Green Lotus Core Flame

Deep in the Tagor Desert lay a region forgotten by time.

Here, the endless yellow sands seemed suppressed by some mysterious force, their movements slowed to a crawl.

"I've searched two places already, but haven't seen a trace of the Green Lotus Core Flame. Hopefully, I'll find it here."

Following the map Hai Bodong had given him, Yao Chen had explored two places in the desert, but neither had held the Green Lotus Core Flame.

This place was now in the eastern part of the desert, where the Bone Spirit Cold Flame inside Yao Chen reacted a little more strongly.

"It should be right around here, but I just can't find it. I remember that in Battle Through the Heavens, Xiao Yan's maid Qing Lin discovered the entrance. Unfortunately, I don't know where Qing Lin is now. Even if I don't take the Green Lotus Core Flame, I could still take Qing Lin as a disciple."

Yao Chen searched the area, but couldn't find the entrance.

"I might as well burn this whole area with a Heavenly Flame. It'll make a bit of a commotion, though."

Yao Chen decided to use the Bone Spirit Cold Flame to burn the whole region. The entrance would naturally reveal itself.

He pressed his palms together, then suddenly spread them apart. A mass of pale-white Bone Spirit Cold Flame surged up in his hands.

The flame seemed to come from the depths of the netherworld, radiating a bone-chilling cold that made one's heart tremble.

Yao Chen swung his hands, and the Bone Spirit Cold Flame charged toward the desert ahead like a wild horse that had broken free of its reins.

In an instant, the icy flames collided with the scorching sand, hissing.

The fire quickly spread, and pale flames blanketed a vast stretch of desert.

Under the Bone Spirit Cold Flame's burn, the golden grains of sand gradually turned black, as if frozen in time.

Thick clouds of smoke billowed up, blotting out the sky.

The flames continued to burn, turning the desert into a strange scene where ice and fire intertwined.

At last, the flames gradually died down, and the desert fell silent. Only the lingering chill remained as proof of the blaze's fury.

Yao Chen slowly walked across the scorched sand, searching carefully.

Suddenly, his gaze settled on an inconspicuous corner.

The sandy surface there seemed slightly different from its surroundings. Without a close look, it would have been nearly impossible to notice.

He walked over and crouched down, gently brushing away the top layer of sand.

A pitch-black entrance gradually emerged. The sand around it was fine and smooth, as if it had been deliberately concealed.

"Found it!" Yao Chen exclaimed excitedly.

Yao Chen climbed inside. Beneath the entrance was a passage that seemed to have no end.

After walking for quite a while, he finally reached the end of the passage, where a fiery red world opened up before him.

Looking at the fiery red world before him, Yao Chen couldn't help but marvel.

"This Underground Magma World is truly magnificent. I'd only ever seen it in books before. I've never been this close to one myself."

"I remember the book also said there was a Fourth-Order Magical Beast in this magma. I'd better look for it."

Yao Chen immediately used his powerful soul force to search the magma.

"Found you."

As soon as Yao Chen located the beast, he attacked it.

The Bone Spirit Cold Flame shot out, and the Double-Headed Fire Spirit Snake was reduced to a single Magic Core, floating in the air.

"Not bad, a Fourth-Order fire-attribute Magic Core. That's another ingredient for alchemy. I'll collect more slowly over time." Yao Chen pocketed the Fourth-Order fire-attribute Magic Core and muttered to himself.

"Next, I just have to cross the magma."

Yao Chen thought back to the steps Xiao Yan had taken in the book.

"Since I came this time, I should be here even earlier than Medusa was."

"In the book, Xiao Yan came up empty-handed. Hopefully, Medusa hasn't beaten me to it this time. Otherwise, I'll have to go to the Snake-People Tribe to get it."

Although Yao Chen had arrived several years before Xiao Yan had in the book, he still felt a little worried.

"Never mind. I'll go down first and see."

Yao Chen took a deep breath and stared resolutely at the roiling, seething magma.

Without the slightest hesitation, he flashed forward and plunged in headfirst.

The moment he entered the magma, terrifying heat rushed at him, as if it would melt his body.

But relying on his powerful Dou Qi barrier, Yao Chen struggled onward through the scorching environment.

The magma churned around him, while immense pressure squeezed in from every direction.

Yao Chen gritted his teeth and resisted with all his strength, continuing to dive deeper.

After an unknown amount of time, he saw something ahead blazing with brilliant green light.

The green light enveloped the surrounding magma. Yao Chen focused his gaze and could just make out a green lotus standing gracefully within it.

"The Green Lotus Core Flame? I finally found it."

Delight appeared on Yao Chen's face. After weathering so many dangers, he had finally found this precious Heavenly Flame.

Yao Chen immediately flew toward the green light, though he still felt a little worried.

When his body entered the green light, the expected scorching heat never came. Instead, the temperature around him strangely dropped considerably.

"Good. Medusa hasn't beaten me to it. Now I'll absorb the Green Lotus Core Flame first."

Yao Chen first spotted a Green Lotus Platform, with the Green Lotus Core Flame at its center.

The Green Lotus Core Flame was like a green lotus blooming deep underground, secluded and mysterious.

The flame looked gentle, but contained terrifying heat and violent power.

As it burned quietly, the surrounding space still warped slightly from the heat, as if even the air could be ignited in an instant.

Every petal of the Green Lotus Core Flame was clear and lively, seeming almost alive. They swayed gently, releasing waves of energy that made the heart tremble.

The flame seemed to conceal endless mysteries and immense power within it. It drew people close to explore, yet its danger made them hesitate.

When it blazed, green fire shot into the sky, illuminating the dark underground world. Wherever its light reached, rocks instantly turned to magma, and everything yielded to its scorching heat.

Yao Chen gazed at the Green Lotus Core Flame for a long time.

"Should I absorb the Green Lotus Core Flame myself, or save it for Xiao Yan?"

After thinking for a long time, Yao Chen still couldn't decide. Then he suddenly remembered that he had a system and asked it.

"System, if I gift this Green Lotus Core Flame to a disciple, will the reward the system returns also be a Heavenly Flame?"

"That's right, host. If you gift a Heavenly Flame to a disciple, the reward returned will also be a Heavenly Flame."

The system's long-silent voice echoed in Yao Chen's mind.

"System, you finally spoke." Yao Chen looked at the system's response, then pressed it further. "System, will the returned Heavenly Flame be one from the rankings?"

"No. The returned Heavenly Flame will be a new kind of flame unique to this world. Its power will be determined by a random draw from the system."

"Then that's great! I can absorb the Green Lotus Core Flame first. Later, when I go to Xiao Yan, I'll have him absorb it too, and I'll get a new Heavenly Flame in return. The Flame Mantra won't drop in rank then. It'll advance even further!"