At this mont, without warning, the map stopped its erratic motion. Its constellation spun into perfect alignnt, and a new symbol ford in its center: a blazing seal resembling a flaming eye encircled by thirteen stars.
The mont the seal appeared, it rotated counterclockwise, and the lava sea shuddered.
Jacob halted. A deep, resonating hum echoed through the air, as though the very world had taken a breath.
FWWWWOOOOOOOOSH!
The Lava Sea split.
With a roar like a mountain cracking open, molten waves parted to both sides, revealing a spiraling chasm beneath—wide enough to swallow cities. Pillars of fire retreated like curtains, and what lay beneath was not magma or rock, but a smooth, obsidian pathway descending deep underground.
Jacob was astounded as he deeply looked at the chasm and mused, ’This isn’t natural. It’s like a gate, sealed and hidden beneath layers of lava for countless years. If I don’t have the map, no one could find it. The map is the key...’
Without hesitation, Jacob started to descend towards the pathway. Golden runes pulsed along the edge of the path, forming lines like veins that glowed brighter the closer Jacob ca.
Jacob’s eyes flickered, watching the map hover higher and spin in rhythm with the runes. A soundless vibration passed through his bones. The path seed to have completely opened for the bearer of the map.
The next mont, he stepped onto the obsidian path. The mont he did, the surrounding lava hardened slightly, forming towering ridges that created a natural corridor. The parted sea pulsed at the edges, threatening to collapse—but never did. The fire seed held back by sothing ancient.
With the Map of the Blazing Constellation hovering ahead like a lantern, Jacob walked into the spiraling tunnel beneath the lava sea, where no light reached.
The descent had begun...and sothing massive slumbered below.
---
But what Jacob had never expected was that the mont the lava sea revealed the hidden pathway, the entire Ashen Mirage Desert quivered and chaos ensued.
The eight Star Pirates under the Champion King were desperately searching for Rat, but they didn’t dare to travel recklessly because they didn’t know this place like Rat.
However, their search abruptly stopped when they felt the sudden shockwaves. Furthermore, they were the closest to the lava sea, and they all felt powerful law fluctuations rising from the sea despite the vast distance between them.
Without hesitation, they abandoned the search and quickly gathered together at their eting point, near the lava sea.
But when they got closer to the lava sea, they were flabbergasted because the blazing sea seed to be moving in a circular motion, and far away, vague crimson pillars had risen.
"What is happening!?" The Corrosion King couldn’t help but exclaim as he witnessed this mystical yet terrifying phenonon.
"You’re asking ? Who am I supposed to ask?" Dark Wing’s expression was grave. "No matter what, the map led to this place, and that mysterious person knew about our purpose here. Furthermore, the Rat is either captured or escapes, and now there is this sudden change. I can only think about two possibilities, it’s either that mysterious person or naturally ford phenona."
Nightingale King hesitated for a mont before he gloomily said, "No matter what it is, we need to report this to the Champion King. It’s quite clear that we are not enough to explore this place. We have underestimated our opponents."
"I agree with Nightingale..." The woman, and the fourth legendary king in the group, spoke. She was also the overlord of the Evanesce Hub, Gray King.
Dark Wing sighed in frustration, "Star Network didn’t work in this place, and I only have one ’Vermin Talisman’, which ans I can only send one ssage out and have no way to receive a reply.
"That’s why I didn’t make an imdiate report to the Champion King. I wanted to find that Rat so he could lead one of us out and then properly communicate with the Champion King, but now it seed we had no other way, don’t we?"
The others remained silent, feeling terrible. Furthermore, they knew the Vermin Talisman was very rare and should only be used in a life-or-death situation. But now, they were left with no choice.
"Tsk, tsk, you guys are useless..." Dark Wing berated when he saw no one had any opinion and decided to use the Vermin Talisman to contact the Champion King. As for what happened next, he didn’t know.
---
While the Star Pirates were rendered helpless and were forced to contact their exalted leader, Champion King, they didn’t know the commotion had drawn another group closer to the lava sea.
There were ten people in this group, and they were covered in white cloaks, and their auras were completely hidden because of these cloaks.
Furthermore, the group even spotted the Star Pirates before they quickly hid their presence, and started to stalk them from a distance.
"I thought we lost them..." A tall man wearing a white cloak sighed in relief. He was also holding a strange compass in his hand.
"Do you think they found out about Rat and got rid of him?" A woman probed as she glanced at the compass.
The man thought for a mont before he nodded, "Most likely. The Totem Compass lost connection with the Totem Mark, and even a legendary king can’t detect this Legendary King Rank Soul Artifact. This could only an he was killed."
"Tsk, he was all talk in the end. He was still discovered. It’s a good thing he died, saving us the trouble of doing it ourselves." Another man with an arrogant tone sneered with disdain.
"Enough nonsense!" A stern voice rang coldly, making everyone stop, as they were all afraid of this person.
"Since we found them, and combined with this strange phenonon, we should be close. I don’t want any more mishaps." He coldly stated.
"Please don’t worry, your highness." One of them quickly replied, and the other remained silent in agreent.
The leader nodded as he coldly looked towards the Star Pirates, and a hint of killing intent surfaced in his eyes, accompanied by a deeply hidden greed. He snickered, "Good. Although we don’t know who these people are or how they obtained that map. Since they dare to undermine our authority, they’ll need to be punished, or no one will respect our temple anymore!"
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