Lava Sea
On his second visit, Bi Fan already knew his way around.
When he reached the sea of fire, he paused and glanced sideways at the enormous fire snake standing nearby, watching him with an expressionless face.
Bi Fan gave an awkward laugh and hurriedly leaped into the sea.
He worried that this thing might suddenly get a dangerous idea into its head. If that happened, he'd be done for.
Protected by his dragon scales, Bi Fan was unharmed by the sea of fire. After absorbing the Chaos Qi within the flames, he no longer felt quite so hot.
He made his way downward. After searching for a while without finding any sign of the Golden Little Dragon, he asked through the Sea of Consciousness, "Xiao Lian, where are you?"
After a long pause, a low voice finally drifted back. "At the bottom of the lava."
Bi Fan continued downward. At last, he stopped before an enormous lava pool, staring at it in stunned silence.
The sight before him left him shaken.
A sea of lava stretched before him, formed by countless streams of molten rock. The fiery red lava surged and roiled.
Fiery, scorching, turbulent, and utterly dangerous.
If the flames above were the size of stars, then this lava was like the blazing sun.
If anyone accidentally fell in, they would be swallowed up in less than a breath, without even a scrap left behind.
"Master," Dragon Sable said softly, "the Chaos Qi contained in this lava seems more viscous than that in the flames outside."
Bi Fan nodded. He sensed it too. The Chaos Qi in the lava seemed several times purer than that in the flames.
But even he, bold as he was, didn't dare try swallowing any of this lava!
He sighed silently, then