Da Xuan Martial Saint

Chapter 1355: Chapter 656: Rock Cave

"Hiss hiss."

A mass of shadow slithered like a serpent, wandering in the void, suddenly darting out towards a corner of Molten Fire City’s city gate.

Buzz!

This Seventh Layer Heaven Abyss Beast, before even nearing the city gate of Molten Fire City, was illuminated by a beam of white mirror light breaking through the void. It instantly fell out of the void, its body stiffened abruptly, then disintegrated and decayed inch by inch.

This scene caught the eyes of the several nearby Seven Layer Heavenly Divine Monarchs, making them show a bit of surprise, and they glanced slightly astonished at Chen Mu, who stood at the corner of the city gate, holding the Heavenly Mirror.

"Who is he..."

"Is he that Divine Monarch Mu?"

The beam of mirror light just now, being a technique of the Void Lineage, was controlled extremely well, thoroughly permeating the void without causing massive destruction to it, thus making it difficult to ascertain its power level. However, being able to annihilate a Seventh Layer Heaven Abyss Beast in one strike, its power was evidently extraordinary.

Before he made his move, among the numerous Divine Monarchs nearby, only those like Divine Monarch Jingtian who had interacted with Chen Mu recognized him instantly. Other Divine Monarchs only identified Chen Mu’s identity after he acted.

After all, being able to annihilate a Seventh Layer Heaven Abyss Beast, the strength must have reached the Eighth Layer Heaven level, and Divine Monarchs of the Void Lineage at the Eighth Layer Heaven within the Flame Sun Association are indeed rare. Coupled with Chen Mu’s unfamiliar aura and methods, it was naturally enough for instant confirmation.

Even so, several people looked at Chen Mu with expressions carrying a hint of peculiarity.

It was said,

Chen Mu was a Void Lineage Divine Monarch Dominator, but his strength only reached the threshold of the Eighth Layer Heaven. At this level, it is indeed not difficult to annihilate a Seventh Layer Heaven Abyss Beast, but to do so in a single strike, the power might be somewhat unusual.

Void Lineage, unpredictable, excels more in entangling transformations and methods of preservation. In terms of life kill, it is actually slightly inferior to the Creation Lineage, as most Divine Monarchs of the Creation Lineage almost always base their cultivation on the ’Life’ Profound Mystery, and methods involving the Life Profound Mystery naturally have higher lethality on the essence of life.

Divine Monarchs or Abyss Beasts of the Creation Lineage can cause massive harm to living beings in a short time, but their capabilities in entangling suppression are much weaker and easier to escape from.

For instance, a Seven Layer Heaven Peak Divine Monarch encountering an Eighth Layer Heaven Creation Lineage Divine Monarch Dominator would naturally be at a disadvantage in combat. Forcefully confronting might lead to a rapid collapse of divine power, annihilation of the true body.

But without ambush or subterfuge, there are still many chances to flee, much like Jianmu Divine Monarch; were it not for an ambush, even Divine Monarch Ming Fan could hardly truly extinguish his Divine Power True Body.

If it were an Eighth Layer Heaven Void Lineage Divine Monarch, it would be a different matter.

Divine Monarchs of the Void Lineage mostly excel in void-related techniques. If Divine Monarch Ming Fan were an Eighth Layer Heaven Void Lineage Divine Monarch, Jianmu Divine Monarch might endure longer in Ming Fan’s hands, but even without subterfuge, escape chances are nearly nil!

As for the Time Lineage...

Compared to the rarer Void Lineage, their techniques are even more enigmatic, differing from both the Void and Creation Lineages, they excel in ’exchanging the measure of time for the power of Time Dao’.

They can borrow power from the past or future, even elevating their strength to a higher level in a short time, but often the stronger the borrowed power from the past or future, the greater the price to be paid afterward.

These techniques are undoubtedly quite tricky.

Like a Seven Layer Heaven Peak Divine Monarch of the Time Lineage, if disregarding the cost and borrowing future power, they could forcibly elevate their strength to the Eighth Layer Heaven level in a short time, though a price of weakness and other consequences will come afterward, but who cares about future matters?

Thus generally, no one wishes to provoke Divine Monarchs of the Time Lineage, nor do they wish to stake their lives against them.

Attention lingering on Chen Mu did not last long, as a battle had already erupted near Molten Fire City, with countless Abyss Beasts attacking from all directions; almost every direction was engulfed in combat, and Divine Monarchs of the Flame Sun Association were almost all taking action.

Chen Mu gazed indifferently as he stood at the corner of the city gate, with the Heavenly Mirror in his hand continuously emitting beams of mirror light. Each beam striking an Abyss Beast quickly tore and annihilated that beast.

Of course,

These Abyss Beasts were only at the Seventh Layer Heaven level, and he only struck at those Seventh Layer Heaven Abyss Beasts.

The current situation differed from previous fortress defenses, a brief isolation or suppression held little meaning. Those Eighth Layer Heaven Abyss Beasts, even if repelled, would soon catch up again, better to quickly annihilate the weaker Abyss Beasts to reduce their numbers.

"It cannot go on like this."

While continually annihilating Abyss Beasts, Chen Mu was also observing the situation. He could clearly sense that the number of Seventh Layer Heaven Abyss Beasts was sharply declining, while the number of Eighth Layer Heaven Abyss Beasts was steadily increasing.

