Fire Spirit Snake

After Lin Qing and Lion flew into the passage, Lin Qing flipped his palm, and a large handful of Moonlight Stones appeared in it. He threw them into the distance, and the pitch-black passage instantly became bright.

Under the soft light, Lin Qing noticed that the walls on both sides of the passage were extremely smooth. They had likely been left behind by that two-headed snake.

A moment later, with a dull thud, Lin Qing and Lion landed together. More than ten pitch-black passages appeared before them.

"Young Master, with so many passages here, they must have been left by a Tier 4 Serpentine Magical Beast!"

Lion King closed his eyes and sniffed around the entrance to the passages before speaking.

Lin Qing also thought to himself, These passages were most likely dug out by that Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake. I wonder why that thing kept burrowing around and making so many passages. It really is restless!

"Can you sense that snake? Or where the Fire Attribute energy is denser?"

Lin Qing used his spiritual power and Xuanhuang Flame to sense the area for a while. He found that the Fire Attribute energy in one passage on the left was somewhat denser, but he still wanted to confirm it.

"I can!"

Lion circled the entrance once more, then pointed to a passage on the left. "It should be there!"

"Mm! Let's go!"

Lin Qing swept his gaze over that passage. It was indeed the one he had just sensed. With that, he walked in without hesitation.

Upon entering the passage, Lin Qing felt the temperature seemed to have dropped somewhat. This time, he directly took out the Xuanhuang Flame and used it for illumination.

In the dark, deep passage, time seemed to have lost all meaning. Lin Qing continued forward stiffly like this, while the passage appeared endless, with no light from its end ever coming into view. It felt as though they were constantly walking toward the center of the earth.

Fortunately, as they went deeper, the chill surrounding them suddenly vanished, replaced by a faint heat.

Lin Qing sensed the Xuanhuang Flame within his body becoming more active.

He immediately quickened his pace, swiftly passing through the final stretch of passage and arriving at its end.

Standing at the end of the passage and looking at the fiery-red world before him, Lin Qing's lips curved upward slightly.

Within the enormous underground cavern, crimson magma flowed slowly. Occasionally, enormous bubbles rose from the magma, only to burst with a soft sound moments later. Blazing magma shot out like brilliant red fireworks.

Standing at the end of the narrow passage and gazing at the nearly boundless Magma World before him, Lion was somewhat stunned as well. He involuntarily swallowed and clicked his tongue in amazement.

"I never expected such a terrifying place to exist underground. Young Master, the Fire Attribute energy here is so abundant! It's just a pity there's a faint poison mixed in. Otherwise, this would be an excellent place for cultivation."

"Of course there is magma underground. Where there is magma, there is naturally danger, and Fire Attribute energy is naturally abundant. As for the poison, it should be Fire Poison!" Lin Qing said with a smile.

"Young Master, that Tier 4 little snake seems to be beneath the magma!" Lion suddenly looked at Lin Qing seriously.

Lin Qing sensed it as well. An aura was rapidly approaching them.

Lin Qing casually condensed a Dou Qi sword finger and slammed it down toward the magma. The sword finger sank beneath the magma, and it seemed that a creature had been struck.

The Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake had already advanced to Tier 4 and gained intelligence, though it was not particularly high—at most, it was comparable to a human child. This time, Lin Qing had thoroughly enraged it.

Suddenly, an enormous figure burst out from the magma with a sharp hiss and lunged at Lin Qing. Randomly spraying magma also threw the tranquil Magma Lake into a sudden frenzy, as pillars of molten fire shot into the sky in a spectacular sight.

"Young Master, be careful!"

Lion, standing beside Lin Qing, prepared to make his move.

"Lion, don't interfere. I was waiting for it to come out. It's our guide! It has finally arrived!"

Hearing Lin Qing's words, Lion could only stop. However, the Dou Qi within his body continued to circulate. He feared that something might happen to Lin Qing, so he had to be ready to act at any moment.

It was a Serpentine Magical Beast more than forty or fifty feet long. Its entire body was fiery red, like a piece of fire jade, and palm-sized red scales densely covered its surface. What was even more astonishing was that it had two heads. At the forked end of its long neck, two savage heads stared with huge diamond-shaped pupils filled with violent, bloodthirsty killing intent.

Rather than being alarmed, Lin Qing was delighted. He flipped his right hand, and a small jade seal appeared in his palm. His left hand swiftly formed a hand seal, and once it was completed, the jade seal emitted a burst of white light.

This was the Beast-Taming Seal he had obtained through the system a few days ago. There were ten in total. Used together with the hand seal, it could allow him to control Magical Beasts whose cultivation did not exceed his own. It was somewhat useless for increasing his combat power, but it could still prove useful at times.

"Go!"

Lin Qing shot the jade seal in his hand toward the Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's head.

Whoosh!

Since the man and snake were extremely close, and both the Fire Spirit Snake and the jade seal Lin Qing fired were exceedingly fast, the Fire Spirit Snake had no time to dodge. The jade seal instantly entered its head.

All at once, Lin Qing felt as though he could control everything about the Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake, including its life and death. The Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake also froze in midair before falling into the magma, sending ripples across the Magma Lake.

"Come out!"

Lin Qing commanded the Fire Spirit Snake that had fallen into the magma.

Upon hearing Lin Qing's command, the Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake immediately emerged from the magma. It shrank into a little snake less than thirty centimeters long and stopped before Lin Qing, its four large eyes gazing at him obediently.

Lion, standing to the side, was also stunned by this sight. He stared wide-eyed at the Fire Spirit Snake's docile and obedient appearance.

Do you know where the Heavenly Flames beneath this magma are?

Through the Beast-Taming Seal, Lin Qing asked the Fire Spirit Snake with his thoughts.

I do!

The Fire Spirit Snake nodded obediently, then pointed its tail toward the magma.

Take us down to find the Heavenly Flames!

After communicating with the Fire Spirit Snake, Lin Qing said to Lion, "The Heavenly Flames are below. We'll follow it down!"

With that, Lin Qing and Lion stood atop the Fire Spirit Snake, which had grown larger again. They circulated their Dou Qi and firmly adhered themselves to its body. Lion then thoughtfully activated a Dou Qi protective barrier.

To be honest, without the strength of a Da Dou Shi or higher, or without Heavenly Flames protecting one's body, he would not dare descend into magma. Those lacking sufficient strength would simply perish there.

"Let's go!"

Upon receiving Lin Qing's command, the Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake carried Lin Qing and Lion as it plunged headfirst into the magma, swimming toward the location of the Heavenly Flames.

Within the magma, everything around them was fiery red. The magma's temperature was extremely high. Lin Qing had already overestimated its heat, yet he had still underestimated it. The surrounding heat was enough to directly burn through a Da Dou Shi's Dou Qi Armor. However, it posed no threat to him. Not only did he have a Dou Emperor beside him maintaining a protective barrier, but even without Lion, his seven-star Dou Ling cultivation and the Xuanhuang Flame protecting his body meant that this magma was currently not much of a threat to him.