Chapter 1004: 6th Layer

"Oh? You're heading to the Fire Domain? What a coincidence! This old one was just about to retrieve my good-for-nothing nephew from that fiery realm."

"However, the battlefront is under heavy pressure. Could you deliver this message for me?"

The Giant Spirit Race powerhouse didn't make things difficult for Li Qing. With the war at a critical juncture, the human race had been providing substantial reinforcement to the Giant Spirit Race.

After entrusting the message to Li Qing, the giant departed swiftly, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Left standing alone, Li Qing's lips twitched slightly, startled by the giant's abrupt departure.

"Wait... I still don't know this senior's name, or which of his nephews he was referring to!"

Li Qing stared blankly into the distance, but no one could answer his questions.

An old monster in the body integration realm could traverse a thousand li in a single thought. No matter how astonishing Li Qing's escape speed was, he couldn't possibly catch up.

With no other choice, he continued his flight toward the Fire Domain.

After more than ten days of continuous travel, a vast desert stretched before Li Qing's eyes.

The surrounding air temperature rose sharply. Sensing the intense heat, he knew he had arrived at the Fire Domain.

"The environment here is truly extreme," Li Qing murmured to himself. "Not a single blade of grass grows. At least I don't have to worry about encountering any Tree Demon Clan members."

He slowly descended from the sky.

The Fire Domain was vast. The endless desert stretching before him was merely its outermost fringe.

Deeper within, the terrain sloped downward until magma and lava covered the surroundings, marking the true entrance to the Fire Domain.

This desert wasn't entirely devoid of life. Occasionally, earthfire lizard darted through the sand.

Here, caution was paramount. The desert might harbor other powerful demon beasts.

Boom!

As Li Qing landed, a sandstorm erupted, obscuring his vision.

Without hesitation, he unleashed his powerful divine sense.

With the soul perception of a void refinement realm cultivator, Li Qing navigated the desert unimpeded, encountering no obstacles along the way.

He eventually reached the desert's center, where the terrain plunged downward into a fiery abyss. The temperature soared to unbearable extremes, creating a space forged from flames.

Vast quantities of sand had melted into magma. The moment Li Qing stepped onto the molten ground, he felt an intense, primal heat searing his soul.

Fortunately, his fire dao cultivation technique made him resistant to the scorching air.

First Layer of the Fire Domain!

The Profound Yellow True Flame spoke as soon as he entered:

"Li Qing, something's happened to the Lihuo Profound Jade!"

Upon hearing this, Li Qing immediately retrieved the Lihuo Profound Jade.

He had acquired it from a Divine Transformation stage stall owner in the city market, spending over ten thousand merit points.

The jade still carried traces of the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch's aura, but its spirituality had been completely extinguished. Even the Profound Yellow True Flame couldn't discern its true nature.

Now, the strange patterns etched into the Lihuo Profound Jade began to glow crimson, as if resonating with the swirling flames in the air.

"It's true! Could the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch have once visited the Fire Domain?"

Li Qing examined the Lihuo Profound Jade, but still couldn't uncover any hidden secrets.

The Profound Yellow True Flame pondered for a moment before suggesting, "Try channeling your true essence into the Lihuo Profound Jade. See if anything changes."

Buzz!

A strand of refined, pure true essence flowed from Li Qing's hand. The scarlet true essence entered the Lihuo Profound Jade, and almost immediately, the patterns on the jade began to glow even brighter, vibrating with a faint resonance.

"As expected! There must be many Lihuo Profound Jade pieces like this. I doubt this gem was brought here by some traveling merchant from the continent. It likely originated from within this Fire Domain itself!"

"The Heavenly Monarch once visited the Tonggu Continent! And personally entered this Fire Domain!"

The Profound Yellow True Flame spoke with great excitement, stirring Li Qing's heart with surging emotions.

In the lower realm, the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch was a figure of legendary renown. Even Li Qing had to acknowledge that this senior's power was unfathomably profound.

"I wonder what level the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch reached within this Fire Domain, and what he obtained here that led him to leave behind so many pieces of Lihuo Profound Jade inscribed with these strange patterns?" Li Qing murmured to himself. Urged on by the Profound Yellow True Flame, he began to delve deeper into this mythic Fire Domain.

This was no ordinary, benevolent place. The ground had transformed into a layer of magma, and flames periodically erupted in the air.

If the first layer was already this perilous, Li Qing shuddered to imagine what horrors awaited in the Fire Domain's depths.

The first layer posed no obstacle to Li Qing's progress, and he soon entered the second.

Here, the flames had coalesced into a miasma-like substance, completely saturating the air.

Upon entering, Li Qing was immediately scorched by flames that burned like a poisonous miasma in the air.

However, these ordinary flames posed no threat to him.

With a subtle shift of his thoughts, the flames parted to create a path, leaving him unharmed.

Soon, Li Qing smoothly reached the third layer of the Fire Domain.

Boom!

Here, the flames had turned azure, and the magma had vanished from the earth, replaced by a sea of burning blue flames.

Upon reaching the third layer, the resonance of the Lihuo Profound Jade intensified, vibrating more violently. Li Qing was now certain that traces of the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch must lie deep within the Fire Domain.

He could sense his own true essence stirring restlessly within him.

"The Fire Domain has nine layers," Li Qing sighed. "I hope the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch didn't venture too far in."

Ignoring the azure flames that could easily kill core formation cultivators, he proceeded to the fourth layer of the Fire Domain.

Here, remnants of weapon refinement fields were scattered everywhere, with charred spiritual materials carelessly discarded.

Many of the spiritual materials scattered here had long lost their spirituality, having burned for an unknown duration.

Boom!

As Li Qing stepped onto the fourth level, a wall of fire erupted before him, its scorching heat bearing down like a physical force.

His expression remained calm as he extended a single finger. The fiery barrier instantly dissipated.

The fourth level of the Fire Domain posed no challenge to him; he moved through it effortlessly, continuing his descent.

As he approached the fifth level, the Lihuo Profound Jade in his hand suddenly levitated on its own.

Whoosh!

The jade shot through the air, soaring over the fifth level's sea of fire and plunging directly into the sixth level—even deeper into the domain!

Li Qing's lips twitched slightly at this unexpected turn of events. He hadn't anticipated such a reaction from the Lihuo Profound Jade.

"It seems the Crimson Radiance Heavenly Monarch's path led at least to the sixth level," he mused.

The flames on the fifth level were already terrifying. The sea of fire below roared, and any disturbance would trigger violent eruptions of scorching flames.

Without a flame-resistant treasure, further descent would be nearly impossible.