Soul Emperor Awakening

Observing the scene before them, Lin Xuan and Hei Zhenxuan quickly understood. The Path of the King was indeed not simple; it was incredibly difficult.

"You’re skilled to have rushed up here so fast, but a true king knows how to use the Ice and Snow Badges. The one with the most badges is the real King here!" Hei Zhenxuan laughed loudly. The Yulan Sacred Fire immediately surged from his arm, swiftly encasing his body in a thick layer of Ice Armor.

It was impossible for this Ice Armor to block the cold completely, but it could at least resist the majority of it and prevent him from being frozen solid instantly. Condensing this layer of Armor required considerable Control Power. Without it, utilizing the Yulan Sacred Fire would be incredibly difficult.

After forming the Yulan Sacred Fire Armor, Hei Zhenxuan shot Lin Xuan a disdainful glance before turning and plunging into the sea of flames. Once he got through, he would have no more use for Lin Xuan. From this moment on, Lin Xuan was useless to him. ’Once I complete this Path of the King, it’ll be your time to die!’

In fact, after completing the Path of the King, he would be eligible to become the City Lord. At that point, Lin Xuan’s death was all but certain.

’The one with the most Ice and Snow Badges, huh...’ A hint of disdain flickered in Lin Xuan’s eyes. ’When it comes to the Yulan Sacred Fire, you’re still far too green.’

He immediately initiated the Fox King’s Soul Possession while simultaneously activating the Yulan Pearl. His entire body was instantly covered in the Yulan Sacred Fire. He didn’t form it into Armor for protection; he simply wrapped himself in the pure flame, making it look as though he had been completely engulfed by it.

Then, he charged forward. The moment he stepped into the path of fire, an extreme chill enveloped him, but it was assimilated by the Yulan Sacred Fire surrounding his body. Of course, his own flame didn’t completely negate the fire of the path. It was clear the purity of the path’s Yulan Sacred Fire was slightly inferior to his own.

In fact, he had sensed this ever since entering the Ice and Snow Tower: the Yulan Sacred Fire from his Yulan Pearl wasn’t as pure as the one from the Ice and Snow Badges. In theory, lower purity meant less power. However, he had a massive quantity of it, making up for the lack of quality.

As he sprinted forward, only a thin layer of frost slowly formed on his body. He was quite satisfied with this result.

In contrast, Hei Zhenxuan, who had charged ahead first, was having a different experience. Possessing ten Ice and Snow Badges didn’t mean he could completely resist the Yulan Sacred Fire. The cold flames first coated his body, then began seeping through his Armor.

Fortunately, he was able to control the flames to some extent; otherwise, he would have long since become an ice sculpture. However, his speed began to falter. The extreme cold wasn’t easy to fend off, and his movements quickly began to slow.

As his pace slackened, Lin Xuan, who had started after him, quickly caught up. Like a blazing comet of fire, he effortlessly overtook Hei Zhenxuan and shot forward.

Hei Zhenxuan was stunned. He never would have imagined that Lin Xuan would surpass him. He was certain that with his ten Ice and Snow Badges, he had the advantage. Even if Lin Xuan was completely familiar with how to use the badges, he simply didn’t have as many. Resisting the Yulan Sacred Fire should have been much harder for him.

But reality was not as he’d imagined. Lin Xuan had transformed into a mass of Yulan Sacred Fire and was now whistling forward. No one wanted to linger in this place, so they all charged ahead as fast as they possibly could.

"What’s going on? He... he has so much Yulan Sacred Fire!?" Hei Zhenxuan was astounded. He had wanted to try the same tactic, but he couldn’t release nearly enough Yulan Sacred Fire to do it. He had only been able to produce enough to form his Armor.

He couldn’t do it, yet Lin Xuan had managed it with ease. The effect of resisting the Yulan Sacred Fire at his feet was exceptional, far surpassing his own efforts! He had just been mocking Lin Xuan, and now he was eating his own words. Lin Xuan was moving much faster than him.

"Impossible! I can’t lose!" Snapping out of his shock, Hei Zhenxuan chased after him with renewed vigor. His speed increased, but only slightly.

From the moment he’d plunged into the Yulan Sacred Fire, he had been moving at his maximum speed. Every extra second spent here meant more danger, so he hadn’t dared to take it slow. However, the Ice Armor covering his body couldn’t completely block the encroaching flames. As a result, his speed didn’t increase by much and was, in fact, gradually decreasing.

In the blink of an eye, Lin Xuan burst through the passageway of Yulan Sacred Fire. The moment he emerged, an extreme, searing heat washed over him. It was far hotter than the lava he had been in before—hotter even than being submerged in magma!

What now lay before Lin Xuan was a Lava Path, its surface a river of molten magma. He felt an incredible heat without even touching it. If not for the Yulan Sacred Fire enveloping him, he felt like he would be cooked alive.

’So the Path of the King is a literal path you have to walk!’ Lin Xuan was taken aback. ’I just finished the cold part, and now it’s hot. What’s next?’

He didn’t hesitate, immediately sprinting forward again with the Yulan Sacred Fire fully unleashed to envelop his body. He wasn’t about to wait around for Hei Zhenxuan. For all he knew, the first person to reach the end of the Path of the King would be the one to pass. Therefore, he had no reason to wait for Hei Zhenxuan, and he wouldn’t.

The moment he set foot on the Lava Path, a wave of molten rock surged up and rushed toward him, like a great, gaping maw trying to swallow him whole.

"Freeze!"

Lin Xuan waved his hand, and a sheet of Yulan Sacred Fire billowed forward. He flung it out as if it cost him nothing, and it collided with the surging lava. HISSING sound erupted as the molten rock was instantly frozen into a solid mass! Even magma this hot would be frozen solid by the Yulan Sacred Fire.

Correspondingly, the drain on his Elemental Power was immense. ’Hei Zhenxuan can’t be faring any better,’ he thought. Without doing this, one would surely be swallowed by the lava. Unless someone was exceptionally confident in their Physique, trying to tank the heat with one’s body was simply suicidal.

He wasn’t about to conserve any Elemental Power here. He sprinted with wild abandon, and everywhere his feet touched the lava, a small patch of ice formed.

When Hei Zhenxuan finally burst out of the passage of Yulan Sacred Fire, he saw Lin Xuan’s figure shrinking in the distance, which made him increasingly furious. "That piece of trash! How could he possibly be ahead of me!"

With a furious roar, he gave chase at top speed, fully unleashing his Yulan Sacred Fire to ward off the surging lava. But the quantity of his flame still wasn’t enough; it fell just short. Unfrozen magma rained down upon his body.

However, beneath his tough Black Dragon Scales, it wasn’t a major issue; he could withstand it completely. The durable Dragon Scales of the Dragon Race could resist not only cold but also fire—a massive advantage.

One human and one dragon sprinted wildly along the path, locked in a desperate race. No one knew what awaited them at the finish line.