The Terrifying Old Man

Another half day passed, and the after-effects of Zhong Shan's Heavenly Devil Body Tempering Great Technique completely subsided.

At the Innate Fourth Stage, Zhong Shan felt as if he had inexhaustible strength throughout his body. The feeling of a previous breakthrough surged through him once again.

Could one Blood Bodhi do this?

Zhong Shan gently plucked the last two Blood Bodhi.

"Ling'er, one for each of us," Zhong Shan said.

"No need, it's useless for me. Without ten, no, even ten are useless to me now. You should keep them. Blood Bodhi is a medicinal herb used for healing. You keep them for use," Tian Ling'er immediately said.

"Okay." Zhong Shan nodded, not declining further.

"Can this be stored in a Storage Bracelet?" Zhong Shan asked.

"It's fine. My dad said Blood Bodhi won't spoil. It can be stored in a Storage Bracelet for a year without going bad," Tian Ling'er thought for a moment and said.

"Okay, that's good." Zhong Shan nodded and with a flip of his hand, put away the two Blood Bodhi.

"Zhong Shan, are you ready? Let's go into the cave and take a look. There are Blood Bodhi at the entrance, so there might be even better things inside," Tian Ling'er excitedly called out.

"Okay," Zhong Shan nodded.

However, he still gripped his Great Saber, because during the half-day he spent recovering, Zhong Shan was surprised to discover that this cave was not natural. Although it had a long history, allowing Blood Bodhi to grow, with Zhong Shan's eyesight, he could tell the cave was strange at a glance. Man-made?

"Be careful, stay behind me," Zhong Shan still said.

Hearing Zhong Shan's tone, which placed him in front of her, Tian Ling'er seemed to enjoy it immensely for some reason. She was no longer as competitive as when they first came out, and just softly 'okay'd'.

With the Great Saber leading the way, Zhong Shan took Tian Ling'er deeper into the cave.

Just after rounding a bend, Zhong Shan was surprised to find that the cave went downwards. The further they walked, the deeper they seemed to go underground.

The red light came from deep underground.

Walking forward, while also observing the structure of the cave, Zhong Shan found that the cave was excavated very unsafely, as if it could collapse at any moment.

Frowning, he slowly walked down. The further down they went, the higher the temperature became, and the faint red light from before had now turned completely red. For some reason, Zhong Shan suddenly felt a sense of unease in his heart. What was wrong?

Regarding the area below, Zhong Shan still very much wanted to go in. After all, this was likely a great opportunity, but what would be waiting for him?

They had already descended nearly a thousand meters. Not a thousand meters in distance traveled, but a thousand meters in vertical depth. This, this cave was a massive project. A thousand meters?

At this point, Zhong Shan felt that the surrounding temperature had reached a terrifying level. His clothes were scorching hot, reaching the temperature of boiling water, no, even higher. Because Zhong Shan took out a bowl of water from his Storage Bracelet, and in the blink of an eye, a bowl of cold water boiled and emitted a large amount of steam.

Putting away the bowl of water, Zhong Shan heard faint 'plop plop' sounds coming from below. Lava? Yes, it must be lava.

He could already hear the sound of lava churning. Not only that, Zhong Shan also discovered a peculiar place. On the way down, a certain area suddenly became misty, filled with countless water vapor, the kind of steam from boiling water.

A large amount of water vapor sprayed out from the cave walls, but in an instant, it was sucked into the area below.

"Zhong Shan, what's going on?" Tian Ling'er pointed at the water vapor constantly erupting from the cave walls, full of surprise.

How could water vapor spray out from rocks? How was that possible? Tian Ling'er's eyes widened, her face full of disbelief.

"This is groundwater that happened to pass through this part of the cave, leaked out, and was evaporated," Zhong Shan immediately saw the clue.

"Groundwater?" Tian Ling'er looked at this scene in surprise. She had heard her dad talk about it before, but this kind of groundwater was rarely encountered. She didn't expect to see it today.

"But..." Zhong Shan's eyes narrowed, a hint of solemnity flashing within them.

"But what?" Tian Ling'er immediately interrupted. Why did he suddenly stop?

"But why is the wind here blowing towards the bottom of the cave? It's sucking all the water vapor down into the lower part of the cave," Zhong Shan said, frowning in thought.

According to Zhong Shan's understanding, generally speaking, if a deep cave has wind, it can only mean there's another exit. However, this cave was going deeper and deeper, making another exit quite peculiar.

"Let's go down and see, then we'll know?" Tian Ling'er said excitedly, quickly darting downwards.

"Hey, wait a minute." Zhong Shan furrowed his brow and followed after her.

