Molten Path

"Enemy attack!!"

The shrill alarm echoed through the entrance to the Netherworld Path, crashing against the damp, cold rock walls and bouncing back in layer upon layer of echoes, making the place feel even more haunted.

The four Netherworld Cult guards were on high alert, moving almost the instant the alarm sounded. They were clearly well trained and perfectly coordinated. Rather than charge forward recklessly, they raised their bone staves, each inlaid with a skull, and chanted a series of rapid, strange syllables.

Humm—

Four streams of gray-black curse power surged from the skulls' eye sockets atop the staves. They did not attack directly, but swiftly wove together in midair. In the blink of an eye, they formed a gigantic gray-black net composed of countless twisted runes. Carrying a chilling aura that could bind the soul and freeze the blood, it descended over Li Yuan's head!

Before the net had even fallen, the air around Li Yuan seemed to freeze. The temperature plunged, and even a thin layer of white frost formed on the ground. The chilling wind howled, stirring the runes across the net into a hiss like the cries of countless Vengeful Spirits.

Before he obtained the inheritance of the ruins, if Li Yuan had faced a combined curse like this, he might have been able to break through it, but it would certainly have taken some effort. He might even have been trapped for a time.

But now...

Li Yuan looked up at the vast net of curse power blotting out the sky as it descended. His Crimson Gold Pupils showed not the Slightest ripple, only icy calm.

He did not even assume a defensive stance or try to dodge.

Just as the net was about to touch his hair—

"Whoosh!"

An invisible, searing field erupted outward from him!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no dazzling light. Yet the frigid net of curses, powerful enough to freeze the blood of an Aperture Opening Realm martial artist, touched the searing field and sizzled away like winter snow beneath the blazing sun. The sound was strangely satisfying.

The gray-black curse power making up the net grew thinner and more transparent at a visible pace. The twisted runes upon it crumbled and vanished like dirt being wiped away!

In the space of a single breath, the seemingly formidable net of curse power had vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed. Only a faint burnt smell lingering in the air and the swiftly rising temperature proved that anything had happened.

"What?!"

The ferocity and confidence on the four cultists' faces froze, turning to utter shock and disbelief! Their combined Soul-Binding Curse Net was something even a Deacon of the cult had to handle with care. How could it have disappeared without even touching the other man's clothes?

Li Yuan moved.

He took a step forward.

With that single step, the scene beneath his feet changed abruptly!

The white frost coating the damp, cold ground where he stepped instantly vaporized. And that wasn't all: the hard rock beneath his foot quickly turned dark red and softened, as though it were an iron bar thrown into a furnace. It sizzled, and wisps of green smoke rose from it!

A distinct footprint, its edges still molten, remained behind.

He took a second step.

Another molten footprint appeared.

One burning footprint after another, he walked toward the four stunned cultists at an unhurried pace. The invisible, searing field around him swept away the chill and foul air filling the entrance to the Netherworld Path, forming a brief "Molten Path" steeped in the scent of sulfur and Destruction!

Crimson Sun True Scripture—Burning Qi Field! It was no profound technique. It simply drew upon the searing nature of the Crimson Sun Qi and Blood within him, using his will to spread it outward to the utmost and form a domain entirely his own! Within this domain, all forces of darkness and filth were suppressed and purified!

"M-Monster!" One cultist's nerve finally broke. He screamed, aimed his bone staff at Li Yuan, and frantically urged on his curse power, firing a solid gray-black bolt!

The bolt tore through the air, but as soon as it entered within three zhang of Li Yuan, it visibly slowed. The curse power shining along its shaft rapidly dimmed, and by the time it had traveled halfway, most of it had dissipated on its own. It finally struck Li Yuan's bronze-colored chest, yet failed to leave even a white mark before vanishing completely.

The other three cultists came to their senses and attacked in desperation, swinging bone blades and unleashing curses in a volley.

Yet every attack lost nine-tenths of its power as soon as it entered the range of the searing Burning Qi Field. When the attacks reached Li Yuan, they were no more than a tickle.

Li Yuan had already reached them.

As they stared at him, a walking natural disaster, and felt the heat that seemed ready to set even their souls alight, terror twisted the four cultists' faces to the extreme.

Li Yuan said nothing.

He reached out his right hand, spread his fingers, and made a casual pressing motion toward the two cultists in front of him.

"Boom!"

A concentrated wave of Crimson Sun Qi, solid as a physical force, crashed down like an invisible giant hammer!

The two cultists didn't even manage to scream before the tremendous force slammed them into the ground! The piercing crack of breaking bones rang out. Two shallow craters appeared in the ground, their rocky bottoms dark red and steaming. Like insects burned to death by a branding iron, both fell silent at once.

The cultist on the left let out a strange shriek and turned to flee deeper into the Netherworld Path.

Li Yuan casually swept his left hand.

A crescent-shaped blade of energy, its edges molten, flew from his hand. It caught up with the cultist and flashed across his waist.

The cultist's forward rush abruptly stopped. He looked down in disbelief at the fine red line across his waist. The next moment, his upper body slowly slid off. The cut was charred black; no blood spurted out, only the smell of cooked meat filled the air.

The last cultist was already petrified with fear. His bone staff clattered to the ground, his legs gave way, and he slumped down, instantly wetting himself. A rank stench spread around him. He looked at Li Yuan as if he were a demon god descended upon the world. His lips quivered, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Li Yuan walked up to him and looked down. There was no emotion in his Crimson Gold Pupils.

"Has the Sacred Sacrifice begun?"

The cultist shuddered all over, tears and snot streaming down his face as he shrieked incoherently. "...S-soon... It's just inside... The Bishop... and... and people from the Li Family... are all there... Don't kill me... please..."

Li Yuan had his answer. He no longer looked at the man. He raised his foot, stepped over the filth and corpses, and entered the deeper, darker mouth of the Netherworld Path.

Behind him, he left only a Molten Path that was gradually cooling, four corpses in varying states of death, and a stretch of utter silence.

Within the Netherworld Path, the chilling wind blew harder, and the wails of resentment grew louder.

But within three zhang of Li Yuan, it was as warm as spring, and all evil fled.

He had arrived.