Chapter 724 718: Ancient Secrets

"Ah! Ah! Stop! Stop!" Changmao shrieked hysterically. But Shen Haoran didn't stop. In fact, he moved even faster, and in the blink of an eye, he had charged into the Magma Giant's mouth.

BAM…

With a dull thud, the moment Shen Haoran charged inside, the Magma Giant's massive, open maw slammed shut. The roaring in their ears vanished, and the howling wind abruptly ceased. It was as if the entire world had fallen silent. Yet, inside the giant's sealed mouth, it was still brightly lit. Crimson lava flowed slowly through what looked like blood vessels, and the scorching heat was no less intense than in the Lava World outside.

'We can't stay here. Go, now!' Elder Yan's voice resounded in Shen Haoran's mind just as he and Xue Ling were examining their surroundings.

The moment Elder Yan spoke, a tremor wracked the inside of the Magma Giant's mouth. From below, a tongue made of lava surged toward Shen Haoran and his companions. Torrents of magma rushed at them from all sides—it appeared to be the giant's saliva.

Seeing this, Shen Haoran and Xue Ling dared not linger for a second. They followed the direction Elder Yan indicated and sprinted deeper into the Magma Giant's body. And so, a strange scene unfolded within the giant: Shen Haoran and Xue Ling weaved through its meridians with a massive Magma Fire Dragon in hot pursuit, showing no intention of letting them escape.

"We're doomed! We're doomed! At least outside, we had places to run. But inside this monster's body, it can sense us no matter where we go! How are we supposed to escape this?" Changmao lamented, his face a mask of despair as he glanced at the relentless Magma Fire Dragon behind them.

'Shut up! And you call yourself the head of the Ten Great Fierce Beasts? How can you be such a coward? Instead of wasting your breath complaining, you should be thinking of a way out of this mess!' Shen Haoran cursed inwardly. He glanced back at the Magma Fire Dragon and pushed himself to move even faster.

'The heart! That's its source of Energy. Head for the heart!' Elder Yan's grave voice instructed. Upon hearing this, Shen Haoran didn't hesitate for a moment. He raced through the Magma Giant's meridians, speeding toward its heart. Fortunately, the giant's meridian structure was similar to a human's; otherwise, Shen Haoran wouldn't have known how to find it.

'Elder Yan, you know something about this creature, don't you?' Shen Haoran asked when he had a free moment. Ever since laying eyes on the Magma Giant, Elder Yan had seemed remarkably knowledgeable about it, from its attack patterns to its weaknesses. Shen Haoran simply wouldn't believe him if he claimed otherwise.

Hearing Shen Haoran's question, Elder Yan fell silent. Only after a long moment did his voice sound in Shen Haoran's mind again.

'It is known to all that after the Ancient Era, the path of Martial Arts declined. The Spiritual Power on the Xingluo Continent plummeted, and experts capable of shattering heaven and earth with a single hand could no longer emerge. The reason for all this was a celestial tribulation—a true, world-ending cataclysm!' Elder Yan's slightly trembling voice resounded in Shen Haoran's mind, a hint of fear coloring his tone.

At this point, Elder Yan decided to hide nothing more. Shen Haoran's power had grown too quickly; he was now a formidable expert in his own right. It was time for him to learn certain things.

'A world-ending cataclysm? What was that?' Shen Haoran asked, confused. At the same time, his mind flashed back to the black monsters he had seen before—the Hou, which Elder Yan had called creatures of world destruction. 'Could it be them?' he wondered.

'Ten thousand years ago, the Xingluo Continent was nothing like it is today. At that time, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power was exceptionally abundant, allowing Martial Artists to advance in their Cultivation with incredible speed. It was practically a paradise.

But one day, the heavens and the earth suddenly tore asunder, and the Outer Celestial Demons invaded. These Outer Celestial Demons were powerful—suffocatingly so. They coveted the Xingluo Continent, this treasure trove brimming with Spiritual Power, and sought to claim it for themselves. The Xingluo Continent faced an unprecedented crisis! To protect their home, all the Martial Artists united to resist the Outer Celestial Demons. But even with the combined might of the entire continent, they were no match for the invaders. The continent's Martial Artists suffered devastating losses, and the Human Race, the Demon Race, and the Demon Race were all driven to the brink of extinction.

In the end, a leader emerged from among the Human Race of the Xingluo Continent. His power had completely transcended the shackles of this world. Through his joint efforts with the leaders of the Demon Race and the Demon Race, and at the ultimate cost of his own life, they finally sealed the Outer Celestial Demons back in their own world. He used his very flesh and blood as the Seal, ensuring the Outer Celestial Demons could never again take a single step beyond the Thunder Pool. That man... was the first successor of the Chaos Divine Body!' Elder Yan said gravely, his tone filled with fervent passion by the end.

'The first successor of the Chaos Divine Body!' Shen Haoran gasped. 'So, the Xingluo Continent still held such secrets!'

'Then what does any of that have to do with this creature?' Shen Haoran asked. Elder Yan's story was incredible, but it seemed to have no connection to the Magma Giant.

'This creature was created by that very same first successor of the Chaos Divine Body,' Elder Yan explained. 'Back then, to combat the Outer Celestial Demons, he created five of these Puppets. They were known as the Five Great Vajras. Their power reached a terrifying level—each Vajra was strong enough to rip an Outer Celestial Demon apart with its bare hands. Later, after the Outer Celestial Demons were sealed, these Five Great Vajras were also sealed away. The power they contained was too terrifying; each one had the ability to destroy the world. Other than a successor of the Chaos Divine Body, no one can break their Seals!'

'Only a successor of the Chaos Divine Body can break their Seals?' Shen Haoran's brow furrowed at this. 'I've never even heard of the Five Great Vajras, so how could I have broken their Seal? Don't tell me another successor of the Chaos Divine Body has been here?'

'Impossible,' Elder Yan stated gravely. 'A Chaos Divine Body only appears once every ten thousand years. There absolutely cannot be another.'

'There is one other possibility... that something has gone wrong at *that* place,' Elder Yan muttered, more to himself than to Shen Haoran. 'Once you get out of here, it seems I'll have to take a trip.'

'*That* place? What place is that?' Shen Haoran asked.

'It is not yet time for you to know,' Elder Yan replied, not answering the question. 'The most important thing right now is to escape from this place!' Although Shen Haoran's power was advancing rapidly, there were some things he could know and some he could not. At least, not yet. This was for his own protection.

Hearing this, Shen Haoran could only nod. He accelerated once more, shooting toward the Magma Giant's heart...