*Crack…*

Two days later, in a cave where he had been resting, Xie Cheng’s right hand finally fully recovered. He finally felt at ease looking at the ice shards that had fallen off and the now fully functional arm.

Stepping out of the cave and looking at the sky, it was another morning. The sun had risen. After two days of stopping and going, Xie Cheng couldn’t help but wonder if he had been walking in circles. Without the guidance of his terminal, he would have doubted whether he was just going around in the same place. As expected, the magnetic field of this forest was strange.

Thankfully, he had finally arrived at the heart of the Misty Forest. Just as he had expected, the deeper he went, the fewer wild animals there were. Even insects and birds were rare. Even when there were some, they rushed through the jungle in a hurry, as though they were being chased. The surrounding atmosphere was oppressive and suffocating, making people uneasy. For the past two days, he hadn’t dared to speed up his pace. If he encountered the demon Ada had mentioned before he could recover fully, it would be a real problem. It has been two days now. Ada and his group should have regained their mobility by now. He had been careful with his attack.

“Tsk, tsk…”

After adjusting his state and preparing himself, Xie Cheng began to accelerate towards the direction indicated by his terminal. The signal was getting closer, but the air around him was thick with an ominous feeling.

Finally, when he reached the foot of a mountain about six or seven hundred meters high, the terminal device showed that the crystal stone was at the mountain’s peak. Xie Cheng exhaled a breath of stale air. Looking up at the rising heat waves from the top, he could tell that the mountain was an active volcano. The crystal stone had a special aura, it most likely was attracted by the volcanic mineral energy and had fallen into the volcano’s mouth.

“Damn it…”

Xie Cheng wiped the sweat from his face, cursing as he huffed and puffed. Still, he stubbornly began climbing the mountain. With his ice abilities, he wasn’t sure how far he could go down into the volcano, but he hoped the crystal wouldn’t have fallen too deep. He had come in a rush and hadn’t packed any advanced tools or weapons in his storage ring. That had been a mistake.

“Whew, cough, cough…”

Standing at the mouth of the volcano, Xie Cheng was choked by the rising smoke and ash before he could even step inside.

“Damn it!”

He couldn’t help but swear. After pacing around for a while, he still couldn’t think of a good plan, so he reluctantly took off his camouflage jacket, leaving only a tight-fitting T-shirt underneath. He strapped on his tools, goggles, and two military knives in his boots. He then found some heat-resistant vines near the volcano’s mouth, tying one end to a large rock beside him and the other around his waist. Using his ice abilities to create a protective shield, he carefully began climbing down into the volcano’s mouth.

“Cough, cough…”

“Cough, damn it…”

If he had known this would happen, he would have packed more equipment in his storage ring. Now, he didn’t even have a steel wire rope, which made everything even harder. He was realizing that simply relying on his physical abilities wasn’t enough. In a place like this, a land not conquered by humans, human strength alone couldn’t control the situation.

Climbing down over a hundred meters, the heat flow became increasingly unbearable. Even with his ice abilities, it felt like he could be roasted alive. The ice shield around him was being attacked by the heat, turning the air around him into a steam room.

Add to that the occasional bursts of flame shooting up from below, Xie Cheng had to be careful to push them away and prevent them from burning the vines. In his mind, he was growling: can this be any worse?

However, his hard work finally paid off. After breathing in countless amounts of hot air and ash, Xie Cheng finally spotted the deep blue diamond-shaped crystal stone, floating and sinking in the red, swirling lava. He immediately felt a sense of despair. The crystal was intact, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t reach it—even if he had wings.