The silence that followed the death of the giant "Crimson Magma Serpent" was heavier and more terrifying than its roar. In the vast volcanic cavern, still glowing with the heat radiating from the lake of magma, Wei Shen lay beside the massive corpse of his opponent, a small, miserable dot in this hellish landscape. Every breath he took sent waves of searing pain through his chest, where he could feel that several of his ribs had been shattered or cracked. His left arm hung at an unnatural angle, and his blood mixed with the black blood of the serpent on the sharp, rocky floor.
He was alive. Barely.
With an iron will, the will forged in a past life of absolute dominance, Wei Shen forced himself to focus, to analyze his situation rather than surrender to the pain that threatened to drown him.
"First: assess the environment," his cold inner voice whispered, the voice of Arthur that had never truly died. "This lair… is no longer safe at all. The death of its king will attract other aspiring fire beasts. The scent of this blood… is an open invitation to every hungry monster in these accursed caves. To stay here… is to wait to die in the jaws of another predator."
He looked at the roaring magma lake. "Even the air here is a mortal enemy. I cannot meditate or heal in this furnace that drains my energy with every passing second."
Then he looked at the leather waterskin he had filled with the serpent's precious blood. The thought of using this blood now to heal or restore his Qi crossed his mind for a moment, but he quickly dismissed it.
"This blood… it's like liquid magma, saturated with savage, fiery energy. Attempting to absorb it directly, without the 'Blood-Devouring Stone' to act as a mediator and refine its savagery in a safe, controlled environment, would tear my Qi pathways apart from the inside and kill me faster than any beast," he thought with harsh clarity. "Cultivation requires calm and control… both of which are utterly absent here."
The only option was clear: secure the spoils and flee, as fast as possible.
With a colossal effort, he pushed his broken body to rise. He took out a low-grade spirit sword and began the grim harvest.
He knew he didn't have the luxury of time or strength to skin the serpent completely or carve up its meat. "Every part of a strong spiritual beast has value… but time is the most precious resource now," he thought, working with a feverish haste. "Every minute I spend here is a minute closer to the arrival of another predator. I must take what's most important… and escape. Efficiency is survival."
He focused on the specific objectives of the mission: the heart and the blood. Then he added to them the spiritual core, the real prize. Using his dagger, and with great difficulty, he managed to extract the "Magma Heart," still pulsing with heat, and the glowing crimson "Beast Core," and collected enough blood to fill his leather waterskin.
Then, he looked at the massive, sharp fangs in the serpent's jaw. They were excellent natural weapons. With the last of his remaining strength, he managed to pry one loose—a curved fang as sharp as a scythe—before deciding that was enough. He couldn't carry more, and he couldn't stay here for another second.
He felt the dizziness intensifying. He took out a small vial from his "storage bag" containing the low-grade "Healing Pills" he had looted from the "Fallen Leaf Sect." He swallowed one. He felt a very faint warmth spread through his body, but it did little for the sharp pain in his ribs or his broken arm.
"Pills from a third-rate sect… like a drop of water on a massive fire," he thought with bitter sarcasm. "It will help alleviate some internal bleeding, but it won't mend broken bones or rebuild depleted Qi. It's just… a worthless temporary painkiller."
He felt the faint, hungry vibration of the "Blood-Devouring Stone" in his Dantian, which yearned for the potent serpent blood he carried. But Wei Shen suppressed this sensation with his willpower.
"Not now, you thirsty thing," he said in his mind. "You and I will wait until we reach safety. I decide when the feast begins, not you."
With a will that defied imagination, and with his precious spoils now a heavy burden, Wei Shen began the impossible journey back, dragging his broken body out of the Lava Caves and towards the barren gray lands.
Every step was hell. He would fall, then rise, then crawl. He relied on the meager "Blood Qi" he had left just to keep his consciousness and his senses alert for any danger. The faint sunlight outside seemed painfully bright to his eyes, which had grown accustomed to the red glow of the cave.
After what felt like an eternity of torment, he finally exited the volcanic zone and reached the edge of the "Forest of Lost Souls." He found a hollow log and rested inside it, panting, blood trickling from his mouth, his body on the verge of giving up completely.
He was still very far from "Blackrock City," and even farther from his safe cave.
He took out the golden mission scroll and looked at it with half-closed eyes.
"The reward… Five thousand spirit stones… Bone Tempering Pills," he muttered, the words coming out with difficulty. "I must reach the city… I must survive… to claim the price for this blood."
His will was the only thing not yet broken. But would it be enough to get him to safety, or would this forest, which had witnessed his rise, become his final grave?
Wei Shen closed his eyes, surrendering to exhaustion for a few moments, his body trembling nonstop. He didn't know if he would be able to open them again.