The scorching heat constantly caused Fan Hua’s sweat to permeate and soak his clothes. As a Spirit Master, ordinary heat wouldn’t have bothered him, but the temperature here wasn’t ordinary. Even the spiritual energy had transformed into the Fire Attribute. Unless one broke through to Immortality, even the ninth level of the Mortal Realm couldn’t resist it.
The chasm between the Mortal Realm and the Immortal Realm was vast enough to drive one to despair.
"Daoist, why aren’t you sweating at all?" Fan Hua asked curiously.
"Oh, I locked my own skin and circulated mana inside my body to claim a cycle, which can greatly avoid the loss of water," Qin Muye responded, though his words were false and just an excuse. However, the principle was true; if Fan Hua succeeded in using the small technique described by Qin Muye, he could indeed resist the high temperatures here, but he would still suffer injuries.
After all, high temperatures meant that simply not sweating wasn’t enough to avoid problems.
Fan Hua quickly tried it, and soon he applied Qin Muye’s little technique. His sweat gradually evaporated and did not flow again, but he still felt unbearably hot.
After all, sweating is a way to cool down. Although he wasn’t sweating anymore, cooling down now posed an issue.
Fortunately, they didn’t need to worry too much, as they had already reached the core area of the cave—a vast lake of magma.
It seemed to be surrounded by some kind of peculiar platform that looked like it was used for some ritual, likely a relic from before this world had been devoured by the Spirit Realm and turned into a Secret Realm, not constructed by the spirit masters of the Spirit Realm.
In the magma, a semi-illusory snake-shaped Fire Beast was chained, expressing its discontent only through roars.
This imprisonment was likely the work of a Spirit Master. The Great Spirit Dynasty probably had people here mining in the past, using this magma pool and the snake-shaped Fire Beast.
However, the snake-shaped Fire Beast had already lost its sanity, leaving only instinct. It was unclear whether this was the doing of the Great Spirit Dynasty or if it had always been this way.
The reason for suspecting the Great Spirit Dynasty was that they hadn’t killed the snake-shaped Fire Beast. Since they didn’t kill it, there must be a greater secret hidden here. It’s just unclear what they were thinking by keeping it alive.
This semi-illusory snake-shaped Fire Beast had been half assimilated by the Spirit Realm, and could be considered a Spiritual Beast, likely possessing attributes of both Divine Soul and Fire.
But to call it a Spiritual Beast wasn’t quite accurate as its ferocity was hard to change, and a contract might not even force loyalty.
Because it was only half assimilated, it had broken the barrier that wild Spiritual Beasts couldn’t surpass the sixth level. After all, it had been above level six strength before being assimilated. Even though its power had been reduced considerably due to assimilation, it could still easily kill Fan Hua.
"This is indeed that Immortal Realm Spiritual Beast, truly fearsome," Fan Hua said, feeling the pressure of the snake-shaped Fire Beast.
"You say, how does this snake make a ’roar’ sound? Its vocal organs shouldn’t support this type of sound, right?" Qin Muye, observing the semi-transparent snake beast, was also puzzled.
"???" Fan Hua was completely flabbergasted. At such a time, he was actually puzzled about how the creature roared. Shouldn’t they be thinking about how to escape? With their frail bodies, if the snake-shaped Fire Beast scooped up some magma with its tail and threw it at them, that would be disastrous. Not to mention the temperature of the magma; the impact alone could kill them on the spot.
"Maybe it’s just because it only looks like a snake, not an actual one."
Fan Hua hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.
"Makes sense, let’s leave the onomatopoeic matter be for now. But since it’s not a real snake, why does it exhibit snake-like habits? Look at the way it moves, doesn’t it resemble a water snake?" Qin Muye raised another question.
"Daoist, can we not talk about snakes right now? What should we do next?" Fan Hua couldn’t help but ask.
"Ah, I don’t know. The Heavenly Mechanism Calculation stopped here, indicating this place could be either a path to life or to death," Qin Muye shrugged, showing he also didn’t know what to do next, then continued, "So, to avoid awkwardness, I’m bringing up the snake to lighten the mood."
"Hiss~" In that moment, Fan Hua felt his blood pressure rise, almost spurting out from his forehead. Luckily, he had the Wisdom Sword with him, or he might have started screaming at Qin Muye right then.
