When I woke up, I wanted to go home.

The unfathomable depths of the Endless Sea, the experience of returning to the Void, flashed through Zhu Chongjiu's mind like vivid images.

Every detail seemed so vivid in his mind, making it unforgettable.

However, no one knows for sure what terrifying thing is sealed beneath this mysterious sacred mountain.

Although the four-eyed eagle beast that managed to escape did not seem to pose a direct threat to Zhu Chongjiu at the moment, Zhu Chongjiu's heart couldn't help but clench again whenever he thought of the ancient legends about the sacred mountain and sacred fire that had been passed down for generations on the Flaming Mountain Continent.

After all, it is said to be a being suppressed by one of the five elements of heaven and earth. How could such a power be possessed by an ordinary person?

Moreover, the sacred mountain is only just beginning to undergo subtle changes.

But no one can predict how long it will take for a complete upheaval to occur.

Perhaps it will be just one month? Or perhaps two long months? Or even as long as half a year!

Zhu Chongjiu knew he didn't have that much time to wait, because every minute and every second that passed meant he was one step further away from going home!

Perhaps, hidden beneath that sacred mountain lies a passageway leading to the outside world?

Filled with all sorts of beautiful fantasies and faint hopes, and after a fierce internal struggle, Zhu Chongjiu finally made up his mind to go deep into the sacred mountain to find out what was going on.

Of course, no matter how many ideas one has, if they remain only in the realm of daydreams, they will ultimately be nothing more than empty illusions.

Only by taking concrete actions can we uncover the truth behind these layers of mystery.

So Zhu Chongjiu resolutely took his first steps and ventured deeper into the sacred mountain, a place full of unknowns and dangers!

At this moment, Xiao Hei was at the foot of the sacred mountain with Zhu Chongjiu.

Despite Xiao Hei's various methods and arguments, he ultimately could not prevail against Zhu Chongjiu's decision!

After Xiao Hei compromised, Zhu Chongjiu told Xiao Hei to stay here and provide support for him for the time being.

If you haven't emerged from the Holy Land after a month, then go find the Fire Emperor and ask him to send you back to the Ice and Snow Continent.

Once you arrive in the Ice and Snow Continent, find King Lai Xun and ask him to send you back to Shenxu to find King Shenxu.

When I leave the Holy Mountain, I will go to the Divine King and bring you out again.

As for why Huoyan didn't send Xiaohei back to Shenxu directly?

Zhu Chongjiu still didn't quite trust Huo Yan!

A day later, Zhu Chongjiu, after enduring hardships, without using any internal energy, relied entirely on his own powerful physical strength to carefully and cautiously reach the summit of the sacred mountain, step by step.

Zhu Chongjiu, having finally reached the summit, stood there quietly, slowly turning to face the massive mountain pass.

He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and gazed into the distance into the mountain pass.

However, the scene before my eyes was exactly the same as last time—the interior of the sacred mountain was pitch black, like an endless abyss of darkness, with no end in sight.

Zhu Chongjiu silently composed himself, muttering to himself, "Now that we've come this far, let's not hesitate or procrastinate any longer."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he gritted his teeth, pressed himself against the steep rocks inside the sacred mountain, and leaped without hesitation.

If someone else happened to be standing on the mountaintop at this moment and looking down into the pass, they would probably have lost sight of Zhu Chongjiu in the blink of an eye.

He was like a shooting star that streaked across the night sky, then seemed to be mercilessly swallowed up by the boundless darkness, disappearing without a trace.

At this moment, as Zhu Chongjiu rapidly descended along the rocks inside the sacred mountain, he couldn't help but ponder to himself.

Since that harrowing journey through the Ruins of Return, this was the first time he had drawn the great sword he carried on his back from its sheath. He knew that in this situation, he had to be extremely careful.

After all, it was pitch black all around, so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. If you were not careful, you could fall into a dangerous situation from which there was no way out.

Even so, Zhu Chongjiu still dared not easily use even the slightest bit of his divine sense or internal energy to probe the surrounding environment.

He worried that releasing his aura would attract the Firefly Beast, or cause unexpected dangers or trigger hidden traps.

Therefore, he could only rely on his hearing, touch, and the experience he had accumulated over many years of wandering the world to grope his way forward.

According to Zhu Chongjiu's plan, after half an hour of diving, if no special or dangerous situation is encountered, he should use his divine sense to sense his current situation!

After all, everything about the Fire Lice Sacred Beast is just my own deduction.

