Wandering Swordsman |

"Yes!" Hua Tianyou answered and immediately rushed forward. His swordsmanship was like a raging storm, each move carrying a chilling killing intent. Although the eleven knights fought back with all their might, they withered like autumn leaves under the combined attack of the two. Albert's scabbard transformed into a silver snake, darting left and right, knocking three knights to the ground; Hua Tianyou's longsword was like the moon's reflection in a cold pool, clear and piercing, forcing the other two to retreat step by step.

Before long, all eleven knights were knocked unconscious. They lay on the scorching rocks, their armor twisted and deformed by the heat, like molten bronze statues. Only one knight remained conscious, biting his lip tightly, letting beads of blood trickle down his lips.

Shen Mo stepped forward slowly, the scorching air rippled and twisted around him. He leaned down and stared at the knight, his voice like the spitting of a venomous snake: "Speak, Invincible Lord, why have you come to this desolate, frozen continent?"

The knight abruptly raised his head, his eyes flashing with unyielding light: "Bah! Even in death, I will never betray the Duke!"

Shen Mo's pupils suddenly contracted. He felt the surging will within the other person, as intense as magma erupting from the depths of a volcano. This loyalty even made him, who was used to seeing life and death, feel a touch of respect.

"Since you won't tell me..." Shen Mo's voice suddenly turned cold, and he raised his hand to deliver a heavy blow, "Then I'll go ask Lord Wudi myself later."

Before he could finish speaking, the knight had already fainted.

Shen Mo straightened up, his gaze sweeping over the fallen knights. He hadn't expected these men to be so loyal to the Invincible Lord.

The mountain wind howled, whipping up pebbles and waves of heat.

Shen Mo's cloak fluttered as he turned to look towards the crater.

"Let's go." Shen Mo's tone left no room for argument. "There must be a great secret hidden at the summit of this volcano."

As soon as the words fell, the four figures swept across the scorching rock face like ghosts, speeding towards the summit where heaven and earth met, where ice and fire coexisted. Behind them, the fallen knights lay motionless in the sweltering wind, beads of sweat on their armor evaporating slowly, like their unfulfilled loyalty, silently dissipating in the flames.

……

On the other hand, the invincible Odin finally reached the summit of the eternally sealed volcano.

However, what greeted him was not the ruins or hidden treasures he had imagined, but a deathly silence—a massive, suffocating crater lay before him, its summit barren of vegetation. The scorching air scraped against his skin like a knife, and even breathing felt like swallowing molten iron.

Thorne knelt on one knee, the sweat seeping from the gaps in his armor hissing as it dripped down. His face was deathly pale, his lips were cracked, and his chest heaved violently, clearly indicating that he had reached his limit in enduring the high temperature.

"Your Grace... I can't hold on any longer..." Thorne's voice was hoarse like sandpaper, but he still forced himself to stand up, unwilling to show weakness in front of the Invincible Duke.

The Invincible Lord did not respond. He stood on the edge of the mountain peak, gazing at the empty summit, his figure like a solitary peak, yet exuding an unprecedented sense of emptiness.

The fervent flame that once burned in his eyes is now slowly dying out, replaced by an indescribable sense of bewilderment and loss.

Ever since he heard about the existence of the "Heavenly Demon Divine Skill" from Hua Shenyong, he has made finding the "Heavenly Demon Divine Skill" his key to breaking through the pinnacle of martial arts.

But before him, there was nothing but scorching hot rocks and a barren, barren mountaintop.

The wind blew from the glacier below the mountain, carrying a biting chill, but it was vaporized into mist the moment it touched the crater.

Ice and fire meet here, yet remain separated, as if it were a cruel joke deliberately set up by heaven and earth.

In the distance, the entire frozen continent gleamed with a cold, eerie blue light under the sunlight, while nearby, the aura of magma was like the breath of hell, scorching every inch of skin.

This mountaintop is the epitome of contradiction, the graveyard of hope.

Just as the Invincible Lord was about to roar to the sky, Thorne staggered forward, enduring the heat, and walked to the edge of the crater, looking down.

