Whoosh~
Lin Xun ran at full speed, with his breath growing heavy. The wounds all over his body kept bleeding, rendering his face terribly pale.
What was worse, his strength was on the verge of exhaustion.
The dizziness gradually took its toll, making it hard for him to keep having a clear mind. But he knew that if he slacked off, he would immediately go into a deep coma.
Escape!
Lin gritted his teeth. The brutal training in the Bloodthirsty Camp cast Lin's unimaginable will and tenacity shown at this moment.
In the meanwhile, he took out the spiritual fruits and herbs he collected these days and swallowed all of them. Instead of refining them, he only hoped to gain some strength by them.
Round his neck was a whistle. As long as Lin blew the whistle to ask for help, he would soon be rescued.
But Lin did not blow it. Blowing the whistle meant conceding defeat on his own initiative and he would be eliminated from the Bloodthirsty Camp. Lin could not bear to fail at this time.
Lin had only been in the Demon-cloud Ridge for eight days. How could he concede defeat now?
Before he knew it, Lin had rushed out of the jungle, and his vision suddenly became wide, with barren mountains coming into view.
On the rolling mountains grew no grass. Bare rocks glowed red, with scorching white smoke given off.
Looking around, Lin kept marching on, but his steps already turned into staggers. His mind was in a whirl, with the hum echoing inside.
He fought too hard in the duel just now. He not only got serious wounds all over his body, but also almost ran out of spiritual energy. Even an ordinary Voodoo-barbarian who he might bump into at this time could easily kill him.
Heavy-footed, like his feet were made out of lead, Lin hurried towards a red mountain peak where hot waves surged around.
He needed to find a safe place to hide, but there seemed to be no such place.
It was very hot on the mountain peak. Being there was like being in a furnace. The blood which dropped down from Lin's body instantly vaporized or floated away in the form of blood mist.
The hot air made Lin feel vaguer. He struggled to keep his body moving. The moment he reached the top of the mountain, he suddenly felt a chill.
This was a crater!
The dreadful molten lava was roaring in the crater like a fire dragon. Like layers of cloud, thick fog sent out searing heat which seemed capable to melt everything in the world.
Lin did not doubt that if he fell into it, he would be instantly melted!
It was a dead end!
But if he returned...
Lin Xun turned his head. A faint whistle came from the bottom of the mountain.
Was it the enemy going after Lin?
Lin put on a smile for self-mockery. He was really in a hopeless dilemma now.
"That guy's over there!"
"Come on!"
The voice was getting closer and closer, full of excitement and ferociousness.
Lin moved close to the crater, with all his clothes on the point of ignition. He looked down, and could see nothing but roaring lava.
Did he have any other choice except for jumping into the crater?
Lin glanced around. He did not intend to give up now even though he found himself cornered.
He began to search in his storage ring to see if there was anything that could be used at this point, like weapons, spiritual materials, minerals...
He could find nothing useful at all!
"Son of bitch, why not keep escaping?"
All of a sudden, a bitter voice was heard behind.
When Lin turned his head again, he saw that dozens of strong Voodoo-barbarians including Lek had already been about seventy meters away.
But when they saw Lin standing beside the crater, they all got tensed up and dared not get closer, as if afraid that Lin Xun would fall into the crater.
This was seen by Lin. Taking a few deep breaths and trying hard to keep his head clear, he said hoarsely, "You should be able to chase me all the way here. Should I admire your persistence or just say that you're all pig-headed?"
Lek said in a low voice, "Cut the crap. If you turn our sacred treasure, maybe we can let you leave here alive, or you will surely die today!"
Lin was perplexed, "Your sacred treasure?"
In a rage, Lek pointed at Lin, "Still wanna play dumb even till this point, uh? So, you really want to die?!"
Lin suddenly realized something, "You followed me all the way here just because of that sacred treasure?"
Lek sneered, "You idiot, you think your life is worth a lot?"
“Oh,” Lin suddenly unfolded his hand, and on his palm lay a bead, which was in the size of a pigeon egg and glowed dreamlike blue.
The bead in the palm of Lin gave off ocean-like vast mysterious momentum.
"You mean this?" asked Lin.
Lek and the others suddenly became excited, breathing quickly, with their eyes full of undisguised enthusiasm.
Seeing this, Lin soon realized that this mysterious bead he got by chance should be a precious "sacred treasure"!
"Hand it over!" said Lek, ready to dash forward to snatch the bead.
With a stretch of his arm, Lin's palm was above the crater. It would only take an insignificant move for the Amrita Saint Pearl to fall into the volcano.
"You dare!"
Lek was very shocked and angry, but he dared not go forward.
