Cultivating To Immortality

Some time ago, Fang Hong specifically stayed in the Scripture Pavilion for several days, poring over a large number of ancient texts that recorded the geography of the whole realm.

He finally matched the location recorded on this map to the Black Abyss Ridge.

The Black Abyss Ridge is located at the border between the Azure Emperor Holy Land and the Fallen Immortal Sect. The spiritual energy there is nearly 80% thinner than in other areas, and cultivators rarely stop there. It is a desolate and uninhabited place.

As the saying goes, the stranger the place, the more likely there is an opportunity. Fang Hong decided to explore the Black Abyss Ridge, thinking that perhaps another great opportunity awaited him.

Fang Hong folded the map, then exited the guangyin stele space, took Little Rainbow, and quietly left the Holy Land.

…

Fang Hong traveled all the way, successively transferring through dozens of teleportation arrays. It took him a full half a month to finally arrive at the Black Abyss Ridge.

He hovered over the Black Abyss Ridge, gazing down intently, and saw that the area below was indeed as desolate as rumored.

The undulating mountain ranges were bare, devoid of any signs of vegetation. The surface was covered with crisscrossing ravines and gullies, exuding a desolate and deathly stillness.

Fang Hong cautiously spread his Divine Sense, and after careful investigation, he did not detect any powerful auras. There were only a few faint Demon Beast auras, which posed no threat.

After confirming it was safe, Fang Hong no longer hesitated. He boldly flew down, swiftly moving between the rugged barren ridges, with the beast-skin map floating in front of him.

Fang Hong compared the map while carefully observing the surrounding terrain, attempting to find the hidden location of the Treasure Trove.

Time passed bit by bit. Fang Hong searched tirelessly for three days and three nights.

During this time, he climbed countless mountain ranges and crossed many bottomless gullies.

Finally, on the morning of the fourth day, the map in his hand suddenly reacted. Its surface glowed with a faint white light, flickering as if it had sensed something.

Fang Hong was delighted and immediately adjusted his direction, following the map's guidance.

About half an hour later, he arrived above an inconspicuous fissure.

This fissure was several tens of miles long and nearly ten zhang wide, stretching across the desolate land.

Its depths were pitch black, and it was impossible to see the bottom.

Fang Hong extended his Divine Sense downwards and touched a trace of an unusual aura deep beneath the fissure. It carried a scorching temperature, faintly radiating outwards.

"Could there be a fire-attributed treasure hidden below?" Fang Hong's heart stirred, and he felt a sense of anticipation.

To be safe, Fang Hong immediately cast the Golden Body Art.

His body instantly lit up with dazzling golden light, as if he had put on a layer of golden armor, meticulously enveloping his entire body.

After taking protective measures, Fang Hong leaped and flew down into the depths of the fissure.

As he descended, the surrounding light grew dimmer, but the temperature slowly rose.

One hundred zhang.

One thousand zhang.

Three thousand zhang.

…

When Fang Hong continued to dive to a depth of ten thousand zhang in the fissure, a raging black flame appeared in front of him, like a sea of black fire, blocking his path.

A hint of surprise flashed through Fang Hong's mind. The power of this black flame was quite formidable, enough to easily burn a cultivator at the Body Integration Stage to death.

With such powerful flames guarding it, it seemed there must be a precious fire-attributed treasure hidden below.

Fang Hong immediately thought of something and summoned Little Rainbow from the Star Tower. As soon as the little guy appeared, he blinked his eyes curiously.

Fang Hong looked at him, a slight smile on his lips.

"Little guy, there's good stuff for you to eat again."

Sure enough, as soon as Little Rainbow saw the sea of black fire, his eyes lit up. He chirped a few times happily, then plunged into the black flames, devouring them in large gulps.

Little Rainbow spent a full half an hour traversing and devouring the black sea of fire before finally consuming all the surrounding flames. He flew back into Fang Hong's hand with a satisfied expression, his belly round and full, indicating he had eaten his fill.

Fang Hong smiled and patted Little Rainbow's head, then put him back into the Star Tower, letting him slowly absorb and refine the flames inside.

As the black sea of fire disappeared, a faint purple light spot appeared below, where the flames had originally obscured it.

Fang Hong's spirits lifted, and he continued to descend to a deeper place.

When he descended to a depth of fifteen thousand zhang, Fang Hong finally reached the bottom of the fissure.

The small purple light spot also appeared clearly in his sight. It turned out to be a palm-sized stone, glowing with a soft purple light.

This stone continuously emitted bursts of scorching aura. The previously massive black sea of fire was clearly formed by its emission.

Fang Hong took the stone into his hand, and after examining it, he was secretly delighted.

This should be the legendary Lava Crystal, a top-grade artifact refining materials of the fire attribute, usually only found deep within lava volcanoes where Heaven and Earth Strange Fire are born, making it extremely rare.

But soon, Fang Hong frowned again, a hint of doubt arising in his heart.

This was clearly the desolate Black Abyss Ridge, with no sign of a volcano nearby, so how could such a Lava Crystal appear here?

"Could it be that someone deliberately placed it here to guard something?" A thought flashed through Fang Hong's mind.

Fang Hong put away the Lava Crystal, then followed the guidance on the mysterious map and continued walking along the bottom of the valley.

The further he walked, the more frequently the light on the map in his hand flickered, and the brighter the light became, indicating that he was getting closer to his destination.

After walking about several miles along the valley floor, a black circular altar appeared before Fang Hong's eyes.

The altar was tightly pressed against the ground and didn't look particularly striking.

The scale of this black altar was not large, with a length and width of only about two to three zhang.

The surface of the altar was covered with a thick layer of dust, indicating that it had clearly not been used for a very long time.

Next to the altar, there was also a stone tablet, similarly covered in dust.

Four ancient characters were carved on the stone tablet—Underground World.

Fortunately, Fang Hong had read many ancient texts some time ago and had some research into these ancient characters, otherwise, he would not have recognized these four words.

"Underground World."

Fang Hong was startled, a look of surprise on his face, "Could this altar be the entrance to the Underground World?"

The so-called Underground World, as the name suggests, is a mysterious space located deep beneath the Profound Fallen Realm.

According to ancient texts, the area of that space is almost the same as the Profound Fallen Realm, and it is inhabited by various Demon Race of the Underworld.

These Demon Race are powerful, and occasionally they would come to the surface through some spatial rifts, causing quite a bit of trouble.

The moment Fang Hong approached the altar, the beast-skin map in his hand suddenly flew up on its own, hovering above the altar, emitting bursts of light, and creating some mysterious connection with the altar.

Rumble.

A moment later, the entire altar suddenly vibrated violently, and its surface emitted dazzling purple light.