Chapter 43: Chapter 43: It’s going to rain
Lu Yu arrived at the edge of the lava river, and while the fire infants had not yet returned to the lava river, he crossed the river by stepping on the black rocks that emerged above the surface of the river.
Glug glug~ Upon reaching the opposite bank, Lu Yu heard a strange sound behind him. When he turned around, what he thought was a river rock was actually several huge lava monsters.
The bodies of the lava monsters were composed of solidified black lava, and through the joints, one could see the magma flowing inside them. They were a type of demon stronger than the fire infants.
Seeing the lava monsters not yet fully emerging from the lava river, Lu Yu quickly left the riverside to avoid being targeted by them.
Lava monsters belong to the category of spiritual monsters, a type of demon, unlike fire spirits, whose killing yields fire crystal stones. Defeating lava monsters only yields a pile of rubble and magma.
Lu Yu circled the foot of the mountain looking for Ouyang Lie, as there were child-like fire spirits on the mountain that he could not handle.
After a while, Ouyang Lie appeared at the foot of the mountain, and the two met up.
Ouyang Lie’s hair seemed somewhat disheveled. He must have exerted considerable effort to shake off the others and arrive here for their meeting.
"Whew~ Let me rest a bit before we continue." Ouyang Lie sat down on the ground and began meditating to restore his depleted Spiritual Qi.
Seeing him meditating to restore Spiritual Qi, Lu Yu took out the fire spirit fruit to absorb it.
The moment Ouyang Lie saw Lu Yu take out the fire spirit fruit, he hastily stood up and said, "Quickly put away the fire spirit fruit."
After speaking, he ran into the distance. Upon hearing this, Lu Yu immediately put away the fire spirit fruit and followed him.
Not long after, a group of fire infants appeared at the place where they had been. They seemed to be searching for something, but, unable to find it, they emitted angry cries.
"Fire spirit fruits are essential for the advancement of fire infants. Don’t take them out on the mountain, or they will attract a large number of fire infants," Ouyang Lie explained to him.
Fortunately, both had treasure items for storage, otherwise, after obtaining the fire spirit fruit, it would have been impossible to approach the volcano, let alone acquire more fire spirit fruits.
At this moment, Ouyang Lie realized something was amiss and asked curiously, "Didn’t you eat the fire spirit fruit? Why aren’t you being chased by the fire infants?"
"Maybe I have a strong stomach and digest quickly."
Ouyang Lie’s eye twitched; this wasn’t about digestion. Normally, after consuming a fire spirit fruit, it takes several days to fully absorb the Spiritual Qi within.
Even for a Martial Cultivator at the Qi Cultivation stage, using a Cultivation Technique to speed up absorption would still take several hours.
He didn’t dwell on the issue and, after a brief cultivation session, led Lu Yu up the mountain.
Lu Yu recalled seeing the child-like fire spirits and asked, "How powerful are those child-like fire spirits?"
"Probably at the sixth or seventh level of Qi Cultivation! Those fire spirits all live near the volcano’s mouth. Since we’re not going there, there’s nothing to worry about," Ouyang Lie said.
"I saw such fire spirits appear halfway up the mountain before," Lu Yu said.
Ouyang Lie suddenly stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide, and asked, "What did you say?"
After a few steps, Lu Yu saw Ouyang Lie pacing back and forth on the spot, muttering, "This isn’t good, this is bad news..."
"Are we not going?" Lu Yu asked.
Ouyang Lie tore at his hair and looked at Lu Yu, asking, "Don’t you know what this means?"
"What does it mean?"
"It’s going to rain!" Ouyang Lie said, "It’s going to rain fire crystal stones!"
"Isn’t that a good thing?"
Ouyang Lie carefully chose his words and said, "In other words, the volcano is about to erupt!"
After a moment of silence, Lu Yu asked, "Are we still going up?"
After pulling out a few strands of hair, Ouyang Lie made up his mind and firmly said, "Let’s go, after the volcanic eruption, those fire spirit fruits will be destroyed. It’s better that we pick them."
"However, think carefully. After the volcanic eruption, the fire spirits and fire monsters in the secret realm will become frenzied. With your strength, whether you can survive and get out of the secret realm is still unknown."
"This isn’t something that can be solved just by running fast. Sometimes, there might not even be a path for you to run," Ouyang Lie warned.
"Fortune favors the bold."
Ouyang Lie paused at these words, then smiled and said, "Fair enough."
"Let’s go!"
The entire Fire Rain Mountain was a black-brown mass, dotted with irregular and uneven black rocks. Some black rocks were freshly solidified lava, while others were volcanic rocks that had cooled for many years.
While walking, one must be extremely careful. If you step on the surface of solidified but internally still hot magma, you’re likely to get injured,
and if you encounter large areas of false ground, it could be life-threatening.
Ouyang Lie led the way, occasionally poking the ground ahead with an iron rod. One end of the rod was already red-hot. Without this iron rod, who knows how many crises they would have had to endure.
Poof~ The iron rod pierced the road surface, revealing the lava beneath that had not yet cooled. Ouyang Lie used the iron rod to probe the surrounding ground, his face somewhat grim. It seemed they had taken the wrong path, as all around them was still cooling lava.
