Chapter 529: Hellish Lava

Standing at the entrance to the fifth layer of the abyss, Ye Feng felt a hint of excitement. The fifth layer was the farthest that his soul power could reach, and the warriors here were all at the level of Holy Emperors. Even with his soul strength at the early stage of Holy Emperor level, there were still many things here that could kill him.

Yet Ye Feng wasn’t worried. From the first to the fourth layer, they corresponded to the levels of Saints, Holy Messengers, Holy Spirits, and Holy Kings. Throughout his journey, he had remained almost unharmed and reaped significant rewards—almost every layer held surprises for him. Especially after the third layer, he was the only one to explore it. To put it bluntly, since no one else shared in the gains, all the benefits went to Ye Feng alone.

There were abundant herbs, crystal cores and inner cores of abyssal monsters (since abyssal monsters had two different cultivation methods—one similar to magical beasts, producing crystal cores in their bodies, and the other similar to humans, producing inner cores), various minerals, and rare items that enhanced soul strength. His gains along the way were truly extraordinary.

Although the fifth layer was extremely dangerous for Ye Feng, he didn’t back down. After sending a message to Long Tian and the others to let them know he was safe, he leaped down through the fissure in that layer.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, his first sensation was heat. The ground here was even a blazing red, and the scorching heat from beneath his feet made him frown slightly. After all, Ye Feng understood the most fire-related laws—four in total. Even he found it scorching, so one could imagine just how high the temperature was here.

At this layer, Ye Feng no longer used his soul power recklessly for exploration. Instead, he carefully concealed it and sneaked around to investigate. The warriors here were all at the level of Imperial Gods, and if his soul power at the early stage of Imperial God level were exposed, it would quickly attract powerful enemies.

After careful exploration, Ye Feng retracted his soul power and headed in a certain direction.

After turning a few corners, he arrived in a land of magma. Above the magma, hundreds of entirely fire-red creatures were swimming around.

“The Rockfire Demons are powerful creatures born from hellish lava. They are born with the cultivation level of a Holy Emperor and master the powerful laws of fire. Weaknesses: low intelligence, fragile souls; most have only a soul cultivation level at the peak of Holy King, with only a few having souls strong enough to reach the Holy Emperor level. After death, the flame core in their hearts can be used to comprehend fire-related laws and endow one with an innate fire attribute physique.” The information provided in the martial arts scripture filled Ye Feng with great joy, as these weaknesses of the Rockfire Demons happened to be his strengths. On the fourth level, he had used his soul weapon to kill countless abyssal creatures at the peak of Holy King level.

He observed the Rockfire Demons carefully. They were about two meters tall, made entirely of fiery red magma. They had small heads without necks, with only eyes formed from flames and a large mouth covering half of their face. Their arms, like human arms, had five fingers each, though they were quite long. Below that were not legs but a long tail connected to the magma, swimming slowly within it.

“Three hundred twenty-one of them, gathered so densely—it’s really troublesome,” Ye Feng thought to himself. “Let’s give it a try. If they only attack from a distance, I shouldn’t die so easily.”

With that in mind, Ye Feng stealthily hid beside a stone pillar near the edge of the magma. Seizing the right moment, he used his soul power to drive his soul weapon and launch a fierce attack.

The five demons near Ye Feng died with agonized screams, but the magma immediately boiled, revealing Ye Feng’s location. The Rockfire Demons then threw flame attacks at him one after another.

Although his Hundred-Refined Vajra Body had reached the level of a sacred weapon with Ye Yan’s help, it was still not strong enough against these Rockfire Demons born of fire. The flames instantly caused severe damage to his body. Though his Immortal Body kept repairing itself, being hit by over three hundred flames at once was no small feat.

Ye Feng quickly fled into his refining realm, leaving behind a group of unintelligent Rockfire Demons staring at each other in confusion. They wondered why the human had disappeared suddenly. After searching thoroughly and finding no trace of him, they finally relaxed.