After half an hour passed peacefully, Zhu Chongjiu kept counting his steps and found that he had now penetrated deep into the sacred mountain, at least five thousand meters deep, and had not found anything unusual.

After all, going downhill is much faster than going uphill.

Just as Zhu Chongjiu was about to release his divine sense and internal energy to sense the surrounding situation, an unexpected change occurred!

Zhu Chongjiu noticed that the rocks beneath his feet began to tremble slightly.

Even such a slight change could not escape Zhu Chongjiu's notice.

After all, Zhu Chongjiu was on high alert at this very moment!

Zhu Chongjiu inwardly groaned, "Oh my god, my luck is just too bad! How come I've caused such a commotion the moment I stepped into this sacred mountain?"

While he was muttering to himself, he didn't dare to be negligent in the slightest and quickly opened his mind and fully activated the spiritual power hidden deep within his body.

With the activation of his divine sense and inner strength, although it was still pitch black all around, Zhu Chongjiu gradually noticed some clues through his keen perception.

After careful sensing, he was surprised to find that the bottom of this mysterious sacred mountain was located about two thousand meters below this place.

When his spiritual energy extended to the bottom of the sacred mountain, a breathtaking scene unfolded before his eyes.

There it was, a vast, almost flat area, with a diameter of tens of thousands of meters.

However, this seemingly peaceful place has a distinct anomaly—in the very center lies a huge opening with a diameter of over five thousand meters, like a bottomless maw, silently waiting for prey to walk into its trap.

Faced with such a strange cave entrance, Zhu Chongjiu did not hesitate to concentrate more of his divine sense and internal energy, and continued to explore deeper into the cave entrance.

To his great surprise, no matter how hard he tried to enhance the strength and depth of his spiritual power, once he touched the cave entrance, all his power seemed to vanish without a trace, as if a stone had sunk into the sea, and no feedback came through.

It felt as if everything was swallowed up in an endless abyss of darkness and vanished into nothingness in an instant.

This unprecedented sense of powerlessness and deep despair surged into Zhu Chongjiu's heart like a tide, allowing him to experience true despondency for the first time in his life.

The faint disturbances had ceased, but Zhu Chongjiu did not continue downwards.

Instead, he stood motionless, resisting the emotions that had just flowed back from the cave entrance.

About ten minutes later, Zhu Chongjiu's eyes, which had gradually become dull and lifeless, suddenly seemed to be ignited, bursting out with a dazzling and bright light.

At that moment, his eyes seemed to be burning with two raging flames, so intense and dazzling that no one dared to look directly at them.

However, Zhu Chongjiu did not notice that the fire pattern on his back had also come to life, slowly burning and pulsating.

The fireball pattern burned brighter and brighter as his emotions fluctuated, as if it wanted to break free of its restraints and leap out from his back.

Zhu Chongjiu suddenly raised his hands, pushed off with his feet, and leaped into the air like an arrow.

He covered the remaining two kilometers at an astonishing speed and landed steadily on the edge of the mysterious cave.

After landing, he took a deep breath to calm his excited emotions, and then shouted loudly at the dark cave entrance: "Ninth Brother is someone who has undergone the marrow cleansing and tendon strengthening by the source of the five elements of heaven and earth and water."

In my hands I possess an innate treasure such as an unparalleled divine weapon, and I also carry the source of the five elements of fire in heaven and earth!

"With your meager abilities, you dare to try and disturb my mind?"

His eyes widened in anger as he continued to roar, "You want to plunge me into that abyss of nothingness?"

It’s simply a fool’s dream!

As the old saying goes, when a person dies, the bird flies upwards!

Today, I'm going to see for myself what sins are hidden deep within this cave!

After saying this, Zhu Chongjiu leaped into the black hole filled with an aura of endless powerlessness and despair without hesitation, and his figure disappeared into the darkness in an instant.

The moment Zhu entered the cave, he did not choose to freefall downwards, but instead floated about 100 meters away from the cave entrance to explore the surrounding situation.

Despite his bold words, it doesn't mean Zhu Chongjiu is a brainless, stupid, and reckless man.

At this moment, Zhu Chongjiu thought to himself, "In this pitch-black space, inaccessible to the naked eye, if I can't use my divine sense or internal energy, then I'm essentially surrendering myself completely to the enemy, leaving them to slaughter me at my mercy."

How could he possibly find a way to break this deadlock? This question had been lingering in Zhu Chongjiu's mind, causing him to ponder deeply but never find a solution.

After a long period of thought and exploration, Zhu Chongjiu decided to unleash a powerful brainstorming session, trying various methods to find a way out of the predicament.