Like him, others like Divine Monarch Jingtian and Eighth Layer Heaven beings were also trying to annihilate Seventh Layer Heaven Abyss Beasts as much as possible, only occasionally intervening against the Eighth Layer Heaven Abyss Beasts, not because they didn’t want to annihilate them, but because it was difficult to achieve.

Even the current Chen Mu, with strength reaching the Eighth Layer Heaven Limit, can achieve annihilation of a common Eighth Layer Heaven Abyss Beast, but it is not instantaneous. It requires suppression and confinement, utilizing the void force to slowly smother, and eventually completely depleting its life force, before it can be destroyed; killing efficiency isn’t as optimal as dealing with Seventh Layer Heaven Abyss Beasts, which can be felled with a flick.

"Roar."

An Abyss Beast covered in scale armor appeared from the distant void, charging towards the fortress where Chen Mu was stationed, causing the numerous Seven Layer Heavenly Divine Monarchs nearby to change color drastically.

This was an Eighth Layer Heaven Abyss Beast!

Several Seven Layer Heavenly Divine Monarchs consecutively took action, attempting to stop it, but their moves were crushed like dry weeds, and Divine Monarch Jingtian, not far from there, also sensed the anomaly but was preoccupied dealing with another Eighth Layer Heaven Abyss Beast and couldn’t spare any attention.

Buzz!!

Just as the Scale Armor Abyss Beast was about to collide with the fortress, a beam of mirror light shot through the void, reflecting upon the body of the Scale Armor Abyss Beast, instantly trapping it in place.

To say it was trapped isn’t quite accurate, for the Scale Armor Abyss Beast continued to rush toward Molten Fire City, yet the distance between it and the city remained unchanged, as if the space between them had been infinitely stretched.

"Roar!!!"

The Scale Armor Abyss Beast seemed to realize this anomaly, letting out an enraged roar, unleashing an immense force that shook the void, causing layers of the void to collapse and shatter nearby.

Yet, despite such a full-strength strike, it still couldn’t change its situation, remaining unable to approach Molten Fire City.

"..."

This scene caused Divine Monarch Jingtian, not far away, to slightly flicker his gaze, then deeply glanced at Chen Mu.

After only a few epochs, it seemed that Chen Mu had undergone some transformation in his realm; the means he used just now to trap the Scale Armor Abyss Beast were much more exquisite compared to several epochs ago when he defended the fortress against Abyss Beasts, even hard for him to see through.

It should be noted,

at that time, Chen Mu had used some cunning tricks to briefly trap that Abyss Beast, freeing Molten Fire City from its pursuit, but now Chen Mu relied purely on his realm and the power of Dao to subdue the Scale Armor Abyss Beast almost head-on!

Moreover, Chen Mu’s lighthearted appearance seemed to imply that trapping this Eighth Layer Heaven Scale Armor Abyss Beast didn’t place him under tremendous pressure, and he could even suppress it for a long time.

This subtle difference went unnoticed by many Seven Layer Heavenly Divine Monarchs, but he could see it very clearly; if Chen Mu’s power merely stood at the Eighth Layer Heaven threshold, suppressing this Eighth Layer Heaven Scale Armor Abyss Beast shouldn’t be this easy.

Is this a breakthrough?

The thought flashed through Divine Monarch Jingtian’s mind.

Chen Mu was facing the bottleneck of the Three Profound Mysterious Fusion; if he indeed crossed it, it would be akin to a step straight into the heavens. Chen Mu’s current power might even surpass his, potentially not far from the Eighth Layer Heaven Peak.

However, at this moment, Divine Monarch Jingtian didn’t delve too deeply, for a major crisis lay ahead, and if Chen Mu had indeed made a breakthrough, his strength further improved, which would be a boon both for him and the entire Flame Sun Association.

Almost precisely at this moment.

Buzz!

Within the Molten Fire City surrounded by numerous Abyss Beasts, it suddenly shook violently, changing its movement direction abruptly from fleeing afar to descending swiftly, rapidly closing in on the lava cave’s rock layer beneath.

In the eyes of everyone, they saw the rock layer approaching rapidly, and within it, huge caverns became clearly visible, into which Molten Fire City directly plunged.

Molten Fire City’s internal space was grand and vast, accommodating a world, but its ’size’ externally was merely a small city just one foot in square, resembling an Imperial Seal, allowing it easily to slip into these extensive caves spanning thousands of feet.

As Molten Fire City entered the cavern inside the molten lava cave, Chen Mu’s expression remained unchanged.

The pathways leading to different Underground Cavern layers were located deep inside the caverns, and although he couldn’t claim to be extremely familiar with the internal rock structure of the molten lava cave, he had acquired maps from Fan Gu Divine Monarch and roughly knew the nearest passageway locations.

At this moment, the head of the Flame Sun Association was steering Molten Fire City towards that passage.

However,

once Molten Fire City entered the rock cave, the pressure it withstood began to climb significantly!

Outside the rock cave, beneath the Heavens Vault, Molten Fire City could freely employ flying escape and evade Abyss Beasts from all directions, but upon diving into the rock layer of the molten lava cave, its movements were constrained. Despite the numerous available passageways within the rock caves of the molten lava cave, they were ultimately restricted, permitting movement only along fixed routes.

Meanwhile, with the pursuit of the Ninth Layer Heaven Abyss Beast and numerous Eighth Layer Heaven Abyss Beasts, the entire rock cave was continuously shaking, with Abyss Beasts relentlessly emerging from various directions, assaulting Molten Fire City.