The Ultimate Divine Class-Chapter 435 - 356 The True Treasure Hidden Deeper_1

Chapter 435: Chapter 356 The True Treasure Hidden Deeper_1

Lu Yuan quickly looked up.

A magnificent bird, its noble beauty indescribable in words, orange-red in color, hovered above the volcano, continuously letting out clear, resonant cries.

This orange-red bird seemed somewhat familiar to Lu Yuan; it was clearly identical to the Phoenix illusion the Gugu Bird had used to trick him before.

What on earth is this guy up to?

Lu Yuan hastily picked the Treasure before him. It was black-gold in color and shaped like a date. He stuffed it into his nano battle suit, his brows slightly creased, unsure of the Gugu Bird’s intentions.

Forget it, I’ll ignore it.

Right now, Lu Yuan just wanted to calmly gather all the Treasures before him.

As he prepared to pick the third Treasure, the magma beneath him suddenly stirred.

BUBBLE, BUBBLE—

The golden-red magma, like boiling thick congee, began to churn and roll erratically, releasing terrifying waves of heat.

Lu Yuan saw that near the center of the volcano’s crater, the sizzling magma bulged upwards as if something was surfacing from beneath.

Lu Yuan’s eyes widened. After a few moments, he saw a colossal, snow-white egg slowly emerge from the magma.

There really is a Phoenix Egg?!

Lu Yuan was profoundly shaken.

Despite having somewhat expected it, witnessing the Phoenix Egg appear before his very eyes still overwhelmed him with shock and awe.

This was on a completely different level than Legendary Level materials like the Phoenix Feather or the Feather of Hundred-Eyed Dark Crow.

This might hatch a real, live Phoenix!

If I could get it, would that mean I’d have a genuine mythical lifeform as a pet?!

THUMP, THUMP! THUMP, THUMP!

Lu Yuan’s heart raced. Faced with such an immense temptation, even he couldn’t help but feel an intense craving.

Lu Yuan quickly ran a simulation in his mind and felt there was a high probability he could snatch the Phoenix Egg if he rushed over now.

Although there were certain risks involved, compared to a mythical lifeform... this little risk is nothing!

As the saying goes, fortune favors the bold, and what lay before Lu Yuan now was a chance at immense, heaven-sent riches!

Compared to the Phoenix Egg, the myriad Treasures scattered about have lost their appeal!

Although the Chaos Divination result advised against taking the egg, I can’t just give up on such a heaven-sent opportunity, one practically within my grasp, just because of a few words of warning! I have to at least try!

Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered. Without hesitation, he abandoned the third Treasure he was about to get his hands on and rushed straight towards the Phoenix Egg in the center of the magma lake.

The closer he got to the center of the volcano’s crater, the more terrifying the temperature became.

Lu Yuan felt the Death Qi around his body being consumed at an incredibly rapid rate. The six Nether Crow wings condensed from Death Qi on his back were already showing signs of melting and disintegrating under the terrifying heatwaves.

The once perfectly detailed and exquisite wings began to blur, barely able to maintain their shape, their beauty entirely gone.

Merely traversing the distance from the inner wall of the volcano to the central area of the magma lake, Lu Yuan had consumed almost as much of the Death Qi stored in the Feather of Hundred-Eyed Dark Crow as he would in a seventh-tier battle.

Without a Sky-level weapon, or sixth-tier strength, coming down here is suicide!

Thoughts raged within Lu Yuan as he aimed for the Phoenix Egg, planning a graceful skimming maneuver to grab it.

However, just as he was about to get close to the Phoenix Egg, just as his hands were about to grasp it—

BOOM!

An incomparably brilliant golden light suddenly shot out from the magma just beneath him.

SWISH—BOOM!

A massive amount of Death Qi violently erupted within the churning magma as Lu Yuan was blasted away.

His figure reappeared dozens of meters away as if he had teleported. Two blood-red lotuses spun like wheels in his eyes. His Netherworld River Armor was dim, and only half of the six Death Qi wings on his back remained, as if they had been forcibly melted away by something.

What... what is that?!

Lu Yuan stared blankly at a golden light that now wrapped around the Phoenix Egg, his eyes filled with shock and lingering fear.

It had been such a close call.

If not for his Grandmaster Instinct warning him at the critical moment, allowing him to activate the Double Flower Fusion Secret Skill and dodge just in time, that strike would have pierced his chest. While it wouldn’t necessarily have been fatal, falling into the magma would have been almost the same as dying.

There’s protection around the Phoenix Egg! That almost killed me!

Lu Yuan saw the snow-white Phoenix Egg enveloped by the golden light. The light watched vigilantly, as if possessing its own consciousness, firmly protecting the Phoenix Egg at its center.

Lu Yuan tried a few more times, each attempt riskier than the last.

Should I activate Demon mode and try again?

After these attempts, the Death Qi stored in the Feather of Hundred-Eyed Dark Crow was greatly depleted, with only enough left for one more fight.

But Lu Yuan was unwilling to give up; he wanted to try one last time.

Just as he was hesitating, the delightful sound of a bird’s call echoed from above again.

Lu Yuan raised his head and saw the Phoenix illusion conjured by the Gugu Bird circling and fluttering above the volcano’s opening.

From this Phoenix illusion, Lu Yuan could sense the auras of the Mysterious Acorn and Mysterious Beast Bone, as well as those of several other unfamiliar Treasures.

These Treasures seemed to share some commonality, actually enhancing the realism of the Phoenix illusion.

At the very least, Lu Yuan felt this Phoenix illusion was more real than the ones he had encountered previously.

What does this guy want to do?

From the Phoenix illusion’s cries, Lu Yuan discerned a sense of calling, affection, and urging.

