On the top of the volcano, two figures stood tall.

It was Hong Heiyu and Gui Junzi. They were both observing the situation inside the volcano. Now, their students had disappeared into the depth of the lava river. Although they couldn’t see it with their eyes, their thought was so strong that they could observe everything inside and control the situation closely.

“Hong Heiyu, it looks like your students won’t be getting anything this time? They didn’t even get half a fire cleansing flower. When the lava in the volcano erupts, they will die without a proper burial, and without the cool energy of the fire cleansing flower to protect them. With this sort of lava spew, even I cannot guarantee their safety. The same goes for you. Looks like you are prepared to drive your students to the death?” Gui Junzi saw the situation inside and gave a slow yet warm smile. His scholarly temperament made people feel as though they were bathed in a comfortable wind.

“If you don’t know death, how do you know life?” Hong Heiyu looked deeply into Gui Junzi’s eyes: “Some people look like they are doomed but actually have a broad path ahead of them, and some people look like they have the upper hand but are in actual fact doomed. Calamity and fortune are intertwined. You don’t even understand this?”

“Oh? Hong Heiyu, looks like you still hate my guts. Still pining for that woman?” Gui Junzi stood with his hands behind his back and sighed: “Looks like you’re still hunting for the opportunity to kill me, am I right?”

“Shut up!” Hong Heiyu was needled and roared like thunder: “Gui Junzi, you are one wicked man! I do want to kill you. Just wait. One day, I will cut you with my own sword.”

“That will have to depend on whether you have the ability to kill me….” Gui Junzi’s face grew bleak. His temperament also changed from that of a scholar to that of a politician. He was very sharp: “In Astral University, my position is higher than yours. Therefore, this time, I could pick students from top ten but you can’t. You were rummaging through the leftovers. You are a top teacher in the school, so why would the high authorities do this to you? You know the reason: it is because you almost betrayed our race.”

“I will never betray earthly humans, but I don’t support the endless invasion and mass murders that take place in new territories!” Hong Heiyu lunged and the sword was grabbed from the ground. He gently wiped the volcanic ashes from it and shook it.

Wengg…. It sounded like a large bell.

“I hate all politicians, especially ones like you. Gui Junzi you little bastard, we will have a battle one day. Then, I will drench my sword with your blood.” Hong Heiyu howled and shattered all the stones on the ground.

“You’re too impulsive, and therefore you can’t beat me.” Gui Junzi recovered to that scholarly temperament and said slowly: “I will be ascending very soon and will become a part of the high management panel. At that time, you will have no chance against me. Your students cannot beat mine. My student, Meng Xingyun, is a true genius. Many teachers wanted to select him, but I got him, because of my status and authority! Hong Heiyu, you are not good at controlling power, and this is why you’re fated to be my lesser opponent. The greatest power in human history is authority and not power of oneself. Of course, if you can control power, then you can control your own power. This is also a type of cultivation.”

“If you are still unable to see through the external things, how can you reach the pinnacle of cultivation?” Hong Heiyu’s voice was full of contempt: “All the greatest men in humanity have left and they do not control power. They could see that there was nothing to pine for in authority and power.”

“People each have their own path!” Gui Junzi pressed his hands and a large cloud of volcanic black smoke was shattered: “Authority is a type of fortune, and before, it was called the fortune of the country. The king of a country could even appoint godhood, and he could even appoint the dead to become a god! This is the power of fortune. Now, humanity prospers and its fortune is thousands of times greater than before! The higher your position, the more fortune you get. This is something you will never understand. There’s no point talking to you about it.”

Rumble! Just then, there was a huge power surging from the depths of the volcano. The magma started bubbling and the black smoke was far stronger and thicker than before. The temperature had also risen to truly dangerous proportions. This could be felt on the outside, let alone the inside, of the volcano.

Hong Heiyu and Gui Junzi were constantly keeping an eye on the situation inside but they didn’t go down, and instead let their students fend for themselves. This was because the life and death situation was a big test for their students. The attributes of a hero can only be attained during perilous times. If they were constantly under the protection of their teacher, then they would never succeed. If they could not withstand it, then they were destined all along to be ordinary, so it didn’t matter if they died.

“The volcano is erupting, this is a dire situation!” Jiang Li, Li Zhen and the others were at the depth of the lava flow. They saw that the river of lava suddenly started erupting and large amounts of lava flowed out. All sorts of black smoke and poison were also spewing out profusely. It was fiery red everywhere, making it very hard for people to move.

The clothes they were wearing suddenly started burning. They couldn’t withstand the heat and their skin was burnt sizzling. Lu Jiajia, Yang Miaoyu were burnt naked. Large amounts of skin were burnt black. It was so painful that they almost fainted. This was the sensation of true fire burning your body. Large amounts of lava fell from the sky, leaving the students with no survival chances.

Jiang Li roared using all of his power as he slashed vigorously, using chi walls to block the lava outside. However, there were still some lava that fell onto his skin and his skin was immediately burnt. The smell of sulfur mixed with the smell of burnt flesh.

