The duo embarked on this path. The stones lit up after the initial contact with their feet. After a buzzing noise, the two were teleported away.
“Boom!” Their next stop was the mouth of a massive volcano.
“Boom!” Frightening lava oozed out, and not just any regular lava. This resembled the flame of a dragon. It burned the world and left scarrings on space itself.
Nevertheless, numerous stone steps were still floating on it, completely unharmed by the scorching lava.
Suddenly, waves of lava directly spouted towards the two and instantly drowned them. Alas, the power lava also failed to harm them due to their bright barriers.
They started walking on the steps above the volcano while being continuously assaulted by lava waves. Just like before, their invincible auras suppressed and nullified the heat.
“Buzz.” Next, the steps lit up again and teleported them away.
“Whoosh!” When they came out on the other side, they were greeted by many tiny things darting through the air.
The path ladened with floating stones still existed. However, below them was an abyss with unknown creatures shooting out a storm of needles.
Upon closer inspection, these needles were actually poisonous quills growing on the creatures. The cliffs nearby started to corrode after being hit by the quills. A person would turn into smoke in the blink of an eye.
They looked down and saw numerous pairs of green eyes in the darkness. These eyes had a nether glow and were truly creepy.
“Clank! Clank! Clank!” The quills couldn’t hit them before being stopped by their powerful barriers. Sparks went everywhere while they remained unharmed.
The two landed on the right step and disappeared from sight once more via teleportation.
“Buzz.” They made it deeper and found a terrible heatwave coming from below, almost like the mythical Mountain of Flames. [1]
To the bottom was an endless desert as hot as the inside of a cauldron. The temperature rising up felt like an all-devouring flame.
Strangely enough, to the center was a conspicuous dazzling light, partly due to the reflection of the sun rays.
It turned out that an ore mine existed in the desert with large minerals showing on the surface. If the top already had this many ores, then one could easily imagine what hid at the bottom. This was enough to make people palpitate on sight.
However, upon closer inspection, one would also find many white bones protruding from the sands. Some belonged to beasts and still had remnant divinity.
There was no doubt that some travelers became greedy here and entered the desert, only to die.
At this moment, the sands suddenly rolled over like waves with increasing speed. There was a massive monster swimming below, the real killer that took down these intruders.
Li Qiye and the emperor didn’t care since these ores weren’t enough to tempt them. They stepped on the path again for the next teleportation.
Just like that, the duo transferred numerous times from one area to another in this boundless void.
This continuous jumping was due to the broken path. If it was complete, the process would be faster and direct.
Alas, the current one teleported people to unknown and possibly dangerous locations. For example, that volcano earlier, the abyss, or a mighty flame…
Of course, those at the right power level could handle these perils without any problem. They weren’t impossible to overcome.
This was far easier compared to using the brute force method since the latter required preparation and supporting resources.
A strong being might be able to break through without any complication. However, in a bad case, the result would be worse compared to using these ancient paths. Time and space would crumble - this was enough to kill mighty Eternals and emperors. Thus, these ancient paths were clearly the best choice to reach Immortal Lineage.
“Do you have a destination in mind up in Immortal?” The emperor asked during the teleportations.
“Just going to have a look around to see if there’s something I need or a place I must visit.” Li Qiye chuckled.
The emperor didn’t mind if he was telling the truth or not. She sincerely invited: “You can come to my grotto if that’s okay with you. I have several friends up there that might be able to lend their assistance.”
Someone like her naturally had amazing friends. Gaining their support would be very beneficial - doing less but gaining more.
“We’ll see once we get there.” Li Qiye remained nonchalant about the desirable opportunity.
The emperor knew that they might not be able to help him with his problems. In fact, they might be the ones asking him for assistance later.
“Immortal has many systems and alliances.” She said: “Just let us know if you need anything in order to avoid needless misunderstandings.”
Li Qiye smiled: “That’s other people’s problem. They should be celebrating that I’m not out looking for trouble but if they come to me, I’ll show zero mercy.”
The emperor smiled wryly at his forever overbearing style regardless of the location. She could see a potential bloodbath up there because of him.
Alas, she thought that someone like him was indeed unbeatable and could slaughter anyone standing in his way.
“Of course, I might be more lenient on your friends and their alliances.” Li Qiye smiled.
“Then I’ll thank you ahead of time, Dao Brother.” She said with a solemn expression.
Some of the alliances up there consisted of emperors so they were quite mighty. However, she knew that they would still be wiped out by Li Qiye.
1. This is a mountain from Journey to the West