Chapter 5: I Have No Enemies
At the bottom of the vast underground cavern, everything was covered in semi-molten black-red lava. The air temperature was so high that wood could spontaneously combust. If the members present hadn’t used various means to protect the strings of their basic elemental immunity talismans, those pendants would have all fallen to the ground as the strings burned through.
But even so, the terrifying heat was assailing the exploration team members who had yet to enter. The warriors and archers fared better—their physiques were robust, their Battle Qi thick enough, and combined with the talismans, they could barely endure the heat that seemed ready to ignite the human body. However, the stealth agent and the halfling mage standing nearby were struggling. After noticing that his robe and staff were at risk of catching fire, the mage had to wave his staff and unfold a flame barrier, enveloping himself and the stealth agent within it. Only then did things improve somewhat.
The current situation was not suitable for using ice-type magic to cool things down. To oppose the great power of nature in such a way would be the height of folly. It was far better to use a barrier of the same element, absorbing the surrounding fire element. Though it remained stiflingly hot, at least it was a spell of his own casting, one he could control—far better than before.
Around the Paladin, white, semi-transparent ripples flowed like water, separating sacred power from the dense fire element as if they were oil and water, keeping all threats and heat at bay. Black, on the other hand, wore a look of extreme vigilance. It turned its head back and forth warily, scanning its surroundings as if detecting some strange information. Around its body, two clearly incompatible clumps of fire element writhed as if boiling, emitting an unusually conspicuous, visible red ripple.
“Is this the mysterious region you mentioned?”
Joshua, however, remained completely unperturbed, as if the heat around him—enough to instantly vaporize ice or set solid wood ablaze—was merely a warm summer breeze. He took a step forward, left the cave entrance, and entered the vast underground cavern.
Behind him, Ying and Ling followed with equally indifferent expressions. With their psionic bodies, they could ignore environmental hazards. Only the overly dense fire element caused some changes to their forms—such as their skin taking on a faint red tint.
This sight alone had nearly made the exploration team members’ eyes pop out. In their view, these two delicate, slender youths could not only accompany their master across mountains and rivers but now endure such extreme heat, at least far better than they could. It was hard to accept, challenging their tolerance.
Loranda remained relatively calm. He knew some secrets unknown to ordinary people, including the special identities of Ying and Ling, so he wasn’t too surprised. But in the next instant, the Paladin’s eyes also widened.
Because at that moment, Joshua had already stepped onto the semi-molten lava ground of the underground cavern!
The black-red semi-molten lava’s outer crust cracked under the warrior’s footsteps, revealing rings of golden-red light beneath. Boiling lava could be seen slowly flowing at the bottom. With each flow and boil, visible waves of distorted hot air and fire element impacts burst from the cracks, their power no less than a combination of the basic magic Hot Wind and Flame Impact. It was precisely for this reason that the previous exploration team had hastily retreated without exploring at all.
And there were hundreds, thousands, of such cracks around. This meant that anyone standing on this ground would have to endure thousands of fire-element attacks at all times. The leading exploration captain, a tall warrior, was about to loudly warn his lord to be careful, but the next scene left him frozen in place, unable to utter a single word.
Because these surging waves of heat and fire element naturally stopped before Joshua.
With each step he took, the dense element naturally parted, forming a semi-circular barrier of semi-transparent black ripples centered on the warrior’s body. This was nothing special—if Loranda used the power of Holy Light, he could achieve a similar effect.
But where Joshua walked, the hot wind ceased, the lava cooled into black solid rock, and the boiling fire element slowly settled, no longer leaping as before. It was as if the driving force behind them had been “killed,” leaving only hollow corpses.
“Interesting.”
The warrior seemed somewhat curious. After walking several hundred meters, leaving a black rock path behind him, he extended his right hand. His strong arm seemed forged of steel, with blue veins pulsing with the power to destroy everything. Following his will, the infinite element around him converged in his palm, forming a ball of flame that coiled and gathered in his hand.
“…Ultimate Essence!”
While the exploration team members were too stunned to move or speak at this sight, Loranda took a deep breath and forced out a few words through clenched teeth: “He’s already reached this level! Life and soul initially fused, the power of nature at his command…”
For some reason, he felt an immense, nameless sense of loss. The surrounding exploration team members finally found their voices, immediately launching into loud discussions. Exclamations of disbelief and gasps filled the underground passage.
