Undying Volcano

A group of five finally reached the Undying Volcano Mountain Range after five days on the road.

In the distance stood an enormous volcano. The air around it radiated powerful heat energy, but that energy seemed extremely unstable, as if it could explode at any moment. The air was filled with a violent aura. For people cultivating the Fire Element, this place was practically paradise.

However, the ground in the distance was scorched black, with almost no plants to be seen. The entire ground was crisscrossed with cracks, and the farther in they went, the larger the cracks became. Threads of firelight flickered from the distant ground.

Huo Tianchen said, "Let's rest here for tonight. Tomorrow, we'll officially enter the Endless Volcano Mountain Range."

Everyone set up their tents and then sat together. Huo Wu said, "Grandpa, this place seems perfect for my cultivation. Cultivating here is at least ten percent faster than cultivating outside. Why didn't you tell me about this place before? If I had cultivated here since I was little, I might have become a Soul King long ago."

Huo Tianchen shook his head and said, "Although there's a great deal of Fire Element here, it's extremely unstable. Moreover, the Undying Volcano's eruption frequency is unpredictable. At its shortest, it erupts once a month; at its longest, once a year. Every eruption causes drastic changes in the air and the elements. Low-level Soul Masters can't withstand such changes. There's also a trace of Fire Poison in the air nearby. Inhaling it for a long time is bad for the body and can easily cause cultivation deviation."

"There's also the fact that there are many fire-type Soul Beasts around the Undying Volcano, especially small Soul Beasts. Fire Ants and Fire Bats are particularly common. Although their levels aren't high, they come and go constantly. There are also many Ten Fierce Sky Ant Beasts in the mountains. They resemble the Thousand Jin Ants from the Star Dou Great Forest, but in addition to great strength, they possess powerful Fire Element energy. Legend has it that they possess the Fire God Bloodline."

"It's said that there are also Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in the deepest part of the volcano, but the temperature there is too high, and ordinary people can't enter. Even Titled Douluo who don't possess the Fire Attribute can't stay there for long."

After hearing Huo Tianchen's explanation, everyone swallowed nervously. They took turns standing guard and quietly rested for the night. Early the next morning, they officially entered the Undying Volcano region.

Clearly, Huo Tianchen was very familiar with this place. He scouted ahead while Huo Lie led the other three behind him. They traveled for two full days, encountering many fire-type Soul Beasts along the way. Either they weren't suitable, or their cultivation years were too low. They even encountered several Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, though all of them had only just reached ten thousand years.

Huo Lie suddenly said, "We're about to enter the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast region. Everyone, be careful." He then cautiously walked ahead, and they continued for another half a day.

Suddenly, Huo Tiancheng returned and said, "There's a nineteen-thousand-year Flame Demon Ox ahead. Its strength and flames are extremely powerful. It's fairly suitable for Huo Wushuang, but it's somewhat beyond expectations."

Huo Wushuang thought for a moment and said, "After absorbing the Nine Grade Dragon Zhi, I feel that I still have plenty of Soul Power in my body. I should be able to absorb it." Huo Tianchen nodded. Before long, Huo Tianchen brought back an enormous bovine Soul Beast and handed it to Huo Wushuang. It was clearly hanging on by a thread, allowing Huo Wushuang to deliver the final blow. Huo Wushuang absorbed the Soul Ring, showing only slight pain during the process. Everything else went extremely smoothly.

Next was Huo Wu. She absorbed the Soul Ring of a twenty-three-thousand-year Fire Bat and obtained an exceptionally rare Sonic Large-Area Soul Skill, somewhat similar to Angel's Roar.

They searched for another two days, and everyone was becoming somewhat impatient. Around the Endless Volcano, people's emotions seemed particularly prone to becoming irritable. Xiaofei also felt that some force was influencing everyone's emotions.

Suddenly, a thunderous boom came from the distance, and flames filled the sky. Huo Lie said, "Could this be a volcanic eruption?"

Huo Tianchen shook his head and said, "The range of a volcanic eruption wouldn't be so small. It should be a battle between high-level Soul Beasts."

Huo Tianchen went alone to investigate while Huo Lie stayed behind to protect everyone.

Before long, Huo Tianchen returned and said, "A Ten Fierce Sky Ant Beast is fighting two Soul Beasts over there. Both of them are Great Strength Fire Apes. The smaller Great Strength Fire Ape is sixty thousand years old, while the larger one is around eighty-five thousand years old. Although the Ten Fierce Sky Ant Beast is only close to fifty thousand years old, it still has a slight advantage in the battle. Both Great Strength Fire Apes are fairly suitable for me and Huo Lie."

Xiaofei thought for a moment and said, "I think that Ten Fierce Sky Ant Beast is quite good." Seeing the look in Xiaofei's eyes, Huo Tianchen nodded. "Wait here. I'll go take a look. Once the three Soul Beasts are both badly injured, we'll attack."

Battles between high-level Soul Beasts were extremely terrifying. The slightest mistake could cause the fighting to spread to others. Several of them were only Soul Kings and Soul Ancestors, so they didn't dare join such a battle.

After a fierce battle raged in the distance, it suddenly stopped. A signal made of flames appeared in the sky. Huo Lie looked over and said, "Let's go. Your grandpa's side should be ready!"

