Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame

The vast desert stretched endlessly, yellow sand raging everywhere. East of Shi Mo City lay a flat expanse of desert. The terrain here was utterly ordinary, with no distinguishing features to draw attention. Such level stretches of sand were nearly countless within the boundless desert.

On this patch of desert, Huo Xuan and his group stood before a cave entrance roughly half a meter wide. They peered inside, where it was pitch-black, while faint wisps of heat rose from within.

"That's right. The Heavenly Flame should be here."

"There should be a Dou Ling-level Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake inside. It'll be perfect for testing Qing Lin's Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils." At that thought, Huo Xuan's gaze fell upon Qing Lin.

"Alright, let's head down!" With that, Huo Xuan reached out, picked Qing Lin up, and flew down through the cave entrance. Yan Yang and Yan Ya followed closely behind him.

A few short minutes later, Huo Xuan carried Qing Lin to the bottom of the passage. Standing at the end of the narrow tunnel, he looked out at the fiery-red Magma World before them, which stretched nearly beyond sight. Everyone stared at the crimson world before their eyes, their faces filled with shock.

No one had expected such a vast sea of magma to exist beneath the desert. Huo Xuan swept his gaze around. If his guess was correct, the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame was beneath this scorching magma lake.

"Young Master, there seems to be something inside that magma. I can sense its aura." Qing Lin stared fixedly at a certain spot within the rolling magma and spoke nervously.

"Something?" Hearing Qing Lin's words, Huo Xuan knew she had to be referring to that Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake.

"Young Master, it's coming!" As soon as she spoke, a muffled boom rang out. Countless streams of scorching magma shot violently into the air. Amid the rain of molten lava, a massive and mysterious creature surged out of the magma. Breaking through the lava, it let out a piercing hiss as pillars of magma fire soared skyward.

The mysterious creature that had suddenly emerged from the magma was a snake-shaped Magical Beast. It appeared over ten meters long, entirely crimson, and possessed two heads.

Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snakes generally lived in extremely hot regions and survived by devouring magma. They possessed enormous potential for evolution. At birth, they were merely first-tier Magical Beasts, but if they encountered sufficient opportunities, they might evolve into sixth-tier Magical Beasts comparable to Dou Emperors.

"Yan Yang, go subdue that Magical Beast. Don't kill it."

"Yes." With that, Yan Yang flashed into motion and instantly appeared above the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake. He clenched both hands into fists and slammed them down at the snake.

Before the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake could react, Yan Yang's fists had already smashed viciously into its body. The terrifying force blasted open the crimson scales covering its body, and bright red blood flowed from the gaps between them.

"Hiss! Hiss!" The heavily injured Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake let out a series of shrill cries. Raising its two enormous heads, fear filled its four large diamond-shaped pupils. Seeing that it was no match for Yan Yang, it prepared to flee.

"Trying to run?" Yan Yang snorted coldly. With a flash, he appeared before the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake and sent it flying with a palm strike into the rock wall beside Huo Xuan, smashing a huge crater into the wall. It was already on its last breath. Had Huo Xuan not ordered him not to kill it, it would have died long ago.

"Qing Lin, go subdue it," Huo Xuan said to Qing Lin beside him.

"But, Young Master, I don't know how!" Qing Lin replied with a puzzled expression.

"Qing Lin, try staring at it with your eyes and see if you can subdue it." Huo Xuan did not know how to use the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils either, so he could only let Qing Lin try for herself.

"Alright! I'll give it a try!" Qing Lin took a deep breath and slowly walked toward the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake.

"Yan Yang, stay up here and protect Qing Lin. Yan Ya, take me down," Huo Xuan said.

With magma at such extreme temperatures, Huo Xuan still could not withstand it on his own. He needed Yan Ya's help.

"Yes." Yan Ya responded, then wrapped Huo Xuan in Dou Qi. Huo Xuan looked at the surging magma below and, with a splash, plunged into it.

Within the fiery-red Magma World, undercurrents surged. However, protected by Yan Ya's Dou Qi, the magma could not touch Huo Xuan at all. He dived into the magma and swiftly swam deeper. As the depth increased, the temperature of the magma world around him gradually began to rise.

"We're close." The rising temperature meant Huo Xuan was not far from his destination.

Half an hour later, the surrounding temperature grew higher and higher, while the magma around them gradually changed from red to azure. A delighted expression appeared on Huo Xuan's face. He knew he was already close to the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame.

Azure light enveloped this region of magma. Huo Xuan focused his gaze and vaguely saw an azure lotus standing serenely within that light.

"Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame!"

The Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame ranked nineteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. Born deep within the earth, it underwent countless temperings, fusions, compressions, and refinements by the earth's fire... It gained spirit after ten years, took shape after a hundred years, and became a lotus after a thousand years. At maturity, its color leaned toward azure, and a cluster of azure flame was born within its lotus heart. It was known as the Azure Lotus Flame, also called the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame. Its power was unfathomable. Near volcanic regions, it could even trigger volcanic eruptions, unleashing the destructive power of nature!

At the sight, Huo Xuan rushed into the area enveloped by the azure light. Once his body entered it, the expected scorching heat did not arrive. Instead, the temperature around him strangely dropped by a considerable amount.

Huo Xuan swept his gaze around before finally settling on the azure lotus at the center. The azure lotus had eight petals, each one as flawless as the most perfect piece of natural green jade.

Within the lotus seemed to be a small lotus platform around two or three feet wide. Several azure lotus seeds floated within the holes on the platform. Those seeds were formed from exceptionally pure fire energy. They were Earth Fire Lotus Seeds, known as the essence of fire spirits, and only one could form every hundred years.

Beneath the azure lotus was an extremely slender root stalk over ten meters long. Countless tiny tendrils densely covered the stalk. As those tendrils swayed, Huo Xuan could clearly sense that they were greedily absorbing the violent fire-attribute energy within the surrounding magma.

Huo Xuan shifted his gaze above the azure lotus. At the center of the small lotus platform within the flower was a fist-sized hole. A wisp of azure flame flickered within it, its flame hopping like a sprite dancing joyfully.

Yet everyone knew that this seemingly beautiful flame was the nineteenth-ranked Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame of the Heavenly Flame Ranking. With the slightest carelessness, it could instantly burn someone into nothingness.

Huo Xuan swam toward the azure lotus. This lotus was a rare treasure of heaven and earth. Ordinary metal would melt upon touching it. To cut it apart, one had to use an object of exceptionally pure jade, so it would not be damaged.

Huo Xuan took out a jade blade he had prepared beforehand and carefully cut apart the connection between the azure lotus platform and its root stalk.

At the same time, Huo Xuan removed every Earth Fire Lotus Seed from the azure lotus platform. There were quite a few of them—eleven in total.

After storing away the azure lotus, Huo Xuan glanced at the remaining root stalk and did not intend to touch it further. Treasures of heaven and earth like this were already difficult to come by, and the root stalk itself was not particularly useful. It was best to leave some leeway in all things. If he took even this section of root stalk, the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame here might be driven to extinction forever.