Chapter 51: Seed Spark of the Evil God (Part 4)

Though it was in a concealed state, Yun Che still dared not let his guard down, carefully and cautiously making his way around to the cavern entrance.

After walking a considerable distance at a right angle, his foot struck the red-hot earth. A searing heat instantly surged from his foot up through his entire body, making him suddenly feel as though he stood upon flames.

This was the lair of the Flame Dragon, which had existed here for at least a hundred years. The very power of its flames had transformed this place into a world of fire elements. He was now roughly a kilometer away from the site where the Flame Dragon was locked in battle with the Burning Heaven Gate. This was an extremely perilous distance—the aftershocks of their combat could easily reach this spot.

Yun Che walked carefully, yet his speed remained undiminished. As Ji Li had said, this Flame Dragon was clearly suppressing its strength. If it were to unleash its full power and slaughter the five cultivators from the Burning Heaven Gate, then not only would he gain an advantage through chaos, but he might even lose his life.

Yet the most reassuring thing was that the Flame Dragon seemingly did not wish its den to be harmed. It had been deliberately keeping a long distance, and doing its utmost to prevent attacks from striking in this direction. After Yun Che had circumvented around to the northern side of the cavern, his spirit taut with tension, he sprinted toward the entrance at top speed, closing the gap with each breath. After dozens of breaths, he was within ten zhang of the cavern—no small distance, yet he had navigated it with barely a moment's danger.

The target was now within reach. Yet in that instant, a vast blaze suddenly rained down from the sky, covering an area stretching for several miles. These flames were neither large nor particularly aggressive, but they were extremely dense. One such flame directly struck Yun Che.

His upper garment instantly caught fire. Under attack, the concealment effect of the Star Hidden Dan vanished at once. Fortunately, Yun Che reacted swiftly, leaping aside and dousing the flames on his clothes with a burst of speed. His brow furrowed deeply.

Damn it…

The concealment effect of the Star Hidden Dan would instantly dissipate the moment he was attacked or touched by others. If he emerged from behind that stone, whether charging toward the cavern or retreating to his position, he would be extremely easy to spot. And remaining here, the Flame Dragon would surely notice him when it drove back the Burning Heaven Gate cultivators.

This was, almost certainly, walking straight into a death trap!

Boom!

A great fire dragon from the Flame Dragon descended from the sky, crashing into the ground less than a hundred meters before Yun Che. A thunderous explosion erupted, the fire dragon bursting open with a towering blaze and an almost terrifying heat that melted even the surrounding rocks.

In the very moment that this fire erupted, Yun Che’s eyes behind the great stone suddenly widened in alarm…

Opportunity!

In the next instant, Yun Che shot out from behind the great stone like an arrow loosed from a bow, his yuanqi fully unleashed, propelling himself at the absolute limit of his speed toward the cavern. That towering firelight blocked the Flame Dragon and the Burning Heaven Gate cultivators from seeing this direction. The enormous energy fluctuation was more than enough to suppress his faint yuanqi entirely—let alone the fact that they were locked in battle and would certainly not dare to look away from the main conflict…

So Yun Che boldly released all his yuanqi…

For someone at his current speed, a distance of dozens of meters was truly a matter of life and death. He cast a sideways glance at the firelight fading before him, biting his teeth as though he could pour every ounce of his will into his legs. In that moment of peril, time seemed to slow. The entrance to the cavern was slowly drawing near. In the final stretch, he took a deep breath, kicked off the ground, and vaulted into the cavern like a leaping fish…

In the instant he darted into the cavern, the flames completely vanished, and the scene of the Flame Dragon and the Burning Heaven Gate cultivators clashing came sharply into view once again.

Behind the scorching great stone at the cavern entrance, Yun Che gasped for breath, drenched in sweat, his face flushed—though he couldn’t tell whether from heat or excitement.

“Phew… I’ve finally made it in.” Yun Che patted his chest, his voice tinged with lingering unease. After steadying himself slightly, he slowed his steps and moved deeper into the cavern.

The Flame Dragon was enormous, and its den was naturally vast. Yun Che heightened his awareness, moving forward cautiously. The temperature here was far hotter than outside, and with each step, large droplets of sweat fell to the ground, instantly hissing into white vapor the moment they touched the surface.

How deep was this cavern? As Yun Che ventured further, the light gradually dimmed. After walking another hundred paces, a red glow suddenly appeared ahead.

Yun Che paused, then quickened his pace and approached it. When he had come close enough to see the source of this red light, his eyes suddenly blazed with intense heat.

“Fire Spirit Grass!!”

The mature Fire Spirit Grass stood about seven inches tall, with shallow roots and generally nine leaves. In the darkness, it emitted its own firelight. It grew only in places where fire elements were dense, active, and pure—making it extremely rare. Moreover, Fire Spirit Grass grew slowly, often requiring decades to reach maturity, which made its value extraordinarily high. Fire Spirit Grass could be refined alone into a Fire Spirit Pill. When consumed, it granted its user significant immunity to fire elements for a period of time, and temporarily transformed the fire within one’s meridians into fire attributes without causing self-burning. For cultivators practicing fire-based techniques, its effects were immeasurable.

