85: Chapter 85 Are you sure you can accept this?

When Lu Cheng opened his eyes again, his feet were already touching solid ground.

The snowstorm was gone, and the sea of fire had vanished as well. Yet, the surroundings were even more bizarre.

On one side stood a towering crimson statue, and on the other, an ice-blue statue covered in frost. They were completely intact, their heads still securely attached to their necks.

However, the difference was that both statues showed clear signs of being 'polluted,' facing each other from across a sea of gray-white mist.

The ground was divided into two halves; the left side consisted of black stone with flowing dark red veins, while the right side was made of pale stone bricks covered in thin ice. In the middle lay an extremely long fissure, from which smoke continuously billowed out.

Lu Cheng stood before the Southern Ruins statue, while Su Wan stood on the other side, no more than a dozen meters away.

Both of them looked up almost simultaneously, their expressions changing.

This space connected the Northern Ruins and the Southern Ruins.

More accurately, it connected the Northern Ruins and the Southern Ruins of the past.

Back then, the heads of the statues were still there.

"Fragmented Time..."

Su Wan's voice was tight, her fingers clenched until they turned white.

She knew exactly what kind of place this was... A severed space-time. To be capable of such a feat, one must have reached at least the Saint Realm!

The gray-white mist churned slowly between the two statues.

The next second.

A figure stepped out from the mist.

Lu Cheng's pupils shrank abruptly.

It was a man with a slender build, wearing a strangely styled long black garment, the hem of which swayed gently in the wind.

His face was exactly the same as the one Lu Cheng had seen in his dream; his features were cold and hard, his gaze excessively calm. He held a long blade in his hand, the body of which was dull, yet its edge shimmered with a very thin layer of white light.

It was him.

The man from his dream.

Lu Cheng's back tensed instantly, and he even held his breath for a moment.

Su Wan also saw the man, her face pale as she whispered, "Do you know him?"

"Not exactly..."

The man did not look at them.

He walked step by step toward the center of the two statues. The black stone and ice bricks beneath his feet lit up simultaneously, and the entire space trembled gently.

From deep within the gray mist in the distance, a low, rumbling roar could be faintly heard.

One hot, one cold, the two sounds intertwined, making one's scalp tingle.

The man raised his blade, his movements terrifyingly decisive.

Swish!

The first strike slashed out, and the crimson statue's head flew straight off.

The cut was smooth, and a large amount of scorching light erupted from the neck, illuminating half the space in a crimson glow.

Immediately after, the second strike.

The ice-blue statue's head was also severed, causing cold mist to explode outward, instantly coating the ground in a layer of thick frost.

Lu Cheng's eyelids twitched as he watched.

The residual power of these two statues alone had been enough to turn the entire ruin into such a ghostly mess.

Yet this man raised his hand and struck twice, as if he were just chopping vegetables.

The man sheathed his blade, his expression indifferent, as if he had just done something completely ordinary.

He looked at the two headless statues and spoke calmly.

"This place has been polluted... It won't last much longer. In the years to come, they will continuously 'obtain' keys until they escape."

His voice was not loud, yet it fell clearly into the ears of Lu Cheng and Su Wan.

The man raised his hand and grasped.

The two newly severed statue heads slowly flew up.

The crimson head from the south fell toward Lu Cheng, while the ice-blue head from the north fell toward Su Wan.

Lu Cheng instinctively reached out to catch it.

The moment it landed in his hands, his arm sank violently, and he was almost pressed to his knees.

This head was not large, only a circle bigger than a normal human head, but its weight was absurdly exaggerated. One must know that Lu Cheng, wearing the Dragon Scale Holy Armor, possessed raw strength comparable to an ordinary Meridian Opening Realm practitioner.

On the other side, when Su Wan caught the ice-blue head, frost instantly covered her eyelashes, and her breathing hitched.

The man looked at them, his gaze finally finding a point to land.

"Rather than letting them wait for resurrection in the endless years, it is better to turn them into firewood and burn away this hypocritical cycle."

Su Wan clearly understood something as well; her face went even paler. She moved her lips but did not interject.

The man continued:

"This is the power of the past... They have sacrificed enough to guard these two things..."

His gaze fell upon the statue heads in their hands, his voice remaining calm.

"This... is also the power of the future."

He paused. The two terrifying roars from deep within the gray mist suddenly rose in volume, and the entire space began to distort slightly.

The man looked up at Lu Cheng and Su Wan.

"Those two things... I leave them to you."

The moment his voice fell, Lu Cheng felt the statue head in his hands shake violently.

The next second.

The entire space began to collapse.

