Underground

　　After seeing the other party’s uniforms, the lean man’s face paled. “They’re from the Gui Yuan Sect!”

　　Among the warriors who had gathered at the foot of Blazing Mountain, those from major sects were dressed in similar outfits and were thus easily distinguishable. Ordinary warriors would choose to avoid them when they came across such men.

　　“If I go down now, I will definitely be caught by them. With my capabilities, I won’t be able to escape from the clutches of the men from the Gui Yuan Sect! There’s no other choice!” The lean man looked up, clenched his teeth, and quickly grabbed onto the vines before climbing upwards. He was also a warrior, so the speed at which he climbed was fast indeed.

　　If he had jumped down, he would have definitely been caught.

　　Escape into the cave beneath the vines? The other party would be able to catch up to him very quickly once they entered the cave.

　　If he climbed upwards and was fast enough to reach the peak of this short cliff first, he would still have some traces of hope.

　　……

　　At the foot of the mountain, Teng Qingshan raised his head and looked at the lean man, who was climbing up the cliff rapidly.

　　“Lieutenant, do we give chase?” Du Hong was a bit anxious.

　　Teng Qingshan gave a faint smile as picked up two small stones from the ground and looked up at the lean man, who was facing difficulties while attempting to climb the vineless areas. Teng Qingshan freely threw one of the stones, which raced across the air as if it were a shooting star and landed precisely on the lean man’s right arm.

　　“Ah!” The lean man cried out in pain as he released his right hand that was clutching onto the cliff.

　　Having lost his balance, he fell downwards.

　　It was a height of over ten Zhang. If he had jumped down, his legs would have at most suffered a fracture. However, since he had lost his balance, he was falling backwards, heads down. Even a First Rate Warrior would have fallen to his death.

　　“Hu!”

　　Like a gust of wind, Teng Qingshan reached out his hand towards the body that was crashing down as if it were a missile—

　　Ten Zhang was equivalent to about forty meters, comparable to a ten-story building from Teng Qingshan’s previous life. To fall from such a height, the impact could probably break the arms of a First Rated Warrior if he were to receive it with his bare hands.

　　“Bang!”

　　With 90% of the impact offset by Teng Qingshan’s arm, the lean man fell onto the floor with no serious injury except for a tight feeling in his chest.

　　Teng Qingshan could have actually received that impact with just one arm. However, even if he himself were unharmed, the lean man would have probably suffered from the impact and died. Therefore, he could only use this gentler approach and catch him with his hands instead.

　　“I know the secret to the Black Fire Spirit Fruit. The reason he saved me is likely because he’s not aware of the situation in the cave and wants me to lead the way. Once they find the Black Fire Spirit Fruit, they will definitely kill me! They will definitely not let me leave this place alive in order to keep the Black Fire Spirit Fruit to themselves!” The lean man had gained much experience from roaming the world over the past years and was not a fool.

　　He understood that whoever found the Black Fire Spirit Fruit would want to keep it for themselves!

　　Having fallen on the floor, the lean man waved his hand and shot a cold flash of light towards Teng Qingshan’s chest, which was in close proximity. He then instantly propped himself up with both hands, and with a “woosh”, he dashed far away.

　　“Clank!” Teng Qingshan deflected the dagger with a mere flick of his finger, .

　　Looking at the lean man, who was quickly running away, Teng Qingshan threw the other stone in his hand.

　　“Ah!” The lean man’s right leg collapsed from under him, causing him to fall down on his rear.

　　“If you try to escape again, I WILL kill you!” A cold voice rang out by his ear, causing the lean man, who still wanted to escape, to feel a sense of devastation. As of this moment, he understood that he no longer had any hope of escaping when he couldn’t even run away from the sneak attack earlier. He was not one who would court death.

　　After rubbing his right leg, the lean man stood up and turned towards Teng Qingshan, squeezing out a smile. “Dear heroes from Gui Yuan Sect, you all……”

　　“Is the Black Fire Spirit Fruit inside that cave?” Teng Qingshan got straight to the point.

