The Wind Rises Overseas: The Road of Life and Death

When Bu Xu entered the Void Heaven Palace and saw so many Nascent Soul old monsters gathered there, it was like a bucket of cold water was dumped over his head. His heart turned to ice.

Nascent Soul cultivators coming here? They were naturally after the treasures of the inner hall, and the Void Heaven Cauldron was the most important prize of all.

In previous years, the Void Heaven Palace had seen Nascent Soul cultivators, but only three or four at most. This time, however, a full eight of them had been attracted. This made him feel that his own chances were slim indeed.

Still, since he had already come this far, he wasn’t about to turn back empty-handed.

Clinging to a sliver of hope, he had successfully passed the Ghost Mist and entered the Lava Path.

To be honest, while he had felt some trepidation toward the Ghost Mist and the next trial, the “Extreme Illusory Realm,” he had never taken the Ice and Fire Path seriously. He had never doubted that he would pass this stage.

The reason was simple: the cultivation art he practiced was the rather famous “Solarblaze Art” of the Chaotic Star Sea.

This art ranked among the top ten fire-element techniques in the entire Chaotic Star Sea. Using its Solarblaze True Flame, he had turned countless enemies into ash, sending them into the endless abyss. His confidence in fire resistance was absolute. He considered this trial a trivial matter.

Of course, having cultivated for so many years, he wasn’t arrogant enough to try crossing the Lava Path with his bare hands. He had prepared two fire-resistant magic tools. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to prepare more, but purchasing the Fire Dragon Worms had nearly bankrupted him.

With the Solarblaze Art as his foundation, he felt that these two tools would be more than enough to see him through.

Now, Bu Xu regretted it so deeply his intestines felt like they were twisting.

Shortly after entering this place, he had discovered that while the Solarblaze Art was indeed remarkably effective against fire, it came with a catch: if he didn’t want to be roasted dry by the ambient heat within an hour, he had to keep the art running at full power at all times.

This was a far cry from his initial assumption that it would require only a negligible amount of mana to ignore the hostile environment.

Outside, running the Solarblaze Art at just ten percent power would allow him to completely ignore ordinary flames.

Clearly, the high temperature radiating from the Lava Path was fundamentally different from mundane fire. It was almost certainly due to the restrictions in place, which suppressed fire-element techniques in some way.

As for his two fire-resistant magic tools, their effect was pitifully limited in this bizarre environment.

After walking for several hours, Bu Xu’s heart began to race with panic.

Going by the rate of mana consumption, even with a spirit stone in each hand constantly replenishing his energy, he could last at most half a day more before his mana ran dry and he turned to ash.

Naturally, Bu Xu had no intention of dying here. He hurried forward, frantically scanning his surroundings.

But the area was silent. Not a single figure in sight. His plan to kill another cultivator and seize their fire-resistant treasure died before it could even be conceived.

The further he ran, the stronger his sense of despair grew.

After a full quarter of an hour of desperate sprinting, Bu Xu finally stopped. His eyes were filled with anxiety.

Even with the Lightness Technique and other spells boosting his speed, there was no way he could reach the end of the valley at this rate. And if he kept running, even if he did encounter another cultivator, his mana would be severely depleted.

At that point, he wouldn't be the one doing the killing. Anyone who saw him in such a weakened state would likely try to kill him instead.

Bu Xu paced back and forth on the spot like an ant on a hot pan. As time passed, a torrent of thoughts and ideas flooded his mind as he desperately searched for a way out.

Suddenly, he looked up at the deep red sky. His expression shifted uneasily.

A trace of decisiveness flashed across his face. With a flicker of yellow light, his body began to float slowly upward.

Throughout the process, he didn’t blink, his expression one of utmost caution.

When he reached a height of two or three zhang above the ground, nothing happened. A look of wild joy bloomed on his face.

At this height, he could cast flight spells! With a flying technique, reaching the end of the valley would only take a moment.

Forcing down the ecstasy of finding a way out against all odds, Bu Xu made a hand seal. His body transformed into a ball of yellow light and vanished from his spot in a flash.

BOOM!

