Chapter 10: Volcanic Cave

The lava lake was like a golden glazed bead, inlaid in the very center of a dark red stone disc, magnificent and dazzling.

Orange-red and golden lava flowed and churned slowly in the lake, occasionally bubbling up with huge gas pockets.

Waves of scorching heat, centered on the lava lake, spread outwards in all directions. After being blocked by the mountain walls, the heat waves soared into the sky.

Ning Zhuo and Ning Yong stood atop the mountain wall, their figures buffeted intensely by the rising heat waves. Although Ning Zhuo had already stirred his mana to protect his nose and mouth, the heat still singed the ends of his hair.

Ning Zhanji swept a glance at the somewhat disheveled newcomers, and ordered faintly, "Give them each a set of magical garments."

His subordinates immediately tossed the spare garments to the two of them.

Ning Zhuo caught his, and saw that the entire set of garments included a helmet, upper garment, lower trousers, outer robe, outer armor, and boots, covering him from head to toe.

A large number of talismans were depicted on the clothes, mainly of the frost type.

"Talisman Treasure," Ning Zhuo realized inwardly.

Talisman Treasures were different from magical implements. With increased use, they would gradually degrade on their own. They were a type of consumable.

The advantage of a Talisman Treasure lay in its cost. After inscribing talismans onto some basic materials, they could become Talisman Treasures, and their value would soar.

The small wooden hammer that Ning Zhuo had designed in the basement was a Talisman Treasure. Ning Zhuo could use it to easily process the oily soot mud.

These magical garments were standard equipment for the Ning Family cultivator team, and should be war preparations that the Ning Family had specially developed in order to seek the Magma Immortal Palace.

Ning Zhuo and the others donned the entire set of magical garments, and immediately felt the temperature return to normal, no longer scorching hot. The previously pungent smell of sulfur also completely disappeared.

Several descending platforms hung on the mountain wall. Each descending platform was guarded by personnel from the City Guard, on one hand for protection, and on the other hand to collect fees.

Ning Zhanji led the group, chose a descending platform, and officially stepped into the crater depression from the mountaintop.

Ning Yong stamped his feet excitedly, looking around curiously.

A look of excitement and caution also appeared on Ning Zhuo's face.

Ning Zhanji's target was the lava lake at the center.

The group of over fifty cultivators moving together immediately attracted the attention of others.

The volcanic crater was not only filled with Ning Zhuo's group; many teams or solitary cultivators were scattered throughout this crater depression.

From time to time, cultivators would descend from the top of the mountain wall.

Some used the official descending platforms, but more of them set up their own ropes and climbed down from the top of the mountain wall. However, because of the constant impact and blowing of the heat waves, the cultivators' descent was generally very strenuous.

Those who climbed down alone saved the usage fee of the descending platform.

The City Guards saw these rogue cultivators going down, but did not stop them, their gazes indifferent, mainly taking a stance of ignoring them.

Ning Zhuo gradually approached the lava lake.

As he got closer, he discovered that there was also life activity in the lava lake.

Another huge lava bubble burst, and a red-furred Goldfilament Rat took advantage of the hot air currents to rise up, rushing into the white smoke in the high sky to hunt.

If the hunt was successful, one could see this red-furred Goldfilament Rat carrying a wisp swallow, crashing down towards the ground.

Because the heat waves were constantly generated, greatly diminishing the force of the fall, the red-furred Goldfilament Rat was able to sway and land on the rocky ground every time, unharmed.

Some cultivators specially waited for these red-furred Goldfilament Rats to land after preying.

Once they landed, they would take action, using special props to capture them.

In Ning Zhuo's sea of consciousness, a certain thought bead flickered with light.

"Firefloss Rat. It has extremely strong fire resistance and can swim in lava."

"It lives by preying on birds."

"The most valuable thing on the Firefloss Rat is its fur. After collecting hundreds of pelts and refining them through sewing and other means, one can create a Fire-Repelling Rat Fur Robe, which has excellent effects."

