The seventeenth level of the War God Hall, home of the Fire Li Clan, was already within the magma layer of the Douluo Plane.
At first, the path ahead was just a bit dark red, but as the temperature continued to rise, the dark red gradually brightened, bathing the surroundings in a crimson hue.
The temperature around everyone also increased drastically, forcing Xia Yi to release soul power to resist the intense heat.
Golden-red magma bubbled violently. Even the air here was scorching hot.
If one's cultivation wasn't sufficient, even breathing would become difficult in this place.
What was even more terrifying was that the golden-red magma seemed to be filled with an enormous energy, so powerful it felt like it could overflow at any moment.
Because of the extreme heat, the air above the magma lake was distorted, making it impossible to see what lay in the distance.
Seeing this scene, Godscribe Douluo Yu Guanzhi's gaze grew solemn as he said, "The Fire Li Clan is extremely powerful. We don't even know how many of them have reached the Limit Douluo level—we only know that their clan leader is a Limit Douluo."
"They're in the War God Hall and you still don't know?" Leng Yaozhu looked on with surprise.
"Our relationship with the Fire Li Clan is merely transactional. They guard the seventeenth level of the War God Hall for us, and we provide them with temporary shelter in return. Unless someone tries to break into the eighteenth level through the seventeenth, they normally don't reveal themselves," Yu Guanzhi explained.
"Since they're so strong, how did the Twelfth-Level God-Slaying Fixed Soul Ammunition get stolen from the eighteenth level?" Leng Yaozhu asked.
"There's another internal passage to reach the eighteenth level besides breaking through from the seventeenth," Yu Guanzhi shrugged and glanced at the magma. "We can't exactly run around on top of the magma carrying a twelfth-level fixed soul ammunition, can we?"
"True," Leng Yaozhu nodded. "So how do we summon the Fire Li Clan?"
"We just need to fly over the magma, and the Fire Li Clan will send out a similarly powerful opponent to intercept us," Yu Guanzhi chuckled. "The seventeenth level of the War God Hall is the hardest trial. Only by defeating an equally matched opponent from the Fire Li Clan within the magma can one proceed. But defeating a Fire Li Clan member in the magma is as good as a pipe dream. In the War God Hall's history, very few have ever passed this level. Even Hanhai Douluo failed to pass it back when he came as a Limit Douluo."
The Fire Li Clan had many powerful members. They would immediately assess the intruders' cultivation and send an opponent of equal strength.
Strong members of the War God Hall often came here to challenge them.
Chen Xinjie, Yu Guanzhi, and Guan Yue had all tried.
Chen Xinjie, being of the water element, stood no chance of showing his full power here, so losing in this environment was nothing to be ashamed of.
"Your Majesty Tianfeng wants to see the Fire Li Clan's high command? I'll help summon them for you," Yu Guanzhi smiled faintly and stepped into the air above the magma.
When a Limit Douluo-level expert appeared above the magma, the Fire Li Clan was obligated—per their agreement with the War God Hall—to send out a similarly powerful member to intercept them.
Even for the Fire Li Clan, a Limit Douluo was considered top-tier.
Yu Guanzhi hovered above the magma lake, gazing into the distance.
All around was golden-red; even the distant view was blurry and distorted like water ripples due to the heat.
Flying over the magma lake required extreme caution. Falling in would mean certain death—even a Titled Douluo could be reduced to ash.
As soon as Yu Guanzhi appeared, a sudden change erupted!
The magma lake below churned violently, and the next moment, a deafening roar rang out. A massive magma fireball, more than ten meters in diameter, shot toward Chen Xinjie.
Yu Guanzhi's face changed. He instantly summoned his martial soul and four-word battle armor. With a casual stroke of his divine brush in the air, a massive shield descended to block in front of him.
Boom!
The massive fireball instantly shattered Yu Guanzhi's shield.
The fireball exploded, and from within emerged a magma-shaped figure. As fast as lightning, it instantly appeared before Yu Guanzhi and gave him a giant hug.
Yes—a hug. The being was humanoid, with arms and legs, standing over nine meters tall, having been curled up inside the fireball.
Its entire body glowed fiery red, except for its eyes, which burned with golden flames. It looked incredibly strange.
"Huo Tian! No, how are you this powerful?" Yu Guanzhi's face turned pale in shock.
Under the terrifying heat, even his four-word battle armor was rapidly melting.
He even felt his soul power burning within his body, transforming into pure energy and being continuously absorbed by Huo Tian.
Yu Guanzhi was utterly horrified. Even when he faced quasi-god Long Yeyue, he hadn't been this helpless.
Though the War God Hall knew little about the Fire Li Clan, they at least knew of Huo Tian.
Huo Tian was the Fire Li Clan's leader. He used to be a Limit Douluo—half a god.
But now, Huo Tian clearly surpassed the half-god level.
A Limit Douluo with four-word armor had no ability to resist him at all.
Seeing this, Leng Yaozhu no longer hesitated. Her Emperor Sword released a dragon and a phoenix, which tore through space and instantly appeared above Huo Tian's head.
Even Huo Tian felt a deathly threat piercing to his soul. Without delay, he dropped Yu Guanzhi and fled.
But suddenly, he felt his speed significantly drop.
Even as he tried his best to escape, both his arms were torn off by the dragon and phoenix.
"Twelve-level Moon God-grade time law," Huo Tian muttered, eyes filled with disbelief as he looked at Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai. Just now, he had truly felt as if he was going to die.
"The Sun Moon Federation and the War God Hall kindly took you in, and this is how you repay us?" Leng Yaozhu spoke calmly. "Or do you think that with the Plane Master behind you, you can act with impunity?"
Indeed, just now, it was the Plane Master Tang Hao who had secretly intervened.
Otherwise, how could someone like Huo Tian, no matter how powerful, have survived the combined strike of Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai?
"If you know the Plane Master, then you should also know—it was he who took us in. What I did was to repay his kindness," Huo Tian snorted coldly. He raised a hand, and multiple fireballs rose from the magma lake, suspended in the air, exploding into figures.
These fireballs revealed not only humanoid forms but also beast-like ones.
There were fire wolves, fire lions, fire dragons, and more—but most were humanoid.
"No matter how strong your mastery over the laws is, you are still not gods. Now that you're here, stay. Once we capture you all, the Plane Master will lift the suppression on us and allow us to regain our former godhood," Huo Tian declared.
At his command, the Fire Li Clan experts all charged at them.
Among them were six figures—three humanoid, one fire dragon, one fire lion, and one giant flaming vine—all exuding power no weaker than Huo Tian.
The six instantly locked onto Leng Yaozhu and Leng Yulai, raising magma hundreds of meters high. In an instant, the entire seventeenth level of the War God Hall became a world of lava, encircling Xia Yi's group.
To survive the turbulence of spacetime with his people, Huo Tian had once truly been a god-level being.
But to resist the spatial chaos, he had spent much of his power.
After falling to the Douluo Continent, though accepted by the Sun Moon Federation, they were also suppressed by the Plane Master and forbidden to regain godhood.
It made sense—how could the Plane Master allow even native top experts like Yun Ming and Chen Xinjie to ascend to godhood, let alone foreign beings like the Fire Li Clan?
But now, after several thousand years, the Plane Master of the Douluo Plane had finally relented.
And Huo Tian would not miss this chance.
(End of Chapter)