Arriving at the edges of the volcano where Feng Chen had tracked the sect master of the Raging Flame Sect to, the first thing that caught the duos eyes was the sheer scale of the volcano. Easily reaching a dozen miles into the sky above as it dwarfed the nearby mountains completely.
The famed fire lizards that lived near such volcanos were also easy to spot due to their enormous frames bathing in some of the nearby pools of lava that had formed around the base of the volcano, with new lava constantly pouring out from the side of the volcano.
Bathing in the lava that could be considered to contain one of the purest forms of fire qi, was more than enough to show how durable and strong the fire lizards were, as they were completely unaffected by the high heat of the lava and other toxic gases coming from the environment.
Feng Chen and Zu Fei had to stop moving any closer to the volcano in front of them. Getting any closer would cause them to enter the territory of the fire lizards and at that point they would be forced to run away… After all, even the weakest of the fire lizards, was a Core Formation Realm demon beast! Let alone the stronger ones at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm…
"How did the sect master of the Raging Flame Sect manage to enter this place and even find a spot to quietly enter seclusion with so many fire lizards around…"
Zu Fei muttered to herself as she looked at the hundreds of fire lizards peacefully bathing in the lava and relaxing under the sun at the base of the volcano.
Even with their peaceful appearance, fire lizards were among the most territorial demon beasts out there, but they were also famous due to how peaceful they were when nobody entered said territory.
"Let's try looking around without getting too close to the volcano and angering the fire lizards…"
Looking at the fire lizards in the distance, Feng Chen thought over it for a moment before both of them began searching the area around the base of the mountain. Looking for a safe path up the volcano with no fire lizards around.
Sadly, even after spending a few hours looking around the base of the volcano, Feng Chen and Zu Fei did not manage to find a way up the volcano where the sect master of the Raging Flame Sect might be hidden.
"What is that?"
Just as Feng Chen was about to give up hope, Zu Fei's voice could be heard calling out from the side, causing Feng Chen to look over in the direction she was standing.
A small, almost invisible opening could be seen just outside the territory of the fire lizards hidden by a few nearby rocks that had fallen there. Most likely from a past eruption.
"A lava tube?"
Feng Chen almost instantly recognized what the small opening was.
A lava tube, a natural conduit formed by flowing lava from a volcanic vent that moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow.
Now that the lava in the tube had emptied out, a cave leading back to the eruption point of the past was all that was left behind.
"Do we enter…?"
Zu Fei asked in a nervous tone. No matter what, the volcano in front of them was still active and entering what had in essence been a lava tube in the past and making their way back towards the eruption point was quite dangerous.
If the volcano suddenly erupted, both of them would have no way to survive if they were too close to the eruption point.
Even with their cultivation base at the Nascent Soul Realm, there was no way to survive after being caught in the middle of an eruption. At most they might be lucky enough to escape with their Nascent Soul while losing their physical body…
Not knowing what to do as he inspected the cave that had been formed by the lava of the volcano in front of them in the past, Feng Chen suddenly picked up a familiar aura coming from the deeper regions of the cave.
"The sect master of the Raging Flame Sect!"
The aura was clearly from the person that he had entered the Burning Mountain Range to chase after! The sect master of the Raging Flame Sect! He should have been able to sneak past the fire lizards at the base of the volcano and make his way further up the volcano through the use of the cave in front of them!
"We will enter!"
Coming to a decision the moment he felt the aura of the Raging Flame Sect's sect master, Feng Chen did not hesitate in the slightest as he entered the cave, Zu Fei following closely behind as both of them made their way into the cave going directly past the fire lizards above.
…
At the same time that Zu Fei and Feng Chen were making their way past the fire lizards hanging out around the bottom of the volcano, a certain person who had entered secluded cultivation inside a large cave many times the size of the one Feng Chen and Zu Fei had entered through slowly began to open his eyes as he looked around himself.
The large cave was not really a normal cave but was instead what had in the past been the main lava tube directly connected to an eruption point in the past as it had long since emptied out.
But this was not the end, as the volcano had shown sign of erupting again and the main lava tube had begun heat up as fire qi had begun to gather towards the former eruption point. Making it a perfect location to cultivate for fire cultivators focused on cultivating with fire qi.
The dangers, however, would cause many to not dare cultivate in such a place as the eruption point located nearby could erupt at any moment. Spewing forth an endless amount of lava, that would easily kill anyone foolish enough to stay around such a dangerous place.
"Haha! I finally broke through!"
The person that had just opened his eyes began laughing hysterically as he paid no heed to his surroundings.
"Soon, the Flying Sword Sect will no longer be around! With me reaching the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm in one go, there is no way for that old bastard Feng Chen to stop me!"
Revealing his identity as the sect master of the Raging Flame Sect, the person laughed even louder filled with happiness as he began preparing to leave the cave.
"Hm? Who is thi- FENG CHEN!"
…
"FENG CHEN!"
Just as Feng Chen and Zu Fei made their way out of the lava tube that they had entered through and into an even larger underground cave, that the past lava tube had been connected to, a loud scream filled with anger echoed through the cave walls as a figure soon appeared in front of them filled with killing intent.
"Dong He…"
The sect master of the Raging Flame Sect, Dong He, had finally shown up!
But this was not what caught Feng Chen's attention, instead it was the aura that Dong He in front of him gave off.
Clearly, it was not something that even he, at the Ninth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, was comparable to! Dong He, the sect master of the Raging Flame Sect had reached the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm!
Even Feng Chen had not expected for Dong He to improve so much since he had last seen him and could not help but look over at the sect master of the Raging Flame Sect in shock.
Dong He was no different, as he had only begun paying attention to the aura given off by Feng Chen after appearing.
The shock he felt from finding out that his arc nemesis had reached the Ninth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, was no less than what Feng Chen felt after finding out he had reached the Peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, if not more!
After all, Feng Chen had jumped two entire minor realms, while Dong He had just reached the Ninth stage and reached the peak of the realm.
"…"
Zu Fei did not say anything as she just stood at the side and watched the two sect masters confront each other for the first time in at least a hundred years since their last battle over the spirit stone mine that Dong He had ended up winning.
"Feng Chen! Even if you reach the Ninth Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm, you will never be able to beat me! After entering this place, I managed to comprehend a new technique! Why don't you be the first to face it!?"
Fwoosh!
A terrifying flame erupted around him, Dong He was the first to move, charging over towards Feng Chen filled with killing intent as the flame around him began melting the nearby rocks.