Scorching Fire Incineration

"The entrance to this cave was originally blocked by yellow sand. If Qing Lian hadn't noticed some strange aura lingering here, we probably wouldn't have been able to find it."

A mercenary replied with a smile.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan looked at Qing Lian opposite him and noticed that the little maid was covered in yellow sand, but her delicate face was filled with a happy smile.

It seems that after helping him change his clothes, Qing Lian came to help him find the cave entrance.

Noticing Xiao Yuan's gaze sweeping over, Qing Lian met his eyes, her face slightly flushed, and then she winked at him playfully.

"Hehe, Qing Lian, well done!"

Xiao Yuan gave Qing Lian a thumbs-up and smiled as she looked at the radiant smile that appeared on her face.

Xiao Yan, standing to the side, smiled kindly at Qing Lian and nodded gratefully. Then, he went to the dark cave entrance, flipped his hand, and a Moonlight Stone appeared in his palm. He then threw it into the cave.

The faint glow emitted by the Moonlight Stone rolled around a few times in the dark cave before gradually disappearing completely.

Watching the Moonlight Stone disappear rapidly, Xiao Yan frowned slightly and said softly, "It seems that this passage is not a straight line."

"Yes, we had someone do a preliminary survey earlier. There are at least a dozen passages below, and they are all winding and twisting, just like the passages crawled by a giant snake."

The mercenary who had led the way replied with a wry smile.

"I see, so it seems they tried to crawl through this tunnel!"

Xiao Yuan nodded thoughtfully, already having a guess in his mind. Medusa must have already taken the Heavenly Flames.

According to Qing Lin, the unusual activity here occurred three months ago, which means...

"Should I send people down to search one by one?"

Xiao Ding's laughter suddenly came from behind.

Xiao Yan turned around, looked at Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, shook his head slightly, and said:

"I don't know what dangers might lie down there. I'm already very satisfied that the mercenary brothers have gone to such great lengths to help me find the passage. If they were to go in and something were to happen that caused damage, that would be something I don't want to see."

"Hehe, Fourth Commander, don't worry, there are no cowards in our Desert Iron Mercenary Group."

The surrounding members of the Mo Tie Regiment laughed loudly.

"Alright, big brother, I'll go down with Xiao Yan. You can trust my strength, right? I'll mark the way. If we're down there for too long and haven't come back up, big brother can just follow the marks and bring people down."

Xiao Yuan said with a smile.

"That's good. If you're not strong enough, there's not much point in us going down there. You two are the hope of the Xiao Clan, so take good care of yourselves!"

Xiao Ding pondered for a moment, then solemnly gave his instructions.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan and Xiao Yan nodded in unison and agreed.

"Um... Young Master...there are still traces of that person's presence in the passage below, from three months ago. I think I can help you find the correct passage."

Qing Lian, who was standing to the side, tugged at Xiao Yuan's sleeve and said timidly.

"Oh? Is that so? Then come down with me."

Xiao Yuan did not question her words, but instead reached out and put his arm around Qing Lian's slender waist, gently patting her back to signal her to hold him tighter.

"Um."

After Xiao Yuan trusted her and immediately pulled her into his arms, Qing Lian blushed and responded, then hugged Xiao Yuan tightly.

"Xiao Yan, I'll go down first. You follow me and place the marker."

Xiao Yuan turned to look at Xiao Yan, indicating that he would take the lead.

He has successfully cultivated the Di Kun Sutra. Possessing Earth Rank Low Level Earth-attribute cultivation technique, he can perceive the underground environment to the greatest extent and use Earth-attribute Dou Qi to stabilize the passage.

"Good!"

Xiao Yan nodded upon hearing this, stood aside, rubbing his hands together, eager to try.

"Big brother, second brother, I'm leaving the job up there to you!"

After giving some instructions, Xiao Yuan looked solemnly at Xiao Ding and Xiao Li.

"Don't worry, no one will bother you!"

Xiao Ding smiled and patted Xiao Yuan on the shoulder, saying...

"Yes, Qing Lian, hold on tight, we're getting ready to go down!"

Xiao Yuan nodded, then whispered to Qing Lian in his arms.

Upon hearing this, Qing Lian nodded obediently, and then felt her body enter a state of weightlessness. She quickly hugged Xiao Yuan even tighter.

In the pitch-black passage, Xiao Yuan held Qing Lian tightly in his arms. The two of them slid down the slope of the passage, and earth-attribute energy spread along the places where Xiao Yuan slid, stabilizing the overall structure of the passage.

