Chapter 428 Exploring


    Darren, Abrd, Timothy, and Hailey hovered in the air, observing the space. There was boundless


    boiling hot magma as far as their eyes could see.


    "It''s so horrible in here!" Abrd eximed, eyebrows furrowed in displeasure.


    "There''s magma everywhere. Without Darren''s protection, we no doubt would have been burned to


    ashes," Timothy muttered as he stared at the boundless fire. He held a deep gratitude towards Darren.


    It would be horrible to be burned alive. Anyone would be horrified to die in that way.


    "It''s not magma. It''s a kind of soul refining skill," Hailey said after a careful observation.


    Abrd squinted his eyes and surveyed the magma below them. "Oh, yeah... You''re right. It''s not


    magma. Look at that! Some sort of strange runes sh after the bodies of revenants fall into it," he


    said, pointing down.


    "We don''t have time for that right now. We have other things to worry about at the moment, like finding


    a way to leave this ce," Timothy chided, unamusedly waving his arm around for emphasis.


    A shrill scream was suddenly heard beside Darren.


    It was the kid named Aaron who was staring into the distance.


    Darren stared at Aaron in apprehension. He had already known what the kid was capable of and how


    much destruction he could cause.


    "What the hell is he doing?" Darren was on edge and his guard was up. He had no idea what Aaron


    was up to, but he knew better than to stick around and be caught up in whatever it was. He quickly flew


    away while protecting the others.


    There was a horrible crash.


    Aaron continued to stare unblinkingly into the distance, a dark intense gleam flickering in his eyes.


    Ghastly ck runes appeared and dashed forward.


    The magma started to boil and then surged up, creating huge waves several thousands of feet high.


    The ck runes that Aaron unleashed had formed itself into a ck spear, repeatedly piercing into an


    unseen object.


    All of a sudden, a thick pir made out of magma emerged from below and rose up into the sky. Soon


    afterwards, an enormous red hand drew close towards Aaron.


    A long ear-splitting howl from Aaron echoed out and


    ck runes flooded out from his mouth.


    Darren just stood and watched the battle unfold. He had always thought that Aaron was essentially


    invincible for the most part, but in that moment, he sensed fear from the kid.


    Aaron sent continuous attacks, but the fiery red hand still drew closer and closer towards him, showing


    no signs of halting.


    Aaron howled ceaselessly causing the whole world to tremble.


    The enormous hand was eventually able to grab Aaron. It held him so tightly that he was unable to


    move and free himself.


    Everyone watched in horror as the scene unfolded.


    Darren had never seen a creature more powerful!


    "What on earth is that?"


    They all stared at the enormous hand in trepidation, distressed at just the thought of the disaster and


    torment it could potentially bring about.


    Hailey suddenly spoke out, snapping them out of their morbid musings.


    "I got it."


    "What?" Darren, Abrd, and Timothy said in unison as they all turned to look at Hailey.


    At that moment, Aaron had been pulled into the red hot magma by the enormous hand. The world then


    returned to silence, just as what it had been before.


    "The Purgatorial Tripod is the real Heavenly Serene Graveyard," Hailey stated simply. The revtion


    surprised the three. They were frozen in shock, their bodies not quite fullyprehending still.


    "Wh-what do you mean? How could you tell?" Abrd finally managed to stutter out.


    "I''ve read some descriptions from an ancient book for rule cultivators. It said that the Purgatorial Tripod


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    originally belonged to an ancient demonic monster. When it died in battle, its body was buried inside


    the Purgatorial Tripod where it may be brought back from the dead one day.


    The ancient demonic monster was called Pasquale. Based on the information, the real Heavenly


    Serene Graveyard may be this ce inside the Purgatorial Tripod."


    The three young men nced at each other and then at Hailey. After a short while of contemtion,


    they all nodded, agreeing with the theory.


    "If this is true, Cain must have been used. He won''t actually make any progress once he entered the


    Purgatorial Tripod. Instead, he would die here," Darren inferred. It all somehow made sense.


    Hailey nodded in agreement "Yes, but I think Cain was not the only one who was used. Based on the


    aura that I sensed from the enormous hand, many other powerful demonic monsters were used."


