Chapter 234: The Secret of Blackstone City

Chapter 234: The Secret of Blackstone City

Within Blackstone City, Lu Heng emerged from the Blood Sacrifice Tower, ready to find a way out.

At that moment, a Bloodline Succubus appeared, leading a group of Bloodline Demons that blocked his path. With a wave of her hand, she commanded, "Capture him!"

Lu Heng was still in the form of a Bloodline Demon, but his intrusion into the tower had apparently been discovered.

According to the strict hierarchy of Bloodline Demons, lower-ranked ones indeed did not have the qualifications to enter the Blood Sacrifice Tower.

Lu Heng turned and ran, preparing to use Shadow Traverse to escape pursuit.

The Bloodline Succubus raised her arms and called upon the power of the Bloodline Ancestor, shouting, "Ancestor's Seal!"

A buzzing sound filled the air...

The Blood Sacrifice Tower began to tremble, and a spiderweb-like network of Bloodline energy extended from the ground.

In an instant, the seal of the Bloodline Ancestor covered the entire city, spreading across the ground and walls.

Lu Heng was startled by this sight.

He had never expected that the city would possess the power granted by the Bloodline Ancestor.

When Lu Heng had seen the statue of the Bloodline Ancestor in the tower, he had thought it was just a statue.

Now it seemed that the statue had been blessed by the Bloodline Ancestor and possessed a portion of its power.

The Bloodline Succubus, Saralin, had been calling upon the power of the Ancestor, using the tower to spread the seal and cover the entire city.

While Shadow Traverse could exempt physical collisions, the seal of the Bloodline Ancestor was clearly not a physical force.

Consequently, Shadow Traverse could not pass through the Ancestor's seal.

Lu Heng's eyes narrowed as he realized that escaping through walls using Shadow Traverse was impossible in this situation. He could only try to leave through the main gate or find another hidden passage.

However, after Saralin's command, the entire city seemed to awaken.

Countless Bloodline Demons rushed from all directions.

Lu Heng slashed and killed a few, but there were too many to handle.

If he were to be held back and Saralin arrived with the Ancestor's power enhancing her, a few mental attacks from her could prove fatal.

Lu Heng dared not hesitate. He sprinted at top speed, like a lightning bolt across the ground, toward the city's main gate.

As he reached the Blackstone Plaza, he suddenly saw a Bloodline Demon at the gate, turning the winch to raise the drawbridge.

With a dull 'boom', the city gate closed completely, covered in the seal of the Bloodline Ancestor.

Lu Heng's eyes narrowed as he quickly turned and dashed toward the oldest part of the city, a maze of alleys and passages.

He tried to recall the layout of the city from the sand table model, searching for a hidden escape route.

However, upon reaching the old district, he discovered that the secret passage Dakville had mentioned was inexplicably sealed.

The situation had become a stalemate.

Saralin, the Bloodline Succubus, grew a pair of blood-red wings and flew in the air, continuing to call upon the power of the Bloodline Ancestor. She directed a blood-colored lightning strike toward Lu Heng's direction.

Lu Heng continued to navigate the city, recalling every passage from the sand table model, temporarily evading the pursuit of the Bloodline Demons.

Just as Lu Heng was pondering his next move, a voice called out from behind, "If you don't want to die, follow me."

Lu Heng turned warily, raising his sword in a defensive stance, "Who are you?"

The person was cloaked, with black hair and eyes, appearing to be in their twenties. His hair was cut short, and his eyes were sharp and alert.

"I am a Summoned One, a Xia citizen. You can call me Xie Shien. Saralin is summoning the power of the Bloodline Ancestor. We must leave immediately. Follow me."

Xie Shien spoke in fluent Xia language, which eased Lu Heng's suspicions. After a moment's thought, he followed Xie Shien along the lava riverbed.

Xie Shien sprinted along the riverbed, reaching the edge of the lava abyss. He glanced back at Lu Heng and said, "If you want to get out, jump with me. If you're afraid, you're on your own."

With that, he leaped into the abyss.

Lu Heng's eyes flashed with surprise as he peered down at the lava abyss.

The abyss was three hundred meters deep, and the lava river flowed downward, forming a magnificent crimson waterfall.

Lu Heng glanced back and saw that Saralin had already caught up, flying in the air.

Finding another exit seemed challenging, and Lu Heng wasn't overly afraid of the lava.

Without hesitation, he leaped into the lava abyss.

At the bottom of the abyss was a semi-cooled black reef.

Lu Heng released Origin Energy, covering his palms, and landed on the reef. He quickly tapped his feet on the lava reef, minimizing contact time.

Protected by the Origin Energy, his feet wouldn't be scorched by the high temperatures, at least for a while.