The target seemed to be precisely the Phoenix Egg in the magma.

It can’t be trying to summon the Phoenix Egg using this method, can it?

Lu Yuan found it preposterous, completely unable to comprehend the Gugu Bird’s bizarre thought process. This is simply ridiculous...

But before Lu Yuan could finish his silent complaint, he suddenly saw the snow-white Phoenix Egg in the center of the magma begin to vibrate violently.

More and more of it surfaced from the magma.

Eventually, the entire egg detached itself from the magma lake and, like a young swallow returning to its nest, flew towards the volcano’s opening above.

"Damn it!"

Lu Yuan was dumbfounded.

This works too? Egg fishing?!

He had never imagined that the Gugu Bird could use such a method to coax the Phoenix Egg into its "embrace."

This maneuver was just... Godly!

The Phoenix Egg took to the air of its own accord; even the golden light tasked with guarding it couldn’t stop it.

Sensing a possible opportunity, Lu Yuan tried once more to intercept the Phoenix Egg mid-flight.

But again, he was blocked by the golden light, leaving him utterly exasperated.

As the Phoenix Egg ascended, Lu Yuan observed golden glimmers continuously shooting up from the magma beneath.

These golden lights also tried to prevent the Phoenix Egg from leaving the volcano’s interior. However, the Phoenix Egg, sensing the "call of maternal love," was determined to rush upwards. No amount of golden light could stop its resolve to "acknowledge a thief as its father."

These golden lights aren’t intelligent at all; they can only thwart outright ’robbers,’ not cleverly disguised thieves...

Seeing more than a hundred golden lights surrounding the Phoenix Egg, Lu Yuan understood that this Phoenix Egg was likely completely out of his reach.

Resigned, he gave up on the idea and continued to gather the Treasures growing on the volcano’s inner walls.

Midway, the cries of the Gugu Bird, disguised as the Phoenix, became increasingly urgent. Outside, faint sounds of something tearing through the air could be heard. He guessed that Havel and the other exploration teams from the Distant Star Federation had arrived. They were all after the Phoenix Egg and certainly wouldn’t let the Gugu Bird get away with it so easily.

Lu Yuan couldn’t be bothered with them; he was barely managing to look after himself.

Ever since the Phoenix Egg had detached from the magma and flown up, the magma level in the volcano below had been steadily rising, and the internal temperature was climbing ever higher.

Lu Yuan watched helplessly as Treasures were engulfed by the rising magma one after another. He could only push himself to move faster, and faster still.

One more! Just one more, and then I’m leaving!

Lu Yuan plucked a plum-like fruit, a Treasure, from before him and, ignoring the flames engulfing it, hastily stuffed it into his nano battle suit.

Then he dashed towards the next one.

The temperature inside the volcano had now risen to a point where even his Death Qi protection was nearing its limit. It was as if a countdown timer had appeared before Lu Yuan’s eyes; every second was a race against time.

"Damn it!"

Lu Yuan watched in agony as an extremely tempting Treasure was swept away by the searing magma right before his eyes, disappearing without even a bubble.

I was so close!

Lu Yuan felt a pang of regret and was about to turn towards another Treasure.

But just as he was about to turn, his peripheral vision caught something in the magma that had just swallowed the Treasure. At the bottom, he noticed some fine, golden streams of light rapidly swirling and gathering.

What’s that?

Previously, Lu Yuan had never properly examined the magma beneath him.

The intense heat made it difficult to look at the magma for long; prolonged observation would cause his eyes to become dry and painful.

Now, upon closer inspection, he discovered many golden substances flowing within this ’incubator’ that had hosted the Phoenix Egg.

Were those golden lights guarding the Phoenix Egg composed of these substances?

A thoughtful gleam flashed in Lu Yuan’s eyes.

He became surprisingly calm, detaching himself from the earlier race against time.

Once his mind settled, Lu Yuan noticed even more.

He saw that similar golden substances also existed within the surrounding volcanic rock walls.

These crimson volcanic rocks, after being washed by the magma, contained specks of gold, giving them a mysterious and exquisite beauty.

Lu Yuan tried to pry off a piece of volcanic rock and carefully extract the golden substance from within.

The moment his fingers touched this golden substance, Lu Yuan’s entire body jolted violently. Then, an expression of utter disbelief and an unparalleled brilliance lit up his eyes.

This is...

Just as Lu Yuan was immersed in this immense shock and upheaval, a thunderous roar echoed from above, interspersed with the Phoenix’s mournful cry.

Lu Yuan instinctively looked up.

He saw that the Phoenix Egg had now completely flown out of the volcano.

And those golden lights that had been steadfastly guarding it, the instant the Phoenix Egg completely flew out of the volcano, all froze.

Then, they exploded one by one, transforming into a shower of golden light that rained down.

For some unknown reason, the magma below began to churn violently, creating enormous, turbulent waves.

The entire volcano was shaking, trembling...

A terrifying heatwave enveloped Lu Yuan. His Death Qi-infused Netherworld River Armor visibly thinned under this heat, its replenishment rate unable to keep up with the consumption.

At this moment, the entire interior of the volcano had truly become an Infernal Flame Hell. Lu Yuan knew clearly that if he didn’t use all his strength to escape right now, he would likely be swallowed by the surging magma in the next second...

But.

Lu Yuan showed no intention of moving.

His expression was strange, and an unusual light flickered in his eyes.

Those... hidden even deeper... the true treasures... he mumbled to himself.

Suddenly, he seemed to have made a decision.

His expression calmed. He took one last look towards the volcano’s opening above.

Then... he actually turned and plunged headfirst into the churning magma below.