　　The lean man was stunned by the other party’s sharp guess.

　　“Yes!” The lean man nodded his head.

　　By then, Du Hong, Teng Qinghu, and the rest of the company had also rushed over. They were elated upon hearing this. “Qingshan, your guess was right. The Black Fire Spirit Fruit is actually in this valley. To think that we were previously blindly running all over the place .” Teng Qinghu said. Teng Qingshan also smiled. He had merely made a guess based on the location where the adolescent Red Scaled Beast had escaped to.

　　Teng Qingshan immediate instructed, “Qinghu, Old Du, you two follow me into the cave. The rest of the men will stay in the vicinity and continue pretending to search for the Black Fire Spirit Fruit. Wait for us to come out.”

　　“Yes, lieutenant.” The group of men lowered their voices.

　　The lean man looked at Teng Qingshan in horror. “Yes, this is Gui Yuan Sect’s Lieutenant Teng Qingshan. He even competed with Si Mafeng the other day. No wonder he could catch me so easily when I fell from a height of sixteen to seventeen Zhang! Even though I launched a sneak attack from such close proximity, he still managed to easily deflect it.”

　　After knowing the other party’s identity, the lean man did not dare to resist any further.

　　Teng Qingshan scanned the surroundings.

　　Since it had originally been a concealed location, there were no other people in the vicinity of the valley at that moment. Even if anyone did come to search the vicinity, there wouldn’t be many people to find. If nothing turned up from their search, they would generally not carry on.

　　“Let’s enter the cave,” Teng Qingshan said.

　　Teng Qingshan grabbed onto the lean man’s shirt with his left hand, and with a leap, he jumped a height of about seven to eight Zhang. He then grabbed onto a protruding rock with his right hand and propelled himself upwards. With a tap of his feet, he flew straight to the cave, lifted the vines and entered it.

　　Teng Qinghu and Du Hong used both their hands and legs as they climbed up with great speed as well.

　　Both of them were also First Rated Warriors, so they were able to quickly climb up. Thus, they entered the cave within the span of a few breaths.

　　……

　　Teng Qingshan returned the vines to their position and covered the entrance to the cave.

　　The tunnels in the cave were dark, but they had a height of over one Zhang, therefore Teng Qingshan’s group did not have to stoop low upon entering the cave.

　　“You, take the lead,” Teng Qingshan instructed calmly.

　　Du Hong hollered at the lean man, “Chap, if you try anything funny one more time, even if the lieutenant doesn’t do anything, I will pierce you with a single spear strike!” At this moment, Du Hong and Qinghu drew their spears from their back. Teng Qingshan also drew his spear from his back and held it in his hands.

　　In the cave, nothing was uncertain. It was better to be careful.

　　“Sirs, please be assured. In front of Lieutenant Teng, even if my courage were ten times greater, I would not dare to escape again.” That lean man said respectfully. “Lieutenant Teng, sirs, I will lead the way.” The lean man headed forth for the deeper region of the cave after vowing this.

　　Although he was saying one thing, the lean man was actually very feeling very anxious. “Among the bigger sects, who would be lenient towards others? I am still useful now, but when they find the Black Fire Spirit Fruit, they will most likely kill me. I will need to find a good opportunity to make my move.”

　　Although he was fearful of Teng Qingshan, he was even more afraid of being killed.

　　As he started to think about an escape route, he cheerfully spoke out, “Lieutenant Teng, this tunnel is not very long. There is a large crevice in front!”

　　“Crevice?”

　　Teng Qingshan felt that he had walked for about over a hundred metres before he saw a large crevice. The large crevice had a width of about one Zhang and was pitch black in the middle, with an unpredictable depth. There was only a slight sense of blazing heat coming out from the crevice and straight at their faces.

　　Du Hong hollered, “Chap, how did you get down?”

