Volume 5: Protracted War Chapter 20 The Real Test
I don't know what happened, but the "Hell Lava Pool" suddenly roared violently, contrary to its initial calmness. The magma inside was spinning and churning, creating wave after wave of "waves" several meters high. The front wave hit the back wave, and the waves collided with each other, stirring up countless splashing magma drops, almost covering the entire mountain top. Although it still remained in liquid form and did not solidify with impact force, it might be because of the high heat contained. Even if I was wearing the holy-level "Phoenix Feather Cloak", I still couldn't completely resist the fiery red magma. Every drop that splashed on my body could cause slight damage, forcing me to quickly activate the "Fire Feather Barrier" to add a layer of protection, and only then did I completely resolve the fire damage attached to the magma.
Why did Taotao suddenly change after entering the lava pool when it was fine before? Did it violate some taboo inside, or accidentally provoke a powerful being hidden in the lava pool? "What did you do in there? Why did you change like this?" I asked Taotao.
"I didn't do anything. I was just about to dive to the bottom of the pool and concentrate on absorbing the energy of the magma, when suddenly an inexplicable feeling occurred, which made me feel scared from the bottom of my heart. I dared not stay in the magma pool anymore and rushed to the shore in a hurry. As for why this happened, I don't know." Taotao raised his long skull horse face and looked at me "innocently", appearing quite "wronged" and also quite confused. Through the spiritual connection, I could even vaguely feel its inexplicable fear of the magma pool, and subconsciously it was unwilling to get close to there, so it hid behind me and dared not face it directly.
How could this happen? Although Taotao has only evolved twice and is still a skeleton horse, its true strength is not that strong, but it is impossible for something ordinary to make it feel fear from the bottom of its heart. What is "making trouble" in the magma pool? Is it an extremely powerful monster lurking in the magma pool, or a natural disaster with a sudden eruption of power that is too powerful to resist, or is there no danger, but just a regular or irregular release of the "Hell Magma Pool" itself?
I couldn't figure out the reason for a while, and I couldn't go forward, nor could I retreat. Fortunately, there was no danger for the time being, so I had to stay away from the magma pool as much as possible and wait and see how things developed. It was all because of that damn old man, who only said half of everything. I asked him to reveal more information about the "Hell Volcano", but he refused to do so no matter how much I tried to persuade him. This caused me so much trouble. I had to guess everything and rely on myself to figure things out.
The turbulence lasted for about ten minutes, and the "waves" of the magma became smaller and smaller, and gradually subsided. However, the magma pool did not return to calm, and it was still rolling, and more and more bubbles began to appear, and the speed was getting faster and faster, constantly making "pop" sounds and emitting wisps of white smoke. After a while, the center of the magma pool began to slowly swell, and the magma began to pour out from the center of the pool to the surrounding areas, and the speed was getting faster and faster.
Regarding all these changes, I can only be a bystander, waiting for the truth to be revealed. Based on past experience and the reputation of "Hell Volcano" as one of the four forbidden areas, I have long had a hunch that it would not be so easy for Taotao to enter the "Hell Magma Pool" smoothly to grow evolve. I thought I had made a profit when Taotao jumped into the pool, but now it seems that I was too happy too early. What I have to face next may be the real test.
A few minutes later, a huge monster slowly emerged from the "Hell Lava Pool", gradually revealing the "culprit" that caused this mysterious incident, which turned out to be a dragon! I opened my mouth in surprise. Yes, it was indeed a dragon, to be more precise, it was a strange skeleton dragon. Its appearance was similar to the holy dragon of the Western Continent, with a body length of five or six meters, strong hind legs and short front legs. It was obviously a creature that could walk upright, with wings on its back, flapping slowly, supporting its body to float in the air, all of which met the characteristics of the Western holy dragon. Of course, because it was an undead, it had no flesh, and its body was made up of only a thick and sturdy skeleton. What made me feel the most strange was this skeleton. At first glance, every part of its body was constantly changing color, flickering, bright and dark, bright when it was bright, and dark when it was dark, it was a dignified dark black. This strong color contrast had a great impact on people's vision. Looking closely , I found that it seemed that every bone contained a fiery red flame, which was swallowing and spitting out quickly and rhythmically. When swallowing, the body darkened, revealing the true dark black of the bones. When spitting out, a fiery red flame about an inch high suddenly appeared, making the body instantly bright, showing the extremely high heat contained in it. It felt that the power seemed to be even greater than that of the sacred beast Phoenix I saw a few days ago. In the middle of the forehead, there was a single horn about two feet long, with a thick root and a pointed top. Although it was also made of bone, it did not change between red and black like other parts of the body. The whole body was crystal clear and golden, and it also emitted a faint golden light.
