Green Lotus Core Flame

Standing atop the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's head, Xiao Heng was separated from the surrounding magma by crimson flames. He had expected the beast to resist after coming down here, but to his surprise, it was actually so obedient.

When he had read the original novel, he had thought this fellow was rather crafty. Clearly, reality differed quite a bit from the book, Xiao Heng thought to himself.

The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake swam forward with all its might. It never would have imagined Xiao Heng thinking such things; otherwise, it definitely would have complained.

It had been sleeping peacefully at home when two people suddenly barged in, beat it half to death the moment they entered, then fed it a deadly poison. So long as it wanted to live, how could it possibly dare disobey?

It wasn't as though it had never considered retaliating after coming down here, but Bear Two had left an enormous shadow in its heart. There was also the flame inside its heart—who knew what it was? It left the snake without the slightest thought of resistance.

In the crimson world of magma, Xiao Heng had been descending for nearly an hour. He took out several Qi Replenishing Pills and swallowed them all in one gulp. He did not have much Dou Qi left. Yet he still chose to press onward. The Heavenly Flame was ahead, perhaps not far from him now. He truly did not want to give up here.

"Damn it! Why is it so far? I really don't want to give this Heavenly Flame to Xiao Yan anymore. Damn it, I have to make that bastard Xiao Yan pay the price! Fuck!"

In the crimson world, Xiao Heng's Dou Qi continued to drain away. Even though maintaining the Heavenly Flame's protection did not consume much Dou Qi, after nearly an hour, there was not much left within him.

Above the magma, Bear Two anxiously stared below. It had been nearly an hour, and he was truly afraid something might have happened to Xiao Heng. Earth-attributed Dou Qi gathered around his body, forming a complete suit of earthen-yellow armor over him.

Bear Two jumped into the magma and began swimming toward its depths.

Finally, ten minutes later, a trace of azure radiance appeared. Xiao Heng's eyes were filled with excitement. This was the first Heavenly Flame he had found himself. Though he had stolen Xiao Yan's opportunity, he had still found it himself.

He wanted to order the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake to approach, but the moment it saw that azure glow, it refused to move no matter what. Left with no choice, Xiao Heng could only circulate his Dou Qi and move toward the azure region himself...

Dou Qi surged as Xiao Heng plunged headfirst into the area shrouded by azure radiance. Strangely enough, once he entered the region covered by the glow, the temperature actually dropped significantly.

Looking at the azure lotus before him, Xiao Heng could not help but sigh.

"So beautiful!"

However, he knew this was not the time to admire it. Taking out a small jade knife, he directly cut away the entire lotus pedestal.

"Store in System Space!"

A Storage Ring could not contain a Heavenly Flame. Even a high-grade Storage Ring would instantly be burned into nothingness by the Heavenly Flame's temperature. Fortunately, the System Space could hold it. Otherwise, he would truly have been in trouble. Once the Heavenly Flame's aura leaked out, countless experts would likely sense it immediately. Then he would be in real trouble.

After swallowing several more Qi Replenishing Pills, Xiao Heng found the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake still waiting outside. It wanted to leave too! But its limited intelligence told it that only the human inside could remove the flames surrounding its heart. It did not want to die, so it could only obediently wait outside for Xiao Heng.

"Let's go!"

Xiao Heng stepped onto the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's head and spoke. The snake was obedient enough, immediately swimming upward at full speed.

Another half hour passed, and the joy on Xiao Heng's face had completely vanished, replaced by grave solemnity.

His Dou Qi was nearly gone. In other words, he might die here.

At a glance, the crimson flames around him were nowhere near as thick as they had been on the way down. They merely formed a thin layer around him, and even that thin fiery barrier continued to weaken.

He had still overestimated himself. He had thought the characteristics of his Earth Grade Cultivation Method would give him enough Dou Qi to make the entire journey, but he had not expected the consumption to be so great. Ten minutes ago, his Dou Qi had already been nearly exhausted. Now, he was relying entirely on Qi Replenishing Pills to hold on.

The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake beneath Xiao Heng's feet also began to show a flickering look in its eyes. It could sense that the flames in its heart were slowly weakening. However, after being tricked once already, it decided to wait a little longer. The moment the flames around its heart completely vanished would be the moment for its revenge.

Another twenty minutes passed, and the fiery barrier around Xiao Heng grew even thinner, nearly disappearing entirely. Qi Replenishing Pills also built up resistance. Within an hour, he had already consumed more than twenty of them, and their effects were becoming weaker and weaker.

"Xiao Heng!" Bear Two looked happily at Xiao Heng. He had finally found him. After several months together, their relationship had long since become more than simply Bear One telling him to protect Xiao Heng.

Seeing Bear Two, a smile appeared on Xiao Heng's face once more. Just moments ago, he had thought he was doomed, and the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake had begun showing signs of unrest as well.

After placing an earth-attributed protective barrier around Xiao Heng, Bear Two hurriedly put Xiao Heng onto his back and began swimming upward with all his strength. He even kicked the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake along the way.

The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake was utterly depressed! It had been just about to take revenge when that Magical Beast appeared again. It had even planned everything out: after killing Xiao Heng, it would hide in the magma and refuse to come out. Bear Two would not be able to do anything to it there. Then, after cultivating for a few more years, it would seek Bear Two out for revenge. Who would have thought that just as it was about to succeed, Bear Two appeared? How depressing! It could only follow far behind Bear Two, not daring to get close for fear that Bear Two would beat it again.

