84: Chapter 84 Reunion with Su Wan: A Solution to the Problem?

"Damn it!" Commander Ji Yunlan cursed under her breath. She stomped down hard, pushing forward half a step against the turbulent hot and cold currents. Her long blade swept horizontally, shattering a wave of fire that was lunging at the front of the team.

Without looking back, she shouted sharply: "Lu Cheng! Use your Source Power..."

The words had barely left her mouth when she choked.

Commander Ji Yunlan's face darkened.

Damn it, this kid was still in the Body Refining Realm; where would he get any Source Power!

Rumble!

The entire plaza was shaking.

To the south, the sea of fire surged, and crimson blood still dripped from the statue's neck. Waves of heat washed over them one after another, and the stone tiles on the ground were scorched red and cracking.

To the north, the projection of the ice field became clearer and clearer. Blizzards mixed with cold mist pressed in, making the skin ache from the heat one moment and bones go numb from the cold the next.

Two forces were tearing at each other in the center of the plaza.

The air shrieked, and then the ground under their feet suddenly bulged.

Once, twice, three times...

The next second...

Pop!

A charred arm suddenly burst out from between the stone tiles, its five fingers spread wide, gripping the ground tightly.

Then, a second arm.

A third.

A fourth!

Within just a few breaths, a large area of the plaza floor exploded. Countless charred arms stretched out from underground, clawing, bracing, and twisting, making a hair-raising friction sound.

"There's something underground!"

"Retreat!"

"Fire!"

Several soldiers raised their guns simultaneously. Special bullets slammed into the upturned stone tiles, sending sparks flying everywhere.

But the next moment, a charred corpse had already crawled out from underground.

Its body was scorched and cracked, flesh clinging tightly to the bones, with dark red muscles exposed in many places. Its eye sockets were hollow, yet its chest was still rising and falling slightly, and scorching hot white steam sprayed from its cracked mouth.

One.

Two.

A dozen.

More and more.

They crawled out of the ground with stiff yet swift movements, carrying a thick stench of burning and fire poison. As their feet stepped across the stone tiles, they left a trail of black scorch marks.

The moment Commander Ji Yunlan saw what these things were, her expression changed drastically, and she blurted out:

"Flame Slaves!"

Officer Zhao Yue's pupils constricted: "You recognize them?"

"Ancient texts mentioned them! Corpses burned to death after being soaked in the blood of the Flame Demon turn into Flame Slaves. They retain some of their combat instincts from when they were alive and are specifically tasked with guarding the sealed lands!"

Commander Ji Yunlan spoke extremely quickly, her voice sinking.

"These Flame Slaves... carry the aura of pollution!

As it stands, every single one has at least the strength of a peak Body Refining Realm practitioner, and the stronger ones even exceed the Source Gathering Realm! Be careful of the fire poison on them; it'll be trouble if you get contaminated!"

If they let these Flame Slaves entangle them now, they would surely all perish here.

One Flame Slave had already lunged at Lu Cheng.

It moved extremely fast, its charred palm carrying a wave of scorching heat, reaching straight for Lu Cheng's throat.

Lu Cheng's eyes turned cold. He shifted his feet, instantly deploying the Wandering Step origin. His body tilted, and he had already thrown a punch.

Three Styles of Crushing Fist!

Bang!

As the punch landed, three layers of force exploded in succession.

The Flame Slave's chest collapsed on the spot, and the entire corpse was sent flying backward, slamming into a stone pillar behind it and shattering into a pile of charred fragments.

But the next second, two more lunged at him.

"Damn, they sure are enthusiastic."

Lu Cheng cursed, backhanding a broken metal rod from the side and swinging it with all his might.

Bang, bang!

One had its head exploded, and the other had its shoulder smashed off.

But the armless Flame Slave kept rushing forward, opening its mouth to spray a stream of crimson fire.

Lu Cheng dodged to the side, but the heat wave still grazed his cheek, burning painfully.

On the other side, Officer Zhao Yue's blade light swirled wildly. With every slash, he cleared a path, forcibly cutting a gap through the swarming Flame Slaves.

Commander Ji Yunlan held the front of the team, her Source Power released. Fierce air currents rode the edge of her blade, and every swing cleaved several Flame Slaves apart.

But her expression grew increasingly ugly.

There were too many.

They were still crawling out from underground.

And the power of the two ruins colliding in the center of the plaza continued to intensify.

If this continued, they would eventually be worn down to death.

It was at this moment.

In the very center of the plaza, where the sea of fire and the ice field overlapped most violently, a huge outline suddenly emerged.

Everyone looked over subconsciously.

It was another statue.

Also headless.

Also broken.

Only, this statue was covered in thick frost, its base buried in snow, surrounded by swirling cold mist, with a phantom of a half-broken ice-blue stone gate standing behind it.

It appeared right at the intersection where the two ruins collided, standing between fire and ice.

Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck had given a choice... staying put meant certain death.

But heading to the other headless statue... there was still a glimmer of hope!

