Flame Lizardman

Qin Han's heart tightened slightly, but he said nothing.

According to the academy, Fallen Heart Flame had been accidentally discovered by Mang Tianchi back then, and Jia Nan Academy had been established here afterward.

But that was a claim passed down from who knew how many years ago. What had truly happened could no longer be verified.

"The first to discover it within the earth veins was our sect's Grand Elder! The elders were ecstatic and had already begun preparing to capture and refine it!"

His tone suddenly turned fierce, filled with resentment. "It was Mang Tianchi who interfered! Relying on his overwhelming strength, he not only sealed the Heart Flame first, but also claimed the land and built an academy, brazenly taking the Supreme Treasure our sect had coveted for years as his own and raising the banner of Jia Nan Academy!"

At the mention of that name, Yun Qianhang's withered fingers clawed at the black rock beneath him, leaving several faint white scratches.

"Old man, I naturally don't know what exactly happened back then. But a natural wonder like Fallen Heart Flame belongs to whoever obtains it first. Your Fallen Fire Sect failed to seize it early on, yet you still have the nerve to blame Jia Nan Academy?"

"Besides, this is the Black Corner Region! Isn't Sect Leader Yun being a little too naive saying that?"

Qin Han shot back without mercy.

"Heh, as expected of a little brat from Jia Nan Academy. You say exactly the same things as that bastard Mang Tianchi!"

A flicker of venom flashed through Yun Qianhang's eyes.

"Mang Qianchi possessed unrivaled strength, with the power of a Dou Zun. Naturally, my Fallen Fire Sect could not compare. But since that is the rule, my Fallen Fire Sect will not stand on ceremony!"

Qin Han raised a brow. "So... you made a move against Fallen Heart Flame?"

Yun Qianhang said nothing, silently admitting it.

"You dared to steal it?"

Yun Qianhang remained silent, his gaze unconsciously drifting toward the magma lake below.

Qin Han caught that tiny movement.

In a flash, an utterly unbelievable thought crossed his mind.

"You didn't dare seize it openly... Fallen Fire Sect entered through the Underground Lava World?!"

This time, it was Yun Qianhang's turn to be stunned. His mouth hung open, and his dry throat bobbed several times. Clearly, he had not expected Qin Han's mind to work so quickly.

"You..."

Yun Qianhang stood frozen for a long while before letting out a dejected sigh.

"That's right..."

"The magma world beneath the earth veins is far vaster and more complex than one could imagine. Like a spiderweb, it stretches in every direction."

Yun Qianhang seemed to recall distant memories. A crazed curve pulled at his lips. "Since we could not compete above ground, then we would go underground!

"Fallen Heart Flame was sealed deep beneath Jia Nan Academy. That was not difficult information to obtain.

"As long as we searched along Jia Nan Academy's approximate location, we would surely find the Heart Flame!"

Qin Han picked up where he left off. "So, a hundred years ago, you completely sealed off your sect under the pretext of raising the grade of Myriad Stars Flame. You activated the Sect Protecting Formation and cut off all investigation from within and without."

"All so you could venture deep into this underground world and steal Fallen Heart Flame!"

Yun Qianhang sneered, turning Qin Han's words against him. "Since it is a natural wonder, whoever has the ability obtains it. How can my Fallen Fire Sect's actions be called theft?"

Qin Han did not care about that. Frowning deeply, he said, "But you failed. What happened to you in the Underground Lava World...?"

The instant he asked that question, Qin Han already had a terrifying suspicion.

And the flash of fear in Yun Qianhang's murky eyes further confirmed it.

The Underground Lava World, especially the one beneath the Black Corner Region, contained far more than fire poison and searing heat. It also held the greatest secret of the entire Dou Qi Continent!

"You brat... you're quite clever..."

Yun Qianhang's breathing grew increasingly uneven, and an irrepressible terror unconsciously surfaced in his eyes.

"You're right. An accident occurred in this sunless hellhole."

"Or rather... we encountered enemies..."

"They were... an extremely strange kind of creature."

Yun Qianhang hesitated, seemingly wary. "They lived in magma. They resembled upright lizards, their entire bodies covered in scales, and they could move freely through the scorching magma..."

As expected!

