastrophe of Ferocious Beasts, how much fire energy has the Phoenix clan released from it? And how many fire crystals have they mined from it?

The Phoenix phantom buried its head in its feathers, unwilling to answer Yuan Feng's words.

Seeing this, Yuan Feng's face turned completely black, and he stared fixedly at the Phoenix phantom condensed from the Phoenix clan's fortune.

But the Phoenix phantom gave no reply, acting as if it hadn't sensed Yuan Feng's gaze; after a moment, seeing that Yuan Feng showed no intention of letting go, its form directly dissipated into heaven and earth.

At this moment, Yuan Feng felt a tremendous pressure welling up from his heart, and simultaneously a deep sense of helplessness rose in his chest.

The ever-growing Phoenix clan seems to be moving in opposition to them.

It seems we must first return to the clan to organize the current Phoenix clan, and also visit Ancestor Dragon and the various water gods.

The Immortal Volcano is no longer something the Phoenix clan can resolve alone; we need their help—just, alas!

Yuan Feng's voice was filled with helplessness and shame; as an innate divine being who holds authority, he now needs external assistance to resolve his own problems.

This degree of negligence has already far surpassed that of Ancestor Dragon and the other water gods, after all, making a mistake and lacking ability are two different things.

PS: Recently everyone should try not to stop following and supporting the book; I contacted the editor today, and it will go live at noon on the 31st. To avoid a bare launch, following now is very important!!

(End of chapter)