Chapter 393

"Thank you, husband, for saving me." Su Liyan panted, her face somewhat pale.

"It seems traps have been laid here; we must be extremely careful." Gu Qingwan also looked worried.

The crowd continued downward, dodging various traps and pitfalls along the way.

Lu Yuan and Su Liyan joined forces to clear the path, while King Qi stood guard beside Gu Qingwan, ready to defend at any moment.

"There seems to be light ahead!" After who knows how long, they finally saw a faint glow seeping from ahead.

"This probably isn't a more terrifying place, is it?" King Qi felt a bit uneasy.

The group cautiously walked toward the light,

only to see a huge underground cavern before them, with a massive red stone hanging high from the ceiling, radiating dazzling light.

"That stone surely contains great power; it's very likely the first key the old woman spoke of." Lu Yuan's eyes lit up.

"But how are we supposed to take it down?" Su Liyan looked up at the out-of-reach boulder, seemingly pondering a plan.

"Leave this to me!" King Qi interjected; though he usually seemed lazy, he would step up at crucial moments.

Only to see him forming hand seals, murmuring incantations,

several dozen golden rays shot from his fingertips, converging into a golden dragon that surged toward the cavern ceiling.

"Whoosh!" The golden dragon opened its bloody maw, seized the red stone in its mouth, and pulled it downward.

"Success!" The crowd cheered and leapt for joy at the sight.

But just then, the red stone burst with piercing blood light; the golden dragon cried out in agony, its whole body twisting and deforming, finally dissolving into scattered golden specks.

"Uh-oh, there's something wrong with that red stone!" Lu Yuan's face changed.

No sooner had he spoken than the blood light flared bright; eight crimson giant arms shot from the cavern walls, entwining everyone's limbs and violently dragging them toward the surrounding rock.

"What is this!" King Qi exclaimed in shock, straining with all his might to break free, but the giant arms possessed astonishing strength, gripping everyone tightly and rendering them immobile.

"Haha. To obtain the Devil God Stone, you must pass my trial!" A cold voice echoed in the cavern.

Only to see a blood-red demon's face appear on the red stone, coldly smirking at them.

"So it's you behind this!" Lu Yuan flared with anger.

"Not bad. You must pass my trial to be worthy of the Devil God Stone!"

The demon sneered, "Let's see how long you can endure!"

Having said that, beams of blood light shot from its body, striking everyone.

"Ugh!" King Qi and the others cried out in pain, feeling their true qi rapidly draining.

Facing the blood light emitted by the Devil God Stone, Lu Yuan hastily gathered his power to counter: "Five Elements Escape Technique!"

Only to see bands of five-colored light appear, blocking some of the blood light, yet a few slipped through the curtain and struck Lu Yuan and the others.

"Hah, you think you can pass my trial with just that?" the Devil God Stone laughed arrogantly.

"No, we must find a way to break free of its control." Su Liyan gritted her teeth.

"Let me try!" King Qi shouted, "Indestructible Diamond!"

Only to see a golden qi armor surge around his body, causing the blood-red arms that tightly bound his limbs to loosen slightly.

"Everyone, together! Our strength will surely break free!" Lu Yuan also encouraged.

"Good!" The crowd replied in unison.

"Ice-Cold True Qi!"

"Phoenix Nirvana!"

With a tremendous boom, the crowd's magical power erupted, actually prying open the blood arms that bound their limbs, regaining freedom!

"Impossible! Even lowly insects dare to rebel against me?" the Devil God Stone visibly panicked.

"Take this! Ten Thousand Sword Slay!"

Lu Yuan gave it no time to react, directly unleashing his ultimate move; sword qi filled the cavern, the Devil God Stone howled, and countless bloody marks appeared on its body.

"Now's our chance—let's attack it together!"

"Good!"

The few of them exchanged moves, the Devil God Stone was driven back under concerted assault, and finally, after a heavy blow, cracks appeared on the red stone's surface.

"No! You'll regret this!"

The Devil God Stone let out a desperate roar, its form gradually collapsing and dissipating, replaced by a red boulder radiating brilliant light.

"Haha. We did it!" Everyone panted, feeling their true qi nearly exhausted.

King Qi cautiously stepped forward and took the red stone in his hand.

"We've got the first key! We won!"

"We still have two more keys to find; the road ahead looks long." Lu Yuan sighed.

"Yeah, that battle drained a lot of our strength; maybe we should find a place to rest." Su Liyan proposed.

"There seems to be a village ahead; let's go rest there." Gu Qingwan pointed toward a faintly visible village in the distance.

Thus the group arrived at this mountain hamlet; the villagers warmly received them and informed them that the second key lay within a nearby forbidden area.

"A forbidden area? What dangers might it hold?" King Qi felt a bit apprehensive.

"A black dragon has appeared there before; we dare not approach that region." said the village head.

"A black dragon?" Lu Yuan mused, "Looks extremely perilous; we must prepare before venturing into the forbidden zone!"

After a few days of rest, the party reached the edge of the forbidden zone, seeing it desolate and uninhabited, the air reeking of fishy wind and bloody rain.

"I sense an extremely powerful aura deep within the forbidden zone; it must be that black dragon." Su Liyan's expression grew grave.

"With me here, even if the black dragon is fearsome, I will surely slay it!" King Qi boasted shamelessly.

The group took a deep breath and stepped into the forbidden zone; the trees were withered, white bones littered the ground, resembling a hellish nightmare.

"Careful!" Lu Yuan shouted, as a dark shadow suddenly darted out from the thicket, leaving nothing growing in its path—it was a huge-bodied black dragon!

"Heavenly Thunder Break!" Lu Yuan clapped both palms together, ten bolts of shocking thunder swiftly struck at the black dragon's vital point.

"Hmph, mere humans, dare to have designs on me!" the black dragon roared, spewing pitch-black flames from its mouth, colliding head-on with the lightning.

"What a strong fire technique!" King Qi hastily unfolded a golden light shield, protecting everyone from being devoured by the flames.

"Let me!" Su Liyan shook her long whip, transforming it into myriad ice arrows that shot toward the black dragon.

"Pitiful insects!" The black dragon flapped its wings, nearly shaking all the ice arrows away.

Afterwards it violently swung its tail, whipping up a gale that directly flung everyone to the ground.

"It's too strong!" King Qi scrambled to dodge the second wave of attacks.

"Take this!" Black flames surged from the black dragon's mouth, actually a troublesome five-element mixed fire technique!

"Five Elements Escape Technique!" Lu Yuan formed seals with both hands, a five-colored light curtain instantly spread across the sky and earth, shattering all the black flames.

"Not bad!!" a flash of surprise crossed the black dragon's eyes, "but you still can't defeat me!"

As it spoke, countless blood-red light pillars suddenly surged from its back, blasting toward Lu Yuan and the others.

"Oh no, this is its ultimate move!" Su Liyan's face changed dramatically. (End of chapter)