"In the end, I was the one who reaped the benefits."
Chu Yuan hesitated no longer. He stepped forward, picked the Fire Origin Divine Fruit, and took a bite.
Before he could even chew, the flesh in his mouth, along with the fruit in his hand, turned straight into a mass of scalding lava and surged down his throat into his stomach.
In an instant, excruciating pain struck him.
"Urgh!!!"
Chu Yuan let out a muffled groan, his body suddenly going rigid. He felt a raging fire burning inside him, scorching all his organs.
Chu Yuan was a Star Level 9 martial warrior. Even jumping into volcanic lava would not have injured him.
But the extreme heat erupting from the Fire Origin Divine Fruit clearly far surpassed lava.
The skin all over his body instantly burned crimson. His flesh split open, and flames jetted from his pores.
In the blink of an eye, Chu Yuan became a man of fire.
"Master!"
"Master!"
Seeing this, the six bodyguards hurried forward to save him.
"Don't touch him."
Feiluan immediately flew over to stop them. "It's all right. This is normal when consuming a Fire Origin Divine Fruit. Only this way can it completely transform Master's body and increase his affinity with the Fire Origin Law."
The flames blazed fiercely. Chu Yuan felt as though he had been thrown into the sun. He could clearly feel his internal organs being roasted and burned over and over by the raging fire.
Every inch of his flesh split open. His cells frantically absorbed the Fire Origin Divine Fruit's energy, dividing at tremendous speed.
This agony was even worse than when he had used the Bloodline Evolution Agent to transform his genes.
I can't give up. I have to hold on!
When immersed in suffering, that is precisely the time to cultivate!
Chu Yuan gritted his teeth and sat cross-legged.
He remained unmoving as the raging flames burned his body.
Chu Yuan could faintly sense his affinity with the Fire Origin Law increasing bit by bit.
His consciousness was clearer than ever before. To distract himself and ease the pain, Chu Yuan began practicing the secret technique "Fire Radiance."
Time passed slowly amid the utmost agony. One day, two days, one month, two months, three months, half a year, a year...
The flames burned Chu Yuan the entire time. Sometimes he sat quietly, studying the secret technique; at other times, he swung his saber to practice it.
In the third month, Chu Yuan's Fire Domain transformed. It covered a wider area, and the power it unleashed grew stronger.
His Fire Domain broke through to the second level!
Over the next nine months, Chu Yuan's Fire Domain continued to improve.
A year later, Chu Yuan finally absorbed all the essence of the Fire Origin Divine Fruit and completed his body's transformation.
Through an intangible connection, Chu Yuan could clearly sense the existence of the fire origin. His efficiency in comprehending it had increased more than ten thousandfold.
"So this is what the universe looks like through the eyes of a race-level genius."
When he opened his eyes to the world again, Chu Yuan felt that everything was completely different from before.
With a thought, scorching flames appeared out of thin air, forming a domain around him.
The domain was even stronger than at the second level. Now, Chu Yuan's Fire Domain had already broken through to the third level.
"Congratulations, Master! Your Fire Domain has broken through to the third level!"
Feiluan hopped onto Chu Yuan's shoulder and loudly congratulated him.
"Congratulations on your great increase in strength, Master!"
The six Universe Level bodyguards also offered their congratulations in unison, awe appearing in their eyes.
This was a third-level Fire Domain! Among the six of them, all at Universe Level 8, not a single one had comprehended a domain.
Universe Level slaves who had comprehended domains were in a completely different price bracket from ordinary Universe Level slaves.
Besides, Chu Yuan would not have dared buy one.
Who knew when he might break through to Domain Lord Level? When that happened, Chu Yuan would be finished.
"This trip wasn't in vain."
After his breakthrough, Chu Yuan felt particularly refreshed, though the fire within him was running a little high.
Unfortunately, he had no concubines by his side, or he would certainly have enjoyed himself thoroughly.
"Master, during the year you spent refining the Fire Origin Divine Fruit, we explored this entire World Lord World. There are no other treasures here."
Star Pupil No. 1 spoke.
"Then let's leave."
Chu Yuan smiled. Obtaining the Fire Origin Divine Fruit was already enough to satisfy him.
Just then, a thunderous crash came from the center of the lava lake.
Chu Yuan looked toward the sound and saw the trunk of the Fire Origin Divine Fruit tree split apart. The enormous fruit tree collapsed with a crash, smashing heavily into the lava lake and sending lava splashing across the sky.
After the Fire Origin Divine Fruit had been picked, the fruit tree had withered.
After holding on for a year, it finally could no longer support itself and shattered.
A Fire Origin Divine Fruit tree could bear only a single Fire Origin Divine Fruit in its lifetime.
Once the fruit was picked, the tree would die. Thus, it could not be cultivated artificially on a large scale, making Fire Origin Divine Fruits expensive and exceedingly rare.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
After the fruit tree collapsed, the desert also began to quake violently, swaying from side to side.
Not only that, but the sky split open as well.
Densely packed cracks rapidly spread throughout the entire World Lord World.
"Not good! This World Lord World is about to collapse! We need to leave!"
Chu Yuan's expression changed drastically. Star Pupil No. 1 grabbed him and fled at top speed, with the other five bodyguards following closely behind.
"Did the death rate of % refer to the World Lord World collapsing?"
Chu Yuan could not help asking.
Feiluan spread both hands. "I don't know either."
The system only displayed the locations of opportunities and their death rates. It did not know exactly what treasures an opportunity contained or what dangers they would encounter.
Speechless, Chu Yuan could not help rolling his eyes.
Before the World Lord World collapsed completely, Chu Yuan and his six companions rushed through the exit and returned to the underground cavern.
"That nearly killed us."
Still shaken, Chu Yuan panted heavily.
But before Chu Yuan could catch his breath, Feiluan sounded another alarm. "Master, a spaceship has been detected in outer space. There's a Universe Level 9 martial warrior aboard."
Chu Yuan's gaze sharpened. The six Universe Level 8 bodyguards braced themselves as though facing a formidable enemy.
Although there was only one enemy, he was a Universe Level 9 expert.
For a powerful Universe Level 9 expert, killing ten Universe Level 8 warriors single-handedly would not be difficult.
"It looks like he's the person behind Bagoer. He must also be part of the mortal danger the system warned about."
Chu Yuan instantly understood everything.
"He's spotted us! The spaceship is entering the atmosphere!"
Feiluan's voice grew increasingly urgent.
"Go first, Master! We'll deal with him!"
Star Pupil No. 1 spoke.
"That's right. Three of us are Universe Level 8 spirit readers. Working together, we might not lose to him."
Xingtong Two nodded.
Chu Yuan, however, remained calm. "There's no need for all that trouble."
With a sweep of his hand, the Dragon Abyss spaceship appeared in the underground cavern.
The underground cavern was large enough to accommodate a spaceship.
"Feiluan, activate the railgun!"
"Yes, Master!"
Feiluan shouted excitedly.
The alloy shell on top of the Dragon Abyss slid open, and a menacing railgun slowly rose, its six-meter-long barrel pointing straight upward.
This was the D5-class railgun Chu Yuan had obtained from his teacher, World Lord Huoyao. Its market price was a staggering 260 billion Universe Coins, and in theory, it could blast a Domain Lord Level 5 expert to death with a single shot.
"Power activated. Countdown: 60 seconds, 59, 58, 57... 3, 2, 1, fire!"
Boom!
A thick beam of blue energy shot from the muzzle, causing even the surrounding space to distort slightly.
The energy beam instantly reached the speed of light, pierced through 280,000 meters of underground rock, and shot straight into the sky.