Lu Yu also noticed the situation around them and suggested, "Let’s see how wide this lava swamp is, and if we can jump over it?"
Ouyang Lie smashed a piece of stone from the ground and threw it forcefully.
Whoosh~ The stone slammed into the ground, revealing a deep red hole, about seven or eight meters away from where the two stood.
"Look at those higher places; the higher ground might be lava that has cooled for a long time," Lu Yu said.
Ouyang Lie threw a stone onto a raised piece of ground, which was a hard volcanic rock that had cooled long ago, though its area was small, barely enough for two people to stand.
He glanced back at Lu Yu, handed him the iron rod, and said, "You go, I can’t aim that precisely."
Lu Yu took the iron rod from him, calculated the strength, and jumped vigorously, spanning a distance of eight or nine meters, landing on a rock section that stood higher than the surrounding area.
He poked the ground around him with the iron rod; behind him, near Ouyang Lie, was a soft lava swamp, but in the uphill direction, there was a solid path they could walk on.
"You can jump over," Lu Yu said, turning back.
Ouyang Lie’s face was serious, "You better catch me, or if I fall into the lava, it’s over for me."
Without much hesitation, he leapt forcefully towards Lu Yu’s location.
As he jumped, there was a slight deviation in his direction. The distance of eight or nine meters enlarged this minor deviation to three or four centimeters, which would cause one foot to step into the still-cooling lava.
Ouyang Lie, realizing his small mistake, was already preparing to burst out with all his Spiritual Qi to create a temporary safe zone by isolating the lava from himself.
Just like stepping on water, as long as you step hard enough and fast enough, you won’t get your shoes wet.
Noticing his direction was slightly off, Lu Yu reached out to grab him as he was about to land. Ouyang Lie landed safely, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.
In such a hot place, what dripped was indeed cold sweat.
With the protection of Spiritual Qi, the temperature in this secret realm had little effect on Ouyang Lie, and he could hardly feel the heat. Even though the temperature here was approaching 60 degrees, he merely felt slightly warm, without sweating.
Yet just now, facing the potential of falling into the lava, he had perspired cold sweat.
The two continued forward, taking only a few steps before seeing a blue-clothed man leisurely walking a straight path up the mountain, seemingly treading on solidified volcanic rock.
Lu Yu and Ouyang Lie exchanged a glance and headed towards the blue-clothed man’s direction.
Lu Yu noticed that the blue-clothed man wasn’t finding a shortcut up the mountain; rather, with every step, he was solidifying the lava beneath him.
Cold air spread from beneath the blue-clothed man’s feet, freezing and solidifying the ground along his path.
"Is that ice elemental Spiritual Qi?" Lu Yu speculated inwardly.
Ouyang Lie enviously said, "Ice elemental Spiritual Qi is really convenient here."
They kept a distance from the blue-clothed man, who didn’t seem to mind the two trailing after him, taking advantage.
"How much further to the place you mentioned?" Lu Yu asked.
"Almost there, see that rock? After reaching it, head right and you’ll see a lava waterfall. The Fire Spirit Fruit is right there. But be careful, there are many Fire Babies there," Ouyang Lie pointed to a huge rock.
The blue-clothed man was already near the rock, yet his target didn’t seem to be the lava waterfall Ouyang Lie referred to.
Grind~ The rock gently moved, slowly rising, revealing a pair of giant eyes burning with flames on the rock. The blue-clothed man stopped, cautiously watching this lava monster.
"It’s about to fight; let’s go quickly," Ouyang Lie said to Lu Yu, leading him to the left, swiftly probing the ground ahead with his iron rod.
"Didn’t you say it’s on the right?" Lu Yu hadn’t expected him to give a misleading direction.
"Well, with someone else around, it’s bad if they find out," Ouyang Lie explained.
The blue-clothed man was engaging in combat with the lava monster, wielding a long sword covered in frost. Each strike left a frozen mark on the lava monster, significantly reducing its mobility.
"Ulah ulah~"
Lu Yu heard ominous sounds, as a Fire Baby appeared in sight; it let out an angry cry upon seeing Ouyang Lie, flying towards them.
Ouyang Lie’s face changed, quickly saying, "Quick, kill that Fire Baby, or it’ll attract more of them."
Lu Yu expressed helplessness; he wasn’t sure if the ground between him and the Fire Baby was solid enough, and he had no means of long-range attack.
Ouyang Lie’s expression shifted. He raised the iron rod in his hand, with blue lightning flashing on it, and threw it. Infused with lightning Spiritual Power, the rod accelerated its flight.
In the blink of an eye, the rod pierced into the Fire Baby’s body, exploding with a bang, sending fragments flying, and the Fire Baby vanished, leaving behind a piece of orange-red fire crystal on the ground.
The fire crystal began sinking quickly in the lava. Ouyang Lie said to Lu Yu, "Hurry, pick up that fire crystal, or the Fire Baby will regenerate."
As long as the fire crystal within wasn’t shattered and there was enough energy, the Fire Spirit could easily regenerate its body.