The ancient return was exposed by his sister's live stream.

The dragon huddled in a groove in the rock wall, trembling all over. Its scales stood on end, not from heat, but from fear. That fear didn't come from Chen Hao, but from beneath the magma. From beings stronger than itself.

Chen Hao glanced at it: "You wait for me here."

The dragon nodded frantically.

Chen Hao turned to face the sea of ​​fire. He formed a hand seal, and the protective shield around him changed from pale gold to golden white, more than doubling in thickness. Then he leaped into the lava like a shooting star.

A world of magma.

There was no sky, no earth; all around were dark red, churning liquids.

The temperature was so high that even light was distorted. Chen Hao's protective shield made a "humming" sound under the pressure of the magma, like a gong being struck.

He quickly descended.

The deeper you go, the darker the color of the lava becomes, changing from dark red to deep red, and then from deep red to dark purple.

After sinking countless meters, the pressure increased, causing the protective shield to cave inwards, coming within an inch of his skin. Chen Hao added another layer of shield and continued descending.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Below, in the magma, something was moving. Not churning, but swimming—like a fish swimming in water, but much larger.

The thing slowly rose from the depths of the magma, growing larger and larger. The first thing to appear was its head—antlers, the antlers of a true dragon, forked and majestic, gleaming with a dark golden light in the magma.

Then came its body, several times larger than a dragon, as thick as a train, covered in dark red scales. But it had no feet; its body writhed like a snake, slowly swimming through the lava.

Chen Hao frowned. This thing looked like a dragon. But it wasn't a dragon. Dragons have four legs, but this thing had none.

Dragons possess intelligence, but this creature's eyes are cloudy and unfocused, like two extinguished lamps.

It opened its mouth and let out a low growl, the sound carrying through the magma and causing Chen Hao's protective shield to tremble. The roar was devoid of emotion and intelligence, containing only instinctive, pure hostility towards the intruder.

It actually possessed cultivation comparable to the Nascent Soul stage. Chen Hao quickly assessed its strength. No wonder the dragon dared not descend even knowing there was something underground that could help it evolve.

However, demons who have reached the Nascent Soul stage can already transform into human form, and should possess intelligence no less than that of humans. This creature, on the other hand, seems to lack intelligence and cannot transform?

Is it because of the power underground? It forced it to evolve, but also robbed it of its intelligence, leaving only instinct.

"roar--!!!"

The thing charged towards Chen Hao. Its speed was astonishing, leaving a dark red afterimage in the lava. Its massive mouth opened, revealing rings of sharp teeth, and flames were gathering deep within its throat—it was about to breathe fire.

Chen Hao did not dodge. He joined two fingers of his right hand together to form a seal, which caused a huge disc to appear out of thin air behind him. The disc was covered with ancient runes and emitted a dazzling golden light in the magma.

The disc began to spin, and countless beams of light shot out from its surface, hovering in mid-air, densely packed like a golden forest.

"Go." Chen Hao pointed.

A sword light shot out from the forest of light, as fast as lightning, with unparalleled sharpness, and pierced straight through the huge body of the alien dragon! Dark red liquid gushed out from the wound, condensing into clumps of black in the magma.

"Awooo—!"

The creature, in pain, let out a deafening roar, and flames suddenly erupted from its throat—a pillar of fire more intense and brighter than the surrounding magma, shooting straight at Chen Hao's face.

The flames struck Chen Hao's protective shield but didn't penetrate it at all. The shield didn't even tremble.

Chen Hao didn't hesitate any longer. With a flick of his finger, all the lightsabers behind him shot out simultaneously, like a golden rainstorm, densely slamming into the thing.

One sword light, ten, a hundred, a thousand—the creature's body was sliced ​​apart by the sword light, its scales shattered, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and dark red liquid gushed out like a fountain.

Its struggles grew weaker and weaker, its roars grew softer and softer, and finally its body shattered completely into pieces, slowly sinking into the depths of the magma.

Chen Hao withdrew his hand, and the disc disappeared. He descended a short distance and found something at the site of the wreckage.

A fist-sized stone. Dark red and translucent, like congealed blood. Something was flowing inside the stone, like liquid light, flickering like a heartbeat.

Chen Hao picked up the stone and held it in his palm. Pure energy surged from the stone, seeping into his meridians along his palm.

It's not spiritual energy, but it's denser and more violent, carrying a primal, untamed power. It shares the same origin as the energy emanating from the earth.

He put the stone away and continued downwards.

They dived down for an unknown amount of time.

The lava had changed color from dark purple to black. Not truly black, but so deep that light could no longer penetrate it. Chen Hao's protective shield became the only source of light in this darkness, its golden-white light appearing particularly dazzling against the black lava.

He encountered that creature again.

The second one was slightly larger than the first, and its strength was about the same. The third one was a whole size larger than the second, and its strength was approaching the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm. The fourth and fifth ones—each one contained a stone like that inside its body, growing larger and purer with each passing year.

Chen Hao killed them all.

As he dived down, he collected the stones. By the tenth stone, he had more than a dozen in his hand, the largest of which was as big as a baby's head, and the light inside looked like a living snake swimming.

The lower you go, the stronger the creatures become. By the fifteenth one, its strength was already close to the Fusion Stage.

Its body was twice the size of the previous ones, and the horns on its head had split into four forks, with golden patterns beginning to appear on its scales. But its eyes were still cloudy, filled only with a pure, wild gaze.

Upon seeing Chen Hao, the creature sensed an unfamiliar presence intruding into its territory. It roared and charged at Chen Hao, seemingly intent on devouring him. Chen Hao continued his hand seals and attacks, leaving only a much larger rock behind.

He put away the stone, remained silent for a moment, and continued on.

He descended a further distance. He never encountered that creature again. The mysterious power deep underground had become so concentrated that it had materialized, and the magma began to thin, as if it were slowly transitioning into another substance.

The pressure increased, and the shield creaked under the strain, its golden-white light beginning to flicker.

Chen Hao stopped and did not rush down.

He closed his eyes and probed downwards with his divine sense. At ten kilometers, twenty kilometers, fifty kilometers, his divine sense felt like it had hit cement slurry; every meter it penetrated required an immense expenditure of spiritual energy. Progress was slow, and eventually, he made no progress at all.

He tried again, but it was the same. Something deeper was blocking the extension of his consciousness.

He opened his eyes and looked down into the endless darkness.

What's down there?