Underground

Meanwhile, atop a majestic mountain range more than ten miles from the Gama Imperial Capital stood the Misty Cloud Sect of the Jia Ma Empire. The mountain range was also known to the people of Gama as Misty Cloud Mountain.

Misty Cloud Mountain was steep, with cliffs on three sides and only a single narrow path leading to its summit. It was a perilous place that was easy to defend and hard to attack.

The usually bustling Misty Cloud Sect had been exceptionally quiet these past few days.

The reason was simple: the Mo Clan, an affiliated force of the Misty Cloud Sect, had been wiped out some time ago. And it had not been destroyed by some minor faction, but by the Imperial Family—by the Imperial Family's newly emerged Dou Emperor.

No one had known that, besides Jia Xing Tian and the guardian Magical Beast of the state, the Imperial Family actually possessed another Dou Emperor expert.

If it had been some other minor faction, the Misty Cloud Sect might have retaliated immediately. But with the Old Sect Master in secluded life-or-death cultivation and the Imperial Family possessing the combat strength of three Dou Emperors, Yunlan had no power to seek revenge.

This matter had left all the Misty Cloud Sect elders greatly enraged.

Misty Cloud Sect Council Hall.

"Sect Master! The Imperial Family is simply too arrogant!"

The one speaking was the Misty Cloud Sect's Great Elder, Yun Leng.

The suddenly rising genius of the Xiao Clan in Wutan City, the Imperial Family's newly appeared Dou Emperor, the Sixth-Grade Alchemist who had suddenly emerged in Black Rock City, the destruction of the Mo Clan, an affiliated force of the Misty Cloud Sect, the Imperial Family's frequent moves, and her teacher's life-or-death seclusion.

Yun Yun frowned slightly. None of these were good news for the Misty Cloud Sect, yet she had no good solution at the moment. If it came to cultivation, she might manage well enough, but managing an entire sect was truly not something she was skilled at.

"Great Elder, restrain the disciples for now. We will discuss everything else after Teacher emerges from seclusion!"

"Sect Master?!"

"There is no need to discuss this matter any further!"

Hearing Yun Yun's words, Yun Leng's expression changed slightly. Then, remembering that the Sect Master had yet to break through to the Dou Zong realm, he could only set aside his thoughts.

Within the fiery-red Magma World, undercurrents surged. From time to time, extremely fierce currents of magma burst forth from unknown places. These currents contained immense energy; if struck, even Lin Qing, a Dou Ling, would be injured.

Fortunately, Lin Qing had Lion King's energy barrier protecting him, and the Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake was extremely familiar with this place. It avoided the currents before they arrived.

In this fiery-red world, there appeared to be no living creatures other than Fire Spirit Snakes. The conditions here were simply too harsh. Aside from strange beasts like the Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake, which survived by devouring magma, other Magical Beasts likely could not move freely through such a place without being affected, not even Dou Emperor-level Magical Beasts as powerful as Lion.

Of course, it was also possible that the Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake had avoided those creatures. After all, there were some Lizardmen beneath Jia Nan Academy, and the Fire Spirit Snake itself was living proof.

As they continued descending into the seemingly bottomless magma, even with Lion King's energy barrier protecting him, Lin Qing could feel the external temperature rising severalfold.

Sensing this, Lin Qing quietly drew a breath. Knowing about it and experiencing it firsthand were completely different things. This truly was dancing on a blade's edge.

With magma all around him, Lin Qing could not accurately judge the passage of time. He only knew that roughly an hour had passed.

As time passed and they descended deeper, the fiery-red magma around them gradually began to take on a bluish-green tint.

"Young Master, the temperature around us is getting higher and higher. We must return within one shichen, or I will not be able to get you safely back to land!"

Lion, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly spoke. His rugged face was solemn and serious.

"These are Fifth-Grade Qi Cultivation Pills. Take one when you can no longer hold on. We will definitely arrive within two hours!"

With a flip of his hand, Lin Qing took out a Jade Bottle and handed it to Lion.

Lion accepted the Jade Bottle, took out one pill and placed it in his mouth, then carefully put the bottle away. He silently increased his Dou Qi output.

"Little fellow, speed up!" Lin Qing said to the Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake beneath him.

Upon hearing Lin Qing's command, one of the Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's enormous heads turned around. It glanced at Lin Qing and Lion, then let out a hiss.

Almost there, Master!

Its diving speed immediately surged.

As the Fire Spirit Snake accelerated, the color of the surrounding magma gradually shifted to blue-green.

More than ten minutes later, they finally arrived at their destination. Blue-green light filled this expanse of magma. Lin Qing focused his gaze and saw a blue-green lotus standing gently within that light.

"I finally found you, Green Lotus Core Flame!"

The Green Lotus Core Flame ranked nineteenth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking. Born deep within the earth, it had undergone countless temperings, fusions, compressions, and carvings by the earth's fire...

It gained spirit in ten years, took form in a hundred years, and became a lotus in a thousand years. When fully mature, it was bluish-green in color, and a cluster of blue-green flame would grow within its lotus heart. This was called Green Lotus Flame, also known as the Green Lotus Core Flame. Its power was unfathomable; near volcanic regions, it could even trigger volcanic eruptions, forming the destructive force of nature itself!

"Hiss!" The Fire Spirit Snake beside him let out a shrill cry. Lin Qing turned his head and saw that its huge eyes were staring at the blue-green radiance with faint fear and dread. Its enormous body was trembling slightly as well.

Ignoring the Fire Spirit Snake's reaction, Lin Qing slowly swam toward the Green Lotus Core Flame. As he drew closer to that blue-green radiance, he could clearly feel the temperature around his body suddenly soar.

Suddenly, the Xuanhuang Flame within Lin Qing's body emerged and protected him. The Ancestral Stone and the Devouring Ancestral Talisman also exerted their power at this moment, and Lin Qing immediately felt incomparably relaxed.

Once Lin Qing entered the blue-green radiance, the surrounding temperature dropped considerably. He knew this was because the Green Lotus Core Flame was absorbing the energy of the surrounding magma.

Lin Qing swept his gaze around before finally settling it on the blue-green lotus at the center.

The blue-green lotus had eight petals. Its eight blue-green leaves were as flawless as the most perfect natural green jade. At a glance, they were crystal-clear and so exquisite that one could not bear to put them down.

Within the lotus seemed to be a small Lotus Platform around two or three feet wide. Faint fluorescent light shone from several holes on its surface.

These were lotus seeds condensed from the purest fire-attributed energy. Only one formed every hundred years.

At the center of the small Lotus Platform within the lotus was a fist-sized hole. Inside it, a cluster of blue-green flame burned fiercely, radiating violent energy as it flickered.

Beneath the blue-green lotus was an extremely slender root, more than ten meters long. Countless tiny tendrils densely covered it. As these tendrils swayed, Lin Qing could clearly sense that they were frantically absorbing the violent fire-attributed energy from the surrounding magma with near-greedy hunger.

"I wonder how Medusa found this damned place. Could she have spent decades searching for it?"

Lin Qing muttered to himself. There was no other reason—it was simply too difficult to find. He knew the original story, had used money to pave the way, and had still spent considerable time locating the passage leading to the underground magma. Only with the Fire Spirit Snake guiding him had he found the Green Lotus Core Flame so smoothly.

Without all that, even if someone beat him to death, he would never have guessed that a Heavenly Flame was hidden here.