The suffocating scent of sulfur and burning marrow choked the narrow obsidian tunnel. Deep within the eastern bifurcation of Level 2, the volcanic walls bled rivers of glowing, liquid iron that pooled around a shattered sealing altar.
"Senior Brother Huo, my Qi shield is breaking! We can't hold it off!"
A terrifying screech echoed through the subterranean chamber as a massive, twenty-foot-tall arthropod burst through the molten pool. Its carapace was composed of jagged, black volcanic glass, vein-mapped with pulsing crimson magma. Twin massive pincer-claws slammed down on the stone, sending a shockwave of thermal force through the cavern.
It was a Peak Foundation-Stage Lava-Spite Scorpion, an ancient elemental beast that fed exclusively on heat and fire Qi.
Huo Tian, the elite inner disciple of the Sun-Refining Peak, stood on scorched knees with his face dripping with soot and sweat. His hands burned red-hot as he desperately channeled his sect's signature Sun-Refining Flame Art, hurling pillars of blinding yellow fire at the monster's face.
BOOM!
Instead of incinerating the beast, the Lava-Spite Scorpion opened its cavernous, tooth-lined maw and drank the Sun-Refining flames like fine wine! Its crimson veins flared blindingly, its body swelling in size as its aura spiked even higher into the Peak Foundation stage.
"It... it's absorbing my fire?!" Huo Tian paled in absolute horror.
A massive, sting-tipped tail whipped through the scalding steam like a lightning bolt.
CRACK!
The tail struck Huo Tian's defensive treasure, a bronze sun-mirror, shattering it into molten fragments. The force sent Huo Tian crashing back against the obsidian wall, coughing up a mouthful of burning, scorched blood. Beside him, his two Sun-Refining Peak lackeys were pinned under falling volcanic debris, their protective Qi barriers splintering into useless sparks.
"H-Help..." one of the lackeys whimpered, his legs trapped under glowing basalt as the scorpion raised its massive pincer directly above his head. "Senior Brother... save us..."
Huo Tian tried to circulate his dantian, but the elemental backlash had violently inflamed his meridians. He was completely crippled.
I'm going to die here... Huo Tian thought, his heart sinking into a void of pure despair. All my talent, my future as an elite elder... erased in a lava pit...
TAP, TAP, TAP
Light, unhurried footsteps echoed through the roaring heat.
From the dark, shadowed entrance of the corridor, a slender figure in dark charcoal robes emerged into the crimson light. Gu Chen walked smoothly over the glowing embers, his hands tucked casually inside his wide, dark sleeves, his expression as unbothered as if he were taking a morning stroll through a quiet garden.
Huo Tian’s bloodshot eyes widened in shock. Recognizing the face, his expression instantly twisted into familiar disdain despite his agony.
"You again?!" Huo Tian spat, coughing up blood. "You useless Qi Refining trash... what are you doing here?! Get out of the way before you get incinerated!"
Gu Chen didn't bother replying to the useless shouting. He paused three paces away, his hollow dark-violet eyes sweeping clinically over the scene.
Right on cue, a translucent blue interface flashed cleanly before his vision:
[DING!]
[QUEST DETECTED: Disciples in Dire Peril!]
[Objective: Save Senior Disciple Huo Tian and 2 Sun-Refining Peak Disciples from imminent incineration!]
[Reward: 3x Acts of Salvation Recorded + 1x Mid-Grade Qi-Pill !]
[System Comment: "True heroism shines brightest in the deepest hells, Host! Save your fellow sect brothers!"]
A faint, dark smirk played at the corner of Gu Chen’s lips.
Three salvation points delivered on a silver platter, he noted mentally. Efficiency at its finest.
The Lava-Spite Scorpion detected the new arrival and whirled around with a deafening, metallic screech. Its massive magma-coated tail whipped downward at blinding speed, aimed straight at Gu Chen’s head to crush the 9th-Stage Qi Refiner into a bloody paste.
Huo Tian sneered through his bloodied teeth, eagerly waiting for the trash to get squashed. "Foolish trash... go die in my place!"
Gu Chen didn't even draw a blade. He simply took his right hand out of his wide sleeve and thrust a pale index finger forward into the thermal gale.
SWIRL!
A thread of pitch-black, liquid Abyssal Qi erupted from his fingertip, expanding into a dark, swirling vortex in front of him.
The moment the scorpion's molten sting touched the Abyssal Qi, the laws of thermodynamics were forcefully inverted. The Abyssal Qi didn't clash with the heat, it mercilessly devoured it. The subterranean dragon-fire, the magma veins, and the beast's internal elemental energy were siphoned into Gu Chen's vortex like water down a drain.
The scorpion let out a muffled, horrified screech as its glowing red veins instantly died out, turning ash-gray.
FREEZE!
In less than three breaths, the immense, twenty-foot-tall monster was completely drained of its thermal energy. Its molten glass carapace turned brittle, calcified, and pitch-black.
