Chapter 154: A Bountiful Harvest! The Ancient Crimson Flame Ruins!

"Let’s end this!" Victor roared as he leaped into the air, the pale golden light surrounding the Crimson Flame Fang abruptly intensifying!

At the same time, the enormous crystal embedded in the Crimson Crystal Lava Giant’s chest began flashing frantically!

A surge of fire-element energy erupted from its chest and gathered along its remaining arm, forming an even larger crimson magma fist in the blink of an eye!

BOOM!

The enormous fist hurtled toward him! Its terrifying power sent a sharp, piercing whistle through the surrounding air!

Victor watched the approaching fist without retreating. More than eight seconds had passed since his first Shadow Blink. Now, with only a few yards separating him from the giant’s chest, he was close enough.

Just as the attack was about to land, his figure flickered. Using Shadow Blink to cross the remaining gap, he appeared directly in front of the lava giant’s chest and slashed forward viciously.

Hiss!

A streak of pale golden sword light swept across the giant’s chest!

The previously indestructible stone shell rapidly softened under the intense heat of the Earth Vein Golden Flame!

CRACK!

An enormous fracture spread across the giant’s chest in every direction!

"ROOOAR!"

With one final enraged roar, the stone covering the lava giant’s chest completely shattered, sending crimson fire-element energy surging from the opening!

Victor reacted quickly, drawing back the golden flames surrounding his sword to prevent them from damaging the precious core.

He reached forward, grabbed the now-loosened crystal, and yanked it outward!

CRACK!

A fist-sized crimson core was forcibly extracted from the giant’s chest!

RUMBLE!

Without its core, the lava giant could no longer sustain its enormous body.

Its pitch-black stone structure began to fracture, and within a few seconds, the towering figure standing over ten meters tall collapsed!

BOOM!

Countless chunks of broken stone crashed into the magma lake, sending towering waves surging upward!

Using the collapsing chunks of stone as footholds, Victor quickly descended toward the lakeshore.

He held the Crimson Flame Fang in one hand and supported the glowing crimson core with the other.

Behind him, the enormous wave of magma crashed back down, scattering sparks into the air along with scorching gusts.

As brilliant crimson light illuminated the entire underground cavern, a satisfying notification sounded in Victor’s head.

[Ding!]

[High Purity Fire Element Core detected!]

[Quality: Rare!]

[Contains highly condensed fire-element energy. Can be used to enhance fire-attribute talents.]

This was his second High Purity Fire Element Core!

Now, he was only one core away from evolving his High Level Fire Element Affinity into Top Level Fire Element Affinity!

He examined the core in his hand, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

Although the Level 42 lava giant possessed incredible strength, it had been perfectly countered by the Earth Vein Golden Flame.

Had it been another Second Tier magical beast, the battle might not have ended nearly so smoothly.

Regardless, his reward was already secured.

Victor placed the second High Purity Fire Element Core into his storage ring.

Apart from the core, the Earth Vein Golden Flame’sperformance in actual combat had also left him impressed

Once he became completely familiar with it and combined it with the Heaven Burning Sword Art after reaching the Perfection stage, his combat strength would probably undergo another tremendous increase!

The thought made him even more eager to see what he could achieve with it.

With the Crimson Crystal Lava Giant dead, the magma lake gradually settled, revealing a large cluster of crimson crystals beneath the spot where the giant had been standing.

Victor approached to examine them. These crystals were clearly superior in quality to those he had previously discovered on the cavern walls.

Several even had a translucent reddish-golden appearance, with intricate fire-attribute patterns visible inside.

"There’s more?" Victor’s eyes lit up.

He swung the Crimson Flame Fang and extracted one of the crystals.

A panel of information soon appeared before him.

[Crimson Flame Crystal Essence]

[Quality: Epic]

[Formed through the long-term condensation of highly concentrated fire elements. Contains pure fire-attribute energy and can be used as a precious magical material.]

Victor’s smile widened. He hadn’t expected such precious materials to have formed near the lava giant’s territory.

Unlike ordinary Crimson Flame Crystals, this crystal essence contained more stable fire-attribute energy and was easier to preserve.

If he brought it back to the academy, not only could it be sold for a high price, but it might also be useful for certain special mana experiments.

For example... Leah.

Victor recalled his plan to verify whether a special profession like the Astral Spirit Envoy could utilize resources of other attributes.

Although Crimson Flame Crystal Essence wasn’t specifically intended for Astral Spirit Envoys, its pure fire-element energy made it worth bringing some back for her to try.

Even if she ultimately couldn’t absorb it directly, they would at least obtain a definite answer.

That was better than doing nothing.

