’I’m known as the Immortal Salamander. I’ve been trapped here for millions of years since I was defeated in the Great War.’
The title of Immortal Salamander, like that of the Immortal Undine, came from being the only known immortal of their respective elements in history. It was a title they bore with pride, rejecting any other name.
He explained that, besides himself and the Undine, there were three more immortals sealed within the formation: Sylph, Gnome, and Tempest. However, Salamander didn’t know the exact reasons for their confinement, as they were imprisoned in a formation completely cut off from the outside world.
Like the Undine, his heavenly laws and divine soul were being slowly drained, bringing him closer and closer to complete extinction.
’Everyone’s almost dead, so the dominion of the Primordial Chaos item is nearly complete,’ Alm reflected.
It was clear to both of them that this was likely tied to the other half of the cauldron, the one representing chaos. The central region was balanced at the cost of the five elemental immortals, who were exploited as an energy source.
Just as the Leviathan had created a sea of bones in another sealed world to sustain its seal, these five immortals were sacrificed to maintain the other half of the cauldron.
Meanwhile, clans like the Shadow God and the Heavenly Spirit God Sect, along with others in the alliance, enjoyed the benefits generated by the divine souls of these immortals in exchange for loyalty and labor.
On the other hand, the Dragon Ascent Sect, finding no direct advantage in this scheme, was completely unaware of these events. Dragons were naturally powerful, making such resources irrelevant to them; but for other sects, it was grand and incredible.
With this new information, Alm and Bruno began to better understand the situation. The only thing missing was discovering the source of the infernal laws—the power necessary to dominate that half of the cauldron. Unfortunately, Salamander knew nothing about it.
’Tell me where you are. I’ll free you. Afterward, will you be able to locate the others?’ Bruno asked calmly.
Salamander’s red eyes flickered slightly before answering: ’It’s perfectly possible. But the place where I’m sealed is complicated. My destructive power, along with Tempest’s, made it necessary to reinforce the seals far more than for the Undine.’
Alm and Bruno weren’t intimidated and followed the direction given by Salamander’s soul fragment, which had a direct connection to his main essence.
A day later, they arrived in a desolate desert.
The landscape was dominated by massive, jagged mountains, without a single blade of grass growing on them. The strong Yang energy permeating the region threw the balance completely off, creating a palpable desolation. Each light breeze stirred up dust and sand as the wind whistled like a fierce, cutting melody.
There, a young earth elemental wandered in circles, seemingly lost. Suddenly, he stopped, began digging, and appeared extremely cautious. He dug multiple holes, avoiding going too deep at once. Eventually, markings began to glow in the ground.
Connecting with the earth element, the young elemental dug more holes, meticulously. After creating over ten holes, he finally smiled and began carving out a tunnel.
An hour later, Alm and Bruno emerged on the surface and descended into the depths of that desolate land.
As they advanced, they encountered dry, eroded bones that crumbled into dust at the slightest touch. The deeper they went, the more bones they found, and the oppressive aura of death grew stronger.
They moved straight ahead until Ruri commented with evident tension:
’This formation is extremely high-level, on par with the ones maintaining the sealed worlds. It’s a sophisticated illusion formation that also contains a solid barrier. You can neither see it nor touch it directly. Once inside, the space silently distorts. No matter how good your sense of direction is, you’ll end up back at the starting point.’
Alm and Bruno observed with interest. They couldn’t use the earth to locate the correct path and chose not to activate their celestial souls unnecessarily. Forcing their way in would alert enemies, something they needed to avoid.
They knew that after destroying the Undine’s seal, the sects dependent on it must have already exchanged information and alerted one another. However, the two were confident the immortal heroes hadn’t moved because of this; their senses detected no imminent danger.
The reason for the immortal heroes’ inaction also seemed clear; it simply no longer mattered to them. After all, these five immortal cultivators were already on the verge of death, and the heroes were likely close to mastering that cauldron. Everything they needed from the immortals had already been taken. Only the sects collecting other benefits cared.
