Following the crude map's guidance, Zong Shen soon arrived at the lava hills eight kilometers due east.
The terrain here was even more rugged and complex.
The ground looked as though it had been kneaded by a giant hand, forming uneven black rocky hills.
Between those hills ran lava rivers of shifting brightness.
The sulfurous stench in the air grew increasingly pungent.
He could even see tiny ashes continuously drifting down from the dark-red sky like gray snowflakes.
Zong Shen slowed his advance, spreading his awareness to sweep the surrounding area.
At last, he found his target on a relatively flat rocky plateau in the northeast corner.
It was an ancient stone stele roughly five meters tall. Its entire body possessed a cold, dark-blue texture that stood in stark contrast to the scorching surroundings.
The stele was covered in ancient Runes that were difficult to make out.
At the moment, however, those Runes were all dim and dull. Still, the stele's main structure was intact, radiating the weighty aura that only came from having endured the passage of ages.
Within a twenty-meter radius around the stele, the ground was scorched black and hardened.
No lava flowed there, nor was there any trace of living activity.
It was as though some force had cut off the corrosive influence of the Flame Demons' power.
Zong Shen landed before the stele.
He slowly extended a finger and lightly touched its surface.
In an instant, he felt that it was extremely cold to the touch.
The moment his fingertip made contact, the system's cold prompt sounded once more.
[Ancient Sealing Stele discovered (Inactive)]
[Activation requirements: Inject pure energy into the stele, or use an item such as "Purification Dust"]
[Activation reward: 100,000 fixed points, unlock part of the map region, and randomly obtain one