Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

208: Chapter 208: The Realm of Melting Heart and the Fire Fiend PursuersThe scorching sandstorm blew against their faces, carrying a dry and violent aura of sulfur and Ore. The crimson sand and stone beneath their feet were scalding, as if they had just been taken out of a furnace. The sky was not azure but a faint crimson, and the blazing sun hanging above appeared exceptionally large and cruel, wantonly pouring down suffocating heatwaves.

This was the Southern Wasteland. It was completely different from the desolate silence of the Land of the Far West and the cold filth of the North Nether Sea; this place was filled with irritable, scorching, and wild vitality, and every inch of the air seemed to be burning.

The three had just stood firm and hadn’t yet had time to carefully sense the environment of this strange world when several hostile crimson streaks of light flew close!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The streaks of light dissipated, revealing five figures. They were all wearing crimson leather armor engraved with flame patterns, their faces were coarse and their eyes fierce, and their entire bodies emitted a scorching and violent aura. Their cultivation levels ranged roughly from the Golden Core Middle Stage to the Late Stage. The leader was a One-Eyed Stout Man with a hideous burn scar on his face, holding a giant axe burning with raging flames. His gaze greedily swept over Nangong Xuan and the others, lingering particularly long on the fair faces of Su Muxue and Zi Linger.

“Heh! Big brother, it seems our luck is good! Just as we came out of this godforsaken ’Ancient Flame Mouth,’ we ran into three fat sheep! And each one is exceptionally fair!” a thin, tall Cultivator said with a chuckle, licking his dry lips while playing with two crimson throwing daggers in his hand.

The One-Eyed Stout Man spoke in a muffled, raspy, and unpleasant voice: “You three, where did you come from? Your auras are unfamiliar; you aren’t from the Southern Wasteland, are you? Hand over the control method for this ancient teleportation array and the storage Magical Artifacts on your bodies, then let these two young ladies have some fun with us, and maybe we’ll spare your dog lives!”

They clearly mistook Nangong Xuan’s group for foreign fat sheep who had arrived through some hidden ancient teleportation array, and they mistook the exit of the Ancient Starry Sky Road for some kind of teleportation formation. The environment in the Southern Wasteland was harsh, and the struggle for resources was even more blatant and cruel; such acts of murder and robbery were clearly commonplace.

Nangong Xuan’s gaze instantly became cold as ice. Encountering such villains right after landing, he would use them to test the quality of Southern Wasteland Cultivators and adapt to the violent fire-attribute environment here.

He didn’t answer, only slowly grasping the hilt of his ancient sword. Nirvana Sword Intent quietly circulated, but under the influence of the scorching Fire Baleful Qi here, that ashen-gray Sword Intent seemed to become more condensed and restrained, like a volcano about to erupt, containing ultimate destruction.

Su Muxue’s face was covered in frost, and her moon wheel floated before her. Her cold Taiyin Star Power was incompatible with the surrounding scorching fire Spiritual Qi, forming a strange opposing Domain that caused the temperature around her to drop significantly. Zi Linger quietly activated the key of living beings, attempting to communicate with the resilient plants that might exist deep within this crimson earth, adapted to the intense heat.

“Damn it, refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit! Brothers, move! Kill the man, and take the women alive!” Seeing that the other party remained silent and instead took a combat stance, the One-Eyed Stout Man gave a sinister laugh and swung his blazing giant axe, sending out a scorching wave of fire!

The other four also launched attacks simultaneously; fire snakes, fire arrows, and lava boulders came crashing down, instantly enveloping the three! Their offensive was ruthless and their coordination was tacit, as they were clearly accustomed to such acts of murder and robbery.

“Seeking death!”

Nangong Xuan snorted coldly and advanced instead of retreating! His ancient sword suddenly left its sheath, and an ashen-gray Sword Gang was no longer as vast as before, but extremely condensed, like a red-hot iron rod dipped into ice water, carrying a strange ’cold fire’ characteristic as it slashed out silently!

Sizzle—!

The seemingly violent fire wave and fire snakes, the moment they touched the ashen-gray Sword Gang, were like meeting their nemesis; the violent fire spirit energy within them was instantly annihilated and decomposed, dissipating into wisps of green smoke! The Sword Gang’s momentum didn’t decrease as it slashed directly toward the One-Eyed Stout Man!

“What kind of ghostly thing is this?!” The One-Eyed Stout Man’s expression changed drastically; he had never seen a Sword Intent that could so easily annihilate fire Divine Abilities! In his haste, he held the giant axe horizontally in front of him, frantically pouring in his Fire Fiend Qi power!

Boom!

The Sword Gang struck the giant axe, producing a muffled, heavy sound. The One-Eyed Stout Man only felt a cold and deathly still Sword Intent spread up the axe blade, causing the circulation of Fire Fiend Qi within his body to stagnate for a moment. His blood and Qi surged as he stumbled back several steps, a look of horror flashing across his face.

