Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Chapter 393: Burned Alive

Jacks power was diminishing. His vision was blurry. The lava pressed down on him, both with heat and pressure, and keeping up the space bubble around himself and Brock was all he could do.

He was like a drowning man inside the sea.

In his situation, anyone would have chosen to rush to the surface and breathe freely. But not Jack. He knew that going to the surface would only give him an insignificant chance of survivalthe Hand of God would follow them, catch up, and kill them. Even Min Ling would not survive, let alone him and Brock.

Therefore, their best chance was to go down and hope for a miracle.

The drowning man had suppressed his panic and dove deeper. The bottom of this large cavern was a mystery. Brock had called it very, very deepit should be many miles away and also have many tunnels that connected to other lava streams. There was no way such a great cavern was not connected to anything.

In those tunnels, the Hand of God would eventually stop chasing. They had to conserve enough energy to return as well, and they wouldnt dare chase the fire-attribute Min Ling forever. Once the chase stopped, perhaps Min Ling could find a way to reach the surface or directly teleport outside to a place where the Hand of God cultivators couldnt reach them.

However, the crux of this issue was that Jack and Brock had to persist long enough. Given that they were already very pressed, their chances were slimbut it was the best they could do, so they had to grasp the opportunity with both hands.

In this situation, Jack had still chosen to spend some energy to kill Baron Longform. It was not an impulsive decision. Though Baron looked half-dead, Jack had a strong premonition that he would somehow survive if left alone. Then, given the hatred between them and Barons character, he would just be a viper aiming at Jacks back. He would try to ambush him, attack his friends, and find any way possible to harm him.

Baron had already proven to be a cold and calculating individual. If Jack let him go now, who knows if hed ever get another opportunity to kill him in the future.

Therefore, he had endured the loss of energy to directly strike out and kill him. Even Baron himself hadnt expected this.

Such a great person, the genius of an era with extreme calculating skills, had died under Jacks hand, his body disappearing in an underground sea of lava in a hidden realm at the edge of the universe.

The three of them tore through the lava, heading ever deeper. The pressure kept rising. So did the temperature. As time passed, Jack was more and more pressed to maintain the lava bubble.

Can you see anything? he weakly asked Min Ling.

No, she replied. To the drowning man, that was like a declaration of death.

The Hand of God cultivators maintained a steady distance. They could not get closer, but they refused to fall behind. Min Ling kept descending for half a minute, pulling Jack and Brock along. At their speed, that was enough to cross dozens of miles even through the lava, and the cavern still hadnt shown an end.

Finally, the pursuing cultivators slowed down, then stopped chasing altogether. This was too deep for them. If they chased any further and actually fought Min Ling, they might not have the strength to return.

Arkenstal watched them go with a gloating expression. Even if Min Ling herself escaped by finding another exit, he was almost completely certain that Jack and Brock would die. His achievements today were nothing short of spectacular.

Lets go get the treasure, he told the rest of them, and they all swam back up.

Min Ling kept descending. There was no meaning to turning back. The other cultivators would certainly guard the entrance of the lava cavern.

Jack and Brock were nearing the end of the rope. At this depth, even teleporting outside was impossible.

Finding another exit was possible. However, doing so before Jack ran out of energy was highly unlikely. If they didnt find an exit, Min Ling could always rush back up and try to escape through the surface, but Jack and Brock would be long dead.

Actually, Min Ling could easily kill and rob them of everything if she wanted to. Yet, she did not. She kept pulling them along, deeper into the lava cavern.

Why? Jack asked.

Because I promised, she replied calmly.

He gritted his teeth. Were holding you back. If you spend your energy to drag us, you could run out.

Ill be fine. This lava is my domain. If I do need to abandon you, rest assured that I will.

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That shut him up. He could only let her pull them deeper. At this point, both the heat and pressure had climbed to incredible degrees. The lava was coalescing into clumps of heated stone through which they swam.

The cavern was shaped as a wide pipe digging deep into the ground. It was diagonal, at a forty-five degree angle between down and to the side. By now, they had moved dozens of miles underground and dozens away from the volcano.

Can we try to teleport? Jack asked.

I cannot reach the surface from here, Min Ling replied without turning back. Even if I could, Arkenstal would sense the spatial ripples and come after us. We have to keep going and hope this cavern connects to another place near the surface. Only from there could we teleport.

Jack nodded. Soon after, they finally reached the end of the cavern. It was a large wall of dark stone sporting various tunnels. At a glance, there were at least five, and that was in the few hundred feet radius of Jacks perception.

Min Ling paused. Her brows were furrowed. Any idea? she asked.

