The flame beast was a unique demonic beast that resided within lava. They were shaped oddly, looking like a fireball when they were in fact an actual life form. They could also spit flame from their mouths, and their attacks were extremely destructive. If there were only one or two of them, it wouldn’t matter. But with hundreds or even thousands of them appearing, they became incomparably scary.

They streamed out of the volcanic crater and started spitting flame at the humans without stop, making everyone flee madly. These humans were already having a hard time moving around this terrible environment. With the flame beasts going crazy as well, the humans struggled even more.

"What should we do?" Gong Qinyin asked anxiously.

"What else can we do? Either retreat or brave on," Xiang Shaoyun said.

"And what is your choice?" Gong Qinyin asked.

"We can’t avoid these beasts when searching for the millennium earthcore fire. I will go on. Take care," Xiang Shaoyun said and started heading forward once more. He moved like the wind and in the blink of an eye, he vanished from their vision. Ever since he found out that someone else was the actual leader of the Gong Clan group, he had been wanting to leave them and move alone. This was the perfect chance for that.

Gong Qinyin had not expected Xiang Shaoyun to leave just like that, completely ignoring her. She was slightly unhappy as she cursed inwardly, Has he noticed something?

"Sister, we should retreat for now. It is not wise to keep moving forward in this situation," said the young man in the Gong Clan who was no longer hiding his identity.

This young man was a young genius of the Gong Clan. Although he was incomparable to the Cloud Margin Pavilion geniuses, he was still someone with a chance to become a King in the future. His name was Gong Fen, a cousin of Gong Qinyin's.

The Gong Clan had never expected that Gong Qinyin would obtain the millennium earthcore fire. After all, she was too weak, which was why Gong Fen was sent with her. Gong Qinyin had no reasons to say no. She did want to tell Xiang Shaoyun the truth, but it was unfortunately prohibited by her father.

They planned to keep things hidden so Xiang Shaoyun could help clear some obstacles for them. And in reality, Xiang Shaoyun had done exactly that. But now, with Xiang Shaoyun leaving, they had to rely on themselves. Gong Qinyin knew that Gong Fen was right. She nodded and retreated with the group.

Hopefully he won't misunderstand me, Gong Qinyin thought to herself.

On the mountain, a large number of flame beasts could be seen, all spitting flame repeatedly at the Transformation Realm cultivators in the area. The weaker cultivators were instantly cooked alive while the stronger ones were able to leave calmly.

Naturally, there were still some cultivators who had high confidence in themselves and continued charging up the mountain, heading toward the volcanic crater. These were mostly the Cloud Margin Pavilion's Transformation Realm experts. All of them were amply prepared for the trip and equipped with high-tier equipment. None of them were willing to give up on the millennium earthcore fire.

Among these people, some were the overseers who were members of the previous generation. They had long reached peak Transformation Realm and were hoping that the millennium earthcore fire would help them take the final step and enter the King Realm. Some were the freak geniuses of the current younger generation, cultivators of flame power hoping to borrow the millennium earthcore fire to advance their cultivation.

For Xiang Shaoyun to continue climbing the mountain right now was undoubtedly a dangerous decision. He had to face the threats of the flame beasts and the fire in the surroundings that were growing more and more intense.

Ordinary people would immediately be turned to charcoal when they arrived. Not even the energy barrier of Transformation Realm experts could resist the high temperatures here. Xiang Shaoyun was shrouded by a purple, golden barrier. Thus, he could still advance despite the temperature. However, the flame beasts were obstructing his way as well.

The flame beasts were spitting raging flames toward Xiang Shaoyun. The flames they spat were much hotter than regular flames. Xiang Shaoyun could sense something from these beasts and was immediately overjoyed. "Looks like these flame beasts have all benefited from the earthcore fire, and it had let them go through some sort of transformation."

At this thought, Xiang Shaoyun grew excited and increased his pace. With an ingenious footwork, he advanced amid the raging attacks the flame beasts were sending his way. However, there were too many flame beasts. After avoiding four beasts in a row, a few other beasts pounced him.

Left with no other choice, Xiang Shaoyun had to draw his saber to face the beasts. He swung his saber, cutting the beasts into two. The beasts that were cut exploded and sent fireballs flying toward him, catching Xiang Shaoyun by surprise. His defense was nearly broken through by the fireballs, and the terrifying heat seeped into his body, causing him to feel an intense burning pain.

This is the power of lava! Xiang Shaoyun cried out inwardly.

Bang! Bang!

His momentary distraction caused him to be completely surrounded by flame.

"Piss off!" Xiang Shaoyun roared and unleashed his Berserk Lightning Blade and opened a path clear of fire. He then quickly fled through that path.

The Overlord's Nine Nether Steps was worthy of being a top-tier footwork. It enabled Xiang Shaoyun to move at a speed comparable to an eighth- or even ninth-stage Transformation Realm cultivator.

The flame around him became thicker and thicker, to the point he could no longer see the way forward. His energy barrier also started crumbling, forcing him to use the power of his lightning bone to protect himself instead. The innate purple lightning was worthy of being a high-level lightning power as it was completely capable of resisting the flame in the surroundings.

Apart from the lightning power, Xiang Shaoyun also had a king-grade armor on his body, which was something Dong Ziwan had given him previously at the Blackhill Town. With the two layers of defense, the damage he suffered was greatly suppressed. Otherwise, he would have been burned to death alive.

The higher he climbed, the stronger the flame beasts were. Now, he was already facing attacks of numerous Great Demons. He wanted to avoid these beasts, but he failed, as he was already surrounded by three Great Demon flame beasts.

"Roar! Roar!"

The three flame beasts roared and sent forth blazing waves of flame that wrapped around Xiang Shaoyun. He quickly retreated, but he was still struck and nearly lost his hair to the flame!

"There are increasingly more flame beasts around here. I need to move faster!" Xiang Shaoyun muttered before finally deciding to use his saber intent.

He then unleashed the Berserk Lightning Blade together with his saber intent, achieving human saber unity. The purple saber energy glided across the air, slicing through the incoming flame before slashing the three flame beasts apart.

Rumble! Rumble!

The three flame beasts exploded at the same time, resulting in a terrifying explosion that forced Xiang Shaoyun to retreat. He was even forced to take out the coldstar stone to protect himself against the heat. The moment he took out the coldstar stone, someone not far away noticed him.