Mo Fan watched the demons scrambling for the Fire Lotus, a thought stirring in his mind.
He surveyed the space, his eyes darting about. Activating his Earth Escape divine ability slightly, he felt the ground turn fluid like water, offering no resistance.
“The Earth Escape ability faces no barrier. This means I still have a chance,” Mo Fan murmured, looking up at the runic barrier above. He whispered, “Since this is a dormant volcano, eruption is possible. From their earlier conversation, this Fire Lotus has clearly produced seeds before.
Logically, demon kings’ battles could trigger the volcano, yet it remains intact. Could this be due to the runic barrier above?
If I can destroy that barrier, wouldn’t it ignite the volcano?
Perhaps this time I can play big!”
As he spoke, Mo Fan’s eyes grew brighter.
His purpose here extended beyond the Earth Vein Fire Lotus.
If he could drag all these demon cultivators into the mire, he wouldn’t mind trampling their heads!
With that thought, Mo Fan looked down, seeing intense combat erupt below. The six major demon kings fought independently, all vying for the seeds.
Surrounding them, formidable demon generals watched eagerly, ready to strike.
The six included the initial five Mo Fan had seen, plus the beast in the magma pool.
Though the Bai Family Ancestor had slammed the beast back into the magma earlier, it seemed unharmed and now raged wildly.
The beast resembled a snake with four limbs, an odd creature.
Crimson-hued and over ten zhang long, it evoked a legendary flood dragon but differed greatly, more like a elongated fire salamander.
This salamander monster’s aura reached demon king level.
Mo Fan noted it seemed stronger than the other five, innately wielding fire arts.
The demon cultivators battled fiercely, none able to approach the Earth Vein Fire Lotus, as any who tried faced attacks from the rest.
Under such onslaught, even the five demon kings dared not draw near.
The demon generals fared worse, perishing on contact.
The area above the magma pool became a slaughter ground, enacting primal carnage.
As demon cultivators fell, the factions went berserk, their war cries echoing.
Seeing the Earth Vein Fire Lotus seeds unlikely to be seized soon, Mo Fan shifted focus. Using Earth Escape, he visited other cave openings and destroyed their passages.
Built into the mountain, the passages collapsed easily under his flying sword’s assault, completely blocked.
After sealing the last, Mo Fan’s lips curled upward.
Crimson Flame Peak’s walls spanned over a hundred zhang thick. In his view, even demon kings couldn’t escape easily.
Unless they shattered the entire peak.
But that would leave the demon kings gravely injured, if not dead.
Crimson Flame Peak dwarfed ordinary hills, rivalling Black Wind Mountain in size, and as a dormant volcano, its eruption would be unimaginable.
Thus, Mo Fan aimed to maximise the volcano’s revival odds.
This would cut off the demon kings’ retreat, using the terrain to ensnare them all.
He escaped directly to the dome above, discovering clues.
The so-called barrier resembled an array, continuously drawing energy from the mountain to sustain itself.
“How exactly can I break this array?” Mo Fan frowned, touching the runic barrier. As expected, it felt solid and smooth like a mirror, impenetrable.
He then summoned a golden arrow to pierce it, but it triggered the runes, nearly injuring him instead.
“No good,” he said.
“I recall He Feifei saying any array needs a base for energy. If I find the array base, the array can be broken.
But where is it?”
Mo Fan whispered, using Earth Escape to search the surrounding mountain along the barrier, yielding nothing.
As he considered giving up, the little one on his shoulder sniffed suddenly, exclaiming joyfully, “Daddy, that way! I smell something delicious!”
Mo Fan paused, initially inclined to ignore Yingying Monster.
To him, the little fellow was powerful but unreliable, always eating or sleeping, more pig-like than Pig Sir.
As Mo Fan turned back toward the cavern, a realisation struck.
Yingying Monster’s diet was unusual. Besides dragon loaches, it adored spirit stones.
His eyes lit up.
“Could it be…”
Without hesitation, Mo Fan escaped in the direction Yingying Monster indicated.
Soon, he hit a wall, blocked by the runic barrier again.
The barrier extended beyond the cavern, encompassing Crimson Flame Peak’s summit.
“I should have known it wouldn’t be easy,” Mo Fan said bitterly, feeling frustrated.
If the array’s weakness was obvious, its creator would have foreseen it.
Finding the base breaks the array, but what if the base lies outside?
This was Mo Fan’s first true array encounter, leaving him at a loss.
“Yingyingying…!!” Yingying Monster called, scratching anxiously at Mo Fan’s inaction, then flew off his shoulder. Under Mo Fan’s shocked gaze, it passed through the runic barrier.
“What?!” Mo Fan’s eyes widened in genuine astonishment. “How is this possible!!”
It worked?!
The barrier he couldn’t breach, Yingying Monster traversed effortlessly.
This struck a blow to Mo Fan’s spirit.
After pondering, he concluded Yingying Monster could penetrate runic barriers.
Or rather, it possessed an ability to traverse arrays and boundaries freely.
Amid his surprise, crunching sounds reached his ears.
Familiar to him, it was Yingying Monster gnawing on spirit stones.
“Stones sustaining such an array must be exceptional, perhaps top-grade spirit stones!” Mo Fan thought, realising suddenly. He shouted beyond the barrier, “Yingying Monster, don’t eat them all! Leave some for Daddy!!”
As his words fell, wild laughter echoed from below.
“Hahahaha…”
“The Earth Vein Fire Lotus seed is finally mine!”
“This one belongs to me. Fight for the remaining three!”
“Dare pursue, and don’t blame me for turning lethal, old bonds be damned!
Fire Cloud Cave’s demon generals, follow me!”
Boom!
As the demon king’s voice ended, a rumble followed, shaking the entire mountain.
“Damn it, who blocked my passage!!”
Mo Fan’s face twitched at the words, then he saw the nearby runic barrier vanish abruptly.
Whoosh!
A golden light landed on Mo Fan’s shoulder.
Glancing sideways, he saw Yingying Monster’s cheeks bulging, chewing vigorously.
“Blast it, stop eating! Leave some for your daddy!!”
