Yulan Calendar, July 15, 9993.
The twenty-third day of summer vacation.
I returned to the Earth Fire Fissure deep in the back mountain.
Nearly ten days had passed since I'd discovered this place. During that time, I'd come here every day to cultivate for half a day. The magma at the bottom of the fissure flowed quietly, and waves of heat washed over me, making the air around it shimmer.
Today was different.
The Fallen Heart Flame trembled faintly inside me.
I fell silent for a moment, then began chanting a spell.
Air currents swirled around my body as I stepped out over the fissure and slowly descended.
The farther down I went, the hotter it became.
By the time I'd descended halfway, I was already sweating. At ten meters, my skin began to burn. At five meters, I had no choice but to raise a thin magical barrier around myself.
At last, my feet touched solid ground.
A narrow passage ran along the bottom of the fissure. Dark-red rock walls rose on either side, and the ground beneath my feet was scorching hot. Thirty or forty meters ahead, I could see a patch of dark-red light—the magma pool.
I walked down the passage.
The Fallen Heart Flame's pulsing grew more and more intense. Its longing was almost spilling out of me. I could feel that something up ahead was drawing it in.
When I reached the end of the passage, the space opened up before me.
It was an underground cavern roughly twenty zhang across. In the center lay a pool of churning magma. Bubbles rose to its surface from time to time, bursting and scattering sparks.
What drew my attention most was the very center of the magma pool.
There sat a black rock about the size of a millstone. Its surface was covered in cracks, and crimson light shone from within them. On top of the rock grew a small, entirely scarlet plant.
"This is..."
I thought carefully back to the Rare Plants of the Magical Beast Mountain Range I'd read in the library. A name surfaced in my mind—
Sun Flame Grass.
An exceptionally rare fire-type spirit plant, it grew only in places where fire elements were extremely concentrated and had to be near magma. They said it took a hundred years to mature. When it did, a Sun Flame Bead would condense at its tip, containing pure fire-element energy.
The plant before me had just matured.
No wonder the Fallen Heart Flame was so excited.
But that raised a problem: how was I supposed to reach the center of the magma pool?
I looked around. There was no bridge or path. My only option was to fly across. But with my half-baked Levitation spell, there was no telling whether I could land precisely on that rock.
If I fell into the magma, I'd be nothing but a skewer.
"I'll take my chances."
I took a deep breath and began chanting the Levitation spell.
Air currents swirled around me once more, and I slowly rose, drifting toward the center of the magma pool.
Three zhang, two zhang, one—
Almost there.
Just as I was less than two meters from the rock, the surface of the magma pool suddenly exploded!
A fiery-red shape shot out of the magma and lunged at me!
My pupils shrank. I didn't have time to see what it was, so I instinctively activated the Fallen Heart Flame.
Milky-white flames surged from my palm and collided head-on with the shape.
"Sss—!"
With a piercing shriek, the creature was struck by the Fallen Heart Flame and sent flying. It smashed into the rock wall, then fell to the ground.
At last, I could see what it looked like—
It was a snake. Its body was fiery red, about two meters long, and covered in fine scales. Its eyes were dark gold. The Fallen Heart Flame had scorched a patch of its body black, but it was still writhing. It clearly wasn't dead yet.
A level-four magical beast, the Fire Scale Snake.
The Magical Beasts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range had an entry on it: the Fire Scale Snake was a level-four fire-type magical beast that liked to dwell near magma. It was fast and aggressive, and could spit flames. Its weakness was sensitivity to low temperatures, but it had extremely strong fire resistance.
"Strong fire resistance?" I looked at its scorched scales and silently added, Looks like the Fallen Heart Flame's 'fire' isn't like ordinary fire.
The Fire Scale Snake writhed, its dark-gold eyes fixed on me, full of wariness. It didn't attack again, instead slowly retreating.
I didn't pursue it.
