Chapter 333: The Power of Lihuo

Lihuo Province.

The name of this province comes from a vein of earth fire.

On the seabed between Lihuo Province and the Southern Nan Nan Sha San Dao, there exists a vein of earth fire, also known as Lihuo.

For Lin Chen, he had already gathered the metal-attribute Lord Lingxiao energy, the wood-attribute Mother Tree Essence, and the earth-attribute Canglan energy. Since the water-attribute didn't exist in the entire Nine Kingdoms, the only one he could gather was the fire-attribute energy.

Daliang had been unable to recover the Southern Nan Nan Sha San Dao for years, not only because of the Han Kingdom's interference but also because of this Lihuo.

If Daliang were to launch a military attack on the Southern Nan Nan Sha San Dao, they would detonate this earth fire, and then the entire Lihuo Province, including the surrounding provinces, would suffer from the burning of Lihuo, the land would dry up, and the earth would be scorched for a thousand miles.

Similarly, the Southern Nan Nan Sha San Dao would also cease to exist.

"Lin Chen, if this Lihuo is allowed to grow wantonly, it will lead to the suffering of all living things. A thousand years ago, the Song Dynasty sealed this Lihuo in the depths of the seabed. There are only two entrances: one in our Lihuo Province and one on the side of the Southern Nan Nan Sha San Dao."

In the mountain range closest to the coast of Lihuo Province, Fang Funan was leading Lin Chen deep into the mountains. The scene before them gradually became terrifying. At first, they could still see a few scorched yellow shrubs, but as they went deeper, even the last trace of green was swallowed up.

The inner mountain peaks were barren, and the exposed rocks were all gray.

"Duke, is this Lihuo so terrifying?"

Lin Chen had come into contact with several types of Xiantian energy, but neither Lord Lingxiao energy nor Canglan energy could cause such great destruction.

"Even a First-Rank martial artist, if contaminated by Lihuo, would find it difficult to shake off. Years ago, to seal this Lihuo, the Song Dynasty spent ten years, and two First-Rank martial artists even sacrificed their lives for it."

Fang Funan's eyes became serious: "But even with the formation seal, this Lihuo has always been in a dormant state, yet it is not that easy to approach. You must be mentally prepared."

"This junior understands."

Lin Chen nodded. On the way here, he had already learned about the Lihuo seal situation from His Majesty.

The Song Dynasty sealed Lihuo on the seabed, keeping it in a dormant state, but even Lihuo in a dormant state could cause the mountain range to gradually become scorched earth. One could imagine how terrifying the temperature emitted by Lihuo inside the formation must be.

"Upper-Rank and Mid-Rank martial artists cannot step into the formation, otherwise there is a risk of waking up this Lihuo. This time, you must enter the formation alone."

Fang Funan hadn't thought about arranging helpers for Lin Chen, but Upper-Rank and Mid-Rank martial artists had the risk of waking up Lihuo after entering. As for Lower-Rank martial artists... they wouldn't be of much help to Lin Chen.

If he really encountered danger inside, if Lin Chen couldn't solve it himself, no amount of Lower-Rank martial artists would help.

While speaking, the two had already arrived at the valley in the center of the mountain range.

"Greetings, Duke."

There were martial artist guards at the entrance of the valley to prevent anyone from damaging the formation.

"Hmm."

Fang Funan responded and took Lin Chen directly into the valley, finally stopping in front of a dark green jade stele in the middle of the valley.

"This is the entrance to the formation. First, put on this set of clothes."

Fang Funan took out a wooden box. Lin Chen took it and opened it; inside was a green set of clothes folded up.

"This is clothing sewn from thousand-year ice marrow and ice silk, which can help you resist the temperature of Lihuo. Remember, if there is danger, return immediately."

"Very well, this junior will remember."

Lin Chen put on the set of clothes. Just by touching his skin, a chill entered his body through his pores, forcing him to circulate his Qi and blood to resist.

Lin Chen's eyes brightened. This clothing was extraordinary; this chill was comparable to the chill he had felt at Sanyue Pond back then.

Fang Funan didn't say much more. Lihuo had been sealed in the formation for many years and had always been in a dormant state. As long as he was careful, it was impossible to wake up Lihuo. He repeated his instructions more out of a cautious mindset.

Taking a black sphere the size of a bead from his bosom, Fang Funan embedded this sphere into the slot of the jade stele.

The moment the sphere was embedded into the groove, the stele suddenly erupted with dazzling red light. The stele vibrated, and a crack appeared beneath it. With the appearance of the crack, a terrifying wave of red-gold Qi erupted, and the air was instantly filled with terrifying high temperatures.

The rocks around the valley began to take on a dark red luster at a speed visible to the naked eye, and Fang Funan's figure appeared in front of Lin Chen, releasing his momentum to disperse the erupting heat wave.

After a few breaths, the red-gold Qi wave disappeared, and the crack had been torn to a width of one zhang. A glance inside revealed dark red luster.

"This seal hasn't been opened for nearly fifty years. The heat wave inside has accumulated for too long. Wait an hour before going down."

"Yes."

