337: Chapter 337 Strange Movements Beneath Divine Flame Mountain

Nights at Divine Flame Mountain were never quiet.

The rumbling from deep underground sounded like distant, muffled thunder—intermittent, sometimes strong and sometimes weak. Occasional fine cracks would split the mountain's surface, allowing the orange-red glow of magma to peek through before slowly closing again.

Su Changge stood in a patch of shrubs about two hundred zhang from the foot of the mountain, observing the massive active volcano before him.

The smell of scorched sulfur in the night wind grew even thicker.

He pulled the stone slab from his robes.

The runes on the stone slab flickered more violently now—no longer the slow pulsation from before, but a rapid blinking, as if frantically transmitting some kind of information.

The red light reflected off Su Changge's face, flashing on and off.

[Flashing so fast... Does this stone slab react when it gets close to something?]

[Back at the Traveling Palace, it flashed slowly, but here it's flashing rapidly...]

[The closer I get to Divine Flame Mountain, the stronger the reaction.]

Su Changge walked forward another fifty zhang.

The flickering speed of the runes increased again, and the temperature of the stone slab began to rise as well.

It wasn't a scorching heat, but a warm sensation accompanied by a pulse, like holding a beating heart.

Su Changge came to a halt.

He crouched down and placed his palm on the ground.

The ground was vibrating.

It was a very subtle vibration; if one wasn't intentionally sensing for it, it would be impossible to detect.

But Su Changge felt it.

Because he was at the Qi Refining First Layer—his physical perception was not much different from a Mortal's. Sometimes, a Mortal's senses are actually keener than those of high-level Cultivators, because high-level Cultivators are accustomed to perceiving the world through spiritual energy and Divine Sense, thereby neglecting their most primal five senses.

The vibrations in the ground were rhythmic.

Thump, thump, thump.

Like a heartbeat.

Su Changge's expression changed.

[This isn't an earthquake. This is... the heartbeat of something underground?]

[No—the World Devouring Master's left arm! The thing the Seal is suppressing!]

He suddenly recalled what Ye Qingyao had said before—the World Devouring Master's left arm was suppressed beneath Divine Flame Mountain, and the Seal had already begun to show unusual movements.

Now, he was personally "hearing" those movements.

It was a pulse coming from deep underground, passing through countless layers of rock and soil to reach the surface.

Faint, but—steady.

A chill ran down Su Changge's back.

[A Heavenly Demon's left arm that has been sealed for who knows how many years still has a heartbeat.]

[What does this mean? It means the Seal is weakening. It means that thing is waking up.]

[And the Blazing Flame Dragon Emperor wants to detonate the Earth Veins underground—once the Earth Veins are blown open and the Seal is impacted, if that arm really breaks free...]

Su Changge didn't dare think further.

He stood up and took two steps back.

Just then—

The runes on the stone slab suddenly stopped flickering.

All the red light extinguished at the same instant.

The stone slab turned icy cold.

Su Changge looked down at the stone slab in his hand, his brow furrowed.

[Why did it suddenly go out?]

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

And then—

A new row of runes lit up on the stone slab.

They weren't the flickering runes from before, but clear, stable characters that looked as if they had been re-engraved by some force.

Su Changge's eyes widened.

He couldn't understand these runes.

But he had the Great Dao Scripture Pavilion.

The moment his consciousness sank into the Sutra Pavilion, the meaning of those runes flooded into his mind like a tide.

It was Ancient Sealing Language—

"Demon Suppression Array Core, Southern Pivot."

"Remaining Sealing Power—Thirty Percent."

Those words surfaced in Su Changge's mind, striking him like four cold iron plates.

"Thirty percent."

Su Changge muttered to himself.

[The power of the Seal is only at thirty percent!]

[The person who originally placed this Seal must have been at least a True Immortal level existence. It's already a miracle that a True Immortal's sealing power has lasted until now, but eventually, it will be exhausted.]

[Now only thirty percent remains—this means the Seal is already in critical danger. Any large-scale spiritual energy impact could cause the Seal to weaken further or even shatter.]

He looked at the stone slab in his hand and suddenly understood its true purpose.

This wasn't an ordinary recording slab.

This was left behind by an ancient Cultivator—a Seal monitor.

It could sense the state of the Seal and display it in the form of runes.

The previous flickering was a warning—the Seal was being interfered with by an external force.

[The array the Blazing Flame Dragon Emperor set up underground... must already be affecting the Seal.]

[That's why the stone slab's reaction grew more intense the closer I got to Divine Flame Mountain.]

Su Changge tucked the stone slab back into his robes and took a deep breath.

He needed to make a judgment now.

Should he tell this information to Ye Qingyao?

If he told her, what would she do?

