Xiao Yan plunged into the magma and dove straight down.
He sensed the fire-attribute energy within the magma and swam toward where it was strongest.
The deeper he went, the denser the fire-attribute energy became.
After about half an hour, the red magma turned green.
Xiao Yan's spirits lifted. He knew he was close.
He descended another dozen meters and saw a brilliant green glow in the distance below.
A green lotus floated within the light.
"The Green Lotus Core Flame!"
Medicine Elder appeared beside Xiao Yan, wrapped in the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, and spoke in delight.
The Green Lotus Core Flame ranked nineteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. Born deep within the earth, it endured countless rounds of tempering, fusion, compression, and shaping by the earth's fire. It took ten years to gain a spirit, a hundred to take form, and a thousand to become a lotus.
Once unleashed, this flame could stir the magma underground and trigger a volcanic eruption, wielding the destructive power of nature itself.
Xiao Yan broke into a happy smile too. He kicked off through the magma and shot toward the brilliant green light like a fish.
Soon, he reached the edge of the glow and plunged in.
At the center of that green-lit world, a green lotus bloomed.
It had eight green leaves, translucent and lustrous as green jade.
Within the flower sat a small lotus platform, roughly two or three feet across.
Lotus seeds glimmered faintly in several hollows on the platform.
Beneath the lotus stretched an exceptionally slender stem, more than ten meters long.
Tiny tendrils covered the stem. Xiao Yan could sense them greedily absorbing the fire-attribute energy from the magma.
"Be careful. Don't touch those tendrils, or they'll drain every last trace of Dou Qi from your body."
Medicine Elder warned him from beside him.
Xiao Yan nodded, carefully avoided the tendrils, and swam above the lotus.
But when he looked into its center, he froze. A fist-sized hole sat in the middle of the lotus platform, utterly empty.
"Teacher, the Green Lotus Core Flame isn't here."
Xiao Yan sounded disappointed. Looks like my queen wife took the Green Lotus Core Flame.
"This lotus has matured. By all rights, it should have produced the Green Lotus Core Flame."
Medicine Elder pondered aloud. His gaze swept across the platform, and a flash of seven-colored light suddenly caught his eye.
He looked closer and saw a seven-colored scale. With a beckoning motion, he drew it into his hand.
"A Seven-Colored Snake Scale?"
Medicine Elder gave a cold laugh. "So that's why the Green Lotus Core Flame is gone. Someone got here before us."
The Seven-Colored Snake Scale only made Xiao Yan more certain that his queen wife had taken the flame.
"So the presence Qing Lin sensed belonged to the owner of this Seven-Colored Snake Scale."
"In the Tagor Desert, only Queen Medusa possesses Seven-Colored Snake Scales."
Medicine Elder spoke.
"Teacher, let's go find her. Queen Medusa is my wife in the future, after all."
Xiao Yan grinned.
Medicine Elder stiffened and stared at him in astonishment.
He counted off Xiao Yan's women: Xiao Xun'er, Xiao Yi Xian with her Woeful Poison Body, Qing Lin with her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, Yun Yun the Dou Emperor, Queen Medusa—and Nalan Yanran, the fiancée still shut away in the Portable Space.
The brat had no shortage of romantic luck. It was enough to make anyone envious.
"Just how many wives do you have in the future?"
Medicine Elder spoke through gritted teeth.
Xiao Yan chuckled. "That's all for now. But life is a long road. Who knows when I might meet another woman who sets my heart racing?"
"Shameless!"
Medicine Elder shot him a disdainful look. "Didn't you say you could see the future? How can you not know how many wives you'll have?"
"I can only see a little over twenty years ahead. By then, I've already become a Battle Emperor, known as the Flame Emperor."
Xiao Yan spoke calmly.
"A Battle Emperor? No one on the Battle Qi Continent has become a Battle Emperor in ten thousand years. You'll do it in just over twenty? Are you serious?"
