Blazing Sun Guards the Cave, Heavenly Stars Carved on the Wall
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The 100th match was a foregone conclusion.
Nan Feng stood in the middle of the yellow sand, his feet treading on the shattered fragments of his opponent's Bone Blade. The man lay ten paces away, dark golden blood gushing from his mouth and nose, a section of his chest caved in. The Soul Power fluctuations of the Five-Ring Soul King had dissipated.
A fallen man in a gray robe in the front row stood up and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Tower Master - Hundred Victories -!"
Shouts swept down from the stands. The dim green lights flickered a few times.
Nan Feng had no one in the stands. His gaze passed over the Fallen Ones and landed on the black stone gate on the north side of the arena. Above the stone gate were three dark red ancient characters, the strokes rough and ferocious.
Hell Road.
The stone door opened, and a dark red light poured out from the crack, carrying with it scorching heat and the smell of sulfur. The light was brighter than any lamp in the Hell Slaughter Arena, and the heat wave felt like it was pressed against the furnace wall.
Nan Feng stood in front of the door, his hair blowing back at his temples. The cheers behind him were still going on, but he couldn't hear them.
The Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light peeked through the door.
A narrow passage stretched downwards, flanked by churning underground rivers of magma, the heat of which could instantly burn the skin of an ordinary Soul Master. Deep within the passage, a huge, dark red dot of light moved.
Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent.
Old Huai's voice echoed in my mind, deeper than usual. "The guardian of the Hell Road. Ferocious Beast of ten thousand years, with the ultimate fire attribute. With your current level 30 Soul Power and those trump cards, your chances of winning in a head-on confrontation are less than 20%."
Nan Feng didn't speak, but stepped through the stone gate.
The stone gate closed behind us. The cheers were cut off, and all we could see was a searing red.
The passage descended several dozen feet, then suddenly opened up into a bright and spacious area.
The underground cavern is vast, with a dome so high that the top is invisible, and dark red patterns covering the rock walls. At the bottom of the cavern is a churning lake of lava, with blazing white flames dancing on its surface. The only passage is a black stone ridge less than half a foot wide, stretching from the entrance to the opposite exit. On either side of the ridge is lava that can melt steel.
A giant snake was coiled in the center of the stone ridge.
Its body was as thick as an ancient tree, with golden fire patterns flowing across its dark red scales, each scale radiating heat. Most striking of all was its head. Ten snake heads faced ten different directions, each flicking a dark golden tongue. Ten pairs of vertical pupils turned simultaneously, locking onto Nan Feng.
The oppressive force of ten thousand years pressed down.
The Tower Realm unfolded in an instant. A cyan-gold barrier blocked the shockwave and oppressive force. The barrier trembled under the intense heat, and the first layer began to crack after only three breaths.
"Its fire attribute is effective against the Tower Realm," Old Huai said. "The Tower Realm primarily focuses on suppression and sealing; its fire is too violent and has been constantly burning your Soul Power."
The Nan Feng did not recede.
He stood on the stone ridge, with less than half a foot of space beneath his feet. The gust of air scorched the edges of his clothes.
Ten snake heads simultaneously raised. Ten snake mouths opened wide, and dark golden fire breath condensed in their mouths. Ten pillars of fire spewed out at the same time.
The Gravity Field beneath Nan Feng's feet reversed, and his body moved three zhang sideways along the stone ridge.
Ten pillars of fire swept across the spot where he had just stood. The stone ridge glowed red-hot, and the rocks at the edges softened in the intense heat, with fragments falling into the lava and splashing up a shower of blazing white sparks.
He dodged continuously on the rocky ridge, taking twenty steps for every one step. Ten pillars of fire swept after him like ten giant, red-hot swords.
Each time the pillar of fire brushed past, he smelled the burning odor of his hair and clothes. His skin was scorched red and painful by the heat. Primordial World Power surged from his meridians to protect his heart.
The fiery breath of the Blazing Sun Serpent carries a scorching heat that reaches the soul level. With each graze, a dark red burn mark appears on the surface of the soul.
Soul burned.
Old Huai's voice deepened. "Its fire can scorch the soul. Primordial World Power can block it, but each time it blocks, it depletes. We can't afford to delay."
After dodging once again, Nan Feng stood still, and the phantom image of the tower solidified in his palm.
The Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light revealed the distribution of the opponent's Soul Power. The fire-attribute Soul Power was very thick, but there was an extremely thin dark red light band connecting the ten heads. That was the channel through which the ten heads shared their Soul Power, and also its gap. Cutting this light band would create a flaw in their coordination.
His Soul Power was insufficient. Even with the Tower Realm and Mountain Suppression Art stacked on top of his level 30 Soul Power, he couldn't sever the Soul Power link with the 100,000-year-old Ferocious Beast.
He needs another way.
Just then, he noticed the patterns on the stone wall.
He had previously mistaken those dark red patterns for naturally formed geological textures. Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light swept over them, he noticed a golden flow within the patterns, its rhythm perfectly synchronized with the Primordial World Imprint.
