Searching for Heavenly Flame

"Cough, cough, Elder Hai, calm down."

Lei Luo said with a wry smile to Hai Bo Dong.

Hai Bo Dong seemed to realize his lapse as well and hastily withdrew his battle qi.

"What did you just say, kid?" he asked, uncertainty flickering in his clouded eyes.

"Hehe, Elder Hai, a single Calamity-Breaking Pill can solve your problem. As a sixth-grade pill, there are still people in the Jia Ma Empire capable of refining it," Lei Luo said.

Hearing this, Hai Bo Dong pursed his lips and sighed. "How could I not know that? But refining the Calamity-Breaking Pill requires one more thing."

"Heavenly Flame!" the two said almost in unison.

Then Hai Bo Dong gave another bitter smile. "But Heavenly Flame is a treasure of heaven and earth. Even Pill King Gu He, the only one capable of refining this pill, does not possess one. How difficult would it be to obtain?"

Lei Luo sniffed, then flicked his finger. A cluster of pitch-black flames appeared at his fingertips.

The temperature throughout the shop suddenly surged, turning scorching hot.

The ice crystals created by Hai Bo Dong's earlier eruption of battle qi rapidly melted away, leaving only puddles of water on the floor before long.

Hai Bo Dong's expression became incomparably vivid. His mouth opened and closed slightly, yet he could not say a word.

"This is... Heavenly Flame?"

Hai Bo Dong asked in disbelief, two sharp glints bursting from his clouded eyes.

"You're an alchemist too?" he asked Lei Luo uncertainly.

Lei Luo nodded. "Only third-grade."

Hearing that, Hai Bo Dong's eyelids twitched. "Just how old are you, kid?"

"Eighteen."

"And you're telling me you're eighteen?" Hai Bo Dong was stunned.

"What kind of monster did that brat Teng Shan give birth to?"

Complaints aside, Lei Luo's identity gave him a glimmer of hope.

"Can you refine a sixth-grade pill?" Hai Bo Dong asked uncertainly.

Lei Luo's answer was naturally no.

But just because he could not did not mean no one else could.

At worst, the Miter Family could still invite Gu He to help refine the pill.

Licking his dry lips, Hai Bo Dong panted heavily. "Then let's return to the family and have Teng Shan invite Gu He to act?"

However, Lei Luo shook his head.

"Elder Hai, I came here this time for another matter. I have to finish it before I can leave."

Of course, there was something else Lei Luo did not say aloud.

That was, if Hai Bo Dong, whose strength was only at the Battle Spirit realm, returned with him to the imperial capital, Lei Luo could not guarantee whether his cheap father would...

After all, power was the thing most capable of changing a person.

Hai Bo Dong understood the stakes as well. He smiled bitterly and shook his head. "The older I get, the more impatient I become. Fine, I've waited all these years. Another day or two won't make a difference."

"But give this old man a definite answer, kid. Otherwise, I truly won't be able to sit still now."

Lei Luo thought for a moment before saying to Hai Bo Dong, "At most half a year. I should be able to find a way to get the Calamity-Breaking Pill by then. When the time comes, this junior will naturally come find Elder Hai."

Hai Bo Dong studied Lei Luo deeply. The more he looked at the boy before him, the more pleasing he found him, the more he liked him.

Under that scorching gaze, Lei Luo felt a chill run down his back and hurriedly said to Hai Bo Dong:

"Then this junior shall take his leave first. Once I finish my business, I'll come find you again, Elder Hai."

With that, Lei Luo left the shop, leaving Hai Bo Dong sitting blankly behind the counter.

Only after Lei Luo had left did Hai Bo Dong recover from his earlier shock.

"That brat..." He smiled and shook his head, but his expression soon turned nostalgic.

"Looks like the family has produced an extraordinary little fellow."

After leaving Hai Bo Dong's map shop, even Lei Luo's steps on the street felt light and unsteady.

It was not because Hai Bo Dong's presence had been too imposing. The main reason was that Lei Luo had used the sign-in on him just now.

For some unknown reason, the rewards from signing in with Hai Bo Dong were even richer than those from Yun Yun!

[Congratulations on signing in with plot character "Hai Bo Dong." Obtained: one Minor Realm Breakthrough Card.]

[Obtained: low-tier Earth-class blade technique battle skill: Flowing Light Heavenly Dance.]

[Obtained: one Alchemist Realm Breakthrough Card.]

After putting away the rewards, Lei Luo took out the map he had swiped from his family's old ancestor earlier and began studying it.

From his memories, Lei Luo naturally knew that the Heavenly Flame was not far outside Rock Desert City.

So, following the markings on the map, Lei Luo returned to the inn, packed his things, and prepared to head for Rock Desert City.

The Tagor Desert was now also known as the Snake-People Desert. It gained this name after the Snake-People Tribe was driven here by the three great human empires.

In truth, the entire Snake-People Desert lay at the junction of the three great empires and was jointly administered by them, with all three suppressing the Snake-People Tribe's living space.

It was precisely because of the fire-element energy everywhere in the desert that the Snake-People Tribe was suppressed and denied any chance to rise again.

The moment he stepped into the desert, the terrifying heat hit him head-on.

In an instant, Lei Luo felt his mouth go dry.

Surviving alone became extremely difficult in such a harsh environment.

This could not help but make Lei Luo admire the resilience of the Snake-People Tribe.

Braving the yellow sand, Lei Luo hurried toward Rock Desert City as marked on the map.

He did not travel with any merchant caravans, since in an environment like this, having more people only became a burden.

Lei Luo treated the long, tedious, and arduous journey as cultivation.

Using the violent fire-element energy of the desert, he traveled while tempering his battle qi.

Such an environment was most suitable for cultivators who practiced fire-attribute techniques.

Rock Desert City was not far from Desert City, and Lei Luo arrived there by evening that same day.

Thanks to an alchemist's privileges, Lei Luo did not have to pay the city entry tax and entered directly.

However, Lei Luo did not stay in the city. He merely waited silently for nightfall.

Once the sky had completely darkened, the Purple Cloud Wings on his back trembled, and he shot into the sky, leaving Rock Desert City.

After leaving the city, Lei Luo began searching.

The original description of the underground entrance was very vague. It merely stated that it was within several kilometers outside Rock Desert City.

For Lei Luo, that was undoubtedly a massive undertaking.

And nighttime was the most dangerous time in the Snake-People Desert!

Because of the enormous temperature difference between day and night, the desert became freezing cold at night, sometimes dropping to twenty degrees below zero. This also created favorable conditions for the snake-people to become active.

The Snake-People Tribe naturally preferred cold and darkness. The desert night was when they truly reveled.

Along the way, Lei Luo killed quite a few magical beasts, but he did not see a single snake-person.

That was precisely the deterrent power of the three great human empires.

Under the intimidation of those three colossal powers, ordinary snake-people did not dare approach these human cities at all.

Lei Luo's search continued until the latter half of the night. By then, the desert temperature had fallen to nearly twenty degrees below zero.

Even Lei Luo began shivering in such extreme cold, and thoughts of retreat started to arise in his heart.

Just as Lei Luo was planning to search for the underground entrance again during the day, he suddenly noticed something unusual.

Because of his innate fire-attribute physique, as well as the Heavenly Flame and Purple Flame within him, Lei Luo was exceptionally sensitive to fire-element energy.

As he was preparing to leave, he clearly sensed a violent fire-attribute aura emanating from underground.

Overjoyed, he was instantly filled with energy and immediately began a carpet search around the location where the energy had erupted.

In the end, heaven did not disappoint the determined. He finally found the underground entrance!