After another small-scale earthquake, Jia Wei said, "It's too dangerous if a volcano like this were to erupt. We can't let the group proceed any further."
Ferdinand said, "But Lord Xingjian is just right inside. We need to sign the authorization for the Rebirth Sword Technique today."
"Let me go along with him." A white armored warrior in his twenties stepped out and said, "Team leader, I cultivate the Earthly Flames Divine Sword and have been training in volcanoes since the age of ten." The young warrior smiled and looked at Jia Wei. "At this place, my abilities are double that of my usual, and I should be the most knowledgeable with regard to surviving around a volcanic region."
Jia Wei frowned. He looked at the volcano which was flaring up at an increasing rate, as well as the sky which was covered in volcanic ash. He nodded and said, "Ferdinand, let Ben bring you there."
The young man, who was called Ben, was also a talented second transition Conferred Knight. He was at level 24 and had the experience of cultivating in volcanoes starting from a young age. This allowed him to be able to move around here with great ease.
Ben grabbed onto Ferdinand, and with a dash, they headed toward the volcano's peak.
On their way up, lava started to flow down, and the ground under their feet became like scorching steel plates. Occasionally, large pieces of rocks were also being splurted out.
However, despite this, Ben continued to move on at rapid speed. It was true that he was very familiar with such an environment. Bringing Ferdinand along with him, he avoided numerous dangers, and in the blink of an eye, they had already gotten close to the volcano's crater.
Ben pointed to the figure above the volcano's crater and asked, "Is that Fang Xingjian?"
Ferdinand nodded. "It's him." At the next moment, he shouted loudly, "Xingjian!"
Up in the air, Xingjian was originally looking down toward the volcano's crater. However, when he heard Ferdinand's shout, he looked back, and in the next moment, soaring sparks gushed forth toward him.
Amidst Ferdinand's and Ben's astonished gazes, the volcano erupted again. The soaring lava and rocks swallowed up everything, and the entire world became completely dark in that instant.
Terrifying explosions rang out, surging to and fro in the atmosphere. Ferdinand's ears seemed as if they were going deaf.
"No!" With an astonished cry, Ferdinand wanted to dash over, but he was pulled back by Ben.
"Are you crazy? Even if we go up there, we'll just be courting death." As Ben said that, he drew out his longsword and activated the Earthly Flames Divine Sword.
It was only then that Ferdinand saw the surrounding situation clearly. The ground below his feet continued to crack, and lava spurted out from all directions.
Ben swung the longsword in his hand consecutively, hitting large chunks of rocks into the surrounding lava.
It was as if everything before them had turned into a sea of flames. Ben activated the Earthly Flames Divine Sword at full power, putting up a fight against the surrounding lava. Simultaneously, he dashed down the volcano while holding onto Ferdinand.
However, the explosive force of this volcano was beyond his imagination. The lava pounced toward them like a tsunami, and they were surrounded in blazing flames in all directions.
In merely a few seconds, several hundred thousand tons of substances spurted out from the volcano's crater. Even Ben was unable to fend off even a small portion of it.
His Earthly Flames Divine Sword once again collided with the wave of flames. Then with a thunderous rumble, Ben spewed out a mouthful of blood and flew out while grabbing onto Ferdinand.
As the two of them seemed like they were about to land into the sea of flames, a hint of desperation flashed in both Ben's and Ferdinand's eyes.
However, at the next moment, an extremely brutal gush of cold air surged toward them.
An extremely low temperature which exceeded negative 200 degrees celsius gushed out from the volcano's crater. It was as if a person had scattered several hundred tons of liquid nitrogen, freezing all the lava in that instant.
All the lava, volcanic ash, and rocks were all sealed in ice and just lying there quietly. It was as if the entire world had turned from a fire blazing hell to Antarctica.
No, it was even colder than Antarctica. Ferdinand merely let out a short breath, then he felt that the air in his lungs seemed like it was going to freeze up.
However, they did not have the time to care about these. They just had their eyes agape while looking at this scene in great astonishment.
Ta ta ta! The sounds of footsteps rang out, and amidst their astonished gazes, Fang Xingjian came toward them slowly as he stepped on the frost. Wherever he passed by, the air would release kacha kacha sounds, as if everything was freezing up before him.
In ten days, Fang Xingjian had finally processed all 1,000 sets of sword techniques and synthesized them respectively to his Zenith Light Sword Formation, Ether Sword Ripples, Prodigious Demolition Sword Physique, and the Universal Truth Longsword respectively.
Right now, his sword arts mastery had already attained the peak of perfection.
Fang Xingjian threw a glance toward the two of them and said, "You guys head down first." He looked at the layer of ice under his feet. "This little bit of temperature won't be enough to stop it."
Ben nodded and ran while grabbing Ferdinand, who shouted, "Xingjian, aren't you coming down together with us?"
Fang Xingjian had already turned away once again and was now looking down at the layer of ice which seemed to be tremoring faintly. With a single thought, he once again sent over 1,000 streams of Ether Sword Ripples scattering out.
The Ether Sword Ripples had three forms: initial state; high temperature; and low temperature. RIght now, Fang Xingjian's sword arts mastery had improved by leaps and bounds, and the prowess of his Ether Sword Ripples had increased tremendously as well.
Wherever the 1,000 streams of Ether Sword Ripples passed by, the air would freeze up, and it seemed like everything was going to be sealed up in ice for all eternity. The layer of ice under his feet was reinforced once again, resisting the pressure which came from deep underground.
Due to the entire volcano freezing over, Ben and Ferdinand had a smooth trip downhill. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the foot of the volcano and then ran over ten kilometers away in one breath to meet up with Jia Wei.
Jia Wei asked, "What's wrong?"
Ben turned his head abruptly and saw that sparks were coming out once again from the direction of the volcano's crater. The ground under their feet was also tremoring abnormally. "This isn't good. Because of the resistance he applied, the explosive force from the earth will only be even more powerful. Its prowess will be over ten times stronger than what it originally was."
Ben had been cultivating in volcanic regions over the years, and thus, he understood well what kind of power an erupted volcano possessed.
That was a violent force squeezed and pushed out from many layers deep underground. This was a terrifying violence which could destroy an entire city. It was an astonishing power which could spurt out several million tons or ten millions of tons of substances.
This was especially when Fang Xingjian was still sealing up the entire volcano in ice, amplifying the pressure within the volcano. With the layers of restraint pressing down, the pressure within the volcano had reached a limit. It was just like how a pressure cooker, which had surpassed its limits, would explode at any moment. Moreover, the power produced would far surpass that of an ordinary volcano eruption.
Hearing Ben's explanation, Ferdinand quickly said, "But Xingjian is still inside!"
Jia Wei frowned and said, "He can only rely on himself now. It's useless even if we go over."
At the next moment, a frightening thunderous sound rang out from the direction of the volcano like the entire world had shattered. Everyone turned in that direction and saw that, above the volcano, there seemed to be an invisible palm descending from the heaven, slapping down onto the volcano.
The entire volcano was destroyed, slapped flat by an immense invisible force at a speed which could be seen by the naked eye.