309: Chapter 309 The Ten-Thousand-Year Molten Berry

The assassin with the rapier was responsible for attacking Ye Tian, while the one with the flying shuttles sealed off all his evasion angles.

However, Ye Tian's combat experience was incredibly rich, and he was long accustomed to such situations. He kicked off the rock wall and charged toward the assassin with the rapier!

At the same time, his right hand gripped the air, and the jingji sword scabbard swept across. Lightning erupted with the sound of wind and thunder as it smashed toward the opponent's rapier!

The assassin's rapier was bent violently by the impact, blood burst from his palm, and his body staggered backward uncontrollably.

Ye Tian used the force of the collision to dodge most of the flying shuttles, with only one grazing his shoulder and leaving a bloody trail.

Then, he opened the five fingers of his left hand, instantly flicking out five purple lightning threads that wove into a lightning net in front of him, blocking the remaining shuttles.

Simultaneously, sword was unsheathed, and a terrifying lightning pressure spread out, actually forcing back the violent earth fire turbulence around them by a few inches!

"Not good! Use your full strength! Don't let him build up momentum!"

The leader, a ghost-masked tenth-level assassin, had a change in expression. He felt a fatal threat from that lightning sword. Black poison essence erupted from the short spikes in his hands as he aimed straight for Ye Tian's heart.

The other two assassins also stabilized themselves and closed in for another pincer attack.

"Rushing to your deaths? I'll grant your wish!"

Battle Intent boiled in Ye Tian's eyes as the Gu Hong Sword Intent fused with the wrath of the sword lightning, and his Five Elements Sword Body operated frantically.

He held the sword with both hands and delivered a vertical slash toward the three attackers!

Wherever the sword energy passed, the earth fire turbulence was pushed aside, and a charred trench was plowed into the rock wall!

"What?!"

The pupils of the three ghost-masked assassins constricted as warning bells screamed in their hearts!

The power of this sword strike was too terrifying!

The tenth-level ghost-masked assassin roared, injecting all his poison essence into his short spikes and crossing them above his head, while the other two also gave their all to defend.

Boom! The purple-gold lightning-fire sword energy slashed onto the trio's defenses, and the blinding lightning instantly illuminated the thousand-foot precipice!

The violent shockwave shattered the rocks within dozens of feet.

As the light dissipated, the short spikes in the tenth-level ghost-masked assassin's hands were seen broken into pieces. The bones in both his arms were shattered, his chest was charred and sunken, and his mask was cracked, revealing a terrified face. Blood flowed from his mouth; he was as good as dead.

The two ninth-level True Martial Realm assassins fared even worse, being blown to pieces directly under the lightning-fire sword energy. They didn't even have time to scream before turning into two clouds of bloody charcoal, leaving no remains.

Of course, Ye Tian himself was not feeling well. His face was pale, blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, and nearly half of the True Qi in his body was consumed. The backlash from forcibly fusing different elemental powers also made his Meridians ache faintly.

"Senior Brother! Are you okay?" Hou Xiaojie asked anxiously from behind.

"I'm fine." Ye Tian quickly took a huiyuan pill to suppress his roiling blood.

He knew the commotion just now was too loud and likely alerted guards in other directions of the Demon Abyss.

He had to leave immediately and find a place to hide.

He spotted a rock crevice not far below, hidden by a large protruding rock, and used his movement technique again to climb over quickly.

Just as he led Hou Xiaojie into that narrow crevice, within ten breaths, several sounds of breaking air rapidly approached from above, and several powerful auras swept over the area.

Following that, an angry, aged voice echoed through the precipice: "Useless! Three ghost-masks couldn't even take down a junior in the True Martial Realm, and they even alerted the enemy!

Search! He must still be nearby. He's injured and won't get far! Dig three feet into the ground if you have to, but find him for me!"

Sea Transformation Realm! And judging by the tone, it was likely one of the Elders from the Shadow Calamity Tower or the Wanren Sword Pavilion stationed here!

Ye Tian and Hou Xiaojie held their breath, pressing against the stone wall of the crevice, not daring to make a sound.

Hou Xiaojie was even more terrified, his face pale as he tightly hugged the Dragon Ape, not daring to breathe loudly.

Above, the Divine Sense of that Sea Transformation Realm expert swept across the precipice again and again, carefully investigating every energy fluctuation.

Several times, the Divine Sense brushed past the outside of the crevice where they were hiding, coming within inches.

If Ye Tian hadn't used the chaos bead in advance to exert his full effort in concealing their auras, combined with the interference from the earth fire energy deep within, they would have likely been exposed long ago.

Time passed minute by minute, each breath feeling as long as a year.

Shouts, sounds of searching, and even the sound of weapons striking the rock wall came from above.

Ye Tian could feel that at least three or four Late Stage True Martial Realm experts were searching carefully nearby.

Finally, the aged voice sounded somewhat impatient: "Forget it, that brat might have already fallen into the earth fire turbulence below and been reduced to nothing.

