Chapter 549 - 549: Fire Poison Region

Under the Lightning Sword,

the Molten Beast's Molten Rock Armor was completely useless.

The surfaces of the cut were as smooth as a mirror.

This just showed how incredibly sharp the sword was!

The power of the Lightning Sword somewhat exceeded Chu Qingyun's expectations.

The Molten Rock Armor, which the Thunder Light Sword Qi couldn't cut and the Thunder Sword couldn't blast through, was completely defenseless against the Lightning Sword!

However, the Molten Beast's final outburst had also shown Chu Qingyun the terrifying power of a ninth-level Martial Spirit.

Even so, it still managed to escape.

Its left arm had been blown off at the shoulder, more than half its tail was severed, and the Molten Rock Armor on its upper body was completely shattered and flaking away. The Molten Beast was in a truly miserable state, gushing blood as it fled deeper into the Molten Rock District.

After a moment's hesitation, Chu Qingyun gave chase.

With such a powerful, severely wounded, and enraged Molten Beast clearing the path, it was unlikely any other Molten Beasts would dare stand in his way. This would save him a lot of trouble.

Although the Molten Beast was heavily injured, its desperate flight was still a sliver faster than Chu Qingyun.

This made Chu Qingyun feel a little frustrated.

When facing an opponent of a higher Realm, disadvantages were everywhere.

But once he reached the seventh-level Martial Spirit, and they were both in the Celestial Spirit Realm, things would naturally be much better.

After chasing for over an hour, the Molten Beast, which had been spewing blood the entire way, began to slow down.

Just as Chu Qingyun felt the time was right and prepared to catch up and finish it off, the Molten Beast suddenly made a sharp turn, leaped, and vanished behind a hundred-meter-tall Shi Mountain.

Chu Qingyun followed, but he immediately gasped in shock and stopped in his tracks.

Behind the Shi Mountain, an entire region of unknown size was shrouded in a dark red, mist-like substance.

It was Fire Poison!

A vast, unbroken expanse of Fire Poison that stretched as far as the eye could see!

The pale red Fire Poison he had encountered before, which had erupted from the ground, had caused his internal organs and meridians to ache just from a light whiff.

But the Fire Poison here had already turned dark red.

Clearly, both the accumulated quantity and the toxicity of this Fire Poison far surpassed what he had seen before!

Naturally, Chu Qingyun had no desire to enter what looked like an incredibly intense cloud of Fire Poison just for a mere, heavily injured Molten Beast.

But then, another possibility suddenly occurred to him.

'This is already the core of the Molten Rock District. So, could the Magma Essence I'm looking for be right here in this Fire Poison Region?'

The thought of this possibility gave Chu Qingyun a headache.

Celestial and Earthly Treasures were never easy to obtain.

Either they were guarded by powerful Demon Beasts...

...or they grew in treacherous locations, inaccessible to ordinary people.

Therefore, the probability of the Magma Essence being in this Fire Poison Region was actually quite high.

However, until he was certain, Chu Qingyun would definitely not enter rashly.

After a moment of hesitation, he turned and left.

「For the next four days.」

Chu Qingyun remained in the core of the Molten Rock District, searching everywhere for any trace of the Magma Essence.

During those four days, Chu Qingyun explored many independent Shi Mountains and searched near numerous magma pits.

He killed twenty-two Molten Beasts with strength comparable to a seventh-level Martial Spirit and seven comparable to an eighth-level Martial Spirit.

He even took down two Molten Beasts on par with a ninth-level Martial Spirit!

The four days of intense battles greatly improved Chu Qingyun's comprehension of the Lightning Sword, and his success rate in executing it also increased significantly.

But as for the most important item, the Magma Essence, there was still no news at all.

During this time, he also ran into a few teams of Outer Disciples from the Saint Extreme Sect exploring the core of the Molten Rock District, and he asked them about the Magma Essence.

Unfortunately, most of them had no idea what Magma Essence was, let alone where to find it.

Chu Qingyun had only joined the Saint Extreme Sect a few days ago, so many of the Outer Disciples training in the Molten Rock District had not yet heard of his name.

「Four days later.」

Chu Qingyun returned to the Fire Poison Region.

He had searched every place he could in the core area.

According to Chu Qingyun's deductions, if the Molten Rock District truly produced Magma Essence, then there were only two possibilities left.

First, the Magma Essence was within this Fire Poison Region.

Second, the Magma Essence was deep inside one of the large magma pits.

If it was the latter, then Chu Qingyun might as well give up.

Never mind his current sixth-level Martial Spirit; even if he advanced to the seventh, eighth, or even ninth level, he probably still couldn't journey into a magma pit and return unscathed.

After all, it wasn't just the incredibly hot magma down there.

An unknown number of Molten Beasts were also hidden within.

One could well imagine that in the core region's massive, seemingly endless magma pits, there were bound to be many Molten Beasts on par with a ninth-level Martial Spirit!

'To search for Magma Essence in a place like that, I'd need the strength of a Martial King at the very least!'

So, Chu Qingyun decided to make one final attempt by exploring the Fire Poison Region. If he still couldn't find the Magma Essence, then there was nothing more to be done.

There were only three days left before the auction for the three All-Seeing Fruits he had bid on.

Chu Qingyun had to rush back to the Outer Sect Trading District before the auction deadline.

He couldn't possibly give up the All-Seeing Fruits, which could help him advance an entire Realm, for the sake of the elusive Magma Essence.

After all, for Chu Qingyun, advancing a Realm was far more difficult than it was for an ordinary Martial Spirit Realm cultivator!

Entering the Fire Poison Region would require thorough preparation.

Inside, both the ninth-level Molten Beasts and the concentrated, dark red Fire Poison were extremely difficult to handle.

Fortunately, Chu Qingyun was an Alchemist and had made some preparations before coming.

By now, the sun had completely set, and the sky was slowly turning dark.

Chu Qingyun didn't rush into the Fire Poison Region. He planned to wait until it was completely dark, as only then could his Shadow Martial Soul reach its maximum potential.

Outside the Fire Poison Region, within a Shi Mountain, Chu Qingyun used his Thunder Shock Sword to carve out a temporary cave tall enough for two people. He sat cross-legged inside, closing his eyes to rest and meditate.

「Two hours later.」

The sky was completely dark.

It was time for Chu Qingyun to make his move.

He first took out two portions of Cold Heart Marrow that he had prepared in advance.

The milky-white Cold Heart Marrow glowed like jade.

As soon as he took it out of his Storage Ring, it began to emit waves of cold air, which felt incredibly pleasant in the scorching core of the Molten Rock District.