My goal was the Sun Flame Grass, not the snake. Besides, fighting in a place like this would be a bad idea. If I fell into the magma, I'd be in real trouble.
The Fire Scale Snake retreated to a corner, then darted into a crack in the rock and disappeared.
I breathed a sigh of relief and continued floating toward the rock.
At last, my feet touched down on it.
The rock was scorching hot. I could feel the heat even through the soles of my shoes. I crouched down and examined the Sun Flame Grass carefully.
Up close, its extraordinary nature was even more apparent. Its three leaves looked as if they'd been carved from red crystal, their veins clearly visible inside. The Sun Flame Bead at the tip was only the size of a grain of rice, yet it gave off a soft red glow, drawing the fire elements around it.
I reached out and gently plucked the Sun Flame Bead.
It was warm and smooth to the touch. The moment I picked it, the three leaves withered before my eyes, turned black, and finally crumbled to ash.
The Sun Flame Grass's essence was all in the bead.
Before I could decide what to do with it, the Fallen Heart Flame inside me suddenly began pulsing violently. Its longing was almost bursting through my chest—
It wanted the bead.
Without hesitation, I held the Sun Flame Bead in my palm and activated the Fallen Heart Flame.
The bead melted in an instant, turning into a surge of pure, fiery-red energy that flowed through my palm and into my body. The Fallen Heart Flame swallowed it in one gulp, like a beast that had been starving for ages.
Then—
A wave of heat erupted from within me!
It felt as though my whole body had been set alight. My skin turned red in an instant, and the sweat that welled up evaporated immediately. The air around me warped even more violently, and cracks began spreading across the rock beneath my feet.
I didn't know how long it took, but the wave of heat gradually subsided.
I opened my eyes.
The Fallen Heart Flame inside me had grown nearly twice as strong. It had changed from transparent and colorless to a faint milky white. I could clearly feel that the boost it gave me was greater than before.
[The Fallen Heart Flame has evolved: Juvenile Stage → Growth Stage.] [Current abilities: Automatic cultivation speed +150%, flame temperature +80%, enhanced mental attack.]
The system's voice rang in my mind.
I stood up and felt the changes within me.
My automatic cultivation speed had risen from 100% to 150%, my flame temperature from fifty percent to eighty percent, and my mental attack had grown stronger... This meant my current strength had increased by at least thirty percent.
"Worth it."
I looked at the magma pool around me, feeling a little moved. If the Fallen Heart Flame hadn't guided me, I'd never have found this Sun Flame Grass. And if its flames hadn't naturally countered the Fire Scale Snake, I would have been in danger just now.
After looking around and confirming there were no other threats, I started back.
I retraced my steps and climbed out of the fissure. By the time I reached the surface, evening had fallen.
The sun was setting, and the sunset had painted half the sky red.
I took a deep breath of fresh air, feeling like I was a different person.
By the time I got back to the dormitory, it was dark. After washing up, I lay down and closed my eyes, feeling the changes within me.
The Fallen Heart Flame burned quietly in my chest, steadier and stronger than before. I could clearly sense it pulsing slowly. With each pulse, a thread of warmth flowed through my limbs and organs, tempering my magical power.
In another year, I should reach level five. I began calculating.
Outside the window, the moonlight flowed like water.
At some point, Bebe had run over from Linley's side. He was curled up beside my pillow, purring softly.
I smiled and closed my eyes.
[Ding—The host has undergone an experience: Fallen Heart Flame evolution.] [Hidden condition triggered? Sign in?]
The system's voice suddenly rang out.
I silently said in my mind, Sign in.
[Sign-in successful.] [Reward obtained: Gate of Eternal Life: Demon Suppressing Bead (fragment)—Can temporarily suppress magical beasts, reducing their combat strength by thirty percent for the duration of one incense stick. Usable once per day.]
A light-gray bead appeared out of thin air in my palm, about the size of my thumb, with faint patterns flowing across its surface. I examined it for a moment, then tucked it into my clothes.
Another trump card.
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