The glimpse of the future Xiao Yan had revealed left Medicine Elder's scalp tingling. He muttered to himself in disbelief.
"Heh. So be grateful, Teacher. Taking on a disciple like me is a blessing you earned over several lifetimes."
Xiao Yan looked thoroughly pleased with himself. "The Endless Fire Domain has Medicine Elder, while the Divine Realm has no Yu Xiaogang. Our fine names are known throughout the myriad worlds."
"Uh, who's Yu Xiaogang?"
Medicine Elder was, of course, very pleased with Xiao Yan as his disciple.
"That's not important. First, I'll take this lotus. Then I'll visit the Snake-People Tribe and find my queen wife."
"This lotus is a rare treasure too. Its platform has the remarkable ability to speed up cultivation, while its seeds contain the essence of fire spirits. They're sacred medicine for cultivating Fire Attribute Dou Qi."
Medicine Elder nodded. "This lotus is a wonder of heaven and earth. Ordinary iron melts on contact. To cut it free, you'll need something made of pure jade..."
"Why go to all that trouble? Watch me."
Using his body as a conduit, Xiao Yan steadily transferred the magma into his Portable Space.
A huge hollow lay at one edge of the Portable Space, and green magma poured into it without pause.
An hour later, the level of the underground Magma Lake had dropped by more than ten meters, exposing pitted volcanic caverns.
Fatigue showed on Xiao Yan's face as he grasped the green lotus and transferred it, stem and all, into the magma lake within his Portable Space.
Inside the Portable Space, Xiao Yan and Medicine Elder stood beside the red magma lake, gazing at the breathtaking green lotus in its center.
Medicine Elder looked stunned.
He turned toward Xiao Yan. "With an ability like this, I believe you'll become a Battle Emperor one day."
"You thought I was lying to you?"
Xiao Yan laughed softly. "Medicine Elder, I want to give my two elder brothers some pills to improve their strength. Sorry for the trouble, but could you refine a batch here over the next few days?"
He tossed his Storage Ring to Medicine Elder.
The ring contained the medicinal ingredients and magical beast Magic Cores Xiao Yan had collected over time. Most precious of all were the Purple Spirit Crystal and Companion Purple Crystal Source he had obtained from the Amethyst Winged Lion King's cave.
Over the next few days, Medicine Elder refined pills in the Portable Space. Xiao Yan stayed there too, spending time with Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin.
Now and then, Xiao Yan also visited Nalan Yanran.
Nalan Yanran had long since lost her former pride. She had grown quiet.
She had also reached the level of a Nine-Star Dou Practitioner, just one step away from becoming a Dou Master.
"Xiao Yan, I'd like to ask you a favor."
Nalan Yanran looked at him, a faint ripple stirring in her calm eyes.
Xiao Yan sat across from her, savoring his Fire Cloud Tea. "Go ahead."
"I've been gone for more than a year. I don't know how my father and grandfather are doing. Could you visit the Nalan Family and check on them for me?"
Xiao Yan had confined Nalan Yanran in the Portable Space. After so long, she missed her family more than ever.
Xiao Yan was silent for a moment. "I'll visit them when I get the chance."
"Thank you," Nalan Yanran said softly.
Xiao Yan smiled, left the courtyard, and went to Medicine Elder's residence.
"Teacher, how are the pills coming along?"
Medicine Elder tossed him dozens of jade bottles. "I refined some fourth-tier Foundation-Enhancing Pills and Foundation Establishment Pills, along with Amethyst Barrier-Breaking Pills. With these, your two elder brothers should be able to become Da Dou Shi within a year."
"Then I'll thank you on behalf of my brothers, Medicine Elder."
Xiao Yan chuckled.
He left the Portable Space, went to the Desert Iron Mercenary Group, and gave the pills to his two elder brothers.
How shocked and delighted Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were went without saying.
Xiao Yan returned to the Portable Space. He planned to break through to Da Dou Shi there before going to find his queen wife.
Before you continue