Heavenly Flames

"Yun Shan, it looks like you're going to get ahead of us!"

Queen Medusa watched Yun Shan, whose aura seemed to drift in and out of existence, and spoke softly. He had once been her defeated subordinate, yet she never expected him to reach the threshold of Dou Zong even before she did.

"Not yet. I've only just caught sight of that door."

Yun Shan was quite at ease about it. Whether he broke through or not, he'd let nature take its course. If it came to it, he could always stake his old life on the attempt.

"Hall Master, the area beneath our feet is where fire-attribute energy is most concentrated in this desert."

After drawing his vast soul power back into his body, Gu He rose and addressed Yun Zimo. When it came to sensing fire-attribute energy, this sixth-grade alchemist was still the more experienced one.

"Master Gu He, can you find the best way to reach underground?"

Yun Zimo couldn't help admiring Gu He. Though he too had a Mortal Realm soul, he had been stuck in the early stages of the Mortal Realm for ages, while Gu He could step into the Spirit Realm at any moment and become a seventh-grade alchemy grandmaster!

"I can. Just give me some time."

A cloudlike white flame flared in Gu He's palm. Waves of Dou Qi rippled out from beneath his feet, stirring up the sea of sand.

"Survey team!"

Yun Zimo called over the mercenary squad that specialized in digging tunnels, intending to have them work with Gu He and start digging at the designated point.

"No need to go to all that trouble!"

Seeing that Gu He had picked a spot, Queen Medusa leaped into the air. The phantom of her Purple Nether Flame Snake form, dozens of yards long, appeared behind her. She opened her jaws and fired a purple beam at the point Gu He had marked in the desert.

A faint tremor passed through the ground, and the beam blasted through a hundred meters of yellow sand in an instant, exposing the earth beneath to sunlight once more.

The purple beam had done more than merely make a hole. It didn't vanish, but instead turned into a layer of purple light that kept the sand from collapsing and burying the passage. Its faint glow illuminated the tunnel's pitch-black depths.

"..."

The survey team members, tools in hand, stared at one another. After swallowing nervously, they quietly retreated to where they'd been standing.

"Let's go take a look."

Queen Medusa landed and returned to her human form, with a serpent's tail in place of legs. Taking the lead, she entered the passage, which was wide and tall enough for several people.

"Fine."

Yun Zimo shrugged, took Little Qing Lin's hand, and followed Yun Shan and Gu He into the passage.

"Why bring along this little one who isn't even a Dou Zhe?"

Yun Shan asked through a secret voice transmission.

"To give her a present, and let you see the future head of the Misty Cloud Sect's Beast Taming Hall in action!"

Yun Zimo replied mysteriously.

"Beast Taming Hall?"

Yun Shan had no idea what mischief this boy was up to, but since he'd decided to bring her along, there shouldn't be a problem.

Gu He, however, kept glancing at Yun Zimo, looking as if he wanted to say something but held back. He, too, had noticed that there was something strange about Qing Lin.

"Brother Zi Mo, I'm scared..."

Little Qing Lin clutched Yun Zimo's sleeve tightly, her timid voice no louder than a mosquito's buzz.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

Yun Zimo gently stroked her smooth, glossy hair.

"Your big brother's here. Nothing will happen."

Little Qing Lin's expression improved, though her small hand clutched his sleeve even tighter.

"From here, we should be able to reach the place with the richest fire-attribute energy if we keep heading downward."

At the end of the tunnel, Gu He carefully sensed the surroundings, then pointed firmly toward a rock wall.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

"Boom!"

Several wind blades shot from Yun Shan's lightly flicking fingers, carving through the rock wall like axes and chisels. He collected every scattered clod of earth and broken stone into his Storage Ring.

And so, with Gu He leading the way and Yun Shan clearing the path, the five of them pressed forward and downward, gradually delving beneath layer upon layer of bedrock.

As they continued, fire-attribute energy grew increasingly concentrated around them, and the temperature climbed higher and higher.

"This is the place!"

"Crack! Whoosh—!"

The last section of rock wall broke apart with a crisp crack, and a scorching wave of fire rushed toward them like a hurricane. A thin white mist shield appeared in front of them, blocking the flames and the sparks they carried.

The wave gradually subsided. The five of them stared ahead, and even Yun Shan and Queen Medusa, who had seen much in their time, were stunned into momentary silence by the scene.

Deep beneath the earth, a blazing red filled the cavern walls. A vast lake of magma churned and roared, sending waves of fire soaring skyward!

"I never imagined there'd be such a treasure trove deep beneath this desert!"

