Chapter 33: The Flame Cavern
After Qu Yi disappeared from the disc-shaped spatial teleportation array, he found himself in a world filled with flames the very next moment. As soon as he arrived, he felt intense heat around him. It seemed he was in a cavern, with walls covered in raging flames, and only a narrow path wide enough for one foot to walk on the ground.
The place where Qu Yi teleported to was a three-way junction, with a five-meter-radius circular area on the ground free of flames. From this circular area, three straight paths, each wide enough for one foot, led into three different caverns. After channeling his vital energy to adapt to the scorching environment, Qu Yi couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Instrument God, logically, there should also be an immortal artifact in the Giant Stone World of the Southeast Wasteland. Why isn’t there any reaction?”
Indeed, from the time Qu Yi entered the Giant Stone World until he left, he only sensed the uniqueness of those giant stones and detected no trace of treasures, which naturally piqued his curiosity.
The Instrument God chuckled and replied directly, “That floating giant stone disc is a low-grade immortal artifact. The entire Everlasting Giant Stone Array is controlled by it. However, I asked you whether you wanted the powerful warriors from the Nine Sects to survive. Since you said you wanted them to continue exploring the Six Wastelands, I didn’t remind you to take that disc.”
Qu Yi was both amused and exasperated. So that giant stone disc was indeed an immortal artifact! He had initially considered that the Six Wastelands would surely be dangerous, so he wanted the powerful warriors from the Nine Sects to explore on his behalf, certainly not wanting them all to die.
“Never mind. A low-grade immortal artifact is just an elite spiritual weapon. I’m not greedy. If it’s not there, then it’s not there,” Qu Yi said, trying to comfort himself.
The Instrument God chuckled again and fell silent.
Qu Yi scanned the three cave passages with his spiritual senses. Everywhere he sensed were flame-covered walls—nothing unusual—so he couldn’t decide which direction to go.
“Instrument God, this Flame Cavern is quite special. There are three paths. Which one should I take?” Headache-stricken, Qu Yi had no choice but to turn to the Instrument God for guidance.
Still, Qu Yi understood that this Flame Cavern relied on the use of fire energy, similar to the Ice World in the Eastern Wasteland and the Giant Stone World in the Southeast Wasteland—another example of extensive energy utilization.
The Artifact God remained silent for a while before saying, “Qu Yi, this Flame Cavern is actually a flame labyrinth. You’ll have to wait until everyone from the World of Giant Stones has been transported here before Emperor Hao will give you a warning. However, there are many Fire Origin Stones in this labyrinth. As you move through it, you can collect quite a number of them.”
Upon hearing this, Qu Yi smiled. With the Artifact God, a master of arrays, by his side, no array could stump him. Moreover, he would be able to collect more Fire Origin Stones this time, which would make his fire-based cultivation techniques stronger than those of others.
After listening to the Artifact God’s explanation, Qu Yi sat quietly on the circular ground, meditating, waiting for the strong warriors from the nine sects to arrive.
……
The Everlasting Giant Stone Array would not stop as long as there were still people moving around inside the giant stone sphere.
At that moment, on the disc-shaped giant stones in the sky, the leaders of the nine sects had already ascended, along with strong warriors from each sect. But these warriors did not immediately step into the spatial transmission array, as they still had to wait for their own sect’s warriors who were still moving around inside the array.
Now, the nine sects were in competition, and their leaders certainly didn’t want their sect’s warriors to be surrounded and killed by those from other sects just because they left first.
Of course, the leaders of the nine sects had no idea that the giant stone sphere beneath their feet was actually a low-grade immortal artifact.
“Ah!” Inside the giant stone array, a strong warrior from the Qingyun Sect was hit by a giant stone sphere and died on the spot.
“Bilin!” Qing Xu on the disc cried out in pain.
Out of the five strong warriors from the Qingyun Sect, four had already reached the disc in the sky and were waiting for the warrior named Bilin. Seeing that Bilin was dead, the four warriors from the Qingyun Sect saw no need to stay any longer and immediately jumped into the spatial transmission array and vanished.
Not long after the four Qingyun Sect warriors left, another piercing scream came from inside the giant stone array.
A strong warrior from the Hundred Beasts Peak, who was in the later stages of the Tribulation phase and whose true form was a sky-flying falcon, accidentally got hit by a giant stone sphere and turned into a pool of blood mist.
Qing Long, the leader of the Hundred Beasts Peak, quietly closed his eyes, then opened them abruptly and shouted, “Hundred Beasts Peak, leave immediately!”
Immediately afterward, the four demon cultivators from the Hundred Beasts Peak also jumped into the spatial transmission array on the disc and vanished as well.
Although the Stone Circle was perilous, these late-stage Tribulation-crossing experts were all extremely powerful. Moreover, they had already tested their speed on the Mirror Plateau in the presence of Emperor Hao. Thus, not only were they strong, but they also had great speed, allowing them to escape unharmed through the gaps between the stones.