Who could have expected Qin Muye to be so problematic.
"Don’t worry though," Qin Muye added, reigniting Fan Hua’s hope just to snuff it out again, "I’m here with you. We’ll face any problems together, and I definitely won’t turn and run first."
The words were infuriating indeed,, but Fan Hua calmed down quickly. He felt that one should not despair, having survived being hunted outside, and he couldn’t give up even now.
The Fire Snake from the Immortal Realm was confined within the magma and couldn’t leave. Moreover, since it was just a soul without a physical body, it was highly unlikely it would use the magma to attack them. They just needed to avoid its soul-shaking roar.
However, what would make the Fire Snake roar, and how could they use it against the Mu Family, remained unknown.
In the face of desperation, Fan Hua’s mind finally kicked into gear, and a flurry of plans began to form in his head.
Lack of experience doesn’t mean stupidity. People like him can unleash their potential with just a little stimulation, especially since he’s constantly in an enhanced version of "wise man’s time."
Qin Muye, however, didn’t interfere. Naturally, it was intentional; otherwise, if he always handled things, wouldn’t he become the loyal "think tank" mutt?
"Wait, something’s off. Has the aura of those chasing us changed?" Fan Hua suddenly spoke up.
Initially, though the people hunting them were angry, they seemed to be taking a cat-and-mouse approach, intentionally leading them on. But just now, it felt as if someone else had taken over, with a more malicious attitude toward them.
"Your Wisdom Sword is no ordinary tool, not only can it investigate souls, but it can also perceive fortunes and misfortunes. Truly worthy of a Spiritual Beast from the Red Dust Path with its many variations," Qin Muye also came to understand this new Spiritual Beast Technique of Fan Hua’s Wisdom Sword.
The Red Dust Path itself is quite a unique attribute for Spiritual Beasts. Besides the innate techniques that arise naturally, others can form based on the emotions or desires present at the birth of the Spiritual Beast.
For instance, the Wisdom Sword has not just its fixed technique of Emotional Cutting, but its other innate techniques vary because the emotions, environments, and individuals present at birth differ, leading to diverse abilities.
At this point, Fan Hua’s Wisdom Sword had demonstrated three abilities: the fixed Emotional Cutting, Soul Perception, and Transforming Illusion into Reality. As for its real name, Qin Muye was unsure, and whether there were other innate techniques was still undetermined.
The Spiritual Beasts of the Red Dust Path have always been the most random.
Moreover, those able to birth such a beast from the Red Dust Path are no ordinary people, naturally endowing their beasts with mighty or magical abilities.
"Heh heh, well, well." Fan Hua chuckled dryly, not keen to discuss the origins of the Wisdom Sword—hardly a pleasant memory for him.
"So you mean, there’s been a change in personnel?" Qin Muye didn’t care for Fan Hua’s evasion, asking directly.
Fan Hua discarded his own embarrassment then solemnly said, "Exactly, and it’s likely that the one now pursuing us has killed the previous team quickly, so quickly that they had hardly any time to react. It’s probably someone from the Immortal Realm."
"The Immortal Realm, huh? That’s troubling, but it seems this isn’t a dead-end street but rather a road to life," Qin Muye commented immediately.
"I don’t know what the Mu Family is exactly up to, but it must be targeting me personally," Fan Hua wasn’t bold enough to say it was ’us,’ knowing he was the principal offender.
"Seriously, who did you offend to warrant such an extravagant hunt?" Qin Muye was incredulous.
"Ahem, my daoist brother, watch your words. This matter...well...it’s not easy to say, you know..." Fan Hua stuttered.
This made Qin Muye more curious. After all, what was so difficult to say? From his behaviour, it seemed this could involve one of the Mu Family’s direct daughters or perhaps a lady from a collateral branch.
Ordinarily, servants couldn’t muster such a grand pursuit. He remained silent, likely due to deeper secrets involved.
It could be related to a power struggle within the Mu Family, or maybe Fan Hua knew some sensitive secrets. It would be better not to speak out lest it brings more trouble upon himself.
"Well, never mind, let’s leave it unresolved. You’re on your own; I’ll find a place to hide, rooting for you~" Qin Muye said, implying that since he wasn’t going to share the gossip, he wouldn’t be helping