Xiao Yan behind him was on high alert, but fortunately, Yao Lao was secretly probing, so he wasn't worried about being attacked by anything.

His gaze swept across the cave walls on either side of him. After a while, Xiao Yan was somewhat surprised to find that the passage was extremely smooth, with hardly any stones protruding from the walls. It looked as if it had been violently blasted out by an extremely large energy pillar.

After sliding for nearly two or three minutes, Xiao Yuan could see the bottom of the passage. He then moved and landed steadily. His eyes swept across the road ahead and he immediately spotted the dozen or so intricate, dark passages that the mercenary group members had mentioned.

Seeing this, Xiao Yuan smiled at Qing Lian and said, "Try to sense it."

"Um."

Upon hearing this, Qing Lian nodded, wrapped her arms around Xiao Yuan's neck, turned around to look at the passage, blinked slightly, and three extremely tiny green dots silently appeared around her emerald pupils.

Qing Lian's Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils are the nemesis of snakes, and she is also extremely sensitive to the scent of snakes.

However, she herself did not know it, and only thought that it was the Source Qi in her blood.

Xiao Yan, who was behind, also wisely kept quiet.

After a moment of silence, Qing Lian stretched out her small hand, pointed to a passage slightly to the left, and whispered:

"Young Master, although there are some residual traces in the other passages, this passage has the densest traces. It seems that the person stayed here the longest three months ago!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan tried to sense it. There was nothing unusual in the passage. However, the earth-attribute energy deep inside was suppressed to the point of being almost imperceptible. What suppressed it was the extremely hot Fire Attribute Energy.

It seems this is the way.

With a thought flashing through his mind, Xiao Yuan took the lead and walked in.

Xiao Yan followed closely behind.

"Xiao Yan, I estimate that our chances of finding the Heavenly Flames this time are probably not very high!"

As they walked down the corridor, Xiao Yuan spoke calmly.

"Hmm, is it because Medusa has already been here?"

Xiao Yan frowned upon hearing this, then his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly asked.

"Yes, Medusa is at the Dou Huang Peak. Only she could pull off such a grand scheme. So I think there's a good chance that the Heavenly Flames has already fallen into her hands."

Xiao Yuan nodded, giving Xiao Yan a heads-up.

"What does she want the Heavenly Flames for?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan asked in confusion.

"I guess she wants to advance to the Dou Zong level. I've read some information about the Snake-People Tribe Queen in ancient books. It says that when Medusa reaches the Dou Huang Peak, if she has enough luck, she can undergo a strange evolution. After the evolution, Medusa can freely transform into human form."

Moreover, their strength will naturally advance to the level of Dou Zong expert. However, the success rate of this evolution seems to be quite low, and most importantly, the necessary element for this evolution is Heavenly Flames ..."

"Hiss, so if she really succeeds, wouldn't the Snake-People Tribe have one more Dou Zong powerhouse?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan couldn't help but gasp and said in shock.

"It's not guaranteed to succeed. What if she doesn't take the Heavenly Flames? Right?"

Xiao Yuan didn't dare to guarantee that Medusa would definitely succeed, and said with a faint smile.

As we walked, the temperature around us rose.

This greatly boosted Xiao Yan's spirits.

However, Xiao Yuan was not too excited. In his opinion, Medusa was probably already preparing something for evolution.

Moreover, the wild Green Lotus Core Flame has already reached maturity, possessing spirituality and terrifyingly high Heavenly Flames. Medusa may have been injured in the process of collecting the Heavenly Flames.

Therefore, if she were to start evolving hastily, she would most likely fail.

Now that I possess Heavenly Flames, could I make a deal with Medusa?

Amidst his racing thoughts, Xiao Yuan didn't even notice that the Fire Essence Art within his body had begun to operate on its own!

However, the approaching red light and intense heat quickly drew Xiao Yuan's attention back to himself.

Standing at the end of the passage, Xiao Yuan gazed at the fiery red world that appeared before him, his pupils trembling slightly.

They say seeing is believing, and the scene before him truly broadened the horizons of Xiao Yuan, a homebody who rarely went out in his previous life.

Inside the enormous cavern, crimson magma flowed slowly, occasionally with huge bubbles rising from it. Moments later, with a soft sound, the magma would burst open, shooting out in a dazzling display like fireworks.

Standing at the end of the small passage, Xiao Yuan and the other two looked at the seemingly endless Magma World before them. In their shock, they all involuntarily swallowed.