The gray-white sky cracked open with fissures, the two intact statues quickly blurred, and the black stone and ice bricks on the ground shattered bit by bit, turning into vast patches of light that scattered in all directions.

"Wait!"

Lu Cheng shouted instinctively, "Who exactly are you?!"

The man did not answer.

His figure faded bit by bit into the mist, and in the end, only a pair of extremely calm eyes remained, looking at Lu Cheng across the space-time that was about to shatter.

Lu Cheng returned to the statue in the Northern Ruins. The crimson head in his hand suddenly lit up, absorbing the remaining core of the ruins into itself.

A fist-sized dark red fire core slowly emerged. In the center of the fire core was a distorted humanoid phantom wrapped in flames, eyes tightly shut, yet its aura was shockingly fierce.

Immediately after, the fire core turned into an extremely violent torrent of flames, pouring directly into his body through his palm, arm, and chest!

"Damn!"

Lu Cheng let out a muffled groan, the veins on his forehead instantly bulging.

It was too hot!

His blood vessels, bones, and internal organs were all being crazily scorched by the high temperature.

Yet, eerily, his body was not burned through. Instead, it vibrated rapidly under the impact of this power, his blood and energy were ignited layer by layer, and even his Guiding Technique source was stimulated into running frantically.

On the other side, the ice-blue head in Su Wan's hands was also disintegrating, with large amounts of cold air pouring into her body, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet.

One hot, one cold, the two forces collided across the distance.

Lu Cheng's vision went black from the pain, but suddenly a system notification rang in his ears.

[Obtained 'Eternal Flame Demon Bloodline': Gained exclusive flame "Eternal Calamity Flame" (extremely strong burning ability, difficult to extinguish, can continuously erode the enemy's energy, blood energy, and spiritual power)]

[When the host is injured, blood and pain will conversely stimulate the bloodline, causing the flame power to surge; the more severe the injury, the stronger the combat power, and the closer to the limit, the more terrifying the outburst]

[Can activate [Flame Demon Transformation]: grow flame horns on the head, pupils turn molten gold, body wrapped in black-red demonic flames, significantly increasing combat power, melee attacks carry incineration effects]

[Eternal Calamity: Every time you survive near-death, the bloodline will remember this destruction]

[The next time you face the same type of flame, attack, or energy, resistance will be permanently increased]

By the time the series of notifications finished scrolling, Lu Cheng was almost burned numb.

Yet, he still forced himself to finish reading them.

After reading, only one thought remained in his mind.

The next second, Lu Cheng's body suddenly roared.

His chest shook, and a layer of dark red veins quickly surfaced on his skin. The sound of blood flowing was shockingly clear in his ears, and a flash of molten gold flickered deep within his eyes.

In the palm of his hand, a wisp of black-red flame danced gently.

The flame was small, but its aura was shockingly overbearing. As soon as it appeared, the scattered space fragments around it were burned until they distorted, emitting faint crackling sounds.

Eternal Calamity Flame...

Just at this moment, the surrounding collapsing space suddenly re-converged, and the situation in the Southern Ruins was no longer visible.

The space began to stabilize... However, quite a bit of Ice Nightmare energy remained beneath the statue. As long as this energy did not dissipate, the Northern Ruins could continue to exist.

There were still many things here worth researching and exploring. Just as this thought rose in Lu Cheng's mind, a loud shout exploded in his ears.

"Watch out!"

The Hua Hai Realm soldier from the Northern Ruins side was rushing toward him!

Almost at the same time, an extremely sharp sense of crisis pierced into his mind.

It was too close!

So close that Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck only had time to give him a stinging pain.

Lu Cheng instinctively wanted to dodge to the side.

But it was half a beat too late.

Puchi!

A hand pierced out from the front of his chest.

Blood sprayed instantly.

That hand had long, slender fingers and was wearing a black glove; blood was still dripping from its fingertips.

Lu Cheng's eyes widened, a mouthful of blood surged up his throat, and his whole body was jolted forward by the penetrating force.

Agonizing pain exploded at that moment. There was an icy coldness beside his heart, immediately followed by the scorching heat of the Eternal Calamity Flame crazily counterattacking. With the cold and heat intermingling, the pain made his vision go white.

Behind him, a low, hoarse voice slowly sounded.

"Damn..."

The person seemed to have been burned as well, his tone carrying a trace of irrepressible shock and anger.

Immediately after, he chuckled lowly.

"Good luck... The power of the Flame Demon... I'll accept it!"

Lu Cheng turned his head bit by bit, the blood-stained hand still hanging from his chest, but his gaze was already nailed firmly onto the face of the person behind him.

The next second, scorching heat and Dragon Might exploded from him simultaneously.

