Chapter 898: We'll Collect The Middle Parts
Chapter 898: We'll Collect The Middle Parts
The Black Flame Canyon.
Yue Yang had carefully investigated that place a long time ago because of his appreciation towards the Di Yan Ore.
According to his intelligence reports, the Black Flame Canyon has been engulfed in raging fires for its entire lifetime. The flames there were far more violent than everywhere else and the colour that was mostly seen from afar was black. Hence, it was named 'Black Flame Canyon'.
There were very few mercenaries who were not afraid of the flames nor death who occasionally ventured into and out of the Black Flame Canyon.
If they don't die in vain, they could often mine some pure gold of very good quality. Otherwise, they would be able to find the asbestos minerals that were only ever found near the mouth of a volcano.
Of course, some mercenaries could also mine the Di Yan Ore in the Black Flame Canyon.
After refining them, the Di Yan Ores would turn into Molten Di Yan.
It was considered an extremely high temperature liquid metal.
The Molten Di Yan could be combined with certain minerals to create various famous artifacts and treasures in the Heaven Realm, making them very precious minerals.
The extremely high-quality Molten Di Yan would become Liquid Crystal Di Yan after countless refining sessions. It was known as a room-temperature metal crystal that was extremely hard and completely immune to the corrosion of the element of fire. This kind of Liquid Crystal Di Yan should be put into the auction house for auctioning— even if it was no bigger than the size of a thumb, it could be sold at a high price that was worth more than tens of millions. It was one of the 100 items that the Upper Heaven Realm would always purchase from the Lower Heaven Realm.
"Boom! Boom, boom!"
Carrying Drunken Cat Yu Jie, Yue Yang was about 50 kilometers away from the Black Flame Canyon when his extremely sensitive hearing picked up noises that indicated a fight.
Someone is fighting outside the Black Flame Canyon?
Was it also sparked because of the Di Yan Ore?
If that were the case, Yue Yang wouldn't be surprised at all.
"Is someone fighting? It seems that the fight is getting closer!" Drunken Cat Yu Jie also woke up from her sleepy dream. She immediately got down from Yue Yang's back and adjusted herself slightly. As she returned to her usual composure, she clenched her fists, constantly increasing her own strength to prepare for a sudden enemy attack.
"Cover your aura and observe the situation," Yue Yang waved, indicating that she didn't need to be nervous.
"Mmhm!" Drunken Cat Yu Jie looked at Yue Yang and her tight nerves slowly relaxed. He was with her, so she would listen to his orders; even if there were abrupt changes to the scenario, he would be able to adapt and deal with it.
Rumble...The sky turned into a dazzling shade of blood red.
Countless meteors from the sky poured down like raindrops, slamming densely within a radius of about 30 kilometers. Although the attack range was still a little farther away from Yue Yang and Drunken Cat Yu Jie, the tremor caused by this attack and the shock wave that followed caused them to frown secretly. Although he had not been able to witness it with his own eyes, Yue Yang estimated that the person who made this attack had at least the strength of a Level 4 Heaven Rank.
It would be fine if the strength of the cultivator was merely a Level 4 Heaven Ranker.
They were too close to the Black Flame Canyon as the surface of the fire element appeared silent, but it was actually extremely active. Everything would burst out in terrifying power should it break.
Those fire meteors smashed downwards and the power of the explosion was no lesser than a 5th Level Heaven Ranked ability.
The heat wave was huge.
In the periphery of the Black Flame Canyon, the energy of the fire already seemed so powerful; if they were inside the Black Flame Canyon itself, how would things turn out?
Outside of the Black Flame Canyon, things did not appear as intense as the Sea of Flames World of the Lord of Fire. However, when it came to the Black Flame Canyon, the fire energy inside the canyon seemed even worse. The Sea of Flames could be balanced out with the water energy of the Hourglass World, but where was he to find such a large amount of water here? If he hadn't brought along Drunken Cat Yu Jie, he would be able to deal with it on his own. But now that she was here, it would be a bit of a waste to not let her practice some of her skills.
The enemy and the friend is still yet to be decided; I think we should just wait it out first.
"Hush!" Yue Yang made a gesture.
