My Informative Cultivation Life

Not going down is dangerous too. Yang Ji glanced at Chang Lin, shook his head slightly, and transmitted back: "You just stay on the boat."

He then looked to everyone else and smiled: "Since everyone is ready, let's go down, shall we?"

"Good, young friend, lead the way. Let's hurry and hunt down that Demonic Beast to keep Fire Brother from getting too anxious," Chang Lin said with a smile that was as refreshing as a spring breeze, seemingly the picture of integrity.

But Yang Ji knew he was but a smiling tiger, and as his gaze swept over the equally smiling Chen De, he couldn't help but sigh that those who smiled amiably might not be amiable at all.

Yang Ji quickly withdrew his gaze and with a back-handed gesture took out the Water Boat, and took the lead in jumping into the sea.

Chang Lin and Chen De exchanged glances, each took out their Water Boats, and with several splashing sounds, they followed Yang Ji into the water.

Soon, a group of eight people stopped above the mouth of the Dead Volcano.

"That Demonic Beast is hiding down here." Yang Ji pointed at the dark opening and looked around before he took the lead and drove the Water Boat straight into it.

But with a soft 'pop', the Water Boat actually passed through a Barrier of air, and quickly landed at the bottom of the volcano which was not submerged by the sea.

Perhaps because of the Barrier, Yang Ji could see the water above the entrance moving slowly, but not a single drop leaked through.

He stowed the Water Boat and looked around, finding numerous passageways leading in all directions, and every inch of air was filled with visible ribbons of red heat.

The soil within sight was baked to a reddish crisp hardness, nearly three zhang for a small lava pit, and ten zhang for a large one above these passageways.

The fiery red lava inside "gurgled" as it overflowed, emitting bubbles and waves of heat, and releasing a pungent smell of sulfur.

The terrible high temperatures made the Spiritual Power within Yang Ji's body struggle to circulate.

Seeing this, he hastily took out the Ice Clear Liquid and ingested it.

Just then, Chang Lin and the others broke through the Barrier and descended.

While each was filled with curiosity, they were also full of caution.

Seeing the rolling waves of heat below and the high temperature, they quickly took action, either bringing out Magic Artifacts or ingesting heat-avoiding Medicine Pills.

Chen De also frowned and took out a Medicine Pill and swallowed it, while Chang Lin looked indifferently around him.

As a Golden Core True Person, he could invoke the Samadhi True Fire, which was far more terrifying than Earth Fire lava; naturally, he would not fear these heat waves.

He then looked toward Yang Ji and asked, "Young friend, with so many passages, which way should we go?"

Yang Ji focused his gaze and noticed that although there were many passages, they all led to one location, which was the den of the Blazing Beast.

Along each passageway, the lava pits harbored Flame Snakes.

He then began to ponder.

Their hunt for the Demonic Beast didn't specify the Blazing Beast as their target.

Chen De merely speculated that their target was a Demonic Beast possessing Beast Flame, but speculation was always just speculation; he wasn't certain.

A thought struck Yang Ji, and he pointed toward the passage directly ahead: "I have never been down here either. If the seniors really want me to lead the way, then let's take the middle one; it's a bit wider."

"Good, you lead the way," Chang Lin nodded faintly.

Choosing the middle passage was because it would encounter the Flame Snakes the fastest.

Yang Ji took the lead, and although he had taken the Ice Clear Liquid, he still did not dare to step casually onto the lava pits along the way; the bubbling lava was intimidating enough, so he exercised the Light Body Skill to avoid it as much as possible.

Parting the scorching red mist, they traveled roughly a li.

A large circular lava pit appeared before the group, with a diameter of twenty zhang.

The passageway extended from the other side of the lava pit; Yang Ji sneakily squinted at the lava pit, [where thirty Flame Snakes lay, ranging from level one to level nine, plus one level ten Flame Snake King].

Seeing this, Yang Ji raised his voice a few notches: "Seniors, the passage is on the other side of the lava pit; it looks like we'll have to fly across."

[Isn't that obvious? Are we supposed to wade through it?] Chang Lin maintained his gentle smile on the surface, but inwardly, he cast a sidelong glance at Yang Ji [Little De said he's quite sharp, but why do I feel he's not that bright?]

"Yes, we need to fly across, young friend, you lead the way," said Chang Lin with a light smile.

[Your conversation has awakened the Flame Snakes; they each opened their fiery red eyes, gliding through the lava, and casting fierce looks your way.]

Here they come?

Yang Ji's eyes shifted subtly, and without attracting attention, he slipped behind the others and said:

"I'm sorry, my mastery of the Light Body Skill has just reached proficiency. For such a long distance, I think I'll need to build momentum to get across."

"All of you seniors, please step to the sides; I'm going to make a run for it."

As soon as he finished speaking, the lava in the pit instantly "gurgled" and bubbled up, forming numerous giant lava bubbles.

Suddenly, Chang Lin narrowed his eyes and said solemnly, "There's something moving in the lava."

