Chapter 1057: The Terrifying Discovery
"Brother Yun, let me take you to Senior Brother Huoye's place." Huo Poyun quickly said, while inwardly sighing: Truly worthy of Brother Yun, his elemental mastery is indeed astonishing. At the Divine Origin Realm and cultivating an ice-type profound art, yet he could stay here for nearly half an hour. Even those Divine Origin Realm disciples of the Flame God Sect absolutely could not endure this long.
"Look at me, I almost forgot about that. Poyun, take Young Yun to rest for a while." Huo Rulie also hurriedly said.
"No need." Yun Che wiped the hot sweat from his forehead and waved his hand. "Brother Poyun, this is such an important matter. Even a slight miss would be an irreparable regret. Besides, I'm just going far away to rest for a bit—it's no big deal, and I don't need anyone to accompany me."
As he spoke, Yun Che was already breathing heavily and walking away quickly. "Brother Poyun, I'll come back in a little while."
"Ah... alright." Huo Poyun subconsciously moved his foot forward, then thought about Yun Che's words and ultimately didn't follow.
With the Divine Lord battle before them, no one wanted to miss even a single moment of the scene. After Yun Che left, no one even glanced in his direction—all eyes were fixed on the Vermilion Bird projection.
Yun Che quickened his pace and soon distanced himself by several dozen miles. He stopped behind a tall fire rock, repeatedly confirmed that no aura was tracking him, and quickly used Flowing Light Thunder Concealment to deeply hide his own aura.
"Good, now is the perfect opportunity to infiltrate the Burial God Fire Prison." Yun Che muttered to himself.
A divine ruin spanning a million miles—there might actually be a treasure at its bottom that could send him straight into the Divine Tribulation Realm. And the probability wasn't small!
Concealing his aura, Yun Che moved eastward at a moderate speed for several dozen miles, then turned toward the edge of the Fire Prison. When he was only a few miles from the edge, he cast Moon-Breaking Shadow Flick to be absolutely safe, making his body completely invisible.
The ultimate concealment of Moon-Breaking Shadow Flick plus Flowing Light Thunder Concealment, combined with the Flame God Three Sects' complete focus on the Vermilion Bird projection... it should be nearly impossible to detect him.
Yun Che slowed his pace and carefully approached the edge of the sea of fire.
As smoothly as he had expected, he soon reached the edge of the Fire Prison without any incident—not even a trace of aura swept past his position. Yun Che took a subtle breath, maintaining his aura concealment, and silently leaped into the endless Fire Prison.
His body instantly submerged into the rolling flames, and his concealment state vanished. The immensely high-level annihilation force surged from all directions, transforming into streams of warm currents that rushed into Yun Che's body.
Within the sea of fire, he could feel more clearly the tremor of power coming from afar.
As soon as he entered the sea of fire, Yun Che's body rapidly sank downward, penetrating thousands of feet in the blink of an eye. This was also the limit that Huo Poyun had casually mentioned—the farthest depth that Yan Wancang's spiritual perception could reach. This meant that at this depth, even if all three Flame God Sect Masters fully extended their spiritual senses, they would absolutely never be able to detect him.
Like the Minghan Heavenly Lake, the deeper one went into the Burial God Fire Prison, the more terrifying the flame force became. At a thousand feet deep, the flame level here had already completely surpassed his understanding.
"A single wisp of flame here could probably incinerate an entire ocean in the lower realm," Yun Che muttered to himself. "This is only a thousand feet deep, and it's already this terrifying. Going deeper is unimaginable. And this terrifying place spans a full million miles and has been burning for at least a million years without any sign of extinguishing."
"The source of its power—that flame vein..." Yun Che lightly exhaled. That flame vein was a remnant from the Primordial God Era. The true gods who ruled the Chaos during that era were existences that present-day beings could not comprehend at all.
Even the current peak of Chaos power—the Divine Lord Realm—is probably negligible before the power of true gods.
Stopping his amazement, Yun Che roughly sensed the speed at which flame aura was flowing into his body, then activated his profound energy and rapidly plunged into the flame world below.
Two thousand feet...
Three thousand feet...
Four thousand feet...
Five thousand feet!! At this moment, Yun Che looked downward and suddenly saw a red arc of light in the distance of his vision.
In this place where the flames were so hot that no mortal words could describe them, any light would be completely swallowed by the brilliance of the flame. However, this red arc of light was clearly very far from him, yet it was extremely clear and dazzling in this hellish world.
At this moment, Yun Che's body slowly came to a stop, because his profound energy could no longer extend downward.
Beneath his feet was the bottom of the Burial God Fire Prison!