　　The lean man quickly replied, “Sirs, this crevice has a depth of a hundred Zhang. One would die if they were to fall down. I spent half a night of effort to run to another cliff, collect some sturdier vines, and connect them into a long rope. The rope is just over there!”

　　As he said this, he pointed to a spot not too far away from which thick vines were hanging.

　　“I will go down first.” Teng Qingshan spoke out as he looked at the lean man. “You will be next. Qinghu, Old Du, you two will follow behind.” Teng Qingshan was afraid that the lean man would resort to tricks while they were distracted.

　　“Go!” Teng Qingshan placed his Reincarnation Spear on his back again as he leaped down, and with a tap of his feet on the cliff, he grabbed onto the vines and descended with great speed.

　　“Faster!” Du Hong bellowed at the man.

　　The lean man quickly followed Teng Qingshan down the crevice.

　　During the descend, Teng Qingshan realised that the deeper they went, the darker it was. “Even with my vision, I can barely see past a distance of five to six meters! If ordinary First Rate Warriors were here, they would only be able see their own hands.” Teng Qingshan could also feel a sulfuric heat slamming into his face.

　　The heat was growing increasingly thicker!

　　As they continued to descend further and further, the temperature in the crevice kept increasing, alongside the sulfuric heat.

　　“Pu!”

　　Teng Qingshan finally landed. “Hmm, about a hundred Zhang! Based on the height of the cave on the cliff, my current location should be lower than the base of the valley by eight, nine, or ten Zhang!” Shortly after, the lean man, together with Du Hong and Teng Qinghu, had also arrived at the bottom.

　　“Lead the way.” Teng Qingshan spoke out.

　　Familiar with area, the lean man walked in front of the group, while saying at the same time, “Lieutenant Teng, here in the depths of the crevice, it is especially hot.” Faint red light started to become visible from the front. Even if it was just a faint light, Teng Qingshan was able to see tens of metres in an instant with his remarkable eyesight. Looking into the distance, however, he could only see the blurred sight of light red fog.

　　“Red?” Du Hong was slightly surprised.

　　“Lieutenant Teng, that is actually vapor!” The lean man explained.

　　“Water vapor should be white fog, who are you kidding? Are you trying to take us for fools?” Teng Qinghu bellowed. The lean man quickly spoke out in fear, “Sirs, I would not dare to lie to you. Without a doubt, this is fog from water vapor! It’s because the place is too hot that water vapor has appeared.”

　　Teng Qingshan also realised that the temperature was growing increasingly hotter.

　　Although it was quite hot in the valley, it was not unbearable. Now, however, it was getting a bit out of hand.

　　Following the lean man, Teng Qingshan and company stepped into the ‘red fog’ together. After moving closer, Teng Qingshan was certain that this was truly ordinary water vapor. Eventually, Teng Qingshan heard “bloop bloop”, the sound of water was boiling. Teng Qingshan put his right arm on the lean man’s shoulders and followed him the entire way.

　　“This Teng Qingshan is remarkably careful.” The lean man felt the hand on his shoulders. “This happens to be the best place to escape, but……”

　　His original plan was to make his escape from here.

　　But now he had no way out.

　　He had no choice but to continue walking onward!

　　After walking tens of Zhang, the fog began to thin, and the “bloop bloop” sound became increasingly clearer. Finally, Teng Qingshan and company emerged from the foggy area.

　　“This is—” Teng Qinghu and Du Hong were dumbfounded.

　　The lean man quickly said, “This should be the flaming lava mentioned in the stories!”

　　Appearing before Teng Qingshan’s sight was a trail of scorching red flaming lava that flowed steadily while bubbling from the heat. Du Hong and company had to circulate their internal strength in order to resist that terrible heat.

　　“Lava!” Teng Qingshan was well aware of what this was. “The layer of lava should be located deep underground. I didn’t expect to find lava within a depth of two to three hundred meters. Seems like……the stories about a volcanic eruption happening here were true.”