A thunderous crash rang out.

He had flown barely ten zhang before a silver lightning bolt struck him directly from the crimson sky. A miserable scream rang out, and his body instantly turned to ash, disappearing without a trace. Two objects fell from midair, landing silently in the grass nearby.

…

In another part of the Lava Path, a beautiful woman in her thirties, draped in a sparkling blue gauze, stood hesitantly before a river of lava. Apart from a single, foot-wide square stone pillar, a crimson river channel over forty zhang wide blocked her path forward.

Staring at the scorching lava stream, the woman frowned deeply. But after a moment of hesitation, she cautiously stepped onto the heated stone pillar.

The moment her delicate foot touched the pillar, a flash of pain appeared on her jade-like face. The heat of the stone was clearly extraordinary. Even with the protective gauze, the discomfort was significant.

Yet, the woman was clearly strong-willed. Biting her silver teeth, she slowly began to move forward along the pillar, inch by inch, her expression vigilant.

At first, everything went smoothly. She made it safely past the first half. But just as she was nearing the center of the pillar-bridge, a low rumbling sound came from the distance.

The woman froze. She instinctively looked up toward the upper reaches of the river. The color drained from her face. A look of sheer panic seized her.

A ferocious gale was rushing down along the river channel from above, turning into a gray, misty dragon. It roared as it reached the stone pillar in the blink of an eye, enveloping the woman who had just tried to fly away.

A sharp, despairing cry rang out. Then the woman vanished without a trace.

Moments later, on the lava below the stone pillar, a flash of blue light appeared from some object before it sank into the depths.

…

Near an iceberg on the Crystal Path, a middle-aged man and an old man were fighting back-to-back against over a dozen translucent crystalline monsters. Red and white light shot in all directions. Soon, the sounds of battle died down. The monsters lingered for a moment before scattering. All that remained on the ground were two mutilated corpses.

…

In another section of the Crystal Path, the Extreme Yin Patriarch was strolling leisurely across a patch of icy ground. Black light shimmered around him, and he felt not the slightest chill.

Occasionally, a crystalline monster would emerge from beneath the ice to ambush him.

He would casually flick a beam of black light, effortlessly cutting the monster in two.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he would continue on his way.

…

Two days later, Han Li stood blankly in front of a small crimson hill on the Lava Path. His expression was hesitant.

After using the Smoke Step to quickly cross the grassland, he had returned to a normal pace. The Smoke Step was simply too taxing on his body. Even with his post-Core Formation physique, he couldn’t sustain it for long. Of course, compared to his Foundation Establishment days, the difference was night and day.

Later, he had traversed an extremely dangerous lava swamp. The solid-looking ground was actually riddled with lava-filled pits. Even someone with Han Li’s steely nerves broke out in a cold sweat after crossing it.

If he hadn’t promptly activated the Man Brutal Beard’s Cold-Ice Pearl the moment he fell into a pit, shielding his entire body, he would have been burned to a crisp even if he didn’t die.

After that, while passing through a strange forest, he had been stalked by two or three Flame Spirit Beasts. That had also taken considerable effort to get through safely.

But none of those places had shocked Han Li as much as the sight before him.

Stretching out before him was an endless black desert.

Yes. Black sand. Black dunes.

This bizarre scene naturally made Han Li uneasy. He didn’t dare simply walk into it.

Going around was also out of the question.

The black desert was simply too vast. Taking a detour would add at least two days to his journey.

According to the experience of past cultivators who had passed this trial, one had to clear this stage within five days. Otherwise, the teleportation formation would seal shut permanently, and anyone trapped inside would die without exception.

Han Li estimated that he had only reached the middle section of the valley. If he wasted two days, time would become a serious problem. He wasn’t willing to take that risk.

After all, who knew what other horrors were waiting beyond the black desert? A detour might cost him even more time.

His brow furrowed, Han Li stared at the scene before him, trying to guess what kind of insidious danger was hidden here.

But just then, his expression shifted slightly. Without turning his head, his form flickered, and he vanished from his spot.

Only then did a faint sound come from behind him.

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(The chapter ends.)