Immortality from Taming Elephant

Chapter 758: Chapter 336

Xu Guang stopped in his tracks, observing for a long time to ensure that the fire salamander spectral phantoms wouldn’t continue their pursuit, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

The spectral phantoms in this Fire Domain were even more repulsive than those in the Purple Moon Cave.

These fire salamander phantoms were not particularly strong individually, but their ability to become stronger the more they were killed made them a tricky adversary. Xu Guang even suspected that if there were enough fire salamander phantoms in that low mountain, killing them might create a spectral phantom monster at the Saint Realm.

Taking out the Evil Fire Ore he retrieved from the top of the low mountain, its patterns shimmered with a purple-red glow, and it was extremely hard.

Previously, Xu Guang had underestimated this thing. It could not only serve as an auxiliary material for Holy Artifacts but also act as a Suppression Object for some arrays, making it quite valuable.

This adventure proved to be worthwhile after all.

After walking for about several tens of miles, the temperature of the flames increased, their color deepened, and there was some black smoke wafting through the orange-red flames.

It seemed that they were about to enter the Second Layer of the Fire Domain.

At that moment, a cave entrance appeared ahead. Remembering the previous encounter with the fire salamander phantoms, Xu Guang initially didn’t want to enter.

But at the cave entrance, Xu Guang noticed some traces—traces of human cultivator activity!

He furrowed his brow and signaled to General Wei to sense if there were any signs of life within the cave.

General Wei sensed for a while and confidently assured Xu Guang that there were no movements or sounds inside.

After hesitating for a moment, Xu Guang decided to go in and take a look.

The cave extended inward, initially quite wide, but soon became winding and descended downward.

The cave walls were dark red, an extremely hard rock layer scorched by high temperatures, with some places embedded with scattered Evil Fire Ore, emitting a faint glow.

The temperature rose higher and higher, and the clothes Xu Guang was wearing, comparable to a First Nirvana Divine Weapon, began to show some signs of charring.

After advancing for about the time of one incense stick, the sound of rushing water and even more intense heat came from ahead.

Turning a corner, the view suddenly opened up.

A massive underground cavern appeared before him. In the center of the cavern was a lava lake about ten zhang in diameter, its crimson, viscous lava slowly churning and bubbling, emitting a blinding light and terrifying heat.

Around the lava lake was a relatively flat rocky ground, littered with many fragments of Evil Fire Ore and some human skeletal remains, mostly charred black or crystallized.

On the other side of the cavern, several tunnels of varying sizes led off into the unknown.

And along the cave wall near the lava lake, Xu Guang saw something that made his eyes narrow.

There, a small section of the area was not covered by lava, revealing the black rock beneath.

On the rock, was a sword?

No, it wasn’t a complete sword, but a segment of a broken sword.

Most of the sword’s body was embedded in the rock, exposing only about a foot-long hilt and a small portion of the blade.

Xu Guang stepped forward and pulled the broken sword from the rock.

The hilt was dark golden, with ancient patterns, but was worn in many places.

The exposed blade was crimson, covered with fine cracks, long since devoid of spirituality, and somewhat deformed by the high heat.

However, the material was extraordinary, and the patterns on it contained some exceptional trait. Even though it had lost its spirituality, it still emitted a chilling gleam.

Was this another technique of a Refining Pattern Master?

The owner of this broken sword, were they a Refining Pattern Master too?

In this Fire Domain, Xu Guang had already witnessed many techniques of refining masters, who could compress the Power of Daoist Art into celestial patterns, yielding extraordinary effects.

Could it be that the Immortal Venerable Han Cuo of old had some legacy of inheriting the Dao?

The opponent’s sword was left here, but what about the person? Were they dead or had they left?

However, this lava cave filled Xu Guang with an extreme sense of unease, so he didn’t linger here for long. After searching for a while on the debris-strewn ground and finding nothing of value, he turned to leave.

Shortly after he left, a disturbance slowly emanated from the molten lake as if some gigantic, colossal creature was about to emerge.

The lava flowed with a sound of rushing current, the terrifying aura stirring.

A massive, terrifying head emerged from the lava—it was a dragon’s head!

The colossal figure completely emerged from the lava, its dark golden eyes emitting a bright light, bending the surrounding air.

It was the Dragon Monarch who had previously knelt before the Supreme Coffin in the Purple Moon Cave!

This was the spectral phantom of the Dragon Monarch, the former mount of the Dragon Venerable.

It had been stripped of its destiny by Ling Xiao and banished to an unknown place, yet upon emerging, surprisingly found itself in the Fire Domain.

...

Entering the Second Layer of the Fire Domain, Udaya pursued deeply, seeming as though it could incinerate everything under the heavens. Even a Venerable of the Second Nirvana found it incredibly difficult to traverse this place.

If the Second Layer of the Fire Domain was already challenging for a Venerable of the Second Nirvana to navigate, then what about the Third Level and those beyond?

"Immortal Venerable Han Cuo was indeed terrifying."

To refine artifacts in such a place spoke volumes about his extraordinary prowess.

In comparison, the Pirate King seemed inferior. Although he too was of the supreme realm, he established the Celestial Capital outside the Mist Sea Tribulation in pursuit of it, far less domineering than Han Cuo.

Yet Xu Guang found himself dumbfounded; who was he to judge the actions of two Supremes?

From their titles alone, one could glimpse their styles. The Pirate King, known as the Thief King, indicative of a person not adept at direct confrontation, while Han Cuo was different, delving into research in one location for millennia to hone his own Daoist path in opposition to the legendary invincible Starry Emperor.

Xu Guang and General Wei pressed onward, occasionally taking out a jade gourd to replenish General Wei’s water supply.