Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension

During the escape, Zhao Sheng retracted all of his aura, his shape flickering, leaving streaks of afterimages, much like a ghost.

Old Man He's body remained straight and static, yet his speed was no less than Zhao Sheng's. Beneath his feet, the earth undulated like waves, escorting him swiftly forward.

Just as the two fled from the tunnel exit, a loud crash sounded from behind them. The whole tunnel collapsed with a roar, cracks spreading everywhere on the ground and walls, like countless vines growing at high speed, chasing after them.

At that moment, the earth trembled again, and the Underground City could no longer withstand the aftermath of a battle between True Immortals, starting to collapse in chunks.

For a time, falling rocks splattered all around the underground palace tunnels, and a haze of dust obscured all visibility.

In the torrent of shock waves from the True Immortals' clash, nature's spiritual energy became agitated, boiling like hot water, causing the corners of Zhao Sheng's eyes to twitch slightly. No matter which boundary one was in, a battle between Golden Core Masters was exceedingly rare. Now that he had encountered one, he wasn't sure if it was luck or misfortune.

The two hurriedly escaped back to the upper layer of the underground palace, which was far from the battle's center and wasn't much affected by the residual forces; the surrounding structures were largely intact.

Old Man He suddenly stopped, and Zhao Sheng calculated in his mind—it was exactly five miles, neither more nor less.

After another round of sensing, he felt that the temperature around them dropped significantly and the underground rumbling became much fainter.

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Zhao Sheng turned to look at Old Man He and saw his brows were tightly furrowed.

"Wait a moment!"

Having said that, Old Man He laid his whole body down on the ground, his ear to the earth as if sensing something.

Gradually, Zhao Sheng discerned the trick to it and his expression changed—being a Foundation Establishment Cultivator who specialized in the Water Element, he was most sensitive to the Water Element Spiritual Qi.

At this moment, he could clearly sense that the Water Element Spiritual Energy around them was becoming more and more active.

Underneath Boiling Spring Valley lay a cluster of underground volcanoes; this place should absolutely be the arena of the Fire Spiritual Energy.

Yet, at this moment, the Water Element Spiritual Qi around them was even more active than the Fire Spiritual Energy, and what was more terrifying was that its concentration was rapidly increasing—within moments, it had risen by a third from before.

This was no small feat; clearly, a Great Ability had intervened to disturb the nature of this place, causing water spirits from who knows how many miles around to gather here at Boiling Spring Valley.

Such a feat, putting aside everything else but the alteration of the local environment alone, was enough to make Zhao Sheng gasp in amazement.

Could such "bold strokes" really be made by a Golden Core True Immortal?

As Zhao Sheng was struck with profound shock, He Ying suddenly leaped up from the ground, took a defensive stance beside him, and looked towards the pitch-dark tunnel, calling out sharply, "Who's there?!"

As these words were spoken, Zhao Sheng was startled, his Divine Sense released fully, scanning thrice, yet he sensed nothing unusual.

"Fourth Master, where is the enemy?"

He Ying didn't answer, but instead stamped his right foot on the ground, causing a two-foot-high wave of earth to surge up and rush towards the depths of the tunnel.

Also at this moment, a bright red light shined in the darkness, and the temperature around them abruptly skyrocketed, with a wave of heat hitting their faces.

Zhao Sheng narrowed his eyes and saw within the red light a twisted Flame Shadow charging towards them.

He Ying reacted quickly, sweeping his large sleeve and scattering a burst of Yellow Light that infused into the ground. The corridor shook violently as the earth and rock surged forth, converging into a wall that topped and sided to isolate the Flame Shadow behind it.

However, immediately after, a fiery-white claw oozing magma punched through the dirt wall. Twisted flames spewed several feet out, and a wave of heat struck them, nearly burning Zhao Sheng's clothes.

Zhao Sheng didn't move an inch and coldly said, "It's a Magma Demon Puppet."

"Fool… Kill!"

