NOVPUB
Chapter 595: Chapter 601: Lies
Each of two volcanoes deep in the mountain range was occupied by a group of fire-attribute Devil Beasts, and intelligence reports indicated that one of them was home to a Fourth-Rank Great Devil.
Although the other group did not have a Fourth-Rank Great Devil, there were numerous Devil Beasts in the late stages of the Third Rank, and they were the ferocious Venomous Fire Pythons!
These were exceptionally tricky creatures to deal with, naturally emitting a toxic fire evil aura that pervaded their habitat, forming a natural barrier that warded off other Devil Beasts. Even if the Venomous Fire Pythons were exterminated, the evil aura would linger for many years!
Why was the Venomous Fire Python group, which lacked a Fourth-Rank Devil, able to occupy a large volcano? The reason was precisely this; the strength of the Venomous Fire Python group was not that formidable—any Fourth-Rank Great Devil could annihilate them.
But the problem was, even if someone took down this volcano, it would be uninhabitable for hundreds of years, unless one was willing to endure the torment of the toxic fire evil aura!
Of course, for Li Chengsheng, this posed some problems, but it wasn’t too serious, after all, he was just there to hunt for treasure. All he needed to do was take an Evil-Expelling Pill or similar Spirit Pill and push through it.
The main issue was the volcano with the Fourth-Rank Great Devil; he feared that he would be discovered by the opponent the moment he approached it!
As for the third volcano located among the mountains, it was rather unremarkable, inhabited only by some Second-Rank Devil Beasts.
After resting for a night, Li Chengsheng, hoping for good fortune, headed straight for the third volcano early the next morning.
Reality was just as he had thought; the precious Sun Spirit Object was not there.
"It looks like I’ll have to take a risk and check out the territory of the Venomous Fire Pythons," Li Chengsheng muttered to himself with a frown after returning to the Marketplace, his expression rather grim.
The numerous Third-Rank Venomous Fire Pythons were a big problem for him, and he had to go deep into the territory with a large number of high-rank Devil Beasts. One misstep could result in being surrounded.
Even with the life-saving measures given to him by Li Zhirui, it was not certain that he could escape.
But this Sun Spirit Object was of great importance! It affected Li Chengsheng’s path, and he had no choice but to take the risk.
Although there were other methods to break through the Bloodline Shackles, such as learning from Da Qing and Xiaoqing, just like Li Zhirui did, accumulating Mana and strengthening the bloodline to promote bloodline evolution.
But Li Chengsheng had seen the results of that method with his own eyes.
Spirit Beasts of a Fourth-Rank Alchemy Master, with abundant resources, had spent decades, nearly a hundred years, and were still far from success; how many years would he, a Diviner and Beast Tamer, have to spend?!
"If the Sun Spirit Object is not in the Venomous Python Mountain either, that would be the worst-case scenario!"
Because here in this place, Li Chengsheng could still be bold enough to take the risk to explore, but as for the volcano with the Fourth-Rank Great Devil, even if he could overcome his fear, it was likely he would be discovered before long.
Li Chengsheng stayed in the Marketplace for several days, perfecting his preparations with various Spirit Pills and Talismans, before setting out for the Venomous Python Mountain.
Just on the way there, he encountered several battles, fortunately, the Devil Beasts were not too powerful, or it wouldn’t have been so easy for him.
After much hardship and a perilous journey, Li Chengsheng finally reached the foot of Venomous Python Mountain.
Just getting a little closer, a stinging and unpleasant smell invaded his nostrils, and soon he felt all over his body rebelling against it.
’How many years have those pythons been living here!’ he thought.
The terrifying evil aura condensed into a solid substance, turning into a thick fog that shielded the mountain, blocking all creatures with malicious intent.
This included Li Chengsheng; he couldn’t even get in the door, let alone search for Spiritual Objects.
Since there was no way to enter from the ground, going in through underground was a good method.
Li Chengsheng began digging a tunnel at a rather concealed location about a mile away from the mountain,
and just this tunnel alone took him more than half a month!
Fortunately, other demon beasts despised the Venomous Fire Python, and few of them appeared nearby, otherwise Li Chengsheng would have never managed to dig such a tunnel calmly.
Through the tunnel, Li Chengsheng directly entered the interior of the Venomous Fire Python volcano, and just a few steps forward was the steaming, boiling magma!
After checking around and discovering nothing, he felt extremely disappointed. Unwilling to give up, he released the Chaoyang Crow and asked, "Chaoyang, do you feel any attractive forces?"
"No."
Perhaps there was some connection between them as they were both related to the sun, but that was only a slight sense; to actually locate the Spiritual Object was utterly impossible.
The situation developed in the exact way Li Chengsheng least wanted to see.
He now hoped that the Spiritual Object was not in any of the remaining volcanoes, even if it meant he had to keep wandering and searching for several more years.
"Sigh!"
He would have been better off not sighing at all, as that very breath exposed his presence, triggering the Venomous Fire Python’s pursuit.
Li Chengsheng reacted instantly. Without even time to regret, he turned around and fled.
"Cultivator, you’ve got quite the nerve to sneak into the depths of our clan’s territory!" bellowed a huge python with its gaping maw, its eyes filled with yearning as it looked at Li Chengsheng.
Despite its massive size, it was not slow, moving swiftly through the air as it summoned all the Venomous Fire Pythons to chase after Li Chengsheng.
But he was very decisive. He ran to the middle of the tunnel and immediately activated an Earth Escape Talisman to flee.
Li Chengsheng was well aware that running away in the Devil Race’s territory would only put him in graver danger.
The Venomous Fire Pythons, unable to find any trace of him, could only vent their frustration on the tunnel he had made.
Escaping from the Venomous Fire Python volcano didn’t necessarily guarantee safety for Li Chengshuo, since the Earth Escape Talisman had a limited range and couldn’t take him directly out of the volcanic range.
Luckily, his luck wasn’t bad, as he emerged near the perimeter, and with no demon beasts around, he took no breaks as he fled towards the outside world.
——
After Li Chengsheng escaped from the volcanic range, he went to a certain Great Immortal City, because his next plan required the help of many cultivators. The cultivators in that previous marketplace were not only few in number but also weak in strength, which made them unsuitable for his purposes.
He didn’t want to give up, but since his own strength wasn’t sufficient, he had to stir up the waters to stand a chance at getting that Spiritual Object.
Fishing in troubled waters was an easy task if done right. Just revealing a bit of plausible evidence to incite the greed in the cultivators’ hearts would do the trick.
To hide his identity, Li Chengsheng disguised himself as a young Foundation Establishment cultivator and set up a stall in the broad daylight to sell a few third-grade Spiritual Medicines.
This move quickly caught the attention of many interested parties.
And he also pretended to slip up in his speech, revealing the location where he had discovered the Spiritual Medicines.
However, third-grade Spiritual Medicines alone would never attract the attention of a Nascent Soul True Lord, so Li Chengsheng lied further, claiming he had seen a fourth-grade Spiritual Medicine with red flowers that bloomed like flames.
Unfortunately, he was too ignorant to recognize the Spiritual Medicine.
The Spiritual Medicine Li Chengsheng described was called the Red Sky Divine Flower, a rare species that could accelerate Soul Sunification.
After spreading this news, his identity was, a few days later, reportedly killed by bandits in the eyes of some individual cultivators.
