Free Web NovelChapter 1856: Chapter 1856: Traces of the Demon Clan
The underground magma river was being pushed by some invisible force, while the chaotic Earthfire Power all around kept squeezing in on it.
Fortunately, this Earthfire Power wouldn’t actively attack, so Li Feng could still hold on. However, here his Five Senses were almost as good as gone; even his Divine Sense could only extend a few zhang. Any farther and it would be crushed to pieces by the flowing Earthfire Power.
Moreover, movement here was extremely difficult. Li Feng couldn’t possibly really swim around as if he were in water, and besides, he couldn’t even tell directions.
So, Li Feng simply chose to go with the flow.
This underground magma river was flowing; the farther down it went, the greater the pressure. Squeezed by the underground Power of Nature, the underground magma river would actively seek out venting cracks, which were in fact volcano craters.
As long as he drifted with the current, this underground magma river would naturally carry Li Feng to an exit.
Li Feng began drifting along in the underground magma river. As for how far he would be carried, he had no idea. As long as he maintained his current balance and didn’t let the magma Blast his Protective Gang Qi, he could accept ending up wherever he drifted.
At the same time.
The Bi Fang Bird grabbed Sikong Yu and flew straight to the Molten Lava Volcano. This was also the central area of the Molten Lava Land; the towering volcano, ten thousand zhang high, was like a pillar holding up the sky.
From the foot of the mountain one couldn’t even see the top, because the mid‑mountain region was already shrouded in thick volcanic clouds.
Moreover, within a radius of a hundred li around the Molten Lava Volcano, gray snow was almost constantly drifting down. Calling it snow was inaccurate; it was actually volcanic ash, piling up on the ground to form a layer of ash that was extremely difficult to traverse.
Bi Fang swept a glance over the surroundings of the Molten Lava Volcano, then carried Sikong Yu straight toward a cave entrance halfway up the mountain.
This cave entrance was like the maw of some gigantic beast. From afar it didn’t look big, but only when one drew close would one realize that it was wide enough for two airplanes to take off and land side by side.
Bi Fang flew to the platform outside the cave entrance and directly tossed Sikong Yu down. Sikong Yu rolled once and steadied himself, while Bi Fang also transformed into human form and drifted down lightly.
Sikong Yu got up and looked at Bi Fang at his side, but Bi Fang paid him no mind at all, just swept his gaze around the cave entrance and spoke at the same time.
"Don’t look at me with such hatred. If not for me, you’d be hanging by a thread right now. To be honest, your Sikong family’s Bloodline Power actually isn’t even as good as an outsider’s—now that’s strange."
"If I didn’t know the Vermilion Bird Holy Beast was in seclusion, I’d almost think your Sikong family had offended the Vermilion Bird and been directly replaced."
Sikong Yu bit his cherry‑red lips and said to Bi Fang, "I never asked you to save me."
Bi Fang turned his head and glanced at Sikong Yu.
"Your temper and nature really are just like that annoying woman’s. Forget it, this Lord is magnanimous and won’t stoop to argue with a junior like you. But don’t push your luck too far."
"Though this Lord is mindful of old ties, if you get on my nerves, I might just toss you somewhere random. Then you can scream to the heavens and the earth all you like, and no one will answer."
After speaking, Bi Fang bent down to examine some traces left at the cave entrance.
"The footprints are fairly clear. It seems someone came by in the last day or two, and there were quite a few of them." Bi Fang straightened and looked at the entrance to the Molten lava Cave.
Hearing Bi Fang’s words, Sikong Yu couldn’t help suppressing his anger as well. His gaze swept over the ground. Though the cave entrance was wide, enough for people to use Sword Flight, there were still some footprints left at the opening.
After all, a layer of volcanic ash had settled near the entrance; anyone stepping on it would leave very clear footprints, and the other side had made no effort to hide them.
After all, the Molten Lava Land was a forbidden ground, its surroundings guarded by several Overlord Level Lords. Crossing into this place meant taking on enormous risk.