    "So all of it was a lie, then. It''s all obvious now. The blood of the demonic monsters would enable


    Pasquale toe back to life. Coming here to be stronger is not true—it''s a lie," Timothy


    "But why did that hand only go for the strange kid? Why did it leave us here?" Abrd''s face was


    scrunched up in confusion.


    "Who knows." Darren shrugged and shook his head.


    Darren and the others proceeded to explore the world inside the Purgatorial Tripod. Every ce was


    the same, it was infinite and never-ending. It was next to impossible to find a way out.


    Before they knew it, three months had quickly passed by. Darren and hispanions still had not


    found a way out.


    Fortunately, Darren had stored enough demonic monster cores inside his Space Ring. He could


    assimte the cores to provide enough spiritual energy to keep others going. They would have already


    died if Darren did not have those cores.


    In those three months, the magma often boiled over and a few ck runes would struggle out of it.


    Darren and hispanions often heard roarsing from below the magma. All those indications led


    them to the belief that Aaron was not yet dead and was still trying to fight the enormous hand.


    "What should we do?"


    Despite Darren''s protection, all four of them had grown weak and exhausted after having spent three


    months in the Purgatorial Tripod.


    Hailey seldom spoke and was quiet most of the time. She always seemed to be deep in exploration


    inside her own thoughts.


    All of a sudden, she let out a pained sigh, almost a whimper.


    Her forehead was covered in sweat. A few momentster, she was coughing up blood.


    "What''s wrong?" Darren asked.


    Hailey wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth and said in a weak low voice, "We have a chance to


    leave."


    "What did you find, Miss Yao?" Abrd perked up in excitement, eager to know how to get out.


    "I''ve been searching this ce with my Spirit Power and after countless tries, I finally found a way for


    us to escape. We shouldn''t be flying because we won''t find it up here. On the contrary, we should enter


    the magma," Hailey said, ncing at the magma below them.


    "Are you kidding? That''s… that''s crazy!"


    "The magma is extremely hot. How can we possibly dive into it? Besides, how sure are you that we can


    leave here through the magma?"


    The others protested, expressing their misgivings. "If I''m being honest, I''m not entirely sure that we can


    leave through that method. However, I know for sure that the magma is just a diversion. All this is just


    an illusion and below, under the magma, is the real world. Maybe we can find the way that leads to the


    outside." Hailey Yao looked intently at Darren, Timothy, and Abrd. She seemed determined about


    her n.


    "Darren, what do you think?"


    The other three looked at Darren, waiting for a reply.


    Darren thought for a moment and then finally said, "In our current situation, there''s no other choice. We


    have to do as Miss Yao said. But, we have a problem. My me intent won''t be able to keep all of you


    safe in the magma."


    "I see. If you dive into the magma, you have a chance to enter the underground world. If you take us


    with you, the chance is nearly zero,"


    Hailey sighed and squared up her shoulders. "I think it would be best if you leave alone. If you find the


    exit, you can survive."


    Timothy and Abrd looked at Darren and nodded in approval.


    "Darren, just go ahead and give it a try. We''re just going to have to stay here. It doesn''t really matter as


    long as you can make it out of here. We''ll just have to depend on our luck if we''ll survive or not."


    Timothy let out a lighthearted chuckle.


    "Yes, Darren. It''s a pleasure to have met you. I''ll die without a regret." Abrd beamed at him.


    "No. I can''t leave you here!" Darren pressed his lips together in frustration.


    "Even if I have the chance to escape from this ce, I wouldn''t just leave my friends here waiting for


    their death. We will leave together, I''ll make sure of it!" he firmly said.


    "You''re a good friend. We''re very grateful for your kindness, but now''s not a good time to be


    considerate. If you don''t leave, you''ll die with us. Don''t be stupid."


    "Don''t say that. Now that we know that there''s a chance to leave, we can find a solution together. I can''t


    give up your chance to survive so willy-nilly." Darren''s mind was made up. It would be hard to ask him


    to change his decision.


    Darren''s persistence moved Timothy and Abrd. Hailey looked at Darren, smiling at him


    affectionately.


    There was a moment of silence and nobody talked for a while.


    "I have an idea!" Darren leapt up, eyes shing in excitement.