Chapter 231

Chapter 231: Where is the Life Source?

Inside the earth veins, heat steamed up; without powerful protection, one could be turned to charcoal at any moment.

The Ice Picking Short Sword burst forth with brilliance, dispelling the coldness of the blade and beginning to devour the surrounding heat. Li Hui waved his hand to perform the Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique, maneuvering the sword forward, and the molten lava seemed to begin to solidify.

“So this sword can absorb heat? That’s good. At least before it absorbs enough heat, I won’t have to worry about being cooked alive, but I still need to use spirit talismans to keep cool; fortunately, the consumption rate has slowed significantly,” he thought.

Flowing downstream for two hours, everything remained the same. He had drawn in a hint of water-type spiritual energy, but it was like trying to touch the moon reflected in a well—visible yet unattainable. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

At this rate, Li Hui considered finding a stone wall and letting the Yin-Yang Nine Heads use their ability to burrow underground to see if they could reach the sea floor. The problem was that earth veins were usually very deep. If it were easy to come down, the Hongmo Sect would have already captured everyone, and there would be no chance of escape.

Thus, finding a suitable place to burrow was crucial for survival; otherwise, the likely outcome would be to become stuck in the rock layers.

The Ice Picking Short Sword huffed and puffed, spewing flames.

He hadn’t expected this sword to be so powerful, capable of absorbing substantial heat for two hours; many places had solidified lava.

But now it was approaching its limits. Li Hui had no choice but to take out two Ice Silkworms, and instantaneously, a chilling frost spread, stronger than the coldness produced by the Ice Picking Short Sword at the start.

“Hongmo Xi said these two Ice Silkworms are rare species of heaven and earth; I wonder how long they can last,” Li Hui remarked, his face devoid of joy because through the magical dragon eyes, he saw nothing but flowing magma in every direction, feeling increasingly despondent.

Fortunately, the Heavenly and Earthly Arrays could conceal wind and gather breath at any time; even if there were toxic gases and waste in the fire veins, he didn’t have to worry about breathing, which was quite comforting.

After two hours with the two Ice Silkworms, the Ice Picking Short Sword had endured enough; the heat of the blade was astonishingly intense. Luckily, the Ten-Thousand-Year Abyssal Wood could withstand it. Previously, he had transplanted numerous fire-type spiritual plants in the Underground Cavern of the Purple Fortress, or else just storing this sword would become a problem!

Calculating the time, it had been six hours since he jumped down from the Ancient Well.

That was quite a while. As he noticed the ice threads wrapping the Ice Silkworms melting, Li Hui felt an ominous premonition and quickly asked, “Guang Jin, do you know what will happen when the ice threads wrapping the Ice Silkworms melt?”

“Don’t worry, young master. They have already reached their time to emerge; I just don’t know how many times they’ve spun their cocoons. If they accumulate eighteen times, they may have a chance to transform into spiritual butterflies.”

“Spiritual butterflies?” Li Hui didn’t have much concept of that. The Jade Symbol Sect was a talisman-making sect that rarely raised spiritual beasts or insects, and their collected texts were limited.

“Hahaha, they are starting to transform!” Guang Jin said joyfully. “Having gone through such prolonged slumber, besides the protective effect of the Ten-Thousand-Year Abyssal Wood, they have also accumulated eighteen spins in their cocoons. Wow, eighteen times! That represents a long period, and achieving it requires specific opportunities. No wonder the Cold Armor Emperor treasured them so much and sought out the Ten-Thousand-Year Abyssal Wood to preserve them.”

Li Hui was astonished to find magma flowing continually in all directions, freezing up.

“My heavens, the coldness is actually terrifying?”

Without thinking much, he hurriedly commanded the Yin-Yang Nine Heads to stimulate and burrow forward; wherever they went, the magma lost its heat and solidified in an instant.

At that moment, he was glad to be in the fire veins; otherwise, if the two little silkworms suddenly transformed, wouldn’t everything be frozen a thousand miles away, with snow blowing everywhere?

After rushing ahead for a quarter of an hour, the magical dragon eyes suddenly saw something. The end of the fire veins led into a sea of flames, and some areas were very close to the ceiling, requiring him to dive into the magma to proceed.

“Oh heavens, can you not treat me like your own? Haven’t I suffered enough trials on Wan Nest Island? Now you send me into a sea of flames!” Li Hui complained. As the magical dragon eyes extended his vision, images changed in his mind, and after confirming, he laughed heartily, “The world does not cut off people’s paths! Thank you, oh heavens, I truly am your own; just don’t scare me next time!”

In the sea of flames, there were several small islands, with streams of water cascading down from the tops of the islands. This was the source of life! Water proved there was a way to the outside world.

“Quickly! While the Ice Silkworms still have power, let’s enter the sea of flames!” Li Hui urged the Yin-Yang Nine Heads, diving into the magma and hastily burrowing forward. The ice threads that wrapped the Ice Silkworms had completely melted, revealing silkworms the size of newborn babies.

“Guggi guggi, guggi guggi…” After a brief moment, the two Ice Silkworms began to wriggle, sending chilling energy all around.

The magma froze behind him, and Li Hui no longer considered the heat; instead, he focused on how to resist the cold wave.

The Yin-Yang Nine Heads had the ability to burrow, and combined they moved smoothly through the newly solidified magma. However, Li Hui felt increasingly overwhelmed; frost formed on his eyebrows and hair, and his arms holding the silkworms were about to freeze stiff, fearing that a simple knock would shatter them.

Ahead, heat surged continuously as the two little silkworms struggled hard, repeatedly hitting their old shells.

His thoughts felt frozen, and Li Hui heard a “whoosh.” Following that, heat wrapped around him from all directions, and his arms gradually thawed.

They had entered the sea of flames, and even the two Ice Silkworms couldn’t handle this place. The Yin-Yang Nine Heads quickly burrowed forward, instantly darkening wherever they went.

Ice clashed with fire; many places exploded, sending up thick smoke.

Suddenly, the two Ice Silkworms stopped wriggling, and a split appeared on their old shells. Li Hui swung his stiff arm to perform the Cloud-Brush Dragon Claw Technique, swiftly moving them to a distance while he noticed a blue cold wave sweeping outward.

The sea of flames showed signs of freezing. Guang Jin shouted, “Now’s the time! Drop two drops of fresh blood on their heads!”

Li Hui bit his tongue, spraying two drops of fresh blood that struck the curled-up blue butterfly struggling to open its wings.

With a “swish,” the cold wave rippled, and the two butterflies remained motionless.

“Guang Jin, they won’t die, right?”

“They’re not dead; the Ice Butterflies dislike their surroundings. They need Miao Jade right after being born.”

“Where am I supposed to find Miao Jade? Sigh! Let me stick two Guanghan Ice Soul Talismans on them first!” Li Hui affixed two talismans, and the blue butterflies twitched but quickly stopped, unable to channel any more coldness.

“Let’s go to the small island in the sea of flames.” Finally seeing hope, he scattered the last few spirit talismans, and the Nine Heads leaped from the magma, landing on the small island.

Li Hui looked ahead and saw a stream falling, as thick as an arm, evaporating instantly upon touching the rocks. He wondered how many years the water had fallen, leaving behind a thick crust of salt on the rocks.

“Sea water?”

Glancing around, he didn’t find any valuable items. Li Hui pointed to the top, and the large head soared upward, bursting forth with teleportation light, crashing into the water’s exit, and before him, light and shadow swirled as he burrowed up along the gentle stream.