Chapter 1204, Heaven Burning Array

Translator: Silavin

  

“Once I have confirmed it is true, I will naturally return the Beast Core to you.”

 

Qin Yichen’s gaze remained fixed on the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon. Then his arm gave a sharp tremor, and he threw a punch sideways.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Beneath that single punch, the enormous vortex seemed to compress into a single thread, flashing through the black lake in an instant. The lake water was split apart completely under that blow, and vaguely, where that attack passed, ripples radiated outward through the very fabric of space.

 

“If you are deceiving me…” At the same moment, Qin Yichen’s voice, ice-cold and brimming with threat, rang out.

 

Hearing that voice, for reasons it could not quite name, the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon felt a chill that seeped straight down to its bones.

 

*Whoosh!* After a long moment, the lake water came pouring back down, filling the vacuum-like space once more. Yet a fearsome aura continued to permeate every inch of the lake.

 

With that said, Qin Yichen’s figure moved through the water like a gliding fish, trailing a ripple behind him, shooting downward at tremendous speed toward the unfathomably deep lakebed.

 

Viewed from the mountaintop, this lake had not appeared particularly large. But upon diving in, one discovered its true scale. What was visible from above was merely the tip of the iceberg.

 

Submerged in the lake, gazing deeper, the profound darkness resembled a demon’s gaping maw, instilling a sense of dread that was difficult to shake.

 

As he plunged ever deeper, Qin Yichen also noticed that there was not a single living creature to be found anywhere in the lake. Not so much as a fin.

 

The energy here was extraordinarily dense, making it, by all rights, the most suitable environment for life to thrive. And yet, aside from himself and the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, he had not spotted even a single fish. Even when he extended his Spiritual Energy outward, all he perceived was a silence as complete as death.

 

This eerie scene put Qin Yichen on high alert. His Yuan Energy flowed like a river within his body, churning ceaselessly, while his Spiritual Energy spread throughout his surroundings, ready at any moment to respond to whatever might arise.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

As his body cut through the water, bringing with it the faintest sound of movement, Qin Yichen kept his gaze fixed on the unfathomable darkness of the lakebed below. Then, in one particular moment, his eyes abruptly narrowed.

 

Here, he could feel that the lake’s temperature was no longer quite so icy. And at the very edge of his vision, in that boundless darkness, a thread of faint, reddish light had begun to emerge.

 

*Gurgle!*

 

As Qin Yichen descended further, the surrounding lake temperature climbed steadily higher, and that thread of red glow grew wider and wider in his sight.

 

In no time at all, Qin Yichen saw that the reddish colour was, in fact, a stretch of lava extending to the very limits of his vision.

 

Fiery red lava spread across the lakebed, and as the lava gurgled and bubbled upward, the icy lake water above it had grown scalding hot.

 

Faced with this peculiar sight, Qin Yichen could not help clicking his tongue. This extraordinary coexistence of water and fire was something he had never witnessed before.

 

“Where is the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid?”

 

Qin Yichen quickly collected himself from his astonishment, sweeping his gaze around while rapidly extending his Spiritual Energy outward.

 

Yet even after his careful search, he detected no trace of the Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid.

 

“Is it really beneath this lava?” Qin Yichen frowned, his gaze settling on the roiling lava. What the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon had described as being encased in lava, the treasure was very likely down there.

 

Even so, Qin Yichen knew the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon’s words could not be fully trusted. The lava was surely no simple matter, otherwise the beast would have retrieved the treasure on its own long ago.

 

Qin Yichen fixed his gaze on the bubbling, seething lava and brooded for a moment. Then he raised his palm and sent a stream of Yuan Energy howling downward.

 

*Plop!*

 

That stream of Yuan Energy met almost no resistance, sinking smoothly into the lava without any unusual reaction whatsoever.

 

After scrutinising it for a short while, Qin Yichen shook his head, wrapped his body in Yuan Energy, and shot himself downward.

 

*Plop!*

 

Just as Qin Yichen had expected, the boiling lava posed no obstruction. With his Yuan Energy as a barrier between himself and the heat, he slipped inside without difficulty.

 

However, after passing through the lava for a brief moment, Qin Yichen’s eyebrows gave a sharp twitch, for his Spiritual Energy had discovered that the lava ahead seemed to be coming to an end.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

In the span of a single breath, Qin Yichen emerged from the lava, and the scene before him left him momentarily stunned.

 

Here, behind the lava, lay an extraordinarily open expanse, a vast underground plaza. There was no lava here, no lake water at all. The red lava stretched overhead like a ceiling, stopped as though by some invisible force, unable to penetrate downward.

 

Faced with this plaza, Qin Yichen could not help but let his expression shift slightly.

 

A plaza hidden beneath the lava at the bottom of a lake, the craftsmanship behind such a creation was far beyond the reach of any ordinary person.

 

His gaze fell directly upon a particular spot in this vast underground plaza.

 

There, a stone pool several metres across sat in plain sight. It was not deep, its bottom visible at a glance, and what set Qin Yichen’s heart stirring was the rippling, milky white liquid it contained.

 

Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid!

 

Even from a distance, gazing upon it, Qin Yichen seemed already to catch a fragrance in his nostrils. That fragrance sent every pore of his body into a state of blissful, involuntary contentment, as though his very body had already grown impatient to absorb those contents.

 

“It seems it  did not deceive me after all.”

 

Qin Yichen stared at that pool of Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid, and even his breathing grew, without his willing it, faintly hurried. Then with a flash of his figure, he shot downward.

 

Yet no sooner had Qin Yichen flown barely several metres than his figure came to an abrupt halt. The Yuan Energy that had been wrapping his body had, astonishingly, ignited directly into rising flame.

 

“This is…” Qin Yichen’s pupils contracted sharply. He even felt that the Yuan Energy within his body seemed to be drawn by something, on the verge of spontaneously combusting.

 

At once, Qin Yichen hurriedly steadied his mind and suppressed the scorching heat rising within him. Then, casting his gaze down at the plaza below, his eyes filled with solemnity.

 

Under careful observation, he finally discerned that the air ahead was threaded with subtle, hidden patterns drifting through it. They were faintly forming the outline of a vast Array.

 

“The Heaven Burning Array!”

 

Gazing at those flowing patterns, Qin Yichen’s body gave a faint tremor, his expression filling with grave seriousness.

 

In that moment, he finally understood why this place held the extraordinary sight of water and fire coexisting, and why the Azure Sky Demonic Flood Dragon, knowing full well there was Ten Thousand Year Old Earth Vein Liquid below, had not dared descend to claim it.