"Got it," Drunken Cat Yu Jie changed her usual routine and completely obeyed Yue Yang's arrangement. Restricting her aura, she quietly lurked beside Yue Yang.
After the ground was hit by the skyfire meteor, several shadows escaped from the blazing flames.
Two of them were 'old friends' that Yue Yang knew.
One of them was Lei Qie, the skeleton male, and the leader of the Southern Heaven Realm's Black Skeleton Bandits' Group.
The other one was a vampire who fought with Lima in the City of Redemption, but he was later frightened away by Lima. Yue Yang didn't know what the name of this vampire was, but the strength of this vampire was not too bad. WIth the strength of a Level 3 Heaven Rank, he was only slightly weaker than the Skeleton Lei Qie.
However, regardless whether it was the vampire or the skeleton, both of them were in a tight spot.
The skeleton male Lei Qie and the vampire each took two subordinates who were also Heaven Rankers, flying away from the source of the pandemonium with a slightly singed head.
Yue Yang could see that if the two of them were not keeping watch tightly, that burst of skyfire meteors just now would be enough to kill both of their subordinates in a split second. The two guys cherished the fact that their subordinates were of the Heaven Ranks. They would rather be in a pinch to protect the lives of their men— as that was the only answer to get them out alive from the meteorite shower.
The enemy who cast the burst of meteorite shower did not pursue them.
Instead, it accepted its victory and returned into the Black Flame Canyon.
The distance was too far. Yue Yang wasn't able to see what the fellow attacker was even with the Heaven Eyes Transverse. He only saw that it brought a hundred meter thick
Perhaps that was the 'boss monster' who was responsible for guarding the Black Flame Canyon? However, I have never heard of any beasts emerging from the Black Flame Canyon before. The mercenaries who go there were mainly killed due to a type of explosion in the Black Flame Canyon, which often erupted inadvertently. Regardless of which race or Beast owns a fire attribute, once this explosive flame blows up, every living being will immediately dissipate into smoke— that was the main reason why the Black Flame Canyon had become a place that Heaven Ranked mercenaries would not approach easily. But I have never heard of a Beast occupying the space or guarding it.
"Damn it, damn it! Blood Fang, because of your error in the intelligence report, it's all over! The Black Skeleton Bandit's Group that I worked so hard to maintain all over the years is done for!" Skeleton Lei Qie no longer wore the fake appearance that Yue Yang had seen before; instead, the man roared angrily at his companion.
"I admit that I am responsible for the information mishaps, but you should also know that this wasn't something that I wanted to happen either! Yes, you incurred a loss for the Black Skeleton Bandits' Group, but my Bat Clan is also in a dire state as well! If it weren't for the fact that I used my treasures to protect us, those two limbs of yours wouldn't be functioning as of now. Lei Qie, I messed up in delivering the information accurately, but it was never my intention to cause us harm. Also, it's not like I don't have the intention to atone for my mistakes anyway—I even sacrificed my most precious treasure, the Light of Protection; does that not show how much I 'm willing to pay for this cooperation?" The vampire named Blood Fang immediately frowned when he talked about the battle. Obviously, it pained him very much to use the Light of Protection.
"Leader, what should we do now?" One of Lei Qie's men saw that the two bosses were almost done with their quarrel before he approached them.
"No matter what there is to do, none of them concern you! With your strength, it would be impossible for you to go into the Black Flame Canyon again. We'll remain here to figure things out, but you four should immediately return to the Silver Leaf City to rest and wait for our return. Be careful, don't cause any more trouble for me. Don't provoke the new Emerald Lord or anybody from the three races— the Soaring Dragon Continent, the Sky Demons and the Tong Tian Tower. Even the Lionheart King has to please and form alliances with those of the Western Heaven Realm." Lei Che sternly exhorted.
"This subordinate understands."
Even if the four of them weren't reminded by Lei Qie, they didn't dare to engage in battles with the newly promoted forces of the Emerald Lord.
One should be aware that cross-border battles weren't something that could be sparked by anybody in the world; it was rather obvious that those from the Western Heaven Realm's three races were able to obtain victory no matter if it was a public fight or an underhanded battle. That was why the Emerald Lord had absolute rights and authority as well.