However, he needed to find an exit soon, as this state wouldn't last long against the intense heat.

The figure of Master Xie Shi'en descended onto a lava pool, his hands outstretched, forming an energy shield that kept him afloat half a meter above the lava, completely unaffected by its heat.

He glanced back at Lu Heng, then floated forward, taking out a magic staff and holding it up to block the falling lava waterfall, revealing a cave entrance behind it.

Without hesitation, he floated into the cave.

Lu Heng called out to stop him, but before he could finish, Master Xie Shi'en had disappeared behind the lava waterfall.

The lava waterfall resumed its descent, sealing off the cave entrance.

Lu Heng's expression turned stern, and he took a deep breath before sprinting forward, drawing his Aurora Blade and slicing through the lava waterfall with a single strike.

He then rushed through the gap created by the blade's light and entered the cave.

Once inside, the temperature dropped significantly, but it was still scorching hot.

Master Xie Shi'en continued floating forward, supported by his spherical energy shield.

Lu Heng quickly caught up, jumping into the energy shield and wrapping an arm around Master Xie Shi'en's shoulder.

With the energy shield protecting them from the scorching heat, they felt immediate relief.

Master Xie Shi'en didn't insist on Lu Heng leaving the shield but continued floating forward.

"Thanks," Lu Heng said in gratitude, following him.

As Lu Heng stood within Master Xie Shi'en's energy shield, he realized that it wasn't just an ordinary skill effect but also contained a job tier ability.

It appeared to be a psychic force field, blocking the intense heat outside the shield.

Another Psychic Master.

Indeed, among the second-tier jobs, the Psychic Master was exceptionally powerful.

...

Master Xie Shi'en's floating speed was rather slow.

After floating for several hundred meters, the temperature dropped to a bearable level, and Lu Heng jumped out of the energy shield, reaching out to touch the cave wall and compare its structure with the Blackstone City's sand table.

Master Xie Shi'en also felt the temperature drop and deactivated the energy shield, landing on the ground.

Ahead, three paths branched out, and Master Xie Shi'en, after looking left and right, chose the middle one and continued forward.

Seeing his decisive choice, Lu Heng asked curiously, "Do you know the way?"

"No," Master Xie Shi'en replied.

"If you donen't know the way, I suggest you follow me," Lu Heng said, pointing to the left path and taking a step forward.

"Do you know the way?" Master Xie Shi'en asked the same question.

"Theoretically, yes, unless this cave has undergone significant changes," Lu Heng answered affirmatively.

Master Xie Shi'en didn't ask further, turning around and exiting through the middle cave, following Lu Heng into the left tunnel.

After walking for a while, Lu Heng bent down to pick up a mineral, holding it in his hand.

The data displayed that it was a C-grade Black Crystal Forging Stone, with a high impurity content, requiring refinement before use.

Evidently, this Black Crystal Forging Stone was abundant in the Blackstone Mine, and even a random piece of it was of C-grade quality.

N

With Black Crystal Forging Stones and ample lava geothermal resources, this place was like a tailor-made home for the Black Iron Dwarves.

Unfortunately, the appearance of the Bloodline Demons disrupted the Black Iron Dwarves' path to revival.

However, there was one unreasonable aspect to this situation.

Bloodline Demons didn't typically favor overly hot environments.

This meant that the scorching Blackstone Mine wasn't a preferred habitat for Bloodline Demons.

So why did the Bloodline Demons occupy Blackstone City?

This didn't align with the typical behavior of demons.

Demons prioritized their own preferences.

If their sole purpose was to hinder the revival of the Black Iron Dwarves, they would have launched direct campaigns, repeating them until the Black Iron Dwarves were defeated, instead of occupying Blackstone City indefinitely.

If the Bloodline Demons didn't intend to return Blackstone City to the Black Iron Dwarves, they could have easily destroyed it, as they had the capability.

The current situation, where the Bloodline Demons have occupied Blackstone City for three years, didn't align with their typical behavior.

...

After a few minutes of walking through the underground cave, the sound of Bloodline Demon roars echoed from behind them.

Evidently, the Bloodline Demons had pursued them into the cave.

L

After searching for half a circle, he reached the location of the exit as he remembered it, but an unexpected surprise awaited him.

Lu Heng searched around but couldn't find the exit marked on the sand table.

"Are you sure you know the way?" Master Xie Shi'en voiced his doubt.

Lu Heng furrowed his brows in thought, reaching out to touch the cave wall.

The pursuing Bloodline Demons were getting closer, their roars echoing through the cave, as if they were right beside them.

Additionally, from the other side of the cave, a deafening monster roar reverberated.

