Green Phosphorus Fire Seed

Ya Fei's efficiency exceeded Su Chen's expectations.

It had been a mere day.

When Su Chen stepped into that familiar top-floor secret chamber once more, he was no longer greeted by curling incense smoke or a languid beauty.

A wide, long table made of rosewood had replaced the original plush sofa.

On the tabletop, nearly a hundred scrolls of varying materials were neatly stacked.

Some were crafted from rough beast hide, emitting a faint scent of blood and wild savagery.

Others were made of delicate silk, the handwriting elegant and refined, clearly the work of a scribe from some great family.

A portion of them were recorded on a special paper that shimmered with a metallic luster, bearing the unique wax seal of the Miteer Chamber of Commerce.

This was the intelligence network the Mite'er Family had cultivated for decades in the northeastern region of the Jia Ma Empire, revealing the tip of its iceberg to Su Chen for the first time.

Ya Fei had changed into a capable, tight-fitting purple outfit today, shedding some of her usual allure for the crisp decisiveness of a powerful woman.

She stood beside the long table, her jade-like hand brushing lightly over the scrolls.

"These are the ninety-seven pieces of intelligence initially screened according to your requirements."

"All of them are related to flames, exotic beasts, or ancient ruins."

"Seventy-two of them have been preliminarily verified by our people and have a credibility rating of over fifty percent. The remaining twenty-five are ancient and their authenticity is difficult to discern, but they still hold reference value."

Her voice was crisp and sharp, without a hint of hesitation.

Su Chen walked to the table, his gaze sweeping over the scrolls one by one.

He did not rush to flip through them.

He simply stood quietly, feeling the "weight" contained within each piece of intelligence with his eyes.

It was an information fortress built by a massive commercial empire with countless gold coins and human lives.

And now, the gates of this fortress had been opened a crack for him.

"You have my thanks."

Su Chen's voice was as steady as ever.

Ya Fei watched him, a flicker of curiosity flashing through her beautiful peach-blossom eyes.

She was eager to know which one this man would choose first from this vast sea of information as his target.

Would it be the legendary cave dwelling of some powerhouse?

Or perhaps a forgotten ancient herb garden?

Su Chen reached out, his slender fingers precisely plucking one scroll from the pile.

It was a piece of intelligence recorded on the most ordinary parchment, looking entirely unremarkable.

He unfurled the scroll.

The information on it was so simple it bordered on crude.

Three hundred li west of Wutan City, Black Wind Swamp.

Mercenaries had witnessed the appearance of a Tier 2 Magical Beast, the "Green Phosphorus Poison Python." Its fire was emerald green in color and caused rot upon contact; it was suspected to be a rare poison fire.

Green Phosphorus Poison Python.

It was not a particularly powerful Tier 2 Magical Beast, even weaker than the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake he had encountered before.

Seeing his choice, Ya Fei's willow brows furrowed slightly.

"Sir, although this Green Phosphorus Poison Python is not strong, its venom is fierce, and the environment of the Black Wind Swamp is harsh and filled with miasma, making it extremely dangerous."

She paused, then added.

"If you require manpower, my Miteer Auction House can arrange an elite guard unit for you."

"No need."

Su Chen closed the scroll and tucked it into his robes.

"I will go myself."

Having said that, he did not linger, turning and walking toward the exit of the secret chamber.

Ya Fei watched his lean, solitary back, her lips parting as if to speak, but in the end, she said nothing more.

She knew that once this man made a decision, no one could change it.

Yet, the curiosity in her heart only grew more intense.

She did not believe that Su Chen would act without a purpose.

What secret could this small Green Phosphorus Poison Python possibly hide that made him select it at first glance from nearly a hundred pieces of intelligence?

Black Wind Swamp.

It was shrouded year-round in a layer of grayish-black miasma.

The air was thick with a nauseating stench of decay.

Beneath the viscous mud, no one knew how many lethal venomous insects and traps lay hidden.

A figure moved like a ghost, darting rapidly across the gnarled, intertwined roots of dead trees within the swamp.

It was Su Chen.

He was no longer the youth who had once needed to carefully dodge magical beasts.

After advancing to a Dou Practitioner, his speed, strength, and reflexes had all undergone a qualitative leap.

More importantly, his perception of flame had become unprecedentedly sharp.

He closed his eyes.

In his mental perception, the entire swamp transformed into a three-dimensional map composed of countless points of energy.

The rotting vegetation emitted faint, dim halos of energy.

The venomous insects lurking in the mud appeared as cold, dark purple dots.

He was like a precision radar, rapidly filtering out all useless information from this complex energy field to search for his target.

Found it.

Deep in the swamp, there was a massive cave entrance.

A cold, damp, yet strangely scorching energy fluctuation was slowly drifting out from within.

That energy manifested in a sickly, emerald green hue.

Su Chen's figure came to a halt on a massive dead tree.

He did not rashly charge in.

Instead, he took a Rock Fire Seed from his bosom.

With a flick of his finger, the tiny spark seemed imbued with life, landing silently on a pile of withered grass not far from the cave entrance.

Having done this, Su Chen's figure vanished completely into the dense miasma, as if he had never appeared at all.

He was like the most patient hunter, waiting for his prey to step into the trap of its own accord.

Time ticked away, second by second.

About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a teeth-gritting "hissing" sound echoed from within the cave.