They ran down at most twenty meters before completely passing through the passage.

Lava, rolling lava. The other end of the cave was a strange environment, a massive lava pool, surrounded by a circular platform. Above was a large opening, seemingly leading to a distant volcano.

This was underground molten rock.

Large amounts of water vapor entered it and shot towards the upward opening, flowing upwards.

The lava pool below was about a hundred meters in diameter, a massive pool connected to deeper parts of the earth. The lava was churning, perhaps due to its composition, churning out a large number of lava bubbles that then burst with popping sounds.

The surrounding platform, which formed a circle, seemed to be artificially made, incredibly flat and very abrupt in this deepest part.

As soon as Tian Ling'er rushed in, she quickly retreated.

It wasn't because it was too hot; the heat was still within Zhong Shan's acceptable range, so Tian Ling'er naturally wasn't afraid. It was because there was a figure inside.

"Ghost!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~" Tian Ling'er retreated, just managing to fall into Zhong Shan's embrace.

"You finally came down?" A very gentle voice came.

Zhong Shan looked over and suddenly felt his scalp tingle.

What kind of person was this?

It was a person, in human form, but its lower body, up to the waist, was firmly encased in ice. Its entire lower body was frozen, and the ice was black. Near the lava, it was still emitting wisps of cold air. Through the black cold ice, Zhong Shan saw the person's legs, no, they could no longer be called legs.

The legs were frozen and shattered, frozen into countless tiny crystals, looking incredibly terrifying. Even on the right leg, the bone was frozen and protruding from the flesh.

This was below the waist. Above the waist, it was like the extreme opposite, fiery, extremely fiery. Its body was completely red, but what was most terrifying was its hair.

Its countless strands of hair were all glowing red at this moment, and they were connected to the lava. Its hair, like a vast net covering the sky, was cast into the rolling lava, making anyone who saw it involuntarily feel their hair stand on end.

After seeing this clearly, Zhong Shan finally noticed its appearance, an old man, an ugly old man. Just one look at him gave a feeling of inner turmoil.

"Do I look very much like a ghost?" The terrifying old man smiled faintly.

Frowning, Zhong Shan pointed his Great Saber at the thing that was neither human nor ghost before him, maintaining a cautious stance.

"When did you discover us?" Zhong Shan asked calmly.

"When you ate the Blood Bodhi," the old man's ugly face revealed a frightening smile.

At this moment, Tian Ling'er also knew it wasn't a ghost. In Zhong Shan's embrace, she turned her head to look at the person.

"Sorry to disturb you, senior. We'll leave now," Zhong Shan immediately said, and holding Tian Ling'er, he slowly retreated.

"I, this old man, haven't seen a living person in a hundred years. Can't you stay and talk with me?" The ugly old man suddenly revealed a hint of sorrow.

Seeing the Old Man like this, Tian Ling'er's initial terror instantly turned into a hint of pity. How lonely must it be to not see a living person for a hundred years? She should talk to him!

"Sorry, Senior, we have important matters outside. We'll visit again when we have time," Zhong Shan continued to retreat, completely unmoved by the Old Man's pitiful state.

Seeing that Zhong Shan still intended to leave, the Old Man's expression turned stern, his eyes widened, and suddenly, Zhong Shan couldn't move.

Zhong Shan looked at this scene in horror. He couldn't move? What was happening? That Old Man, that Old Man had made a move? Similarly, Tian Ling'er's eyes widened, filled with disbelief. Because, Tian Ling'er also seemed unable to move.

"I just want someone to talk to," the Old Man said again.

Then, Zhong Shan and Tian Ling'er's bodies slowly floated up, gradually lifting off the ground and flying towards the Old Man.

"Ah~~~~~~~~~~ What are you going to do?" Tian Ling'er shrieked.

"Senior, we won't leave, just let us down," Zhong Shan immediately called out.

Thud

The two fell not far from the Old Man.

Looking at the Old Man, looking at such a powerful Old Man, just a glance, just a glance was enough to make him and Ling'er unable to move. A strong expert, absolutely a strong expert.

Zhong Shan was extremely cautious. In front of the Old Man, with a flip of his hand, he put the Great Saber into his Storage Bracelet, eliminating the Old Man's wariness.

Indeed, the Old Man saw Zhong Shan's action and a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes. But had Zhong Shan given up resisting? Putting away the Great Saber was just a temporary measure. At this moment, Zhong Shan was more cautious than ever.

"You, you used your Divine Sense to seal my movements? Even my father can't do that. Are you more powerful than my father?" Tian Ling'er immediately got up and looked at the Old Man.

"Perhaps," the Old Man's withered face revealed a very unpleasant smile.

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