Chapter 85: Underground Cave

The Amethyst Winged Lion King's eyes narrowed slightly. The fact that Xiao Yan had been able to escape from the Third-Tier young Lion King back then had already proven that his strength was definitely not as simple as a mere Dou Shi on the surface.

It was just that no one knew how far Xiao Yan's limit could reach.

"The land is all dead." Xiao Yan walked into Shou Zhong. Three hundred years had passed, yet this place was still barren — the land had completely died.

One could well imagine how tragic that battle back then had been.

Xiao Yan followed behind the Amethyst Winged Lion King, and just as the Amethyst Winged Lion King had said, it absolutely would not make a move. If not for the Transformation Pill, the Amethyst Winged Lion King would never have cooperated with a human.

Or rather, the magic beasts of the entire Mo Shou Shan Mai held absolutely no goodwill toward humans.

Meow! ψ(*｀ー)ψ

Mao Wu was as if he had entered a buffet restaurant — one claw pierced into a ghost shadow's body, and the Swallowing Flame erupted. The ghost shadows born from the resentful thoughts of those who had died tragically in war were, within the Black Flame, instantly reduced to nothingness and devoured by the Swallowing Flame.

Needless to say, ghost shadows of mere Dou Shi and Great Dou Shi — even a shadow of a Dou Ling that looked similar to a human could not escape the devouring power of the Swallowing Flame.

The more the Amethyst Winged Lion King watched, the more solemn it became. It had guessed that Xiao Yan, after hearing everything, would still dare to enter Shou Zhong because he must have his own trump card. It just hadn't expected this trump card to be this fierce!

"That Black Flame is no simple matter."

What puzzled the Amethyst Winged Lion King endlessly was that this Black Flame was clearly very weak — when it had first seen it back at the cave dwelling, the Infernal Heat was even inferior to the young Lion King's purple flame. Although it had grown somewhat now, it was only on par with the young Lion King's purple flame.

Yet it possessed an extremely terrifying devouring ability. Once those troublesome ghost shadows touched even a little of it, they could not escape the fate of being burned to ashes.

One had to know that even the Amethyst Winged Lion King, a Six Rank Demon Beast, was unwilling to enter Shou Zhong. Precisely because these ghost shadows were very difficult to deal with — once touched, the Spiritual Soul would suffer extreme pain, and some painful memories would flood into the mind.

If too many memories mixed in, over time one might become someone else.

Finally, under the Amethyst Winged Lion King's lead, Xiao Yan arrived at a massive fissure in the earth. This place had originally been vast land, but during the great Dou Zong battle three hundred years ago, it had been pierced through, and a huge fissure had formed in the ground.

Looking out, it seemed as if one could not see the bottom. The entire fissure was like a bottomless Shen Yuan, stretching ten li wide, and anyone who looked at it could not help but feel their hair stand on end.

"This fissure was caused by the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame."

After the Lord of Mo Shou Shan Mai used the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame to perish together with the Seventh-Rank Alchemist, the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame became an ownerless thing. The terrifying flame erupted uncontrollably and created the current canyon.

After erupting, the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame fell to the ground and melted the earth, creating this bottomless Shen Yuan.

"This is the true power of a Heavenly Flame — it can shelter all beasts, or it can destroy the heavens and earth." And this was merely the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame, ranked twenty-two!

If the Bone Spirit Cold Fire in Xiao Yan's ring had not been Refined and sealed within the ring by its previous owner, once it fully erupted, it would probably be able to turn an area of over a dozen li into an ice realm!

"Mao Wu, stop eating. These low-level resentful thoughts are no longer very effective for you." Xiao Yan beckoned to Mao Wu, who was eating at the buffet.

Meow~. Mao Wu called out cheerfully, traversing the void and returning to Xiao Yan's side.

These low-level ghost shadows were not even as nutritious as the beast resentment of Magic Cores. Xiao Yan had guessed that Heavenly Flames had a very strong restraining effect on these demons and monsters, but he hadn't expected the effect to be this good.

The once ferocious ghost shadows now didn't even dare approach Xiao Yan. Without intelligence, they had instinctively developed fear toward the Swallowing Flame.

"Truly worthy of being a sub-flame of the Swallowing Flame, ranked second. What would the power of the true Swallowing Flame be like?" Xiao Yan couldn't help but ponder.