Given Ye Qingyao's personality and strength, she would definitely strike immediately to destroy the Blazing Flame Dragon Emperor's array underground. With the combat power of the Mahayana Stage, dealing with a few evil Cultivators at the Tribulation Transcendence Stage wouldn't be a total stomp, but she would have a very high chance of winning.

But the problem was—if the Four Directions Dragon Court had already anticipated that a Mahayana Stage expert would appear, they must have a backup plan.

Su Changge wasn't sure what that backup plan was.

He only knew—four evil Cultivators of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage acting together, plus a possible Soul Dragon Puppet army, plus the impending leak of Devilish Qi...

This situation was far more dangerous than it appeared on the surface.

[I can't alert the enemy.]

[I need more information. At the very least, I have to figure out the exact location of the Blazing Flame Dragon Emperor's array and what the detonation conditions are before I can find a way to crack it.]

[Though using the word 'crack' for someone like me is a bit laughable—I'm just at the Qi Refining First Layer, what the hell am I going to crack?]

[But as long as I have enough information, I can have Ye Qingyao and Zhao Tian execute the plan.]

[To put it simply—I'm the strategist, and they're the ones who charge. Isn't that what I've been doing all along?]

Su Changge steadied his mind and began to move slowly along the base of Divine Flame Mountain.

He needed to find the abandoned mine where Zhao Tian said the Blazing Flame Dragon Emperor was hiding.

On the southern slope.

Su Changge used the faint moonlight to orient himself and slowly headed south.

The terrain at the base of Divine Flame Mountain was complex. Massive volcanic rocks and solidified lava flows formed a jagged wasteland, filled with fissures and caves of varying depths.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, Su Changge arrived at an area where the temperature was noticeably higher.

The rocks beneath his feet were hot, and the smell of scorched sulfur in the air was thick enough to make him choke.

The surrounding plants were all dead—not from natural wilting, but dried out by the high heat. Tree trunks had become black charcoal sticks, and the grass on the ground had turned to ash.

Zhao Tian was right. All vegetation within three li had been scorched dry.

Su Changge slowed his pace, moving forward cautiously.

His gaze swept over the surrounding terrain, and he suddenly noticed something amiss.

About fifty zhang ahead, there was a cave entrance.

The entrance wasn't large, only a bit taller than a person, but the rock surface around it showed signs of artificial polishing.

That was no natural cave.

Su Changge stopped and hid behind a volcanic rock to observe.

The edges of the cave entrance flickered with extremely faint red light patterns—traces of some kind of Restriction.

Someone had placed a Restriction at the cave entrance.

If an ordinary Cultivator approached, the Restriction would trigger an alarm.

Su Changge looked at the patterns of the Restriction, and his consciousness once again sank into the Great Dao Scripture Pavilion.

In Old Ancestor Xuantian's hundred thousand years of accumulation, knowledge regarding Restrictions was piled as high as a mountain. Su Changge flipped through and quickly found the corresponding type.

[Fire Spirit Induction Restriction. It only reacts to fluctuations in spiritual energy. The stronger the spiritual energy, the larger the trigger range.]

[But—if a person's spiritual energy is almost zero...]

Su Changge looked down at himself.

Qi Refining First Layer.

His spiritual energy was practically non-existent.

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

[My cultivation level is finally useful.]

[Not for fighting, but for infiltrating.]

[To a Restriction that only reacts to spiritual energy, a person at the Qi Refining First Layer is no different from air.]

Su Changge stepped out from behind the volcanic rock and walked openly toward the cave entrance.

He passed through the range of the Restriction.

No alarm.

No reaction.

Those red light patterns didn't even flicker an extra time.

Su Changge stood before the cave entrance and peered inside.

The cave was deep, with a dark red light glowing within. Heat waves billowed out from the entrance, like opening the door to a giant oven.

He didn't go in.

He wasn't stupid. The Blazing Flame Dragon Emperor was a powerhouse at the Late Stage of Tribulation Crossing; if he ran into him inside the cave, he wouldn't even have time to run.

But he had already confirmed one thing—this cave was indeed the Blazing Flame Dragon Emperor's base, and there were spiritual energy fluctuations from an array inside.

Su Changge memorized the location and turned to walk back.

He had walked about twenty zhang away.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Because he felt it—something was watching him from behind.

The feeling was very subtle; it wasn't a probe on the level of spiritual energy, but a more profound scan that directly touched the Soul level.

Soul Sense.

Someone was scanning him with Soul Sense.

The hair on Su Changge's neck stood on end.

He slowly turned around.

In the darkness ten zhang away—

A figure stood there.

Dark black dragon scales covered its entire body, and a thin layer of eerie mist lingered around it. Ancient chains were wrapped around its curved dragon horns, making a faint metallic clinking sound.

Most striking were its eyes.

They had no pupils.

Two pure white eye sockets stared blankly in Su Changge's direction.

Nether Prison Dragon Lord—Mo Yuan.