33 A lone grave. (1/2)
Despite streams of emerald lava slowly meandering around Li Yang, there was no intense heat in the air. Instead, the air was pleasant and temperate, with only a faint heat noticeably. Li Yang took a deep breath of the air that held a faint taste of sulfur, muttering slightly to himself with a bitter smile.
”Seems like they really are natural emerald volcanoes. It's shameful that I can't say whether or not I want them to be the same volcanoes that I and Ying'er once toured.”
Li Yang swept the surroundings with his eyes. It was easy to know that these emerald volcanoes were created naturally, as artificially created ones would have a much stronger taste of sulfur. The emerald streams of lava only released a faint and gentle light so it was easy to see the surroundings.
A slight distance away, possibly only around one day's march, stood the three volcanoes that released all the emerald lava. They were cone shaped and tall, their peaks almost touching the clouds. Instead of the normal earthen color, the surface of these volcanoes was tinged with a faint red hue.
The emerald lava that slowly poured out of the various openings in the volcanoes contrasted nicely with the red hue. After flowing down the volcanoes, the emerald lava slowly made its way through the surroundings. It looked like it used to be a place that was filled with large and small hills, with barely any even ground to be seen.
But thanks to the emerald lava that meandered through the area like small rivers, all the grass had died, grooves decorating the area and showing that there used to be lava there. The emerald lava did not release much heat, even when Li Yang stood right next to it, but that did not mean that it wasn't hot. The emerald lava was much worse than normal lava because it also contained corrosive properties.
Jinwu, after sensing that there was no more poisonous rain around them, climbed out off Li Yang's robe and perched himself on Li Yang's left shoulder again, looking at the area around them in excitement. Li Yang could guess why Jinwu was so excited, so he quickly warned him.
”You can't bathe in the lava here. I know that you can use fire to strengthen yourself, but this lava is mixed with strong acid. If you were to bathe in it, you would dissolve.”
Jinwu looked a little sad upon hearing Li Yang's words. It was after all a type of Golden Crow, bathing in fire and lava were things they loved to do by instincts. It cast one last longing glance at the streams of emerald lava around them, but then it no longer bothered looking at them.
Li Yang once more swept the area with his eyes, making sure to take in every little detail. He could not see any Demonic beasts, nor signs after Demonic beasts, but that did not mean that there were none here, so he could not let down his guard. Li Yang's eyes turned towards the three volcanoes in the distance, his thoughts leaking out of his mouth.
”I guess the guardian should reside within one of those volcanoes? Or maybe it is hiding within the area?”
Li Yang maintained his stealth technique and started slowly making his way towards the emerald volcanoes. As he walked, he made sure to keep a good distance from the streams of lava, as powerful Demonic beasts that had adapted to it could be hiding within.
Despite walking for nearly half a day, they still did not spot a single Demonic beast. They could see the golden lightning and the purple rain in the sky above them, but there seemed to be an array surrounding the volcanoes that kept both of them out. Li Yang could not help but wonder if the same array was also keeping out other Demonic beasts.
After walking for half a day and getting much closer to the three volcanoes, Li Yang and Jinwu came upon a small cottage. The cottage was made using wooden logs, had no decorations, and was only large enough for two rooms. There were two small windows on each side of the cottage that allowed the outside light to flow in.
The door to the cottage was painted a lovely sky blue and was firmly shut, preventing others from entering. Upon seeing this cottage, while Jinwu looked slightly confused, Li Yang's face twisted slightly, a complicated mutter escaping from his lips.