A Surge in Strength; Queen Medusa Blocks the Exit

Hai Bodong had no idea what Xiao Yan meant, but seeing the serious look on his face, he held back his questions. Enduring the waves of heat, he leaned against the wall, bored.

Before long, the three-petaled pattern between the young girl's brows deepened in color and even began to turn faintly. Then she fainted.

The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's eyes cleared at once. Enduring the agony of the fire poison in its body, it nuzzled Qing Lin's dress.

"It worked."

Xiao Yan smiled. He laid a hand on the Fire Spirit Snake's enormous body, drew the remaining Netherworld Poison Flame from it into his palm, then gave it a pat.

Before long, Qing Lin stirred awake, her little face flushed with excitement. "Young Master Xiao Yan, I did it! I did it!"

"I tamed this fire snake."

As she spoke, she patted the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's head with a smile, to Hai Bodong's astonishment. The creature was remarkably docile. It even willingly turned into a bracelet and coiled around the girl's pale wrist.

"Not bad. That's Little Qing Lin for you." Xiao Yan smiled.

Though the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils could only tame snakes, that hardly diminished its other uncanny abilities. Used in battle, it could daze an enemy for an instant. With greater mastery, it could even make enemies attack their own companions.

It was downright broken.

"Hee-hee..." Qing Lin beamed and rubbed against Xiao Yan's warm palm like a little animal.

"Looks like she hasn't been here yet."

Xiao Yan glanced at the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake. It flicked its tongue, sharing something with Qing Lin.

"Who?" Hai Bodong looked baffled.

"The one who sealed you." Xiao Yan smiled. "Queen Medusa."

With that, he followed the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake down into the molten depths.

Gurgle...

They plunged deeper once more. A boundless, deep-red world of molten rock surrounded them, with no edge or end in sight. Yet Xiao Yan remained composed. Even as the Dou Qi in his body steadily dwindled, his expression stayed calm.

"Hiss..."

"Just ahead?"

Seeing the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake stop, Xiao Yan halted as well. The scorching heat around him had grown more intense. He looked up.

A Pale Cyan Fire Lotus hung motionless amid the molten rock. The flames around it were no longer the fiery red from before, but a pale cyan, far hotter and more terrifying.

The Green Lotus Core Flame!

"The Fire Lotus and the Lotus Platform—I'm taking both."

The Lotus Platform could aid cultivation, the Lotus Seeds could be used in alchemy, and the lotus flame... that was for devouring.

But...

Xiao Yan considered it for a moment, then made his decision.

He would refine it here before leaving.

Away from the endless sea of fire, he would no longer waste Dou Qi. Once he absorbed the Fire Lotus, his cultivation would surge as well. He was no longer the Xiao Yan of the past, who had to rely on the Flame Mantra to devour Heavenly Flames. The Old Lord's method of controlling fire was virtually flawless.

Once devoured, it would become his own Qi Fire to command.

He slowly exhaled.

Without further hesitation, Xiao Yan summoned the purest Qi Fire within him. It took the form of a fiery-red python, coiled around the Pale Cyan Fire Lotus, and swallowed it whole.

Hum...

Ripples spread through the surrounding space.

Xiao Yan sat cross-legged and closed his eyes. Wisps of pale cyan light tried to escape his body, but the Fire Python held them fast within him and refined them all.

He had no idea how much time passed before he opened his eyes again. Then he froze.

The Dou Qi within him had grown far more abundant. At the Seven-Star Dou Shi level, it had been like a little snake. Now it was thick enough to be called a python.

"Five-Star Da Dou Shi."

He clenched his fist. He could now condense Dou Qi into armor!

Excitement flashed across Xiao Yan's face.

Looking inward, he saw a miniature Fire Python swimming through his dantian. Inside it, two Flame Seeds stood out: the Ink Green Netherworld Poison Flame and a new pale cyan flame.

He could wield Heavenly Flames through Qi Fire.

This path worked. At least, when he absorbed a second Heavenly Flame, the two had not rejected each other. He could call upon them as easily as he moved his own limbs.

Suppressing the urge to fuse the two Heavenly Flames, he let out a long breath.

Better to get out first.

After his breakthrough to Da Dou Shi, the third turn of the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts had advanced as well. The wisps of milky-white energy within him had become denser. He could begin cultivating Refining Qi into Divinity.

He gently circulated the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts. The wisps of Dou Qi within him visibly rushed toward his head. His mind cleared instantly, while his awareness of his surroundings expanded severalfold. Even tiny flecks drifting through the nearby flames appeared in his mind.

This was what Alchemists coveted most... soul power!!

A Fourth-Rank Alchemist? Xiao Yan grinned. He could even be considered at the peak of the fourth rank, just one step from the fifth.

And...

Xiao Yan carefully examined the wisps of milky-white energy within him. They were unlike Dou Qi and had arisen only because he cultivated the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts. Could they be... Immortal Qi?

Am I cultivating immortality?

"Not too slow, after all." The Old Lord's voice rang out, amused. "Though this world is starved of spiritual energy, there's still a trace for you to cultivate with. That energy will form the foundation for your true Heaven-and-Earth Manifestation and other divine abilities. And when you leave this world for mine one day, as long as you have the foundation of the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, you'll absorb the spiritual energy there at tremendous speed and bring your cultivation up to the corresponding level."

"Yes, disciple understands!" Xiao Yan broke into a grin.

The Old Lord's meaning was clear. The spiritual energy here was so thin that the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts could hardly show its true power, but the foundation he had cultivated would remain. Once he entered a world truly suited to the technique, it would draw in spiritual energy like a whale taking in water, rapidly bringing him to the corresponding level.

Of course, the Old Lord was surely being "modest."

Even in a world starved of spiritual energy, the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts would be enough to let him stand above the rest.

After all, "starved" was relative...

"Let's go. Time to leave."

Xiao Yan stretched, his face full of delight.

He crossed the vast world beneath the molten rock but found no sign of the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake. Thinking it had gone back to Qing Lin, he paid it no mind.

But when he surfaced from the molten rock, ready to take Hai Bodong and Qing Lin away, his smile slowly stiffened.

At the far end of his vision, Hai Bodong and Qing Lin huddled in a corner, trembling. A stunning woman with a human torso and a serpent's tail stood nearby, her long, alluring eyes studying Xiao Yan with curiosity. Her shapely figure, exposed porcelain-pale skin, and bewitching face all told him she was a beauty without equal.

But... she was also a being of terrible danger.

Queen Medusa.