When Huo Wu walked out, quite a few students had already started their morning exercises.
Then they saw Huo Wu... coming out of Murong Ci's room, her clothes disheveled and her face flushed. They couldn't help letting their imaginations run wild.
Huo Wu glanced at them. Perhaps realizing how embarrassing she looked, she burned with fury.
"What are you looking at? Keep staring and I'll burn you all to death!"
The students hurried off to mind their own business...
The Geocentric Fire Cave was a cavern formed from a natural magma mine deep beneath the center of Blazing Fire Academy. Legend had it that it was left behind when a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with a fire attribute died.
Those present were Murong Ci, Huo Wu, Huo Wushuang, and the dean, Huo Lie.
Huo Lie was a seventy-two-rank Soul Saint, the strongest person in Blazing Fire Academy, and the father of Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu.
"The Geocentric Fire Cave is the sacred ground of Blazing Fire Academy. Only our most elite disciples are allowed to enter. At most, two people can go inside, so the three of you will have to decide who goes."
After Huo Lie finished speaking, he took a drag on his cigarette and studied the three of them with interest, probably wondering how they would choose.
Huo Wushuang will withdraw on his own.
A lazy voice rang out, carrying a hint of certainty.
Sure enough, Huo Wushuang spoke at once.
"Father, my abilities are limited. I can't compare to Brother Murong or Wu in talent or strength, so I'm willing to withdraw."
Huo Lie looked at him with an even expression, as if he'd expected his eldest son to say exactly that.
He then walked over to an open patch of ground. There was no vegetation for ten meters in every direction, and the air was unbearably hot.
"This is the entrance to the Geocentric Fire Cave. It needs to be ignited with fire-attribute Soul Power to open. Stand back."
Huo Lie fixed his gaze on the clearing and brought his hands together. Fiery wings appeared behind him, and he sent flames blasting into the ground. A short-lived portal appeared.
"Go on in," Huo Lie reminded them. Once Murong Ci and Huo Wu had entered, he swept his hand through the air and closed the portal. Then he looked at Huo Wushuang standing beside him.
"Wushuang, you know the cultivation secret of that place, don't you? You're sure you're fine with Wu going in there with that boy?"
"Of course, Father. Brother Murong is stronger than we ever imagined. I'm certain he'll lead Blazing Fire Academy to glory—and perhaps even help us dominate the continent."
"When that day comes... hehe, Wu will be happy, too."
Huo Wushuang scratched his head, a little embarrassed as he said this.
After hearing him out, Huo Lie said nothing more and left with Huo Wushuang. The smile at the corner of his mouth, however, betrayed his excitement.
The Geocentric Fire Cave was enormous. After all, the body of a fire-attribute Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast could sustain many living creatures.
"Blazing Fire Academy has only explored half of the Geocentric Fire Cave. That means only half of it is safe. See the mark over there? That's the area we've explored."
Huo Wu pointed to a wall carved with Blazing Fire Academy's emblem, indicating that Murong Ci should head that way.
"Fire-attribute Soul Beasts appear here from time to time, but they aren't very strong—at most, a little over a thousand years old. My brother and I got our first and Second Soul Rings here."
Huo Wu walked slowly, glancing back at Murong Ci from time to time before quickly turning her head away again.
"As for the unexplored half, that's the Great Ferocious Land. Soul Beasts tens of thousands of years old can appear there. Even my father doesn't dare go in. An academy powerhouse at the Soul Douluo level once went there to explore and never came back." As Huo Wu spoke, a trace of fear showed in her eyes. Clearly, she was a little afraid of that place.
"Why are the two halves so different? And why is the boundary between them so clearly marked?"
"Because there's a wall of Soul Power along the boundary between the two halves. My grandfather set it up, and Soul Beasts generally stay away from it."
Murong Ci understood. It seemed there were far more details to the real events than the original story had recorded.
Murong Ci followed Huo Wu to a stone chamber. It wasn't very large, but it could fit two people.
"This is the Fire Refining Path, a cultivation site opened up by Blazing Fire Academy's predecessors. Compared to the outside, it can triple your cultivation speed."
