**
Hey guys, book 2 is officially finished on P@treon, at chapter 171!
**
The fall was short but brutal. Feiyin struck the underground river with a heavy splash, his protective essence barrier flexing to absorb the shock. The water was a churning torrent, thick with mud and debris, its roar deafening in the enclosed stone corridor. He wasted no time. Using his momentum, he launched himself toward the nearest wall, metal-infused essence qi coating his fingertips.
He jabbed his fingers into the slick volcanic rock.
Sparks hissed as his qi clashed against the rough surface, but he found purchase. Hanging from the vertical cliff of the tunnel, soaked yet grinning at the dive, he took a moment to breathe. His vision adjusted to the dim ambient glow emanating from below.
The underground river surged beside him, frothing and dragging more sediment along its furious current. He followed the wall, his fingers still coated in metal-infused essence qi to pierce it and hold himself, balancing his movements with quick bursts of strength and precision.
Several dozen meters downriver, the cliff curved sharply. There, he saw it.
A side passage.
Where the river slammed into the bend, the sediment-heavy water had, over the years, gouged a new path into the cliffside. The edge of the stone shimmered with erosion, forming a jagged opening large enough for a man to pass through where part of the water fell through. Feiyin crept closer and peered inside.
His breath caught.
Beyond the broken edge lay a vast subterranean world- a magma chamber the size of a city plaza. Rivers of glowing orange flowed between pillars of black obsidian. But it was not just lava that filled the space. From the point where the water crashed in, steam and mist erupted in colorful spirals. The sediment-rich water collided violently with the molten magma below, erupting into plumes of vapor.
Some of the mist curled upward in shimmering white veils. Others stayed low, cloaking the molten pools in a thick, colored haze- white, violet, and a light green. The heat was immense, and even with his cloaking protection, Feiyin felt sweat bead down his back.
"What a wonder..."
But that was not the end of it.
Feiyin frowned, then settled at the entrance, extending both his oscillation sense and spiritual sense deep into the chamber. He felt the immense density of fire essence saturating the space, especially in the lava. The essence roiled with primal force, untamed and pure, surging like a heartbeat from the planet's core. Lava, after all, was a direct channel from deep beneath the earth, rich in the same essence birthed from celestial bodies.
But there was more.
He slowly shifted his focus to the water cascading in from above. Even water, in its own way, carried essence- a gentler, cooling rhythm. Yet when it struck the lava, the interaction was violent. The two elements clashed in a surge of elemental discord.
Steam burst forth, not just as simple vapor but as charged essence and gas. Some of it shimmered in iridescent hues that he could see, while other portions were invisible to the eye, but not to his senses.
These colorless emissions danced like faint whispers against his spiritual perception, some rising swiftly like the wind, while others fell heavily back on top of the lava. Amongst the heavy ones, he noticed one which reacted strangely to the fire essence. In his senses, the heavy gase appeared to briefly cling to the fire essence, causing it to burst with a small pop, before rising lightly to the ceiling, as if it load has been left behind.
He recognized that disturbance. It vibrated in the same frequency as the affliction that harmed the red demon alchemists. The effects were somewhat similar as well, with the gaz having reacted to the fire-infused essence qi of the alchemists in a lesser way, causing a small clog that must have reached their brains and caused their current states.
it would also explain why he did not get any effect or notice anything strange when he investigated the fire essence vein connected to the alchemic rooms, as he has not yet infused the fire element, while the strange gas was not abundant either, which meant that it was not always present in the vein.
"It's not the fire essence vein itself," he murmured. "It's this mixture... something from the sedimented water, reacting with the fire essence within the lava. What a wondrous byproduct... unintended and unseen. If I could find a way to specifically control and target different elements, such as blood, it could be a weapon." He smiled lightly, "Mu will have a field day when he hears about it."
He continued observing for several more minutes, committing every detail to memory.
Then, just as he began retracting his senses, the entire wall around him shuddered.
A deep groan rippled through the cliff. Hairline cracks split open around him.
It wasn't a single loose edge- it was the whole wall.
The erosion had eaten too deeply. It was inevitable.
"Now of all time?"
Feiyin's body moved before thought could form. He kicked off the collapsing wall, launching himself toward one of the towering obsidian pillars jutting from the lava. Mid-jump, his essence surged. Metal-infused qi burst from his fingers.
But the obsidian was unyielding.
His fingertips skidded off.
Teeth clenched, he roared and infused saber intent into his metal qi. The edge of his aura sharpened, slicing into the rock like a knife through butter.
He lodged himself halfway up the pillar, fingers buried in a newly carved hole. Smiling, heart thumping, he looked back.
The entire stretch of the cliff where he'd stood moments before collapsed with a deafening roar, crashing into the lava below. A surge of sediment-filled water followed, hammering the magma and exploding into clouds of dense steam.
Despite the danger, Feiyin couldn't help but grin.
"Fire, you're always the one causing me the most trouble," he murmured. "Dad told me not to play with fire, but I believe I'm ready now."
He pulled out the pill he had refined for fire essence resonance and slid it into his mouth, letting it rest under his tongue for now.
With practiced efficiency, he removed his clothes and sealed them within his spatial pouch. Then, carving a small alcove into the obsidian pillar with saber energy, he stored the pouch safely inside.
Drawing a long breath, he wrapped himself in a cocoon of water-infused essence qi. The veil shimmered blue around his form, rippling like liquid armor.
He looked down at the sea of molten fire.
Then, without hesitation, Feiyin jumped.
Down into the womb of fire.