Chapter 3186: As If He Stole a Little Loli! This Move...

A sudden jolt struck Wang Teng’s heart, and a genuine sense of anticipation began to stir within him.

If his own miniature version of the Core of Molten Fire could truly absorb the spirit of the genuine article,

then he would hit the absolute jackpot!

Ahem, as for Venerable Tianyan...

Well, that could wait until later.

Wang Teng knew full well that his actions were a bit underhanded, but since the wool had already been fleeced, it was far too late to second-guess himself now.

Just as his mind began to wander into these chaotic thoughts,

Buzz!

The miniature Core of Molten Fire in his hand finally emitted an incredibly faint hum.

This vibration was undetectable to the naked ear, yet entirely perceptible to the soul.

With a soul as formidable as Wang Teng's, he naturally sensed it in an instant.

He looked down at the miniature Core of Molten Fire in astonishment, noting that the natural runes upon its surface were actually flickering ever so slightly.

He felt a powerful urge to immediately investigate the exact mechanism behind these natural markings.

Yet, in the end, he held himself back.

No need to rush!

A hasty mind never tastes hot tofu.

The Core of Molten Fire was

"Little thing, let go of your spirit and let me see your soul!"

He froze the moment the words left his mouth.

It felt as though he had become some vile, lecherous old man, committing an unforgivable sin.

No! No!

How could he possibly be that kind of person?

He was simply wanting to study the intellect of this [Heart of Molten Fire]—nothing more.

As its master, wasn't that perfectly reasonable?

Besides, apart from studying its soul, he’d have to examine the [Heart of Molten Fire] itself sooner or later anyway.

"Master, you go ahead."

The soft voice offered no resistance, immediately releasing its spirit and speaking.

"..."

Wang Teng couldn’t help but feel something was off. He quickly shook his head, banishing the strange thoughts from his mind.

All this must be contamination from the chaotic information floating through the universe.

The cosmos was too vast—no good people existed in it!

Universe: Pfft! You dare blame me for your own heart? Shameless!

At that moment, Wang Teng had already prepared himself mentally. He extended his soul power into the [Heart of Molten Fire] in his hand.

Instantly, he sensed a clear consciousness—a tiny, compact form, yet indistinguishable from any ordinary soul.

This was clearly a complete soul entity!

The small glimmer of soul light seemed to sense Wang Teng’s spiritual presence and joyfully darted toward him, circling around in delight.

"Alright, alright! I get it—you're amazing, okay?"

A faint smile curved Wang Teng’s lips as he praised with a laugh.

"Hahaha~"

The soft voice instantly burst into delighted giggles.

Wang Teng shook his head, withdrawing from within the [Heart of Molten Fire], but then something struck him. His eyes flashed with sudden insight.

"Can your soul return to your original body?"

He asked hurriedly.

"Of course!" came the soft reply.

"So you’re now possessing two bodies?" Wang Teng stroked his chin, feeling a strange sensation.

He’d somehow managed to give this [Heart of Molten Fire]'s soul two bodies—allowing it to move freely between them?

This maneuver… was almost divine.

The thought made Wang Teng chuckle quietly.

That was how great people operated.

All of this was his doing.

"Mmm… yeah, that’s right!" The soft voice suddenly brightened, as if discovering a brilliant truth, bursting with excitement.

"Hahaha…"

Seeing its expression, Wang Teng couldn’t help but laugh aloud.

"From now on, you follow me. I’ll give you a name."

After laughing, he finally remembered the matter at hand. Then he realized he hadn’t yet named the soul of the [Heart of Molten Fire]. He scratched his chin, lost in thought.

"Wang Teng, you’re naming people again."

A round, stifled voice chimed in. It had been startled the moment the [Heart of Molten Fire] appeared.

After watching the whole scene unfold, it finally couldn’t hold back.

"What are you laughing about? What’s wrong with me giving names?"

Wang Teng bristled instantly, snapping back irritably.

"What do you mean, what's wrong? Don’t you have any idea yourself?"

The round voice continued mocking.

"..."

Wang Teng felt truly cursed—how could he have encountered such an intelligent lifeform?

Forget it.

He wouldn’t argue with Roundy.

"Just wait. Watch me pick a name that leaves you speechless."

Wang Teng rolled his eyes and furrowed his brow, deep in thought.

"There! Since it’s the soul of the [Heart of Molten Fire], from now on, it shall be called Meltheart!"

Suddenly, inspiration struck. His eyes lit up as he blurted out the name.

"Meltheart!"

The soft voice trembled with surprise and cautious hope: "Is that my name?"

"Yes. That’s your name," Wang Teng nodded.

"Yay! Meltheart! Meltheart! From now on, I’m Meltheart! Master, I love this name!" The soft voice cheered happily.

Wang Teng smiled and turned to Roundy. "Well? Speechless now, huh?"

"..."

Roundy wrinkled his nose. "Lucky guess."

"Pfft!" Wang Teng chuckled. "Keep pretending you're tough."

