Chapter 65 - Soul Fission and Sea of Flames

By noon the next day, Lu Hong finally trudged back from the Scars Mercenary Group’s quarters.

“Oh?

Brother Tu, you’re back!” Just as he pushed open the inn’s door, he saw Lock Fan enjoying a steaming bowl of noodles, though the color of the noodles was a somewhat strange shade of yellow.

“Yeah, been tired all day.” Lu Hong seemed to be in low spirits as he plonked himself down next to Lock Fan and curiously asked, “You still dare to eat the food from this place?”

“Why wouldn’t I dare?

Xiaoxiao didn’t poison it.” Lock Fan was gulping down the noodles in his bowl, his expression one of utter contentment.

“How can this stuff, that looks just like a lump, taste good?

You haven’t been poisoned foolish by that old ghost Tu, have you?” Lu Hong seriously wondered whether Caesar had conducted some forbidden human experimentation on his classmates after he left the inn yesterday.

“Stop talking nonsense, Boss Tu treats us really well.

You should pay him extra!” Lock Fan said earnestly, “The ingredients Boss Tu provides us with are fine products gathered from various places, eating them is beneficial to our health.”

“You’ve really gone mad.” Lu Hong shook his head, who could believe such a thing?

“Boss, if you keep this up, I’m going to get angry!” Seeing that Lu Hong still wasn’t convinced, Lock Fan moved to stuff the noodles from his own bowl into Lu Hong’s mouth.

“What are you doing?

Trying to usurp my place?” Lu Hong quickly retreated, avoiding the food that almost reached his mouth.

“If he doesn’t want to eat, leave him be, some people just don’t know how to enjoy life.” At that moment, Lai Li walked out from a side door, carrying a bowl of blue noodles in her hands.

“Alright, I’ll listen to you.” Lock Fan hurried over to take over the bowl of noodles and said, “Xiaoxiao, you’ve really worked hard, take a seat and rest.”

“Okay.” Lai Li nodded, sitting opposite Lock Fan with a tender expression she asked, “How is it?

Does it taste alright?”

“Delicious, delicious!

Absolutely delicious!” Lock Fan scooped up a handful of purple noodles into his mouth, instantly praising the taste incessantly.

What had happened?

Over the span of one night, why did it feel like Lock Fan got on good terms with this Lai Li?

Actually, it hadn’t gone that far.

Lock Fan just didn’t flat out reject the food Lai Li made and spent last night with her, tirelessly trying out new recipes, which significantly boosted her opinion of him.

You see, Lai Li had been focused on studying unusual cuisine with Caesar for a thousand years.

Being naturally beautiful, there had been many who adored her, and those pursuing her could circle the town hundreds of times over.

But without exception, they were all scared off by Lai Li’s unique culinary skills.

Only Lock Fan, willing to sacrifice everything for love, endured an entire night’s ordeal and finally achieved some results.

The yellow and purple noodles in front of Lock Fan no longer had such a terrifying effect, and both the taste and smell were much closer to that of ordinary food.

This was Lai Li’s reward to Lock Fan.

“Since it’s delicious, eat up quickly, so in the afternoon you can meditate and surely break through to level twelve,” Lai Li said, revealing that these two bowls of noodles might have additional effects, possibly aiding in cultivation.

Seeing that Lock Fan hadn’t finished eating, Lu Hong didn’t say much more to Lai Li.

After all, some things were better left unknown to Lock Fan.

“Well, I’m off then.” Patting his full belly, Lock Fan said with a smile to Lai Li.

“Go on, I’ll be waiting for your good news tonight.” Lai Li nodded and encouraged him.

“I definitely will have a breakthrough!

Believe in me!” After saying this, Lock Fan went upstairs to meditate and cultivate.

“Where are the other classmates?

What did you do with them?” At this point, only the two of them were in the main hall.

“My father dislikes noise, and there are many secrets in this inn, so your classmates have all gone to sleep.

But rest assured, this sleep won’t harm them.

On the contrary, it will help them naturally meditate,” Lai Li spoke indifferently, her attitude towards Lu Hong clearly different from Lock Fan’s.

Of course, Lu Hong didn’t mind such things.

“Are you able to leave with me now?” Lu Hong tried asking.

“It’s not possible.

My father said three days, so it will be three days,” Lai Li shook her head, rejecting Lu Hong’s suggestion.

“Why?

If you have nothing else to do, why can’t you leave with me earlier?” Lu Hong asked, not understanding.

Seeing that Lu Hong was a bit agitated, Lai Li explained, “I’ll tell you, these three days are when my father’s soul is splitting.

During the first three days of the split, our souls are vulnerable, without any real strength, so I must wait until my father’s soul-splitting period is over before I can leave with you.”

“Soul fission?

What does that mean?” Lu Hong was puzzled; he had never heard of such a thing in the game before.

“Do you really think our eternal life is that simple?

It’s not difficult to have a body that doesn’t decay, but the true challenge lies in the eternal existence of the soul.

After a person breaks through the Third Transition, the body’s aging slows down by tenfold, but the soul does not.

