Before the morning mist had completely dissipated, the Youth Guardian Camp, following the Fire Dwellers ' "Lava Guides," had already set foot on the foothills of Sunset Volcano. A Mu's New Sprout Sword, its scabbard now imbued with Ice-Fire Entwining Pattern by Lei Lin as a " High-Temperature Protection Talisman "—it glows a golden-red light when near a heat source, both insulating against the volcano's scorching heat and aiding in sensing the Evil Energy fluctuations within the lava. In A Ya's bag, besides the usual purifying plant seeds, there were now " Molten Flame Grass " seeds cultivated by Liya specifically for high-temperature environments—this grass's roots could penetrate volcanic rock crevices, absorbing Evil Energy particles from the lava, and its leaves could secrete heat-resistant mucus to prevent volcanic ash from clogging the plant's stomata. On A Shi's patrol log, two new columns, "Geothermal Spring Temperature" and " Molten Flame Grass Survival Rate," had been added. A blackened volcanic rock specimen was clipped to the corner of the log—an "anomaly marker" sent by the Fire Dwellers after Loran had communicated with them beforehand.
"Follow the direction of the Fire Plume Bird, and you'll find the Fire Dwellers ' rock dwellings!" Loran walked at the front of the group, his fingertips glowing with a pale blue light—a "cooling barrier" cast on him by the Snow Spirit Qilin, capable of offsetting some of the volcanic heat. The golden figure of the Icefield Wolf was exceptionally agile, leaping across the rapidly cooling volcanic rocks. Whenever it approached an area with abnormal temperatures, it would stop and sniff the sulfurous smell in the air. The scenery at the foot of the volcano was particularly magnificent: the morning sun shone on the lava flows, reflecting a golden-red glow. Fire Plume Bird (birds with crimson feathers and flame-like tail tips) circled the volcanic peaks. However, the further they went into the heart of the volcano, the sparser the vegetation became. In several areas near geothermal springs, the originally lush green heat-resistant ferns were tinged with grayish-yellow, and very faint black threads floated on the surface of the geothermal springs. Even the lava rice, on which the Fire Dwellers depended for survival, had many withered seedlings.
Upon arriving at the Fire Dwellers ' rock-hut settlement, they saw several Fire Dwellers dressed in fire-resistant animal skin coats standing before their huts, holding withered magma rice ears in their hands, their faces full of worry. Seeing the youths, a burly Fire Dwellers with flame totems wrapped around his arms hurried forward, his voice urgent. "Lord Loran, you've finally arrived! For the past two weeks, the geothermal springs deep within the volcano have grown increasingly hot, even our specially cultivated heat-resistant ferns have withered, and the magma rice is failing to produce plump grains—the chieftain says that Evil Energy has corrupted the magma, sucking away the life force from the volcano."
A Mu followed the Fire Dwellers to a geothermal spring, his fingertips lightly touching the volcanic rock beside it—a burning pain, even more intense than the Evil Energy of the Ice Plains, shot through his fingertips. It was a " Magma Evil Marks," formed by the fusion of Evil Energy and molten lava, spreading along the geothermal spring into the heart of the volcano. "Fel Evil Energy has mixed into the molten lava!" A Mu looked up at Loran, his tone certain. "I learned this in the Ice Plains: Evil Energy diffuses along the environmental medium. Here, the Evil Energy is entangled with the high-temperature molten lava. We need to use ' Fire Speech Technique that resonates with the molten lava, to 'guide' the Evil Energy out of the geothermal spring."
The Fire Dwellers nodded, pointing to the "magma pool" deep within the volcano. "Next to the largest magma pool is our magma rice cultivation area, and that's where the Evil Energy started spreading. We tried using ' Fire Speech Technique ' to channel the magma, but the Evil Energy is too stubborn; we could only barely stop it from spreading to the foothills, and we couldn't purify the geothermal springs."
Loran gazed towards the lava pool—a region of lava shimmering with a golden-red light. The volcanic rocks along the pool's edge were covered with heat-resistant plants, and a ring of "diversion channels" built by the Fire Dwellers surrounded it. However, the lava within these channels was tinged with a faint gray mist, clashing sharply with the surrounding golden-red light. " A Mu, try combining the power of ice and fire with Fire Speech Technique!" His fingertips glowed with a pale blue light as he lightly touched the surface of the geothermal spring. "First, use the power of ice mist to create a 'cooling layer' around the spring, preventing the geothermal spring from overheating and scalding the plants; then use the power of fire to mimic the fire language of the Fire Dwellers and resonate with the lava—remember, the power of fire must be steady, like the core of a volcano, don't disturb the unstable lava."
A Mu took a deep breath, placed the New Sprout Sword upright on the volcanic rock beside the geothermal spring, and following the incantation taught by Lei Lin, first condensed a wisp of gentle icy mist power at his fingertips—the icy mist did not directly contact the geothermal spring, but instead condensed into a transparent cooling layer at the edge of the spring, and the heat from the spring surface turned into a light mist upon encountering the icy mist; then, he transformed the power of fire into fine threads of light, which seeped into the ground along the texture of the volcanic rock, while simultaneously imitating the tone of the Fire Dwellers, softly reciting the "Fire Language" incantation—soon, he could vaguely "sense" the "response" of the magma, which was transmitting the agitation disturbed by Evil Energy.