Murong Ci looked into the cave, and sure enough, a wave of scorching heat washed over him.
[An abundance of fire-attribute natural energy has been detected ahead. If the host cultivates here, his affinity for the fire attribute will improve considerably.]
Sigh, this system was a completely different thing when it gave advice or chatted. It was so serious that it felt a little strange.
"Normally, how many times a week can we come to the Fire Refining Path?"
"Every week, fourteen outstanding core disciples are selected. Two come each day, and each session lasts a day."
Blazing Fire Academy seemed to treat its students pretty well. Did the other elemental academies do the same? Murong Ci felt a little excited about the life ahead of him.
"But this isn't why we came here. Farther in, we'll have to cross a magma lake before reaching our final destination, the Fire Lotus Secret Cave. It's full of magma, and at the center is a lotus called the Geocentric Fire Lotus. It bears fruit once every ten years. But because it's a fire-attribute plant and there's such a dense concentration of natural energy here, one year of cultivation here is equivalent to ten years outside. So that lotus is essentially a hundred-year-old Immortal Herb."
Huo Wu finished speaking, barely able to contain her excitement. It was an Immortal Herb, after all! It could greatly benefit her cultivation.
[Ding—the system has issued two choices. First, absorb the Geocentric Fire Lotus to increase the purity of your fire attribute and your ability to control it. Second, pick the Geocentric Fire Lotus and give it to Huo Wu to greatly increase her affection for you. Since the Infernal Delicate Apricot at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in the original story is of higher quality, the host can absorb that one instead and give up the Geocentric Fire Lotus.]
"Option two. She needs it more than I do right now, and it'll increase her affection for me. That's definitely the better choice."
[I didn't expect you to have a soft spot for others after all, kid. You're not the kind of person who'll stop at nothing for power.]
"You're only figuring that out now?" Murong Ci sounded a little dissatisfied.
Before they knew it, Huo Wu and Murong Ci had reached the magma path.
It was called a magma path, but it was really just a bridge spanning the magma lake. The heat here was still extraordinarily intense.
[Careful, kid. The flames here are nearly at the level of Ultimate Fire, hotter than yours. I suggest using your ice attribute to shield yourself.] [And Huo Wu definitely won't be able to withstand this heat. You can even play the hero and save the beauty.]
Sure enough, by the time the system finished speaking, Huo Wu was already covered in sweat. She was still wearing that crop top, and most of it was now soaked through.
It made her figure look even more graceful.
Seeing her like this, Murong Ci placed his hand on her back and slowly sent her the Soul Power of Ultimate Ice.
Huo Wu shivered slightly, then relaxed. Clearly, the ice-attribute energy felt very soothing to her.
There were quite a few tiny ten-year Soul Beasts in the magma lake, too. Some were foolish enough to approach the two of them.
They were promptly frozen stiff by the aura of Ultimate Ice Murong Ci released.
[The area is filled with dense, high-quality fire-attribute natural energy. Yongzhen has been automatically released to absorb it.]
In an instant, a vast amount of Soul Power swirled around Murong Ci, forming a ring of fire-attribute energy that enveloped him and Huo Wu. The protective barrier also blocked some of the heat from the flames.
The temperature around them dropped, so Huo Wu no longer needed Murong Ci's hand on her back. When she took it away, she seemed a little shy.
The two walked side by side, unhurriedly making their way deeper in.
Huo Wu kept staring at Murong Ci's profile, while he kept his eyes on the path ahead.
"What are you looking at?" His voice held a hint of teasing.
"N-nothing." Huo Wu lowered her head. Her voice grew softer and softer, and her steps gradually quickened.
At last, they crossed the magma path. The Fire Lotus Secret Cave lay ahead.
"Let's take a break. The magma in there will only be hotter." Murong Ci sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to rest, releasing Yongzhen to absorb the natural energy.
Huo Wu sat down, too. She cultivated by drawing on the aura of Ultimate Fire Murong Ci released, once again reaching that strange resonance from the previous night.
But in the magma of the secret cave, a massive serpent was slowly swimming around the Fire Lotus.
It seemed to be waiting for the unwelcome guests who were about to arrive.