Through the wall, the Demon Puppet growled, its voice hoarse and barely human, difficult to discern—after all, speaking was indeed a challenge for a puppet pieced together from magma and a Demon Soul.

Yet, this was enough to greatly broaden Zhao Sheng's horizons. The Zhou family's Demon Flame Divine Defense was indeed well-deserved; they could actually allow a Demon Soul to manipulate inanimate objects without losing its spiritual nature, with astonishing power.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

At this time, the Magma Demon's claw jerked twice as if it was being withdrawn.

At that moment, He Ying let out a strange chuckle, his concentrated spiritual power surged, and the earthen wall instantly turned to flying ash, along with the magma demon's claw, which was shredded to pieces.

The earthen wall, along with a section of the corridor, collapsed, and the wave of heat from the opposite side surged toward them once more, but it suddenly faltered amidst the whirling dirt and dust.

Following close behind, Mr. He silently charged forward, his spiritual power surging, gathering sand and stones into a fist to slam into the magma demon shadow, sending hot magma splattering onto the surrounding stone walls, hissing as it made contact.

Slash!

Zhao Sheng let out a low roar, the invisible sword striking as fast as if he were instantly moving; with a single flash, it sliced directly into the Flame Shadow's head, splitting it into two halves.

A pitiful scream emanated from the green demon soul hidden within the head, as half of its soul was cleaved into a wisp of green smoke.

Upon seeing this, He Ying's hands surged with spiritual power, flooding into the Flame Soul's body.

As the strange spiritual power entered its body, the magma that covered it rapidly cooled and dimmed, before shattering into countless scorching pebbles.

The Magma Demon Puppet, though made with a Second-stage Demon Soul as its main material, was after all only a puppet. Its combat power was at most at the Foundation Establishment level. Facing the combined attack of two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, it couldn't withstand a single blow.

Meanwhile, Zhou Zhongyu seemed to realize he was outmatched. As soon as the demon puppet shattered, there was no further movement from it.

He Ying turned to Zhao Sheng and inquired, "Taoist Zhao, what do you think?"

Zhao Sheng shook his head, "The puppet is controlled by a secret technique from afar. The True Immortal might be dozens of miles away."

He Ying gave a slight nod, "The Zhou family indeed has some..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he exclaimed, "Ah!" as a violent impact surged up from the ground below, passing through layers of earth and striking like surging waves.

In an instant, the temperature around them had climbed at a shocking rate.

The air became unbearably hot, as if a single spark could cause an explosion at any moment.

Boom, boom!

Amidst the violent rumbling, a gust of hot wind blew suddenly from the depths, followed by the sound of rushing water, like a flood pounding the judge's bench, quickly approaching their location.

In the darkness, red light gleamed, and within moments, a torrent of magma burst forth.

"Run!"

Zhao Sheng made a split-second decision, his figure flashed as he fled into the distance, and He Ying reacted similarly.

The two of them timed their escape perfectly; no sooner had they left than the area was inundated by the upsurging magma.

Moreover, the roaring magma continued to surge upward with unstoppable momentum, causing the underground volcano of Boiling Spring Valley to finally erupt through the hands of the Golden Core Masters!

Elsewhere, Zhao Sheng was racing through the corridors at breakneck speed, but after traversing several passageways, he suddenly stopped in his tracks because the corridor ahead had collapsed and was completely blocked by rubble.

Looking back, he could no longer see Old Man He.

Zhao Sheng furrowed his brows slightly, hearing faint roaring sounds behind him, his expression extremely grave.

With no path forward and pursuers behind!

Facing a dead end, Zhao Sheng's mind raced, and he suddenly had an idea.

Boom, boom!

With a burst of loud noises, dust and debris flew up. The corridor behind Zhao Sheng collapsed, section by section, under the barrage of talismans.

Just as one would create a firebreak in the face of a raging fire, Zhao Sheng proactively crafted a barrier against the magma.