A Dou Zun's Remains

"Is everything all right with Fei Tian? Didn't you just say he might not be able to stall them much longer?"

Feng Qing'er asked, feeling a tiny bit worried as well.

Naturally, her concern was for Qin Yun. As for Fei Tian, she had long since put him out of her mind.

"Relax. We have to trust his abilities. At worst, he'll just have to keep them company over a few more drinks. That's a piece of cake for him." Qin Yun sold Fei Tian out without hesitation.

As he saw it, Fei Tian would merely feel a little awkward and curse him a couple of times. He wouldn't suffer any real loss.

The Heavenly Fire Venerable, however, had truly been left alone in utter loneliness. Besides, he possessed the Five-Wheel Li Fire Technique, a high earth-tier fire-control technique that could even rival a low heaven-tier technique when pushed to its peak.

Even if Qin Yun didn't use it himself, he could give it to the Wind and Lightning Pavilion as another of its treasured cornerstone techniques.

The two didn't linger. Once they finished what they were doing, they began diving into the world of lava below.

"Haha, Pavilion Master Fei, it's rare for you to visit. Why don't I show you around the academy? With your breadth of knowledge, you could point out where we're lacking."

Su Qian was chatting and laughing with Fei Tian. And he wasn't alone-practically every elder of any standing in the academy was there.

"Ah, I hardly ever visit your academy, and we've hit it off like old friends. How could we not have a few more drinks?

"We can tour the academy anytime, can't we? Let's put that aside for now. Drink, drink!"

Fei Tian took a hefty gulp of wine, but inwardly, he had cursed those two youngsters from head to toe.

Damn it, those two bastards are off having the time of their lives while leaving me here to stall everyone alone. Do they really think I'm a wine barrel?

If they don't hurry back, I won't be able to hold out. If I accidentally drink too much and start acting like a drunken lunatic, it'll all be over.

"I never imagined there would be an unknown world like this beneath the Heaven-Burning Qi Refining Tower."

Seeing this boundless new world filled with lava, Feng Qing'er couldn't help marveling.

No one would have imagined that such a place existed beneath an academy.

"Be careful. If I remember correctly, there should be plenty of low-rank magical beasts from the Fire Lizard tribe here. They might not have human intelligence,

"but some of them are very strong. There are even Dou Zun experts in the central region." Qin Yun gave Feng Qing'er a brief warning.

Although the Heavenly Fire Venerable's remains should have been on the outskirts of the lava world, caution was still the best policy.

What if they happened to run into one of the tribe's high-ranking experts out for a stroll?

That would be disastrous. They were so far away that even if they called for help, it might not arrive in time.

"All right. But what did you come here for? Is there something else worth plotting to get your hands on?"

Feng Qing'er nodded. She had already stopped bothering to puzzle over some of Qin Yun's decisions. She simply went along with them.

"The remains of a human Dou Zun expert should be nearby. His body has turned to bare bones,

"but his soul has retained a little of its soul origin. Finding him is my main reason for coming here." Qin Yun explained his purpose.

As for the Tou She Ancient God's Cave Mansion hidden in the deepest reaches, he didn't tell Feng Qing'er about it.

Something like that involved powers far too formidable. Besides, Zi Yan hadn't come in with them.

With Feng Qing'er's pure Heavenly Demon Phoenix bloodline, Zhu Kun would probably crunch her up like a little snack the moment they met.

After all, the two races were natural enemies. Neither side would even give the other a chance to explain.

For the next while, the two carefully explored the outskirts. Although they occasionally encountered Fire Lizards,

these Fire Lizards were generally very low in rank. Even the strongest was only at the Dou Ling level.

Even Feng Qing'er could slap one to death.

Yet things didn't go as they had imagined. A full hour passed, and never mind a Dou Zun's remains-they hadn't found so much as a hair.

This left Qin Yun deep in thought. They didn't have much time left, after all. Searching endlessly like this was no solution, and he even began considering giving up.

But then the winding path revealed a new turn, and another way of searching soon sprang into Qin Yun's mind.

Since he couldn't find the Heavenly Fire Venerable's location himself, why not release all his spiritual power without concealment and spread it as far as possible?

The Heavenly Fire Venerable might have been weak, but his will to survive was undoubtedly burning at full strength.

As long as he sensed humans moving nearby, he would surely do everything he could to signal his location.

Whatever sort of people they were, it would be enough if they could get him out of this damned place.

The drawback, however, was that once they released their spiritual power in every direction,

it would not only alert the Heavenly Fire Venerable to their presence but also attract some of the true experts among the Fire Lizard tribes.

If they happened to attract one above the Dou Emperor level, the two of them would likely be in serious trouble.

"Qing'er, searching aimlessly like this won't work. Let's spread our spiritual power as far as possible and see whether we can pick up someone's distress signal.

"But we have to keep it within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Once that time is up, we leave immediately, whether we find anything or not." Qin Yun laid out his next plan.

"All right. I'll listen to you." Feng Qing'er didn't ask why. Whatever Qin Yun said went.

Soon, the two spread their spiritual power over a vast area. The results were quite good: after only about ten minutes, they picked up a faint spiritual fluctuation.

The fluctuation was so weak that it seemed it might vanish completely in the very next second.

Fortunately, it lasted long enough. Within a minute, the two had pinpointed its approximate location.

Qin Yun and Feng Qing'er quickly flew in the direction of the spiritual fluctuation.

After searching the immediate area, they indeed found a human skeleton, with an exceedingly weak flame between its brows.

If Qin Yun wasn't mistaken, that feeble flame should have been the small wisp of soul origin left behind by the Heavenly Fire Venerable.

"Stop skulking around and acting mysterious. You were the one who sent that signal, weren't you? If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise, we're leaving. Don't waste our time."

Seeing that the other party seemed wary and had not immediately shown himself, Qin Yun teased him.

"Hey, hey, hey! What's the rush, youngster? It's been a long time since I've seen such a sharp little brat."

An aged voice soon emerged from the skeleton. It was quiet, clearly betraying how weak he was.

Then the mark between the skeleton's brows slowly expanded, and an elderly figure appeared.

"Oh? You look a little familiar. Aren't you known as the Heavenly Fire Venerable?"

Naturally, Qin Yun spoke a human's language to humans and a ghost's language to ghosts. Putting on an air of ignorance, he asked the man to confirm his identity.