Earthfire Hall

Earthfire Hall

"Phew!"

Xiao Liang waved his hand, dispersing the spiritual power around his palms, then carefully put away the two jade slips. His gaze locked onto the most conspicuous hall within this cluster of buildings.

Even the residences of some low-ranking disciples had yielded him considerable gains.

What sort of treasure might this abandoned hall contain?

Xiao Liang and Pandora approached step by step, finally arriving before the hall. On a fallen plaque before its doors, the four large gold-painted characters "Earthfire Hall" could vaguely be seen.

"Damn, this plaque is made of Undersea Agarwood, carved from a single piece. How many Spirit Stones would such a huge chunk be worth? What a pity—the inside has completely rotted away. It's useless now!"

Xiao Liang inspected it, his face full of regret. Then he stroked his chin and studied the gold-painted characters on it.

"Earthfire Hall... If I'm not mistaken, this peak should have been Heavenly Sun Mountain's artifact-refining grounds. Artifacts can greatly enhance a cultivator's combat strength, so there must be plenty of benefits inside!"

Greedy as he was, Xiao Liang still possessed instinctive caution. With the hall right before him, he did not rashly push the doors open. Instead, he retreated several steps.

After looking around nearby, he chose a suitably sized chunk of rubble. Xiao Liang grinned, fiercely poured spiritual power into his right hand, and hurled the stone!

Whoosh!

The stone let out a sharp whistle as it smashed toward the hall doors. Yet just as it was about to strike, a crimson barrier silently appeared, blocking its path.

Before Xiao Liang's astonished eyes, the stone that touched the barrier first cracked apart inch by inch, then rapidly heated and reddened, before finally burning into a clump of black ash, like a piece of fully burned charcoal.

"A defensive formation!"

Xiao Liang clicked his tongue and paced around outside the hall. Still unwilling to give up, he occasionally picked up stones to test it, but without exception, every one of them was burned to ash by the barrier manifested by the defensive formation.

Even the air was permeated with a strong sulfurous smell.

Thinking of the words "Earthfire" in the hall's name, Xiao Liang painfully considered a possibility: this defensive formation might use the mountain's natural earthfire veins as its energy core.

That was why it still functioned after several hundred years. Otherwise, even the highest-grade Spirit Stones could not have withstood such a long passage of time.

"Judging from the surface, this hall has suffered considerable damage. There has to be some weakness, right? It would be unbearable to enter a treasure mountain and leave empty-handed!"

Xiao Liang's understanding of formations was only at the level of common knowledge. The path of formations was profound and unfathomable; asking him to break one alone was nothing but wishful thinking.

Thus, faced with this hall protected by a formation, he felt the despair of a rat trying to drag a turtle—utterly at a loss.

Just as he was helpless, Pandora, who had been idly standing to one side, suddenly turned her head. Her fangs slightly emerged as she stared in a direction behind Xiao Liang.

"Oh... There's actually a living creature approaching?"

Xiao Liang reacted quickly. Seeing Pandora's response, he did not turn around at all. Instead, he wrapped an arm around Pandora's slender waist and activated Ghost Shadow Step. Man and zombie swiftly hid behind a pile of ruins.

Tap, tap... tap!

A set of light footsteps approached from afar. Xiao Liang's ears twitched. He could tell from the sound that the person was not very heavy, though for some reason, the footsteps were slightly disordered and dragging.

"Who is it? Someone else from the exploration team? Or an unfamiliar cultivator?"

Xiao Liang slightly turned sideways and was just about to peek out for a look when a pleasant female voice rang out:

"I saw many signs that the buildings outside had been searched. I wonder which fellow cultivator got here first. Please show yourself!"

That voice belonged to Qin Long from the exploration team!

She had been caught by the guardian puppet, yet not only had she survived, she had even appeared directly near the Earthfire Hall.

Xiao Liang had crossed the barriers and flown here all the way with Pandora. Although searching the outer buildings had wasted some time, the others should not have arrived this quickly!

She probably had some special means as well.

Having had his whereabouts exposed, Xiao Liang was neither embarrassed nor inclined to go out and meet her. Who knew what that mysterious woman was planning?

To survive the hands of a peak first-rank puppet with only the cultivation of the fifth layer of Qi Refining, she likely had no simple methods.

Just as he was preparing to quietly leave with Pandora, Qin Long slowly said:

"Could it be that you believe your harvest is already sufficient, Fellow Cultivator, and have no interest in entering this Earthfire Hall? I hear there is a true inheritance of Heavenly Sun Mountain inside!"

Heavenly Sun Mountain had been a first-rate cultivation force that once contended with the Ten Thousand Demon Cavern in the Yan Kingdom. A so-called true inheritance was a supreme art or secret formula that only the sect's core disciples could receive.

Probationary disciples, outer disciples, inner disciples, core disciples!

Each rank was separated like an impassable gulf. That was the disciple structure of the Ten Thousand Demon Cavern.

And within the Demon Sect, the most important factor maintaining such stable class divisions was strength—absolute strength!

More Spirit Stones! Higher cultivation! Better artifacts! More profound techniques!

When all was said and done, weren't these the sources of a cultivator's power?

Thinking of how he was still cultivating the lowly Blood Nightmare Technique, and how much longer it would take him to break through to the Mid Qi Refining Stage, it was time to start planning for the future.

If he could obtain a true inheritance technique, wouldn't he soar to the heavens in a single step?

Xiao Liang's heart thumped twice in spite of itself, and his throat felt a little dry.

Though he knew full well that she was saying this to lure him out, it did not sound like a lie upon careful thought.

The Earthfire Hall looked like an important site of Heavenly Sun Mountain. It was not impossible that a true inheritance might be hidden within.

"Ahem, Fellow Cultivator Qin Long, could it be that you know how to enter the Earthfire Hall?"

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Liang still decided to show himself.

Though he did not yet know why she had exposed his hiding place, Pandora's presence gave Xiao Liang confidence in facing any possible danger.

"Oh? Fellow Cultivator Ghost Shadow, I truly didn't expect it to be you. I thought it would be Captain Luo or Yu Guang!"

Although there was a trace of disappointment on Qin Long's ordinary face, it was overshadowed by intense surprise.

Her phoenix eyes were slightly widened, their gaze clear and bright. Combined with her heavenly voice, she inadvertently revealed a touch of captivating charm.

There were no spiritual power fluctuations. It was not the Bewitchment Technique, but a naturally exuded charm!

Xiao Liang inhaled sharply with a strange expression. He had always thought he was someone obsessed with looks, but perhaps he had secretly been a voice fetishist all along.

Silently revising his preferences in his heart, Xiao Liang cast aside the distracting thoughts and replied perfunctorily:

"I merely happened to possess some means to bypass the obstacles up the mountain and arrived here a step early. It's nothing worth mentioning!"

"Fellow Cultivator Ghost Shadow is too modest!"

Qin Long's beautiful eyes shifted toward the slender black-robed figure behind Xiao Liang. When she saw the pair of wings on Pandora that were unlike anything human, a few guesses immediately formed in her heart.

Xiao Liang shook his head and said bluntly:

"Fellow Cultivator Qin, you didn't call me out merely to reminisce, did you? I doubt anyone would be uninterested in the Earthfire Hall. I'm no exception. If there is a way to open it, I wouldn't mind giving it a try!"