"Your Grace...come quickly!" His voice suddenly rose, trembling with disbelief.

Invincible Duke snapped back to reality, strode forward, and looked down in the direction Thorne had pointed—

Inside the crater, instead of the expected churning lava, there was an extremely bizarre sight: the entire bottom of the volcano's interior was covered by a huge, crystal-clear ice surface! The ice surface was as smooth as a mirror, several meters thick, and shimmered with a faint blue light, as if the heart of the entire volcano had been frozen in ancient ice for thousands of years.

Even more terrifying is that beneath the ice layer, crimson lava flows slowly, clearly visible, like a imprisoned fire dragon roaring silently in an ice prison.

With each pulsation of lava, the ice surface trembled slightly, emitting a deep, thunderous hum; and every tiny crack in the ice seemed to be wrestling with the forces of the earth's core, barely holding the volcano back from erupting on the spot.

This is hardly a creation of nature! It is clearly some kind of extraordinary power that uses ice to suppress fire and cold to control flames, forcibly sealing destruction within this place!

Odin's pupils suddenly contracted, as if his soul had been pierced by the eerie light emanating from the ice.

He stared intently at the bottom of the volcano's interior—in the center of that crystal-clear, smooth ice field, as if crafted by nature itself, stood a totem!

The totem was about three zhang tall, its entire body as black as ink, yet faintly shimmering with silver-blue runes. And right beneath the totem's base, a figure sat cross-legged, his back to the volcano's crater, his robes hanging limply, as if he had been sitting there for a thousand years.

"Found it... I never thought I'd actually found it!" Wudigong's voice trembled so badly it was almost incoherent, his throat bobbing as if swallowing flames.

Overwhelmed by ecstasy, he lost all reason. Without further hesitation, he stood at the crater and leaped into it.

"Your Grace!" Thorne exclaimed, but before he could finish, the Invincible Duke's figure had already fallen into the crater like a meteor!

The wind ripped past his ears, heat and cold clashing like knives, slicing through his armor and skin. As he plummeted, he saw his reflection on the ice: silver hair flying, eyes bloodshot, yet a near-mad smile playing on his lips. At this moment, he was not the renowned leader of the Seven Stars, nor the invincible lord revered by all, but simply a warrior who had finally touched what he sought.

"boom!"

He landed heavily on the ice, but without the expected loud thud—the ice was as supple as silk, dissipating all the impact. A chill instantly seeped into his bones from his feet, a hundred times more piercing than the ice of the Eternally Sealed Continent! His knees buckled, almost causing him to kneel, but he stubbornly straightened his spine.

Following closely behind, Thorne gritted his teeth and leaped down. He staggered a few steps upon landing, and a layer of white frost immediately condensed on the surface of his armor. The white mist he exhaled with each breath froze into tiny ice crystals before it could dissipate, and fell down in a rustling sound.

The two stood on the ice, speechless as they looked around.

The ice surface was as smooth as a mirror, and the cold air beneath my feet was like needles, piercing straight through my iron boots and making my blood feel like it was about to freeze.

Even more bizarrely, although the lava was rushing and roaring just a few feet below the ice, the ice surface remained completely still, without even a trace of water vapor evaporating—as if time had been frozen here and the laws of nature had been rewritten.

"This ice surface... is definitely not something that nature could have created." Thorne's voice trembled, his eyes filled with awe.

Invincible Duke slowly walked towards the totem, each step leaving a faint white mark on the ice, which was then smoothed out by the cold air.

He gazed up at the totem, his heart churning with indescribable emotions—shock, awe, ecstasy, and a hint of…fear.

Could it be... that the person sitting cross-legged under the totem before us is the legendary first Heavenly Demon God, Xuanyuan Ling, whom Hua Shenyong spoke of?

He held his breath and moved closer to the figure.

The other person was slender, dressed in a simple blue robe, with long hair cascading down the ice, seemingly becoming one with it. There was no breathing, no heartbeat, as if they had already assimilated into the ice and fire.