Entering the Flame Palace
Led by Ma Xiaotao, the three of them quickly traversed the valley and forest.
It's strange, really. In such a large valley, we didn't even encounter a single Ten-Year Soul Beast, only some ordinary small animals.
The three arrived at a shrub-covered area at the bottom of the extinct volcano. Ma Xiaotao cleared away all the branches and vegetation from a boulder with a single palm strike. Then, flames erupted from her right hand as she truly used her Soul Power to strike down again!
With a loud "boom," the two-meter-high boulder was smashed to pieces.
Then, a pitch-black passage appeared before Zhou Huan and Zhang Lexuan.
At this moment, Ma Xiaotao turned around and said, "The boulder was moved here as cover when I left. Now, we can go directly into the Underground Palace from here."
After saying that, Ma Xiaotao took the lead and walked ahead, while also emitting a small amount of flame for lighting.
Zhou Huan was a little envious; his ice couldn't be used as a flashlight here.
As they ventured deeper into the passage, Zhou Huan could feel the surrounding temperature gradually rising.
As Ice Attribute Soul Master, Zhou Huan is very sensitive to temperature changes. He can detect even a change of 0.1 degrees Celsius, let alone 1 degree Celsius.
After walking for about twenty minutes, the three of them finally emerged from the winding passage that stretched for at least ten kilometers.
At this point, Zhou Huan had no idea how deep they had gone underground.
But that's not the point. The point is that Zhou Huan saw the Lava World before him.
Like rivers flowing into the sea, countless small tributaries of dark red lava are continuously converging into a huge Magma Lake.
The air temperature here is extremely high, but it's nothing to Zhou Huan, who possesses the Extreme Ice; in fact, it can even protect Zhang Lexuan.
As for Ma Xiaotao, with her Extreme Fire, there's nothing to worry about.
"Let's go, that door is in the Underground Palace across from the Magma Lake, and it's much bigger over there."
Ma Xiaotao spoke, a pair of fiery red Phoenix Wings unfurled behind her with a "whoosh," and she soared into the air, not forgetting to give Zhou Huan a smug look back.
After spending these past few days together, although she's been bombarded with displays of affection, Ma Xiaotao's preconceived notions about Zhou Huan have improved considerably. This isn't because of the Blazing Gum incident, but because she's truly come to know this junior student in a new light.
So the initial awkwardness disappeared, and they became more familiar with each other.
Zhou Huan completely ignored Ma Xiaotao's boasting and looked at Zhang Lexuan instead.
Clearly, this kid is trying to "live off a woman" again.
Zhang Lexuan didn't say anything. Instantly, a gentle, moonlight-like Soul Power enveloped both her and Zhou Huan, lifting them into the air.
Seeing this, Ma Xiaotao's lips twitched. She wondered if she had been stupid to go through all that trouble. Hadn't she already eaten enough dog food along the way?
Afterwards, Ma Xiaotao could only fly to the other side of the Magma Lake without looking back, out of sight, out of mind. This was especially true for the two of them who were still in the ambiguous stage of their relationship, which made people even more jealous.
Seeing Ma Xiaotao fly away, Zhang Lexuan naturally followed in a streak of light, taking Zhou Huan with her.
Currently, Ma Xiaotiao is only around level 73. Even with the Phoenix Wings that allow her to fly, she can't outrun Zhang Lexuan, a level 92 Titled Douluo.
After flying for about fifteen minutes, Zhou Huan finally saw the ground.
Sure enough, this underground Lava World was ridiculously large.
After landing, Zhou Huan asked, puzzled, "Senior Ma, how did you find such a secluded place? And most people wouldn't even think of flying over to see a lava lake like this, right?"
Ma Xiaotao replied, "I discovered this lava lake by chance. I just thought it looked like a great place where fire-attribute Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures could grow, so I flew around to take a look. Anyway, the temperature here doesn't affect me much."
Uh... Zhou Huan was speechless. So he was just wandering around casually when he discovered that unusual Underground Palace Stone Gate?
"How we found it isn't important. What's important is that we're here now. Let's go, let's head to the Flame Palace first."
