Chapter 600: Endless Lava
The scorching hot air above the Sea of Death was even more terrifying than the flame energy released by an ordinary Overlord Emperor at full power. The fire spirits roaming above all exuded the aura of the Overlord Xuan Realm. It was said that deep within the Sea of Death, fire spirits of the Sovereign Xuan Realm were nurtured.
Watching Yun Che and Xiao Yaohou fall into the Sea of Death, their figures stopping, Ming Wang waved his long sleeve and brought Huai Wang with him as they crossed through space, retreating from above the Sea of Death to its edge in an instant. Because if they stayed too long, even someone as strong as Huai Wang would find it hard to endure.
"Hmph! Letting them die like this... is too good for them!" Falling into the Sea of Death meant certain death, with absolutely no possibility of survival. Because even if his father Ming Wang fell into it, he would be melted to ashes within at most ten breaths. But Huai Wang felt no satisfaction, instead gritting his teeth in unwillingness!
Because Yun Che and Xiao Yaohou could have been slaughtered and tortured by him at will, yet his full-power strike had unexpectedly failed to kill them, allowing them the chance to end themselves... especially Yun Che! Although he was dead, utterly destroyed right before his eyes, the anger that had been suppressed in his chest for an entire day had not been fully vented, leaving him extremely uncomfortable.
"When you failed to kill them just now, I knew they would choose this death," Ming Wang said calmly.
"It is your son's incompetence," Huai Wang lowered his head.
"Enough." Ming Wang's eyes looked coldly at the eternally boiling Sea of Death, then he slowly sneered: "Today's grand ceremony was a complete failure, but it turned misfortune into good fortune! The return of the Demon Emperor Seal gave Xiao Yaohou a free chance to kill herself! Yun Che's intrusion was an extra gain! Dying in the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley, perishing in the Sea of Death, leaving no trace behind—even if he really had a powerful master or a powerful force behind him, they will never be able to trace it back to us."
"This is the will of Heaven... Heaven favors our clan!"
"Indeed, it is the will of Heaven!" Huai Wang laughed loudly: "Xiao Yaohou is dead, and there is no longer any bloodline of the Demon Emperor in this world! From now on, the Illusion Demon Realm will be our domain! Congratulations, Father... no, congratulations to our clan for finally following Heaven's will and achieving our desire, henceforth ruling the Illusion Demon Realm with one hand!"
"Don't be too hasty to celebrate." Ming Wang slowly said: "Xiao Yaohou's death is merely the end of the Demon Emperor's era. There are still many stumbling blocks on your path to becoming Emperor! Those Guardian Clans and Prince Mansions that are loyal to the Demon Emperor Clan are huge obstacles. Especially the Yun and Mu clans—based on what Yun Che said earlier, they have already suspected my existence."
"Father, rest assured." Huai Wang showed a confident posture: "When Xiao Yaohou was alive, they were suppressed to the point of not daring to act recklessly! Now that Xiao Yaohou is dead, they have lost their backbone and are even more scattered. Perhaps they will even compete to pledge allegiance to our Huai Wang Manor... As for obstacles worth paying attention to, humph, just a revived Yun Qinghong is not enough to make a difference!"
Ming Wang's expression was blank, and he nodded slowly: "I will still not show myself in the short term. The path has been smoothly paved. How to remove the final stumbling block depends on you. If you can't even do that..."
"I will definitely not disappoint Father!" Before Ming Wang finished, Huai Wang replied with full pride and determination.
At that moment, Ming Wang suddenly turned around, looking coldly to the south, and murmured: "The people from the Yun Family and Mu Clan have already entered... a total of twelve people. Hmph, the lineup is sufficient, but too late!"
"What do we do now? Avoid them?" Huai Wang asked, without any surprise or panic in his expression.
"No need." Ming Wang raised his arm, holding up the Demon Emperor Seal: "Do you know why I went to the trouble of snatching the Demon Emperor Seal when I had absolute certainty of killing Xiao Yaohou?"
Huai Wang replied: "Father once said that when a member of the Demon Emperor Clan possesses the Demon Emperor Seal and encounters a life-threatening danger, the Demon Emperor Seal will automatically drink the Demon Emperor's blood to activate blood escape, and this blood escape force can allow one to escape outside the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley... Additionally, if Xiao Yaohou found a chance to escape to the location where she entered the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley, she could use the Demon Emperor Seal to directly leave the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley..."
Speaking up to here, Huai Wang suddenly realized: "Father, could it be..."
"That's right." Ming Wang grabbed the Demon Emperor Seal: "To leave the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley using it requires the bloodline of the Demon Emperor. But the memories of the Little Demon Emperor clearly record that royal clan members with diluted Demon Emperor bloodline can also do it! It just requires a bit more blood."
"However, this secret is now known only to us father and son in the entire world. The common understanding is that the only way to leave the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley is to wait for the seal to regenerate and then be forcibly expelled. There is no other way!"
"That being the case, we father and son will directly leave the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley using the Demon Emperor Seal. Afterward, when you appear in the Demon Emperor City, everyone will know that you haven't been in the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley during this time! Once news of Xiao Yaohou's disappearance in the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley spreads, if the Yun and Mu clans dare to target you, you can use this to render them speechless, or even turn the tables!"
Huai Wang's eyes lit up sharply, almost already seeing Yun Qinghong's extremely ugly expression: "Father is wise!"
"Wait half an hour." Ming Wang's gaze turned again to the Sea of Death, said calmly.
Huai Wang was taken aback: "Could it be that Father is worried... But falling into the Sea of Death leaves no possibility of survival. Even Father, you would..."