Every Third Transition powerhouse who dies naturally does so not because of physical dysfunction, but because of the disappearance of the soul,” Lai Li patiently explained to Lu Hong.

“So this soul fission can keep your souls immortal?”

Lai Li nodded, “Yes and no.

Soul fission doesn’t actually split and reshape our souls.

It’s a time coordinate set by the Soul God; every hundred years, it resets my father’s soul and mine back to a century earlier.

However, this process inflicts the pain of soul ripping on us, so my father refers to this period as the soul fission.”

“I see,” Lu Hong nodded.

Caesar, who was currently undergoing soul fission, was nowhere to be found, of course.

Lai Li had definitely mobilized all her means to ensure that all protective measures were in place.

“First, tell me exactly where we are going.

My father inscribed several secretive teleportation Arrays in the inn; we can take a shortcut,” Lai Li inquired about Lu Hong’s destination.

Lu Hong took out the map Lock Fan’s father had given him and pointed to a mountainous area at the southeastern corner of the Holy Divine Empire, “It’s here.”

“You’re going to the Sea of Flames?” Lai Li looked at the location marked on the map and paused, “What are you doing there?”

“Retrieving something that will allow me to progress in a targeted manner.” Lu Hong did not hide the secret he shared with Caesar, and his guard toward Lai Li had lowered quite a bit.

“Targeted progression?

I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Lai Li shook her head; of course, she hadn’t heard of it, as other professions did not lack Holy Temples offering options for progression, and only warriors needed such a thing.

“Yes, targeted progression.

I need to change my class to become an Angry Blood Warrior,” Lu Hong said somberly, “It’s very important to me.”

“And what is the item that will allow you to change your class in such a targeted way?” Lai Li curiously pressed on.

Lu Hong closed his eyes, recalling scenes from the game, and slowly began to speak, “It’s a sword.”

“A sword?

A weapon that allows one to change their class in a targeted manner?

Impossible!” Lai Li, who had lived for thousands of years across tens of empires, knew that not even the Heavenly God’s collection of weapons had such a function.

“I can hardly believe it myself, but it’s true.

Of course, that’s if the sword is still in the Sea of Flames,” Lu Hong shrugged.

The sword that could let him target his class change wasn’t something he could be absolutely certain about; after all, this world was different from the game, and one could not simply transfer everything over directly.

“The Sea of Flames has no seasons, where three thousand volcanoes erupt continuously, and the magma flows into the sea.

It is said that it was once connected to hell,” Lai Li said softly, sharing the story of the Sea of Flames.

“Yes, that’s the legend I’ve heard as well.

The cliffs along the Sea of Flames are smooth, stretching for thousands of miles, as if they were cleaved apart by force.

It’s said that tens of thousands of years ago, the War God chopped them off, cutting hell off from the Continent of God’s Grace and banishing hell entirely,” Lu Hong added.

“You know quite a lot,” Lai Li seemed somewhat interested in these rumours and smiled at Lu Hong, “Since your goal is the Sea of Flames, have you prepared any magic potions to resist the high temperatures?”

“Aiyo, I’d actually forgotten about that!” Lu Hong slapped his thigh.

He had thought about preparations last night but had forgotten after waking up exhausted today.

“Prepare plenty, there are many Demon Beasts in the Sea of Flames, and I may not be able to take care of you if we really get into a fight.”

“No need, just a few bottles will do,” Lu Hong laughed, “We’re not going there to fight, so why provoke those Demon Beasts?

We’ll sneak in, grab the item, and run.”

“The sword you’re talking about can’t possibly be on the outskirts of the Sea of Flames, right?

Otherwise, it would have been scavenged by adventurers long ago, even though the Sea of Flames is dangerous, there isn’t a lack of people who enter every year in search of treasure.”

“Of course not at the outskirts, but at the very edge by the sea, on a cliff.”

“So we have to cross the entire Sea of Flames?

There’s a clan of flame dragons living in there, and even though I’m at the peak of the Third Transition, I wouldn’t be able to withstand the onslaught of thousands of dragons,” Lai Li exclaimed with surprise.

“No need, no need, you don’t have to worry about any of that.

I know of a secretive Array that can take us directly across to the other side of the Sea of Flames.

Actually, the place where I will really need your help is to eliminate wraiths; I don’t have a good way to deal with wraiths, but you and Sir Caesar have such skills, which is why I thought of asking for your assistance,” Lu Hong explained.

“Wraiths?

There are wraiths in the Sea of Flames?

I had thought that the Continent of God’s Grace had no such beings.

You really have broadened my horizons.

If it were not for the protection of my father’s soul fission, I would actually like to go with you right now.”

“Then how about we go now?

There’s no danger in the little town anyway, and Sir Caesar should be fine,” Lu Hong suggested.

But Lai Li still shook her head, “What if?

Five hundred years ago, just because of a little carelessness, my father nearly lost his daughter.

I can’t make the same mistake again.”

“Alright then, I’ll go take a rest first.

I’ll come back after buying some potions and we’ll head out the day after tomorrow on time.”

“No problem, I’ll prepare the Array,” Lai Li nodded, stood up, and locked the inn’s front door.

Nobody was going to return anyway.