Pant~~Pant~~
Lin Xun sprinted at full speed as his breathing grew increasingly ragged. Blood flowed from wounds all over his body, causing his face to turn scarily pale as if his skin had turned transparent.
Most importantly, he was exhausted and was dangerously close to touching his breaking point.
The dizzy feeling in his head grew increasingly strong, making it very difficult for him to maintain a clear mind. He knew that he would instantly fall unconscious the moment he allowed himself to slip.
Escape!
Lin Xun gritted his teeth. Blood Kill Camp’s abnormal and cruel training allowed him to display an insane amount of willpower and tenacity at this critical juncture.
Meanwhile, he swiftly took out the herbs and medicines he had gathered over the past few days and crammed them all into his mouth, hoping he could somehow replenish a little of his reserves.
A help-calling whistle hung in front of his chest. He only needed to give it a blow and help would soon arrive.
However, Lin Xun did not touch the whistle. Blowing it meant giving up and he would be eliminated from Blood Kill Camp. He would not allow himself to fail at this juncture.
It was only the eighth day since he entered Demon Cloud Ridge. How could he possibly admit defeat?Lin Xun suddenly burst out of the forest and a barren mountain range appeared in front of him.
Not a single blade of grass could be seen on the mountains. The barren rocks seemed infused with a scarlet-red glow and emitted searing white mist.
Lin Xun quickly scanned the area as he continued to advance. He had begun to stumble and felt increasingly dizzy as a buzzing noise filled his head.
The battle had been too much for him. Not only had he sustained grave injuries, but he had also exhausted nearly all of his energy. Any brute expert could easily kill him in this condition.
His footsteps grew increasingly heavy as if they were filled with lead. Lin Xun headed towards a red peak from which lava flowed.
He needed to find a safe place to conceal himself. However, there seemed to be no such area at the moment.
The mountain was very hot and he felt as if he was in a furnace as he ascended. Any blood that dripped from Lin Xun’s body instantly evaporated before it could touch the ground.
Heat seemed to pounce at him as his mind grew increasingly fuzzy, but he strongly persisted and endured. However, his heart abruptly turned cold when he finally reached the top.
It was the mouth of a volcano!
Dreadful fire-dragon-like lava roared as it surged below. Thick and hot mist rose like clouds, able to melt anything it came into contact with.
Lin Xun did not doubt that he would be instantly burned to ashes if he fell inside.
This path led only to death!
However, if he tried to turn back…
Lin Xun turned his head. He could faintly hear the sound of rushing wind from the bottom of the mountain.
Has the enemy already caught up?
A self-mocking smile rose from the corners of his lips. It was a dead-end!
“That guy is here!”
“Quickly!”
The voices rapidly approached, filled with a sinister excitement.
Lin Xun walked to the edge and looked down, his clothes about to catch fire at any moment. All he could see was the roaring and surging lava.
Did he have no choice but to jump?
Lin Xun’s eyes rapidly darted back and forth. He refused to give up despite the seemingly hopeless situation.
He began to comb his storage ring to see if there was anything he could use…but there was nothing!
“Little shit, not running anymore?” A resentful voice sounded behind him.
Lin Xun looked back and saw that Lie Ke and several brute experts had appeared about two hundred feet away.
However, their expressions changed slightly when they saw Lin Xun at the edge of the volcano. They did not dare to come any closer, fearing that he would jump.
This was immediately caught by Lin Xun’s keen eyes. He took several deep breaths to maintain his last bit of clarity and croaked, “Should I admire your tenacity or curse your stubbornness?”
Lie Ke replied, “No more nonsense. Hand over my tribe’s sacred treasure and I might let you live. Otherwise, you will definitely die here today!”
Sacred treasure?
Lin Xun was stunned, “What sacred treasure?”
Lie Ke was enraged. He jabbed his finger at Lin Xun and said, “Are still unwilling to admit it till the end? You’re asking for death!”
Something suddenly dawned upon Lin Xun, “You guys were chasing me because of that sacred treasure?”
Lie Ke sneered, “Did you think your life is worth anything?”
Lin Xun suddenly twirled his palm and a blue egg-sized bead appeared, glowing dreamily in his hand.
It felt as if he held a vast ocean in his hand and it gave off a mysterious and mighty aura.
Lin Xun asked, “This thing?”
Excitement flooded Lie Ke’s and the others’ faces as their breathing turned ragged. Unconcealable greed surged in their eyes.
Lin Xun instantly realized that the mysterious bead he had picked up was an amazing sacred treasure.
“Quickly hand it over!” Lie Ke was almost unable to stop himself from dashing forward to snatch it away.
Lin Xun extended his arm over the volcano. All it would take was a tiny movement for the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead to fall in.
“You dare!” Lie Ke was alarmed and immediately froze in his tracks.