"Whoosh!"

The intense heat in the air made Xiao Yuan feel slightly uncomfortable, so he circulated his Dou Qi. The fire-attribute Dou Qi, mixed with black and white flames, formed Douqi Gauze Robe on his body, directly filtering out the violent Fire Attribute Energy and drawing it into his Crimson Fire Qi Gathering Palace.

A bold idea emerged in Xiao Yuan's mind.

If he wasn't in a hurry, he could stay in this Magma World and cultivate.

The Fire Attribute Energy here is quite abundant, making it even more suitable for fire-attribute individuals to cultivate than the sun-baked Tagor Desert.

Xiao Yan, standing to the side, had no choice but to summon his Purple Flame Douqi Gauze Robe to resist the scorching heat.

On the contrary, Qing Lian, who possessed the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, showed absolutely no signs of discomfort at this moment.

"Third Brother, should I go down and take a look?"

After hesitating for a moment, Xiao Yan asked.

"Hmm, I have Heavenly Flames, so I can go down with you. But that would put Qing Lian in trouble. You'll have to go down by yourself. Be careful!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuan pondered for a moment, then spoke solemnly.

"Don't worry, Third Brother, I'll be careful."

Xiao Yan nodded, and then prepared to go down and take a look with the help of Yao Lao.

"Young Master Xiao Yan, please wait! There seems to be something hidden inside this magma!"

Qing Lian, who had already been put down by Xiao Yuan, suddenly spoke.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan was startled and turned to look into the magma, but found no signs of any living creature.

"It's inside that magma. I can sense a faint, yet very strong, presence of it!"

Qing Lian stared intently at a certain spot in the churning lava, her emerald eyes gleaming with a faint light, as if she could see through the lava and discern something mysterious hidden beneath.

"How strong is Miss Qing Lian?"

Xiao Yan quickly asked.

"Hmm, he's a bit stronger than Luo Bu, the leader of the Sand Mercenary Group!"

After thinking for a moment, Qing Lian guessed and said.

"It seems that thing's strength is around the Dou Ling."

Xiao Yuan analyzed from the side.

"Brother, if there really is a creature that can live in magma, then the trouble it would cause in this situation would probably be no less than that of a Dou Wang expert!"

A serious expression appeared on Xiao Yan's face as he spoke in a deep voice.

"It's alright, I'll figure out a way to deal with that thing. Once I've got it entangled, you can go down and search for the treasure!"

Xiao Yuan waved his hand and said calmly.

"Brother, that's a creature above the Dou Ling!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan looked at Xiao Yuan with a worried expression.

"Don't worry, just go and come back quickly. You might even need to refine some medicine to strengthen my body and replenish my Essence Nurturing. In this environment, that thing might have some advantages, but with my Heavenly Flames, I'm truly in my element!"

Xiao Yuan flipped his hand, and the Yin Yang Dual Flames rose and vanished in his palm, faintly revealing a profound aura.

"Besides, I don't intend to kill it, but just to hold it off. With my speed and agility, I won't be at a disadvantage."

Immediately afterwards, the Purple Cloud Wings shot out from behind, carrying Xiao Yuan into the air.

"Douqi Transformation Wings!? Bro, you've already become Dou Wang?"

Upon seeing this, Xiao Yan was immediately shocked.

Seeing Xiao Yan's shocked expression, Xiao Yuan chuckled and shook his head, "This is not Douqi Transformation Wings, but just an extremely rare Flying Dou Technique. Its flight speed is far slower than wings that are actually formed from Dou Qi, but if you add my Wind Attribute Dou Qi, the speed is not bad!"

"Okay, that makes me feel much more at ease!"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan shook his head helplessly and sighed.

"Get ready, I'm about to begin."

Xiao Yuan smiled upon hearing this, then flew into the air, unleashed Heavenly Flames from his hand, hovered in mid-air, and then formed a set of hand seals.

The next moment, the Yin Yang Dual Flames fell into the magma and began to absorb the rich Fire Attribute Energy within it.

Soon, Xiao Yuan's powerful senses detected that a huge figure was approaching from below the magma not far away, poised to attack.

"Get out here!"

Xiao Yuan shouted in a deep voice, and the Yin Yang Dual Flames, which had absorbed a large amount of Fire Attribute Energy, transformed into black and white fire waves, striking the huge figure! (Note: The last sentence appears to be an unrelated technical issue and is likely a separate update note.)