The other strong Voodoo-barbarians were also in panic and anger. If the Amrita Saint Pearl fell into the volcano, it could not be found back again!
"Why dare I not?" Lin responded by asking. "I'll die after all even if I give it to you. It seems better to let the bead be buried with me."
"You..."
In gnawing anxiety, Lek said hurriedly, "Calm down. How about this? As long as you give the bead to us, we promise to let you go."
"I never believe an oath sworn by your Voodoo-barbarian Tribe," Lin shook his head.
"Then how can you hand over our sacred treasure?" Lek, with his eyes bulging and reddening with hatred and anger, really wanted to eat Lin alive.
"Unless..."
A sense of fright suddenly occurred to Lin while he spoke, making him directly plunge into the crater without any hesitation!
Almost at the same time, a black shadow rushed out from behind a rock beside Lin Xun like lightning. But Lin was still not caught in the end.
It was Shrizi.
Apparently, Shrizi had already slipped to this side while Lin confronted Lek, intending to take the Amrita Saint Pearl from Lin unexpectedly.
But Shrizi didn't expect that Lin would be so resolute and jump into the volcano without any hesitation. Had he been prepared to die?
Shrizi sat on the ground with a plonk, gasping for breath.
He had not recovered from his injuries, either. In addition, he had prepared for the strike for a long time. Now he was suffering from severe pain all over his body.
"No --!" Lek and the others bellowed, with their faces full of bitterness.
They finally got a chance to recapture their sacred treasure, but no one expected that such an accident would happen at the last moment.
All at once, they were all dazed and even their eyes were dull.
They were fucked!
They were totally fucked!
Shrizi's handsome face was equally gloomy. He just could not believe that Lin would have given up his life in this way.
How could a man like Lin commit suicide?
It was not long before Quill Flamen came, and when he heard of what had happened, he breathed a sigh of relief, and said with a sneer, "You are all deceived!"
"What?"
Everyone, including Shrizi, looked at Quill Flamen.
"Amrita Saint Pearl is the sacred treasure of Water Barbarian Branch. It was from the ancient time. Do you really think a small volcano can destroy it?"
Holding a bone cane, Quill Flamen reached the edge of the crater, with coldness and hatred in his eyes, "If I'm right, that bastard will not die instantly with the help of our sacred treasure."
The barbarians there were all surprised, with their faces changing drastically.
"Then we still have a chance to recapture the sacred treasure?" regaining a ray of hope, Shrizi asked in a trembling voice.
Quill Flamen sighed, with knitted eyebrows, "Though this volcano will not destroy Amrita Saint Pearl, we will die if entering it. Only the strong Barbarian Hercules can prevent themselves from being harmed by the molten lava."
Barbarian Hercules of the Voodoo-barbarian Tribe, comparable to practitioners of the Sea Spirit Realm, would not appear in the Demon-cloud Ridge.
As Shi Yu had said, the Demon-cloud Ridge was like a training ground. Although small battles happened here and there, neither the empire nor the Voodoo-barbarian Tribe was allowed to send real overmatches here.
Otherwise, the Demon-cloud Ridge would lose its meaning for training talents of the young generation.
"Then what should we do?"
Lek and others were disappointed.
"Wait here, I don't believe he'll stay in the volcano all his life!" Shrizi said determinedly, with coldness around his brows. "You go to gather hands to cordon off the mountain and do not allow anyone to approach!"
"Do as what Shrizi just said."
Quill Flamen also knew it clearly that waiting was the only way for the current situation.
Shrizi took a deep breath, and directly began to meditate beside the crater. He wanted to recover from his injuries and regain his strength as soon as possible.
…
Boom~
The surging lava, as an irate fire dragon, emitted horribly scorching force.
At the base of the volcano, a body lay on a raised rock.
The strange thing was that he was enveloped in an azure light. No matter how hard the lava beat around him, it could not get close to the azure light.
This figure, of course, was Lin Xun, who had fallen into a coma.
The azure light rippling was released by the Amrita Saint Pearl in his right hand. It was like a shield that protected him from the surrounding lava and fire waves.
In a coma, Lin didn't notice that wisps of cold and sky-blue light were drifting into his wounds and entering his body.
Lin had a dream where he returned to the day when the mine orison was destroyed and he helplessly fell into the abyss beneath the mine tunnel while he could do nothing but see a large hand dropping from the sky and covered Master Lu…
Then he saw Shia Zhi, who was looking back in the dark and whispering, "Lin Xun, you can’t die before I come back; wait for me, okay..."
Suddenly stiffening, Lin woke up with a start and opened his eyes.