Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 328 The Power of the Blazing Fire
Leave the fire path.

The name of this path comes from a wisp of earth fire.

There exists a fiery channel, also known as the Fire of Departure, on the seabed between the Fireway and the three islands of the Spratly Islands.

For Lin Chen, he has already collected the Lingxiao energy of the metal element, the essence of the mother tree of the wood element, and the Canglan energy of the earth element. However, the water element is not available in the entire Nine Kingdoms. The only element he can collect is the fire element.

The reason why Daliang has been unable to recover the three islands in the Spratly Islands over the years is not only due to the interference of the Korean Kingdom, but also because of this Li Huo.

If Daliang launches a military campaign against the three islands in the Spratly Islands, the three islands will ignite this fire, and the entire Li Huo Road, including other roads in the surrounding area, will be burned by the fire, leaving the land parched and barren for thousands of miles.

Similarly, the three islands in the Spratly Islands will also cease to exist.

"Lin Chen, if this Li Fire is allowed to grow unchecked, it will cause widespread destruction. A thousand years ago, the Great Song Dynasty sealed this Li Fire deep in the sea. There are only two entrances: one is in my Li Fire Path, and the other is on the three islands of the Nansha Islands."

The closest mountain range to the coast of the fire channel was Fang Funan leading Lin Chen deeper into the mountains. The scene before them gradually became terrifying. At first, they could still see a few scorched yellow shrubs, but as they went deeper, even the last trace of green was swallowed up.

The inner peaks are barren, and the exposed rocks are all gray.

"My lord, is this 'Fire of Departure' really that terrifying?"

Lin Chen had come into contact with several types of innate energy, but neither Lingxiao energy nor Canglan energy could cause such great damage.

"Even a first-rank martial artist would find it difficult to get rid of the Blazing Fire once they are tainted by it. It took the Great Song Dynasty ten years to seal this Blazing Fire, and two first-rank martial artists even paid with their lives for it."

Fang Funan's expression turned serious: "Even though there is an array to seal it, and this Li Fire has been dormant, it is not so easy to approach. You should be prepared."

"Junior understands."

Lin Chen nodded. On his way here, he had already learned about the situation of the Li Huo seal from His Majesty.

The Great Song Dynasty sealed the Li Huo (a type of fire) at the bottom of the sea, putting it into a dormant state. However, even in its dormant state, the Li Huo was able to gradually turn mountains into scorched earth. One can only imagine how terrifying the temperature emitted by the Li Huo within that formation must have been.

"Neither high-grade nor mid-grade martial artists are allowed to enter the formation, otherwise they might awaken this fiery energy. This time, you can only enter the formation alone."

Fang Funan had considered arranging some helpers for Lin Chen, but there was a risk that high-grade and mid-grade martial artists would awaken their Fiery Blade if they entered, and as for low-grade martial artists... they wouldn't be of much help to Lin Chen.

If Lin Chen encounters danger inside and cannot resolve it himself, no amount of low-grade martial artists can help.

As they spoke, the two arrived at the valley in the center of the mountain range.

"Greetings, Your Excellency."

There are martial artists guarding the entrance to the valley to prevent anyone from breaking the formation.

"Ah."

Fang Funan responded and led Lin Chen directly into the valley, finally stopping in front of a dark green jade tablet in the middle of the valley.

"This is the entrance to the formation. Put on this garment first."

Fang Funan took out a wooden box, which Lin Chen took and opened. Inside was a green garment.

"This clothing is made of millennia-old ice marrow and ice silk. It can help you resist the temperature of the fire. Remember, if there is any danger, return immediately."

"Alright, I've got it."

Lin Chen changed into this outfit, and as soon as it touched his skin, a chill entered his body through his pores, forcing him to circulate his qi and blood to resist it.

Lin Chen's eyes lit up. This clothing was probably extraordinary; its chill was comparable to the chill he had felt at the Three Moon Pool.

Fang Funan didn't say anything more. Li Huo had been sealed in the formation for many years and had been in a dormant state. As long as one was careful, it would be impossible to awaken Li Huo. The reason he repeatedly gave instructions was more out of caution.

Fang Funan took out a black sphere the size of a bead from his pocket and inlaid it into the groove of the jade tablet.

The moment the sphere was embedded in the groove, the stele suddenly emitted a dazzling red light, the jade stele trembled, and a crack appeared below it. As the crack appeared, a terrifying wave of crimson gold energy surged out, and the air was instantly filled with terrifying high temperature.

The rocks surrounding the valley visibly glowed with a dark red luster, and Fang Funan appeared before Lin Chen, his aura dispelling the surging heat waves.

A few breaths later, the crimson-gold aura disappeared, and the crack had been torn open by the crimson-gold aura to a width of about ten feet, revealing a dark red luster at a glance.

"This seal hasn't been opened for almost fifty years. The heat inside has been accumulating for too long. Let's wait an hour before going down."

"Yes."

