Douluo Phoenix

Chapter 35 The Undying Volcano

After a five-day journey, the group of five finally arrived at the Immortal Volcano Mountains.

In the distance stood a colossal volcano, its surrounding air radiating intense, fiery energy that seemed highly unstable, as if poised to explode at any moment. The air was thick with a turbulent atmosphere. For those skilled in fire elemental cultivation, this place was practically paradise.

However, all that could be seen in the distance was a charred black ground, almost devoid of vegetation, crisscrossed with cracks that widened the further one went in. Faint glimmers of fire could still be seen flickering in the distance.

Huo Tianchen said, "Let's rest here for the night and officially enter the Endless Volcano Mountain Range tomorrow."

Everyone tidied up their tents and then sat together. Huo Wu said, "Grandpa, this place seems perfect for my cultivation. I cultivate here at least 10% faster than outside. Why didn't you tell me about this place before? If I had cultivated here since I was a child, I might have become a Soul King by now."

Huo Tianchen shook his head and said, "Although there is a lot of fire element here, it is very unstable. Moreover, the eruption frequency of the Undying Volcano here is very unstable, occurring once a month or even once a year. During each eruption, the air and elements undergo drastic changes, which low-level Soul Masters cannot withstand. Furthermore, there is a trace of fire poison in the air around here. Long-term inhalation is bad for the body and can easily lead to cultivation deviation."

"Also, there's the Undying Volcano, surrounded by many fire-type soul beasts, especially small ones, mainly fire ants and fire bats. Although the soul beasts aren't high-level, they come and go very frequently. There are also many Ten Ferocious Sky Ant Beasts in the mountain, which are very similar to the Thousand-Pound Ants of the Star Dou Great Forest, but in addition to their strength, they also have a high level of fire element. Legend has it that they possess the bloodline of the Fire God."

"At the deepest part of the volcano, there are said to be 100,000-year-old soul beasts, but the temperature inside is too high for ordinary people to enter. Even non-fire attribute titled Douluo cannot stay there for too long."

Hearing Huo Tianchen's words, everyone swallowed hard. They took turns keeping watch and rested quietly for the night. The next morning, I officially entered the Undying Volcano area.

Clearly, Huo Tianchen was very familiar with this place. He led the way, while Huo Lie guided the three of them, walking for two consecutive days. They encountered many fire-type soul beasts along the way, but they were either unsuitable or too young. There were even a few ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts, though all were just over ten thousand years old.

Huo Lie suddenly said, "We're about to enter the area of ​​ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts, everyone be careful." Then he carefully walked ahead and walked for another half a day.

Suddenly Huo Tiancheng returned and said, "There's a 19000-year-old Flame Demon Bull ahead. Its strength and flames are extremely powerful, making it quite suitable for Huo Wushuang, but it's a bit beyond our expectations."

Huo Wushuang thought for a moment and said, "Having absorbed the Ninth-Grade Dragon Fungus, I feel I still have a lot of soul power left in my body, so I should be able to absorb more." Huo Tianchen nodded. A short while later, Huo Tianchen brought back a huge bull and handed it to Huo Wushuang. It was clearly on its last breath, and Huo Wushuang was to deliver the final blow. Huo Wushuang absorbed the soul ring; she only showed slight pain during the process, but otherwise it went very smoothly.

Next up is Huo Wu, who absorbed a 23000-year-old fire bat. She gained a very rare sonic-type, wide-range soul skill, somewhat similar to Angel's Roar.

Two more days passed, and everyone was getting impatient. Around the Endless Volcano, people's emotions seemed to easily become volatile. Xiao Fei also felt as if some force was influencing everyone's mood.

Suddenly, a deafening roar echoed in the distance, followed by a burst of flames. Huo Lie exclaimed, "Could it be during a volcanic eruption?"

Huo Tianchen shook his head and said, "The area affected by the mountain eruption wouldn't be that small; it must be a battle between high-level soul beasts."

Huo Tianchen went to observe alone, while Huo Lie stayed behind to protect everyone.

A short while later, Huo Tianchen returned and said, "There, a Ten Ferocious Heavenly Ant Beast is fighting two Soul Beasts. Both of these Soul Beasts are Mighty Fire Apes. One of the smaller Mighty Fire Apes is 60,000 years old, and the larger one is about 85000 years old. Although the Ten Ferocious Heavenly Ant Beast is only close to 50,000 years old, it still has a slight advantage in the fight. Both of those Mighty Fire Apes are quite suitable for me and Huo Lie."

Xiao Fei thought for a moment and said, "I think that Ten Ferocious Heavenly Ant Beast is quite good." Seeing Xiao Fei's expression, Huo Tianchen nodded. "You guys wait here first. I'll go take a look. We'll attack after the three soul beasts are both severely injured."

Wars between high-level soul beasts are extremely terrifying, and one wrong move can affect others. As a few Soul Kings and Soul Masters, they dare not join such battles.

After a fierce battle in the distance, the fighting suddenly stopped. A signal flame appeared in the sky. Huo Lie looked at it and said, "Let's go over there. Your grandfather should be alright by now!"

