“Qinglian Earthfire?” Hearing the Pharmacist Elder’s voice, Xiao Yan’s mind instantly recalled the detailed information about the various flames on the list of unusual fires that the elder had shared with him in the past. The “Qinglian Earthfire,” ranked 19th on the list of unusual flames, was born deep within the earth, having undergone countless hammerings, fusions, compressions, and sculpting by the fires of the earth. It takes ten years to become a spirit, a hundred years to form, and a thousand years to become a lotus. When it reaches perfection, its color turns slightly blue, and a cluster of blue fire is born at the heart of the lotus, known as Qinglian Fire, also called Qinglian Earthfire. This flame’s power is unfathomable, capable of causing volcanic eruptions even in areas near volcanoes, forming a destructive force of nature!
As this information flashed through his mind, Xiao Yan’s face was immediately covered with elation. His body trembled slightly, freeing itself from the grasp of the Flame Spirit Snake’s tail, and his eyes fixed on the dense blue light not far away.
“Hiss…” Beside him, the Flame Spirit Snake emitted a sharp sound from its huge mouth. Xiao Yan turned back to see the beast’s large eyes filled with fear and caution, staring at the blue light, its massive body trembling slightly.
Ignoring the Flame Spirit Snake’s movements, Xiao Yan licked his lips, his heart pounding with excitement. “Teacher, have we found it?”
“Hehe, seems like it. I didn’t expect we’d actually find an unusual flame… Although the Qinglian Earthfire ranks only 19th on the list, it’s the perfect level for you now. After all, the few things I’ve prepared for you can only increase your chances of absorbing the unusual flames ranked 16th and below. So, this Qinglian Earthfire is just right!”
The Pharmacist Elder’s laughter was tinged with relief; after years of effort, they finally had their first real success.
Taking a few deep, excited breaths, Xiao Yan couldn’t wait to ask, “Shall we go take a look?”
“Alright, let’s go take a look. I’ll strengthen the protective measures!” Xiao Yan nodded, glancing at the Flame Spirit Snake, which was too afraid to take another step forward. With a grimace, he kicked off from the lava, his body darting like a small fish in a lake, rapidly swimming towards the area enveloped by the blue light.
As his body drew closer to the blue light, Xiao Yan could clearly feel the temperature around him abruptly rise. Pressing his dry lips, Xiao Yan gritted his teeth, stepped again, and finally plunged into the sphere of blue light.
Entering the blue light, the expected scorching heat did not come as anticipated; instead, the temperature around him dropped oddly.
Xiao Yan’s face was full of astonishment at this somewhat supernatural scene. After a moment, he regained his composure and quickly scanned his surroundings. His gaze finally rested on the blue lotus at the center.
The blue lotus had eight petals, each petal perfect like the finest jade, naturally formed. At first glance, it was crystal clear, making one reluctant to let it go. Inside the lotus, there seemed to be a small dais about two to three feet in size. Small holes in the dais emitted faint points of light, likely formed by the most pure fire energy.
Below the blue lotus, an extremely long and slender root stretched over ten meters, covered in tiny tendrils. As these tendrils swayed, Xiao Yan could clearly feel them greedily absorbing the violent fire energy from the surrounding lava.
This blue lotus, suspended in the endless sea of lava, floated like a duckweed in the ocean. If it weren’t for the Flame Spirit Snake leading the way, Xiao Yan, with his abilities, would have no chance of finding such a minuscule blue lotus in such a vast area…
“Be careful, don’t let those tendrils touch you. Otherwise, your Dou Qi will be sucked out in an instant,” the Pharmacist Elder warned, forcing Xiao Yan to abandon the idea of getting closer for a better look.
“Let’s go, be careful. From the shape of this Qinglian, it’s clearly been through thousands of years, and should have condensed the Qinglian Earthfire,” the Pharmacist Elder said with a smile.
“Okay.” At this moment, Xiao Yan’s body trembled with excitement. He clasped his hands together and prayed mysteriously, then swallowed, slowly swimming towards the blue lotus.
As he got closer to the blue lotus, Xiao Yan could increasingly appreciate its beauty. Such a nearly perfect creation must have been forged by time and the natural world.
Carefully avoiding the swaying roots, Xiao Yan gradually approached the blue lotus. His eyes swept over it with excitement, but his body suddenly stiffened…
In the center of the small dais inside the lotus, there was a fist-sized hole. However, at this moment, it was empty!
Staring at the empty core, Xiao Yan felt his mind go blank. “How is this possible? How could it be empty? Based on the shape of this blue lotus, it should have already had the Qinglian Earthfire!”
“How could it be empty?” Xiao Yan’s mouth twitched slightly. After a moment of silence, he suddenly shouted at the dais, his handsome face contorted with anger.
“Calm down! Calm down!” Just as Xiao Yan was losing his temper, the Pharmacist Elder’s stern voice rang in his head like a bell.