Originally, I should feel mental oppression from the extremely powerful undead creatures in high positions, but probably because they restrained their breath and did not deliberately do anything, I did not have too strong negative feelings. I was just nervous about facing the unknown powerful existence, worried about encountering some danger. Taotao seemed to be affected much more than me. As the skeleton dragon revealed its true form, its body trembled involuntarily, and its head, which was originally raised, drooped down, not daring to look directly at the other party, quietly moving its body and trying its best to curl up behind me, using me to cover it up.
The skeleton dragon turned its head and looked around, and finally fixed its gaze on Taotao and me, examining us carefully for a while, "Who are you? How come you don't know the rules and act so rashly, disturbing my peace?" A voice sounded directly in my mind. It should be the skeleton dragon contacting me through the spirit.
I was delighted to hear the Skeleton Dragon speak. My extremely eased a little. It was good that we could communicate, which meant that the situation was not too bad. I was really afraid of encountering a bloodthirsty monster that would not give me a chance to speak. That would mean that there would be no room for maneuver. Facing an extremely powerful Skeleton Dragon, Taotao and I would definitely die alone. There would be no chance of survival.
I quickly bent down and bowed. In Tianxia, some intelligent high-level creatures have many thoughts and consciousness modeled after humans, and they also have seven emotions and six desires. When dealing with them, we must maintain basic etiquette to avoid offending them. As the saying goes, if you don't agree, you can talk more. According to my experience, it will never do any harm. "Hello! I am the undead wizard Ah Dai, and this is my pet hell skeleton horse Taotao. It's my first time here. May I ask who you are..."
"I am the supreme ruler of this 'Hell Volcano', Hades, the Hell Dragon King. You have barged in here rashly. Are you here to find me?"
Is the Hell Dragon King the king of all Hell Dragons? A higher level being than the Hell Dragon, no wonder it feels so powerful, and looks so strange, even more majestic than the sacred beast Phoenix. That damn old man, he didn't even tell me that there is such a powerful ruler of the "Hell Volcano". From the tone of his voice, it seems that I have violated some rules again, and it probably won't be easy to get away with it. God knows what problems he will bring to me.
"Respected Lord Hades, how can we weak creatures have the courage to disturb your peace? I just heard that there is a magical 'Hell Magma Pool' on the top of the 'Hell Volcano'. Soaking in it to absorb the energy of the transformed magma can help the undead creatures with hellfire attributes grow and evolve as quickly as possible. I happen to have a pet which is a hell skeleton horse, and the attributes are compatible, so I want to use the power of the 'Hell Magma Pool', hoping to help it." Various thoughts were running through his mind, but he did not dare to be negligent on the surface, and hurriedly gave a reply.
"Oh, another ambitious fellow who craves for powerful strength and wants to take this convenient path by taking shortcuts. But you are too reckless and don't know any rules. You just jump into the 'Hell Magma Pool' so casually. This is the most precious thing on the 'Hell Volcano'. It is the treasure of my Nether Dragon Clan and the holy pool that I, an old man, guard with all my strength. How can outsiders enter it just by saying so? That is trampling and defiling the dignity and honor of my noble Nether Dragon Clan!"
