Chapter 1052: The Ruins Appear

His Sorcerer Soul is currently only at the Mortal 9-dan level. Although it is significantly stronger than the souls of some Saint realm experts, it is still a long way from being able to set up this formation.

This formation is a peak 7-star formation, which can only be completed by a Saint 4-dan expert using the power of their primordial spirit. The Sorcerer Soul and primordial spirit share similar principles, but his is currently too weak to accomplish this.

Unless it can advance further!

Of course, President Han is a peak 7-star formation master and could set up this formation elsewhere. However, the area below is filled with lava, and the formation needs to be created and activated precisely at the moment the energy erupts. With an error margin of less than a single breath, that's something even he definitely couldn't achieve.

Furthermore, a formation can only be perfectly controlled if set up by oneself. Any error could cause them to miss the relic's location, leading to a wasted effort and potentially causing everyone to perish inside.

“I've already figured out how to set it up, but I need to make some preparations first!”

Looking around, Zhang Xuan addressed the group: “I will re-enter the lava with the Golden Origin Cauldron to calculate the coordinates. This might take a long time, so please wait patiently outside. There won't be any danger!”

He planned to enter the lava to cultivate his Sorcerer Soul, which could take some time. He informed them in advance to prevent them from worrying and trying to search for him, which would cause trouble.

Everyone nodded.

After the discussion, Zhang Xuan said no more. With a flicker of his body, he re-entered the Golden Origin Cauldron. The cauldron then whistled, flew straight towards the magma, and dropped into it the next moment.

The spot where they landed this time was still some distance from where the energy erupted, so there was no immediate danger.

Inside the magma, the cauldron floated at a depth of about ten meters, concealed from everyone's spiritual sense. Just as he was about to separate his Sorcerer Soul from his body, an idea struck Zhang Xuan.

An identical figure also appeared inside the cauldron.

His clone!

This place could temper souls, so it was a perfect opportunity for the clone to also undergo tempering and improve its strength.

After the two communicated and understood the situation, the clone's eyes lit up.

Whoosh!

Its Sorcerer Soul flew out, saying, “I'll go in and see!”

With that, it flew downwards.

Seeing that fellow move even faster than himself, Zhang Xuan helplessly shook his head. His own Sorcerer Soul also followed, diving in.

With the previous experience, this time, he didn't stop and flew straight down.

Twenty meters, thirty meters, forty meters...

In the blink of an eye, he reached the fifty-meter mark.

The higher the temperature, the more effective the soul tempering. While the fifty-meter depth was almost unbearable for his soul, it offered the greatest effect; any deeper and he wouldn't be able to endure.

“Where's the clone?”

He stopped, sat cross-legged, and was about to cultivate when he suddenly remembered the fellow who had gone ahead of him. He looked around and found that, at some point, the clone had already reached sixty meters, its eyes tightly closed.

Searing flames flowed along its soul body, tempering its soul and making its aura grow increasingly stronger.

“It actually reached sixty meters?” Zhang Xuan's eyes widened.

This clone, split from the same soul as him, had gone even deeper, while he himself had struggled just to reach fifty meters...

“I expended a lot of soul power helping Wei Ruyan, and then further depleted it when I split off my consciousness in the Dean's Mausoleum... This guy was already a bit stronger than me to begin with, so it's natural that he's even stronger now...”

He quickly understood what was happening, but Zhang Xuan felt utterly depressed.

To awaken Wei Ruyan, he had lost a portion of his soul, and then later, he split off a portion of his consciousness... Although it had been replenished, his soul was no longer as pure or singular as it had been before the split.

Therefore, the clone could delve deeper, far surpassing him.

“No, I need to speed up my cultivation. Otherwise, if I can't even keep up with my clone, it'll be a disgrace for the main body...”

His gaze lifted, and Zhang Xuan felt intense pressure.

Other people usually dominate their clones, but he was getting dominated by his clone every day! What kind of situation was this?

He closed his eyes, concentrating his thoughts. As the Heaven's Path Sorcerer Soul Art circulated, the surrounding searing flames slowly merged into his body, burning his soul and making his originally somewhat scattered soul become more solid and powerful.

Gurgle, gurgle!

Earlier in the subterranean chamber, he had merged numerous cultivation techniques of the Otherworldly Demons, transforming his Mortal 9-dan Sorcerer Soul cultivation method into a Heaven's Path technique. His soul power had also smoothly reached 34 million ding.

Now, through tempering, his soul body, which previously exceeded ten meters, gradually shrank in size, but its strength greatly increased.

35 million ding!

36 million ding!

37 million ding!

As time passed, his strength grew faster and faster, and his entire aura became more substantial and profound.

Crack!

After an unknown amount of time, the power of his soul body finally could no longer bear it, breaking through its limits and advancing from Mortal 9-dan to the Half-Saint level.

“I broke through?”

He didn't have any Half-Saint level Sorcerer Soul cultivation techniques, so he had thought it would be nearly impossible to break through. He never dreamed it would happen here, within this searing magma.

It seemed a soul wasn't better just by being larger; it also needed to be purified. The higher the purity, the more agile and powerful it would be.

It was somewhat similar to true qi.