“If we can’t find it here, we can keep looking. The Dou Qi Continent is vast, and there are other places with unusual flames!” The Pharmacist Elder’s image, formed by a white flame, appeared on Xiao Yan’s shoulder, scolding him.
“But… I put in so much effort… and I’m going back empty-handed?” Xiao Yan shook his head fiercely, extremely unwilling.
“Every day, thousands of people search tirelessly for unusual flames. But after paying all their costs, many never even see what an unusual flame looks like. You’ve already made it this far, which is enviable,” the Pharmacist Elder comforted softly, turning to look at the empty core, sighing inwardly. It was discouraging, thinking that the unusual flame they thought they could easily get had suddenly flown away. If someone with less composure were here, they might have gone berserk.
“Eh? What’s this?” Scanning the dais carefully, the Pharmacist Elder suddenly exclaimed in surprise. A white flame-formed hand summoned a beam of seven-colored light, which shot from the dais and landed in the elder’s hand.
“What is it?” Xiao Yan turned his head dejectedly, looking at the item in the Pharmacist Elder’s hand, and was stunned. “A scale?”
The object in the Pharmacist Elder’s hand was about half the size of a palm, with a seven-colored hue, quite dazzling.
“This is… a seven-colored snake scale?” Narrowing his eyes, the Pharmacist Elder smiled coldly.
“A seven-colored snake scale?”
“Now I understand why there’s no Qinglian Earthfire. Someone has taken it before us,” the Pharmacist Elder said, tossing the seven-colored scale to Xiao Yan.
Quickly catching the scale, Xiao Yan felt a chill and a cold, dark aura seeping into his body. If it weren’t for the protection of the Pharmacist Elder’s Bone Spirit Cold Fire, Xiao Yan wouldn’t dare to touch it.
“The owner of the scale took the Qinglian Earthfire?” Clutching the seven-colored scale, Xiao Yan frowned.
“Seven-colored snake scales are owned by only one person in the vast desert: the Queen Medusa of the Serpent Men. It seems that the mysterious aura sensed by Qing Lin six months ago was indeed the Queen Medusa,” the Pharmacist Elder mused.
“Ah, what can we do? Six months have passed, and the Qinglian Earthfire must have been absorbed by her…” Xiao Yan despondently thought of the possibility.
“You’re really being foolish… The Queen Medusa’s bloodline is inclined toward cold and darkness. Absorbing an unusual flame? She must be tired of living!” The Pharmacist Elder rolled his eyes, scolding Xiao Yan.
“If her attributes clash with the unusual flame, why would she come here to steal it? And according to Qing Lin, she must have been injured when she took the flame. Why would she go through so much trouble?” Xiao Yan sighed bitterly.
“Maybe… We still need to go to the heart of the Tagore Great Desert. I don’t know what her intentions are, but I can tell you that she absolutely cannot absorb the unusual flame. So… there’s still a chance for us to obtain it.”
“Go and take the unusual flame from Queen Medusa? She’s a Battle Emperor-level expert. Even the Ice Emperor, who was famous throughout the Jia Ma Empire, was left in a miserable state by her. We’re looking for a beating…” Xiao Yan rubbed his forehead, smiling bitterly.
“Having a goal is better than wandering aimlessly. And… if we need to fight, I’ll do it, not you. Though Queen Medusa’s reputation is well-known, I won’t fear her,” the Pharmacist Elder said, smirking.
Sighing, Xiao Yan nodded reluctantly, and then drooped his head, ready to turn back.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Seeing Xiao Yan’s actions, the Pharmacist Elder was surprised.
“Going back… Are you suggesting I stay here and eat lava?” Xiao Yan retorted sullenly.
“You… you fool!” The Pharmacist Elder slapped Xiao Yan’s head, pointing at the blue lotus, “This treasure, which takes a thousand years to form, are you just going to leave it here?”
“Ah?” Startled, Xiao Yan turned back to look at the blue lotus, puzzled. “What use does this thing have?”
Rolling his eyes, the Pharmacist Elder was visibly annoyed. “This blue dais is the result of a thousand years of earthfire condensing. If you take it and use it for cultivation, it can enhance your speed by at least three to four times. In battle, you can activate it to release the stored earthfire. Even if you encounter a Dou Ling-level expert, you can easily escape unimpeded.”
“Also, the seeds in the dais, the so-called essence of fire, are formed once every hundred years. If you shout that you have them, even a Battle Emperor would risk everything to trade for them. Of course, some might prefer to kill and take the treasure directly.”
“Each of these items would cause chaos in the Jia Ma Empire, and you’re willing to leave them behind?” The Pharmacist Elder was almost exasperated.
Listening to the Pharmacist Elder’s enthusiastic explanation, Xiao Yan’s eyes lit up. As soon as the elder finished speaking, he pounced on the dais, eyes blazing red.
“Damn, these are interest payments…”
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