A massive, triangular snake head covered in dark green scales slowly emerged from the darkness.

Those cold, slit pupils flickered with a cruel and vigilant light.

It had smelled it.

It smelled a scent of flame that made it feel extremely displeased, yet was filled with temptation.

The gaze of the Green Phosphorus Poison Python quickly locked onto the pile of withered grass burning with orange-red flames.

As a magical beast born with poisonous fire, it possessed a natural repulsion toward and a desire to devour other flames.

After confirming there was no danger in the surroundings, greed overcame caution.

Its massive body, over ten meters long, surged out of the cave like slick black water, slithering rapidly toward the small cluster of flames.

Just as its snake head was about to touch the fire, a sudden change occurred!

BOOM—!

The seemingly harmless Rock Fire Seed detonated in that very instant!

A violent wave of fire, mixed with countless shards of mud and stone blasted into the air, slammed fiercely into the head of the Green Phosphorus Poison Python!

"Hiss—!"

A shrill, miserable screech echoed across the swamp!

The Green Phosphorus Poison Python's tough scales were blasted charred black, its flesh mangled and bloody.

The excruciating pain sent it into a frenzy.

However, before it could mount any counterattack, a black figure descended ferociously from the miasma above its head like an arrow released from a bow!

In Su Chen's hand, a sharp short blade condensed from Dou Qi had appeared at some point.

His body traced an incredible arc in mid-air, landing precisely on the seven-inch mark of the Green Phosphorus Poison Python, which had been raised high due to the intense pain!

Puchi!

The Dou Qi blade sank deep into the flesh without the slightest resistance.

The massive body of the Green Phosphorus Poison Python stiffened violently.

Within those cold, vertical pupils, all ferocity and brutality faded in an instant, leaving behind only a deathly, ash-gray void.

The massive serpent body collapsed with a thunderous crash, splashing thick sludge into the air.

One strike, instant death!

Clean and efficient.

Su Chen landed atop the serpent's corpse, his expression unchanging.

He reached out and pressed his hand against the body of the poison python.

A moment later, a sphere of light about the size of a fist, burning with a verdant green flame, was slowly extracted from the serpent's remains.

This was the life-bound beast fire of the Green Phosphorus Poison Python.

Green Phosphorus Fire.

The dilapidated courtyard remained silent.

Su Chen sat cross-legged on the cold ground.

His consciousness had long since submerged into that space belonging solely to him, a realm of absolute control.

In the vast, dark void, that ancient Stone Platform floated in silence.

The verdant beast fire flickered restlessly atop the Stone Platform, emitting a cold, sickly-sweet aura of toxicity.

Su Chen's will manifested as an invisible giant hand, enveloping the mass of flame.

"Analyze."

The thought was issued with force.

Hum—!

The entire Stone Platform erupted in brilliant light.

The Green Phosphorus Fire trembled violently.

Countless chains of runes, billions of times thinner than a strand of hair, were forcibly stripped from the flame's origin, analyzed, and reorganized.

Within Su Chen's perceived world.

The essence of this flame was laid bare with absolute clarity.

Seventy percent of it consisted of pure fire elements possessing high-temperature properties.

The remaining thirty percent was a highly specialized energy, a mixture of wood and poison attributes; this was the root cause of the flame's corrosive and paralytic effects.

"Separate."

Su Chen's will issued the command once more.

That invisible hand began a delicate operation comparable to the craftsmanship of a god.

Like the most skilled surgeon, he used invisible "scalpels" forged from mental energy to precisely and thoroughly peel away the two distinct attributes within the flame, down to the very last thread.

The drain on his mental energy during this process was terrifying.

On the Stone Platform, the verdant flame was forcibly split in two.

One half was a fireball burning with pure white light—scorching, pristine, and devoid of any impurities.

The other half was a mass of writhing, deep-green viscous mist, radiating a heart-stopping aura of toxicity and corrosion.

Having finished this, Su Chen's will did not falter.

If he were merely copying, he would not have needed to go to such great lengths.

What he intended to do was create!

"Reorganize."

"Structural reconstruction."

"Core embedding."

A series of silent commands echoed through the void.

Under his will, the pure white flame began to shift its form.

It was stretched and compressed, eventually forming a hollow spherical shell composed of countless intricate fire runes.

Immediately following this, he injected the deep-green toxic mist into the center of this flame shell in a highly ingenious manner.

Under his will, two diametrically opposed energies were forcibly twisted and fused, forming an unprecedented, stable symbiotic structure.

The fire became the shell, providing high temperature and combustion properties.

The toxin became the core, providing a controllable, secondary effect of paralysis and corrosion.

As the final rune structure stabilized completely.

A brand-new flame was born in silence upon the Stone Platform.

It was only the size of a thumb, its entire body a translucent, emerald green reminiscent of the finest jade.

It burned silently, devoid of any smoke or heat, appearing beautiful and harmless.

Yet Su Chen knew.

Within this tiny flame lay a value far more terrifying than that of a Rock Fire Seed.

Su Chen's consciousness slowly withdrew.

He opened his eyes and spread his palm.

A green flame appeared out of thin air in the center of his hand.

Looking at this "work of art" he had created with his own hands, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

"I shall call you..."

"Green Phosphorus Fire Seed."

The market in Wutan City was too small.

It was time to use a brand new, higher-tier commodity to knock on the doors of the alchemy rooms belonging to the truly important figures.