Underground Magma

The vast desert lay beneath a blazing sun.

The sky was a flawless blue as a streak of green light cut across it, drawing the eye.

Flying through the sky, Xiao Qing felt the Life Spirit Flame within him growing increasingly restless. He could not help speeding up, sonic booms ringing out with every beat of his wings.

Before long, he arrived above a stretch of flat sand.

Hovering over the sand, Xiao Qing could clearly feel the excitement transmitted by the gently swaying Life Spirit Flame within him.

After confirming that this was where the Green Lotus Core Flame lay, Dou Qi surged through his body as he raised a hand and sent forth a green palm print several zhang wide.

Boom!!!

As the palm print descended, the previously flat sand below slowly caved in, revealing a deep pit roughly half a meter across.

Seeing this, Xiao Qing beat his wings and flashed into it.

Snake-People Holy City, a city located in the heart of the desert.

Security here was exceptionally tight, with fully armed snake-person soldiers patrolling throughout the city.

In the eastern part of the city stood an enormous temple.

Within the spacious and luxurious main hall, an exceptionally bewitching and beautiful figure lounged lazily against a purple crystal throne.

She was Queen Medusa, the leader of the Snake-People Tribe, whose name struck terror into countless experts of the Jia Ma Empire!

She wore an elegant and luxurious purple brocade robe. Beneath it, her voluptuous and exquisite body resembled a ripe peach, radiating a faint, seductive charm.

Her long black hair cascaded casually from her fragrant shoulders to her slender waist. Beneath the brocade robe, a section of purple snake tail was exposed, swaying with enchanting allure that made one's blood run hot.

"Hm?"

A seductive, alluring voice came from Medusa's lips.

Her exquisite face, capable of making people lose themselves, furrowed slightly as she took out a red crystal sphere about the size of a fist from her Storage Ring.

This crystal sphere was a hereditary token passed down through the Snake-People Tribe for generations. Only each successive Queen Medusa of the Snake-People Tribe could possess it.

It was said that whenever Heavenly Flames appeared nearby, the crystal sphere would glow. The closer it was to the Heavenly Flame, the stronger its radiance became.

At this moment, a faint glimmer flickered within the red crystal sphere in Medusa's hand, seeming as though it might vanish at any moment.

"A Heavenly Flame has appeared nearby?"

Hesitation appeared on Medusa's bewitching face.

Though the crystal sphere could sense Heavenly Flames, it could not distinguish whether one had an owner.

If it was an ownerless Heavenly Flame, that would be fine. With her strength, she only needed to expend some effort to bring it back to the Snake-People Tribe.

But if it was a Heavenly Flame with an owner...

Anyone capable of subduing a Heavenly Flame was an exceptionally powerful expert. If she offended such a person over this, it might bring catastrophic disaster upon the Snake-People Tribe!

After hesitating for a long time, Medusa still decided to investigate.

The possibility of leading the Snake-People Tribe out of the desert lay before her. If she missed it because of this, she would never forgive herself!

Medusa rose from the crystal throne. A pair of magnificent purple wings appeared behind her, and with a gentle flap, she transformed into a streak of purple light that shot toward the desert beyond Snake-People Holy City.

"That is Her Majesty the Queen!"

"It's Her Majesty the Queen!"

Within Snake-People Holy City, the snake-people walking outside watched the purple streak fly out of the city. Respect shone in their eyes as excitement spread across their faces, and they knelt to pay their respects.

Only after the purple streak vanished beyond the horizon did they slowly rise from the ground and return to their respective tasks, though the excitement in their eyes lingered for a long time.

Within the pitch-black passageway, a streak of green light swept downward, following the smooth stone walls deep underground.

Before long, Xiao Qing could see the ground at the bottom of the passage.

A moment later, with a soft landing sound, Xiao Qing's feet touched the ground, and his eyes swept over his surroundings.

Not far ahead lay more than a dozen dark, deep passageways leading to unknown places.

Xiao Qing slowly closed his eyes and carefully sensed the fluctuations coming from the Life Spirit Flame within him.

Not long afterward, Xiao Qing opened his eyes again, chose a particularly long-looking deep passageway, and stepped inside.

The dark, deep passageway was silent. Only Xiao Qing's faint footsteps echoed through it, the hollow sound making the surroundings seem utterly dead.

Xiao Qing continued onward through the dark passageway. As he went deeper, a faint scorching heat washed over him.

Before long, a dim red glow appeared at the end of the passage ahead.

When Xiao Qing reached the end of the passage, he saw fiery-red magma flowing through the cavern before him.

Without hesitation, Xiao Qing took a step forward. The instant before he plunged into the fiery magma, green flames brimming with life force surged from his body and wrapped around him layer by layer.

"Splash..."

With a sound like someone falling into water, Xiao Qing's figure disappeared into the magma.

The surroundings fell silent once more, broken only occasionally by the bursting of magma bubbles.

His body floated within the scorching magma, surrounded by a fiery-red world.

After briefly surveying the area, Xiao Qing transformed into a streak of green light and shot toward the source that made the Life Spirit Flame transmit such excitement.

Beneath the fiery magma, undercurrents surged. From time to time, fierce streams of magma erupted from unknown places, but Xiao Qing sensed them in advance with his soul power and avoided them beforehand.

As he gradually descended deeper into the magma, Xiao Qing could clearly sense through the Life Spirit Flame surrounding him that the temperature of the external magma was nearly doubling.

Xiao Qing looked around and discovered that at some point, the fiery-red magma had begun to take on a faint bluish tint.

Xiao Qing immediately understood that he was not far from the Green Lotus Core Flame.

Just then, a faint hissing sound came from beneath the magma, piercing through the obstruction of the molten rock and reaching Xiao Qing's ears.

Following the sound, Xiao Qing saw a completely fiery-red two-headed snake attacking from not far away. As it drew closer, it appeared increasingly larger.

Too lazy to waste words with it, Xiao Qing's Dou Qi surged as he unleashed a Scarlet Fire Seal with all his strength.

The crystalline green palm print shot from his hand, swelling rapidly as it flew toward the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake.

It had started out palm-sized, but by the time it reached the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake, it was already four or five zhang wide.

"Hiss! Hiss!"

Sensing an intense threat, the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake suddenly let out a series of piercing hisses.

Yet before it could launch an attack to defend itself, the scorching palm print blasted it into a cloud of blood mist.

Eroded by the surrounding magma, nothing remained.