The tone of the Hades Dragon King became more and more severe, which made my heart tighten. I just wanted to soak in the "Hell Magma Pool" for a while, so I didn't want to put such a big hat on us. Once the crime was confirmed, the result of the trial would definitely be death. What else could I do? I was about to open my mouth to defend Taotao's behavior, but Hades changed his tone and said, "However, considering that you are outsiders, newcomers who don't know the rules here, and first offenses, your attitude is quite sincere, I will not pursue your unintentional mistake this time, you can go down the mountain!"
The more I listened to the first few sentences, the happier I became. It seemed that this old Dragon King was quite easy to talk to and let us go so easily. However, the last sentence shocked Owen again. He almost thought he had heard it wrong. "What? Let us go down the mountain now?" What a joke! We went through so many hardships along the way and spent five days to climb to the top of the mountain. We haven't even had a chance to soak in the "lava bath" yet, but we were sent back like this. It would be a waste of all our hard work. How could I be willing to accept this?
"Of course, I have already forgiven your mistakes. What else do you want? Do you want to continue soaking in the 'Hell Magma Pool'?"
"Yes, letting Taotao soak in the 'Hell Magma Pool' is the purpose of our coming here. I hope that the respected Lord Hades can agree to our request." I bowed again hurriedly, trying to make my tone sound a little softer, hoping to impress this old Dragon King who seemed easy to talk to and reduce unnecessary trouble.
"Do you know what the 'Hell Magma Pool' is called?" The Hades Dragon King did not directly answer my request, but instead brought up other topics.
I hurriedly recalled the information about the "Hell Volcano" that the old man had revealed, but to no avail. I could only shake my head helplessly, "I don't know!"
"For our powerful Nether Dragon clan, the 'Hell Magma Pool' is a sacred object because it also has another name called the 'Dragon Pool'."
"'Dragon Pool'? Could it be..." I screamed subconsciously.
"That's right. All undead creatures with hellfire attributes can not only soak in it to absorb energy to help grow, but if the individual's strength is strong enough and their innate qualifications are good, they can go a step further and be reborn in this magma pool. There is a certain chance that they will survive the 'heavenly tribulation' and transform into a hell dragon. This is its true value."
"Then my Taotao's true form is a Hell Skeleton Horse. According to the supreme God of Death, it is possible for it to evolve into a Hell Dragon. Wouldn't it be possible to use the power of the 'Hell Magma Pool' to help it evolve, so that the Hell Dragon clan can have a new member." I simply reported the dead old man's name, hoping to "shock" the Hell Dragon King and get him to agree to my request for his sake.
The Hades Dragon King sighed and shook his big head slowly. "Things are not as simple as you think. Using the power of the 'Hell Magma Pool' to catalyze one's own growth is against the will of heaven, so there are relatively strict restrictions. No undead creatures are allowed to enter. Moreover, the energy of the magma pool is limited. Except for me, other Hades Dragons cannot soak in it at will. There is a certain time limit every month. As for outsiders from other species who want to enjoy the right to use the magma pool, it is even more difficult. They must pass a challenge, and only the winner is eligible to enter the magma pool to soak."
After talking for a long time, it inevitably comes down to the challenge, and it still has to be solved by force. However, I looked at Taotao beside me. There are , and without the help of Hongxing and other subordinates, we don’t have much fighting power. How can we compete with the enemy? I don’t believe that the opponent will be a weakling.
Looking at the top of the mountain, I could not see any other undead creatures except the Hell Dragon King. I was even more worried, "Respected Lord Hades, if you want to accept the challenge, you will not do it yourself, right?" If so, there is no chance at all. The gap in strength is too great. I can only give up to avoid unnecessary losses. In fact, there is no need for the Hell Dragon King to take action. As long as an ordinary Hell Dragon is sent up, I will not have a chance at all.
"Hahaha..." The Nether Dragon King laughed, as if he had heard something quite ridiculous. "Generally speaking, I won't attack easily. Of course, if you intend to challenge me directly, I will have to accept the challenge due to the rules. If you can defeat me, then you will replace me as the new ruler of the 'Hell Volcano'. Not only can you use the 'Hell Magma Pool' at will, but you can also enter and exit the 'Hell Volcano' freely, and even have the ability to control the erupting magma and lava to attack."
