Mo Wen was merely an ancient martial art pract.i.tioner, so it was impossible for him to determine where he would end up.
Everything in front of Mo Wen was a dark red color. Below him, it was bright as fire; above him, it was dark as night. He was clearly deep underground and had already reached the magma layer.
Waves of heat surged towards him, of such frightening ferocity that even Mo Wen felt unable to withstand it. The scorching heat of this place was so intense that it would melt metals. If a beginning stage Golden Elixir realm ancient martial art pract.i.tioner appeared here, they would most likely be unable to withstand the searing temperatures.
"What is this place?" Mo Wen glanced around. It was quiet: a deathly sort of quiet. Mo Wen could not see another living creature, let alone any people.
How was it possible for Mo Wen to have reached the magma layer so quickly? He felt a bad premonition well up inside him. The magma layer stretched hundreds and thousands of kilometers underground. It was practically a dead end with only a tiny chance of a path to the outside world.
In one respect Mo Wen had been lucky. Fortunately, when he was transferred here, he happened to appear in a cavern rather than being directly transferred into the magma. If that had not been the case, the end result would have been unthinkable. His current cultivation meant it was not a problem for him to be dunked into magma for a short time but he could not sustain it for long. Once his Inner Qi was depleted, he would be burned into ashes.
Mo Wen once again took out the Thousand Mile Talisman and prepared to be transported once again. He wanted to see whether he could be transferred out of this place.
However, after pondering the matter for a short while, he changed his mind. After his first use of the Thousand Mile Talisman, he was reluctant to deploy it once again. If he was not transported back to the surface this time, and instead got transferred further down, the danger would be greater.
Also, the Thousand Mile Talisman did not have unlimited uses. The spiritual power stored inside it was limited and could not be used more than three to five times.
It would be best if Mo Wen could avoid using the Thousand Mile Talisman and instead find an alternative escape route.
Mo Wen flew around the underground world, traveling a substantial distance. He discovered that the underground cavern in which he found himself was huge, with a radius of at least a few hundred miles. The magma below him churned as though it was an ocean of magma.
A few islets had surfaced in the fearsome ocean. The islets were made of special heat-resistant materials and so did not melt in the magma.
Mo Wen found an islet that was slightly bigger than the rest and landed on it. A terrifying heat moved through his body from his feet. Although the rocks of the islet were in no danger of melting, they were scorching hot. Since arriving, Mo Wen had enveloped himself in a layer of Inner Qi, protecting his clothes and shoes by forming a Protective Qi s.h.i.+eld around his body. Otherwise, his shoes would most likely have turned to ash in an instant.
Mo Wen flicked his wrist and a s.h.i.+ny black pearl appeared in his hand. He absorbed some spiritual power from a spiritual stone and injected it into the pearl. The next moment, a black light flashed past him and a terrifying chill spread around the area. The heat around Mo Wen was instantly swept away.
A layer of black ice crystals was deposited on the rock beneath Mo Wen's feet. The rock was completely frozen by the chill of the Dark Soul Pearl. The chill spread and the surface of the magma layer within ten meters of the rock froze, forming a circle of dark red material.
Mo Wen safely stored the Dark Soul Pearl and instead took out a cattail ha.s.sock from his medicine spiritual ring. He placed it on the rock, sitting down cross-legged. He had been severely injured and required immediate treatment. If not, his injuries might become more serious. He would also be in trouble if he faced a surprise attack.
With his current ability, he would be at a disadvantage if he encountered even an intermediate stage Golden Elixir realm ancient martial art pract.i.tioner. This was why he had not hesitated to escape using the Thousand Mile Talisman when faced with the group attack of Purple Qi Pavilion and Five Beasts Sect.
Time pa.s.sed by slowly. The underground world was quiet.
Mo Wen was confident in the treatment he was able to administer to himself. The Heart Nouris.h.i.+ng Pill and a few supplementary pills allowed his wounds to recover at an astonis.h.i.+ng speed. In just one day and one night, his physical injuries had largely healed. In just one more day, Mo Wen had made a full recovery.
It was easy for Mo Wen to treat the physical wounds; however, even he had difficulty treating the injuries to his soul. This wasn't because he didn't know how to attend to spiritual wounds, but was due to the severity of his injuries. The power of the all-out attack of the Cries of Hades Bell controlled by the Corpse Puppet had been too strong. If Mo Wen's soul power wasn't so great, his present condition would be a great deal worse.
If he wanted his soul to recover in a short time, he needed a treatment that specialized in healing the soul. However, Mo Wen didn't have such pills to hand. The type of pill he required was rare even in the Immortal Cultivation world. The spiritual medicines necessary to make such medicines were rare and precious; moreover, compared to normal pills, the treatment itself was even harder to concoct.
A typical alchemist of Mo Wen's level wouldn't know how to concoct this type of pill at all because it was unlikely that his master would have taught him the required skill and method. However, the technique to make this type of pill was available in Ji Wuya's tutelage. Mo Wen had absorbed the theoretical knowledge of how to produce medicines and brief experience of concocting pills when he inherited Ji Wuya's heritage. However, he had never put the knowledge into practice and so was unsure whether he could successfully make the pills now.
Furthermore, he didn't have the conditions required to concoct the medicine he needed. Even though the spiritual medicines he had on hand were plentiful, he was not in possession of the rare medicinal herbs essential to make a pill which would heal the soul.
