The farther down the passage they went, the hotter the stone walls became.
Hai Bodong walked ahead, a thin layer of frost forming beneath his feet. Every few steps, the frost behind him melted away in the heat.
Xiao Yan followed him, sword in hand, and could clearly feel the blade warming slightly.
That heat did not come from the rock walls.
The fire-aspect patterns within the Taiji Liangyi Sword were resonating with the aura below.
They rounded another bend in the stone, and the space before them suddenly opened up.
Crimson magma covered the cavern floor, bubbles swelling now and then before bursting with muffled booms. Several black stone pillars stood amid it, their surfaces glowing red in the reflected light.
Xiao Yan stood at the cliff's edge, his eyes already lighting up.
This is the place!
He was just about to look down when the surface of the magma suddenly bulged.
Boom!
Two hideous snake heads burst through the molten rock at once, crimson liquid running over their fiery red scales. Four vicious eyes fixed on the two people at the entrance.
"There's a guardian, too."
Hai Bodong's gaze turned cold, and he raised a hand to stop Xiao Yan.
"A Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake. Rank four."
Before his words had faded, the giant snake opened its mouths, and two crossing pillars of flame blasted toward them!
Hai Bodong swept his sleeve.
Ice-blue Dou Qi formed an ice shield before him. The pillars of fire struck it, and steam instantly exploded outward, shrouding their surroundings in white.
"Stay here."
He stamped his foot and shot out through the steam, curling his five fingers downward.
Several chains of ice tore through the air, cinching tightly around the two snake heads and wrenching the giant snake toward a stone pillar.
With a boom, magma splashed into the air.
The giant snake thrashed desperately, trying to melt the chains in the magma, but Hai Bodong had already landed above it and pressed down with one palm.
"Behave!"
The cold abruptly intensified, and great patches of ice crystals formed over the snake's body.
The Magical Beast, whose ferocity had blazed to the heavens just moments ago, instantly went half-rigid. Its two heads lay by the edge of the magma, and even its hissing grew much quieter.
Hai Bodong gave it a cold look.
"I'm only passing through your territory. Keep getting in my way, and I'll take your Magic Core."
Who knew how much the giant snake understood, but it no longer dared to move.
Xiao Yan came down from the entrance and gave Hai Bodong a thumbs-up.
"Elder Hai, nicely done."
"Enough flattery. Where's the flame?"
"Below."
Xiao Yan pointed into the depths of the magma, his smile undiminished.
The ease on Hai Bodong's face, however, faded a little.
"I can protect you on the way down, but deep within this magma..."
Before he could finish, a clear radiance spread from Xiao Yan's body, gently pushing the surrounding waves of heat aside.
The youth raised his head.
"My teacher is protecting me. I'll be fine."
Hai Bodong looked at that layer of clear radiance, so thin it seemed a poke would pierce it, then thought of his recently broken seal and swallowed the rest of his words.
Fine.
I was worrying too much.
The two submerged into the magma together.
Crimson surrounded them. Hai Bodong protected himself with his cold aura, while the clear radiance around Xiao Yan remained unchanged. Not even the hem of his clothes touched the scorching liquid.
Following the direction indicated by the blade, they continued their descent.
At last, a speck of green light appeared in the distance.
Within that green light, a lotus quietly spread its petals. Its eight petals looked as though they had been carved from green jade, its stem extending downward, while fine rootlets swayed gently in the magma.
And above the lotus's center hovered a cluster of green flame.
The flame was small, but each flicker sent the surrounding magma surging outward.
Xiao Yan's breath caught slightly.
The green lotus core flame!
It's still here!
He suppressed his excitement and moved a few steps closer. Hai Bodong stopped alongside him, his gaze fixed firmly on the flame.
Strangely, once they entered the green light, the surrounding temperature became milder instead. Xiao Yan nearly reached out to touch a rootlet, but the Grandmaster stopped him.