When the remaining four subordinates left, Lei Qie angrily created a 100-meter-long crevice onto the ground with a blade, "Damned Lord Black Flame, that bastard was hiding in the underground like a mouse for thousands of years; but without any warning, he went and accumulated such a strong strength within that time. If it were not for our joint exploration, we would have still been fooled by the peaceful and calm exterior of the Black Flame Canyon! It turned out that he had been hiding in the Black Flame Canyon to absorb the fire energy inside. Fortunately, we found him early; otherwise, if he had succeeded and went out into the world, all of our teammates would have died by now."
The vampire waved his hand and signaled for Lei Qie to calm down, "Lei Qie, we still have time. We have found the trails of Lord Black Flame. But if we wait till he finishes absorbing an entire chunk of fire energy from the Di Yan Ore, that would be an irreparable mistake."
Lei Qie's head was full of thoughts, "Blood Fang, the problem is that with the two of us, even if we know that Lord Black Flame is now at the critical juncture of reaching the Heaven Rank's 6th Level, we aren't enough to stop him. Without others' help, we don't have the ability to do anything but watch him finish absorbing the fire energy from the Di Yan Ore— it's really infuriating!"
"But in any case, we can't just let him be elevated," The vampire Blood Fang put on a pair of sharp silver claws and waved, "Even if no one aids us, we have to distract him for as long as we can. Now that Lord Black Flame is still in the critically important moments of strengthening, this is our only chance to stop him when he's not at full strength. Under normal circumstances, our only choice would be to run away."
"If only the Clown was here, then things would have been fine," Lei Qie sighed.
"With him, I'd be even more worried. It's hard to guarantee that the Clown wouldn't use us as cannon fodder to reap the benefits of the fisherman," The vampire sneered.
"Although there is that kind of risk, his mind is better than ours, after all. He could have possibly thought of a way of countering Lord Black Flame by now and the chances of us succeeding would be higher. With the two of us only, I can't help but feel unsure!" The skeleton Lei Qie sighed.
"..." When Drunken Cat Yu Jie heard this, she reached out and touched Yue Yang, as if she was asking why Yue Yang wasn't going out to cooperate with the other parties.
Yue Yang shook his head.
A mysterious smile appeared on his face.
To run and help them out now would only be dividing the glory with Lei Qie and Blood Fang.
He has enough strength and is hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to attack, so why bother to join forces with the skeleton Lei Qie and Blood Fang? Besides, these two guys were no good either— it was hard to avoid being cautious of any possible backstabbing should he cooperate with them.
If the Black Flame Lord was a super unparalleled formidable enemy, then Yue Yang might have considered otherwise; but listening to Lei Qie and Blood Fang's tone, it turned out that he was just a lord who hid away and absorbed some fire energy. Not to mention that he was only at Level 5 Heaven Rank. Even if he reaches the 6th Level of the Heaven Rank, Yue Yang would not take him seriously. A monster like the Lord of Fire was even defeated by him, so what was there to fear about the Lord Black Flame? At most, he would be the chief of the beasts, but never a boss monster.
The only thing worthy of Yue Yang's caution was the sinister terrain of the Black Flame Canyon.
Sometimes, the harsh terrain could be more terrifying than the enemy, and that was because it was something that could not be fully grasped without knowing the true depth of the land.
"Let's do this..." Student Yue Yang made a gesture of 'they fight on both sides and we'll collect up the middle'[1] to Drunken Cat Yu Jie. She would normally frown upon such a shameless plan under normal circumstances, but her sense of justice did not extend to the Southern Heaven Realm. In her mind, although she did not regard the opponents to be as sinister as Yue Yang perceived them, she thought of everyone as an enemy.
Hence, no matter what he does, she wouldn't ever think it was considered overboard.
T/L Note:[1] It means to let other people put in the efforts but you reap the rewards.
[TL note]:
At this point there's more new characters that are emerging so I'm kind of making the glossary instead of referring to it. I'll try my best to provide them as accurately as I can, so let me know if any of the names seem awkward or don't flow all that well!
At any rate, enjoy the chapter! Hope you guys have a great day/night ahead of you!
-Sterling
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