Gu Chen casually flicked his finger.
BANG!
The Peak Foundation Lava-Spite Scorpion shattered into tens of thousands of harmless, powdery black cinders, scattering across the basalt floor like rain.
Silence fell over the cavern, broken only by the bubbling of the distant magma rivers.
Huo Tian and his two lackeys sat frozen on the ground, their mouths wide open, their eyes bulging as if they had just witnessed a mortal punch through the heavens.
"Y-You... How...?" Huo Tian stammered, his smirk freezing into a expression of pure, unadulterated mind-break. "A single finger...? A Peak Foundation beast...?"
Before Huo Tian could wrap his head around the absurdity, the System interface chimed with vibrant blue light:
[DING!]
[QUEST COMPLETE! Successfully saved 3 fellow disciples from certain death!]
[Acts of Salvation Recorded: 6/10!]
[Virtuous Reward Issued: 1x Mid-Grade Qi-Pill transferred to Spatial Storage!]
Gu Chen dismissed the notification with a dark, satisfied glint in his violet eyes.
Six points down. Four more until the Inter-Dimensional World Traverse Protocol unlocks.
Tucking his hand back into his wide sleeve, Gu Chen turned around and looked down at the three bleeding Sun-Refining Peak disciples. His face was deadpan, his eyes hollow and utterly devoid of warmth.
Huo Tian swallowed hard, forcing a tight, awkward laugh as he tried to push himself up against the rock wall. "G-Good... Good work, Junior! I didn't know you hid such a strange secret technique! When we return to the Sun-Moon Sect, I will make sure the Sun-Refining Peak rewards you with a few hundred low-grade spiritual stones for saving—"
Gu Chen looked down at the three bleeding disciples with hollow, deadpan eyes. Inwardly, he communicated with the interface:
‘System, if I take their spatial rings as a fair transaction for saving their useless lives, will it deduct from my Salvation Points?’
[DING!]
[System Notification: Host! True virtue is selfless and expects no material compensation! Extorting or taking spatial rings from saved victims violates the Spirit of Benevolence and will result in a deduction of 2 Salvation Points!]
[System Comment: "Please refrain from extortion, Host! Continue walking the bright path of righteousness!"]
‘Tsk. Figures,’ Gu Chen thought indifferently. He had no intention of setting his progress back over a few low-tier spatial rings.
Waving his hand casually, Gu Chen looked down at Huo Tian with complete disdain. "Save your spirit stones. Get out of my sight and screw off."
Huo Tian’s face flushed red with intense humiliation. To be rescued by someone he considered worthless trash was bad enough, but to be spoken to like a dog in front of his junior brothers broke his fragile pride.
"How dare you?!" Huo Tian snarled, his teeth grinding together as he glared up at Gu Chen with bloodshot eyes. "You think having one strange technique gives you the right to talk to an elite inner disciple like that?! Once we return, if I report your disrespect and unauthorized techniques to the elders, it won't be good for you!"
Gu Chen stopped in his tracks, turning his head slightly. His dark violet eyes glinted with a chilling, sinister light, and a faint, dark chuckle escaped his lips.
"Oh? You're threatening me after I saved you?" Gu Chen said softly, his voice dropping into a freezing, clinical whisper. "A foolish creature indeed. Well... that's why I don't walk the path of righteousness. Ahaha, fine."
He stepped closer, a faint thread of pitch-black Abyssal Qi dancing across his fingertips as his shadow completely swallowed Huo Tian's trembling form.
"But do you know, young one? The dead do not speak. I will spare you this time... now screw off."
The sheer, suffocating intent radiating from Gu Chen caused Huo Tian and his lackeys to freeze in absolute terror, their breath hitching as if a primordial demon were standing over them.
Right on cue, the translucent blue interface chimed before Gu Chen’s vision:
[DING!]
[System Warning: Host is advised to refrain from threatening saved targets! However... after analyzing target "Huo Tian," the System has classified his behavior as ungrateful and hostile. Threat neutralized under Self-Defense Protocol.]
[System Comment: "Honestly, Host, that Sun-Refining Peak guy is an ungrateful jerk! The System doesn't like him at all!"]
Gu Chen raised an eyebrow in mild amusement, a dark smirk touching his lips.
‘Huh. So you can have preferences?’
[System Comment: "The System stands for cosmic justice, Host! Jerks who threaten their saviors do not deserve the light!"]
Dismissing the interface, Gu Chen paid no further attention to Huo Tian and his lackeys, who were frantically scrambling backward in the dirt to get away from him.
Shifting his focus back to his main objective, Gu Chen stepped down the dark obsidian path leading straight toward the heart of Level 2.
"Now then..." Gu Chen murmured, his voice echoing quietly into the glowing subterranean depths. "Time to collect the Asura Blood-Spite Sword."