Chapter 82: The Sky-Covering Hand

The environment of this depression was unbearably harsh. Liu Junhuai did not sit down to replenish his true essence until he had retreated to the entrance of the second level of the Divine Sense Tower.

The steps of the second level were just like those of the Crimson Flame Valley and the Taifeng Residence—Liu Junhuai felt an aversion welling up in his heart. Such cultivation of divine sense had long lost its meaning for him.

The resistance offered by this level was but a formality before Liu Junhuai; with just a few strides, he reached the second level. Here, a hill rose up, covered in bamboo of various thicknesses.

The sight of this bamboo forest immediately dispelled any intent Liu Junhuai had to temper himself here. This forest was inhabited only by the Jade-knot Bamboo Snake, a creature as green as the bamboo leaves themselves. The purpose of this trial was merely to use one’s divine sense to distinguish the snake from the leaves—a challenge meaningless to someone of Liu Junhuai’s spiritual prowess, as insipid as gnawing on chicken bones.

Frustrated, Liu Junhuai proceeded up two more levels, but none posed any challenge to him; their level was simply too low to be of any use.

It was not until he set foot on the fifth level that he felt any difficulty at all. Even then, he did not resort to the art of severance, relying only on the protective power of his true essence to ascend.

This level was a magma cavern, yet the difficulty remained modest. Liu Junhuai was reminded of Ajiu’s natural habitat and decided to see if there might be anything of use to Ajiu within.

This terrain demanded the aid of divine sense even more; the vapor within the magma cave had nearly liquefied after being roasted for countless ages, and only by shielding himself with divine sense could he withstand the heat.

With each step forward, the temperature rose. By the time he reached the deepest heart of the magma cave, the Earthfire Pool, his divine sense had already been depleted by thirty percent.

It was a world of crimson, where the violent, churning magma exuded an even more savage energy. However, this energy was faint and elusive—without Liu Junhuai’s formidable spiritual power, it would have gone entirely undetected.

The surging magma gushed from a narrow crevice, and the latent energy was concealed within, like a hunter hidden in tangled grass, bow drawn and ready to strike at any instant.

Sensing the impending crisis, Liu Junhuai instantly activated his Golden Chalice Bodyguard, while his divine sense spread out like an octopus, enveloping the entire magma pool.

Yet he detected no sign of life, which only deepened his puzzlement and darkened his expression. A chilling thought crept into his mind, and with it a shudder of terror.

A magma pool is formed by the presence of a volcano beneath; every volcano erupts at intervals, and these eruptions generate immense pressure, forcing the magma upward until it bursts through the crust to the surface.

Liu Junhuai’s divine sense detected a slight tremor in the magma pool. Was this tremor a harbinger of another volcanic eruption? And what of the surging, violent energy lurking within the magma? Both made him suspect this was indeed possible.

No sooner had this thought crossed his mind than a deluge of fire rained from above. Azure, scarlet, and white flames wove together into a vast net, crashing down like a sky-shattering storm.

Even more terrifying was the fact that behind him, several massive fire-rocks, each weighing tens of thousands of pounds, plummeted from above, sealing off all routes of escape.

As the fiery rain lashed down, Liu Junhuai’s Golden Chalice Bodyguard shone with a golden light. Using its brilliance as cover, he teleported to the base of the cave wall, barely evading the torrential inferno.

Yet his mind had no chance to settle when, from the magma pool, a fire dragon erupted, its momentum splitting the heavens. The purplish-red flames instantly ignited the entire space, and the heat within the cave soared to a terrifying degree.

Magma, molten and blazing, spilled from the pool, while shattered rocks, debris, and volcanic ash flew in all directions.

The searing fine ash and coarse rock fragments, mixed with hot gases, formed a milky substance that shot upward, becoming an incandescent cloud.

The material in the cloud was unstable and viscous. Once it thickened and gravity overcame its buoyancy, it would plunge downward at tremendous speed—anything it touched would be annihilated.

Alarmed, Liu Junhuai shot deeper into the cave, only to find himself blocked by a layer of fire-rock over ten fathoms thick.

At the same time, the magma fire pool underwent a new change. The violent energy hidden in the fissure burst forth; a multitude of fire dragons erupted from the magma, the purplish-red flames compressed by the savage energy into enormous fireballs that howled toward Liu Junhuai.

