Thump... Thump...
The sound wasn't just loud. It was heavy enough to crack the solid obsidian walls.
"That isn't a magma chamber," Li Rong yelled over the noise. She wiped black frost from her cheek and staggered upright. "Magma doesn't have a heartbeat!"
Through the broken archway where the mirror used to be, the sickly violet light changed. It shifted into a blinding, liquid gold.
A massive eye opened in the deep darkness of the corridor. It was the size of a village inn. The pupil was a vertical slit of pure, ancient fire.
Yue's breath hitched. For the first time, the silver-haired Guardian looked truly terrified.
"A Primordial Fire Dragon," Yue whispered, stepping back as the cavern floor pitched violently. "The Forge of the Heart wasn't just a trial. It was a cage. The ancient founders used the Second Gate to seal the beast away."
"And Feng's corrupted miasma just rotted the locks," Ye Chen realized. His heart pounded against his ribs.
The dragon let out a low, rumbling growl. A wave of heat rolled into the cavern, so intense it instantly melted the remaining shards of red glass on the floor.
"It's waking up!" Xiao Mei shouted, pulling Ye Chen's arm. "The whole mountain is going to blow apart!"
"She's right!" Li Rong spun her twin dao, the blades sparking with her own crimson fire. "I can eat ambient heat, but I can't eat a volcano! We need to leave, now!"
"The exit array is behind the altar," Yue said, pointing to a raised platform at the back of the cavern. "But the dragon's awakening is pulling all the Qi in the mountain. The array is dead!"
Ye Chen looked at Xiao Mei. He didn't need to say a word.
Their evolved Dual Harmony hummed to life instantly. The perfect, unblemished circuit of gold and azure light wrapped around them. Xiao Mei's cooling Yin protected their bodies, while Ye Chen's Yang gathered into a massive, concentrated spark.
"Then we jump-start it," Ye Chen said firmly. "Move!"
The four of them sprinted across the shaking cavern.
Behind them, the stone archway exploded. A massive claw, wreathed in golden flames and covered in scales the size of shields, smashed into the Forge. The dragon was pulling its colossal body out of the depths.
Liquid rock poured into the room, swallowing Commander Feng's empty armor in a second.
"Incoming!" Li Rong barked.
A shower of boiling magma splashed toward them. Li Rong didn't dodge. She stepped firmly in front of the group and swung her twin dao in a wild, spinning arc. Her crimson Qi caught the molten rock, deflecting it just enough to let the others pass.
"Go! I'll cover the rear!" the rogue hunter yelled, her amber eyes shining with absolute thrill. She was meant for the fire.
Ye Chen, Xiao Mei, and Yue reached the altar. The exit array was carved into the floor, but the runes were dark and lifeless.
"Give me your hands!" Ye Chen ordered.
Xiao Mei grabbed his right hand. Yue, dropping her Guardian pride, grabbed his left.
With Xiao Mei acting as the perfect, cooling anchor, Ye Chen safely channeled his raw Yang Qi. He didn't hold back. He slammed his boot onto the center of the dead runes and flooded the stone with dawn-white light.
The exit array choked, sputtered, and then flared to life. A swirling portal of blue spatial energy tore open above the altar.
"It's unstable!" Yue warned, struggling to keep her balance as the mountain violently shook. "The destination coordinates are scrambled! We don't know where it leads!"
"Anywhere is better than here!" Xiao Mei yelled.
A deafening roar shattered the remaining walls of the cavern. The Primordial Fire Dragon finally broke free from its ancient cage. A sea of golden fire rushed toward the altar, promising instant death.
"Li Rong, now!" Ye Chen roared.
Li Rong leaped backward, riding the shockwave of the dragon's roar. She soared over the rising lava and crashed directly into Ye Chen and Xiao Mei.
The force sent all four of them tumbling backward into the swirling blue portal.
Just as the portal snapped shut, the Ashen Peaks exploded. Millions of tons of rock and fire shot into the sky, announcing the dragon's return to the cultivation world.
The spatial tunnel was rough and chaotic. Without a clear destination, they were thrown through the void like leaves in a hurricane.
Ye Chen held onto Xiao Mei with an iron grip. The darkness spun violently around them. The roar of the dragon was gone, replaced by the howling wind of space.
Suddenly, the portal spat them out.
They fell hard, crashing into soft, wet earth.
Ye Chen rolled, shielding Xiao Mei with his own body until they stopped moving. He gasped for air. It wasn't hot or sulfurous anymore.
The air smelled like fresh pine, rain, and sweet lotus flowers.
He slowly pushed himself up. Xiao Mei was safe beneath him, blinking up at the sky.
They weren't on a mountain. They were lying in a lush, glowing forest. Giant lotus flowers, the size of houses, floated on crystal-clear lakes around them. The sky above was not gray or bruised, but a deep, twilight purple filled with thousands of glowing stars.
"Is everyone in one piece?" Li Rong groaned, pulling herself out of a mud puddle nearby. She was covered in dirt, but grinning.
Yue stood up gracefully, smoothing her ruined silver robes. She looked at the giant lotus flowers, her violet eyes widening in sheer disbelief.
"Where are we?" Ye Chen asked, helping Xiao Mei to her feet. He didn't let go of her hand.
Yue turned to look at him, her voice trembling slightly.
"We are outside the boundaries of the mortal realm," the Guardian whispered. "The broken portal threw us into the deep heavens. Ye Chen... this is the Star-Lotus Sanctuary. This is the territory of the Grand Orthodox Sects."
Ye Chen's grip on Xiao Mei's hand tightened.
They had escaped the fire. But they had just landed right in the lap of the people who wanted the Celestial Key most.