“I haven’t yet grasped the essence of the Emperor Fire Seal and was instead burnt by fire so many times…” Jiang Li suddenly felt this feeling was a bit familiar and suddenly remembered the days when he was hunted by the fire god bird king. He thought to himself: “How doomed am I right now?”

Li Zhen and company were also struggling to stay alive. They had not retrieved the fire cleansing flower and couldn’t not resist this high temperature and lava much longer. Everyone was burnt so much that they didn’t look human anymore. They struggled to survive, relying on their high life force. If they weren’t at Astral University, then even modern technology couldn’t treat them after being burnt like this.

This was a battle of life and death. The slightest negligence would result you being burnt to ashes. This was the fiery hell.

Their teacher Hong Heiyu still didn’t appear, and it was as if he had abandoned them. However, Jiang Li knew that this was his true cultivation. Compared to now, the cultivation before was nothing. This was constantly living on the edge death.

He used all his power and smashed out congenial chi. He controlled the chi flow, forming a huge swirl around himself. Everyone stayed near the centre and only then did they avoid being buried by the magma. At the same time, his though extended out and he saw Meng Xingyun’s squad on the other side of the river.

The members of this squad each had a green cool energy circulating around them. It defended them against the corrosion of high heat. At the same time, the five formed a formation, each using congenial chi to push outwards forming the perfect barrier.

They were turning air flow into an air field. This required extremely high technique and strong life force, and even Jiang Li was unable to do it, let alone his team members.

He had his attention on the pulse of his spirit chi. He knew when the fire spirit stone appeared that would be a large pulse. No one was more sensitive to spirit chi than him. When the lava comes flying around, he planned to secretly use the opaque stone to take the spirit stone in that instant.

Although Meng Xingyun took all the fire cleansing flowers and acquired an advantage, the most crucial bit of this competition is getting the fire spirit stone. Once he acquired this, he would be truly victorious.

But he had a small concern and that was exposing the secret of the opaque stone. It was strange that students from Astral University had some secrets. Especially those squads ranked at the top, who could not possibly have made it there without keeping a few noteworthy secrets of their own.

Just like this, the lava waves became more and more fearsome. The poisonous gas spread rapidly and the team couldn’t hold it anymore. Their will was crippling; Lu Jiajia and Yang Miaoyu were burnt all over, and in some places even to the bone. They didn’t even have the power to scream.

This was hell. This was the beginning to the cultivation of the [Ten Sided Path of Hell].

Wernnnn… Jiang Li’s face was always calm. He was also burnt on many parts of his body but his spirit was constantly clear. All pain had no effect on his spirit; he had a feeling that his spirit and body was separated.

Suddenly, in the depth of the lava, a fiery red ball rose up. The ball was like a small sun emanating large amounts of heat waves. The strong fire spirit chi made the lava rustle more. “Fire spirit stone!” Jiang Li’s spirit moved and knew that the most crucial treasure had appeared.

Spirit stones were already precious. Those with attributes were astronomically priced. It couldn’t be bought even in Astral University. It is said that after the fire spirit stone is absorbed, the spirit chi and fire essence which formed after billions of years would merge together with your body to increase cell potential, strengthen your tendons and bones. It had unimaginable power.

Even if your spiritual state wasn’t high, with the fire spirit stone, you could still improve your life force. If Jiang Li acquired this, his life force would definitely improve with the fire essence and spirit chi.

“Go!” Suddenly, his spirit felt a sharp blade. It was Meng Xingyun. He didn’t enter the lava himself, but instead sent out a sword chi that went into the lava and to bring the fire spirit stone out.

“Flying sword! He has a flying sword? Is he really a spy of the cultivation civilization?” Jiang Li was shocked. But he had to learn the cultivation knowledge later, so having a flying sword didn’t mean much.

If the flying sword could be cultivated to the max, he could even form a sword fetus when he formed his holy fetus. This was the knowledge Jiang Li acquired from his dream in the cultivation world. The sword fetus had extremely strong offensive powers. Its godly arts were very sharp and could sever everything.

Since Meng Xingyun used his flying sword, Jiang Li didn’t have any more concerns. He used his spirit to control the opaque stone. Meng Xingyun’s flying sword was of lesser speed. Although it’s power was great, it could not compare with the opaque stone’s five times sound speed. In a blink, the opaque stone went below the fire spirit stone and opened a sliver to the dimension. It charged up and the fire spirit stone disappeared into the depth of the dimension.

Then, he took the opaque stone back and gulped it into his stomach. Now, Jiang Li could control his stomach. Eating the stone was only for safe keeping, as he could spit it own at any time. Of course, when he gulped the opaque stone, he took out the fire spirit stone and held it in his head. This was evidence to prove that he got the spirit stone first.

“What? The thing disappeared?”

Meng Xingyun was dazed. The opaque stone was silent and Jiang Li was very fast. Five times sound speed was not something they could see clearly. When he released his spirit he felt that the fire spirit stone had already fell into Jiang Li’s hands.

“Damn it!”” He took out his flying sword and attacked towards Jiang Li.

Rumble! At this time, a huge wave rushed into the volcano cave. Jiang Li just felt a wave of air encompass him, Li Zhen and the others out of the volcano.

Hong Heiyu intervened.

ED Carolin Cao