None of the other sects lost a single expert.
Subsequently, the seven sects—Taiyuan Sect, Lanyang Palace, Yingtian School, Jinyang Religion, Cangyang Valley, Xianyue Cliff, and Jiugong Island—also entered the spatial teleportation array inside the disc and left the Stone World.
……
The experts from the nine sects were teleported into the Flame Caves one after another.
As soon as these experts entered the Flame Caves, aside from seeing the raging flames all around, they also noticed Qu Yi sitting on the ground. Undoubtedly, upon seeing Qu Yi’s strange behavior and the flames surrounding them, none of them dared leave the five-meter-wide circular area, fearing they would be surrounded by flames if they did.
After the remaining 35 experts from the nine sects arrived, the entire circular area was filled, with only some space around Qu Yi.
Interestingly, among these 36 people, Qu Yi had the lowest cultivation level, only at the early stage of Tribulation crossing. Yet, these 35 late-stage experts all feared him, worried that he might throw Poison Fruit at them at any moment.
Fortunately, Qu Yi remained seated quietly.
After everyone arrived on the circular area, the landscape of the Flame Caves changed drastically again. The raging flames on all the cave walls calmed down, forming a single plane of flames. On the flame planes near the three passages in the circular area, lines of text appeared:
“Enter, and you shall obtain the Fire Control Art!”
“Enter, and you shall obtain the Fire Soaring Sword!”
“Enter, and your fate will be uncertain!”
These were the inscriptions on the flame planes of the three passages, indicating the possible outcomes of choosing each path.
The 36 people were astonished by this dramatic change in the Flame Caves and deeply impressed by Emperor Hao’s mastery of array techniques, as he could control fire energy so skillfully.
Just as the thirty-six people were astonished, the voice of Emperor Hao suddenly rang out: “Everyone has now entered the Southern Wasteland. This is the Flame Cavern. There are three paths for you to choose from. The Fire Control Art can help cultivators of fire-based techniques quickly comprehend the six fundamental forces of elemental fire energy. The Fire Soaring Sword is a lower-grade immortal weapon of fire. If you obtain these two treasures, it will take a long time to reach the spatial teleportation array. The third path is uncertain—filled with trials—but it allows you to reach the spatial teleportation array quickly.” After saying that, Emperor Hao’s voice ceased.
Qu Yi and the strong warriors from the Nine Sects immediately understood that these three paths had their own advantages and disadvantages. The Fire Control Art was only useful for those cultivating fire-based techniques. Among the warriors of the Nine Sects, only the Lord of Lan Yang Palace practiced fire-based techniques, but Lan Yang Palace currently had only three people, and they didn’t dare to enter that path alone. Naturally, all nine sects abandoned this path.
The Fire Soaring Sword was similar—it was only useful for strong warriors who practiced fire-based techniques, so the Nine Sects still chose to abandon it. Now, the only remaining option was the “uncertain fate” path.
The warriors of the Nine Sects had already made up their minds, but they didn’t leave immediately. Instead, they watched Qu Yi with great interest, eager to know which path he would choose.
Qu Yi glanced at everyone and smiled slightly, saying, “It seems everyone is wary of me. I won’t burden you any longer. I’ll be the first to leave.” With that, amidst everyone’s astonishment, Qu Yi chose the path of the Fire Control Art.
Guided by the Spirit of Weapons, Qu Yi knew that no matter which path he chose, he would be able to safely leave this Flame Cavern. Naturally, he would choose the path that was most advantageous for him. Undoubtedly, Qu Yi, who might soon need to craft weapons himself, was quite interested in this Fire Control Art.
As soon as Qu Yi stepped off the circular ground, the flame plane of the Fire Control Art path immediately returned to its original state, roaring violently, as if fire dragons were about to pounce on him and burn him.
The straight paths on the ground could only accommodate one foot at a time, making Qu Yi’s steps rather comical—he walked with a swaying hips and a cat-like gait, gradually moving deeper into the path until he soon disappeared from the sight of the warriors of the Nine Sects.
After watching Qu Yi leave, the warriors of the Nine Sects pondered in their minds, unable to figure out what use Qu Yi could possibly have for this Fire Control Art.
After all, regarding the Nine Sects, people only knew that Qu Yi practiced gold-elemental cultivation techniques, but they were unaware that he also practiced all five elements. The three members of LanYang Palace hesitated for a while. Seeing Qu Yi enter the passage, they wanted to follow him as well, but realizing that the three of them might be killed by Qu Yi’s Poisonous Fruit, they held back and did not follow him. Next, the 35 strong warriors from the Nine Sects left the circular ground one sect at a time, beginning to venture through the “Life and Death Uncertain” passage. After all the strong warriors from the Nine Sects left the circular ground, flames suddenly erupted across the entire area, leaving them with no way back.