Stone Hall

Now that Old Man Dique believed he was dead, he likely would not go out of his way to wag his tongue at Shaohua Mountain. As long as Qin Sang could escape the ancient abode, he could flee elsewhere before Old Man Dique realized the truth. Along the way, he could even spread word far and wide that Old Man Dique had ambushed Daoist Xuan Yu, digging a pit for the old man so he would have no leisure to bother about him. Yet breaking free of Old Man Dique's control offered only temporary safety. The dilemma now confronting Qin Sang was how to leave the ancient cultivator's abandoned abode. He had meticulously memorized the methods to breach the restrictions along the mountain path. However, lacking sufficient strength, knowing how to break them did not mean he had the ability to do so; he could very well end up trapped to death on the mountain. Did he have to stay here and cultivate? Qin Sang moved quietly until he reached the rock wall, feeling the scalding stone. The spiritual power inside the crater was exceedingly abundant, so opening a cave dwelling here was not entirely unfeasible. Having already comprehended the second killing talisman, he needed only to cultivate in seclusion until he broke through to the middle Foundation Establishment stage. Over twenty-odd years, he would surely find an opportunity to get away. After some thought, Qin Sang looked upward. Old Man Dique excelled at the Thousand Illusions Divine Sound, so the firebirds posed no trouble to him; Qin Sang needed to find a place to hide. Still, concealed among the flock of firebirds, and with Old Man Dique unable to unleash his spiritual power or spiritual sense to search openly, Qin Sang did not fear being discovered. At this thought, Qin Sang leaned slightly forward. His vision did not reach very far, but the entire belly of the volcano was densely packed with firebirds, vastly outnumbering the flying monkeys above the lava lake. It was truly an enormous firebird nest. A treasure guarded by so many firebirds had to be even more precious than the Red Gold Vine, right? After hesitating for a moment, curiosity got the better of him, and Qin Sang began slowly descending. The volcano seemed bottomless. Along the way, Qin Sang found no restrictions whatsoever. He did not know how deep he had delved, but Qin Sang still could not see the bottom. The fire elemental power here was dense to the extreme, the heat unbearable. He had changed into a robe woven from the feathers of an icehuan bird, with an icy chill circulating to protect his body and ward off intense flames, yet now even its feathers were curling slightly. *It should be close to the lava soon,* Qin Sang told himself silently as he watched the increasingly dense swarm of firebirds. Crimson filled his vision, firebirds everywhere. Qin Sang grew even more cautious, shifting amidst the birds and dodging carefully to avoid colliding with any and exposing his presence. Although Qin Sang could turn invisible at any time to deceive the firebirds and break away from combat, Daoist Xuan Yu was very likely down below. Even if Xuan Yu could not release his spiritual sense to detect him, any abnormal disturbance among the firebirds would surely alert him. Suddenly, Qin Sang paused. At this moment, he was clinging close to the edge of the mountain interior. To his surprise, he saw a wave of lava splash against the stone wall beneath his feet before slowly trickling down. The rock wall had clearly been tempered countless times, remaining completely unscathed. Moreover, amidst the rising and falling cries of the birds, Qin Sang could faintly hear the churning of lava. He had finally reached the bottom, yet there was no ancient immortal's cave dwelling like he had imagined. Qin Sang stared below in surprise. Before long, another great surge of lava washed upward. Here... there was actually no restriction sealing the lava river? Qin Sang was greatly surprised. Ever since entering the ancient immortal's abandoned abode, whether in the trial space or in the subterranean caverns, the surging lava had always been firmly sealed beneath those circular restrictions. No matter how violent the waves, they could not budge the restrictions in the slightest. Qin Sang suspected that this kind of restriction was likely part of the grand formation protecting the ancient immortal's abandoned abode, sealing off the abode from the outside world; the lava below did not belong to the abode. Was there simply no restriction here, or was it a special one hidden below? A thought stirred in Qin Sang's heart: if he jumped into the lava river, could he escape directly? The premise was that he could find an exit before running out of spiritual power and being swallowed by the lava. He did not act rashly, but remained among the firebirds, moving slowly along the edge of the mountain's interior to observe carefully. Before long, Qin Sang made a discovery. Not far away, he found the familiar circular restriction—or more precisely, fragments of it. These restriction fragments were scattered unevenly, riddled with fractures large and small. In many places, large sections were missing altogether, allowing sufficiently large swells of lava to burst out through the gaps. It wasn't that there was no restriction here—the restriction had been destroyed! Qin Sang moved cautiously, patiently circling the vast interior of the mountain. This was a lava lake even broader than the one in the subterranean cavern, and it took Qin Sang a considerable amount of time to make a full circuit. Whether because too much time had passed and the restriction's power had eroded over the ages, or for some other reason, the restrictions throughout the entire mountain belly were fragmented and torn like this. Aside from this, he found nothing else. The rock walls inside the mountain were seamless, with no caves or secret chambers. Where was the ancient cultivator's cave dwelling? Qin Sang grew puzzled. His gaze shifted, fixing on the center of the crater. After pondering briefly, he crept quietly toward it. Meanwhile. At the mountain summit. With bone-deep hatred, Ren Hong glared at Old Man Dique's weathered face. Only hoarse rasps escaped his throat as he hurled the most venomous curses. Yet this was doomed to be futile and powerless. Until the light faded from his eyes, Ren Hong died with his eyes wide open in grievance. Unfazed, Old Man Dique gave the Tianyin Conch a slight tremor. A wave of divine sound power pulverized Ren Hong's corpse into dust, as effortless as crushing an ant. Indifferently, he looked away toward the swarm of firebirds. Next, Old Man Dique drew the Tianyin Conch back into his body, ripples of divine sound power wafting from him. First to manifest were flame-like feathers, followed by his body morphing, until at last he transformed into a firebird. Flapping his wings lightly, he flew into the volcanic crater. Suddenly assaulted by the cacophony of bird cries, the 'firebird' stiffened, the feathers on its body trembling a few times before quickly returning to normal. After frolicking with the genuine firebirds for a short while, a gleam of intelligence flashed in its eyes, and it swiftly flew toward the bottom of the volcano. ... A colossal stone platform floated at the center of the volcano's depths. The circular restriction beneath the stone platform was damaged even more severely, almost none of it remaining. The lava was completely exposed, wave after wave of molten rock crashing against the stone platform. The circular stone platform was completely occupied by an ancient stone hall, leaving almost no room to set foot. The stone hall was exceedingly crude, built entirely from dozens of long stone slabs stacked together. The suspected entrance was even blocked directly by a large square slab of bluestone. Moreover, these stone slabs were extraordinarily rough, riddled with cracks everywhere. The stone hall stood teetering on the verge of collapse, as though the slightest touch would bring it crashing down. Even mortals would not dwell in such a house! However, layered restrictions upon the stone hall shimmered with a hazy cyan light, standing in sharp contrast to the churning crimson lava below, appearing unique and mysterious in such a place. Around the stone hall, a hemispherical space remained completely empty. The firebirds could only wheel outside, unable to intrude into this expanse.