Chapter 717 - 702: A Game of Combat, the Lava Realm

The Rock Demon Lord that had suddenly appeared threatened Shen Lang, demanding a fair fight.

This implicitly prevented Duanmu Xie or any other experts from interfering.

Between the countless Flame Demons and the threat of the powerful force hiding behind them, Shen Lang had encountered his first major problem in the Yumu Cave Blessed Land.

If Shen Lang wanted to leave by himself, it wouldn’t be difficult, even if he were surrounded by tens of thousands of powerful Flame Demons.

However, leading Feng Buping and the other Elder Ancestors through the encirclement in this no-fly zone was nearly impossible.

The Flame Demons that had revealed themselves were not at the level of the Xuanwu Realm, let alone the Spirit Martial Realm.

Instead, every single one of them was no weaker than the King Martial Realm experts present!

It’s said that enough ants can kill an elephant, but this was a different situation. The swarming masses weren’t ants; they were elephants!

Here, flight was completely impossible. Even King Martial Realm experts had to rely on their own two feet.

Yet the ten-foot-tall Flame Demons were completely unrestricted by the Grand Array, giving them every possible advantage.

They would leap into the air at a moment’s notice, then come crashing down with flames and furious winds, shaking the very earth. They were unstoppable!

If a chaotic battle were to break out...

No matter how high Shen Lang’s Cultivation, how could he possibly protect everyone?

Using the Heaven-Sealing Cauldron to save Feng Buping and Dongfang Jian wouldn’t be a problem, but what about the people from the Imperial Dragon Sect, the Li Hen Sect, and the Flower Sect?

But what worried Shen Lang the most wasn’t the sheer number of Flame Demons.

It was the entity hidden behind them.

When the overwhelming horde of Flame Demons appeared, an unimaginable aura from beneath the volcano had already locked onto Shen Lang.

The aura was faint, almost imperceptible. If Shen Lang hadn’t already comprehended the Heaven and Earth Rules to a certain degree, allowing him to observe his surroundings through "Momentum," he would have never noticed it.

He wasn’t sure exactly how powerful the owner of that aura was.

But it was definitely several times stronger than Duanmu Xie.

And while Duanmu Xie’s Cultivation hadn’t fully recovered, he was already at about the Emperor Martial Realm Eighth Heaven!

’To be so much stronger than Duanmu Xie... it’s probably not just an Emperor Martial Realm expert...’

Shen Lang deactivated his Silver Eyes of Truth and looked up at the Rock Demon Lord. "So you’re saying we have a fair fight, and if I win, you’ll let us leave this place?"

"Before we begin, can you tell me what your purpose is in doing this?"

The Rock Demon Lord let out a grating cackle. "Purpose? There is no purpose. What purpose could there be?"

"The people of the Yumu Cave Blessed Land left a long, long time ago. They brought us here, to this Blessed Land, and for millennia, our malevolent energy was worn away. Just as we finally integrated with them, they suddenly vanished without a trace... For all these years since, we have been unable to leave or make contact with any other living creatures."

"We... are so very lonely..."

The Rock Demon Lord sighed and continued, "So, you can think of this as a game of mine. A game of combat. It’s that simple."

Shen Lang remained silent, but a thousand thoughts raced through his mind.

He didn’t believe a single word the Rock Demon Lord said.

The Rock Demon Lord’s eyes glinted with a cunning light. Its Spiritual Wisdom was already extremely high, probably not far off from that of an ordinary King Martial Realm expert.

’A combat game...’

’How absurd!’

’Revealing tens of thousands of Flame Demons just to threaten me into a fair fight?’

’Only a three-year-old would believe that.’

’A Rock Demon Lord is just a Rock Demon Lord. At most, it’s the Lord of this Stone Forest region.’

’What right or power does it have to command so many Ancient Flame Demons?’

’Trying to command so many Ancient Flame Demons without the power of the King of Flame Demons is a complete joke!’

’And just because one Rock Demon Lord wants to play a game, the powerful entity beneath the volcano is going to mobilize an army to back him up and build his prestige?’

’Of course, it would be a different story if this was its precious son... but can Flame Demons even have children?’

The thought was so absurd Shen Lang didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Just then, the Rock Demon Lord roared again, "Come, expert of the Human Race! Use your full strength and fight me!"

"This is my game, but it’s also your opportunity!"

"These people’s lives are in your hands. If you don’t use your full strength in this battle, not only will they die, but you... you will die too! HAHAHAHA!"

The words had barely faded when the Flame Demon Monarch in the air flapped its wings, plummeting toward Shen Lang like a meteor!

The surrounding crowd, their faces already grim, instinctively retreated another hundred meters at the sight.

As the Rock Demon Lord’s massive body bore down on him like a mountain, Shen Lang’s expression remained unchanged. He left an afterimage in his place and, with a WHOOSH, materialized behind the creature.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Shen Lang twisted his body, launched himself into the air, and smashed a fist into the back of the Flame Demon Monarch’s right knee.

The Fierce Thunder Power that had been gathering in his fist was completely unleashed in that instant!

"BANG!"

Flames, lightning, and bits of stone erupted outward. A fierce, majestic Qi Force swept through the area. The Rock Demon Lord’s knee buckled, and it momentarily lost its balance.

In that same instant, Shen Lang’s body snapped around in mid-air as he delivered a powerful back kick.

