Chapter 232: Enraptured

Soon, the Dragon Pearl caught up with the red crystal; although no one recognized it, spiritual qi shimmered around it, so clear it was heartbreaking.

But they were about to fall into the surging magma in the valley.

"It seems to be an Immortal Stone!" the Dragon Soul said uncertainly, having only heard of it but never seen it.

"Get close, I'll collect it." Jiang Yu and Jiang Bai both responded almost simultaneously.

Jiang Tu rushed forward; since he couldn't collect the Dragon Pearl with his thoughts and it wasn't his, he could only take out an ice crystal and warn the two to be careful.

Jiang Yu and Jiang Bai naturally strengthened their defenses, flashed out to the Dragon Pearl, and began grabbing the red crystals.

Fortunately, the crystals flew together; in a moment they grabbed over ten, but when the two tried to collect more, they suddenly felt the magma hotter than before.

"Wow, the Yin and Yang fire is chasing us too!" the Dragon Soul shouted midway, seeing two balls of red-hot fire, like the sun, flying from behind.

"Return to the group quickly." Jiang Tu also sent a mental message to the two.

Jiang Yu and Jiang Bai didn't even glance behind; their newly grown hair instantly turned to ash, and all their protective magic treasures were completely burned.

Fortunately, they darted into the Dragon Pearl quickly; the ice crystal blocked all the destruction for them, but even so, their robes were scorched to a crisp.

Moreover, the moisture in their bodies vanished rapidly, and their blood felt as if it had dried up, ceasing to flow.

Jiang Tu then expended mana to shoot a jet of water downward at them, which prevented them from being burned by the residual heat of the strange fire.

Jiang Yu tilted her head, seeing on the Dragon Stele's surveillance screen only fragments of red remaining, and the Dragon Pearl's temperature was rising; "The protective purple jade the sect master gave me is completely gone."

"Jiang Tu, quickly fly away from the volcano; we'll soak in water." She was still able to move, releasing a cloud-flight device to carry herself toward the riverbank.

As a Golden Core cultivator, Jiang Bai needed no artifact; he teleported and landed in the water before she did.

"As expected, it's a top-ranked strange fire; even without touching it, it can hurt people." He looked at the Dragon Stele, where only a tiny flame-tail of fire remained.

Then, taking those few red crystals from his storage ring, the small rhomboid objects contained immense power.

Jiang Yu also took out the few she had caught; she dared not absorb them blindly, and threw them to the Dragon Soul and Jiang Tu on the shore: "Dragon King, do you think these are Immortal Stones?"

Jiang Bai had a different view; he sent a thread of divine sense into the crystal: "No matter how immortal an Immortal Stone is, it's still like a spirit stone—how could it fly out of the volcano on its own?"

The Dragon Soul held it in his claw and examined it repeatedly: "There's nothing inside, yet it indeed possesses a vast immortal spiritual aura."

Moreover, it doesn't seem to have flown on its own; perhaps it was ejected from a volcano during a battle of strange fires.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have landed midway; they must be fire-attributed Immortal Stones.

"Hmm, there's indeed nothing else inside the crystal, but the spiritual qi is too dense; it's best not to absorb it directly." After checking, Jiang Bai found nothing else.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yu suddenly tossed away a crystal and unleashed her Thunder Bamboo Fan for defense.

"What is it?" Jiang Tu's soul was controlling the Dragon Pearl's flight, with no spare attention, while the Dragon Soul hid behind it: "Strange fire—it's actually a strand of strange fire seed!"

"Jiang Yu, you're so lucky—just a casual grab and you caught a strange fire hiding inside the crystal."

This made Jiang Bai, who had brought Jiang Yu ashore while on high alert, relax a little; the two quickly placed the remaining Immortal Stones beside their feet, unmoving.

Just in case another strange fire or similar spiritual object appeared.

"What kind of fire is it? Jiang Tu, can your spiritual fire eat it?" Jiang Yu stared at the tiny crystal hovering above the water, growing ever redder.

As she finished speaking, a thumb-sized flame shot from the crystal, shaping into an arrowhead and swooshing straight toward Jiang Yu.