With nowhere left to escape, Liu Junhuai instinctively summoned the Crimson Nine-Headed Infant. As soon as Ajiu appeared, it was roused by the purplish-red fireballs, letting out a thunderous roar. Its nine heads transformed into gaping maws, devouring most of the flames, while the remainder were scattered by a few mighty beats of its wings.

Yet the enormous fireball, brimming with violent energy, could not be digested all at once; Ajiu’s body was hurled backward, crashing into the fire-rock layer with a muffled boom, causing the entire layer to cave in and fragments to rain down, pulverizing to dust upon impact.

Liu Junhuai himself was struck by the aftershock of the fireball, smashed against the fire-rock, and then thrown heavily to the ground. A sweet taste rose in his mouth—a mouthful of fresh blood spurted out.

Worried for Ajiu’s safety, Liu Junhuai ignored his own injuries and rushed to its side.

Ajiu’s massive, fiery body lay prone, its features twisted by the raging energy within. Its nine mouths hung open, purplish-red flames flickering in and out with each labored breath. From those flames, Liu Junhuai sensed a pulsing power of destruction.

“What terrifying flames!” Liu Junhuai exclaimed, bending down and calling loudly to Ajiu.

Ajiu’s consciousness was clear; it was desperately refining and absorbing the fireball’s energy. Feeling Liu Junhuai’s concern, one of its heads gently nuzzled his outstretched hand.

Reassured that Ajiu was not in immediate danger, Liu Junhuai’s worry gradually subsided.

After more than half an hour, Ajiu’s body grew increasingly crimson, suffused with violent energy. A faint dragon’s roar echoed in the cave, at once present and not, lending the scene an eerie air.

By now, the surging magma waves in the lake and the rivers of fire above thundered continuously. The rising heat had evaporated all moisture in the cavern, the air pressure had dropped, and Liu Junhuai found it harder and harder to breathe.

He hurriedly sat cross-legged beside Ajiu, gathering his true essence to resist the oppressive air pressure. The Ninefold Transformation Heart Technique activated, quickly guiding all manner of energies from the air to circulate through his meridians.

Staring at the flickering purplish-red flames at Ajiu’s mouth, Liu Junhuai had a sudden idea. The blazing flames surged swiftly into his palm.

Focusing his mind, he formed a seal with both hands, rapidly channeling the art of conversion. The flames sped into his palm, and a purplish-red imprint appeared there, glowing with violet light.

With a thought, he activated the seal—instantly, a gigantic purplish-red hand materialized in the void.

Liu Junhuai directed the colossal hand to strike the magma pool. The pool exploded, the shockwaves rippling out like water, layer upon layer.

This seal was one of the conversion arts left to him by Miao Taifeng, known as the Heavenshroud Seal. It required savage energy to drive it, and Liu Junhuai’s current cultivation was far too low for his own power to activate it.

Yet the sudden appearance of the violent energy fulfilled the Heavenshroud Seal’s requirements, allowing Liu Junhuai to use the conversion art and manifest the seal.

Delighted by his successful mastery of a new spell, Liu Junhuai searched for remnants of the energy fireballs scattered by Ajiu.

The purplish-red flames were strewn across the magma cave. Liu Junhuai shielded his heart with true essence and wrapped a wisp of flame with his divine sense to begin refining it.

The immense energy within the flame burst forth. He cautiously guided it to flow slowly through his delicate meridians, painstakingly advancing. Even so, his meridians were stretched to the limit, as if pierced by thousands of steel needles, causing excruciating pain.

Fortunately, Liu Junhuai had endured countless hardships in his cultivation; with iron will, he bore the agony until the surging energy finally broke through a single, slender meridian.

“Too slow,” Liu Junhuai frowned, and tried dividing the energy into multiple streams to assault several meridians at once. Several purplish-red threads crept through his meridians.

It was a risky move. If his focus faltered for a moment, any one of those streams could inflict grievous harm—and he still had to endure the pain of breaking through.

Gradually, he began to falter. Sweat beaded on his brow, his head throbbed as if stabbed by needles, consciousness wavering, exhaustion overwhelming him.

“No—I cannot give up!” Liu Junhuai forced himself to remain lucid, took out a drop of spiritual liquid, and drank it. Instantly, his true essence was replenished by the vast, pure spiritual energy, flooding through his body.