An hour later, Lin Chen did not hesitate any longer and stepped into the crack.

He chose to come to the Fire Path at this time because he knew that once he reached the middle rank, he would no longer be able to enter this place, and given his cultivation speed, it wouldn't be long before he reached the middle rank of martial artist.

Fang Funan watched Lin Chen's figure disappear into the rift, but instead of leaving, he chose to remain in the valley so he could respond immediately should the situation inside change.

……

Noisy!
Inside the formation, Lin Chen looked up at the dark red sky and took out a transparent bead.

This was given to him by His Majesty. This bead can absorb the energy of the Fire. He has six such beads in total. According to His Majesty, he only needs to fill these six beads with the energy of the Fire.

In fact, the fire energy of one bead is enough. The reason His Majesty gave him six beads was simply because he was afraid that he would fail when refining and absorbing the fire energy in the future. More beads meant more chances.

Before him flowed a river, but instead of water, it flowed lava.

The lava was churning and surging in the river. Lin Chen tried to get closer to the river and held the bead, but after a short while, the transparent bead did not change at all.

"The fire energy here isn't enough; we need to find another place."

Lin Chen frowned. He could only stay in this formation for a month, as the Duke had repeatedly instructed him. Even if he could withstand the temperature inside, the energy emitted by the Li Huo contained fire poison. If he stayed for more than a month, the fire poison would invade his body and be difficult to eradicate.

This kind of fire poison is no ordinary fire poison. Once it invades, it is like a bone-deep carbuncle. Not only is it difficult to eradicate, it will also affect the martial artist's body. Over time, the fire poison will slowly devour the blood, bone marrow, and even the skin and flesh, making the person emaciated and causing their cultivation level to decline continuously.

"According to what the Duke said, the deeper you go, the more concentrated the fire energy becomes."

Lin Chen put away the bead and quickly moved forward. As he went deeper, the width of the river in front of him continued to increase, and the speed at which the lava surged and churned became even faster.

Rumble!
Three days later, Lin Chen stopped and looked at the horrifying scene in front of him, his eyes filled with shock.

Before him, the lava river was now a thousand feet wide. Suddenly, a collapse occurred in front of the river, forming a whirlpool a hundred feet in diameter. Beyond that was a bottomless abyss.

Boiling magma, carrying waves of crimson gold, poured down. The magma torrent crashed against the cliffs of the abyss, creating waves of lava hundreds of feet high. Fine ice crystals burst open on the surface of Lin Chen's ice silk robe, instantly evaporating into a misty white fog as the heat wave swept in.

A muffled thunderous roar came from the bottom of the abyss, as if a giant beast was devouring the crimson waterfall from the depths of the earth.

Similarly, on the other side of that abyss, there was also a thousand-foot river, with lava constantly cascading down.

With Lin Chen's limited vision, he could only barely make out the blurry outline of the river on the other side, because the abyss was too wide. Thinking of what the Duke had said about the formation having two entrances, he understood why there was a river on the other side of the abyss as well.

That area should belong to the three islands of the Spratly Islands.

If you enter from the entrance on the side of the three islands in the Spratly Islands, you should be standing on the other side of the abyss, where the huge abyss separates the two sides.

Lin Chen retreated ten feet before he could barely withstand the intense heat. He took out the six transparent beads from his pocket and discovered that one of the beads contained a wisp of fiery red energy.

"Fire energy".

Seeing this fiery red energy, Lin Chen's eyes lit up. He had only stood still for a few breaths and had already gained a wisp of fiery red energy. At this rate, it would take about three days to fill a bead.

Six beads take eighteen days; at this rate, a month should be enough.

The only problem was that he could only stay in this position and could not move any closer. He could clearly feel that the coldness provided by his clothes had decreased by 30%.

Fortunately, he had made preparations in advance.

With a thought, Lin Chen summoned two golden throwing knives that slowly appeared in front of him. Under his control, the two knives, each carrying a bead, moved slowly forward.

One zhang, three zhang, five zhang, ten zhang... thirty zhang...

The throwing knife was completely unaffected by the high temperature, but Lin Chen stopped when he was still fifty feet away from the abyss.

Further on, he could feel that it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to control the throwing knives.

It seems that this fire also affects the soul.

However, this distance was enough for him; it was already deeper than where he had been standing before.

The throwing knife landed slowly, and the bead also landed on the ground.

Lin Chen ignored the bead. According to His Majesty, if there was any fire energy in the surrounding area, the bead would absorb it on its own. He just needed to wait quietly for the bead to absorb enough fire energy before bringing it back.

Of course, Lin Chen didn't intend to just wait around, so he took out the Martial Dao Seal from his pocket.

While waiting, he went up Martial Arts Mountain to fight a few more challenges. He remembered that Martial Arts Mountain had announced that if someone entered the top 60,000, they could exchange their points for items related to the divine soul.

You don't necessarily have to redeem it, but you can check out what good items are available first.

(End of this chapter)