Chapter 21: A New Life

A wave of scorching heat swept over her, almost roasting her alive. The walls of the cave glowed red, as if a single touch would draw a sizzling sound from the stone.

Shen Duo hugged her arms tightly, pulling her legs in to avoid any contact with the cave wall. Staring at the abyss beneath her feet, a sense of helplessness welled up in her heart. Could she possibly escape such a desperate situation? Yet, her resolve hardened immediately. Now, more than anything, she needed courage and self-belief. As long as she did not give up, there would always be hope.

Her clear eyes narrowed slightly. She freed one arm and, with a thought, retrieved the longsword from the storage ring Lei Hang had given her. Fixing her gaze on the wall flashing by as she fell, she summoned all her strength and drove the sword into a crevice.

Her body dropped, but did not fall further. Shen Duo released a long breath and looked at the connection between the sword and the cave wall. As she had expected, the temperature of the cave wall was extremely high; within moments, the blade was already glowing red-hot from the heat. The heat seeped through the hilt, scalding her palm.

At this rate, the sword would not last much longer. Shen Duo frowned. There was nothing in the ring save for some food. Was she truly destined to die here today?

Suddenly, a deep, guttural roar echoed from the depths of the cave, an overwhelming aura sweeping through. Even without the restrictions of magical beasts, Shen Duo could sense the power and menace in that roar.

Could a colossal, unfathomable magical beast be lurking deep within the cave?

The roar faded. Shen Duo wracked her brain for a way out. The cave’s depths abruptly grew hotter, the temperature soaring until she was in acute distress—her face flushed, eyes stinging, lips cracked and parched, her ponytail singed yellow and curled by the heat, her clothes seemingly on the verge of bursting into flames.

But this terror was only the beginning. The intense heat was merely a prelude. The cave’s depths brightened, and then orange flames, serpent-like, lunged toward her. At that moment, the longsword finally succumbed to the heat and snapped.

In an instant, Shen Duo was engulfed by the fire serpents, with no time for thought. Agony swept through her body, every nerve aflame, as if she would be reduced to ashes the very next moment. She drifted in excruciating pain, acutely aware of the shriveling of every meridian within her. Her clothes vanished into ash, her entire body wrapped