Qin Han silently exclaimed. The ones who had destroyed the Fallen Fire Sect back then had been the Flame Lizardmen of the Underground Lava World.

As though lost in memory, Yun Qianhang's voice carried traces of the surprise and greed he had felt upon first seeing them. "At first, we merely encountered them by chance and killed them casually."

"Casually?"

Qin Han sneered.

The bark-like skin on Yun Qianhang's aged face twitched. "We discovered... that a strange Fire Bead was nurtured within their bodies, containing exceptionally pure fire-attribute energy.

"For people like us, who cultivate fire-attribute Cultivation Methods and must spend long periods underground, they were an excellent source of replenishment."

"Later, in order to sustain the costs of exploration and for the cultivation gains brought by those Fire Beads, we began... deliberately hunting those lizardmen."

As he spoke, a streak of red light flashed across Yun Qianhang's palm, and a scorching Fire Bead appeared.

Qin Han drew the Fire Bead over. With a brief examination, he understood why the Fallen Fire Sect had dared to take such a risk back then.

Although he had long known that Fire Beads existed within the lizardmen, only by holding one in his hand could he truly feel the immense fire-attribute energy contained inside.

This tiny bead in Qin Han's hand was likely equivalent to three to five days of cultivation for him.

Yun Qianhang did not need to explain what happened next; Qin Han could already guess.

The Flame Lizardmen were no harmless creatures. The deeper one went, the stronger their forces became. Let alone a small Fallen Fire Sect, even a Dou Zun might not be able to return unscathed.

Yun Qianhang closed his eyes, seemingly unwilling to look at the scenes surging forth from his memories.

"We... went too deep."

His voice began to tremble. "Until that day, when we disturbed something we should never have provoked."

"A lizardman at least at the peak of the Dou Zong realm led an uncountable number of its kin out from the depths of the Lava Sea. Our little fire-controlling arts were nothing but a joke before it."

"They seemed to be restricted by something and unable to survive away from the lava, but they could control the fire poison that had accumulated in these underground depths for who knew how many tens of thousands of years."

Yun Qianhang's voice suddenly rose, trembling with despair.

"That was no ordinary residual fire poison. It was a filthy substance formed from mutated accumulations of earthfire essence mixed with countless geocentric yin fiends. It could corrode Dou Qi, contaminate souls, and turn living people into mindless monsters!"

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Growing agitated, Yun Qianhang broke into another violent coughing fit, spitting out black blood.

"Heh..."

"So in the end, wasn't it your Fallen Fire Sect that brought this upon yourselves? If you hadn't coveted the Fire Beads, how could you have invited the calamity of your sect's destruction?"

Qin Han sneered.

"And it was you, Mang Qianchi, who stole my Fallen Heart Flame first!" Yun Qianhang stared fixedly at Qin Han with venomous eyes.

Qin Han spread his hands, too lazy to waste words on this Old Thing.

The truth of that year had already been uncovered, and his injuries had healed. The most pressing matter now was finding a way to escape.

This place was, after all, connected to the underground depths. Who knew to what extent the fire poison would accumulate if he stayed too long?

With that thought, Qin Han summoned his Wings and flew straight toward the furnace overhead.

Yun Qianhang let out a scornful sneer.

This time, Qin Han did not attack directly. Instead, he carefully probed the edges of the furnace with the Fallen Heart Flame, trying to find a crack or a weak point in the seal.

Runes covered the furnace's inner walls, most of them currently obscured by rock ash and solidified lava.

"Hm?"

As he examined an area slightly left of the furnace's lower center, the finger covered in flame suddenly sensed an extremely faint leak of energy.

Qin Han carefully used Dou Qi to strip away the rock ash and Sulfides.

Gradually, a section of the furnace's inner wall about a zhang square was clearly revealed before him.

The markings on it were not reinforcing or offensive Runes, but powerful, vigorous characters.

The characters seemed fused with the material of the furnace wall itself, giving off an aura of the same origin that felt exceedingly familiar to Qin Han.

Qin Han's gaze rapidly swept across the opening lines. His breathing suddenly halted, then uncontrollably quickened, and a scorching light appeared in his eyes!

At the very top stood several ancient characters of majestic grandeur.

Myriad Stars Flame Scripture!