Having broken through the shackles, he felt refreshed. He looked down at the clone below, only to find that it had also broken through, and by the looks of it, had already reached the Half-Saint middle stage.

“Hmph!”

Gritting his teeth, Zhang Xuan swam towards the sixty-meter mark.

Previously, entering this depth would have caused a sensation of fracturing, but now, with his soul body stabilized, he could fully withstand it.

“Continue!”

Knowing that to catch up with this fellow, he had to be even harsher on himself, he pressed on without hesitation, entering the seventy-meter depth.

As soon as he arrived here, his soul immediately trembled, and he again felt a sensation of wanting to shatter. Daring not to go deeper, he sat cross-legged and continued to temper his soul.

As the tempering speed increased, Zhang Xuan's strength grew rapidly.

His soul body also shrank from its previous size of over ten meters back to about ten meters.

“If I can get it back under ten meters, my strength will skyrocket even further...”

Zhang Xuan knew that ten meters was a critical dividing line for a soul body. It was precisely because he had broken through this particular limit that the Purification Pond in the Phantasm Feather Empire had exploded into powder.

If he could use the searing temperature of the magma to suppress his soul body's size once more at this point, not only would it be easier to enter physical bodies later, but his strength would also undoubtedly advance further.

The power of the flames coursed through his body, tempering his soul, making him feel as if he was being burned alive in a fire. The intense pain was unbearable.

He gritted his teeth and persevered, and after an unknown period, his body roared once more.

His soul body had already broken through the ten-meter limit, and his cultivation had smoothly reached the Half-Saint middle stage.

“I succeeded...”

His eyes lit up, and he hastily looked upward, only to find the clone was no longer there. Looking down, he saw that at some unknown point, the clone had already reached the eighty-meter mark, cultivating with its eyes closed. Its soul body was surprisingly only about nine meters in size, and its strength had reached the Half-Saint late stage.

“This guy...”

Unable to believe that the clone was consistently faster than him, Zhang Xuan felt a surge of urgency. With a flicker of his body, he also swam downwards.

With his soul power returning to within the ten-meter range and becoming more solidified, the eighty-meter depth, which previously threatened to shatter him, now posed no pressure at all.

He continued to swim, reaching the ninety-meter mark, where he once again stopped to cultivate. His progress this time was rapid; in less than ten minutes, his soul body had also shrunk to nine meters. Knowing the clone was still faster, he didn't bother to check further and accelerated his cultivation. Twenty minutes later, he finally reached eight meters, and his strength had reached the Half-Saint pinnacle, on the verge of breaking through at any moment.

Having cultivated to this realm and realizing that the ninety-meter depth was no longer effective for him, he stood up and continued swimming downwards. As expected, he soon saw that the clone had already reached the one-hundred-meter mark.

At this moment, the clone's strength was similar to his own, also at the Half-Saint pinnacle. However, it wasn't cultivating; instead, it was looking at something below.

Approaching, Zhang Xuan also looked over, and couldn't help but be stunned.

Below the one-hundred-meter mark, there was no more lava. Instead, there was a massive barrier, and beneath it, tiered pavilions and structures, exactly as he had briefly seen before.

“Could this be the relic? It's indeed hidden below...”

His heart jolted, and Zhang Xuan's eyes gleamed.

His previous fleeting glimpse had left him uncertain, but now he was absolutely one hundred percent certain.

This was the relic they had been searching for.

But... if this place was hidden here, how did the old dean and the others manage to get in back then?

He reached out and touched the barrier below. Just like the white light barrier above, it couldn't be opened unless activated. Even with his current strength, he couldn't break it.

He slowly swam along the barrier, when suddenly, his brows furrowed, and his pupils contracted.

“Otherworldly Demons...”

Inside, he saw several Otherworldly Demons slowly advancing. They had not noticed the two hidden behind the barrier.

These few were all at Saint 1-dan strength, exuding an aura of killing intent that was terrifying.

“Let's see what they're doing...”

Zhang Xuan felt a sense of wonder.

He and his group had paid an immeasurable price to get here, and were still trapped above the lava. How had these Otherworldly Demons, only at Saint 1-dan, managed to enter?

And what were they doing?

Quietly following behind, they walked for a while and soon arrived at a small plaza in the center of the structure.

In the middle of the plaza was a circular platform. On it stood a massive portal, surrounded by a robust seal maintained by some unknown power. Dozens of Otherworldly Demons were gathered around it, seemingly attempting to break it open.

He sensed it and immediately felt a world-destroying heat burning within the portal. Even at his current level, if he got too close, he might be burned to ashes.

“What pure energy! Could this lava be formed by the power flowing out of this portal?”

He had initially thought that this place led directly to the earth's core, and the magma was searing due to geothermal lava. However, it now seemed this was not the case; perhaps the entire one hundred meters of lava were related to this portal.

Whoosh!

As he was in shock, he saw a tall Otherworldly Demon walk out from the crowd. Its cultivation had already reached Saint 4-dan. Following its words, the others roared and launched their attacks in unison, striking the seal.

Boom!

With a flash of light, a formidable burst of power shot straight upwards, and the seal consequently weakened, appearing as if it was about to shatter.

“This power...”

It was none other than the very energy that had been causing them so much trouble, and the energy they had intended to use!