At this time, Ning Zhanji, who was at the head of the group, stopped.

In front of him was one of the entrances to the many ground caves, and there was nothing special about it compared to the other ground caves around it.

But he was very certain, and he gave a low shout: "It's here, prepare to enter."

The cultivators obeyed the order sternly.

First, a cultivator pinched his fingers and pushed out a cloud of frosty white mist with both palms.

The snow mist poured into the ground cave, and the edge of the cave entrance was immediately covered with a layer of frost.

The cold air poured down all the way, arousing the reaction of the ground cave and producing a rumbling sound.

The sound became louder and louder, and in the next moment, a large amount of mud spewed out from the ground cave.

These muds rushed into the high sky, burning in clusters of flames, like fireworks blooming.

Ning Zhuo saw clearly that these burning muds were oily soot mud.

When the mud spewing was over, Ning Zhanji took the lead and jumped into the ground cave.

The rest of the cultivators followed closely, entering one after another.

Ning Chen, Ning Yong, and Ning Zhuo and other newcomers were led by the old members, one-on-one, jumping into the cave entrance.

When he first jumped down the ground cave, Ning Zhuo shuddered and was chilled by the surrounding cold air.

Sliding all the way down, the temperature in the passage quickly rose.

By the second half, the temperature became very high. While sliding, Ning Zhuo keenly observed the changes in the passage walls around him.

At first, the passages were covered in frost. By the second half, the frost had completely dissipated.

When he finally landed and his feet stepped on solid ground, Ning Zhuo looked up again and found that he was already in an underground world filled with flames and rocks.

The rocky ground under his feet was faintly soft, and the surrounding rock walls were translucent orange-yellow, constantly exuding surging heat.

Ning Yong next to him curiously reached out and tried to touch the rock wall.

In the next instant, one-third of the runes on his gloves melted, scaring him to retract his hand quickly.

Fortunately, afterwards, a Ning Family cultivator took action, took out a jade bottle, and released ethereal water mist.

The water mist condensed into blue and white ribbons, floating in the air, surrounding the crowd, helping them resist the omnipresent heat.

After Ning Zhanji arranged for Ning Zhuo and other newcomers to walk in the middle of the team, he led the Ning Family cultivators to continue forward.

After the initial novelty, the scenery of the Crimson Flame Demon Melt Cave became monotonous.

Ning Yong kept muttering, wondering when a demon beast would appear.

The look of vigilance on Ning Chen's face gradually relaxed a lot.

Ning Zhuo was secretly amazed at the spiritual energy here, the concentration of which was definitely the highest he had ever seen.

"No wonder many powerful cultivators live alone, residing in rare and dangerous places."

"It's a pity that my current mana is frost mana, and the spiritual energy here is heavily inclined towards the fire element, and it is also mixed with a large amount of fire poison, so it is not suitable for me."

The underground passage was sometimes wide and sometimes narrow, and the trend was clearly downwards.

There was more than just one passage, and Ning Zhuo often encountered forks. However, the Ning Family cultivators were obviously familiar with the route, and would choose one of the intersections each time without hesitation.

"Fire Crystal Grass, rooted in rocks, its leaves are as transparent as crystal jewels, constantly absorbing geothermal heat and flames, and can emit firelight."

"Flame Shadow Flower, absorbs magma and poisonous miasma, the grass is purple-black, the leaves are as thin as cicada wings, the body does not move, but the shadow shakes like flames."

"Vigorous Ginseng, absorbs earth power, a qualitative change occurs every 130 years. The ginseng whiskers are slender and have the natural ability to tunnel through the earth."

Along the way, Ning Zhuo saw several kinds of spiritual plants.

When the Ning Family cultivators passed by, they would also send out a portion of their manpower to pick them.

Ning Zhanji glanced at Ning Zhuo almost imperceptibly, then beckoned to Ning Zhuo and all the other newcomers, and tested the group, saying, "Do you know why we have to pick all these spiritual plants?"