Lu Cheng smashed a Flame Slave's head with a punch. Without even catching his breath, he turned and rushed toward the intersection.

"Lu Cheng!"

Seeing his actions, Commander Ji Yunlan's expression changed on the spot,

"Don't go over there!"

She could clearly feel how terrifying the area where the energy of the two statues intersected was.

Fire and ice crushed and tore at each other in that region, twisting space itself. Even an ordinary Source Gathering Realm practitioner would be severely injured upon stepping in.

With Lu Cheng only in the Body Refining Realm, he would be ground into meat!

But Lu Cheng didn't stop at all.

He had just dodged a Flame Slave's lunge, and with his Wandering Step erupting, his body changed direction continuously, forcing his way toward that intersection.

"Come back!" Officer Zhao Yue also roared.

Lu Cheng gritted his teeth, not even looking back.

Hum!

The next second, Lu Cheng directly activated Dragon Rage.

The golden-white holy radiance on the surface of his Dragon Scale Holy Armor suddenly surged, and the intricate dragon patterns lit up one by one. His strength, speed, and defense all spiked at this moment.

A violent sense of oppression exploded from within him.

Lu Cheng's eyes sharpened, and he turned into an afterimage, forcing his way between two Flame Slaves.

Bang!

One Flame Slave was sent flying by a casual punch.

The other had just reached out when the recoil from his Dragon Rage state caused its arm to crack.

Ahead, the sea of fire and the snowstorm intertwined.

Heat waves hit his face, and the cold air was bone-piercing.

The moment Lu Cheng rushed in, he felt his bones rattling. His protective holy radiance was compressed and fluctuated violently. His chest felt stuffy, and his ears were filled with ringing.

Whoosh...

A bone-chilling cold wind slapped him in the face.

Lu Cheng subconsciously raised his hand to block, and when he opened his eyes again, he was stunned.

Before him was no longer the scorching plaza of the Southern Ruins.

It was a true world of ice and snow.

The world was all white.

The ground was covered in thick, solid ice with cracks running in all directions, and sharp ice spikes rose up in many places.

In the distance was an ice field whose outline was obscured by a blizzard. The wind whipped snow particles against his face, stinging painfully. The sky was grayish-white and hung very low, with large patches of cold mist drifting slowly in the air.

All around stood a large number of broken ice sculptures and frozen stone pillars.

Some pillars were half-buried in the snow, their surfaces carved with ancient patterns.

Further away, a huge, also headless statue stood in the center of the snowstorm. At the foot of the statue lay a circle of ice-blue array patterns, and cold energy was continuously spreading outward from there.

And right in front of that statue, an army was fighting.

Ice Puppets!

Humanoid monsters formed from freezing ice were charging and killing in the blizzard. Their movements were heavy but extremely fast. They held ice blades and ice spears, and every time they smashed into the ground, large patches of ice shards flew.

The military soldiers formed a formation, fighting while retreating. Gunfire and martial arts light constantly exploded in the curtain of snow.

Lu Cheng scanned the area, and immediately saw a familiar figure.

Su Wan!

She was wearing a combat uniform stained with snow, her long hair tied up, her face cold and pale. Cold air swirled in her hands as she slashed open an Ice Puppet lunging at her with a sword.

And in her other hand, she was clutching an ice-blue core!

Lu Cheng's pupils constricted.

The Northern Ruins core?!

Su Wan also saw Lu Cheng, who had suddenly broken in, at this moment.

She was clearly stunned for a moment, a trace of intense surprise flashing in her eyes as she blurted out:

"How are you here?!"

The few Northern Ruins soldiers nearby were also completely confused.

They naturally had all seen Lu Cheng before; how could someone from the south break in directly from the boundary?

Lu Cheng kicked away the remains of a half-broken Ice Puppet, caught his breath, and raised his hand to shake the crimson core in his own hand.

"I was selected for the team because I have a reconnaissance-type talent. I should be asking you why you are here... but... now is not the time to talk about this!"

He spoke quickly, his eyes scanning the surroundings rapidly.

The situation here was just as bad.

There were many Ice Puppets, and the military's line of defense was already being pushed very tight. On the ground were many frozen corpses and shattered ice armor, clearly having been fighting for a while.

The core in Su Wan's hand carried a heavy chill, forming an extremely obvious contrast with the Southern Ruins core in Lu Cheng's hand.

She stared at the crimson core in Lu Cheng's hand, and her expression changed immediately.

"You took out the Southern Ruins core?"

"Duh, if I didn't take it out, I'd still be roasting in that sea of fire over there right now." Lu Cheng wiped the snow off his face and gritted his teeth.

"Let's get to the point. Since you're here, you should know how to end this, right?"

Su Wan took a deep breath, her eyes quickly returning to calm.

Three more Ice Puppets rushed up nearby.

A Northern Ruins soldier roared and pushed forward, his long spear thrusting repeatedly. The spear light exploded, blasting a large crack in the chest of the foremost Ice Puppet. But the two behind had already circled around from left and right.

