Harvest and Surprise

After making sure that the Fire Loin Golden Python and everyone from the Earth Flame Sect were thoroughly dead, Xia Mo began looting the bodies.

First, he took a low-grade Storage Ring from each of the finely dressed man and the three Earth Flame Sect elders. Then, he gathered a scattered pile of items from the others, storing them all in the low-grade Storage Ring on his right hand.

Finally, he came to the Fire Loin Golden Python. After expending considerable effort, he finished processing its corpse: one Fourth-tier fire-element Monster Core, one snake gallbladder, one sheet of snakeskin, and a heap of snake meat.

He put the Monster Core and snakeskin into the intermediate Storage Ring around his neck. The Monster Core went without saying—it was extremely valuable. As for the snakeskin, it was exceptionally hard and highly resilient, making it excellent material for defensive armor.

The snake meat should be delicious, especially since it came from a Fourth-tier Magical Beast. He stored the edible portions of the Fire Loin Golden Python in the low-grade Storage Ring on his left hand, which contained nothing but ingredients. He planned to bring it back for Xiao Yi Xian to cook.

Once Xia Mo had finished processing the Fire Loin Golden Python, he piled all the corpses together, summoned the Dragon Phoenix Flame, and tossed a fireball at them.

Xia Mo watched quietly. Before long, the pile of corpses had turned to ash, and he simply turned away to handle other matters.

About ten zhang outside the cave, Xia Mo scattered beast-repelling powder. It was made from Scent-blocking Grass combined with other Medicinal Herbs that Magical Beasts disliked, and it could effectively prevent attacks from Magical Beasts.

Moreover, Scent-blocking Grass had a pungent smell that could suppress the scent of blood. This would keep other Magical Beasts from following the bloody smell here.

After handling everything, a flash of light appeared in his hand, and Xia Mo grasped his Heavy Saber before cautiously entering the Fire Loin Golden Python's cave.

After all, it never hurt to be careful. At the entrance of the Fire Loin Golden Python's cave, he found that it did not look very large, though it was just wide enough for Xia Mo to pass through standing upright.

Xia Mo circulated his Dou Qi and entered the cave vigilantly. It was somewhat dim inside. The first thing he saw was a long passage. Though the Fire Loin Golden Python lived here, there was no foul stench within. There should have been other vents connected to it.

He summoned the Dragon Phoenix Flame, and the passage instantly brightened. Xia Mo followed it for roughly five or six minutes before noticing something unusual about the stone walls.

Under the firelight of the Dragon Phoenix Flame, the rocks seemed to reflect a faint glow.

"Clang!"

Xia Mo drew his saber and chopped off a chunk of stone. The sound of metal striking metal rang out.

Looking at the ore that had fallen, Xia Mo crouched down, picked it up, and examined it closely before the Dragon Phoenix Flame. In the firelight, the stone in his palm was pale purple, with golden glimmers shining from many places. In some spots, he could even make out tiny, inconspicuous purple gleams the size of needlepoints. Its sparkling gold was exceptionally beautiful.

"This should be Purple Essence Gold!" Xia Mo thought after examining it carefully and confirming his judgment.

It was a rare metal and an excellent material for forging weapons.

"Purple Essence Gold? Could this volcano be a Purple Essence Gold vein?" Xia Mo asked in disbelief.

"No wonder. Could the map have recorded a mineral vein? But that doesn't seem right. A mine isn't exactly a treasure... Could there be Mother Lode gold inside?" Xia Mo wondered.

Purple Essence Gold Mother Lode was located at the center of a Purple Essence Gold mine. After being buried deep underground and compressed and polished for thousands, tens of thousands, or perhaps countless years, it became incredibly sturdy and heavy.

"Still, judging from the current situation, the reserves in this volcano's Purple Essence Gold vein are astonishing. At the very least, it is a medium-sized Purple Essence Gold mine! Unfortunately, it is of no use to me right now. Only a faction has the ability to mine something like this." Xia Mo sighed and continued deeper inside.

Xia Mo stopped paying attention to the ore and continued onward. Before long, a massive cave appeared at the end of the passage. This should have been the Fire Loin Golden Python's lair.

Xia Mo took out several torches, lit them, and planted them around the cave. Only after the entire cave had brightened did he begin examining it.

At the center of the cave stood a fruit tree a full zhang tall. Why call it a fruit tree? Because two crystal-clear fruits hung from it, sparkling with dazzling radiance beneath the firelight.

Xia Mo walked closer and discovered that it was a Golden Sun Fruit Tree. Although Golden Sun Fruit was only a Fifth-tier fire-element medicinal herb, it was extremely rare. A single Golden Sun Fruit was enough to allow a Dou Ling to advance by one star. Furthermore, if it was combined with other Medicinal Herbs to refine a fifth-grade King Ascension Pill, it could raise the chance of a peak Dou Ling advancing to Dou Wang by sixty percent. What did sixty percent mean? One pill would practically help you break through, so long as you put in even the slightest bit of effort.

Xia Mo sighed inwardly. So the fire-element treasure recorded on the small map had been Golden Sun Fruit. It was good stuff, so he could not waste it. He carefully picked the fruits and placed them into two jade boxes. Jade containers were the most commonly used and most effective items for preserving pills or spiritual herbs.

After putting away the Golden Sun Fruits, Xia Mo saw a half-meter chunk of Purple Essence Gold beneath the tree and decided to store it away.

"Eh!"

Once Xia Mo got his hands on it, he discovered that the chunk of Purple Essence Gold was incredibly heavy. Could this be Mother Lode gold? But wasn't this stuff supposed to be at the center of a mineral vein? Why was it here?

Though puzzled, it did not stop him from putting it away. Besides, even if he knew there was Mother Lode gold in the Purple Essence Gold vein, he could not possibly go in and retrieve it.

He did not care why the Mother Lode gold had appeared in the cave. It was enough to know that it belonged to him now.

After Xia Mo put away the Purple Essence Gold Mother Lode, he discovered that there was actually an opening beneath it leading downward.

"Could there be something else down there?" Xia Mo wondered as he leaned over to peer into the hole.

The hole looked pitch-black and should have been extremely deep. A wave of hot air rose out from within.

Xia Mo picked up his Heavy Saber and widened the opening until it was large enough for him to pass through.

Xia Mo put away his Heavy Saber, picked up a torch from the side, and entered. He discovered that the passage sloped downward. After walking only a short while, even with Xia Mo's strength, he began to feel waves of scorching heat in the passage.

This can't lead to underground magma, can it?!

After descending for more than ten minutes, just as Xia Mo was beginning to find the heat unbearable, he felt the space ahead of him seeming to distort.

Xia Mo reached out and touched it, then his entire body passed straight through. There was actually a Space Barrier within this underground tunnel.

The moment he entered the barrier, the surroundings suddenly became much more spacious. Especially after going more than ten zhang deeper, the interior opened into an entirely different world.

A massive hollow appeared before Xia Mo's eyes. Directly in front of where he stood was an area over a hundred zhang wide and dozens of zhang high. He had never expected such an enormous hollow to exist inside the volcano.

Fifty zhang ahead of where he stood was a vast stretch of shattered rock. Beyond that lay a crimson field of magma. From afar, the magma seemed to be flowing, and scorching heat rose from the ground, warping even the air.

Xia Mo cautiously swept his gaze over the shattered rock field. Finally, his eyes abruptly froze on a smooth stone platform at the far right edge of his vision. There, a white skeleton was sitting cross-legged!