An hour later, Lin Chen didn't hesitate anymore and stepped into the crack.

He chose to come to Lihuo Province at this time because he knew that once he stepped into the Mid-Rank, he wouldn't be able to enter this place again, and with his cultivation speed, it wouldn't be long before he stepped into the Mid-Rank.

Fang Funan watched Lin Chen's figure enter the crack and disappear. He didn't leave but chose to stay in the valley. If there was any change in the situation inside, he could respond immediately....

Sizzle!

Inside the formation, Lin Chen looked at the dark red sky above and took out a transparent bead.

This was given to him by His Majesty. This bead could absorb Lihuo energy. He had six such beads in total. According to His Majesty, he only needed to fill these six beads with Lihuo energy.

In fact, the Lihuo energy of one bead was already enough. The reason His Majesty gave him six was just for fear that he would fail when refining and absorbing the Lihuo energy in the future, so more beads meant more chances.

In front of him was a flowing river, only the river wasn't flowing with water but magma.

Magma rolled and surged in the river. Lin Chen tried to approach the river, holding the bead, but after the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the transparent bead had no change.

"The Lihuo energy here is not enough; I have to change places."

Lin Chen frowned. He could only stay in this formation for a month. This was something the Duke had repeatedly urged him. Even if he could withstand the temperature inside, the energy emitted by Lihuo contained fire poison. After more than a month, the fire poison would invade his body, making it difficult to eradicate.

This kind of fire poison was not ordinary fire poison. Once invaded, it was like a maggot on a tarsal bone. Besides being difficult to eradicate, it would also affect the martial artist's body. Over time, the Qi, blood, bone marrow, and even flesh and skin in the body would be slowly swallowed by the fire poison, leaving the person emaciated and their cultivation base constantly declining.

"According to the Duke, the further in, the more concentrated the Lihuo energy."

Lin Chen put away the bead and moved quickly forward. As he went deeper, the width of the river in front of him was constantly increasing, and the speed of the magma surging and rolling was even faster.

Rumble!

Three days later, Lin Chen stopped and looked at the shocking scene in front of him, his eyes filled with shock.

In front of him, the magma river was now a thousand zhang wide. In front of the river, a collapse suddenly appeared, forming a vortex with a diameter of a hundred zhang, and further ahead was a bottomless abyss.

The boiling magma, carrying red-gold Qi waves, poured down. The moment the magma torrent hit the abyss cliff, it stirred up hundred-zhang-high lava waves. The surface of Lin Chen's ice silk clothing exploded with fine ice crystals, which evaporated into misty white fog the moment the heat wave rolled in.

A muffled thunder-like roar came from the bottom of the abyss, as if a giant beast in the depths of the earth was swallowing the red-gold waterfall.

Similarly, on the opposite side of the abyss, there was also a thousand-zhang river, with magma constantly rolling down.

With Lin Chen's vision, he could only barely see the blurry appearance of the river on the opposite side because the abyss was too wide. Thinking of what the Duke had said about the formation having two entrances, he understood why there was a river on the other side of the abyss.

That side should belong to the Southern Nan Nan Sha San Dao.

If one entered from the entrance on the Southern Nan Nan Sha San Dao side, one should be standing on that side of the abyss. The huge abyss separated the two sides.

Lin Chen retreated ten zhang before he could barely withstand the high temperature. He took out the six transparent beads from his bosom, only to find that one of the beads had a wisp of fire-red energy.

"Lihuo energy."

Seeing this wisp of fire-red energy, Lin Chen's eyes brightened. He had only stood there for a few breaths and already had a wisp of fire-red energy. At this speed, it would take about three days to fill one bead.

Six beads would take eighteen days. According to this efficiency, a month was enough.

The only problem was that he could only stay at this position and couldn't get any closer. He could clearly feel that the chill provided by the clothing on his body had already decreased by thirty percent.

Fortunately, he had prepared in advance.

With a thought from Lin Chen, two golden flying knives slowly appeared in front of him. Under his control, the two flying knives carried a bead and slowly moved forward.

One zhang, three zhang, five zhang, ten zhang... thirty zhang...

The flying knives were not affected by the high temperature at all, but Lin Chen stopped at a distance of fifty zhang from the abyss.

Any further, he could feel that his control over the flying knives was becoming increasingly difficult.

It seemed that this Lihuo would also affect the spiritual sense.

However, this distance was enough for him. This was already deeper than the position he had stood at before.

The flying knives slowly landed, and the bead also landed on the ground.

Lin Chen didn't bother with the bead anymore. According to His Majesty, if there was Lihuo energy around, the bead would absorb it automatically. He just needed to wait quietly for the bead to be filled with Lihuo energy and then bring it back.

Of course, Lin Chen didn't intend to just wait like that. He took out the Martial Dao Seal from his bosom again.

Taking advantage of the waiting time, he would go on the Martial Dao Mountain to fight a few more challenges. He remembered that the Martial Dao Mountain had a notification that if he entered the top 60,000, he could exchange points for items related to the spiritual sense.

It didn't have to be exchanged, but he could first see what good things were available.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 334 =====