The reason for its rarity, however, was also that Fire Spirit Grass was difficult to harvest and preserve. A single mistake would cause all its inner fire to dissipate. But for Yun Che, this was no problem at all. He extended his left hand and began frantically gathering the already mature Fire Spirit Grass, collecting them all with ease into his Poison Spider Jewel.

Any one of these Fire Spirit Grasses could command a very high price outside. Yet here, they were being harvested in abundance like vegetables by Yun Che. Soon, more than fifty mature Fire Spirit Grasses had all been collected into his Poison Spider Jewel, while the immature ones he left untouched. He rubbed his palms together, feeling a dark thrill: I’ve struck it rich!

If he could sell these through a broker to the Burning Heaven Gate, it would be a tremendous sum! And then he would finally have no worries about money!

Yun Che took one of the harvested Fire Spirit Grasses, used his Poison Spider Jewel to quickly refine it. The Fire Spirit Grass shrank rapidly under the refining light of the Poison Spider Jewel, finally transforming into a small object resembling a ruby. Without a second thought, Yun Che simply swallowed it whole.

A searing sensation traveled from his mouth down through his body, then rapidly spread outward through his entire body. In an instant, this searing heat faded away, and the surrounding space no longer felt scorching. The sweat on Yun Che’s body ceased flowing, and the suffocating heat and dryness vanished completely.

Yun Che’s body suddenly felt much lighter. The cavern was far from over—he quickened his pace and moved further inside. Not long after, a massive rock nest appeared before him. Based on its size and shape, this was clearly the Flame Dragon’s usual dwelling and sleeping place.

But to Yun Che’s disappointment, this dragon’s nest was remarkably clean. Aside from the fiery rocks that formed the nest itself, there was nothing else.

A low rumble…

A tremendous sound suddenly came from outside. Standing at the deepest part of the cavern, Yun Che could faintly feel a wave of intense heat rushing toward him from outside. From beyond came the heavy, resonant voice of the Flame Dragon:

“Fools who are greedy for knowledge—prepare to receive the punishment you deserve!”

And then came the panicked cries from the Burning Heaven Gate cultivators:

“Ah! What’s happening! Its power suddenly surged—!”

“This… this Flame Dragon isn’t a Heavenly Beast of the Tian Yuan category! It’s clearly a King Yuan Beast! It’s been hiding its strength all along, just to lure us here!”

“Curses! The intel was wrong—we need to retreat! Retreat now!!”

Ji Li’s words were fulfilled exactly. The Flame Dragon had indeed been concealing its strength, and at this moment, it finally released its true power. Amid the Burning Heaven Gate cultivators’ cries of alarm, the earth began to tremble… even the entire Crimson Dragon Mountain range seemed to shudder faintly. Yun Che felt a sudden chill run down his spine—if the Flame Dragon was now unleashing its true strength, then the battle might end at any moment, and he might no longer have the chance to escape!

Fifty mature Fire Spirit Grasses—this was already a tremendous harvest. Yun Che no longer hesitated, quickly sprinting outward. But halfway through his third step, his heart suddenly lurched violently… his footsteps also froze completely.

“What are you stopping for? If you don’t keep moving, wait until the Flame Dragon burns you to ashes!” Ji Li called out in a cold voice.

Yun Che gave no heed to Ji Li’s words. He turned around, his hand covering his chest, staring blankly at the empty stone nest… that same feeling again, and this time it was much closer…

What is calling me?

Yun Che didn’t leave at full speed. Instead, he took another step forward and walked toward that stone nest once more, continuing on until he reached the nest itself. And his heartbeat suddenly quickened.

Yun Che fixed his gaze around the area, finally settling on a corner on the far right side of the nest. The rocks there had been there for countless years, hard and weathered—yet one particular stone was spotless, as though it had been moved frequently. Yun Che quickly walked over, pressed his hand against the stone, and pulled with effort.

The stone came tumbling down with a sound, and a deep red light suddenly appeared in Yun Che’s field of vision.

It was a small circular bead, no larger than a glass sphere, clear as a ruby, yet its emitted light was far deeper and more profound than that of a ruby. Looking at this red-colored bead, Yun Che’s heart inexplicably generated a strong desire. Driven by this desire, he quickly extended his hand and directly grabbed for it.

“Don’t touch it! There are the Flame Dragon’s flame power traces on it!!”

Ji Li’s warning came slightly too late. Before she could finish speaking, Yun Che’s hand had already grasped the bead.

In an instant, this bead awoke as if summoned, suddenly emitting an intensely strong red light, strong enough to envelop Yun Che’s entire body.