"Judging from the footprints, there are members of the Demon Clan, and also of the Human Clan."
The footprints of the Demon Clan and humans were different. Though the Demon Clan could transform into human form, they still retained obvious physical traits of their race, so they were easy to distinguish.
The Demon Clan naturally belonged to the races under the command of the Ten Great Demon Ancestors, while the human footprints were clearly left by people from the Ten Demon Hall.
"That’s right, there are quite a few demons. Under normal circumstances, it’d be impossible for so many demons to swagger in here openly."
Bi Fang’s expression grew solemn.
The Vermilion Bird had an alliance with Ancestor Dragon City, so the Molten Lava Land was open to Ancestor Dragon City. However, this openness did not guarantee the safety of Human Clan cultivators entering the Molten Lava Land.
They could come here to seek fortune and obtain Heavenly Earth Spiritual Treasure, but they also had to be prepared to be eaten.
The only condition was a limit on both sides’ strength. On the Molten Lava Land’s side, Overlord Lords were not allowed to act, while on Ancestor Dragon City’s side, powerhouses of the Golden Core Late Stage Perfection, Absolute Peak level and the like could not appear either.
For Ancestor Dragon City’s side, it could be said a door had been left open. But for the Demon Clan, the Molten Lava Land strictly forbade their presence.
Of course, it wasn’t that no Demon Clan members ever dared to sneak in, but for them to appear in groups was almost impossible. What, did they think the Lords guarding the four directions were just eating dry rice?
Yet the footprints before them now showed that something in the Molten Lava Land seemed to have gone wrong.
The east that she guarded was still relatively peaceful. Although she had always been asleep within the volcano, if anything stirred, she would still be able to sense it.
So if there was a problem, it was likely in the other three directions.
Thinking of that woman from the Ant Race, Bi Fang secretly ground her teeth, hoping that woman hadn’t joined forces with outsiders to betray them.
"The Demon Clan is active here—could they also be searching for the Vermilion Bird? I once heard in the family records that in the previous great battle, the Vermilion Bird was severely wounded by the Candle Dragon. Could it be...?"
In fact, the Sikong family had long made similar guesses.
As the Vermilion Bird Family, the Sikong family had a contract with the Vermilion Bird. According to that contract, in every generation the Shikong Family would send their most outstanding descendant to the Molten Lava Land. After passing the many trials here, they would receive the Vermilion Bird’s blessing.
For a Family, even a Cultivation Family, every twenty years a new generation will be born. After all, in Ancestor Dragon City, where noble families rule the world, population size is one of the standards of a Family’s strength.
Twenty‑one generations—within a hundred years that’s five generations—if one relied solely on bloodline inheritance, the bloodline would only grow thinner and thinner.
And the reason the Sikong family had been able to flourish without decline was precisely this Vermilion Bird trial. Every generation, those who passed and received the Vermilion Bird’s blessing also underwent a process of fusing the bloodline anew. This guaranteed that in every generation, the Sikong family’s Bloodline Power would remain at its densest.
Until the last great war.
This orderly cycle was shattered. In that war, not only was the Vermilion Bird heavily injured, the Sikong family also lost countless powerhouses and geniuses, their Primordial Energy grievously damaged.
If not for their deep foundations, the Sikong family would have collapsed like many other families, perhaps even being struck from the rolls altogether.
But after that, the Sikong family’s inheritance was cut off. The later generations lost the chance to undergo the trial and could not obtain the blessing, and their bloodline inheritance grew weaker with every generation.
So much so that by Sikong Yu’s generation, there were actually only a scant few within the Family who could awaken Bloodline Power—not even enough to count on one hand.
For a First Rank noble family, this was practically the harbinger of annihilation.
No successors.
For two hundred years, no one had seen the Vermilion Bird. The Sikong family speculated that the Vermilion Bird was most likely in deep slumber or even in the process of rebirth, but every generation they still came to this place seeking the Vermilion Bird, hoping to find it.