With that thought, Victor wasted no more time.

He collected the nearby pieces of higher-quality Crimson Flame Crystal Essence, along with several other fire-attribute minerals.

Only after confirming that the remaining materials held little value did he finally stop, satisfied with his harvest.

"I’ve really made a fortune on this trip."

Victor glanced at the treasures inside his storage ring.

Two High Purity Fire Element Cores.

Several pieces of Epic-quality Crimson Flame Crystal Essence.

And a considerable quantity of Fine-quality Crimson Flame Crystals.

He had been inside the Inferno Prison Secret Realm for less than a day, yet his harvest had already exceeded his expectations!

If the professionals outside, who were practically fighting over a few ordinary fire crystals, learned about his gains, there was no telling how jealous they would become.

Still, Victor had no intention of stopping here. His exploration of the Inferno Prison Secret Realm had only just begun, and perhaps even more unexpected treasures were hidden in its deeper regions.

He sheathed his sword and continued along the edge of the magma lake.

Before long, he discovered a natural passage extending upward on the other side of the cavern.

Unlike the rocky passage through which he had entered, this one was noticeably wider, with traces of ancient artificial excavation still visible along its walls.

Victor approached one section of the wall for a closer examination.

Several runes had been carved into the stone, though they were now so worn that they were almost impossible to distinguish.

Someone had clearly visited this place before, and judging by the extent of the erosion, a considerable amount of time must have passed.

"Could there have been people living or operating here in the past?"

The discovery surprised Victor, but he did not spend much time studying the damaged runes. A few indistinct markings alone couldn’t reveal anything particularly valuable.

He continued following the passage upward.

After roughly fifteen minutes, a bright glow of fire appeared ahead.

Victor quickened his pace and emerged from the underground passage.

However, the moment he returned to the outside world, the sight before him brought him to an abrupt halt.

In the distance, an incomparably enormous volcano stood beneath the crimson sky.

It was far larger than any he had previously encountered. Rivers of lava crisscrossed its slopes, while a layer of dark-red clouds enveloped the area above its crater.

Surrounding the volcano were several enormous black stone structures!

Although many of the buildings had already collapsed, massive stone pillars and ancient walls still stood among the ruins.

The structures extended all the way up the mountainside, eventually disappearing into the dense mist near the volcanic crater.

Victor studied the scene with growing interest.

"There’s actually a place like this inside the Inferno Prison Secret Realm?"

He took out his map and quickly discovered that his current location was already close to the edge of the middle region marked on it.

As for the enormous volcanic ruins before him, only a simple marker identified them.

[Deep Region — Ancient Crimson Flame Ruins]

[Danger Level: Extremely High]

[Warning: Contains large numbers of high-level Second Tier fire-attribute lifeforms. Explorers who have not made sufficient preparations are advised against entering.]

Victor raised his head after reading the description.

By unintentionally traveling through the underground passage, he appeared to have bypassed a considerable stretch of dangerous territory.

The volcanic ruins ahead were clearly one of the places truly worth exploring within the Inferno Prison Secret Realm.

While he was observing the distant buildings, the Earth Vein Golden Flame within his body flickered unexpectedly.

Deep within the enormous volcano, he could sense an extraordinarily concentrated fire-attribute power that appeared to be continuously gathering in some unusual manner.

He couldn’t determine exactly what it was yet, but anything capable of triggering a reaction from the Earth Vein Golden Flame he had recently absorbed was clearly no ordinary treasure.

Victor tightened his grip on the map, an excited smile spreading across his face.

"Looks like the really good stuff is still waiting ahead."

He placed the map back into his storage ring and focused his attention on the ancient volcano.

Since he had already come this far, there was no reason to turn back now.

Still, he wasn’t foolish enough to believe that defeating a Level 42 elemental lifeform meant he could roam the entire secret realm without fear.

The Ancient Crimson Flame Ruins had been marked as an extremely dangerous region, so there were undoubtedly even more troublesome enemies lurking within.

But so what?

He had entered the Inferno Prison Secret Realm precisely to become stronger!

With that thought, he set off toward the ancient ruins hidden at the foot of the distant volcano.

Meanwhile, as Victor approached the ruins, a low tremor rose from deep underground, within an ancient black stone temple.

RUMBLE!

At the center of the temple, an enormous kneeling stone statue began emitting a faint crimson light from its chest.

CRACK!

A sharp crack echoed through the chamber as a fissure appeared across the black stone shell covering the statue.

The next moment, a pair of eyes burning with dark-red flames slowly opened!

Throughout the temple, ancient runes that had long since gone dark lit up one after another as though some existence that had slumbered for countless years had finally awakened once more.