Chapter 1229 Trial Inside the Cave
The roar of the fiery lion shook the entire cavern, sending magma flying several meters high into the air. The scalding lava rained down, splattering against the rock walls with a hissing sound and billowing white smoke...
Liu Yang pulled Su Qingyao back quickly, avoiding the falling lava... He frowned as he looked at the colossal beast engulfed in flames in the sea of fire—the Flame Lion was even larger than the Ice Armor Bear from before, and the flames around it contained terrifyingly high temperatures, distorting the surrounding air. It was clearly a mid-stage Golden Core demon beast, and with the added strength of the sea of fire, its power was probably approaching the late-stage Golden Core...
"Master, this Flame Lion is too powerful. Should we retreat and reconsider?" Su Qingyao's face was pale, and her voice trembled slightly... She could clearly feel the terrifying pressure emanating from the Flame Lion, a power that terrified her from the depths of her soul. With her late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, she couldn't even get close...
Liu Yang shook his head, his eyes resolute: "If we retreat now, all our previous efforts will be wasted... Besides, this Flame Lion is an unavoidable obstacle on our way to the central stone platform..." He took a deep breath, and the Yin-Yang Sword in his hand emitted a faint blue light. Extreme ice-type spiritual power condensed on the blade, creating a stark contrast with the surrounding high temperature. "You support me with ice-type spells from the side, trying to restrain its movements. I'll take the lead in the attack..."
Su Qingyao knew Liu Yang was right, so she could only nod reluctantly, "Yes, Master, I will do my best..."
Without another word, Liu Yang lightly touched the ground with his toes and charged towards the Flame Lion like an arrow released from a bow... The Yin-Yang Sword in his hand, carrying a chilling aura, drew a blue arc and slashed towards the Flame Lion's head... This sword strike concentrated all of his ice-type spiritual power; if it hit, even if it couldn't kill the Flame Lion, it would at least severely injure it...
The Flame Lion sensed the danger, a hint of disdain flashing in its eyes. It suddenly opened its massive jaws, unleashing a torrent of scorching flame that shot towards Liu Yang like a fire dragon... The flames were incredibly hot; wherever they passed, the air crackled and popped...
Liu Yang's expression changed, and he quickly adjusted his sword stance, unleashing his ice-type spiritual power to its maximum. The blue light on the blade surged, colliding with the fire dragon...
"boom!"
The collision of ice and fire produced a massive explosion, and a powerful shockwave spread outwards. The lava in the sea of fire was shaken, creating huge waves, and rocks fell from the top of the cave... Liu Yang was thrown back several steps by the shockwave, his arm numb and his hand throbbing... The Flame Lion was also thrown back by the shockwave, its flames dimming, clearly having suffered a significant impact as well...
"Such immense power!" Liu Yang exclaimed inwardly... This Flame Lion's strength far exceeded his expectations. It seemed that to defeat it, he would have to resort to even more powerful methods...
Just then, Su Qingyao seized the opportunity, formed a hand seal, and silently chanted the incantation: "Freeze ten thousand miles!"
As she finished speaking, a dense surge of ice-elemental spiritual energy erupted from her body, sweeping towards the Flame Lion... Wherever it passed, the temperature in the air plummeted, and even part of the magma in the sea of fire froze, forming a thin layer of ice... The Flame Lion's limbs were suddenly trapped by the ice, and its movements became instantly sluggish...
"Master, I've trapped it! Quickly!" Su Qingyao shouted, her face filled with anxiety... Her cultivation was far inferior to the Flame Lion's. Although the "Frozen Ten Thousand Miles" spell had temporarily trapped the Flame Lion, it had also consumed a large amount of her spiritual power, and it could only be maintained for a few breaths at most. Once the Flame Lion broke free, the consequences would be unimaginable...
A glint of light flashed in Liu Yang's eyes. Seizing this rare opportunity, he charged towards the Flame Lion once more... He activated the "Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Technique," simultaneously channeling both ice and fire elemental energies into the Yin-Yang Sword. Instantly, two beams of light, one blue and one red, shone on the blade. The two extreme energies swirled and intertwined on the blade, forming a strange balance and emanating a terrifying aura...
"Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Slash!"
Liu Yang roared, his Yin-Yang Sword, imbued with the dual power of ice and fire elemental energies, slashing towards the Flame Lion's neck... This was the strongest move he could currently unleash, a fusion of the essence of ice and fire elemental energies, its power far exceeding that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator's attack...
The Flame Lion sensed the deadly danger, a flicker of fear in its eyes. It struggled desperately, trying to break free of the ice's restraints... However, although Su Qingyao's magic was on the verge of collapse, it still firmly bound its limbs at this final moment... The Flame Lion could only watch helplessly as the Yin-Yang Sword slashed towards its neck...
"Pfft!"
The sharp blade sliced through the Flame Lion's neck as easily as cutting tofu, scalding blood gushing out and sizzling as it fell into the sea of fire... The Flame Lion let out a mournful roar, its massive body crashing to the ground, the flames gradually dying down, and the fire-elemental spiritual power within it dissipating into the air...
After defeating the Flame Lion, Liu Yang and Su Qingyao both breathed a sigh of relief, collapsing to the ground, panting heavily... The battle had been too intense, consuming a great deal of their spiritual energy, especially Su Qingyao, who was practically exhausted...
"Master, we...we finally succeeded!" Su Qingyao's face was filled with the joy of surviving a calamity. Although her body was exhausted, her eyes shone with excitement... She never imagined that she and Liu Yang could defeat such a powerful fire lion together...
Liu Yang nodded, took out two "Rejuvenation Pills" from his storage bag, and handed one to Su Qingyao: "Take this pill first to recover your spiritual power... Next, we need to go to the central stone platform. I wonder what dangers await us there..."
Su Qingyao took the pill and quickly swallowed it... The pill melted instantly in her mouth, and a gentle spiritual energy spread throughout her body, rapidly replenishing the spiritual energy she had previously consumed... She looked at Liu Yang gratefully and said, "Thank you, Master... With you here, we can overcome any danger we encounter..."
Liu Yang smiled slightly, remaining silent, and began to close his eyes to regulate his breathing and recover his depleted spiritual energy... He knew that the journey ahead would likely be even more difficult. As the core area of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison, the central stone platform would undoubtedly be protected by even stronger forces. He needed to recover to his peak condition as soon as possible to face the challenges ahead...
Half an hour later, both of them had recovered to their peak condition... Liu Yang stood up, looked in the direction of the central stone platform, and said, "Let's go, let's see what secrets are hidden on that central stone platform..."
Su Qingyao nodded and followed closely behind... The two passed through the sea of fire and headed towards the central stone platform... The central stone platform was located in the very center of the cave, suspended above a huge fissure. Ancient runes were carved all over the platform, and a faint power of ice and fire flowed between the runes, emanating a mysterious and powerful aura...
Just as the two were about to approach the central stone platform, a powerful suction force suddenly emanated from the crack. At the same time, the runes on the platform lit up, and an invisible barrier instantly formed, blocking their path...
"This is... an array?" Liu Yang frowned slightly, carefully observing the runes on the stone platform... These runes were unlike any array he had ever seen before, containing a rich concentration of ice and fire yin-yang energy, clearly indicating that it was an array centered around the energy of ice and fire...
Su Qingyao also came closer, carefully examining the runes. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she said, "Master, I think I've seen similar runes in the Su family's ancient books! This is an ancient 'Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Array.' To pass through this barrier, one must simultaneously inject both ice and fire elemental power, and the strength of the two powers must be exactly equal; otherwise, the array will backfire..."
A flicker of surprise crossed Liu Yang's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure: "I see... It seems that to ascend the central stone platform, we still need to pass the test of this formation..." He looked at Su Qingyao and said, "How much ice-elemental spiritual power can you mobilize? We need to simultaneously inject equal amounts of ice and fire-elemental spiritual power to break this formation..."
Su Qingyao pondered for a moment and said, "At most, I can mobilize ice-type spiritual power at the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage... Master, can you mobilize your fire-type spiritual power to an equivalent intensity?"