Yet every time they returned in disappointment, and the Family even paid a considerable price for it.
"Mm. After the last war ended, the Vermilion Bird went straight into seclusion. Now it seems the Vermilion Bird was hurt even more badly than we imagined. In the past, this Molten Lava Volcano was nothing like this."
"Moreover, the problem now likely isn’t just the Vermilion Bird. The other three Lords, I haven’t seen them in many years either. But this time, that woman the Ant Queen actually mobilized such a large force; I doubt she’s just here to say hello to me."
"And now a large number of the Demon Clan have appeared here. If someone hadn’t let them in, how could they possibly show up in this place?"
Bi Fang was clearly thinking several steps ahead. Though they were all Lords under the Vermilion Bird’s command, it wasn’t a simple superior‑subordinate relationship. Their presence under the Vermilion Bird’s banner was more like that of regional lords and vassals. While they stood united against outsiders, in normal times they each stayed on their own turf cultivating.
The biggest difference between the Four Holy Beasts and the Ten Demon Ancestors was that the Four Holy Beasts were content with the status quo. They rarely took the initiative to invade, focusing wholeheartedly on cultivation. As long as others did not infringe upon their territory, they seldom went out looking for trouble.
To put it bluntly: if others don’t offend me, I won’t offend them.
The Demon Clan, however, was extremely aggressive, bent on taking Ancestor Dragon City and unifying the Kunlun Continent.
As for the alliance between the Four Holy Beasts and Ancestor Dragon City, there were deeper internal reasons. In each of the major wars between the two sides, the Four Holy Beasts had been Ancestor Dragon City’s strongest and most reliable arms, and had caused the Demon Clan’s plots to fail time and again.
One could say that in the eyes of the Demon Alliance, the Four Holy Beasts were like a nail in the eye, a thorn in the flesh—they wished to get rid of them as soon as possible.
Listening to Bi Fang’s analysis, Sikong Yu’s mind also leapt to many things at once. Bi Fang had only just awakened and knew little of current affairs, but Sikong Yu knew quite a bit.
Especially on this southward trip beyond First Line Pass, they had even run into an active ambush by the Ten Demon Hall. Bear in mind that place was less than half a day’s journey from First Line Pass—practically right under the Pass’s nose.
Members of the Ten Demon Hall were swarming about; clearly they were plotting something big.
"Perhaps... another great war is about to break out."
"Oh?"
Bi Fang turned her head to look at Sikong Yu. "What do you know?"
Sikong Yu nodded and said, "On our way south, we encountered large numbers of people from the Ten Demon Hall, and in the Life and Death Valley, they were also pulling strings from behind the scenes."
"The Ten Demon Hall?"
Bi Fang looked at Sikong Yu in puzzlement. Clearly, she had no idea what this ’Ten Demon Hall’ thing was.
Sikong Yu glanced at her. This one had gone into slumber right after the last war, so it was normal she didn’t know. After all, the Ten Demon Hall had only come into being after that war.
"The Ten Demon Hall is made up of large numbers of Human Clan Cultivators who were bewitched by the Demon Clan in the previous great war. Those people switched sides on the battlefield and nearly caused Ancestor Dragon City to be annihilated. Afterwards, the Families they came from were, of course, purged, and many of them directly joined the Demon Alliance at the time."
"Supported by the Demon Alliance, these people formed the Ten Demon Hall, becoming the Demon Alliance’s running dogs used against our Ancestor Dragon City."
Upon hearing this, Bi Fang let out a cold, mocking laugh. "That doesn’t surprise me. Back when you lot were delving into the Bloodline Path, I already knew you’d be bitten back sooner or later. It’s a pity—gaining great strength through bloodlines comes too fast, and it made too many of you lose your heads."
"If not for your greed, how would the balance on the battlefield have been broken, leading to everything collapsing at the last moment?"
Just mentioning this made Bi Fang grit her teeth.
If not for that, the Vermilion Bird would never have been injured so badly.