Everyone also sensed that something was wrong, and as they fixed their gaze, they promptly took out their Magic Artifacts, ready for battle.

The next moment.

Boom boom boom!

The lava exploded.

One after another, Flame Snakes with yellow scales covering their bodies and triangular heads shot out like arrows.

With their wide maws open in a rip-like fashion and sharp fangs exposed, they looked ferociously threatening, eager to swallow everyone whole.

But that wasn't all.

Soon.

The lava in the pit churned and sank, and with a loud bang, a giant snake as thick as a water bucket with golden horns on its head burst out.

Flicking its tongue and with a fierce gleam in its eyes, the snake opened its mouth in a piercing scream, sending out a wave of sound wrapped in scorching red mist that shook the entire passageway, its presence terrifying.

"Hmph!" Chang Lin saw this and simply reached out his hand to grab, dissipating the oncoming red mist and sound waves into nothingness with a clench of his hand, while the low-level Flame Snakes were all vibrated away.

The strength of a Golden Core True Person was evident.

Seeing this, Yang Ji quickly called out excitedly, "Senior, it's the Flame Snake King, our purpose in coming here was to hunt a Flame Snake King. Please, all seniors, take action."

"To hunt the Flame Snake King?" Chen De turned to look at him, somewhat astonished.

"Yes, I forgot to tell the seniors that our hunting target this time is the Flame Snake King."

Yang Ji said earnestly, "Huo Yuan Senior and I discovered by chance that this Dead Volcano houses a tenth-level Flame Snake King, which is why we invited seniors to help us hunt it."

"You came for the Flame Snake King?" Chang Lin narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at Yang Ji with a faint gaze but finding no clues.

Although these Flame Snakes were fire attribute Demonic Beasts, they did not nurture Beast Flame within them, so they were of no use to him.

While everyone was conversing, the Flame Snake King let out an angry roar, its hostility boiling over, seizing the opportunity to lunge with a frenzied bite.

"Hmph! Wicked beast!" Chang Lin's eyes hardened with anger as he glared at the incoming Flame Snake King, not dodging or flinching.

His iron clamp-like hands swiftly pressed up and down like capturing a dragon, and with a loud thud, he forcibly grabbed the Flame Snake King's upper and lower jaws.

His hands flashed with Spiritual Light, and with a strong exertion of force, there was a ripping sound! Blood rained down as the tenth-level Flame Snake King didn't even have the chance to wail before being torn into two halves.

With a thump, a fist-sized Demon Core also dropped in front of him.

Chang Lin didn't glance at it nor did he let Yang Ji take it away; instead, he inadvertently took a step forward and kicked the Demon Core into the lava pit.

From behind, Yang Ji, who saw this scene, couldn't help twitching at the corner of his eye, lamenting to himself how petty and vengeful the old fellow was.

At this moment, he really wanted to kick him in the backside, to have him roll in the lava too.

"This..." Xu Xiangsong and the other five exchanged glances, looked at Chang Lin, then at Yang Ji, their expressions turning somewhat strange.

"Senior, I don't believe they came just for the Demon Core of the Flame Snake King. Such Demonic Beasts are not rare in the Flowing Fire Sea Region. I suspect this Yang lad might be hiding something," Chen De transmitted his voice.

"Hmph!" Chang Lin exhaled a muffled breath of contempt, glancing at Chen De, who was deep in thought, and seemed to lose patience as he transmitted, "Whether they are here for that or not, now that we've descended, I will turn this small volcano upside down to see what it can hide."

No sooner had the words fallen than he transformed into a fleeing light, wrapped in the might of the Nine Heavens, and with a boom, accelerated to an extreme, leaving a series of sonic booms in his wake.

He rapidly traversed the passageway, checking quickly.

Such a commotion was tremendous, akin to an indignant scream of a fighter jet passing by, awakening the Flame Snakes lurking in the lava pits of the large passageways, unleashing a violent aura.

Wherever Chang Lin passed, his overwhelming force crushed the Flame Snakes in his way, not even pausing to glance at them.

In the passageway where he was, all the Flame Snakes were annihilated, but the Flame Snakes in the other passageways had already caught the scent of Yang Ji and others, converging towards them.

Yang Ji's eyes swept across, sensing danger.

There were too many Flame Snakes: one, two, three; as far as he could see, the display showed no fewer than three hundred Flame Snakes.

These Flame Snakes drew energy from the lava, and with no natural predators in this place, their life of eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating, was blissful in the extreme.

Fortunately, shallow waters don't breed dragons, and the energy provided by the lava was ultimately limited, making it difficult for them to advance to the Demon General Level.

Among the three hundred Flame Snakes, there were only ten tenth-level Flame Snake Kings.

Yet, those ten Flame Snake Kings alone were enough to give them a tough fight.

Boom boom!

Boom boom!

The mass of snakes surged rapidly, like a flood; their passage caused numerous passageways to tremble.

Yang Ji cursed Chang Lin in his heart, for stirring up such trouble out of self-interest—it was lethal.

He was upset himself, and he didn't want others to be at ease either.