"Let's go." As his words fell, the Amethyst Winged Lion King brought Xiao Yan and leapt into the fissure before them that resembled a giant maw, vanishing into the darkness in an instant.

When Xiao Yan followed the Amethyst Winged Lion King and fell into this bottomless Shen Yuan, he lit a fire starter and discovered that the space below was actually larger than the fissure above.

Moreover, beneath the ground there were actually many tunnels, crisscrossing in all directions. Walking in alone, one might very well get lost inside.

"These tunnels were dug out over the past three hundred years by countless magic beasts that came to seek the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame. Only the magic beasts of Mo Shou Shan Mai can sense the specific location of the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame. Even if you know the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame is here, you won't be able to find it." The Amethyst Winged Lion King said with a proud face.

Xiao Yan, however, shot it a white look — he had nearly been tricked by it. Without a magic beast to lead the way, it was simply impossible to find the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame.

No wonder those people from the Soul Hall had only heard of it but couldn't find where it was.

Xiao Yan's nose twitched, and looking toward the source of the fragrance, he said with incomparable excitement: "Hm? This is... a Hundred-Year Earth Lingzhi!!"

A single Earth Lingzhi, as large as two palms, grew quietly in a corner of one of the tunnels. If not for Xiao Yan's keen nose and his particular sensitivity to the fragrance of Medicinal Material, he wouldn't have discovered this precious Medicinal Material.

The Hundred-Year Earth Lingzhi is one of the main Medicinal Materials for refining the Fourth-Rank Peak Pill, the Spirit-Breaking Pill. As its name suggests, the Spirit-Breaking Pill raises the success rate of breaking through to Dou Ling. The success rate it provides varies depending on the quality of the Elixir.

Xiao Yan licked his lips, carefully took out a hammer and a stone chisel, and gently chiseled open the soil. When picking Medicinal Materials, one must never damage the main body — once the main body is injured, not only will the medicinal properties be lost, but it will also be easy to make mistakes when refining Elixirs.

He carefully placed the dug-up Hundred-Year Earth Lingzhi into his ring. Looking at the intricate Di Xia Shi Jie of tunnels, Xiao Yan said excitedly: "Could this actually be a Treasure Vault?!"

Originally, seeing the barren dead land above, Xiao Yan had thought the area below was also an extremely perilous dead land. He hadn't expected it to be a Treasure Vault hiding treasures!

Places where Heavenly Flames are born are naturally prone to giving birth to all kinds of strange treasures. Although this place was not the birthplace of the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame, the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame had been here for three hundred years. Nourished by the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame, this place was even more prone to giving birth to Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.

Over the past three hundred years, many magic beasts had come to this underground area to seek the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame, hoping to temper their bodies and break through their Bloodlines. The magic beasts all carried some seeds of Medicinal Material on them to varying degrees, and these seeds took root and sprouted here. Combined with the presence of the Ten Thousand Beast Spiritual Flame, this place held many strange treasures and rare rarities.

For a moment, Xiao Yan was so excited he could hardly contain himself, wishing he could dig up every inch of land here.

However, just as Xiao Yan was humming a little tune, intoxicated with the joy of a bountiful harvest — suddenly! A black shadow silently drilled out from the soil behind him.

A venomous snake, only as thick as an arm, suddenly burst out, its sharp fangs spread open, lunging at the back of Xiao Yan's neck.

"A Second-Tier Magic Beast dares to sneak-attack me!" Xiao Yan gave a cold snort, turned around, formed his five fingers into a claw, and grabbed the venomous snake by its seven-inch mark. Black Flame instantly erupted from his palm, and the terrifying Infernal Heat burned this Second-Tier venomous snake into a piece of charcoal.

Xiao Yan's Soul Force was already comparable to that of a Fourth-Rank Peak Pill Alchemist, so sneaking up on him was no easy feat. Moreover, as an Alchemist, Xiao Yan himself knew that wherever there were Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, the presence of magic beasts was inevitable.

Let alone that this was the deepest part of Mo Shou Shan Mai — there were bound to be many magic beasts here.

"This way." The Amethyst Winged Lion King merely glanced at it indifferently, said one sentence, and walked to the left.

These were merely child's play — the real danger was still ahead.

But what neither Xiao Yan nor the Amethyst Winged Lion King had expected was that at the other end of the Shou Zhong fissure, two figures quietly leapt in from the other side.

(End of this chapter)