Earth Fire

"Earth Fire?"

Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow; this was truly a rare find.

Earth Fire comes in many varieties: some are formed from subterranean magma accumulating over long years, some are the residual origin power left behind after the death of fire-attribute soul beasts, and others are simply flames naturally nurtured by the heavens and earth.

Regardless of the type, for someone cultivating the Burning Technique like him, they were all treasures that could be sought but never found.

"Scouts from the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect discovered an anomaly on the edge of the Sunset Forest three months ago. The surface temperature in that area has been rising continuously, and some vegetation has even begun to spontaneously combust."

Ning Tian lowered his voice and said:

"Based on our assessment, it is highly likely that an Earth Fire is about to erupt there."

"Does your Nine Treasures Glazed Sect not intend to send someone to collect it?"

"I already said, Wu Feng has no interest in the fire attribute, and the other disciples in the sect don't have a suitable match." Ning Tian spread his hands. "Rather than wasting this intelligence, it's better to use it to invest in you, Class Monitor."

Hearing this, Xiao Yan fell silent for a moment.

Currently, the Burning Technique only possessed one type of flame: the mundane fire of the Little Fire Dragon.

The Dragon Flame exhaled by the dragon was more akin to a dragon's breath than a true blaze, and therefore could not be counted as a fire source.

Because there was only one fire source, the current cultivation speed of the Burning Technique was very slow. If quantified, the cultivation speed of the Xiao Clan's technique was 2, while the current Burning Technique was only 1.

Although he didn't know the speed of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, it was definitely better than the Xiao Clan's technique.

If Xiao Yan didn't want to be left behind by others again, the Burning Technique had to be upgraded.

"Very well."

Having figured this out, Xiao Yan nodded.

Ning Tian smiled and shook his hand, taking a roll of parchment from his Soul Tool to hand over:

"Then I wish you a triumphant success, Class Monitor. Let's join forces to take first place in the Freshman Tournament three months from now."

"I'll take your word for it."

After returning to the dormitory, Xiao Yan sat cross-legged on his bed and began to attempt a breakthrough.

The soul power within his body flowed slowly along the execution path of the Burning Technique—one cycle, two cycles, three cycles...

But every time the soul power reached the eighteenth cycle, a sense of stagnation would always appear at a certain meridian node, like water hitting a blocked pipe, unable to push through no matter what.

Xiao Yan opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

As expected, he was stuck.

This wasn't a problem of insufficient soul power, but rather that his body's carrying capacity had reached its limit.

To break through, he either had to use the slow, grinding effort of time to polish it, or find external force to stimulate a forced breakthrough.

The former was too slow, and the latter carried great risk.

But Xiao Yan did not intend to wait that long.

"Old Xiao, what's wrong?"

Xiao Yulü woke up from his meditative state and looked at Xiao Yan's furrowed brows with some concern:

"Did something go wrong with your cultivation? Do you want me to find someone to take a look for you?"

"No need." Xiao Yan shook his head. "I just hit a bit of a bottleneck; I probably need to go out for a trip."

"Are you going to be stagnant for another three years?"

Xiao Yulü looked at Xiao Yan, only to see the other smile.

"What are you thinking? How could I possibly waste another three years?"

"Besides, even if I hit a bottleneck, it has nothing to do with you. You should focus on your own cultivation and strive to break through to level 20 as soon as possible."

"I can't team up with you for the Freshman Tournament, so you'll have to fight your way out on your own. It would be best to get into the top three and earn the title of Core Disciple; it will have many benefits for your future cultivation."

After saying this, he dug a small bag out from under his bed and packed a few bottles of pills and some simple tools inside.

Xiao Yulü watched Xiao Yan's back as he packed his things, opened his mouth, but ultimately did not try to dissuade him again.

Early the next morning, Xiao Yan arrived at Mu Jin's office.

"You want to ask for leave, and a half-month long leave at that?"

Mu Jin set down the teacup in her hand, rested her chin on one hand, and tilted her head:

"The reason?"

"I've hit a bottleneck in my cultivation and need to... go out for some experiential training."

Xiao Yan didn't mention that he was going to search for Earth Fire, saying only that he was going for training.