Golden-white Holy Radiance flowed crazily along the Dragon Scale Holy Armor, and black-red Eternal Calamity Flame surged out from the edges of the wound, even burning the air until it trembled.

With blood hanging from the corners of his mouth, Lu Cheng stared at the man in black and spoke word by word:

"Are you sure you can take it!?"

Dangerous.

Extremely dangerous.

Even though the man in black he had encountered before was a far cry from this one!

Without any hesitation, Lu Cheng went all out!

The Holy Armor was completely unleashed, golden-white dragon scales instantly covered his entire body, and the massive Radiant Dragon Soul manifested behind him with a boom, spreading its wings and sweeping out its pressure.

Immediately after, the molten gold in Lu Cheng's eyes surged, dark red flame horns sprouted from the sides of his forehead, and black-red demonic flames wrapped around his entire body.

Flame Demon Transformation!

The two forces roared crazily within his body, actually forcefully jamming the arm that had pierced through his chest.

The man in black's expression changed drastically. Just as he wanted to pull back and retreat, Lu Cheng suddenly raised his hand and clamped onto his wrist!

"Want to leave?"

Lu Cheng let out a low roar, his five fingers locking onto the opponent like iron pliers, letting the blood surge wildly from his chest, yet he did not retreat a single step.

The next instant, the Eternal Calamity Flame within his body poured wildly down that arm!

The man in black's pupils shrank, the black glove on his arm instantly ignited, and the flames crawled up along his flesh like a living thing.

"Ah!"

A shrill, miserable scream suddenly tore through the air.

He crazily urged his Source Power, trying to shake it off, but once the Eternal Calamity Flame touched something, it was simply not something that could be extinguished by ordinary means.

The black-red flames burned all the way up his meridians to his shoulders and chest, igniting even the power within his body along with it.

Lu Cheng's eyes were cold. He raised his other hand, and on the dragon-scale-covered fist, golden-white Holy Radiance and black-red demonic flames intertwined and compressed.

"Die!"

Boom!

He smashed out a punch!

The man in black's chest collapsed on the spot, and his whole body flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the pile of rubble beneath the statue.

But Lu Cheng didn't give him any chance to breathe.

He stomped his foot, and the ground exploded.

His figure instantly closed in, and he raised his hand for another strike:

Holy Dragon Shock Blast!

Roar!

The Dragon Soul roared, and a terrifying golden-white beam of light mixed with a black-red torrent of flames crashed down, directly engulfing that entire area.

Rumble!

Rubble flew, the ground collapsed, and the exploding energy tore the surrounding mist to shreds.

When the aftershocks dispersed, the man in black was nothing more than a charred, broken corpse, half-kneeling at the bottom of the pit, with no life left.

The surroundings were eerily quiet for a moment.

That Hua Hai Realm soldier hadn't expected that the man in black, who was in the same realm as himself, would actually be insta-killed by the student in front of him?!

Was this guy even human???

The blood on Lu Cheng's chest was still dripping down along the edges of his armor.

He slowly exhaled a breath of bloody, turbid air, and then collapsed onto the ground...

He looked down at the corpse, but his brows slowly furrowed.

People from the Black Seed... How could they have possibly entered the Northern Ruins?

For this operation in the Northern Ruins, the perimeter was clearly blockaded by the military, and there were specialized personnel responsible for guarding the interior. Logically speaking, it should have been impossible for such a person to sneak in silently.

Half an hour later, the wound on his chest was barely stopped from worsening under the dual stimulation of [Holy Radiance Regeneration] and [Eternal Calamity Flame].

But even so, that tearing, scorching pain continued to spread from the depths of the wound, forcing him to grit his teeth and endure.

Lu Cheng did not linger, immediately taking a few military personnel to retreat out of the ruins.

But the moment everyone stepped out of the exit, everyone's expression changed.

The land ahead was filled with nothing but fierce beasts!

Dense and packed, covering the entire field of vision, the number was so great that it made one's scalp tingle, and one could barely see the end at a glance.

Their bodies all bore clear traces of pollution.

Some had gray-white eyes, as if they had long since lost their sanity; some had cracked skin, with wisps of black energy continuously leaking from the gaps; some had backs covered in frost, while scarlet tumors bulged from their flesh, weird and nauseating.

And at this moment, this beast tide, eroded by pollution, was charging madly in droves toward the direction of Rong City!

In the distance, a piercing alarm had been fully sounded.

In the direction of the city walls, flames shot into the sky, illuminating half the night sky in a scarlet glow.

Looking at this scene, Lu Cheng's heart sank violently.

He finally understood why the people from the Black Seed were able to infiltrate the Northern Ruins.