"Hmph!" Ming Wang snorted lightly: "This Yun Che is full of strangeness! You struck with full force and still failed to kill him, making me feel that this person cannot be judged by common sense... It even gave me a moment of crisis!"
"Even if Xiao Yaohou doesn't die, he must die!" Ming Wang said coldly: "This Sea of Death is the Golden Crow lava that has been churning for ten thousand years! Even if it were the legendary Xuan God, falling into it would make it impossible to hold on for more than fifteen minutes! Then I will wait half an hour!"
"This can also be considered a reward for his ability to give me a moment of crisis!"
"Yes." Although Huai Wang felt that Ming Wang's caution was excessively exaggerated, even absurd, he did not dare to disobey. And half an hour was far from enough time for the Yun and Mu families who had entered the Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley to reach this place.
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Falling into the Sea of Death, the only result was turning to ashes—no matter who.
Xiao Yaohou closed her eyes... vanishing into the Sea of Death was at least far better than dying at the hands of Ming Wang and Huai Wang. However, this towering hatred was destined to go unavenged, and even the truth would remain forever unknown. The entire Illusion Demon Realm would fall into the hands of Huai Wang Manor.
She had endless unwillingness, but at this moment, she was incomparably calm. She didn't know if it was because death was imminent, or... because of the man tightly embracing her beside her.
She felt her body completely submerged into the rolling lava, scorching heat surging from all directions. But even more terrifying than the heat was the aura of death. Yet, as time passed second by second, she did not feel her life fading away, did not lose consciousness. The sensation of sinking was exceptionally clear. The surrounding heat persisted, but it never grew stronger. Even with her severely wounded body, she could endure it.
Xiao Yaohou opened her eyes in confusion, only to find a pair of bright eyes looking at her. Yun Che grinned: "Heh... you... thought... you were... already... dead, didn't you?"
And in her line of sight, besides Yun Che... was a deep, bloody red!
Whether ahead, behind, above, or below... it was all slowly rolling magma!!
They were in a world of lava, yet these lava did not touch their bodies. Around them was a layer of crimson flame about one zhang in diameter. This layer of crimson flame was very thin, but it completely isolated the endless lava around them... and even greatly isolated the heat of this lava!
How terrifying the lava of the Sea of Death was, Xiao Yaohou knew well. Even if it were called the most terrifying thing in the world, no one in the Illusion Demon Realm would deny it. To isolate lava within the Sea of Death... not to mention her, even if her father were alive, it would be absolutely impossible.
But that layer of flame—the crimson flame from Yun Che—had done it.
"What... is this?" Xiao Yaohou's voice was dreamlike, still unable to believe her eyes.
Yun Che clenched his teeth tightly. He possessed the Evil God's power. Even if the magma of the Sea of Death were ten times more terrifying, it couldn't harm him. But he had to do his utmost to isolate the lava and the terrible heat to protect Xiao Yaohou. Although he had unparalleled fire control abilities, this was the Golden Crow's divine fire, and the surrounding lava stretched for a thousand miles, inexhaustible. Completely isolating it was no easy task.
The few words Yun Che said to Xiao Yaohou were already extremely strenuous. Faced with her question, he was too weak to explain, but gritted his teeth and said with difficulty: "I don't know... how long this state can last... Ming Wang's temperament is even more cautious than Huai Wang's... Right now, they must still be guarding outside... So we can't leave for a short time..."
"I can't... divert my attention to look after you now... If you want to personally kill Ming Wang for revenge... then desperately lock your life force... At the very least, before I can't hold on anymore... you absolutely must not die!"
When a life pulse is severed, an ordinary person would die immediately. Even an Overlord Emperor, with their life pulse severed, could only struggle on for a few hours before dying. For an Emperor Lord, having their life pulse severed was also certain death. But if they used all their strength to sustain themselves, with their far superior Xuan body and powerful Xuan power, they might live for several more days, or even over ten days!
"…………" Xiao Yaohou stared blankly at Yun Che, looked for a long while. When she closed her eyes, the word "death" had completely vanished from her mind, replaced by a strong desire to live, mixed with too many deep and complex emotions. She no longer sensed her surroundings, forgot where she was. The remaining Xuan power in her body was mobilized, all used to lock her final life force... She had to live, even if not for revenge, then for the hope Yun Che had desperately fought for.
"You idiot, quickly activate the Great Dao Pagoda Art!" Mo Li said angrily. "This lava environment has an elemental activity level no less than the spatial storms of the Primordial Mystic Ark! With the Great Dao Pagoda Art, the heaven-earth force you absorb per breath here will be tens of times that of the outside world! Not only will your injuries heal quickly, your recovery speed will far surpass your consumption... and you're still wondering how long you can last!"
"Of course, as long as you want to last!"
Yun Che's eyes widened... When he realized this, he almost wanted to slap himself. He had been thinking too much under Ming Wang's shadow, ignoring that this Sea of Death was an extreme elemental environment!
Back in the extreme spatial environment of the Primordial Mystic Ark, his Great Dao Pagoda Art absorbed tens of times the heaven-earth force, allowing his body, which was being destroyed by spatial storms, to remain alive... Here, of course, he could do the same!!
Yun Che briefly calmed his mind. A faint golden pagoda appeared rotating above his head. Instantly, pure heaven-earth energy flowed into his body like a stream... And in just one breath, that stream expanded into a flood, surging into his entire body with a nearly frenzied intensity. Yun Che's mind became clear, his physical fatigue rapidly decreased, his external wounds healed at a visible rate, and even his severed meridians healed at a speed that ordinary people simply could not believe.
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