It was hard for them to stay calm—suppressing the intense heat of a natural volcano with his own power, seemingly casually, was a level of strength beyond their reach or imagination.
For the Paladin, seeing more clearly and understanding deeper only made the loss greater.
His adoptive father, His Holiness Pope Eagle, had once evaluated Loranda’s talent. Even counting legendary figures like the founding emperor of the Northern Empire, the fifth-generation Forest Elf Empress, and the Divine Wind Sword Saint, Loranda ranked in the second tier. As long as he trained steadily, he might achieve the Legendary Realm. But even so, to advance to Ultimate Essence and reach Legendary, he would need at least forty to fifty years.
The fastest advancement in history was a psychic sorcerer from the Western Kingdom. He awakened the bloodline power of an ancient sage and was fortunate enough to study under a legendary mage of the Seven Luminaries Council. Yet even he only broke through to the Soul’s Ultimate Essence in his thirties.
But Joshua, a year and a half ago, was merely an ordinary Silver-rank knight… And now, at twenty-two, he had already touched the threshold of Ultimate Essence, just one step away.
Such speed could only be achieved by a deity descending or a saint being reborn!
Unaware of the amazed crowd behind him, the youths following Joshua also curiously peered at the flame in the warrior’s hand. Ying sensed that this flame carried an aura similar to Black’s—wild and ancient, filled with ambitious ferocity. Ling noticed that the flame was incredibly lively, as if it had its own life, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Joshua, however, gazed calmly at the searing object churning in his palm.
The power of life is the power of Steel. Its manifestation is very simple—Battle Qi. This power, unique to each individual, naturally repels all other external forces. At Joshua’s level, he no longer needed to deliberately activate it. He only needed to think, and he could naturally use his power to fulfill his desires.
The power of the soul is the power of fire. This primordial force that created the world has vast branches—magic and psionics are partial aspects of it, and the Glory Force is one of them.
Breaking through to Ultimate Essence certainly required piercing that so-called [Limit Wall], but systematically arranged trial tasks were not the only way to complete this step. As long as he understood the true essence of life, soul, and power, and fused all the forces within him into one, he could naturally break through the limits of his existence and reach the Ultimate Essence Realm.
But now was not the time to think about this.
“No mistake.”
He clenched his right hand, extinguishing the flame flowing within it. Joshua nodded and muttered seriously to himself: “This is indeed the former dwelling place of an Ancient Dragon.”
“The element here still bears the imprint it left behind. Just like everyone’s Battle Qi and Glory Force, the element here all belongs to it, rejecting all outsiders. This should also be why the previous exploration team experienced elemental erosion as soon as they entered.”
Normally, elemental erosion only occurred after living for several days in an environment with high-concentration elemental radiation.
“How powerful.”
Without paying attention to the confused expression of Loranda, who had followed under a Holy Light barrier, Joshua muttered to himself. Finally, he couldn’t help but laugh loudly: “If there’s no mistake, this is where the Ancient Dragon, the Black Erosion Dragon Albertlion, lived four hundred years ago. It awakened and nearly caused the Great Aias Volcano to erupt, shaking space-time.”
Only a legendary Ancient Dragon could instantly turn a temporary resting place into a deadly trap that remained unchanged for centuries. The awakening of the Black Erosion Dragon and the shaking of space-time were the reasons the Radcliffe Family moved to the Northern Lands to suppress the space-time gate—the beginning of the entire story.
Having found its former lair, Joshua was very satisfied. Though he had some guesses before, the moment they were confirmed gave him the real feeling of uncovering the truth.
“Look at you.”
Loranda watched Joshua, who wore an excited smile, and couldn’t help but sigh: “You’ve been expressionless the whole way, and only now do you seem a bit happy… Is finding a powerful existence, a worthy enemy to challenge, really so gratifying?”
“No, Loranda, you’re wrong. I do enjoy battle.”
Joshua gently shook his head. He looked around at the countless boiling, leaping semi-molten lava, as if about to erupt, and said calmly: “But I have no enemies.”
Not even fate can stop me.
If it dares to stand in my way, it is no longer fate. (To be continued.)