Both Lu Heng and Master Xie Shi'en were startled, and just from the sound, they could tell that this monster was of an incredibly high level.

"If you've forgotten the way, just admit it and find another route out," Master Xie urged.

Lu Heng didn't respond, instead, he drew his Aurora Blade and aimed at a spot on the mountain wall, shouting as he slashed out a Rift Slash.

The blade's light cleaved through the air, shattering the mountain wall with a thunderous "Boom!"

Boulders crumbled and tumbled down.

In that instant, a faint light shone through the damaged section of the wall.

Through the dust of the falling rocks, one could barely make out a sloping passageway.

Master Xie saw the faint light and knew the exit was there.

It had probably been sealed by a Bloodline Demon before.

He raised his staff and telekinetically moved aside several rocks at the exit, then flew out first.

Lu Heng followed closely behind, rushing out of the cave and into the back mountain of Blackstone Mine, breathing in the "cool" air of the Lava Plain.

The climate of the Lava Plain was indeed hot, but compared to the stifling heat of the mine, the air on the plain was indeed "cool."

Lu Heng turned back and asked, "Do you want to join forces? I have a team, and we can form an alliance."

Master Xie waved his hand, "No, I prefer to work alone."

"Alright then. Let's part ways here, and hopefully, we can cooperate again in the future." Lu Heng tried to sound friendly.

The two had indeed worked together to escape from Blackstone City.

"Sure, let's consider it an alliance. But I prefer to act alone," Master Xie agreed to the alliance but still decided to work solo.

"Okay, goodbye then," Lu Heng said, waving his hand and taking off towards the south to meet up with his team.

...

On the banks of the geothermal river in the Lava Plain, the Metahumans who had just escaped the pursuit of the Bloodline Overlord, Assassin, suddenly engaged in a fierce fight.

These Metahumans had formed two factions, one with ten members and the other with seven.

On the ten-person team's side, there were Charles Water's four-person team and Park Hyun Jin's three-person team.

The seven-person team was clearly being overwhelmed, and they were communicating in the Xia language.

Among the ten-person team, there was a ferocious Dark Werewolf with pitch-black fur, charging and crashing through the group, letting out a chilling howl.

This Dark Werewolf pounced on a Xia Metahuman, pinning her down with its claws and extending its terrifying tongue to lick her.

Just then, a Celestial Phoenix appeared in the sky, whipping up a Solar Wind that forced the Dark Werewolf and the Metahumans on Charles Water's side to retreat.

The Celestial Phoenix dove down and pulled the female Metahuman who had been pinned down back to safety.

The Solar Wind swept over the Dark Werewolf, burning away all its fur, leaving its body scorched with mottled burns.

The werewolf stepped out of the Solar Wind's range, and its burned skin began to heal at a visible rate.

He looked up at the high ground on the left bank of the lava river and let out an angry howl at the person controlling the Celestial Phoenix.

On the high ground stood Su Muyu and Lin Ze Yu, along with a Mechanical Tiger.

They had noticed the two factions fighting but hadn't immediately joined in.

They needed to be ready to meet up with Lu Heng, and if they got involved in another Metahuman's fight, they might miss the opportunity to meet him, which would be terrible.

It wasn't until the Xia Metahumans showed signs of defeat that Su Muyu decided to intervene.

The Solar Wind separated the two groups, temporarily halting the fight.

Standing on the high ground, Su Muyu shouted, "Is this fun? You were summoned here to deal with Bloodline Demons, but instead, you're fighting among yourselves. Are you newcomers to the Abyss Battlefield?"

If it was their first time on the Abyss Battlefield, such infighting could be understood.

Those present were the top Metahumans of the current stage.

Many of them had teams and were backed by powerful forces, so they weren't lacking in information.

Thus, the people here were the most knowledgeable about the Abyss Battlefield at this stage.

Charles Water recognized Su Muyu as the girl from the team he had met on the first day of the teleportation.

He coldly said, "I advise you not to meddle, or your three-person team will suffer too."

Lin Ze Yu smirked, "Don't be so arrogant. If it weren't for our principle of not firing the first shot, I would have blown your head off long ago."

Both sides stood their ground, but if Su Muyu and Lin Ze Yu joined the Xia Metahumans, they would form a nine-person team.

There was also Lu Heng, whose position was uncertain, and he might join at any moment, forming a ten-person team.

Su Muyu and Lin Ze Yu knew Lu Heng wasn't there at the moment, but Charles Water didn't.

From Charles Water's team's perspective, there might be a powerful Xia Metahuman lurking nearby.

This was an intangible threat.

Charles Water paused for a moment, then spoke firmly, "We can stop fighting, but only if you hand over the traitor!"

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end