Chapter 37

Three days later.

It was morning, and after having breakfast, Song Li was about to head to the alchemy room to refine a new medicine he had just become familiar with when a sharp cry suddenly came from outside the door: "Boss, are you there? It's Ding Si."

"Who is it, shouting so loudly at the entrance of the Duke's mansion?" Old steward Fu Bo opened the door, and a sturdy, honest-looking young man rushed in hurriedly. The old steward followed behind, shouting and scolding him for barging into the Duke's mansion.

"Uncle Fu, never mind, he's here to see me," Song Li said with a smile to the old steward.

"Yes, young master." Uncle Fu respectfully stepped back.

"Ding Si, why are you here? Where's Pang Da?" Song Li asked with a smile, his hands clasped behind his back. Ding Si was a small follower under Pang Da and also one of the more core members of the Justice Alliance. Pang Da had once introduced him to Song Li, the leader, so Song Li knew him.

"Boss, something terrible has happened. Second Brother was kidnapped last night by several mysterious black-clothed men. We inquired all night and finally found out his whereabouts. They say he's hidden in the Langya Cave, and his condition is unknown." Ding Si was almost in tears. In the Justice Alliance, Song Li was the undisputed leader and spiritual leader, while Pang Da was the second-in-command, so everyone called him Second Brother. Ding Si, who had spent a lot of time with Pang Da, had deep feelings for him, so he was the most anxious when Pang Da was kidnapped.

"What? Pang Da was kidnapped?" Song Li was also shocked and quickly asked, "Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Ding Si recounted the events. Last night, they received word that a few rich brats were bullying a vendor at the West Street corner. Due to the Justice Alliance's crackdown, the rich brats had been more restrained recently, leading to a significant reduction in their "business." They were bored and restless. When they heard that someone was causing trouble at the West Street corner, the brothers were like beggars who hadn't eaten for days seeing a whole roasted sheep, and they rushed over in a frenzy.

On the way, a group of masked black-clothed men suddenly jumped out from a side alley and started beating them without any warning. The leader was very strong, and Pang Da was no match for him. After a few moves, Pang Da was captured. Before the brothers could react, the black-clothed men had already put Pang Da in a sack and fled, disappearing in an instant.

Ding Si and the brothers went crazy trying to find out what happened. Finally, they heard a rumor from a bartender that Pang Da was hidden in the Langya Cave. Upon hearing this news, Ding Si came to report it early in the morning.

From Ding Si's account, Song Li clearly sensed a hint of conspiracy. The black-clothed men were clearly targeting someone, spreading the rumor that there was trouble at the West Street corner, and then setting an ambush on the way to the West Street corner. Their main goal was to kidnap Pang Da.

The news that Pang Da was hidden in the Langya Cave also seemed to be deliberately leaked, with the clear intention of letting Song Li know.

In a flash, Song Li realized that someone was trying to target him, using Pang Da as bait. He had been making a lot of enemies recently, and it was hard to determine who exactly was behind this. It could be someone he had disciplined or their backers.

Since they had leaked the information that Pang Da was in the Langya Cave, Song Li was almost certain that there was a trap in the Langya Cave, and the people were using Pang Da as bait to lure him there.

This plan was not particularly clever, and Song Li saw through it easily. However, the cunning part was that even though he knew it was a trap, he still had to go.

The other side had bet correctly that Song Li would not abandon his childhood friend. In fact, they were right. Song Li could not abandon Pang Da.

Pang Da meant more to him than just a follower. They were friends, good brothers who had grown up together. They had both been considered cultivation failures and mocked by people in the capital. They had also co-founded the Justice Alliance to oppose the rich brats. After Song Li's reincarnation, Pang Da was the first good friend he made on this continent, and he was loyal to him. So, both emotionally and logically, Song Li had to go and save him.

Since his cultivation realm had greatly improved, Song Li felt quite confident. Even knowing there was a trap, he was not particularly afraid. He carried two bottles of "Three Transmutation Reversion Pills" on him. If he encountered a powerful opponent, taking these pills would activate part of the energy of the Imperial Fire Seed, helping him enhance his combat power. As long as the opponent wasn't too high-level, he was confident he could handle it.

Ding Si wanted to lead his brothers to follow him, but Song Li refused. In a real fight, these people would not be much help and would only distract him. For such a mission, it was better to go light and alone rather than have everyone rush in like headless flies.

After preparing, Song Li got into the Duke's mansion carriage and headed towards the Langya Mountain.

The Langya Mountain was only fifty miles from the Holy Lion City. The carriage raced along the official road and arrived at the Langya Town in less than an hour.

The town was as bustling and lively as ever, with vendors' cries and tourists' haggling filling the air. Song Li stopped the carriage in front of an inn and entrusted them to take care of the horses. Then he followed the steps up the mountain.

