Earth Dragon!

The two Flame Lizards, frozen half-stiff, sensed the disturbance and lunged at Lu Ze with snarls.

Lu Ze swung up the heavy Vajra sword in his right hand. A thread of transparent white light flowed over its broad, thick blade as he swung it out.

The white light traced a semicircle through the air.

The two Flame Lizards stopped dead. A moment later, their massive bodies slid smoothly apart down the middle.

Before blood could even spurt from the cuts, the extreme cold Qi froze them into ice sculptures.

[Slain: peak first-rank Flame Lizard ×2. Plundered fire attribute essence. Deduction +4]

[Current Deduction Points: 53]

"Go!"

Lu Ze stuffed the Twofold Flower into his Storage Ring, turned, and grabbed Xiao Yi Xian's hand.

But it was too late. The excessive eruption of extreme cold had completely upset the temperature balance underground.

The ground's surface heaved like waves, and the corresponding fissures gave off teeth-grating cracks.

Half-arcing fissures spread wildly beneath their feet.

Xiao Yi Xian slipped and nearly fell into a fissure. Lu Ze seized her hand and hauled her back.

There was no sound from deep within that fissure. Lu Ze looked down.

All he saw was a pair of dark red slit eyes, as enormous as Dragon Smoke Lake, opening in the abyss.

Materialized Fire Attribute Dou Qi flowed within the pupils, scorching the surrounding air until it warped.

The pressure of a peak third-rank beast needed no Dou Technique. Its gaze alone instantly brought the Dou Qi inside Lu Ze to a standstill.

His eardrums stung. Blood seeped from his nostrils and the corners of his eyes, trickling down his cheeks.

Lu Ze poured his last remaining Dou Qi into his legs and held Xiao Yi Xian in his arms.

He raced toward the valley's exit over collapsing rubble, expending great strength. A dragon's cry that shattered eardrums suddenly burst from the bottom of the abyss, fully unleashing its might.

His lungs felt as though they had been stuffed with a handful of scalding broken glass. Every breath tasted of blood.

Carrying Xiao Yi Xian, Lu Ze raced toward the valley's exit over the collapsing rubble.

Cliffside Valley behind him had already become an inferno.

Enormous fissures spread beneath his feet. Dark red firelight shone up from deep underground, casting the blackish-green miasma into the likeness of a churning sea of blood.

Rumble!

The mountainsides flanking the valley's mouth collapsed completely in the aftershocks of the dragon's cry. Tens of thousands of boulders poured down with the soil, sealing Cliffside Valley's only exit tight.

Lu Ze's steps faltered, and he forcibly brought himself to a halt. His retreat was completely cut off.

He turned and looked through the dust-filled air toward the bottom of the abyss.

Those enormous dark red eyes, like Dragon Flame Lake, had not followed him.

Violent sparks swirled around the edges of the pupils, rapidly becoming covered in deep blue frost. The slit eyes slowly closed.

Heavy breathing rose from underground, growing long and even.

"It? It didn't follow us?!"

Lu Ze thought for a moment and seemed to arrive at a conjecture.

It was using the cold vein within the earth veins to suppress fire poison. It was about to break through.

The extreme cold current had interrupted its rhythm just now.

But it was unwilling to leave the cold vein, so the pressure it had released had only been meant to drive them away, not pursue them.

Lu Ze withdrew his gaze and pressed his left hand against the cracked rock wall.

His Earth Shaman consciousness extended outward along the earth veins. Five li away, dense vibrations traveled through them-the movements of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group.

No, the vibrations had already stopped.

Mu Li had stopped five li away.

The pressure of a peak third-rank magical beast was enough to make any mercenary below Da Dou Shi tremble.

Let alone those at the bottom who had not even formed a Dou Qi Gauze Robe.

Now, a standoff had formed!

Three li outside the valley's mouth, a waterfall dozens of zhang high crashed thunderously into a deep pool.

Mist filled the air, and the deafening roar of water perfectly concealed the presence of living people.

Inside a dry cavern hidden by vines behind the waterfall.

Lu Ze leaned against the cave wall and tore the already dry, cracked grayish-brown medicinal film from his face.