Feeling the Dou Qi and Heavenly Flames within him surge with vigor, Gu He couldn't help but marvel. If he cultivated here, he was confident he could reach Dou Emperor within a few years, perhaps even use the underground fire to accelerate his path to seventh-grade mastery!

"Where are the Heavenly Flames?"

Queen Medusa wasn't particularly interested in the place itself. In fact, with her cold-leaning constitution, she even felt a faint distaste for it.

Gu He shook his head. He had only searched for the place with the richest fire-attribute energy, as Yun Zimo had asked. He didn't know where the Heavenly Flames were. But judging by this fire vein, there was a very good chance they were here!

"With no sky above and no earth below, then the Heavenly Flames must be..."

Yun Zimo pointed toward the magma bubbles that burst now and then. The endless molten rock reflected Queen Medusa's furrowed brow.

"Down there?"

Yun Shan and Queen Medusa both turned their eyes toward the magma lake. Gu He curiously summoned the Fire Cloud Water Flame to sense the area, but all he could feel was the boundless, violent heat of the underground fire.

Yun Zimo was about to say something when a sharp hiss came from beneath the magma. Pillars of molten rock shot skyward, straight at the five people in the passage!

"Hiss~"

"Chirp!"

A massive hand of white mist seized the mysterious creature as it leaped from the lake, as easily as plucking stars from the sky.

The pillars of magma froze in midair, then burst apart into a rain of blazing molten rock. A spectacular shower of magma and fire rained down through the cavern.

With a slight lift of Yun Shan's finger, the great hand of white mist moved slowly toward the passage. At last, the five of them could see what had tried to ambush them.

"Is this a Fire Spirit Snake? No, it's a variant born in molten lands—the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake!"

Gu He stepped forward and gently stroked the snake's smooth, fiery-red scales.

The Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's eyes, once full of savagery, now brimmed with indescribable terror. Its massive body curled up and trembled in the giant hand.

Yun Shan and Queen Medusa had long since learned to hide their auras perfectly, making them seem like ordinary people. Gu He was an alchemist, a scholar by trade, while Yun Zimo's Dou Qi was ethereal; his aura felt calm and balanced, not particularly powerful.

And on top of that, the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake was in its home turf, the Magma World. It had mistakenly thought the advantage was on its side. Who could have guessed that the instant it struck, someone would snatch it up like a chick?

"Why did you have me catch it? It's only a Dou Ling. I could crush it with one hand!"

Yun Shan sent the message through a secret transmission, his words making the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's fate sound like a trifling matter.

Yun Zimo smiled mysteriously, gently drew Qing Lin over, and whispered a few words in her ear. Then Qing Lin nervously twisted the edge of her clothes and crept toward the Fire Spirit Snake, her shining, emerald-green eyes holding faint green specks deep within them.

A few wisps of mist drifted from Yun Zimo's fingertips and quietly climbed over the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's body. Countless illusions appeared before its eyes, and utterly incomparable terror flooded its heart.

The Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake paid no heed to the powerful people surrounding it. Screaming in terror, it hissed at Qing Lin, then opened its jaws to swallow her whole!

Qing Lin, who had been concentrating on visualizing, opened her eyes to find a gaping serpent's maw rushing toward her, growing larger by the instant. With a terrified shriek, waves of emerald light lifted her into the air. A vague, snake-shaped phantom appeared behind her, while immense, intricate, and mysterious patterns surfaced in her eyes. Three jade-green flowers quietly shone forth, rotating as they reflected on the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's enormous heads.

As the jade-green light faded, Qing Lin fell from the air. Yun Zimo caught her securely in his arms, then placed a pill he'd prepared in her mouth. Only then did he look up at the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake, whose head bore the imprint of a little green flower.

"Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils..."

Gu He, too stunned for words, marveled at the sight, then gave a wry smile.

"So the Hall Master knew all along that this little girl had the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, and that the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake was here..."

Gu He had long since grown accustomed to Yun Zimo's "foresight." According to the rumors among the few senior figures in the Misty Cloud Sect, the legend of the "Founder's Dream" was shrouded in mystery...

"Brother Zi Mo, I—I did it!"

The first thing Qing Lin did when she came to was look up at Yun Zimo with delighted pride in her voice, like a little child showing off to an adult and asking for candy.

"Ask it if it knows where the Heavenly Flames are."

Yun Zimo spoke softly to Qing Lin.

Qing Lin nodded, stood up, and went over to the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's head. She closed her eyes slightly, seemingly starting to communicate with it. The Fire Spirit Snake rubbed its head against her cheek with great affection. Not a trace of savagery remained in its eyes; in its place was boundless gentleness...

"The Heavenly Flames are right below us!"