Left with no other choice, the crocodile escaped with its Essence Spirit that was nearly destroyed with a single howl from the man.
The little fox hurriedly covered the Fire Blocking Basket and burned the gigantic crocodile's Essence Spirit to ashes!
But now that she had gotten her revenge, the little fox felt hollow within.
Just like that, she stood there in a daze for a long time. Suddenly, the furry ears of the little fox twitched and caught wind of some footsteps.
There were people coming over!
Extremely alert, the little fox locked the Fire Blocking Basket and hid within immediately, peering through the hole of the basket with its shiny, black eyes.
Before long, a gray figure appeared from the corner – it was the handsome man who had left in a rush earlier on!
Lifting the Fire Blocking Basket, the little fox tilted its head and blinked its eyes, looking at the handsome man.
At the same time, the handsome man caught sight of the little fox the moment he turned the corner.
Just like that, the man and beast exchanged looks without moving.
It was more like a test of trust.
After dozens of years of captivity, the little fox turned distrusting and wary towards strangers.
Even though the handsome man helped her kill her enemy, she was also worried that this was the arrival of an even scarier and crueler being after the death of the crocodile!
The little fox had witnessed the capabilities of the handsome man.
She was definitely not a match for him.
If he were to charge at her with evil intents, she truly did not know what she should do.
Right as the little fox was lost in her imagination, the handsome man smiled and nodded towards her.
Instantly, the little fox was relieved and much less guarded upon seeing the handsome man's smile.
…
Looking at the terrified little fella not far away, Aiden's eyes flashed with a look of pity and he sighed internally.
After being held in captivity here for dozens of years without freedom or daylight and having to live with its enemy everyday, the little fella must have suffered a tremendous trauma after such an experience.
To begin with, Aiden cultivated for both immortality and demonity and had lived together with monkey the Night Spirit and other spirit beasts – he could vaguely sense the fear, uncertainty and worry in the little fox's mind.
This was a little fella with a pitiful background.
Aiden did not try to console or approach her.
At that moment, any abnormal action from him could cause the little fox to worry and hostility.
Meandering around the border of the cave, Aiden headed deeper inside.
Prior to this, he suffered a sneak attack from the Scarlet Armored Gigantic Crocodile and returned to the underground palace for an intense battle thereafter – he did not have the chance to explore this cave at all.
If he wanted to refine weapons here, he must not be disturbed.
The Vermilion Fruit outside was still emitting the scarlet mist and nobody would discover this place. What remained was for him to explore the cave and ensure that there was nothing dangerous within.
The cave was extremely deep with twists and turns leading to unknown places.
As he advanced, Aiden sent forth his spirit perception and did not sense any danger.
On the contrary, the little fox carried its Fire Blocking Basket that covered more than half of its body and tiptoed, following far behind Aiden like an iron pot that was moving on its own.
Aiden had a playful thought and suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning back to look at the little fella with a burning gaze.
The little fox was rattled and its eyes flashed with panic. Instinctively, it let go of its little paws.
*Clang!*
The Fire Blocking Basket fell to the ground without moving and the little fox hid within with a terrified expression.
Aiden broke out into a chuckle and continued forward.
Inside the Fire Blocking Basket, the little fox gripped its tiny paws in indignance and waved it towards Aiden's back view, harrumphing softly.
In the blink of an eye, when it saw that Aiden was going far away, the little fox lifted the Fire Blocking Basket hurriedly and chased after him in tiptoes.
Aiden had been curious the entire time as to how the lava ocean was formed within the cave.
He had been trying to look for the origin of the lava the entire time but noticed that the temperature in his surroundings was climbing to a point where he could not endure for much longer!
Not far away, the lava flowed slowly, emitting a scorching heatwave.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Aiden's eyes lit up as he exclaimed softly.
There was a thin layer of flames burning on the surface of the lava.
However, those flames had a faint yellow color to them!
Aiden closed in slightly before retreating hurriedly.
The temperature of that yellow flame was even higher than the top grade spirit fire!
How could this be?
Narrowing his gaze, he peered ahead of the lava stream.
He had a hunch that the origin of the lava was right ahead!
"Growl…"
Suddenly, Aiden heard a hurried sound coming from behind him.
Turning back, he saw the little fox placing the Fire Blocking Basket at the side and panting heavily against the heat. Its fiery red fur was already drenched with sweat, looking like it had just climbed out of water.
The little fox who had been living in a world of lava could not withstand the temperature here anymore!
It shook its head repeatedly, gesturing for Aiden to not venture deeper.
Hesitating for a moment, Aiden spoke, "Your current strength is too low little one, don't follow me. I'll go in and take a look. If I can't withstand it, I'll definitely retreat."
It was only when he spoke that Aiden realized his voice had gone hoarse.
Taking a deep breath of air, he felt his throat prickling with heat. Wiping the sweat on his forehead, he crushed a few protection talismans before continuing forward.
After taking another turn, he stopped in his tracks instinctively and shuddered.
Before him was a massive volcano!
The lava was spewed from that volcano!
At the mouth of the volcano, the lava was golden!
Each time the golden magma was spurted, a few drops would flow down along the volcano and melt the rocks along the way. When it flowed down, it turned into the magnificent lava ocean that was seen in the cave!
Aiden was already drenched in sweat by the time he arrived before the volcano.
The temperature of this place had already surpassed the limits of ordinary martial artists; even his body that had undergone both immortality and demonic cultivation was feeling a burning pain.
Slapping his storage bag, Aiden withdrew a superior-grade artifact weapon.
The moment he withdrew the superior-grade artifact weapon, the spirit patterns on it dimmed slightly.
After ten breaths, cracks appeared on the superior-grade artifact weapon – it was already showing signs of melting!
"That's amazing!"
Aiden's pupils constricted slightly and he was secretly shocked.
If ordinary Martial Masters were cast here, they would burn to death without even touching the sparks of the flames!
If the temperature in the air was already so high, it was even more terrifying in the lava gushing at the side!
Aiden was certain that a top grade artifact weapon would melt into molten liquid if it was thrown inside without even creating a bubble.
The closer it was to the mouth of the volcano, the higher the temperature.
Aiden truly could not stand it and his Inner Core and Martial Master was churning slowly, causing his blood energy to rise and ancient demons to appear around him one after another.
Feeling slightly better, he rose into the air and gazed at the mouth of the volcano not far away.
A golden lava was floating in the mouth of the volcano, letting off a shuddering aura and a scorching heat!
In fact, Aiden suspected that even a Martial Grandmaster would be melted by the golden lava, leaving no corpse and a destroyed Essence Spirit!
"This is way too scary!"
With a shocked expression, Aiden lamented internally, "This golden lava is good stuff and it's even more terrifying than a top grade spiritual fire! If I can store away some of this stuff, it'll definitely be of great use in the future!"
Thereafter, Aiden smiled.
His lips cracked, trickling with a trace of blood that evaporated instantly.
That single thought was naturally just a casual one.
The golden lava could even melt a top grade artifact weapon – what could store it?
Just as Aiden was about to turn and leave, a thought struck him.
There was truly an item in his storage bag that he could make an attempt with!
The bronze square tripod.
Although it was only a battered weapon, it could withstand the corrosion of the Scarlet Armored Fiend Demon's digestive fluids and was extremely tough – could it be able to withstand the melting power of the golden lava?