Arriving at the Cavern, Reaching the Destination!

"Found the entrance?" Xiao Yan opened his eyes, a flicker of delight passing through them.

Because he had not paid much attention to such minor details, he only remembered that Hai Bodong's map recording the Heavenly Flames was genuine, and that one of the marked locations contained a passage leading to the underground Magma World.

Originally, he had planned to send people to search all three locations.

But Qing Lin's words—"Um... Young Master Xiao Yan... in the east... there really seems to be something strange."—directly awakened his memories.

That was right. In the original story, Qing Lin had sensed Queen Medusa's bloodline and helped him further pinpoint the location. How could he forget about her now?

Thus, without the slightest hesitation, Xiao Yan immediately gathered all his men and sent them to conduct a carpet search of the eastern area.

And Qing Lin's senses had not been wrong.

In only half a day, they had actually found something.

"Qing Lin, you did wonderfully." Xiao Yan rose to his feet, cupped Qing Lin's little face in both hands, and affectionately rubbed it.

"Young Master Xiao Yan~" Qing Lin's cheeks quickly flushed red. Her fair toes curled together in embarrassment like tiny grapes, making her look especially adorable.

Xiao Yan withdrew his hands and gaze, then patted Qing Lin's soft, rosy-white shoulder. He felt that this little girl was delicate all over, like a tiny cake that might crumble at the slightest touch.

"Come on, go with me." Xiao Yan took hold of Qing Lin's boneless wrist.

A trace of joy flashed through Qing Lin's eyes, but there was even more fear. Timidly, she tried to pull her arm back. "Young Master Xiao Yan... Qing Lin shouldn't... Qing Lin isn't good enough... People will gossip about you."

Xiao Yan immediately hardened his tone. "Would I be afraid of gossip? Even if they're jealous that I have such a cute little maid, I don't care. Let them be jealous."

With that, he pulled Qing Lin over in one swift motion, spreading the wings on his back.

Qing Lin stumbled into Xiao Yan's embrace. Tears of emotion welled at the corners of her eyes as though all strength had been drained from her body. She buried her little head against Xiao Yan's chest, unwilling to pull away.

Xiao Yan carried Qing Lin toward the eastern outskirts of the city, streaking through the sky like a purple rainbow.

Before long, he spotted his two older brothers leading a large group of mercenaries as they guarded a huge hole. He immediately flew down with Qing Lin.

After landing, he put away his Purple Cloud Wings, and Qing Lin also slipped out of his embrace.

Both of them felt a faint sense of emptiness.

Xiao Yan's expression remained unchanged as he looked at his brothers and asked, "Big Brother, Second Brother, is this the entrance?"

Xiao Ding nodded. "That's right. Before you arrived, your second brother and I each went down once. We confirmed that below is the sea of magma you mentioned. The magma inside is extraordinarily hot and violent, so be careful."

"Thank you for your concern, Big Brother. I'll be careful." After thanking him, Xiao Yan walked impatiently to the entrance.

Seeing Qing Lin standing still, he directly pulled her over. His movement seemed a little too rough, and he accidentally tugged down part of her sleeve, exposing the pale green snake scales on her arm.

In an instant, countless gazes converged on her, and Qing Lin began trembling all over in nervousness.

Xiao Yan glanced at Qing Lin with slight guilt. After pondering for two seconds, he raised her arm and openly displayed it before everyone.

"Very beautiful." He reached out and stroked it.

In that instant, everyone's gazes changed.

When Xiao Yan, whose strength surpassed everyone present and who was also the esteemed Alchemist, expressed his fondness for Qing Lin, some things quietly began to change.

As the surrounding gazes no longer held mockery and coldness, no longer disgust and disdain, Qing Lin snapped out of her daze. She only felt that the spot where Xiao Yan had touched her scales was burning hot.

Xiao Yan held Qing Lin and jumped into the hole.

The red Myriad Beast Spirit Flame completely enveloped them. Together with the Purple Cloud Wings slowing their descent, neither of them was affected, and they landed safely.

After landing, Xiao Yan took out a Moonlight Stone and gave it to Qing Lin for illumination.

A hazy glow spread out.

More than a dozen passages appeared before them.

Xiao Yan frowned slightly and said to Qing Lin, "Can you sense the exact location?"

Qing Lin nodded her little head, three tiny white dots faintly appearing and disappearing within her pupils.

After a while, she pointed at a passage slightly to the left. "The remaining aura here is the strongest."

Without any hesitation, Xiao Yan pulled Qing Lin into that passage.

As they entered the passage, the coolness gradually faded and was replaced by heat.

Xiao Yan understood that this meant they were about to enter the Magma World.

Sure enough, as everything in his field of vision suddenly brightened, a vast underground cavern came into view.

A massive amount of magma, nearly enough to be called a sea of magma, flowed below.

Excitement flashed through Xiao Yan's eyes. He knew he was not far from the Earth Fire Lotus Seed and the Earth Fire Lotus Platform.

However, he remembered that the sea of magma in the original story hid a fourth-tier Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake.

Naturally, he did not fear this magical beast.

But this magical beast had lived in the sea of magma for who knew how many years. If it guided him, it could save him a great deal of time.

Thinking this, Xiao Yan calmed himself and silently activated his [Myriad Beast] talent with all his strength.

The next instant, the originally faint exotic fragrance around him suddenly became rich, even penetrating through the magma.

"Glug glug~"

The magma boiled violently as two huge snake heads slowly emerged.

The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake!

In a sense, it was the guardian beast protecting the Green Lotus Core Flame.

Without defeating it, one could forget about seeing the Green Lotus Core Flame.

Of course, that only applied to other people.

"Come here. Take me to the depths beneath the magma, to the place with a lotus platform. Afterward, I'll give you a drop of my blood. How about it?" Xiao Yan tempted it.

The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake hesitated, but its eyes were clearly tempted.

Xiao Yan immediately understood, so he said, "Two drops. One for each of you. How about that?"

The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake no longer hesitated and nodded rapidly.

This human, who made them feel close to him while also radiating a powerful aura, was not someone they wanted to make an enemy of.

After finishing the exchange, Xiao Yan said to Qing Lin, "Wait quietly here for me."

Then, Xiao Yan separated a wisp of Myriad Beast Spirit Flame and formed it into an oval-shaped barrier around Qing Lin.

"This flame will protect you from the high temperature. It won't hurt you, so don't be afraid."

Qing Lin nodded obediently. "Yes, Young Master Xiao Yan."

Having received her answer, Xiao Yan followed the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake into the underground magma with peace of mind.

He had originally intended to use the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame to shield himself from the magma.

But perhaps due to his physical strength, or perhaps because of his Fire Spirit Body, the magma not only failed to burn him—it instead made him feel like a fish in water, incredibly comfortable.

After diving for some time, the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake gradually became unable to endure the heat and stopped. Its large heads pointed toward the depths, indicating that Xiao Yan was not far away.

Xiao Yan waved his hand, telling the Fire Spirit Snake to wait here, while he himself shot downward at top speed.

Within his vision, the Cyan Lotus Platform came into view.

But in Xiao Yan's eyes, it was automatically converted into [One-Click Dou Wang].