Chapter 1031: Entering the Lava

“Shut up!”

Zhang Xuan raised his eyebrows.

“Yes!” Hearing the reprimand, Jinyuan Ding immediately fell silent, not daring to utter another word.

Although it had stopped, everyone had heard clearly and couldn't help but look over.

“Took on a forging apprentice temporarily?”

“Casually forged? Dean Zhang, what exactly is going on?”

Jinyuan Ding itself was a sacred artifact; to forge it and upgrade its power, one would need at least the strength of a Seven-Star Forging Master... Taking on an apprentice temporarily—what was the situation?

A forging apprentice should have no rank at all, right? Could such a person... make a sacred artifact advance?

“Oh, last night, I encountered an apprentice who wanted to commit suicide...”

Seeing everyone's gaze, Zhang Xuan had nothing to hide and recounted the previous events in detail.

“An apprentice who couldn't even forge a mortal artifact—you guided him for half an hour and made Jinyuan Ding advance?”

“This... this is impossible, right?”

After hearing the explanation, everyone felt as if they had gone mad.

Guiding an apprentice to temper a low-grade sacred artifact... How much confidence must one have in oneself to dare such a thing?

How profound an understanding of forging must one possess to achieve this?

“I had heard before that Dean Zhang's forging skills were extremely strong, but now I realize... I still underestimated him...”

“Indeed, such forging ability has probably reached the Seven-Star level, or even the peak.”

“Just this one move is beyond our reach...”

The deans of the three academies all smiled bitterly.

They had learned from Zhao Bingxu that the man before them was a formidable forger, but they had only thought he had reached the Six-Star level at most. Now they knew it was far from that simple.

After all, even a true Seven-Star peak forging master could not guide an apprentice to successfully temper a low-grade sacred artifact so easily.

“You... after parting with me, saved someone and exposed a forger's false teacher identity?”

Unlike the others, Luo Ruoxi's beautiful eyes widened as she looked at the young man not far away.

“Yes, after you left, I was about to follow you when I found someone trying to commit suicide, so... I was delayed.”

Zhang Xuan nodded.

“I see...”

Shaking her head, Luo Ruoxi was filled with helplessness.

Yesterday, she had been gnashing her teeth in anger, thinking this guy had no sense of propriety, but it turned out not to be the case.

As a master teacher, upholding the dignity of the ‘teacher’s way’ was clearly more important.

Knowing he was misunderstood by her, he had not explained at all. If not for Jinyuan Ding being too cocky, she might never have known... Such a quality was truly admirable.

“I suspect that the core of the lava lies where the power erupts, so I plan to go down and investigate...”

Not continuing on this topic, Zhang Xuan looked over again.

“Where the power erupts?”

Everyone frowned.

“This place is so violent; even with formations and folded space, it would be destroyed, wouldn't it? How could it be built here?”

President Han couldn't help saying.

He had observed this place long ago and had ruled it out first.

If the writhing power below exploded, it would destroy an area thousands of miles in radius, showing its might... Under such violent impact, no matter how stable the folded space or formation, it couldn't withstand it!

“Whether it is or not, we'll only know by going down to see. Great power can destroy formations, but it can also maintain their operation! There are pros and cons; it's just that the level is too high for us to understand...”

Zhang Xuan waved his hand.

“This...” President Han opened his mouth to refute but couldn't find the words.

What the other said was true: water can carry a boat or capsize it. Fierce power can destroy formations, but if used well, it can also become a driving force, allowing formations to unleash even more terrifying power.

Of course, this might only be achievable by formation masters of a higher level; someone of his strength was far from capable.

“Alright, I'll go in and take a look first!”

Having explained, he said no more. Zhang Xuan called out to Jinyuan Ding, and with a leap, he jumped into the cauldron.

This fellow was huge; the cauldron's charcoal chamber could seat three or four people, making it perfect for him to take Zhang Xuan deep into the lava.

If left on its own, given this unreliable and cocky character, it would certainly not see anything meaningful.

“Be careful...”

Seeing him enter the cauldron, about to descend at any moment, Luo Ruoxi couldn't help saying.

“Mm!”

Zhang Xuan smiled lightly.

"I'm coming!" Jin Yuanding shouted excitedly, charging straight toward where the power had erupted.

At this moment, the power had already finished erupting, and there would be about a ten-minute interval, just enough time to enter; otherwise, once the power erupted again, even Jin Yuanding would be unable to withstand it.

Gurgle gurgle gurgle!

As soon as the huge cauldron entered the lava, it immediately made bubbling sounds, and Zhang Xuan, sitting inside, felt waves of intense heat assailing him from all sides.