"Xiao Heng, are you all right?" Bear Two anxiously looked at Xiao Heng's somewhat pale face.

Xiao Heng shook his head, sat down cross-legged, and said, "I'm fine. I just overconsumed my Dou Qi. I'll recover it first."

With that, he closed his eyes and began restoring his Dou Qi...

Half an hour later, Xiao Heng slowly opened his eyes. Fire-attributed energy was abundant here, so his Dou Qi had recovered fairly quickly. The main reason was that he had taken too many Qi Replenishing Pills earlier. Otherwise, he could have recovered even faster.

Xiao Heng stood up and looked gratefully at Bear Two. Without Bear Two, he would probably truly have died down there this time.

Showing his white teeth, Xiao Heng said gratefully, "Thank you, Bear Two!"

Seeing that Xiao Heng's complexion had returned to normal, Bear Two scratched his head awkwardly and gave a simple, honest smile. "It's nothing!"

Then Xiao Heng turned to look beneath the magma. The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake was still below, cautiously watching the man and the bear.

It wanted to leave, but as Xiao Heng's Dou Qi recovered, the flames around its heart began to grow stronger again. Thus, it did not dare leave or approach, and could only hide beneath the magma and watch.

Seeing that the great snake was still there, Xiao Heng took several bottles of medicinal pills from his Storage Ring and placed them on the ground. Then, with a thought, the Heavenly Flame around the snake's heart vanished without a trace.

Since he had said he would spare it, he naturally would. Xiao Heng would not stoop to deceiving a Magical Beast.

"Bear Two, let's go!" After doing all this, Xiao Heng turned and left with Bear Two.

"Mm! All right!"

Only after the two had left did the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake carefully sense its body and discover that the flames around its heart had indeed disappeared. It then swam over to where Xiao Heng had been sitting, sniffed the bottles of pills, and only then swallowed all the bottles whole in a single gulp.

When they returned to the Desert Iron Mercenary Group, Xiao Ding tactfully did not ask what Xiao Heng had gone off to do. Seeing the joy on Xiao Heng's face, he roughly guessed that Xiao Heng had likely achieved some goal.

That night, Xiao Heng sat in his room and used Heavenly Flames to arrange a barrier around himself before taking the Green Lotus Core Flame out of the System Space.

The azure flaming lotus was so beautiful that even seeing it again made him sigh in admiration!

He packed the lotus seeds into several jade bottles. He truly intended to give the Heavenly Flame to Xiao Yan, but he would keep the lotus seeds for himself.

After putting the Green Lotus Core Flame back into the System Space, Xiao Heng began reflecting on the mistakes he had made today.

He had indeed been too hasty. And without realizing it, he had developed an excessive confidence in himself, believing he could accomplish many things. But reality had clearly proven otherwise. If not for Bear Two, he would certainly have died today. He could not continue like this in the future. He had to remain vigilant at all times and not let smooth sailing blind his eyes.

Opening his eyes, Xiao Heng silently recited in his heart, Open the system panel.

Host: Xiao Heng

Cultivation: Nine-star Dou Shi

Cultivation Art: "Ascension Art"

Combat Skills: Immortal Slaying Sword Art, Explosive Step, Flame Kill, Rashomon, Lion King's Wrath, Mountain Breaking Strike

Heavenly Dao Points: 5

Energy Points: 1350

Cultivation Art Points: 15

Combat Skill Points: 20

Several months had passed since he left the Monster Mountain Range, so his cultivation had reached the Nine-star Dou Shi level. As for Energy Points, he usually deposited unused Magic Cores and medicinal herbs into the system, so they had increased rather quickly.

However, he had not obtained many Cultivation Art Points or Combat Skill Points during this period, so those had barely increased.

"System, five consecutive draws!"

After what happened today, he decided it would be better to turn those Heavenly Dao Points into something tangible.

"Obtained one Six-star Dou Huang Experience Card for one hour!"

"Obtained ten Century Kirin Fruits!"

"Obtained one Treasure Map!"

"Obtained one Cold Jade Bed, capable of increasing cultivation speed!"

"Obtained three Beast Blood Fruits, capable of enhancing Magical Beast bloodlines!"

Closing the system panel, Xiao Heng satisfactorily took the Cold Jade Bed out of the System Space.

Sure enough, the moment he sat on it, Xiao Heng felt a chill enter his meridians from the Cold Jade Bed. However, since he possessed Heavenly Flames, that chill was clearly useless against him. Still, it made both his body and mind clearer, and it could stimulate his body, allowing him to circulate his cultivation art and absorb energy faster.

Sitting on the Cold Jade Bed, Xiao Heng swallowed a Century Kirin Fruit and instantly felt his cultivation speed increase by three to five times. At this rate, he might break through the Nine-star Dou Shi level in just a few days.

As for the Treasure Map, he looked it over but had no idea where it led. He could only ask someone about it when he had the time later.

He could give the Beast Blood Fruits to Bear Two. They should be of some benefit to him.

After finishing everything, Xiao Heng closed his eyes and began cultivating with all his strength.