After saying that, Ma Xiaotao led Zhou Huan and Zhang Lexuan through a maze of turns for more than ten minutes before finally arriving at an ancient gate.
Ma Xiaotao pressed her palm into a groove in the door, and immediately, her entire palm burst forth with Extreme Fire!
With a loud "Boom!", the door was flung open.
At this moment, Ma Xiaotao turned around and said, "Inside is the Flame Palace, but my Extreme Fire can only open this one door. There is another special door inside that I alone cannot open."
Zhang Lexuan said, "Let's go in and take a look first."
Then, the three of them went through the gate and went inside.
Zhou Huan looked around the Underground Palace. There was no lava here, but Colorful Fire were burning all around.
That's right, they're all sorts of colors—red, blue, purple, white... and even some mixed colors.
At this moment, Zhou Huan finally understood why Ma Xiaotao called this Underground Palace the Flame Palace.
However, none of these Colorful Fire were high-temperature or low-temperature; they were just like objects at normal temperature.
Zhou Huan stretched out his hand, wrapped a ball of cyan flame with his Soul Power, placed it in his palm, and then clenched it tightly, only to find that the flame immediately dissipated.
It felt as if clear water was being held in one's hand, flowing away from the fingertips.
The dissipated blue flames returned to their original location.
This kind of fire was something Zhou Huan had never seen before, let alone heard of.
Seeing this, Ma Xiaotao said, "These fires are very strange. Even with my Extreme Fire, I have no idea what these Colorful Fire are. In any case, even my Extreme Fire can't destroy them, but they don't seem to hurt anyone either."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Huan stopped studying the fire. He even asked the Snow Empress in the Floating Pagoda, but Snow Empress said she didn't know either, adding that her name was Snow Empress, not Fire Empress, so it was normal that she didn't know.
Zhou Huan was already used to Snow Empress's arrogance.
As for things that even Snow Empress had never seen before, Zhou Huan said that it was impossible for him to figure them out in a short period of time.
So, I'll just leave it for now.
The three continued on their way and soon arrived at the special Stone Gate that Ma Xiaotao had mentioned.
The Stone Gate was actually composed of two different colored boulders, one crimson and the other pure white.
The two colors of boulders are interlocked and glued together, as if they were one.
Placed in this Flame Palace, it resembles a door; but if viewed alone, it doesn't look like a "door" at all.
However, looking at the whole picture, Zhou Huan finally understood why Ma Xiaotao concluded that this special Stone Gate required both Extreme Fire and Extreme Ice to open.
Doesn't that crimson boulder represent the Extreme Fire?
That pure white boulder was clearly the Extreme Ice.
"Ready?" Ma Xiaotao asked.
"Let's begin," Zhou Huan replied.
Immediately, Ma Xiaotao pressed her palm onto the crimson boulder, while Zhou Huan pressed his hand onto the pure white boulder!
The next second, Ma Xiaotao's Extreme Fire and Zhou Huan's Extreme Ice erupted simultaneously!
Extreme heat and extreme cold simultaneously permeated the Stone Gate, but to the surprise of the three, the Stone Gate not only did not open, but the crimson boulder and the pure white boulder seemed to have become even more tightly interlocked, though they were unsure if it was just their imagination.
Zhou Huan and Ma Xiaotao exchanged a glance and immediately stopped transferring their ice and fire Soul Power.
Ma Xiaotao lips parted slightly, and after a long while, she finally said, "What... what's going on?"
"You ask me, but I don't know either," Zhou Huan said, unsure how to explain it.
At this moment, Zhang Lexuan said, "Why don't you two try doing it the other way around?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Huan's eyes lit up!
Yes, why must we use Extreme Fire to match the crimson boulder, and Extreme Ice to match the pure white boulder?
Fixed mindsets are deadly!
Then, following Zhang Lexuan's instructions, Zhou Huan used the Extreme Ice to strike the crimson boulder, while Ma Xiaotao used the Extreme Fire to strike the pure white boulder.
The next instant, the crimson boulder and the pure white boulder simultaneously and slowly melted away...
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