Liu Yang nodded: "No problem... Although my cultivation has reached the early stage of the Golden Core realm, controlling the intensity of spiritual energy is not difficult for me..." He took a deep breath, adjusted the intensity of his fire-type spiritual energy to the same level as Su Qingyao's ice-type spiritual energy, and then said to Su Qingyao: "Ready? Let's inject our spiritual energy at the same time..."
Su Qingyao nodded, her hands forming a hand seal. A surge of rich ice-elemental spiritual energy erupted from her body, shooting towards the runes on the stone platform... At the same time, Liu Yang also channeled an equal amount of fire-elemental spiritual energy into the runes...
Two kinds of spiritual energy were simultaneously injected into the runes, and the runes on the stone platform immediately lit up, with blue and red lights flashing alternately, forming a strange rhythm... The light on the barrier gradually dimmed, clearly, the formation was being broken...
However, just as the barrier was about to disappear, the runes on the stone platform suddenly erupted with a bright light, and a powerful backlash struck the two of them... Liu Yang and Su Qingyao's expressions changed, and they quickly circulated their spiritual energy to resist...
"What's going on? Why is there a backlash?" Su Qingyao was full of doubt. She had clearly followed the instructions in the ancient book and simultaneously injected equal amounts of ice and fire elemental energy with Liu Yang. Logically, they should have been able to break the formation smoothly...
Liu Yang frowned, carefully examining the runes on the stone platform. Suddenly, he realized the problem: "No, this formation not only requires the ice and fire elemental energies to be of equal strength, but also that their frequencies be completely identical... Although we injected equal strength of spiritual energy just now, the frequencies were different, which is why it triggered the backlash..."
Su Qingyao suddenly realized, her face full of guilt: "I'm sorry, Master, it was my oversight. I didn't see this in the ancient books..."
Liu Yang shook his head: "It's not your fault. After all, the records in ancient books may not be complete... Now that we know the problem, let's try again... This time, keep your spiritual energy frequency in sync with mine, and I will guide you..."
Su Qingyao nodded and circulated her ice-elemental spiritual power again... Liu Yang adjusted the frequency of his fire-elemental spiritual power to match Su Qingyao's ice-elemental spiritual power, then said to her, "Ready? Let's begin..."
As Liu Yang finished speaking, the two once again channeled their ice and fire elemental energies into the runes on the stone platform... This time, the intensity and frequency of the two energies were perfectly synchronized, and the runes on the stone platform did not experience any backlash. The light on the barrier gradually dissipated and eventually disappeared completely...
"We did it!" Su Qingyao's face was full of joy, and she couldn't help but cheer...
Liu Yang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Alright, let's go up to the central stone platform and take a look..."
The two stepped onto the central stone platform, and the runes on it lit up once more, enveloping them in a soft light... Then, the platform began to slowly rise, flying deeper into the rift... The depths of the rift were pitch black, with only faint blue and red lights visible, emanating a mysterious and powerful aura...
The stone platform descended for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before finally stopping... The two jumped off the platform, and the sight before them stunned them instantly—
Before them lay a vast space, in the very center of which floated a gigantic bead. The bead was translucent, its interior flowing with blue and red liquids—the very source of the power of ice and fire... Scattered around the bead were numerous top-grade spirit stones and magical treasures, as well as ancient cultivation manuals, all radiating a rich spiritual energy, clearly indicating a vast treasure trove...
"This...this is the core treasure of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Prison?" Su Qingyao's eyes were filled with shock. She had never seen so many top-grade spirit stones and magical treasures. Just standing here, she could feel the rich spiritual energy, which even made her cultivation slightly weaken...
A flicker of excitement crossed Liu Yang's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure... He knew that although this place appeared to be a treasure trove, it undoubtedly concealed greater dangers. Moreover, the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Pearl was clearly the core of this place; the other spirit stones and magical artifacts were merely byproducts...
Just then, a powerful aura suddenly emanated from all around the space, and countless streams of fire-elemental spiritual energy rushed towards the two of them... Liu Yang and Su Qingyao's expressions changed, and they quickly prepared for battle...
"It seems the real test has only just begun..." Liu Yang gripped the Yin-Yang Sword tightly, a glint of fighting spirit flashing in his eyes... He knew that to obtain the treasures and inheritance here, he had to pass this final test...
