Li Wei opened his eyes. The Spirit Gathering Crystal in his hand had shattered.

The Fire Spirits within the Spirit Gathering Crystal had been completely absorbed.

He stood up and saw the corpses of Magic Beasts strewn all around.

During his cultivation, the aura of the Fire Spirits had attracted many Magic Beasts.

They had all been killed by the Shadow Attendant.

It was also fortunate that he had chosen a remote area where there weren’t any powerful Magic Beasts.

Otherwise, his cultivation wouldn’t have been so smooth.

Li Wei briefly collected his spoils, then got up and headed deeper into the Fire Element Secret Realm.

He sought a better location for Spirit Gathering.

A better location for Spirit Gathering also meant greater danger.

What Li Wei had to do was balance the danger and the reward.

He needed to obtain the greatest possible gains within a tolerable level of risk.

This was not an easy task.

Back at the spot where he had entered the Fire Elemental Plane, the other four people were gone.

The lava that had poured out of the volcano had also cooled.

It solidified into soft, black clods of earth.

It had become a natural trap.

Anyone who carelessly set foot on it would be engulfed in flames.

Li Wei headed toward the volcano.

Most of the path was impassable, so he had to fly.

This wasn’t difficult for Li Wei.

Avoiding a few Magic Beasts to prevent pointless battles, Li Wei ascended the volcano.

Billowing smoke poured from the volcano, and the pungent smell was incredibly thick.

Li Wei had to keep his Invisible Armor active just to move around normally.

Fire Elementalization had a time limit, so Li Wei could only use it at critical moments.

Reaching the top of the volcano, Li Wei saw the boiling Magma Lake below.

He saw no sign of the Fire Elemental Lord.

There were, however, many Fire Elemental Elves frolicking and playing in the Magma Lake.

Upon seeing Li Wei appear, many of the Fire Elemental Elves instinctively dove into the Magma Lake.

A small number of Fire Elemental Elves stared at Li Wei with wide eyes.

Some of the more hot-tempered Fire Elemental Elves attacked Li Wei without a word, spitting Lava Bombs at him.

Li Wei did his best to dodge the Lava Bombs, avoiding a direct confrontation with the Fire Elemental Elves.

He wanted to avoid any trouble.

After circling the crater, Li Wei found an empty spot with no Fire Elemental Elves nearby.

He planned to set up the Spirit Gathering Ceremony here.

Just as he was taking out the materials to set up the Spirit Gathering Ritual Array, he suddenly felt the activity of the surrounding Fire Elements decreasing.

His expression flickered slightly.

It felt like someone was gathering Fire Spirits.

Li Wei looked all around, searching for a figure.

Nothing was visible to the naked eye, so he released his Spiritual Power to probe the area and discovered an anomaly.

Halfway between the top of the crater and the Lava Lake,

Li Wei’s Spiritual Perception detected an obstacle that, based on its shape, seemed to be a stone platform jutting out from the cliff face. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

However, the stone platform was invisible to the naked eye.

Obviously, something was concealing the stone platform.

Li Wei picked up a piece of rubble, walked to the edge of the crater, and tossed it toward the platform’s location.

After falling for seven or eight meters, the rubble vanished from sight.

’He was certain there was something down there.’

Li Wei thought for a moment and decided to go down and take a look.

A faint blue light enveloped his body as Li Wei slowly descended.

As he was about to reach the spot where the rubble had disappeared, he felt a repulsive force from beneath his feet.

There was a Magic Barrier below that repelled objects with Magic Energy from entering.

He raised an eyebrow and, with a lift of his hand, sent a Fireball crashing down.

BOOM!

The Fireball exploded in mid-air.

As the fiery light spread out, a hidden Magic Barrier materialized.

The scene within it also appeared before Li Wei’s eyes.

Inside the Magic Barrier, a Mage looked up at Li Wei, his expression unfriendly.

"Get lost."

The Mage snapped.

Peering through the Magic Barrier, Li Wei saw the other person’s figure.

He recognized him. He was one of the two students from the Purple Level Class.

Stier’s expression was grim, and he was clearly annoyed.

"You’re courting death!"

He flew up and shot out of the Magic Barrier.

Stier stared at Li Wei, his brows tightly furrowed.

With a wave of his hand, a fiercely burning Demon’s Claw appeared in mid-air.

The withered, spindly Demon’s Claw, resembling a chicken’s foot, swept toward Li Wei.

Li Wei shot out several Fireballs to block the Demon’s Claw.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Demon’s Claw smashed straight through the Fireballs, ignoring their explosions.

It struck Li Wei directly, slamming him hard into the cliff face through his Invisible Armor.

CRACK!

Four layers of the Invisible Armor shattered.

Li Wei’s eyes narrowed. The power of that attack had already reached Tier Four High Level.

Stier showed a trace of surprise upon seeing that Li Wei was completely unharmed.

"An invisible Magic Shield?"

"Heh, is that what you’re relying on?"

Stier sneered.

He manipulated the Demon’s Claw to grab Li Wei and toss him into the Magma Lake.

At the last moment before falling into the Magma Lake, Li Wei negated the force of his fall and shot back into the sky.

Stier watched as Li Wei escaped the crater.

He snorted coldly, turned, and went back inside the Magic Barrier.

The next second, he felt a violent Fire Elemental Fluctuation from overhead.

Looking up, he saw a cyan Fireball descending from the sky.

Stier’s eyes narrowed slightly; he felt a sliver of pressure.

"Are you kidding me? What right does trash from the Red Level Class have to threaten me!"

The Demon’s Claw shot into the sky, reaching for the cyan Fireball, intending to crush it.

KABOOM!

The cyan Fireball exploded.

The Demon’s Claw was blown to pieces, its fragments slowly burning, wreathed in cyan flames.

Stier’s long hair flew up in the violent wind generated by the shockwave.

His gaze turned terrifying.

The depths of his pupils seemed to hold flames from the Abyssal Purgatory.

Every single student in the Purple Level Class was a prodigy, a monster.

Stier felt that he had been provoked.

Fury surged within him.

Li Wei slowly descended and said, "I don’t want to fight you."

Stier said coldly, "That’s not for you to decide."

The moment he finished speaking, a withered demon, its entire body wreathed in flames, emerged from behind Stier.

This was Stier’s Extraordinary Trait—Demon Master!

The Burning Demon was as thin as a reed, but the might it displayed was astonishing.

Stier was merely a Tier Three Peak Mage.

Yet the aura of the Burning Demon summoned by his Extraordinary Trait reached Tier Four Peak.

The Burning Demon opened its pitch-black maw and gave Li Wei a hideous grin.

WHOOSH!

The Burning Demon charged at Li Wei. Its five fingers were as withered as a chicken’s foot; compared to human fingers, the Demon’s had more joints.

Its sharp Demon’s Claw tore through the air, aiming to rip Li Wei to shreds.

Li Wei dodged while simultaneously counterattacking.

RIP! RUMBLE!

The Demon’s Claw scraped across the cliff face, instantly pulverizing the solid rock and leaving four deep gouges.

A cyan Fire Serpent bypassed the Burning Demon and flew toward Stier.

Stier stood his ground, neither dodging nor evading.

A flicker of hesitation crossed Li Wei’s eyes.

’He didn’t want to kill him.’

’Their conflict hadn’t reached that point yet.’

’Mainly, it was Stier’s status as a student of the Purple Level Class that made Li Wei wary.’

’If Stier died, the trouble would be immense.’

In the moment he hesitated, the Burning Demon seized the opportunity, its two large hands grabbing Li Wei.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The Invisible Armor shattered, layer by layer.