At that moment, Ye Feng couldn’t move at all. His body was almost completely burned, with over 90% of his tissues turned black. He could no longer feel pain either.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have died long ago. But this flame seems to only burn the body and has no effect on the soul. Ye Feng’s soul power helplessly watched as the Immortal Force continuously repaired his body, while he wondered if there was another way to deal with those Rockfire Demons.
“Master, what are you doing? Why are you in such a mess?” Ye Yan suddenly appeared beside Ye Feng. As a clone, he naturally knew what had just happened.
“So they’re Rockfire Demons…” Ye Yan fell silent for a moment. “Master, take me out. I can help you withstand 80% of the flame attacks, but only for three seconds each time. Then we’ll escape back in together. Once I’ve refined those flames, we can go out again. With 20% of the flames, you shouldn’t be hurt this badly.”
“You’re thinking about that magma, right?” Ye Feng naturally understood what Ye Yan was thinking.
“As expected of the master—you know me too well!” Ye Yan didn’t hide it. “I need another hundred fire seeds.”
“What do you need so many fire seeds for?” Ye Feng asked, puzzled.
“I want to create mixed-type flames, and I need a large number of fire seeds as experimental materials,” Ye Yan explained his purpose. “Anyway, your friends will need at most one of those fire seeds; you certainly can’t use that many. Besides, the effect of refining them is the same whether I do it or you. These fire seeds are far more useful to me than to you.”
“Alright then. This magma does seem special,” Ye Feng said, mentioning the abnormalities he had noticed.
Ye Yan nodded. “That’s right. This is hellish lava—it can give birth to flame creatures and also burn souls. I just don’t know why there are only Rockfire Demons there. I suspect they might have been released there on purpose.”
Ye Yan’s words made Ye Feng fall into deep thought. If it was indeed as Ye Yan said, then Ye Feng began to doubt the intentions of the person who released those creatures.
He knew very well that this secret realm wasn’t some spiritual or mythical treasure but rather something created by the natural environment. He even suspected that its formation might be related to the master of the sword energy in the first layer of the abyss.
“What benefits will you get from refining this magma?” Ye Feng pressed further.

“First, I’ll quickly rise to the Holy Spirit level. If you don’t refuse to have your cultivation enhanced this time, you too will reach the Holy Spirit level. Last time, you missed the chance to reach the Holy Messenger level while cultivating, but you won’t miss it this time,” Ye Yan said with a smile. “Second, due to the properties of the Hell Magma, I’ll comprehend the Soul-Slaying Law, allowing my flames to directly attack souls in the future. Third, the unique characteristics of that magma give me a certain chance to grasp the Nirvana Law. As for the rest, there are some long-term benefits, as the Hell Magma contains very special flames that are different from most others.”

As the two conversed, Ye Feng’s body finally returned to its original state, even stronger—this was the benefit of the Immortal Bloodline; every time it was damaged, it regenerated completely anew.

“Let’s go out! Three seconds, right?” Ye Feng smiled and teleported them away. After launching a series of attacks at the fastest speed possible, they quickly retreated back to the Cultivation Realm.

The Rockfire Demons weren’t slow to react either. The moment Ye Feng and the other appeared, they launched attacks, throwing fireballs. Most were blocked by Ye Yan, with only a few hitting Ye Feng.

Though still in a poor state, he wasn’t as badly injured this time as before.

Ye Yan transformed into a flame form and sat down in meditation, while Ye Feng also sat down to rest.

Ye Feng’s injuries healed quickly, and Ye Yan’s flames seemed to grow darker. He knew Ye Yan was using the Refining Law to process the flames that had struck him.

Dozens of days passed, and Ye Yan still hadn’t awakened. During that time, Ye Feng sneaked out twice more, returning each time severely injured. This made him give up the idea of challenging them alone and patiently wait for Ye Yan to complete his refinement.

On the 31st day in the Cultivation Realm, Ye Yan finally awoke, his aura even more powerful. As for other changes, Ye Feng didn’t fully understand them.

“The flames of hellish creatures are indeed peculiar,” was Ye Yan’s first words upon waking. “Let’s go out again. I should be able to hold out for about ten seconds now.”

The two went out once more. Ten seconds was far better than the less than a second he could manage on his own.

In those ten seconds, Ye Feng carried out two rounds of hunting, killing over a dozen more Rockfire Demons.

After returning to the Cultivation Realm, Ye Yan resumed refining his flames, and this time it took less than ten days to complete.

“This time, I can probably hold out for eighteen seconds. Let’s go out!” Ye Yan said to Ye Feng after waking up.

The two teleported away again. In 18 seconds, Ye Feng launched four waves of attacks, killing nearly 20 Rockfire Demons. The duration of their ambushes grew longer with each attempt, while the intervals between them became shorter. Thanks to the time acceleration of 10,000 times in the Refining Realm, the time it took for them to disappear was actually just an instant. This made the mindless Rockfire Demons even angrier. With repeated ambushes, Ye Feng and Ye Yan’s cooperation became increasingly proficient. Finally, during the 27th ambush, they wiped out all the Rockfire Demons. Ye Feng then retrieved all the fire seeds and placed them in his storage ring, while Ye Yan submerged himself in the magma to begin the next stage of refinement. After saying goodbye, Ye Feng headed in another direction, where new challenges awaited.