"It uses those to absorb fire energy. Send your Dou Qi into it, and it won't stand on ceremony with you."
Xiao Yan immediately withdrew his hand.
Good grief. I came to take the flame, not to give this lotus an extra meal.
Hai Bodong could freeze ordinary flames with a casual wave of his hand.
Yet this tiny cluster before him stirred an instinctive wariness within him.
"Don't rush to grab it."
Bodhi's voice reached Xiao Yan's ears.
"Watch where it moves."
Xiao Yan steadied his mind and watched closely for a while. Gradually, he noticed that each flicker of the green flame followed the currents of heat near the lotus's center before slowly drawing back.
Following the instructions, he sent a wisp of Dou Qi into the blade.
The sword's spine lit up, fine fire-aspect patterns extending all the way to its tip.
As he gently raised his wrist, a tiny strand of the heat flowing outward actually circled halfway around the sword's edge.
The flame above the lotus's center swayed with it.
Joy rose in Xiao Yan's heart, but his wrist involuntarily tensed.
The next instant, the green flame suddenly leaped high!
Hai Bodong's expression changed. He was about to act when an invisible hand gently pressed down the erupting fire.
Clear radiance descended, and the flame shrank back into the lotus's center.
"You applied force too abruptly."
The Grandmaster's tone remained calm.
"Let it follow your guidance. Don't play tug-of-war with it."
Xiao Yan hurriedly relaxed his wrist.
On his second attempt, he did not rush to pull the flame out. Instead, he slowly adjusted his Dou Qi, connecting the fire energy near the sword's edge to the lotus's center.
After a while, the green flame finally followed that current of energy and shifted a little toward him.
Hai Bodong stood to one side, his brows twitching as he watched.
A Dou Shi, holding a sword, was actually drawing a Heavenly Flame toward him!
He knew that the mysterious expert must be protecting Xiao Yan, but he still could not help giving the youth another few looks. At the very least, the courage and composure Xiao Yan displayed now were beyond those of ordinary people.
"Good. Store it in the lotus seat for now."
As the Grandmaster spoke, a streak of clear radiance swept gently along the petals, securely gathering the green flame within.
The flame seed remained bright, but most of the scorching heat it radiated subsided.
Xiao Yan breathed a sigh of relief, his palms already damp with sweat.
While guiding the flame earlier, he had clearly distinguished which force his teacher had blocked for him, and he had remembered exactly where he had gone wrong. When he practiced again later, he would know where to begin.
Only then did he realize that he had been holding his breath the entire time.
"Next, take the lotus."
"Should I use my sword?"
"Use jade. Leave its roots. Don't uproot its path to survival along with it."
A small, smooth jade knife quietly appeared in Xiao Yan's hand.
He approached as instructed and gently sliced through the point where the lotus seat joined the stem. The green lotus separated from its stem and slowly floated upward, while its long roots and fine rootlets remained in the magma.
Xiao Yan cradled the lotus seat in both hands, his eyes filled with delight.
Several lotus seeds remained in the seedpod, each translucent and filled with pure fire-aspect energy. Following the Grandmaster's instructions, he removed them one by one and placed them in separate jade bottles.
The flame seed stayed in the center of the lotus seat, sealed by clear radiance, and was temporarily stored in his ring.
When the two emerged from the magma again, the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake was still lying beside the stone pillar, not even daring to raise its heads.
Hai Bodong dispersed the chains, and the giant snake immediately sank into the magma, refusing to show its heads again.
Xiao Yan glanced back, a surge of satisfaction filling his heart.
The Heavenly Flame that would otherwise have required endless twists and struggles to claim was now resting safely inside his ring.
This was the advantage of coming early to seize an opportunity!
Hai Bodong looked at him and could not help asking:
"Back to Wutan City now?"
"Let's find somewhere first."
Xiao Yan patted his ring and said with a smile:
"Now that I've got it, I need to learn how to use it."
Before you continue