On the other side, Su Muxue’s moon wheel spun, and a Taiyin Ice Wall rose from the ground, freezing and shattering all the incoming fire arrows and lava boulders! Extreme cold and intense heat collided, erupting into a large amount of white steam. Zi Linger gave a soft shout, and the crimson ground suddenly split open as several strange thorns, covered in spikes and entirely crimson, burst from the earth, coiling like poisonous snakes toward the Cultivators. Although they were quickly charred by the protective Fire Fiend Qi of the enemies, they successfully obstructed their offensive.

The battle erupted in an instant, but a reversal occurred in the blink of an eye.

Nangong Xuan had tested them with one sword strike and already had a plan. The Nirvana Sword Intent seemed to have a special restraining effect on fire-type Spiritual Qi in this place; its characteristic of annihilating all things happened to counter the violence and burning of Fire Fiend Qi.

He no longer held back, moving with his sword and cutting into the enemy group like a phantom. Every time the ashen-gray sword light flashed, a Cultivator’s protective Fire Fiend Qi was easily torn apart, their Magical Artifacts were severed, and even their bodies were eroded by that cold Sword Intent, their movements becoming stiff and sluggish!

Su Muxue and Zi Linger supported from the sides, one using extreme cold to restrict and interfere, and the other using the art of living beings to create trouble.

In just a few moments, four of the five vicious Cultivators had fallen, either dead or heavily injured. Only the One-Eyed Stout Man remained, holding the half of his severed giant axe, his body covered in frost and sword scars, looking at the approaching Nangong Xuan in terror.

“You... who exactly are you people?!” His voice trembled, his previous arrogance completely gone.

Nangong Xuan pointed the tip of his sword at his throat, his voice cold: “Now, I ask, and you answer.”

Through a series of threats and questioning, they quickly obtained the information they wanted.

These few people were members of a small Gang in the Southern Wasteland called the ’Fire Fiend Gang,’ who operated year-round on the edges of this area known as the ’Red Rock Mountain Range,’ robbing lone Cultivators and passing small merchant caravans. The ’Ancient Flame Mouth’ they spoke of was the very area where the exit of the Ancient Starry Sky Road was located; because of occasional abnormal earth fire eruptions and spatial fluctuations, it was regarded as an inauspicious place by the locals and was rarely approached.

As for information regarding the ’fire star key’ or similar natural treasures, this One-Eyed Stout Man’s level was too low and he hadn’t heard of it. However, he provided an important piece of information: the greatest power in the Southern Wasteland was the ’Tiangong Sect,’ famous for controlling flames and refining divine Sharp Weapons, whose Sect was located in the ’Heart of Molten Fire’ region deep within the Red Rock Mountain Range. If the Southern Wasteland truly had some extraordinary fire-type treasure, the most likely to know of or even possess it would probably be the Tiangong Sect.

Furthermore, he mentioned that the Southern Wasteland had not been peaceful in recent years; earth fire activity had been abnormally frequent and violent, and several massive ’Fire Fiend Fissures’ had even appeared, constantly spewing pure but extremely violent Fire Baleful Qi, attracting large numbers of Cultivators to explore for Opportunities, which also caused more slaughter and conflict.

After getting the required information, Nangong Xuan did not take his life but instead crippled his cultivation, leaving him to fend for himself. In this cruel Southern Wasteland, losing one’s cultivation was more painful than death.

Having dealt with the small fry, the three finally had the leisure to carefully observe their surroundings.

The crimson earth rolled and rose with rugged rocks, and the fire Spiritual Qi permeating the air was so dense it almost wouldn’t dissipate. However, for non-fire-type Cultivators, staying here for long was undoubtedly a form of torture, requiring them to constantly circulate their power to resist the all-pervading Fire Fiend Qi erosion.

Nangong Xuan tried to sense the star keys within his Dantian. The phantom star key and the nirvana true seal fragment remained calm, while the sharp metal star key vibrated slightly, seemingly reacting to the sharp and dry environment here. The newly joined water star key clearly showed a hint of discomfort, its azure halo dimming a bit; fortunately, with the balance of the four keys, no conflict arose.

Most importantly, the crimson light dot representing the ’fire star key’ was no longer as blurred and dim as before after entering the Southern Wasteland; it had become much clearer, and the direction it pointed... was exactly into the depths of the Red Rock Mountain Range, roughly coinciding with the direction of the ’Heart of Molten Fire’ where the Tiangong Sect was located!

“It seems the fire star key is indeed here, and it is very likely related to the Tiangong Sect, or at least to the abnormal earth fires in that region,” Nangong Xuan said in a heavy voice.

Su Muxue frowned and said, “Since the Tiangong Sect is the overlord of the Southern Wasteland, its strength must be extraordinary. If we go there rashly, I’m afraid...”

“No matter what, we must go,” Nangong Xuan said with a firm gaze. “First, let’s find a place to recover and adapt to the environment here, then we’ll gather more news about the Tiangong Sect and the Heart of Molten Fire.”

His gaze swept over the corpses in the distance, and he thought to himself: This Southern Wasteland is indeed more chaotic and dangerous than imagined. The road ahead will likely not be smooth.

And within his robes, the long-silent chaos star core finally seemed to take a faint interest in the dense Fire Fiend Qi around it, as the dark gold patterns on its surface flashed extremely slowly once.