"Training?" Mu Jin frowned. "School has been open for less than a week, and you want to go out for training?"

"There's no other way. Staying in the academy to cultivate is just a waste of time; I might as well go out and try my luck."

Xiao Yan spread his hands and said straightforwardly.

Mu Jin stared at Xiao Yan for a long while, and finally sighed:

"Be careful, don't push yourself."

Xiao Yan thanked her and turned to leave the office.

When he reached the door, he suddenly stopped and looked back.

"Right, Teacher, if I haven't returned in half a month, please go find Xiao Yulü. He has something that can help you find me."

Mu Jin was stunned, and before she could speak, Xiao Yan had already pushed the door open and left.

Returning to the dormitory, Xiao Yan handed the Earth Fire intelligence to Xiao Yulü.

"What is this?"

"Intelligence."

Xiao Yan said indifferently:

"In half a month, if I haven't returned, take this and give it to Teacher Mu Jin."

Xiao Yulü's expression instantly turned ugly:

"What on earth are you planning to do?"

He opened the scroll, intending to read it carefully, but Xiao Yan closed it.

"Hey, hey, hey, this is intelligence I traded my body to get, you aren't allowed to look!"

Xiao Yulü gave Xiao Yan a suspicious look. What did he mean by trading his body?

Xiao Yan also realized the slip of the tongue, blushed, and gave a light cough:

"Ahem, I traded my body to work for Ning Tian to earn this intelligence."

Xiao Yulü's gaze became even more suspicious.

How the hell was he making it sound worse the more he explained...

Xiao Yan broke into a cold sweat and waved his hand, cutting off the topic.

"In short, I'm going to find my fortune. If I don't come back in half a month, remember to find someone to collect my corpse."

Although the Sunset Forest was not as terrifying as the Star Dou Forest, it was by no means a simple place; one careless move and there was a possibility of dying there.

Moreover, absorbing an Exotic Fire was inherently unsafe, and he lacked a vessel to contain it. Otherwise, he could have brought the Earth Fire back to Shrek Academy and absorbed it in a safe zone without so many worries.

Unfortunately, he couldn't.

Xiao Yan shouldered the pack he had prepared yesterday and walked out of the dormitory. Xiao Yulü stood where he was, looking at the parchment scroll in his hand, silent for a long time.

Eighty miles southwest of Shrek City, at the edge of the Sunset Forest.

Xiao Yan stood before a patch of charred woodland, squinting his eyes.

The air was thick with the smell of sulfur, and the ground was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, with a faint, dark red glow pulsing deep within the fissures.

The surrounding vegetation had long since withered, the surfaces of the tree trunks covered in black scorch marks, with some spots even emitting wisps of blue smoke.

"This is the place."

Xiao Yan summoned the Little Fire Dragon, intending to rely on its perception of fire-type attributes to locate the exact position of the Earth Fire.

The Little Fire Dragon had been cooped up in his dantian for long enough; once out, it began to frolic excitedly on the ground.

Xiao Yan didn't rush it, knowing he had kept it locked away for too long, and let it stretch its body.

Only after it had played until it was somewhat tired did the Little Fire Dragon remember its master's command and begin to sense where the fire elements were densest in the surroundings.

A long while later, the Little Fire Dragon excitedly circled a certain direction several times, making "gurgle-gurgle" sounds, its tail wagging rapidly.

"Found it?"

Xiao Yan followed the direction pointed out by the Little Fire Dragon. The deeper he went, the higher the surface temperature became.

The soil beneath his feet had been baked until it was parched and cracked, emitting a "crunch-crunch" sound as he stepped on it.

Just as Xiao Yan prepared to venture further, the ground suddenly shook violently.

"Rumble—"

A wave of scorching heat erupted from beneath the earth, instantly blowing away the surrounding scorched soil as countless fragments of rock and sparks flew in every direction.

Xiao Yan retreated several steps quickly, raising his arm to shield his face.

After the dust settled, a deep pit about three meters in diameter appeared before him, with dark red magma churning at the bottom, radiating astonishing heat.

"Heh, interesting."

Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes, a curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

"It seems someone has beaten me to it."