Starting from Douluo Continent, I've become a god through daily check-ins.

Chapter 513 Beneath the Lava

The fierce, scorching wind rushed past his ears, and Jing Chen's heart pounded violently in his chest. The muffled sounds were almost as if they were right next to his ears.

The temperature grew increasingly scorching, and at one point, the noise from the outside world was finally completely shut out.

"Splash." With that crisp sound like water hitting the ground, the two people inside the cave suddenly tensed up like a spring that would break if pulled too hard.

Just before Jing Chen was about to plunge into the fiery red lava lake, a sudden burst of pale white flames erupted from his body, completely enveloping him.

"Splash." The body plunged in, splashing up fiery red lava.

Upon hearing the sound, Xiao Ding and Qing Lin above hurriedly turned their gazes toward the source of the molten lava, but they did not see a single person.

"Where is he?" Looking at the scene that seemed to have vanished in an instant, Xiao Ding couldn't help but turn to Qing Lin and shout.

"Ah?" Qinglin took a step back, her face pale as she stared at the still lake along the river. The person who had just jumped in seemed to have been turned to ashes the instant they touched the lava. Not even a scream was uttered.

A hissing sound suddenly came from within the magma.

Hearing the hiss, a hint of joy appeared on Qinglin's face. She quickly scanned the lava and saw a figure shrouded in a pale white flame suddenly emerge from the water, smiling and waving at Xiao Ding and the other person above.

"Thank goodness nothing bad happened." Looking at Jing Chen, who seemed to ignore the intense heat of the surrounding magma, Xiao Ding finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then, feeling completely exhausted, he plopped down on the ground and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Floating in the scorching magma, Jing Chen stared in astonishment at the slowly flowing, fiery red lava around him. A huge bubble slowly appeared beside him, then burst with a bang. Some lava splashed onto Jing Chen's face, but was instantly swallowed by the layer of eerie white flames.

Protected by the layer of pale white flames surrounding him, all external temperatures seemed to be isolated. A somewhat cool sensation lingered around him, and he felt no heat at all.

Cupping some fiery red lava in his hands and letting it slowly flow from his fingers, Jing Chen clicked his tongue in amazement. Such close contact with lava was undeniably a little chilling. How could the old Jing Chen have ever imagined bathing in lava? Even with his unparalleled strength, lava was no joke. Besides, Jing Chen only had one life; he wouldn't risk it. If it weren't for this opportunity, Jing Chen probably would never have considered taking a lava bath in his entire life.

"Little one, hurry up! Although I can temporarily protect you with the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, it will consume a lot of my soul power. After all, if you lose my soul power to maintain them, even if you are not swallowed by the lava, you will be burned to ashes in an instant. So, don't waste your precious time. You must leave this lava lake before my soul energy is exhausted, otherwise, you will really become a grasshopper in a hot oil pan." As Jing Chen kept exclaiming in amazement, Yao Lao's laughter rang in his mind.

"Hmm." Nodding slightly, Jing Chen turned around, looked at the huge two-headed fire spirit serpent not far away, and laughed loudly, "Big guy, lead the way."

Hearing Jing Chen's shout, the Fire Spirit Serpent ignored him completely, turning its huge head toward the entrance of the passage. Only after Qing Lin nodded and gave the order did it reluctantly turn around and dive into the lava.

Watching the fire spirit serpent ripple through the lava lake, Jing Chen let out a soft breath, then plunged into the lava, clinging tightly to the fire spirit serpent.

Within the magma, everything was a fiery red, but with the protection of the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, Jing Chen could barely make out his surroundings. He scanned the area, then swiftly moved, closely following the Fire Spirit Serpent that kept burrowing deeper into the magma.

Within the fiery red magma world, undercurrents surged. Occasionally, an extremely fierce magma current would erupt from some unknown place. These currents contained enormous energy, and if struck, even a Great Battle Master would be severely injured.

Fortunately, the Fire Spirit Serpent was extremely familiar with the area and was able to find the most suitable route to sneak around before the undercurrents arrived. Jing Chen, who was following closely behind it, also took the opportunity to successfully dodge these lava undercurrents.

In this fiery red world, there seem to be no other creatures besides the Fire Spirit Serpent. This is understandable, given the extremely harsh living conditions here. If it weren't for the two-headed Fire Spirit Serpent, a beast that feeds on magma, other magical beasts, even a powerful overlord-level beast like the Amethyst Winged Lion King, wouldn't be able to move freely and unaffected in such a place.

As Jing Chen continued to delve deeper into the seemingly endless magma, even with the protection of the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, he could vaguely sense that the outside temperature was increasing exponentially.

Noticing this phenomenon, Jing Chen's lips twitched slightly. It had been a long time since Jing Chen had experienced the feeling of walking on the edge of a knife and dancing under the scythe of death.

The fire serpent ahead showed no sign of stopping, nor did it look back to see if Jing Chen could keep up; it just kept swimming deeper into the cave.

In this environment where all five senses were stripped away, Jing Chen couldn't perceive any trace of the passage of time. He only knew to mechanically continue descending.

"Little guy, you must be back within an hour and a half!" Just as Jing Chen was feeling a bit dizzy and following the Fire Spirit Serpent downwards, Yao Lao's solemn voice suddenly rang in his mind.

"Huh? What?" Upon hearing this, Jing Chen was taken aback at first, then asked, "What's wrong?"

"We're diving deeper and deeper. Look at the lava outside now," Yao Lao said in a deep voice.

Upon hearing Yao Lao's words, Jing Chen quickly raised his eyes, only to be somewhat shocked to find that the fiery red magma around him had somehow turned bluish.

"What's going on?" Jing Chen asked in horror as the swimming speed gradually slowed down.

"This is a change caused by the rapid increase in temperature. The temperature of the surrounding magma is now approaching the limit that I can withstand." Yao Lao's voice carried an unprecedented solemnity and seriousness.

"..." Upon hearing this, Jing Chen's lips twitched, and sweat dripped down his forehead like water. He muttered, "No way, isn't the Bone Spirit Cold Flame ranked eleventh on the Strange Flame Ranking? Could it be that the next strange flame is even more ferocious than Elder Yao's Bone Spirit Cold Flame?"

"That's not entirely true. I'm currently in a soul state, so I can't exert much of the power of the Bone Spirit Cold Fire. Moreover, it's being released through your body, which naturally disperses its power considerably. In addition, with the pressure of the surrounding magma and the ever-increasing temperature, an hour and a half is already the limit," Yao Lao explained quickly.

"Alright, let's hurry up." After urging him on, Yao Lao fell silent again, presumably not daring to be distracted, lest something unexpected happen to the protection of the Bone Spirit Cold Flame.

(End of this chapter)