Guided by Salamander’s soul fragment, which could sense where his true body was, they managed to navigate through the illusory labyrinth until they found recent signs of movement in the ground.
These were marks left by a group of young disciples. Shortly after, Ruri identified a narrowing point in the illusion formation.
They advanced quickly and crossed an invisible barrier, entering a new region. The smell of blood hung in the air, and the sight made their eyes widen: the recently dead bodies of Heavenly Elemental Spirits were scattered everywhere.
As they continued, they found even more bodies. The scene culminated in something even more shocking: a High Elder at the peak of divine cultivation had also been slain.
Soon, they felt the presence of two living auras nearby, spotting a slender green woman radiating a fierce battle aura, surrounded by intense Yang energy.
His body was covered in blood, but it wasn’t his. On his back, she carried a dying man, exhaling extreme weakness.
’Did the daughter inherit the mother’s talent for carrying?’ Bruno murmured, surprised.
She looked at the newcomer, surprised: ’Sir!’ Lansha ran, carrying Mihkriel on her back.
"What happened here?" they asked calmly.
Lansha explained that she had followed a group of young people to the entrance of that place. A High Elder had led them to some sort of ’power test,’ explaining they’d have the opportunity to absorb an immortal rune... something just like what happened with Undine.
By luck, Lansha found Mihkriel on the way, and they decided to move forward together. That’s when they discovered what was going on, and knowing that Alm and Bruno were freeing the immortals, they assumed he was an ally.
"This idiot said he got a message with a mission. Telling him to kill the High Elder and take his tablet," Lansha said, pointing at Mihkriel.
In the end, they worked together. Mihkriel wasn’t called a missionary for nothing: with the High Elder caught off guard and Lansha drawing his attention, Mihkriel managed to kill him by surprise, using all his power. But that effort left him in such a pathetic state... it reminded her a lot of a scene from the past, with a green woman carrying the dead weight.
After that, Lansha ordered the young ones to scatter, but some refused and tried to attack them. With no choice, she killed the ones leading the resistance, and the rest fled.
When she heard about the tablet, Ruri’s eyes lit up. Lansha handed the item over, and Ruri immediately started analyzing it.
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Meanwhile, Alm and Bruno began to revive Mihkriel using the chaos laws of the tree. Mihkriel had used all the energy from his central rune, and that law was an abnormal and incredibly powerful force. Not even that High Elder, at the peak of cultivation, had a chance once caught by surprise.
Mihkriel took a deep breath as he recovered. Looking at the newcomer, there was no doubt left: he had received a mission from the system, whose only purpose was to secure the tablet for the figure that was coming. He was just support, but that didn’t bother him. In fact, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
A few minutes later, Ruri came out of the inventory in the form of a small spiritual pixie, landing on Alm and Bruno’s shoulders. The tablet floated in front of her as she used their Qi to manipulate it.
It seemed that, because this formation was significantly harder and the test for the disciples much more severe, the High Elders looked for and brought only exceptionally talented groups of young people. The chances of death were incredibly high, so only the most competent were chosen.
There were no other High Elders nearby. Since the test lasted a month, new groups should arrive only every few days. Lansha and Mihkriel had acted just a few hours ago, so they had some time to be safe.
Ruri waved the tablet, and an opening formed in front of them.
As they crossed through, they found themselves in a completely different environment from the outside world. Skeletons were scattered everywhere, but they didn’t look eroded by time. There was no sand or dust in the air. The whole world was so quiet it felt oppressive.
A suffocating heat made the place feel like a pressure cooker. There were no sounds. They looked around and only saw skeletons, along with that endless heat.
No one spoke. The silence was so frightening they were afraid to break it.
*Crack!*
Suddenly, Mihkriel moved his foot and stepped on a bone. The sound of the bone cracking echoed loudly in the silent space. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be anything. But here, it was like thunder, making everyone jump.
"Sorry, I…" Mihkriel began to apologize quickly.
"Someone’s coming!" Lansha exclaimed, casting a bloodthirsty look at Mihkriel. The sound had given away their position, and, shortly after they arrived, they were discovered.