Leave two people to watch this area. The rest of you, follow me toward the Heart of Molten Lake! According to reports, there are signs of earth fire spirit item fluctuations there; we can't let him fish in troubled waters!"

The sounds of breaking air gradually faded, but Ye Tian could feel that two not-so-weak auras remained not far above, clearly left as sentries.

The crisis was temporarily resolved, but it hadn't gone far.

They were trapped in this rock crevice on the precipice, with sentries above and a dead end below, caught in a dilemma.

And the Dragon Ape's condition could no longer be delayed.

Ye Tian's brow furrowed as his mind raced.

The "Heart of Molten Lake" and "earth fire spirit item fluctuations" mentioned by that Sea Transformation Realm old man... could they be related to the "fire spirit marrow liquid"?

Perhaps that was where the true goal lay.

"I must find a way down, to the Heart of Molten Lake..." Ye Tian made a decision.

He gently patted Hou Xiaojie, signaling him to stay calm, then slowly closed his eyes. He recovered his True Qi while carefully sensing the flow of the earth fire energy and the structure of the rock wall.

He was looking for a hidden path that could bypass the sentries above and lead directly deeper into the Demon Abyss.

"Thirty feet to the lower left, there's a horizontal rift valley partially obscured by a lava waterfall. The earth fire energy deep in the rift is unusual, and there seems to be a life fluctuation..."

"There... might be an Opportunity, but there could also be danger," Ye Tian mused.

But trapped here, waiting for death was by no means a good plan.

Going to the rift valley offered at least a glimmer of hope.

Once the gap between the routine patrols of the sentries above passed, Ye Tian opened his eyes and whispered to Hou Xiaojie, "Hold on tight, we're going down."

He used the animal sinew rope to tie the two of them securely again, slid out of the crevice, and stealthily moved toward the rift valley to the lower left.

He made use of the rock wall's protrusions as much as possible, making almost no sound to avoid being detected from above.

The thirty-foot distance took nearly fifteen minutes to cover.

As they got closer, they found that the lava waterfall wasn't wide, only about a yard across. Behind it, as expected, was a hidden rift valley entrance recessed inward.

Steam billowed at the entrance, and the lava fell like a curtain, but it was enough for a person to squeeze through sideways.

Ye Tian didn't hesitate; his figure flashed as he passed through the scorching lava curtain and entered the interior of the rift valley.

This place was actually a massive rock chamber encased in cooled lava.

The rock chamber was dozens of feet wide, with earth fire stalactites hanging from above. The ground was relatively flat, and in the center was a small pool about three yards in diameter, constantly churning with golden lava—the Cinder-Burn Pond.

The lava in the pool was not ordinary earth fire; it appeared as a rose-gold color, and its temperature was terrifyingly high, yet it was not violent.

The energy within was contained, radiating a fire-attribute energy as vast as the sea, nourishing the entire rock chamber to be as warm as spring. The air was fresh, without the irritating fire poison miasma found outside.

And in the very center of that Cinder-Burn Pond, there grew a strange little tree no more than three feet tall, looking as if carved from red jade, with leaves that burned with flames.

At the top of the little tree hung several crimson fruits, emitting a tempting and exotic fragrance. With just one breath, Ye Tian felt the recovery speed of his consumed True Qi accelerate, and even the faint pain in his Meridians was soothed!

"This is... the Ten-Thousand-Year Molten Fruit?!"

Even with Ye Tian's Heart-Nature, he couldn't help but feel his heart race at this moment, and a light of pleasant surprise erupted in his eyes!

He had seen descriptions of it in the ancient records of the Liuli Xuan Sect. This fruit was the essence of underground lava accumulated over ten thousand years before it could be nurtured; it could be called the pinnacle among fire-attribute Heaven And Earth Treasures!

The fire energy it contained was extremely easy to absorb, making it a great supplement for fire-attribute Cultivators, and it could even help one break through a Bottleneck!

Its value was not below that of an Earth Rank Cultivation Technique!

"Xiao Jie, we're saved! Little Dragon is saved!" Ye Tian's voice carried excitement as he quickly untied Hou Xiaojie and placed him in a safe spot by the pool.

His gaze was fixed intently on those few Molten Slag Fruits, but he was not blinded by joy.

Near such Heaven And Earth Treasures, there was often a powerful existence guarding them.

His Divine Sense carefully swept through the entire rock chamber, and aside from the churning dark-gold lava in the center, there was no aura of any living creature.

But the Cinder-Burn Pond itself gave him a sense of danger.

The temperature and energy level of the lava in the pool far exceeded ordinary earth fire. If he approached rashly, he might be instantly incinerated.

"I must harvest it carefully," Ye Tian mused.

He tried to use True Qi to retrieve it from a distance, but as soon as the True Qi approached the Molten Slag Fruit, it was melted by the high temperature radiating from the pool.

He tried using Sword Qi, but it was equally ineffective.

It seemed he had to get close to the edge of the pool.