Therefore, he could only rely on his body's ability to repair itself now, allowing his soul to heal slowly on its own. Luckily, Mo Wen was the Miracle Physician; to some degree, he could catalyze his speed of self-recovering. If he was a common later stage Golden Elixir realm ancient martial art pract.i.tioner, he would take at least two years to completely recover from such a severe injury. Mo Wen was confident that within half a year, his soul would completely recover.
However, within this half a year, he wouldn't be able to use his soul power at all. He couldn't launch a soul attack either. Otherwise, it would cause his injury to become more serious and it would be even more troublesome later.
Mo Wen sighed. Fortunately, his cultivation had improved now. He didn't need to depend on his soul power as much. Otherwise, within this half a year, his ability would decrease by at least 50 percent.
After a day, Mo Wen's physical injuries had healed completely. If one didn't examine his soul deeply, it would be impossible to tell the difference between him and a healthy person.
Mo Wen, who was about to open his eyes after practicing his treatment, frowned suddenly. A great sense of danger welled up in his heart. It felt as if he was facing the Corpse Puppet again.
Without thinking, his silhouette flashed and he demonstrated the Glory of Wind. His body transformed into a gush of wind at an unbelievable angle, disappearing from his original spot without a sound. The next moment, he had appeared in midair a hundred meters away.
Rumble! Almost at the same time, the islet on which Mo Wen had been sitting cross-legged was attacked disintegrated into a fine powder. The turmoil causes the magma within a hundred-meter radius to sink more than tens of meters, forming a whirlpool.
"Who goes there?" Mo Wen opened his eyes and a golden light flickered in them. A powerful aura emanated from his body, forming a layer of Protective Qi around him.
"Huh? Such mysterious movement techniques." An exclamation of wonderment sounded, greatly surprising Mo Wen. The next moment, the magma nearby thrashed and a person slowly ascended from it.
A living person had actually surfaced from the magma. He stood on the magma ocean, staring incredulously at Mo Wen, who was in midair.
The person was an elder in his seventies. Clothed in grey sack clothes, his image was no different from that of an old farmer. However, Mo Wen could sense a venerable aura from the elder. He might be even older than Grandmother Hui Ling.
"Who are you? Why did you attack me?" Mo Wen asked coldly.
This elder was obviously ill-intentioned. He had attacked Mo Wen and if he had not reacted so quickly, Mo Wen would have been severely injured, possibly even killed.
The elder didn't entertain Mo Wen's questions. He only seemed interested in Mo Wen's movement techniques. "What movement techniques are those? I have spent my whole life studying the way of martial arts intensively. I have seen more than a thousand deep and profound martial arts, yet I have never seen such mysterious techniques before."
The elder had attacked without any prior warning; moreover, he used a surprise attack that he was most skilled and experienced in. With his cultivation, when he ambushed someone, even if the person was an ancient martial art pract.i.tioner at the pinnacle of the Golden Elixir realm, the person had a fifty percent chance of dying at his hands.
He was slightly surprised at this youth's astonis.h.i.+ng senses. He was even more surprised at the youth's miraculous movement techniques. The youth could actually retreat unscathed under such conditions.
His sneak attack and the youth's escape had happened in just a moment. It had taken a matter of seconds for the youth to notice the attack and then dodge it.
The elder was certain that even if an ancient martial art pract.i.tioner at the pinnacle of the Golden Elixir realm noticed his sneak attack, the pract.i.tioner would not have enough time to completely dodge it. The elder knew his attack speed was astonis.h.i.+ng. Even if his opponents discovered him, it would surely be difficult for them to dodge his attack. However, this youth had managed to do so.
There were millions of movement techniques in the world. He had seen a few absolute ranked movement techniques. Yet none of them were comparable to the movement techniques performed by the youth just now. The elder hadn't even managed to clearly see the process of the youth's movement. The youth had actually reached the state of moving without a trace.
"Old thing, you have yet to answer me. Just now, why did you attack me?" Mo Wen's facial expression turned cold. Anyone would be angry when they were attacked without reason. Furthermore, this old thing had attacked in such a sneaky manner. They didn't know each other and didn't have any vendettas. Why would he attack so ruthlessly?
"What did you just call me?" The elder was stunned momentarily, then his face turned sullen. He hadn't expected the youth to be so presumptuous and to actually dare to scold him to his face. It had been many years since someone dared to be this rude to him. On top of that, the person was a callow youngster.
"Old thing, don't pride yourself on being a veteran. You have lived for so many years, could it be that you still do not understand the rule of 'be respectful to be respected'? You attacked ruthlessly for no reason. How are you different from an old fart?" Mo Wen asked.
"You are looking to die." The anger of the elder in grey robes could no longer be contained. He could look lightly upon the lives of others, but others could not disrespect him even in the slightest. A callow brat had actually dared to offend him.
Initially, the elder had only wanted to eliminate this youth, removing an opponent who would fight him for the spiritual fire. After all, all the ancient martial art pract.i.tioners who could reach the eighth level of the Beast Lair were there for the spiritual fire. However, it was not as simple as killing the youth now. Only torturing the youth to the extent where the youth felt living was no better than death would relieve the hatred the elder now felt in his heart.