Both feet stood on a firm and flat surface. The texture felt like rock, but any rock in Yun Che's knowledge, even the rarest eternal stone, would instantly melt upon contact with the flames here. Perhaps the "rock" at the bottom of the Fire Prison was also an object from the Primordial God Era.
Flame spiritual energy surged into his body like a storm, but starting at the thousand-foot depth, the absorption rate had already reached its limit and didn't change afterward, exactly as it had been in the depths of the Minghan Heavenly Lake.
The depth of this Burial God Fire Prison was also quite similar to the Minghan Heavenly Lake, both around five thousand feet.
Compared to the extreme purity at the bottom of the Minghan Heavenly Lake, this world was undoubtedly the most terrifying hell imaginable. Yun Che stood there in a daze for a while, the thought "I can actually survive here" suddenly popping into his mind.
He didn't forget his purpose for coming here. Yun Che began to move forward quickly. The extreme flames at the bottom of the Burial God Fire Prison could not hinder his senses or speed; they only became a source of power for him. However, the Burial God Fire Prison stretched for millions of miles, and searching for treasures, ruins, or similar things was undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a vast ocean. Yun Che had dived here on a gamble anyway. Instead of choosing a random direction, he gazed at the distant red arc and moved quickly toward it.
That red arc of light was most likely the ancient flame vein that supported this Burial God Fire Prison!
Moving toward the direction of the red arc, Yun Che traveled straight through layers of flame. As he moved quickly, the world around him remained completely unchanged—the strange rock beneath his feet, the surrounding flames, temperature, and aura were all exactly the same. Compared to the Minghan Heavenly Lake, it was a different kind of purity, but on a much larger scale.
One hour passed...
Two hours passed...
The surroundings were still a pure world of fire. He had traveled straight in the same direction for over two hours, and not only had he not found any treasures or ruins, he hadn't even encountered any slightly different aura. The only change was that the red arc in his sight had grown much larger.
"No good, it's been too long. The return trip will take the same amount of time... I'll search for another half hour. Even if I find nothing, I have to go back."
Yun Che muttered somewhat reluctantly, slightly quickening his speed through the sea of fire. At that moment, his heart suddenly pounded fiercely.
Yun Che's body came to an abrupt halt, and his hand subconsciously pressed against his chest.
This feeling...
Something ahead is calling to me?
It was a mysterious, hazy, unreal yet strangely clear sensation, as if an ancient voice had heavily struck his mind and soul.
Yun Che stared fixedly at the distant red arc in his vision... He vaguely felt that this strange sensation originated from that direction.
What is it? Could it be like the Binghuang deity at the bottom of the Minghan Heavenly Lake? An ancient god that hadn't completely perished, remaining here forever to preserve its final existence?
Is its soul calling to me?
At this thought, Yun Che's spirit immediately soared. His speed increased sharply, and he charged straight ahead. But just a few miles later, a massive shadow suddenly appeared before him, and the surrounding aura changed slightly, now containing a trace of a non-flame aura.
What's this?
Yun Che's speed slowed, and he cautiously approached the strange shadow ahead. As he drew closer, the unusual aura quickly grew stronger. When it reached a certain intensity, Yun Che suddenly realized...
This aura... is very similar to that ancient Flood Dragon's!
The Vermilion Bird's will projection not only showed images but also transmitted sounds and some basic aura.
When he first sensed this unusual aura, he had a vague sense of familiarity. Now he could confirm that this was undoubtedly the Flood Dragon's aura!
Could this be...
Yun Che quickened his pace again and soon arrived before the shadow, which was about a hundred feet high and a hundred feet wide.
"As I thought..." Yun Che muttered.
This shadow was clearly the shape of a nest.
A creature that could survive in this place... even without sensing its aura, Yun Che was completely certain that this could only be the nest of that ancient Flood Dragon.
Huo Poyun had also said before that the ancient Flood Dragon always appeared near the northern shore of the Fire Prison, so its nest must be in this direction. Sure enough!
He just hadn't expected it to be so close. It seemed that every time it shed scales and appeared, it would deliberately move far southward in advance, probably afraid of damaging its nest during battle.
He had stumbled upon the nest of the ancient Flood Dragon... A shiver of fear ran through Yun Che's heart. Fortunately, he had sneaked in at this time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had the life to approach this place.
Since he was here, he certainly couldn't leave empty-handed!
An ordinary dragon was covered in treasures, let alone this ancient Flood Dragon! Excited, Yun Che rushed into its nest with great enthusiasm.
Soon, he walked out with a black face.
Because the dragon nest was as clean as if it had just been swept clean. Apart from the strong Flood Dragon aura, there was nothing!
Not even a single dragon scale... but there was nothing—not even a single dragon hair!
