Chapter Thirty-Six: I'll Crush You All with My Teeth

After gathering fire elemental energy at his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth to form a transparent mask, Gu Xiaopang, still uneasy, held his breath as he lay prone at the mouth of the volcano, peering into its depths.

So wide, so deep, so much fire, so much magma...

Shivering with fright, Gu Xiaopang knew that if he didn’t go down, this trip to the secret realm might end in vain—something that went against his principle of never working without reward. After a brief contemplation, he dashed into the fiery red woods nearby.

When he returned, his shoulders were stacked with bundles of blazing fire vines.

He wasted no time. Before long, he had woven a rope several hundred meters long entirely from the fierce fire vines, tied one end to a blazing hot boulder, and tossed the other into the mouth of the volcano.

Taking several deep breaths, Gu Xiaopang held his breath once more and descended along the rope.

…

The deeper he went, the thicker the aura of spiritual mist around him. The extreme heat caused sweat to evaporate instantly, mixing with the steamy vapor spurting from the magma.

But as Gu Xiaopang continued sliding down the rope, he failed to notice that dozens of crimson eyes of varying sizes beneath the magma had already fixed on him.

…

Constantly surveying his surroundings, Gu Xiaopang could now be certain: if there was truly an inheritance here, it must be hidden within the magma.

“With my current strength, I can dive no more than twenty meters down, and at most stay for ten breaths,” he assessed grimly. Gritting his teeth, he plunged into the molten river.

…

One breath, two, three...

“Damn! Something’s biting me!”

Gu Xiaopang shot back up to the surface, clutching the vine rope. Several bloody craters marked his legs, magma splattered his body, and his eyes widened as he stared intently into the molten depths, searching for the culprit.

…

“No madness, no life!”

“I have to see what fiend dares gnaw at my flesh!”

“Let’s do this!”

After rousing himself, Gu Xiaopang dove once more, spiritual energy surging through his body, every sense stretched to its limit.

He saw them! Six breaths in, enduring several more bites, he finally got a clear look at the so-called fiends: four or five thumb-sized strange fish clung to his leg, and dozens more darted toward him from deeper inside.

…

“Damn it, fish or not, if you dare bite me, you can stay right here!”

Infuriated, Gu Xiaopang reached out and grabbed at the creatures on his leg...

Ten breaths later, he surfaced along the rope.

…

Try as he might, he couldn’t crush the fish with his fingers. No matter—he’d bite them to death with his teeth!

Resolved, Gu Xiaopang tossed a strange fish into his mouth and bit down hard, his jaws creaking, cheeks trembling.

…

Suddenly, a pleasant surprise. With all his strength, he finally cracked open one of the strange fish...

A rush of pure energy slid down his throat, spreading instantly through his body. Looking inward, he saw his meridians had widened, and his spiritual energy had grown noticeably denser.

“What a treasure!”

…

“I’m about to strike it rich!” Gu Xiaopang’s eyes lit up. With dozens more of these nourishing creatures, he could hardly contain his excitement.

…

Two, three, four... another, and another...

As he repeatedly dove and surfaced, cracking open dozens of strange fish with his teeth, the amount of spiritual energy within him reached the peak that the Qi Refining stage could contain, and it had become incomparably pure—one-third of it already liquefied.

“I’ve reached the pinnacle of Qi Refining! Incredible!”

“Just you wait, little fish! Watch how I break through to Foundation Establishment today!”

…

Legs now riddled with bloody pits, Gu Xiaopang forced himself to bite through another two dozen fish, until all the spiritual energy within him had turned to liquid.

Clenching his fist, he was dazzled by the explosive strength surging through his body. He could clearly feel that his combat power now was at least ten times greater than before entering the secret realm.

If he were to face Zeng Hu now, the man wouldn’t even be enough to pick his teeth.

…

“What a marvelous secret realm!”

“Little fish, here I come again!”