Chapter 114: Earthfire Blocks the Path
A way to survive appeared, and the group moved forward.
Before long, they reached another fork in the path.
Now, it was up to Qing Yuan.
Sun Wenpeng sneered, “Only you are left.”
He pushed Qing Yuan from behind and pointed ahead. “Aren’t you going forward?”
Han Yu glanced at Gan Huan and whispered, “If we want to save this young man, the next step is to have the disciples of the Seven Spirits Sect scout ahead. Acting alone would seem unreasonable, but if we speak up together, it will carry enough weight. What do you think?”
Gan Huan barely nodded.
Han Yu whispered, “Then speak up.”
A heavy silence followed.
Neither Gan Huan nor Han Yu spoke.
This young man was truly admirable, but that didn’t mean they would give up the opportunity within reach. To avoid internal conflict, they remained silent.
“Brother Daoist Gan, that’s not very righteous,” Han Yu continued quietly with a smile. “You nodded but didn’t speak, leaving me to take the lead? Very well, if Brother Daoist Gan believes this person is not that important to you, so be it… But tell me, is our alliance truly sealed or not?”
Gan Huan cast a glance, a flicker of something peculiar in his eyes. He did not nod, but neither did he shake his head.
Indifference, seen from another angle, was almost an unspoken agreement.
A smile tugged at the corner of Han Yu’s lips.
...
Qing Yuan looked at the two paths before him.
If he were alone, there were many ways to scout ahead—like the carved tiger and wolf wooden figurines he fashioned from paper horses.
But now, constrained and needing to conceal his skills, he had to act weak. In their eyes, he had already been suppressed by Han Yu’s elixir, unable to use his true energy, so he dared not expose himself.
Sun Yu glanced at Qing Yuan and said sternly, “Take the left path.”
Qing Yuan turned back. “Since left has always been considered greater, and I am the junior, I will take the right. How about that?”
Sun Yu frowned sharply. “Enough nonsense!”
“That works too,” said Daoist He of the Seven Spirits Sect. “One path leads to life, the other to death. We cannot tell which is which, so let him choose. If he dies, the other must be the way forward. If he lives, he will have walked the path of life… It makes no difference.”
Sun Wenpeng was displeased and kicked at Qing Yuan’s back in anger. “Move!”
Qing Yuan shifted half a foot aside, dodging the kick.
“I’m going.” Without looking back, Qing Yuan said calmly and stepped forward.
---
According to the map, the Li Yue Valley was not far ahead—it lay where the Ancient Master Guangyuan Ye Tianzun had set his array. Qing Yuan silently counted his steps; it was nearly time.
In other words, the path before him was about to end.
“Judging by the map of the Ancient Master Guangyuan Ye Tianzun, Li Yue Valley should follow the cycle of the Five Elements, though the general directions remain constant. This side is south, corresponding to fire.”
Qing Yuan thought, “Before, I was too far away to sense anything, but now, near the center, I can feel the fiery aura. The right path has a stronger flame presence.”
The other elders might notice something unusual about this path, but they didn’t know what the fiery aura signified.
Only Qing Yuan knew that this fiery aura marked the path of life.
He proceeded slowly. The rock walls on either side exuded warmth. Though somewhat confident, he remained cautious, quietly releasing his suppressed energy and subtly circulating his true qi.
After walking more than twenty steps, nothing changed.
After a hundred steps, still no difference.
Only after crossing a hundred zhang (about three hundred feet) did the danger truly dissipate.
A path of life!
The elders exchanged glances.
Han Yu smiled, “Our luck isn’t bad.”
Even they couldn’t see through this path. They did not think this young man from the Third Heaven could discern anything; it was merely luck.
Sun Wenpeng snorted coldly, displeased.
They followed quietly behind Qing Yuan.
Qing Yuan kept moving forward without stopping or attempting to flee. He knew that with his level of cultivation, escaping in front of the elders was impossible.
Since this was a path of life, it would be clear until the next fork. He could run ahead, and the elders would catch up. Even if he escaped, at the next fork, hesitation was inevitable. Most importantly, Qing Yuan had no intention of fleeing under their watch—he had other plans.
With the Red River White Night Yin Spirit Carriage protecting his life, he could attempt these plans.
“Good thing Sun Wenpeng didn’t search this bag, or I would have had to fight then.”
Qing Yuan instinctively reached to his waist, but his iron rod was gone.
Sun Wenpeng had taken it as a treasure since it was covered in thunder runes. But Qing Yuan was not overly worried.
When the Earth Dragon entered his body, its tail had landed on the iron rod, linking it inseparably to him as his life treasure.
A life treasure, fused as one with its owner, was extraordinary.
After a while, another fork appeared.
This time, Qing Yuan sensed the heat ahead growing stronger.
“Is this the last fork?”
He thought to himself and, without waiting for others, moved forward.
---
The path ahead remained clear, but at its end was a blaze of fire.
...
It was an empty chamber, about a hundred zhang in diameter.
Heat pressed in from all sides.
Countless cracks marred the ground, glowing with red light, shining like heated iron.
Beneath the earth, molten fire surged, turning rock into magma.
“This...” The middle-aged Daoist of the Seven Spirits Sect looked grim. “We came here before, from another mountain path...”
The four elders’ faces darkened, even the usually calm Han Yu wore a somber expression.
“We once released a lone cultivator’s seal here, letting him use his Dao techniques to cross this fiery land. He condensed his technique at his feet, but after only twelve steps, even with Third Heaven cultivation, he couldn’t withstand it and turned to ashes instantly.”
The middle-aged Daoist said solemnly, “We tried many times and failed, so we marked this as a dead end...”
Sun Yu said coldly, “So, all the mountain paths are dead ends?”
The Daoist answered, “There is another place with a similar environment, but it is a pond, not frozen but chillingly cold. The water is as heavy as we saw just now—any disturbance means near-certain death. This place is fire, but equally perilous...”
Sun Yu’s tone turned icy, “Are you telling me our months of planning, even abandoning the search for the Divine Thunder, have been for nothing?”
The Daoist sensed the killing intent in his words. His face changed, and he dared not reply, looking instead toward the sect’s Supreme Elder.
Daoist He pondered briefly and said, “Perhaps we simply haven’t found the true way yet.”
The fire chamber grew quiet.
The heat warped the vision ahead; now and then, the sound of magma bubbles bursting echoed.
Other than these sounds, the silence was unnerving.
Even the disciples of the Sun family and Seven Spirits Sect grew uneasy, hearts pounding.
“The true way...”
At that moment, a voice slowly spoke, “Perhaps I can give it a try.”
Everyone turned toward the speaker.
It was the young man in Daoist robes, hair unbound, his expression serious and sincere.
“I... might understand the profound secret of the way,” Qing Yuan said.