Then he ignored Roundy altogether and turned to Meltheart. "Meltheart, first, send a portion of your soul back to your original body. Then control your physical form to explode and flee in this direction."

He pointed toward a direction.

Originally, he had planned to use some tricks to guide the [Heart of Molten Fire] toward where the Heavenly Flame Venerable and others were located.

Now, no need.

The soul of the [Heart of Molten Fire] had already been won over—things had become much simpler.

"Understood, Master."

Meltheart obeyed immediately.

It sent a thread of soul back into its original body, and then—

Boom!

A massive surge of fire energy erupted from the [Heart of Molten Fire], churning the surrounding clouds of flame, sweeping outward in a roaring wave.

Wang Teng watched it all, a faint curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

"Wang Teng, why do I get the feeling you're about to cause trouble again?"

Yuan Gungun complained.

"You're starting to look more and more like a mastermind behind the scenes."

Wang Teng: "???"

What the hell kind of mastermind?

Does he really look that much like a villain?

"If you can't say anything sensible, just shut up," he snapped, then saw a flurry of attribute bubbles dropping from the [Heart of Molten Fire]. A flicker of joy passed through his heart.

He had let the Heart's core control the explosion of the [Heart of Molten Fire]—all for the sake of milking benefits.

Besides Yuan Gungun and his own people, no one knew that he had already subdued the spirit within the [Heart of Molten Fire].

So to outsiders, this explosion had nothing to do with him.

He hadn’t even provoked the [Heart of Molten Fire]; he’d merely been picking up some attribute bubbles nearby.

And who could possibly know he was collecting them?

At that moment, Wang Teng immediately gathered the attribute bubbles released by the [Heart of Molten Fire].

In an instant, the [Heart of Molten Fire] in his hand swelled noticeably, growing rapidly—almost as if inflating.

A deep sense of delight surged through Wang Teng’s chest. Indeed, letting the [Heart of Molten Fire] explode on its own was the right way to milk the benefits.

After all, it was ultimately for its own good.

Two bodies were better than one.

Didn’t he see how happy the Heart’s Core was?

It seemed to feel the growth of its second body, and this was undoubtedly a great boon for it.

"Melting Core, keep watching. I believe in you," Wang Teng said at the right moment, encouragingly.

"Okay~" came the soft, muffled voice of the Melting Core.

While continuing to erupt, it guided the physical form of the [Heart of Molten Fire] toward the direction where the Lord of Celestial Flame resided.

Originally, following the innate patterns left within the fire cloud, it could have directly reached the location of the Lord of Celestial Flame.

But now, to align with Wang Teng’s plan, the process had been stretched out considerably.

It had to "jump" step by step.

Wang Teng watched the [Heart of Molten Fire] vanish before his eyes, his pupils narrowing slightly. "Let's go. We follow."

…

"What’s going on?"

Everyone within the fire cloud sensed the explosion of the [Heart of Molten Fire] and turned their gaze toward its location.

"Could it be Wang Teng? But why such a huge commotion?"

The Lord of Celestial Flame frowned, suspicion flashing in his eyes.

Rofort, the Candle Demon Lord, and others shared the same thought. After all, they knew Wang Teng had gone to the location of the treasure.

Now that the treasure was acting strangely, they wouldn’t believe it had nothing to do with him.

How could such a coincidence exist?

On the other side, the Lord of Shadow Lightning and the Lord of Merging Flames exchanged glances, their expressions shifting with unease.

"Have they found the treasure already?"

The Lord of Merging Flames hesitated before speaking.

"Hmph!"

The Lord of Shadow Lightning snorted coldly. "Even if they’ve discovered it, look at the situation—they probably haven’t gotten hold of it yet."

"Come, let’s go take a look."

With that, he started to dash toward the scene.

But the Lord of Merging Flames hesitated, his steps pausing slightly without moving forward.

"What is it?" The Lord of Shadow Lightning turned back to face him.

"We never had much chance to begin with. Now they’ve found the treasure first—going there now might be too late."

The Lord of Merging Flames fixed his gaze on the other, speaking gravely. "They have four Immortal-level Lords after all."

Upon hearing this, the Lord of Shadow Lightning’s breath caught.

How could he not know the opposing side had four Immortal-level Lords? The odds of competing with them for the treasure were far too slim.

Yet he simply couldn’t accept it.

If Wang Teng hadn’t mocked him, he wouldn’t have been so desperate. But because Wang Teng had humiliated him earlier, if he didn’t go now, wouldn’t it mean he had retreated?

Shame!

That would be utter shame.

The Lord of Shadow Lightning couldn’t bear such a result. Even if he failed to seize the treasure, he wouldn’t become a coward.

"How will we know we can’t succeed unless we try?"

He looked at the Lord of Merging Flames, his eyes burning with a fierce light.

"Merging Flame, you must understand—the treasures suitable for this vault aren’t easy to find. I’m sure you spent a long time searching before finding this one."

"...”

The Lord of Merging Flames fell silent. He felt the Lord of Shadow Lightning had gone mad.

Was he really determined to go there and make things difficult for himself? (End of chapter)