Two-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent

Xiao Yun walked to the sunken cave entrance and looked down. The cave was pitch-black, like a tiny abyss stretching ten thousand fathoms deep.

Medusa Queen looked at Xiao Yun and said, "Since you intend to help me evolve, do you dare come down with me to search for the Heavenly Flame?"

The Snake-People Tribe had already thoroughly explored much of the world beneath the cave entrance and pinpointed the Heavenly Flame's approximate location.

However, they still did not know what dangers lurked where the Heavenly Flame lay, so Medusa Queen did not dare let down her guard.

And now, she had a Dou Ancestor by her side. Medusa Queen had no intention of letting such assistance go to waste.

Hearing Medusa Queen's words, Xiao Yun smiled. "I happen to have nothing to do, so I can accompany Your Majesty on this trip. I'll treat it as a way to pass the time."

At that, Medusa Queen nodded coolly. She then looked at Hua She'er and instructed, "After we go down, lead the clan members into hiding around the area. Under no circumstances can anyone discover this place."

"Rest assured, Your Majesty. If anyone dares enter this area, I will deal with them immediately," Hua She'er said.

Medusa Queen nodded in satisfaction. After glancing at Xiao Yun, she entered the cave first, and Xiao Yun followed close behind, jumping down after her.

Within the dark passageway, Medusa Queen led the way while Xiao Yun followed closely behind. Though the surroundings were shrouded in darkness, Xiao Yun and Medusa Queen were both powerful experts. Ordinary darkness could not blind them.

After descending for several minutes, Xiao Yun and Medusa Queen finally reached the underground. But this was only the beginning. Numerous passages stretched out in all directions.

There were no fewer than ten passages, and beyond each passage lay more passages. In this underground world, no one knew just how many more tunnels lay beyond them.

Every passage led somewhere entirely different, yet there was only one Heavenly Flame. The Snake People had spent nearly a year searching these passages without finding it, only ruling out several tunnels that had already reached dead ends.

Medusa Queen looked at Xiao Yun and said, "My Snake-People Tribe has confirmed that a Heavenly Flame exists here, but we have yet to find it. Xiao Yun, do you have any way to determine where it is?"

Medusa Queen had originally come here intending to use her formidable strength to quickly investigate the remaining passages and locate the Heavenly Flame.

However, with a Dou Ancestor-level expert beside her, Medusa Queen decided to ask whether he had a simpler method. She had to admit that a Dou Ancestor possessed far greater means than a Dou Emperor.

Xiao Yun glanced at Medusa Queen and chuckled. "So now you need me to do the work?"

Medusa Queen did not conceal her purpose and replied indifferently, "If there is an easier way, I naturally will not waste even a trace of effort."

Her straightforward nature, combined with Medusa Queen's bewitching beauty, did inspire a faint sense of fondness.

Xiao Yun smiled lightly. "Fine. I'll give it a try."

Closing his eyes, Xiao Yun extended his soul power. Sensing his immense soul power, Medusa Queen was startled. A trace of surprise flashed through her eyes as she looked at him. Such powerful soul power. This man may even be an alchemist. No wonder he wanted to trade Snakefall Grass with me.

A moment later, Xiao Yun opened his eyes and pointed toward one of the passages. "That way."

Hearing this, Medusa Queen swept her gaze over the dark passage and asked, "Are you certain?"

Xiao Yun nodded with a smile. "This is underground, where earth-attributed energy should be the densest. Yet deep within that passage, earth-attributed energy is not the strongest. Instead, fire-attributed energy has taken its place."

"What?" Medusa Queen was startled.

This should have been a place where earth-attributed energy was most abundant, yet it was weaker than fire-attributed energy. Such a strange phenomenon indeed suggested that a Heavenly Flame might be present.

"Fine. I'll trust you this once." After considering it, Medusa Queen took the lead toward the passage Xiao Yun had indicated.

As they ventured deeper, Medusa Queen noticed the changes in the surroundings. Just as Xiao Yun had said, earth-attributed energy grew scarcer while fire-attributed energy became increasingly dense.

At such an unknown depth underground, the temperature should have grown colder and colder. Yet now, a faint scorching heat radiated from all around. Snake People, whose affinity was naturally cold, were particularly sensitive to such changes.

Medusa Queen immediately quickened her pace and headed deeper into the passage.

After some time, Xiao Yun and Medusa Queen saw light coming from ahead. Reaching the end, a fiery red world appeared before them.

It was an enormous subterranean cavern. At its center, a crimson lake of magma boiled ceaselessly, with huge bubbles occasionally rising to the surface.

It was difficult to imagine that such a spectacular sight existed beneath the endless desert.

Medusa Queen looked around, her willow-leaf brows knitting together as she murmured, "Where is the Heavenly Flame?"

Though the cavern was vast, Medusa Queen could see its entirety at a glance. Yet she found no sign of the Heavenly Flame. If there was anywhere she had not seen, it could only be within the magma before her.

With that thought, Medusa Queen walked to the edge of the magma and looked down. The energy within the magma hindered her perception, and even with her strength, she could only see less than a hundred meters into it.

Yet she still did not see the Heavenly Flame. She could not help looking at Xiao Yun and asking, "Are you sure there is a Heavenly Flame here?"

Xiao Yun nodded with a smile. Walking to Medusa Queen's side, he looked into the magma and said, "You can sense it too, can't you? Whether there is a Heavenly Flame or not, we'll know once we go down and take a look."

As Xiao Yun's words fell, a muffled boom suddenly sounded from the magma lake ahead. Immediately afterward, countless streams of scorching magma erupted violently, and from within them slowly emerged the massive figure of a snake-shaped magical beast with two heads.

The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent. This kind of magical beast usually grew in places of extreme heat and survived by devouring magma. If fortunate enough, a Two-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent could potentially grow to the strength of a sixth-tier magical beast.

Drawn out by their conversation, the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent looked at Xiao Yun and Medusa Queen with distinctly human-like displeasure in its eyes, as though it did not welcome anyone here.

"This little thing. I haven't even gone looking for trouble with it, yet it showed itself first."

When Medusa Queen had investigated the magma just now, she had actually seen the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent. But she had no interest in attacking a Dou Spirit-level magical beast. Unexpectedly, it seemed intent on causing trouble for them.

Battle qi circulated through Medusa Queen's body as she prepared to kill the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent in one move, but Xiao Yun stopped her.

"I have a use for this magical beast. Leave it to me," Xiao Yun said.

Hearing this, Medusa Queen dispersed the battle qi within her body.

At that moment, the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent moved. Its body swayed through the magma, stirring up a scorching pillar of molten rock that shot fiercely toward Xiao Yun.

Seeing the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent's method of attack, a trace of surprise flashed through Medusa Queen's eyes. "It knows how to use magma to attack. It seems this magical beast has considerable intelligence."

Magical beasts generally possessed little intelligence, and those with notable intelligence usually had no low potential. Judging by the intelligence displayed by this Two-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent, given enough time, it would certainly reach the strength of a fifth-tier magical beast.

Medusa Queen inwardly found it a pity. If she had tamed this Two-Headed Fire Spirit Serpent and brought it back to the Snake-People Tribe, it would undoubtedly have become a powerful asset.

But Xiao Yun had spoken, so she naturally had to give him face and could only abandon the thought.