Then, he quickly led the three to the battlefield. Huo Tianchen was resting there, covered in blood, clearly quite injured. Upon seeing the four arrive, Huo Tianchen said, "These two Mighty Fire Apes can still live for a while, but this Ten Ferocious Heavenly Ant Beast is about to die. Xiao Fei, you absorb the energy first; we'll watch over you."

Xiao Fei nodded, took the knife, and directly stabbed it into the eye of the Ten Fiendish Sky Ant Beast. A dark spirit ring appeared on the beast's body. Based on past experience, Xiao Fei summoned his Fire Phoenix Martial Soul and then transferred the spirit ring to it. The 50,000-year-old spirit beast exerted immense pressure on Xiao Fei, pressing down on him like a mountain. In his mind, a ferocious, gigantic Ten Fiendish Sky Ant Beast flew towards him. Fortunately, at the crucial moment, a surge of mental energy struck the incoming beast from above, and the mental energy and the beast's phantom confronted each other in his mind. Since the Ten Fiendish Sky Ant Beast was already dead, it was like water without roots, and Xiao Fei gradually gained the upper hand. Finally, the phantom gradually dissipated.

At the same time, an immense surge of soul power flowed into Xiao Fei's body, causing him to glow with golden light. The Qi Rong Tong Tian Chrysanthemum was now taking effect; the power of the soul ring and the medicinal properties of the chrysanthemum combined to impact his body. His meridians seemed to break and rebuild multiple times, eventually stabilizing. This indicated that Xiao Fei had successfully absorbed the soul ring, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Fei opened his eyes and looked around. Everyone looked worried, especially Huo Wu, who seemed anxious. Huo Tianchen saw that Xiao Fei had finished absorbing the energy and said to Huo Lie, "Now it's your turn." Huo Lie nodded and began absorbing the 60,000-year-old Great Fire Ape Soul Ring.

Xiao Fei asked Huo Wu curiously, "Sister Huo Wu, how long did it take me to absorb this spirit ring?" Huo Wu replied, "You absorbed it for a full three days this time. You look terrible, and you lost a lot of blood. Don't push yourself so hard next time." Xiao Fei nodded helplessly. Another three days passed, and Huo Lie and Huo Tianchen finished absorbing their spirit rings. Next came the corpse-dissecting part. The four of them gradually dissected the corpses of the three spirit beasts, while the haughty Huo Wu watched from the sidelines. Dissecting corpses was not something a beauty like Huo Wu should do.

Looking at the dissected corpses, the five were surprised and delighted. Two soul bones were found in the three corpses. One was a 50,000-year-old left arm soul bone of a Ten Fiendish Heavenly Ant Beast, and the other was an 80,000-year-old right arm soul bone of a Mighty Fire Ape. Huo Tianchen thought for a moment and said, "Xiao Fei, this right arm soul bone is more suitable for you, why don't you absorb it? And give the 80,000-year-old right arm soul bone to Huo Wu. I'm already very old, this soul bone won't provide me with much of an improvement."

Xiao Fei thought for a moment and said, "I don't really like either of these soul bones. Let's give the right arm soul bone to Huo Wu and the left arm soul bone to Huo Wushuang. Both of them are quite suitable."

Tiancheng thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "You guys absorb it first! We'll talk about the rest when we get back."

Everyone knew the value of these two soul bones; they were practically equivalent to the inherited soul bones of major sects. Absorbing them now would reduce the covetousness of others. Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang both nodded and began absorbing the soul bones.

A day later, the two finished absorbing the soul bone and then hurriedly returned to the academy.

Back in the academy's office, everyone began to summarize. Huo Wu had shown the greatest improvement and gained the most. Huo Wu's soul power level had now reached 57, completely surpassing Huo Wushuang's. Furthermore, she now possessed three soul bones, all over ten thousand years old, with the highest reaching eighty thousand.

Huo Wushuang is next. Huo Wushuang has now reached level 56 with his combined strength and also has two soul bones, one of which is 50,000 years old.

Wang Xiaofei also reached level 56. He possessed the Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum, a 50,000-year-old head soul bone, and a 50,000-year-old top-grade soul ring. In total, he only gained a little over 6 levels. Xiaofei was even tempted to absorb the 50,000-year-old soul bone, but ultimately resisted.

Dean Huo Tianchen reached level 92, and Huo Lie reached level 81.

The dean instructed everyone to focus on stabilizing their cultivation levels within the academy and not to go out unless absolutely necessary.

A week later, Huo Tianchen officially announced that he had become a Title Douluo, causing a stir throughout the world. He was also the second non-sect member of the Heaven Dou Empire to achieve this title. Rumors circulated that Huo Tianchen had absorbed three soul bones from the Soul Master Competition finals to advance to Title Douluo. This directly reduced the pressure on several younger members, especially Xiao Fei, who, as the only non-family soul master from Blazing Fire Academy participating, received much sympathy.

Regardless, Blazing Fire Academy is already the third largest force in the Heavenly Dou Alliance.

(End of this chapter)