The other brute experts also began to panic. If the bead was swallowed by the volcano, they won’t be able to take it back!
“Why shouldn’t I?” Lin Xun retorted, “I’m going to die anyway if you guys catch me. I might as well have this bead as company.”
“You…” Lie Ke’s felt extremely anxious as he hurriedly said, “Calm down. As long as you hand over the treasure, we will promise to let you go. How about it?”
“I will never believe a promise from you brutes.” Lin Xun shook his head.
“Then what can be done for you to hand our sacred treasure over?” Lie Ke’s eyes nearly popped from their sockets due to anger. He wished he could tear Lin Xun to pieces right there and then.
“Unless…” Just as Lin Xun was about to continue, trepidation suddenly flooded his heart. He immediately threw himself to the side and jumped into the volcano!
At the same time, a shadow dashed out from a boulder nearby like a bolt of lightning. However, it just barely missed Lin Xun by a split second.
The shadow was soon revealed to be Shui Zhi.
While Lin Xun and Lie Ke had been talking, Shui Zhi had stealthily approached with the intention of catching Lin Xun off guard and snatching away the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead.
However, even Shui Zhi had not expected Lin Xun to react so quickly and jump into the volcano without hesitation. Could he have already been resolved to die?
Shui Zhi fell to the ground on his butt with a thud and began to gasp for breath.
His injuries had not healed either. After spending so long preparing for the ambush, his entire body was racked with pain.
“No――!” Lie Ke and the others howled, their faces aghast.
How could they have imagined that such a thing would happen at the last moment after finally getting a chance to take back the sacred treasure?
Their minds went blank along with their expressions.
It’s over.
It’s all over!
Shui Zhi’s expression was also extremely ugly, and his pretty-boy face was ashen and stormy. He refused to believe that Lin Xun would give up on his life just like that.
How could someone like him die so easily?
Shaman Ye Ling soon arrived. When he was told what had happened, he revealed a relieved expression and sneered, “You’ve all been tricked!”
“What?” Everyone, including Shui Zhi, looked over.
“The Heavenly Water Sacred Bead is a sacred treasure of the Water Tribe and originated from ancient times. Do you guys think a mere volcano can destroy it?”
Shaman Ye Ling’s thin figure appeared at the edge of the volcano, his expression filled with ice-cold hatred, “If I’m not wrong, with our sacred treasure’s protection, that human shitbag didn’t instantly die either!”
Everyone else was stunned as their expressions began to fluctuate indeterminately.
“Does that mean we still have a chance to take back the sacred treasure?” Lie Ke asked in a trembling voice, finally seeing a ray of hope again.
Shaman Ye Ling sighed softly as his eyebrows scrunched together, “Although the volcano can’t do anything to the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead, none of us will survive jumping in. Only a Brute Warrior will not fear the lava.”
A Brute Warrior!
A Brute Warrior was comparable to a human Spirit Sea stage cultivator. It was impossible to find such an expert in Demon Cloud Ridge.
It was like Shi Yu had explained, Demon Cloud Ridge was merely a training ground. Although there were constant small-scale battles, neither the empire nor the brute race would dispatch true experts here.
Otherwise, Demon Cloud Ridge would lose its purpose as a training ground.
“What should we do?” Lie Ke and the others were clearly disappointed.
“We wait. I refuse to believe that he will camp there his whole life!” Shui Zhi declared in a determined voice, a vicious aura brewing between his brows, “Go gather people to guard this entire mountain. Do not let anyone else approach!”
“We shall do as Shui Zhi says.”
Shaman Ye Ling also understood that this was the only option they had in the current situation.
Shui Zhi took a deep breath, sat down, and began to meditate at the mouth of the volcano. He needed to recover from his wounds and replenish his energy as soon as possible.
……
Rumble~~
Lava roared like an angry fire dragon as it released a terrifying heat.
There was a figure lying on a protruding boulder at the bottom of the volcano.
He was surrounded by a blue ball of rippling light. No matter how the surrounding lava churned, it was unable to approach the blue light.
The figure naturally belonged to Lin Xun who had fallen unconscious.
The rippling blue light was being given off by the Heavenly Water Sacred Bead he had tightly grasped in his hand.
It was like a barrier that protected him and prevented any lava or heat from approaching.
In his unconscious state, Lin Xun did not notice wisps of ice-cold blue light continuously drifting into his wounds and pouring into his body.
Lin Xun was dreaming. In his dream, he had returned to the day when the mountain prison was destroyed. He fell through the dark abyss as he helplessly watched a giant hand descend from the sky and engulf Mister Lu’s body…
Soon after, he saw Xia Zhi. She was looking back in the darkness as she softly said, “Lin Xun, you can’t die before I return…”
Lin Xun’s body suddenly turned rigid as he abruptly awakened and opened his eyes.