Crack—

Under Jiang Yu's command, the Thunder Bamboo Fan formed a lightning net around everyone, striking the flame and making it tremble three times.

It seemed angry, condensing into an arrow shaft ready for another fight, but seeing Jiang Tu and Jiang Bai simultaneously release their own spiritual fires, it actually knew fear.

It hissed as it retreated, instantly condensing back into a flame shape and flying into the crystal suspended in midair.

And, in full view of everyone, it burrowed into the soil opposite.

"Stupid, wherever you dig, you're still within my divine sense." Jiang Tu had already sent the Dragon Pearl far from the volcano group; now hidden in a shallow stream beneath a waterfall, he finally had time to ponder the crystal.

It flashed across to the opposite bank, its paw slamming the ground with a smack; the underground flame crystal was instantly shaken out and then dodged.

Jiang Tu chased after it, slapping; even if it flew toward the mountain peak, he could flash to its front and slap again, enjoying the game immensely.

Seeing him happy, Jiang Yu didn't join in, instead jumping into the water again to hold the remaining crystals and study them.

"It should be just that single fire seed; I don't know what fire it is, or what exquisite stone it's hidden in." Jiang Bai also picked up his crystal to look; if there was no spiritual object, there was none.

Jiang Yu likewise found nothing else; probably the crystals are Immortal Stones: "Dragon King, with your broad knowledge, do you know what kind of fire seed this is?"

The Dragon King pondered for a moment, having no clue: "I can't judge at once; strange fires in the world are diverse, some merge and mutate, even becoming unnamed strange fires, all depending on the user to name them and pass them down."

But the one you caught was likely, during its consumption and fusion process, devoured by the Yin-Yang fire, leaving only a trace.

"Should we feed it other fire seeds to nurture it?" Jiang Yu immediately lost interest.

Jiang Bai, however, said: "A fire that can survive beneath the Yin-Yang fire is also an extremely formidable existence."

"Subduing it while it's weak would benefit you."

Jiang Yu glanced at the distant mountain peak; the strange fire was still playing a chase-and-hide game with Jiang Tu.

Moreover, it even sneaked up to absorb the spark threads from Jiang Tu's released spiritual fire upon contact, making Jiang Tu yell in anger.

"Turns out, you've been retreating before those two fires just to deceive. Take this punch from your king!" Jiang Tu slammed a heavy fist, sending the fire seed into the ice cave; with a thought, the cave mouth sealed instantly.

Boom boom boom

The fire seed bounced within the crystal; each time it lunged at the cave mouth, it was reflected back deeper.

"Hehe, this ice cave subdues all who defy it; just stay foolish, you." Jiang Tu flew back chuckling, rushing toward Jiang Yu for food; after fighting all day, he was a bit hungry.

Jiang Yu handed over a lunchbox, letting it heat its own meal: "Make do with eating; once my spiritual power runs smoothly, I'll make you something fresh."

Jiang Tu tossed aside the lunchbox: "Is it serious that my spiritual power isn't flowing smoothly within my body?"

"Jiang Bai, are you in the same condition?"

Jiang Bai nodded: "Mainly, the strange fire baked away some of my essence and blood; I need to recuperate for two days."

"Eat this; Jade Nectar Fruit replenishes essence and blood, edible regardless of cultivation level." Jiang Tu immediately produced the spiritual fruit he had picked on Profound Capital Mountain, thoughtfully fetched a cup, and gave the two a juice.

Jiang Bai couldn't help but praise it repeatedly; soon he had Jiang Tu laughing happily, forgetting his worries.

But in fact, their spiritual power truly showed stagnation in operation, something the Jade Nectar Fruit could not resolve.

Jiang Yu sent a voice transmission: "Drawing the electric arc from the purple-gold thunder bamboo into the body, to flush and widen the meridians—can it be done?"

After receiving Jiang Bai's negative reply, she couldn't help but turn her gaze to the newly obtained crystal stone, or immortal stone.

"I'll use it to flush quickly; you help guard the Dharma." Jiang Yu knows the secret realm's last few days are extremely dangerous; she must recover as soon as possible.