His face was as pale as paper, and his left arm hung limply. The frantic sprint and pressure just now had forced open several more wounds in his meridians.

Xiao Yi Xian did not choose to rest. She walked to the center of the cave and asked Lu Ze to take out the Twofold Flower.

Its ice-blue rhizome and scarlet leaves gave off a faint glow in the dim cave.

Xiao Yi Xian drew a small silver knife and first carefully separated the ice attribute rhizome from the fire attribute leaves.

Icy juice seeped from the cut in the rhizome, instantly forming white frost on the stone slab.

The leaves, meanwhile, gave off a scorching, burnt smell.

"The Twofold Flower's medicinal properties are far too overbearing. If you force it down, it will burst your meridians."

Speaking softly, Xiao Yi Xian took several stalks of Coldwater Grass she had picked earlier from her cloth bag.

She placed the Coldwater Grass in stone, crushed it with a stone pestle, and squeezed out its deep blue juice as a blending agent. Then she placed the ice rhizome and fire leaves in two separate stone mortars and ground them in turn.

The sound of the pestle striking the mortars echoed through the cave.

Xiao Yi Xian controlled the strength in her wrist with extreme precision. When grinding the ice rhizome, she used gentle pressure to prevent the cold Qi from spreading.

When grinding the fire leaves, she used heavy pressure to force out the impurities in the fire poison.

When the two medicinal preparations were finally mixed, she dripped in Frost Marrow Grass leaves. White smoke rose from the mortar amid the violent conflict in the fiery medicinal liquid.

Under the teeth of the Coldwater Grass, a fragile balance was reached.

Xiao Yi Xian pinched the medicinal paste into two pills. Half of each pill's surface was frosted over, while the other half glowed scarlet, giving off a pungent, burnt, bitter smell.

"Ice-Fire Body Tempering Pills, though you can't really call them pills.

"There are still plenty of impurities in them. They're barely fit to take. After all, I'm not an alchemist yet."

Xiao Yi Xian handed the pills to Lu Ze. Seeing this,

with the situation so critical, he could no longer concern himself with so much and swallowed one in a single gulp.

The instant the pill entered his stomach, extreme cold and extreme heat exploded at the same time.

Lu Ze's body went rigid. Both hands clamped onto the rock beneath him, his nails splitting and seeping blood. The icy Qi froze his blood.

The scorching Qi ignited his marrow. The two forces crashed and pulled wildly through his damaged veins.

Crack, crack!

The teeth-grating sound of bones grinding rang through the silent cave. Those tiny meridians that had been cracked by the pressure

were forcibly stretched open and torn apart under the extreme stimulation of ice and fire, then rapidly replenished and healed under the nourishment of the medicine.

Then sweat washed down Lu Ze's cheeks like a waterfall. He clenched his teeth.

A thick taste of blood filled his mouth as he endured the prolonged torment by sheer force. Who knew how much time had passed.

The ice and fire Qi within him finally subsided, turning into a stream of pure Qi that flowed into his dantian.

Lu Ze let out a long breath of turbid air.

He slowly opened his eyes. The stabbing pain in his left arm had vanished, and Dou Qi circulated freely through his meridians. He had returned to peak condition.

Outside the cave, the waterfall still roared. Lu Ze stood and rolled his shoulders.

He walked to the cave entrance, formed the Earth Shaman hand seals, and once again sank his consciousness into the earth veins.

Mu Li's capture squad remained where it was. Through the earth veins came Mu Li's heavy footsteps, carrying the resonance of ocher Dou Qi.

He was now pacing back and forth around the perimeter. He was waiting. He was thinking.

Perhaps he was waiting for the Earth Dragon's anger to subside, or for Lu Ze to run out.

But regardless, given Mu Li's patience, the current stalemate could last at least three days.

Lu Ze withdrew and looked into the cave.

Xiao Yi Xian was leaning against the stone wall, resting with her eyes closed. A little color had returned to her pale face.

At her feet sat the jade box containing the remaining Twofold Flower materials, along with several medicinal herbs he had just gathered beside the waterfall.

Lu Ze walked over to him, sat cross-legged, and summoned the panel.