His kick tore through the air with a piercing sound of Breaking the Sky, striking the Rock Demon Lord’s leg dead-on!

A sound like a thunderclap erupted as the Rock Demon Lord roared, its body sent flying forward from the force of the kick.

"BOOM!"

After plowing a trench more than thirty meters long in the ground, the Rock Demon Lord slammed its fist into the earth, bringing its body to an abrupt halt.

"Fighting is about using your head, not your size," Shen Lang said, casually tapping his temple.

The experts from the surrounding sects immediately erupted in a unified cheer.

The Rock Demon Lord shook its head, turned around, and said in a rumbling voice, "I don’t agree. We Flame Demons are the Elves of fire. We revere strength; we aren’t insidious and cunning like you humans! We have no use for your crooked schemes. In the face of absolute power, any plot or trick is nothing more than a joke!"

"But I can’t deny it—you are an opponent worthy of my full strength!"

With that, the Rock Demon Lord stomped its right foot violently on the ground.

The earth quaked. A pool of magma appeared with the Rock Demon Lord at its center, turning the thirty-meter radius around it into a field of lava.

Magma surged across the ground, bubbling and bursting, splattering in all directions...

The faces of the crowd, which had just been filled with joy, immediately fell, turning grim.

Magma of this level couldn’t harm a King Martial Realm expert, let alone Shen Lang.

But in this no-fly zone, to fight the Rock Demon Lord, Shen Lang would have to stand within the magma.

He would have to divert his focus and energy to resist the magma’s corrosive heat.

The Rock Demon Lord was already powerful enough as it was. Even if Shen Lang went all out, his chances of winning were not guaranteed.

Now he would have to split his attention and power to deal with the magma as well...

Furthermore, everyone understood that this pool of magma was probably not that simple.

Seeing this, beads of sweat rolled down the foreheads of Feng Buping and the others who knew Shen Lang best.

As for the people from the other sects, they were even worse off, each one looking utterly lost.

In the heavy silence, panic began to set in...

The euphoria from Shen Lang’s arrival slowly faded, replaced by fear and disarray.

Meanwhile, Shen Lang continued to observe the Rock Demon Lord.

’That punch and kick were just a probe.’

’I increased my power slightly, but I didn’t use any Cultivation Technique; it was just a clash of pure physical power.’

’But the results of that probe made my expression turn grim.’

’Eighty-five percent of my Chaos Divine Body’s power, plus eighty percent of my internal Thunder Power... and my punch only managed to chip off a small piece of stone from its leg!’

Shen Lang knew his own strength very well.

He knew that a punch like that could shatter a Second or Third Grade Profound Artifact to dust.

But against this Rock Demon Lord, it had barely done any damage at all.

The hardness of this Rock Demon Lord’s body far surpassed that of an ordinary one from the outside world.

’Every inch of its body has probably been tempered in the magma beneath the volcano for countless years.’

’In terms of sheer durability, I doubt even an Imperial Artifact could damage it!’

Facing a freak of nature like this, Shen Lang suspected that even if he used one hundred percent of his Chaos Divine Body’s power, he still might not be able to inflict significant harm.

Shen Lang practiced the Dual Cultivation of Body and Technique. In conventional terms, his Martial Arts Cultivation was only at the King Martial Realm First Heaven. However, his Physical Strength was so great that he could crush a King Martial Realm Fifth Heaven expert with little effort.

But even with both combined, there was still a considerable gap when facing a Rock Demon Lord that surpassed the King Martial Realm Seventh Heaven and perhaps even reached the Eighth Heaven.

In a one-on-one fight, this was easily the most formidable opponent Shen Lang had ever faced, aside from Yuwen Huaji.

With a sideways glance, Shen Lang took in the panic in the crowd’s eyes and the beads of sweat on their faces.

’This will be a tough fight,’ Shen Lang thought, ’but I am not afraid!’

The greater the difficulty he faced, the more Shen Lang’s Battle Intent surged within him.

With but a thought, a majestic Battle Intent that he hadn’t called upon in some time began to rise within him.

In that instant, Shen Lang seemed to transform. His usual deep, cold demeanor was replaced by a vibrant, soaring fighting spirit.

"ROAR!"

As Shen Lang’s Battle Intent surged, the Rock Demon Lord let out a deafening roar and charged forward with a series of earth-shaking THUDS!

The pool of magma at its feet moved along with it!

After just a few explosive strides, its massive body had once again trapped Shen Lang within the pool’s radius.

A faint blue radiance, like scattered moonlight, enveloped Shen Lang’s body. He then nonchalantly stepped onto the pool of magma.

"Hm?"

The moment he stepped into the magma pool, Shen Lang’s expression changed.

The magma pool, which everyone assumed was just a tactic to drain Shen Lang’s energy, possessed an unimaginable suction force!

Despite the bubbling surface, the bottom of the magma pool felt like a giant vortex, emitting an immense suction that clamped firmly onto Shen Lang’s feet.

It felt as if an overwhelming power from the Nine Netherworld Prison had seized his feet.

It seemed to want to drag him straight down, deep into the earth, into the Nine Netherworld Prison itself!

In a duel between experts, one wrong move means losing everything.

"HAHAHA! Human brat, you underestimated this Lord! This isn’t ordinary magma—this is my Lava Realm!"

Amid the Rock Demon Lord’s triumphant laughter, the surrounding experts’ eyes went wide, and their hearts sank into despair...