Nan Feng stared at the patterns.
"Old Huai."
Old Huai's voice tightened. "I sensed it. Those patterns are Primordial World immortal script. More complete than what I've seen before. One hundred and eight chapters of Heavenly Constellation and Earthly Fiend Divine Abilities."
Those dark red patterns were indeed characters, a complete cultivation technique inscribed in the script of the Primordial World immortals. The Primordial Origin within his soul was completely activated, and the Primordial World Imprint resonated violently. Gold surged from the Soul Core, and all he could see was gold. The world before him had changed.
The patterns were no longer blurry lines, but clear ancient characters. Each character carried a power that struck the soul, as if it were etched directly into the depths of the soul from the eyes.
He understood.
Those texts recorded the complete cultivation methods for 108 chapters of the Heavenly Constellation and Earthly Fiend Divine Abilities.
The Mountain Suppression Art is in the first chapter, the Domain Divine Ability is in the fourth chapter, the Star-Piercing Form is in the seventh chapter, the Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare is in the nineteenth chapter, Shrinking the Ground to an Inch is in the thirty-third chapter. There are also many more divine powers that he has never heard of, each with a complete method of drawing in Qi and its circulation path.
The resonance deep within their souls grew stronger and stronger. Nan Feng felt as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice water from head to toe. Those words left their mark on his soul, and the Primordial World Power became exceptionally active in the resonance, with the liquid Primordial World Power in his meridians circulating faster and faster.
The Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent stopped.
Its ten heads turned simultaneously, and the dark red flames in its ten vertical pupils changed. It sensed the Primordial Origin within Nan Feng's soul. That aura was far more ancient and vast than its own fire-attribute Soul Power.
Nan Feng did not take advantage of the opportunity to make a move.
He opened his eyes, and the golden light faded from them.
He did not release the Tower Realm, nor did he solidify the tower body. He stood still, drawing out the Primordial World Power from the depths of his soul, transforming it into a golden light that enveloped his entire body.
The light echoed the dark golden fire patterns on the Blazing Sun Serpent's body. The Blazing Sun Serpent's scales shone briefly in the golden light, and the golden fire patterns deepened.
Ten heads bowed simultaneously.
The snake's mouth opened, and a deep, ancient voice emanated from all ten heads simultaneously, like ten voices overlapping.
"Master... I have guarded this cave for 30,000 years, and finally I have awaited the inheritor of the Primordial World."
Nan Feng stood on the stone ridge, the air waves rolling around him.
All ten heads bowed. The snake's body parted to the sides, revealing the center of the stone ridge. Its fire-attribute Soul Power changed from violent to gentle; dark golden flames burned on its scales, ceasing their attack and illuminating the entire passage.
Nan Feng walked along the stone ridge. As he passed the Blazing Sun Serpent, ten heads rose up, ten pairs of vertical pupils staring silently at him.
He paused in front of the dark red band of light and reached out to touch it.
The light trembled beneath his fingertips, and a warm surge of Soul Power flowed upwards along his meridians, reaching the Primordial World Imprint. That Soul Power was gentle and ancient, unlike the fire attribute of the Blazing Sun Serpent, carrying the aura of the Primordial Origin.
This snake also contains Primordial World Fragment.
"I have guarded this cave for thirty thousand years." The voice of the Blazing Sun Serpent rang out again, all ten heads bowing towards the Nan Feng.
"Before my master perished, he inscribed his legacy on this stone wall, commanding me to guard this place and wait for the inheritor. Thirty thousand years have passed, and finally, I have found you."
Nan Feng continued forward, heading deeper into the cave.
The deeper he went, the denser the ancient Primordial World script on the stone walls became, and the brighter the golden light. He stopped at the deepest part of the cave. There, the complete cultivation method of one hundred and eight chapters of the Heavenly Constellation and Earthly Fiend Divine Abilities Powers was engraved, each character carrying the power of the Primordial Origin.
He stood there for a long time.
Old Huai's voice rang out, pausing before continuing, "The complete 108 chapters of Heavenly Constellation and Earthly Fiend Divine Abilities Powers are all engraved here. The Primordial World Imprint within your soul has already memorized these techniques. From now on, you don't need to search for anything else."
Nan Feng reached out and touched a line of words on the stone wall. A warm sensation came from his fingertips, and Primordial World Power flowed through his meridians, resonating with the words on the stone wall.
He closed his eyes. The incantation for the first chapter of the Mountain Suppression Art emerged in his soul, followed closely by the second chapter, Shrinking the Ground to an Inch, and so on. The incantations for the third and fourth chapters of the 108 supernatural powers were arranged in the depths of his soul, complete and intact.
The Blazing Sun Serpent coiled at the entrance of the cave, its ten heads lying on the ground, dark golden flames burning on its scales, illuminating the entire passage.
Nan Feng turned to look at it. Its golden pupils and the dark gold fire patterns on its body faced each other in the scorching air.
Nan Feng withdrew his hand and walked back the way he came. Lava churned on both sides of the rock ridge, and ten snake heads lay at the entrance.