I Contracted All Ancient Divine Artifacts

Looking out across the land, pitted lava pools lay everywhere, and one Molten Giant after another was congealing within them.

Facing this scene, on another flank, the Quanrong Warriors standing in battle formation kept their expressions unchanged.

Under the flare of the burning firelight, there was even a jarringly calm air about them.

Calm, only because they had seen it too many times.

Ceaseless, endless battle—ever since they were born, it had always been like this.

Only now…

”My lord, new Molten Giants have been born in the lava.”

”I know.” The one addressed as lord of the Quanrong Race was fully two zhang tall, his entire body swollen with exaggerated muscle.

He wore no armor, because his Flesh Body itself was his best Defense.

Rong Ao stared at the newly born Molten Giants in the lava, his fists still faintly aching.

He was the mightiest warrior of the entire Quanrong Race.

From the day he was born, he bathed daily in lava scooped from shattered Lava Monsters, and fed on their hearts!

Unequaled Talent, combined with an extreme environment, had forged an incomparably powerful Quanrong Warrior.

Yet even he found no ease in crossing hands with these enhanced Molten Giants.

”Those idiots!”

Rong Ao watched the Molten Giants closing in on his position, his eyelids twitching hard as he spoke in a displeased tone.

If not for those fools who proposed using Lava Monster hearts as sacrificial offerings to the Fire Celestial God, they would not now be suffering this new divine punishment.

”My lord, they have all already been dragged off to fill the line.” The Quanrong Warrior behind him reminded.

”But even so, it still cannot quell the anger in my heart.”

”My lord, careful…”

As they spoke, the Molten Giant had already spewed scalding lava toward them.

Swoosh!

Rong Ao stomped and shattered the ground beneath his feet, his massive body moving with the force of storm-wrapped thunder.

In the howl of raging wind, a figure neither dodged nor flinched, directly smashing through that towering wave of lava. His palm, magnified countless times like a great Palm Fan, slapped straight across the Molten Giant’s face.

Bang!

The dull impact sounded like two mountains colliding.

Even the earth hummed in response.

The Molten Giant was sent staggering by that slap; anyone who didn’t know better might have thought it was the one struck by divine punishment.

Rong Ao gave it no chance to catch its breath.

At two zhang tall, he was not much smaller than the Molten Giant—this was nearly a contest between equals in size.

But his close-combat skill was obviously several tiers higher than that of the Molten Giant.

Eyes, jaw, neck…

Skull, joints, crotch…

Only the continuous thuds of bang bang bang bang rang out, and then, under this relentless assault, the Molten Giant was forcibly smashed apart.

Dark red flame-lines crawled across its body, and with a roar it exploded into fragments.

But very soon, the commotion here drew the attention of more Molten Giants.

Though Rong Ao could finish off one Molten Giant quickly, how could that compare to the thousands now being born?

In the blink of an eye, Rong Ao found himself surrounded again by more than ten Molten Giants.

The other Quanrong Warriors were not idle either.

They were not as ferocious as Rong Ao, not able to shatter one Molten Giant after another with bare hands alone.

They wielded different weapons—sabers, spears—the only common trait being that every weapon gleamed with a faint silvery light.

That was Starlight Stone.

Powder ground from Starlight Stone smeared along the blade edge had lethal killing power against these lava-type monsters.

When a long saber chopped down onto the back of one Molten Giant, the lava spine that had been burning with flame suddenly congealed with a layer of ghostly blue frost!

”Roar!”

The Molten Giant howled in pain, letting out a terrifying screech.

To it, the damage this inflicted was far more agonizing than Rong Ao’s flesh-and-bone punches.

Just as the Quanrong Warrior was about to press the attack and finish the fight, the Molten Giant whipped around, slamming a fist toward the sneak attacker behind it.

That Quanrong Warrior was sent flying with a single punch, plowing a long straight furrow through the ground.

Swish swish swish!

The other Quanrong Warriors, working in perfect coordination, had already drawn bows and nocked arrows in advance.

One arrow, neither deviating left nor right, pierced straight through the frost on its back and punctured the heart of that Molten Giant.

Crack, crack.

In an instant, the flames on the Molten Giant’s body went out, frost congealed, then shattered the next second into white shards of icy powder.

Scenes like this unfolded all across the battlefield.

Molten Giants were destroyed, and Quanrong Warriors were smashed flying, tumbling into the lava.

The cruelty of war was laid bare here, to the fullest.

Just as Rong Ao finished off another seven or eight Molten Giants at close quarters and was digging out their still-burning lava hearts to drink down in great gulps—

Behind him, a Quanrong Warrior rushed over, speaking in a rapid tone:

”My lord, one of our Shang caravans has appeared at the border and is moving toward us.”

Rong Ao frowned in displeasure.

”A caravan is just a caravan—what are you getting so worked up about?”

”It’s… Rong Lie.” His subordinate continued.

Rong Lie? Who is Rong Lie?

Rong Ao’s brows knitted tight; from the corners of his mouth, where he had just swallowed a Molten Giant’s heart, scalding lava still dripped, making his visage look utterly savage.

As his subordinate, the warrior naturally knew he was running out of patience.

So he hurried to explain:

”Rong Lie is a descendant of those criminals you sent to fill the line.”

”The person who proposed using Lava Monster hearts as offerings to the Fire Celestial God was Rong Lie’s grandfather. His family specializes in ritual sacrifice.”

”Because Rong Lie was dispatched to Xiqi to conduct caravan trade, he wasn’t punished at the first opportunity.”

So that was it.

Rong Ao let out a cold snort. ”Since he’s a fish that slipped through the net, then seize him and send him off to fill the line together with the rest!”

”But… my lord, there are two others with him who look as if… they might be Messengers from the Xiqi Ancestral Temple?”

Boom! Boom!

Rong Ao blasted a Molten Giant flying with two punches. Hearing his subordinate’s words, his brows lifted slightly.

”The Xiqi Ancestral Temple?”

...

On Han Zhan and Rong Lie’s caravan side.

The earthen shield raised by Rong Lie blocked the searing lava and bought everyone a moment to react.

”Protect the goods. Don’t let them be destroyed, or else we won’t be able to bear the consequences!”

Rong Lie hadn’t even finished speaking when

Han Zhan suddenly sensed something, jerking his head up toward the sky.

All at once, a mountain-like shadow dropped from above, crushing that Molten Giant flat.

As dust billowed, a more-than-two-zhang-tall Quanrong Warrior strode out with steady steps.

”You truly cannot bear those consequences.”

Rong Ao glanced at Rong Lie, then shifted his gaze to Han Zhan and Bai Shang beside him.

A flicker of disappointment passed through his eyes.

He continued, ”Beyond that, you must also pay the price for what your family has done.”

”Now, surrender quietly. You will be exiled to the Fire Celestial God’s feet, to serve as material for filling the line.”

Rong Ao withdrew his gaze, speaking coolly.

”And you two are the same.”