As dusk crept over the entrance to the Flamelight Cave, a blast of scorching heat swept over them—the rocks outside the cave were tinged with a pale red, and tiny sparks seeped from the crevices, as if they had just been baked. The moment the Youth Guardian Camp stepped onto the rocky surface, they felt a slight burning sensation on the soles of their shoes. The New Sprout Sword A Mu carried on his back, its scabbard Ice-Fire Entwining Pattern, now glowed with a very faint orange light—not as a warning, but rather as a subtle "heat-cold response" to the fire energy inside the cave. Tiny droplets of water even condensed on the scabbard, only to be quickly evaporated by the heat.
In A Ya's bag, besides the fragments of the Child Crystal Core and the Sac-Coagulating Gel, there were several rolls of "fireproof linen" (woven by Liya from volcanic plant fibers, which can insulate against medium and low temperature fire) and a small box of "scale powder collector" (a small bamboo box with adhesive on the inner wall, used to collect Fire-Dwelling Butterfly scale powder); A Shi's waterproof birch plank was replaced with a "heat-resistant ceramic board", on which were drawn the adjustment point clues recorded from the swamp Living Sac, marking the cave adjustment point as "the flame crystal clusters around the lava spring"; Loran had wrapped everyone's cuffs and trouser legs with fireproof linen in advance, "The fire energy in the cave will fluctuate with the lava spring, so stay away from the red-hot rocks."
The golden figure of the Icefield Wolf appeared somewhat cautious, walking close to A Mu's legs, its nose constantly sniffing the air—a faint smell of sulfur lingered in the cave air, and a "bubbling" sound came from afar, like water boiling. After walking for about half an incense stick's time, scattered red lights suddenly appeared in the darkness ahead. Upon closer inspection, they discovered that they were clusters of "flame crystals"—semi-transparent crystals growing on the rocks, with orange-red fire energy flowing inside. They should have been glowing continuously like small lanterns, but now most of them were dim, and some crystals even had spiderweb-like cracks on their surfaces, and the fire energy inside had become stagnant, like magma about to solidify.
"This is the Flame Crystal Cluster? Why isn't it lit?" A Ya crouched down, about to reach out and touch the Flame Crystal, when a surge of heat forced her back—though the crystal was dim, its surface still retained residual heat, and sparks occasionally leaked from the cracks, leaving small black marks on the ground. A soft fluttering sound came from above, and several butterflies with orange-red wings flew over, but only circled once above the Flame Crystal Cluster before flying deeper into the cave—these were " Fire-Dwelling Butterfly," which should have been fluttering around the Flame Crystal Cluster, but now they couldn't find a complete crystal that could provide light and heat.
Following the distribution of the flame crystal clusters deeper into the cave, the smell of sulfur grew stronger. Suddenly, a patch of orange-red light appeared in the darkness ahead—it was the "lava spring." However, the surface of the spring was no longer a steady patch of orange-red light, but rather it was bubbling and sputtering, with tiny splashes of lava occasionally hitting the surrounding rocks and making a sizzling sound. The flame crystal clusters near the spring were the most severely damaged, some even completely collapsed to the ground, the crystal fragments mixed with the rock ash, no longer able to emit light.
"Who's approaching the lava spring?" A deep voice came from behind the rocks by the spring, and several people dressed in short, reddish-brown outfits emerged—their bare arms were painted with dark red fire patterns, and they held "fire-guiding staffs" with small pieces of flame crystal at their tips. Several larger Fire-Dwelling Butterfly (with more intense red markings on their wings, like guide butterflies for their tribe) followed at their feet. The leader, a man with a fire-patterned totem on his forehead, was A Yan, the guardian of the Fire Language Clan: "In the past two weeks, most of the flame crystal clusters have shattered, and the fire energy of the lava spring has become increasingly wild. The Fire-Dwelling Butterfly are all hiding deeper into the cave—the elders say it's 'cold energy' (referring to the Child Crystal Core ) that has disrupted the fire energy!"
Following A Yan past several scorching rocks, we arrived at the Fire Language Clan's settlement—the "Firestone House" built outside the lava spring (constructed with heat-resistant black iron stone from the cave, with small vents in the roof for smoke). An old man sitting on a firestone stool was lightly tapping a fragment of flame crystal with his fire-guiding staff—the touch of the staff tip and the fragment sparked a small arc of fire, but the old man's brow furrowed even more. "Flame crystals need to be 'warm,' neither too cold nor too hot. The cold energy of the Child Crystal Core is like ice; if poured directly onto the flame crystal, it freezes the fire energy; without the scale powder to suppress it, the lava spring's fire energy is suffocated, hence the erratic spewing."
A Mu walked to a cluster of flame crystals that still retained some warmth, gently touching the crystal with his fingertips—a noticeable temperature difference was felt. The fire energy inside the crystal struggled like a trapped animal, enveloped in cold energy. The fragment of the Child Crystal Core at his waist suddenly felt cold, and the orange light of the sword sheath flickered. "It's not that there's too much cold energy, it's that the cold energy and fire energy have nowhere to fuse!" A Mu suddenly realized, "We need to let the cold energy of the Child Crystal Core absorb the excess fire energy from the lava spring, and then 'warm up' the absorbed fire energy to reheat the flame crystal cluster—the scales of the Fire-Dwelling Butterfly might be able to act as a 'fusion medium'!"
The Fire Language Clan Elder's eyes lit up. "You're talking about ' the Cold-Heat Transformative Fusion '! Our Fire Pattern Energy-Guiding Technique can guide fire energy, but it lacks the cooperation of cold energy; the Child Crystal Core can absorb fire energy, but it lacks a medium to convert it into temperature—the scales of the Fire-Dwelling Butterfly can do just that. It can both receive fire energy and envelop cold energy, converting it into the temperature energy needed by the Flame Crystal!"