With his peak Body Refinement cultivation, Song Li's stamina was far superior to that of ordinary people, and his agility was also very high. Therefore, he climbed the mountain very quickly. The Langya Mountain was not a very high peak, and in less than half an hour, Song Li reached the top and arrived at the entrance of the Langya Cave.

The Langya Cave was an underground cave with an upward opening, known for its stalactites and beautifully shaped rocks, making it the most famous attraction of the Langya Mountain. The steps leading from the entrance to the bottom of the cave were man-made. Song Li followed the steps down, and although there were many tourists climbing the mountain, there was not a single person in the Langya Cave, which made Song Li feel very strange.

However, he soon figured it out. The people who wanted to target him must have used some method to prevent others from entering the Langya Cave, allowing only him to come in.

He was now quite curious about what these people planned to do to him.

What puzzled Song Li was that as he got closer to the bottom of the cave, he felt a wave of heat. The temperature increased the further he went down.

That's not right, Song Li remembered. He had visited the Langya Cave with his parents before. The bottom of the cave was always at a constant temperature, warm in winter and cool in summer, like a paradise, unaffected by the outside temperature. Why did he feel so hot this time?

When he reached the bottom of the cave, the heat became even more intense, and the rocks on the ground were scorching hot. Even through his boots, Song Li could feel the burning heat on the soles of his feet.

However, for Song Li, who had the Imperial Fire Seed inside him, this heat was merely a sensation and did not cause him any discomfort.

"Pang Da, are you here? Make a sound if you are," Song Li shouted, and his voice echoed throughout the empty Langya Cave.

Apart from his own echo, there was no other sound in the cave.

"Strange, did I guess wrong? Did they not set an ambush in the Langya Cave? Then why did they go to such lengths to lure me here?" Song Li was puzzled.

He wandered to the "Bottomless Pit" in the middle of the Langya Cave. This pit was dark and deep, and no one knew how deep it was. To prevent tourists from falling in, a railing had been built around it. Standing at the edge of the Bottomless Pit, Song Li felt that the heat was coming from inside the pit. He remembered that the Bottomless Pit used to blow out a cool, cold wind. Why did he feel so hot this time?

"Thump, thump," as he leaned over the edge of the pit and looked down, Song Li felt the small flame inside him flicker happily, as if it had sensed something familiar and was excited.

What's going on? Could there be a fire seed or something similar at the bottom of the Bottomless Pit? He had heard his mother talk about the classification of fire seeds before. The first type, the Primordial Fire, was produced by the absorption of elemental energy from the universe, forming a fire spirit. Could there be a Primordial Fire seed at the bottom of the Bottomless Pit? Otherwise, why would it be so hot? Fortunately, it was Song Li; anyone else would have been scorched to a crisp by the intense heat.

Song Li observed carefully and noticed that the color of the rocks inside the Bottomless Pit was gradually turning a deep red, and the scorching heat from the bottom of the cave was intensifying. In a short time, the temperature inside the cave began to rise sharply!

A volcano? Song Li, with his knowledge from his previous life, increasingly felt that the Bottomless Pit was like a volcanic vent. As the heat from the Bottomless Pit intensified, Song Li realized that if this was indeed a volcanic vent, it was likely about to erupt!

For a moment, Song Li's mind raced, and he finally understood why these people had gone to such lengths to lure him to the Langya Cave. Among them, there must have been someone well-versed in geography who knew that the volcano inside the Langya Cave was about to erupt. They had kidnapped Pang Da and used him as bait to lure Song Li here to his death.

In the face of the power of nature, even a Body Refinement cultivator, let alone a powerful Yuan Ying cultivator, would not dare to face it head-on and would only run for their lives.

What profound knowledge and what a vicious plan!

Song Li had lived in the capital for so long and had never heard that the Langya Mountain was an active volcano, let alone when it would erupt.

Song Li felt the "Imperial Fire Seed" inside him becoming increasingly active, as if it had encountered an old friend. It frequently sent him signals, making him, the host, understand that this was a place it liked, and there was something it liked at the bottom of the Bottomless Pit.

If it were the old Song Li, he would have fled for his life at the sight of an impending volcanic eruption, running as fast as he could! But with the Fire God Zhurong's inheritance in the Imperial Fire Seed, Song Li was not afraid of fire; instead, he felt a sense of familiarity. The information from the small flame inside him seemed to say, "Don't worry, don't be afraid, nothing here can harm you," making him even more confident.

The heat inside the Bottomless Pit continued to rise, and Song Li could already hear the sound of magma surging from the ground... A moment later, with a loud "boom," a huge flame erupted from the Bottomless Pit. The flame was a deep red, shooting up to the sky, and the strange rocks and stalactites inside the cave melted away instantly, leaving no trace.

The scorching heat that could melt rocks did not harm Song Li at all. He could feel the intense heat, but to him, it was like a gentle breeze, not causing any pain but rather a sense of comfort.