"Tch." Yun Che sighed in frustration. "I should have known. Anything that falls off the ancient Flood Dragon will be instantly burned to ashes by the flames here the moment it leaves its body... Hmm??"
As he murmured, Yun Che's brow suddenly twitched, and a deep suspicion flashed in his eyes.
Because less than a mile ahead, he saw another shadow.
This shadow's shape and size were very similar to the dragon nest he was currently in.
"What is that? It couldn't possibly have built two nests, could it?"
Puzzled, Yun Che flashed forward and soon arrived before this shadow, then froze.
This... this was indeed another dragon nest. Not just similar to the previous one—it was basically identical.
Same size, same shape, same material, only facing opposite directions.
So it really did build two nests... Yun Che was somewhat speechless. Building two nests when idle was one thing, but making them exactly the same—what difference did it make living in them?
But then, Yun Che's expression suddenly changed, and deep suspicion quickly emerged in his eyes.
Wait... the dragon aura in this nest seems a bit different from the previous one?
The extremely high-level flames here, even if Yan Wancang came, would completely seal his spiritual senses even if he could survive. But they had no effect on Yun Che. This nest also had Flood Dragon aura. However, Yun Che's spiritual sense was too sensitive. He had just come out of the first nest, and his memory of that nest's dragon aura was naturally very clear. When he transitioned to this nest's dragon aura, he suddenly felt a sense of disharmony.
Yun Che quickly turned back, returned to the first nest, stayed briefly, then quickly returned and entered the second nest. Not willing to give up, he went back to the first nest again.
After several back-and-forth trips, Yun Che stood between the two nests, his thoughts in chaos.
What's going on!?
There are two dragon nests here, and both have dragon aura. Although these two dragon auras are very similar, they are clearly... slightly different! Could it be...
Suddenly, Yun Che thought of the ancient Flood Dragon's Dragon Gate...
In the dragon-slaying battle a thousand years ago, the ancient Flood Dragon's Dragon Gate had been injured. Mu Xuanyin and Yan Wancang were both absolutely certain that it couldn't recover within a thousand years.
But today's Flood Dragon's Dragon Gate was completely unharmed!
Could it be...
Could it be that there isn't just one ancient Flood Dragon in the Burial God Fire Prison... but two!?
And there have always been two!?
Their scale-shedding period isn't a thousand years... but two thousand years!?
Every thousand years, the two ancient Flood Dragons take turns shedding scales and appearing. The auras of the two ancient Flood Dragons are extremely similar, and they appear a thousand years apart, making it impossible to distinguish them. When they hide within the Burial God Fire Prison, their auras cannot be detected at all...
As soon as this thought appeared, it quickly became clear. All the disharmony became logical under this terrifying conjecture.
Yun Che's body went cold, and then he suddenly shouted, frantically charging in the opposite direction.
He no longer cared about that faint soul call or that ancient flame vein. He unleashed all his profound energy without reservation, repeatedly pushing himself to the limit, wishing he could tear through space.
Damn it! Master is in danger!
But she had shattered her sound transmission jade... he couldn't even immediately inform her!
Neither of the two ancient Flood Dragons was in their nest, so the other one was most likely hiding beneath the nearby fire.
If this time was like previous years and the hunt ultimately failed, then the other Flood Dragon would also not appear, as usual. That was their design—a trump card not to be used until the very end!
But this time was different! From the looks of the Flame God Three Sect Masters earlier, Mu Xuanyin might very well succeed in slaughtering the Flood Dragon this time. Then, at some moment before that Flood Dragon was completely crippled, the other Flood Dragon would definitely appear!
Mu Xuanyin shattered the sound transmission jade precisely because she was afraid of any distraction. And when she was fully focused and exerting all her power against the ancient Flood Dragon, with her own profound energy already heavily depleted, the other ancient Flood Dragon's well-prepared, unexpected strike...
It would undoubtedly be a fatal killing blow!
"Sii!!" Yun Che ground his teeth until they almost shattered, forcibly activating "Heaven-Shattering," reaching the absolute limit of his speed in his life... He only prayed that Mu Xuanyin had not yet pushed the ancient Flood Dragon to its final desperate moment—please, anything but that.
Faster... faster!!
Who could have imagined, who would dare to imagine, that there would be two Flood Dragons in the Burial God Fire Prison!?
The records of the ancient Flood Dragon in the Burial God Fire Prison could be traced back more than six hundred thousand years. But throughout all that time, no one had ever noticed this.
If Yun Che hadn't dived to the bottom of the Fire Prison, he would never have dreamed of it in his wildest dreams.
These two ancient Flood Dragons were not only immensely powerful... but also terrifyingly cunning! They had deceived and toyed with the Flame God Realm for hundreds of thousands of years!!
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