My Divine Sense spread across the surface of the lava lake. The violent, roiling Earth Vein Fire Qi was now perfectly clear.

After a moment of thought, he stepped out and hovered above the churning lava. The faint Spiritual Light on his Divine Wind Boots then dimmed, and his feet visibly sank into the molten rock.

In a near-instant, everything but his Magic Robe and the stack of Storage Talismans he protected with Magical Power was incinerated. His ordinary clothes were reduced to ash.

The churning lava enveloped him, bringing with it an indescribable, scorching heat.

His tough skin turned a noticeable shade of red. Within just a few breaths, the searing heat had turned him as red as a boiled lobster.

A faint sense of threat inexplicably welled up inside him.

Feeling the temperature of the lava around him, Chu Mu’s expression grew serious.

’My Qi Cultivation is of the Fire Attribute, and my Body Refining Cultivation has already reached the level of Perfection.’

’Even though this lava is a manifestation of Earth Vein Fire Qi, it shouldn’t pose any threat to me as long as it doesn’t actually erupt.’

’But now...’

’According to common sense, how much of a threat could the lair of a Half-Step Tier Two Demon Beast possibly be?’

’Demon Beasts have low Spiritual Wisdom and rely on instinct. If there were a truly great threat here, that giant, fiery-red wolf would have fled long ago. It wouldn’t have made its den here...’

He cautiously descended toward the bottom of the lava lake. In this environment, his eyes were useless. He could only rely on his Divine Sense, which the violent Earth Vein Fire Qi had compressed to a radius of just a few meters around him.

He had already equipped the Giant God Arm Armor and held his saber and shield at the ready. As he descended deeper, the faint sense of threat lingering in his mind grew ever stronger.

It was as if he were slowly but surely approaching the very source of the danger.

From the cave, the lava lake had looked to be only about the size of a basketball court. But now that he was submerged in it, its sheer vastness was completely beyond Chu Mu’s expectations.

His descent through the lava was slow, but only relative to what someone of his Cultivation level should be capable of.

He had descended at least two or three thousand meters, yet he still hadn’t reached the bottom. The sense of threat, however, grew more and more intense. Even his Divine Soul Saber was beginning to warn him of danger.

Chu Mu began to hesitate.

’Fire is inherently violent, and the Earth Vein Flame is even more so.’

’From what I know, even the Earth Vein Fire Qi that Sect Clans spend a fortune to harness requires constant supervision. Despite being suppressed by Array Prohibitions to maintain the Earth Fire’s balance, it still needs Cultivators stationed there long-term to manage the Fire Veins.’

’And here...’

’For such a massive amount of Earth Vein Fire Qi to have accumulated...’

’Even though nothing has happened yet, a lava lake this vast is, in itself, the most abnormal thing here.’

’After all, how terrifying must the source of Earth Fire be to support a lava lake of this magnitude?’

’Why hasn’t this immense Fire Qi erupted?’

’Strange!’

’Very strange!’

Chu Mu scanned his surroundings, the thought of retreating solidifying in his mind.

"Hm?"

"What’s that?"

Just as he was about to turn back, after descending for a few more breaths, a splash of color different from the scorching gold appeared in his Divine Sense Perception.

Chu Mu stopped hesitating and decisively moved toward the strange color.

After a moment, his moving figure froze.

The strange color was perfectly clear to his Divine Sense Perception.

Chu Mu’s eyes snapped open. He infused them with Magical Power to protect them from the searing heat, his deep gaze fixed on the fiery red before him.

A boundless sea of fire!

Fiery red flames burned endlessly, with faint black smoke swirling within them, like wisps of burnt ash.

Above the sea of fire was an equally boundless expanse of scorching lava.

At a glance, the sea of fire and the lava ran parallel to each other, like sky and earth. It was as if they were oil and water, separated by an invisible boundary.

An inverted ceiling of lava, with a sea of fire stretching out below!

The sight was peculiar, but in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, anything was possible. Chu Mu wasn’t overly shocked.

But...

He tentatively reached out. A wisp of flame from the raging sea of fire was drawn to his fingertip.

"This fire... something’s wrong with it!"

Chu Mu’s eyes narrowed. The temperature of this wisp was actually much lower than the surrounding lava. And... this flame... it wasn’t pure!

He raised his hand again, and another wisp floated over from the sea of fire. Focusing his Divine Sense, he could clearly perceive a faint black line at the core of each flame.

To his senses, the faint black lines seemed almost alive, entwined with the flames and suppressing their Mighty Power.

He considered using his Divine Sense to probe the faint black line at the flame’s core. But the moment the thought arose, an indescribable sense of Palpitations washed over him.

Chu Mu pursed his lips and wisely abandoned the idea.

After staring at the two wisps of flame for a moment, he waved his hand again. Several more flickers of fire floated into his grasp.

They were also entwined with black lines; the only difference was the number of lines in each.

He pondered for a moment, then took out several Jade Bottles. Muttering an incantation, he sealed the flames within them, planning to study them later.

But unexpectedly, only a few breaths after being sealed, the flames began to shake uncontrollably inside the Jade Bottles.

Then, the Jade Bottles shattered one after another. The flames, as if summoned, broke free of his control and plunged back into the sea of fire.