Lu Cheng moved his feet and rushed over directly, smashing a punch into the head of one of them.

Bang!

Ice shards exploded.

The strength in his Dragon Rage state was terrifyingly fierce in this kind of close combat. With one punch, he smashed half the head of that Ice Puppet.

The soldier nearby twitched his eyelids as he watched.

Su Wan didn't waste time either, raising her hand to slash with her sword. The cold air condensed into a thin, long ice line, instantly cutting the neck of the other Ice Puppet.

Crack!

The upper body of that Ice Puppet tilted and shattered with a roar.

As she retreated, she stared at Lu Cheng and said quickly:

"Listen, the Northern and Southern Ruins were originally a set of counter-seals. The south seals the Flame Demon, and the north seals the Cold Nightmare.

Now that you've taken out the Southern Ruins core, the seal's balance has been broken, which is why the two sides have collided directly."

"So how do we solve it?" Lu Cheng asked.

Su Wan glanced at the ice-blue core in her hand, then at the crimson core in his, her speaking speed even faster.

"Put the Flame Demon's core into the Cold Nightmare's slot, and put the Cold Nightmare's core into the Flame Demon's slot. Only after the forces on both sides wear each other down will the ruins return to peace."

He quickly looked at the frost statue.

Below the base of the statue, there was indeed a slot extremely similar to the one in the Southern Ruins, only the entire slot was covered by ice, and the array patterns on the edge glowed with a ghostly blue light.

Lu Cheng gripped the Flame Demon core in his hand and said in a low voice:

"Okay, I'll go place it."

Su Wan nodded: "I'll go to the south."

The two set off almost simultaneously.

The Northern Ruins soldiers nearby were bewildered, but on the battlefield, blind commands were the most dangerous. Since Su Wan clearly knew the way, they could only make way for the two while fighting.

The wind and snow howled.

Ice Puppets were still rushing out from the snow screen continuously.

Lu Cheng stepped on the ice and rushed forward quickly. The Flame Demon core in his hand was getting hotter and hotter. Even in this extreme cold environment, it was still radiating heat, and his palm was almost burning numb.

A tall Ice Puppet blocked his path ahead, swinging an ice axe down with full force.

Lu Cheng shifted his feet, deploying his Wandering Step. His body slid past the axe blade, his shoulder brushing out a trail of white smoke mixed with ice and fire.

The next second, he smashed a punch into the waist of the Ice Puppet.

Bang!

The entire Ice Puppet was knocked sideways, and cracks in the ice layer spread crazily.

Lu Cheng didn't linger in the fight at all, using the recoil to continue rushing forward.

Su Wan was also already heading toward the other end of the intersection of the two ruins, holding the Cold Nightmare core.

The two exchanged a brief glance across the wind and snow and the fire mist, neither saying another word.

The next moment.

Lu Cheng stepped onto the frost statue's base.

The cold air instantly rushed up from the soles of his feet, freezing his calves stiff.

He looked down and saw that the slot in the center of the base had been completely revealed, its shape exactly the same as the Flame Demon core.

"Get in there!"

Lu Cheng gave a low shout and pressed the Flame Demon core directly into it.

Hum!

Crimson and ice-blue collided violently at this moment.

The entire frost statue shook violently. Large areas of frost around the base shattered instantly, and crimson patterns spread rapidly along the bottom of the statue.

The ambient temperature began to rise crazily.

The originally bone-piercing cold wind weakened significantly.

The movements of the Ice Puppets that were charging and killing also paused suddenly. The ice layers on their surfaces began to crack in large areas, and many even fell to their knees directly, white steam emitting from their bodies, followed by bang, bang, bang as they exploded into piles of ice shards.

Lu Cheng had just breathed a sigh of relief when he suddenly felt another strong resonance from the other side.

He turned his head abruptly.

Across the twisted fire mist of the boundary, he could see that Su Wan had already delivered the Cold Nightmare core into the slot of the Flame Demon statue.

The sea of fire in the south was rapidly shrinking.

The movements of the Flame Slaves also clearly began to lag. The fire patterns on many charred corpses extinguished one by one, and they fell to the ground, no longer moving.

It looked like everything was moving in a good direction.

But at this moment...

Su Wan's expression suddenly changed.

It was as if she had sensed something; she looked up at the surroundings abruptly, her voice carrying a hint of urgency:

"Not good... this is... Residual Time?!"

Lu Cheng's heart shook.

Residual Time?

What was that?

Before he could react, the surrounding space began to twist violently.

The wind and snow stopped for an instant.

The sea of fire also stopped for an instant.

Immediately following, the boundary area between the two ruins suddenly collapsed. Large areas of grayish-white cracks spread in mid-air, and the world followed with a low rumble.

Lu Cheng only felt his vision go dark.

A huge pulling force pressed in from all directions simultaneously.

He and Su Wan didn't even have a chance to struggle before they were directly swept into that twisted space.