He then led the other three swiftly to the battlefield. Huo Tianchen was resting there, and quite a bit of blood stained his body. Clearly, he had been seriously injured. When the four arrived, Huo Tianchen said, "These two Great Strength Fire Apes can still live for a while, but the Ten Fierce Sky Ant Beast is almost finished. Xiaofei, absorb it first. We'll keep watch over you."

Xiaofei nodded, took out a knife, and stabbed it directly into the Ten Fierce Sky Ant Beast's eye. A pitch-black Soul Ring appeared above its body. Based on his previous experience, Xiaofei summoned his Fire Phoenix Martial Soul and guided the Soul Ring onto it. The pressure from the fifty-thousand-year Soul Beast was enormous, bearing down on Xiaofei like a mountain. In his mind, a huge and ferocious Ten Fierce Sky Ant Beast flew toward him. Fortunately, at the critical moment, a burst of Spiritual Power struck the incoming Ten Fierce Sky Ant Beast from above. The Spiritual Power and the phantom of the Ten Fierce Sky Ant Beast confronted each other in his mind. After all, the Ten Fierce Sky Ant Beast was already dead and was water without a source. Xiaofei gradually gained the upper hand, and the phantom finally dissipated.

At the same time, Soul Power as vast as a mountain surged into Xiaofei's body. Golden light flashed across him as the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum took effect. The Soul Ring's power and the medicinal force of the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum surged through his body together. His Meridians seemed to rupture and reform repeatedly before finally stabilizing. This meant that Xiaofei had successfully absorbed this Soul Ring. Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

Xiaofei opened his eyes and looked around, seeing the worried expressions on everyone's faces. Huo Wu looked especially anxious. After seeing that Xiaofei had finished absorbing the Soul Ring, Huo Tianchen said to Huo Lie, "It's your turn now." Huo Lie nodded as well and began absorbing the Soul Ring of the sixty-thousand-year Great Strength Fire Ape.

Xiaofei asked Huo Wu curiously, "Sister Huo Wu, how long did it take me to absorb this Soul Ring?" Huo Wu said, "You took a full three days this time. Your complexion looked terrible, and you lost quite a bit of blood. Don't push yourself so hard next time." Xiaofei nodded helplessly. Another three days passed, and Huo Lie and Huo Tianchen both finished absorbing their Soul Rings. Next came the corpse-looting stage. The four of them gradually dissected the bodies of the three Soul Beasts, while the proud Huo Wu merely watched from the side. A beauty like Huo Wu had no business doing something like dissecting corpses.

Looking at the dissected corpses, the five were astonished and delighted. The three corpses had actually yielded two Soul Bones: a fifty-thousand-year Ten Fierce Sky Ant Beast Left Arm Soul Bone and an eighty-thousand-year Great Strength Fire Ape Right Arm Soul Bone. Huo Tianchen thought for a moment and said, "Xiaofei, this Right Arm Soul Bone suits you better. Why don't you absorb it? As for this eighty-thousand-year Right Arm Soul Bone, give it to Huo Wu. I'm already very old, and this Soul Bone wouldn't improve me by much."

Xiaofei thought for a moment and said, "I don't particularly like either of these Soul Bones. Give the Right Arm Soul Bone to Huo Wu and the Left Arm Soul Bone to Huo Wushuang. They're both more suitable."

Tiancheng thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Absorb them first. We'll discuss the rest after we return."

Everyone knew the value of these two Soul Bones. They could practically be treated as inherited Soul Bones of a major sect. Absorbing them now would reduce the coveting eyes of outsiders. Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang both nodded, then began absorbing the Soul Bones.

A day later, the two finished absorbing the Soul Bones and hurried back to the academy.

Back in the academy office, everyone began summarizing their gains. Huo Wu had improved the most and gained the most as well. Her Soul Power Level had now reached level fifty-seven, completely surpassing Huo Wushuang. Moreover, she now possessed three Soul Bones, all of them over ten thousand years old, with the highest reaching eighty thousand years.

Huo Wushuang came next. His Soul Power had reached level fifty-six, and he also possessed two Soul Bones, one of them fifty thousand years old.

Wang Xiaofei had also reached level fifty-six. With the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, a fifty-thousand-year Head Soul Bone, and a fifty-thousand-year Top-grade Soul Ring, he had only increased by a little over six levels in total. This made Xiaofei somewhat tempted to absorb that fifty-thousand-year Soul Bone, but he ultimately held himself back.

Dean Huo Tianchen had reached level ninety-two, while Huo Lie had reached level eighty-one.

The Dean instructed everyone to stabilize their realms at the academy for the time being and not to go out unless necessary.

A week later, Huo Tianchen officially announced to the outside world that he had become a Titled Douluo, shocking the entire world. He was also the second publicly recognized non-sect Titled Douluo in the Heaven Dou Empire. Outsiders rumored that Huo Tianchen had advanced to the Titled Douluo realm only after absorbing the three Soul Bones from the Spirit Master Tournament finals. This directly reduced the pressure on several of the younger generation, especially Xiaofei. As the only non-family Soul Master representing Blazing Academy in the tournament, many people felt sympathy for him.

Regardless, Blazing Academy had already become the Heaven Dou Empire's third-largest publicly recognized power.