Greater Dream

"Young Master, may I come in?"

Early in the morning, a girl who looked Seven or Eight Years Old but was actually already Eleven Years Old carried a basin of water and a towel as she pushed open the door to a guest room in the City Lord's Mansion.

Chen Guan, who had been cultivating cross-legged on the bed, opened his eyes. As usual, he got down and accepted the girl's service, narrowing his eyes comfortably under the pressure of her soft little hands.

He admitted it—he had been corrupted by old customs.

This feeling really was enjoyable.

"All right, Girl, take a rest. I told you, you don't need to come here every day. Have you eaten breakfast?"

"I wanted to eat with Young Master."

The girl carefully tidied his hair and answered expectantly. Compared to when they had first met a few days ago, she had grown several times closer to him.

Chen Guan did not refuse. As his strength increased, his need for food had become smaller and smaller. With pills to replenish his stamina as well, he would have no problem even if he went ten days or half a month without eating.

However, whenever he ate with the girl, she would be very happy, and Chen Guan was happy to indulge her.

The two arrived at the Dining Hall together. Breakfast consisted of coarse grains and mixed dishes, nothing lavish, yet the satisfaction in the girl's eyes was practically overflowing as she ate.

These past few days had been the happiest days of her life! She had changed into beautiful new clothes that she had never dared to hope for before. She no longer had to suffer others' bullying, worry about food, or fear waking up frozen at night. Young Master was also gentle by nature and treated her like a Younger Sister.

Having suffered too much, the girl was easily satisfied. What she loved most was sitting like this, eating breakfast while listening to the Young Man tell her about things beyond the city. Anything was fine. This was the happiest time.

Her old dream had already come true, and now the girl had a Greater Dream.

She wanted to cultivate properly and strive to help Young Master with more things in the future. She also wanted to find a chance to try the Fire Fox that Young Master said was incredibly delicious whether Fried, Roasted, Stir-fried, Braised, and prepared in all sorts of ways, to learn what it actually tasted like.

"Young Master, are we still going to dig holes in the desert today?"

"..."

Chen Guan wanted to say that he was not digging holes. He was searching for the location of the Green Lotus Core Flame.

He had already learned that the Green Lotus Core Flame was somewhere underground in the surrounding area, so he had not asked Hai Bodong for information about the Heavenly Flame that day.

His status gave him great convenience. He led a group of people in continuous surveys every day, and with his perception of Fire Attribute Dou Qi Energy, after more than ten days of searching, Chen Guan had roughly narrowed down the direction. He expected to find the Green Lotus Core Flame's location within the next few days.

Qing Lin had only sensed Dou Qi Energy a few days ago and had not even reached Stage One Dou Qi yet. Chen Guan had originally refused to let her follow him into the desert and suffer.

However, the girl was tougher than he had imagined and had excellent stamina. She insisted on following him every day without ever complaining of hardship or exhaustion. Instead, she seemed to enjoy it.

By the time the two finished breakfast and arrived at the Front Hall, Old General Huang and Wang Yan and His Brother were already waiting.

The three of them were also the main force in searching for the Heavenly Flame.

Old General Huang in particular cultivated Earth Attribute Dou Qi. His ability to search in the desert was no worse than Chen Guan's Fire Attribute, and he could even sense underground conditions better.

At first, Chen Guan had worried that he might delay the old general's proper duties and give the Snake People Race some opening.

But the old general told him that as long as he was not gone for more than ten days at a time, there would be no problem. Even if the Snake People Race attacked, the strongest leader they would send would only be at the Dou Ling level.

Likewise, when the humans entered the desert to hunt, the situation was about the same.

The two sides had long since formed an unspoken understanding.

Once experts above the Dou Wang level intervened, the consequences would not be so simple. Neither side wished to see that happen.

"Let's set off."

Outside the City Lord's Mansion, aside from a few soldiers waiting, there were even more mercenaries from the city. They had been hired for the task and had recently eaten, slept, and lived within the City Lord's Mansion grounds, eliminating the possibility of information leaking out.

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were among them.

Chen Guan had spotted them on the first day and remembered their faces. They might have dealings in the future.

But for now, Chen Guan had no connection with them and treated everyone equally.

More than a dozen Mercenary Groups, large and small, helped with the survey. Chen Guan spent around One Hundred Thousand Gold Coins in wages every day. Without some Money Ability, he truly could not bear the expense.

Such a large operation was bound to make people speculate. Among these mercenaries, quite a few had accepted the job while harboring fantasies, dreaming that their luck would explode and they could secretly snatch this opportunity.

Occasionally, unlucky snake people would try to pass through this area to ambush humans, but upon encountering them, not a single one escaped. It was not merely because of the hatred between the two races, but also to prevent information from leaking.

This time, Chen Guan had come to obtain the Green Lotus Core Flame. The only person he feared was Hai Bodong's nemesis in the desert, Queen Medusa!

He knew very well that That Woman was also pursuing the trail of the Heavenly Flame.

If he had not appeared, the Green Lotus Core Flame would have fallen into Queen Medusa's hands within these two years.

The large group advanced into the desert and continued surveying from yesterday's location.

All right, another wasted day. They were used to it.

Still, it was not entirely without gains. At the very least, the area they had narrowed down had become even smaller.

On the second day, another One Hundred Thousand Gold Coins went down the drain.

If this continued, Yaoye's newly increased limit on the Affiliated Gold Card would soon be maxed out.

Fortunately, it did not come to that. On the third day, while Chen Guan was in the rear playing with snakes alongside Qing Lin, a loud-voiced mercenary shouted excitedly.

"I found it! I found it!"

He could hardly contain his excitement. To motivate the mercenaries, Chen Guan had promised that whoever found it first would receive a Resurrection Pill.

A Resurrection Pill, a Tier 3 Pill.

Not only did it possess powerful hemostatic and healing effects, it could also rapidly restore Dou Qi.

For mercenaries who spent their lives licking blood from the blade's edge, a Resurrection Pill could even be said to mean an extra life.

Even Chen Guan did not have much stock on him—less than twenty in total.

"Let's go take a look."

Chen Guan was somewhat excited and expectant at this moment. He had prepared for this Green Lotus Core Flame for far too long.

From acquiring Yellow Lotus Essence to the Ice Spirit Cold Spring, Spirit Absorption, and more, he had gone through considerable trouble. He had even invested a Dou King Level Puppet. At last, everything was ready.

Now, the Green Lotus Core Flame was within reach!