Jin Yuanding was a vessel cauldron, capable of melting even steel and ore, showing the temperature inside. Hidden within, though not touching the lava, the sealed environment prevented heat from dissipating, making the temperature not much lower than outside.

With a slight smile, Zhang Xuan circulated his true qi, immediately feeling the pressure lessen. He swayed and stood up: "Jin Yuanding, stop!"

"Stop here?"

The cauldron was taken aback.

They had only just entered the lava, not even ten meters in, and now stop... what for?

"Mm!"

Zhang Xuan nodded: "No need to go too deep... Wait for me here!"

With that, he focused his mind, and his soul immediately left his body, shooting straight out into the lava.

Even if Jin Yuanding's strength had increased, forty meters was still its limit, and a round trip would be dangerous and troublesome. So having it enter was just an excuse to protect his physical body!

His real goal was his soul!

The soul was formless and intangible, though still affected by the lava's heat, not too greatly. Moreover, moving through it at undiminished speed, it could go deeper and explore more mysteries.

"Just as I imagined, my soul entering here not only takes no damage but can also absorb power and grow stronger!"

As his soul entered the magma, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up.

His soul, cultivated through the Heavenly Dao technique, feared neither heat nor scorching sun. If it were an ordinary soul shaman, whose whole body was cold and yin, not to mention entering, even staying in this cauldron would roast them alive.

"This heat can temper weapons, reducing their impurities. Can it also temper the soul body?"

A thought suddenly struck him.

The soul body, though formless and intangible, like the primordial spirit, was conscious and truly existed. Since weapons could be tempered, why couldn't this?

"Let me try..."

Focusing his mind, the soul body floated quietly in the magma, slowly absorbing the surrounding heat.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle!

Heat currents surged over, making his soul tougher and stronger under the immense heat, while impurities, as expected, were continuously purged.

"It really works..."

His eyes shone.

His soul body had always felt too bloated, causing trouble when entering the physical body, and he had never been able to temper it. This magma, with its intense heat, was just right.

"But don't rush to cultivate. Here, energy erupts every ten minutes. The soul might not be harmed, but Jin Yuanding could be shaken and sent flying. That would be trouble..."

Though eager to cultivate and temper his soul, he knew now was not the time. With a slight smile, he continued flying downward.

The priority now was to find the entrance to the ruins; cultivation could wait.

The soul descended, and as Teacher Wu had said, the deeper it went, the greater the heat, seemingly in intervals, with every ten meters marking a boundary.

"According to estimates, a Saint Realm first level can operate within ten meters, second level within twenty, and so on. Teacher Wu, at Saint Realm fourth level, can only reach forty meters at most. Beyond that, it's impossible!"

The soul moved swiftly. After a few breaths, it reached a depth of forty meters. Feeling the temperature changes along the way, Zhang Xuan made his inference.

"Forty meters is indeed hot enough. Even in my soul state, it's hard to withstand..."

For the first thirty meters, as a soul, the impact was minimal, but at forty meters, the heat surged, and even the soul state struggled to endure.

"Continue!"

The Heavenly Dao soul technique circulated within him without pause, breaking through the forty-meter barrier and continuing downward.

Once past the boundary, he felt as if he had entered a frying pan. Even in his current state, the heat scorched him, distorting his form. Though no sweat, the bloated soul body felt on the verge of collapse at any moment.

"No... This is a place for Out-of-Body experts. Though I'm a soul, I've reached my limit..."

His expression darkened.

He had thought that with his soul, he could go deeper without issue, but now he realized he had underestimated the lava's temperature.

Even a Saint Realm fourth level master couldn't withstand it; his soul, only at the Mortal Transformation ninth level, naturally couldn't either.

Gritting his teeth, he swam a bit further down. Just past the fifty-meter mark, he felt his soul begin to collapse, beyond his control.

The greater the heat, the greater the activity of matter, making it more unstable, much like solid weapons turning to liquid under intense heat.

Even though the soul was not material, the surrounding activity was so high that space itself became unstable, let alone a soul, which then began to collapse.

He quickly retreated to fifty meters, feeling much more at ease, but frowned.

"I've come over fifty meters and still found no trace of the ruins. Could it be... my calculations were wrong, and it's not here?"

He had even entered sixty meters and found nothing, only feeling the heat intensify, as Wu Tianqiong had said, nearing the Earth's core lava.

In such heat, even formation flags would melt. Even if there were a folded space, it would surely collapse. Could it be that his earlier calculations were off, and the so-called entrance to the ruins was not at this location?

As he pondered, suddenly a loud noise came from below, like a giant millstone turning.

"Oh no? Why has the power erupted early... Damn..."

His pupils contracted, and he saw a powerful force surging up toward him from below!