He first used his keen senses to perceive the elements of heaven and earth around him, but the result was very disappointing—there was no elemental law here, at least not the elemental laws he was familiar with!

Faced with such a difficult situation, Zhu Chongjiu did not give up easily.

He continued to make various attempts and experiments, one after another, without getting discouraged.

Just when he was almost in despair, a sudden inspiration flashed through his mind: fire element?

Although he did not detect any trace of fire element here, don't forget that he himself possesses the source of fire!

In a sense, he himself is equivalent to the element of fire.

Therefore, after countless failures, Zhu Chongjiu adjusted his strategy and focused his attention on how to stimulate the source of fire within his body and establish a connection with it.

Time passed quietly, and no one knew how much time had gone by. At first, Zhu Chongjiu was simply trying to sense the fire element that might exist in the outside world. Gradually, he began to try to communicate with the mysterious flame pattern on his back.

Persistence pays off, and with Zhu Chongjiu's unremitting efforts, a turning point finally arrived.

He vaguely sensed a faint, extremely weak, yet undeniably present connection between himself and the flame pattern behind him.

Upon discovering this astonishing scene, Zhu Chongjiu was overjoyed and exclaimed excitedly, "Haha, now that we've taken the first step, the second step must be just around the corner!"

Just as Zhu Chongjiu was overjoyed with his gains, Xiao Hei at the foot of the sacred mountain was already in tears.

Not only Xiao Hei, but ever since the Emperor-level expert discovered that Zhu Chongjiu had gone deep into the Holy Mountain to sense the Flame Emperor, the Flame Emperor also came to the foot of the Holy Mountain.

At this moment, the Flame Emperor spoke to Xiao Hei: "Ninth Brother entered the Holy Mountain to resolve the disaster of our Flame Empire from its source. Our Flame Empire is extremely grateful."

It's been a month and a half already.

You told me back then that Ninth Brother made arrangements for you before he left, and I will definitely follow them!

Why don't you follow Ninth Brother's arrangement and go back to the Kingdom of Ruixue first?

I will have people guarding this place.

If I have any news about Ninth Brother, I will send someone to deliver the message to the Kingdom of Ruixue as soon as possible. How about you come over then?

After the Flame Emperor finished speaking, Xiao Hei, with a sob in his voice, said angrily to the Flame Emperor: "Ninth Brother is the most powerful person I have ever seen."

Even the God of Deception couldn't defeat him, and Ninth Brother almost killed the treacherous president of the Peace Chamber of Commerce.

Even the demons of the vast ice and snowfields were killed by Ninth Brother with a single sword strike!

You think your little sacred mountain can stump my Ninth Brother?

I'm not leaving. I'm going to wait for Ninth Brother here!

After Xiao Hei finished speaking, the Flame Emperor was stunned for a long time.

I knew before that Ninth Brother was incredibly powerful, but I never imagined he was this powerful!

I was wondering why Xiao Tian treated Ninth Brother like a son would treat his father, being so polite and respectful. He would even stand at attention when being beaten, let alone fight back.

The Fire Emperor has recently noticed a subtle change in Zhu Chongjiu's attitude towards him.

After observing and experiencing this period of time, he realized that Ninth Brother was gradually distancing himself from him.

The feeling was like the cold wind in winter, mercilessly piercing his heart.

The Flame Emperor thought to himself, "It seems that if Ninth Brother can really return safely from that mysterious and unpredictable sacred mountain, I must abandon my usual methods and schemes and treat him with sincerity and honesty."

However, thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel worried, muttering to himself, "I just don't know if, when that time comes, Ninth Brother will still be willing to give me such a chance to repent and start over?"

The Fire Emperor looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh.

It was as if they wanted to expel all the frustrations in their hearts.

Subsequently, he resolutely made up his mind not to try to persuade Xiao Hei to change his mind, but instead quickly summoned his subordinates and issued a surprising order—to set up camp right there, and he would personally accompany Xiao Hei to wait for Ninth Brother's return.

When the Fire Emperor announced this decision, the ministers below immediately erupted in uproar, expressing strong opposition.

They believed that setting up camp here was too risky and unnecessary, but the Fire Emperor remained unmoved, his mind made up, and he resolutely refused to change his orders.

Ultimately, the matter was settled.

At this very moment, Zhu Chongjiu, who was in the sacred mountain, was completely unaware of everything happening outside. He continued to float quietly in place, intently sensing the power fluctuations of the source of fire.

They tried hard to understand the secrets behind it.

He kept trying to understand it!

Go and use it!

Even better, become it!