None, Jack replied weakly.

Brock, however, released a low growl. Golden light gathered in his hand. It formed a book on the verge of dissipating, yet he barely managed to flip it to a certain page. Jack had seen this page beforeit depicted a brorilla swimming through lava, smiling as he saw something beyond the edge of the cave.

Brock had used this page to locate the crystal tree. This time, however, his strength was barely enough to activate it, and he also had to scout a much larger distance. His eyes flared with resolve. He bit down on the tip of his tongue, spraying a mouthful of blood onto the book. It was cleanly absorbed. The page shone crimson golden.

A bro chooses the right path Brock whispered, his voice barely audible. The page flared. A crimson-gold color spread outward, instantly expanding past the range of Jacks perception. A moment later, Brock released a low moan. He used the spiritual connection between them to transfer a map of what hed seen to Jack, then directly passed out.

Seeing his little brother in such a state, Jacks heart was stormy, but he suppressed it. He analyzed the image that Brock had sent him.

Most tunnels lead to dead-ends, he said. There is only one which Brock couldnt fully explore. There. He pointed to a tunnel that seemed smaller than the rest. It extends in an almost straight line for at least a mile.

Min Ling nodded, then charged into that tunnel. It was barely twenty feet wide. Jack felt extremely cramped. His perception was stifled. They rushed.

Yet, they did not reach the end of the tunnel. After a dozen miles, it remained exactly the same, maintaining its direction and width. It was almost suspiciously uniform. Jack realized that if they ran into a dead-end after coming this far, then this narrow, underground tunnel might become his grave.

It was a sobering thought.

This could be man-made, Min Ling said, a hint of hope in her voice. There might be a way out.

Jack gritted his teeth, not daring to hope.

The tunnel stretched on. A dozen miles, two dozen, three, four. It seemed endless. Jacks reserves had long ran low, and he was now almost completely empty of energy. If there really was an exit at the end of this tunnel and he just couldnt persist until they reached it, it would be the worlds ugliest joke.

When they had traveled at least a hundred miles through this tunnel, Jack was finally reaching his limit. No amount of desperation could keep him going.

Im breaking, he whispered as loudly as he could.

Min Ling glanced at him with regret. I am not good with space, she confessed. My Fire Dao is barely enough to protect myself here. At most, I could shield one of you.

Take Brock.

Okay.

Jack pushed the brorilla onto her, and she hugged his body tightly, spreading her fire protection just a bit wider. This tiny exertion made her sweat.

Suddenly, something changed in the tunnel. Min Ling furrowed her brows. She could sense something up ahead, a faint flicker of energy blocking her path, but there was no way she would stop or turn back now. Let alone Jack, even she wasnt sure if she had the energy to reach the surface again.

Her spear appeared, and she used it to ram into the barrier without stopping. A pale green light appeared for a moment before shattering. All three of them passed through.

Min Ling was perplexed. This barrier contained some extremely powerful Daos, but it was weakened to the point where she could break it. Just what was going on?

She pressed forward. Despite passing the barrier, the only change in the tunnel was slight incline upward.

Jack registered all this. Faint hope blossomed in his heart, but he could no longer persist. His space bubble flickered one last time, then dissipated. Dense lava surrounded his body. It was no longer the kind which coalesced into clumps, but it remained extremely potent. As it touched him, his clothes melted, all his hair evaporated, and his flesh was instantly charred black. Every inch of his skin was singed at the same time. The final bits of his energy went to a thin barrier keeping the lava from entering his orifices. The rest of him was completely exposed.

Jack had been through a lot of pain in his cultivation path. He had endured his limbs being broken, several hard beatings, his fists shattering often. He had practiced body tempering, survived when the Life Drop cracked his soul to enter, and had his entire body boil when he withstood the heavenly tribulation at Trial Planet.

Of all those kinds of pain, only the Life Drop tearing his soul apart could compare to the current one. Jack screamed. It felt like he was buried in hot oil. His tempered body could resist being instantly disintegrated, but it still melted over him, revealing his bones. An extreme current of life energy escaped the Life Drop, regenerating his skin just in time for it to melt again.

Jack was living through hell. Time stretched to infinity. All semblance of awareness left his mind, replaced only by endless, boundless, all-encompassing pain.

Even the Life Drop could not keep up with this degree of injury. His skin and organs melted faster than they could regrow. Jack remained alive only thanks to the Life Drop, until he was a blackened skeleton shuttling through the lava, barely clothed with molten flesh.

Min Ling was still dragging him. They shot out of the lava. Jack only felt his environment cool down and rock against his back before he passed out.