It was already afternoon by the time Xiao Yan's group finished dealing with the Sand Mercenary Company and arrived at the location marked on the map.
"Big Brother, how's it going?" Xiao Yan walked into a tent where Xiao Ding was calculating something with a pen.
Xiao Ding knew that everything had gone smoothly when he saw Xiao Yan and Xiao Li return. He had more confidence in this genius younger brother of his than anyone else.
He shook his head with a smile and said, "Not yet. The desert terrain is easily changed. Back then, we only had a few experienced hands scout the area while keeping it secret from the Sand Mercenary Company. We didn't investigate too thoroughly."
Xiao Yan heard this and could only sit in the tent and wait for news while sipping the iced fruit tea that Qing Lin had carefully prepared.
Just as he was cultivating the Spirit Heart Gathering Soul Technique for a while, a figure suddenly ran over from the distance and excitedly shouted, "Company Leader! The third squad seems to have found something!"
"Found something?" The three of them heard this and were immediately elated. Xiao Yan quickly withdrew from his cultivation state.
"Did they find the passage?"
"Hehe, it seems they found some traces. Based on our experience, there's a high possibility it leads to an underground passage." The mercenary who ran over grinned.
"Great! Regardless, your squad will be rewarded when you return!" Xiao Yan laughed heartily and eagerly followed the mercenary.
"Thank you, Third Company Leader!" The mercenary was overjoyed to hear this, and his enthusiasm soared as he led Xiao Yan and the others at a brisk pace.
"Make way, make way!" The leading mercenary cleared a path with his loud voice. Xiao Yan followed and looked over, pleasantly surprised to see that the mercenaries had already dug a hole about half a meter wide in this sunken desert area. Peering into the hole, he saw only darkness, with a faint heat rising from the inside.
The sound of Mao Wu came from his Acceptance Soul, telling him there was a hint of a Heavenly Flame inside.
However, Xiao Yan was not overly delighted at this moment because when he used his Spiritual Strength to sense the situation below, he discovered there were many intricate underground passages.
It was very similar to the underground passages in the Magic Beast Mountain Range's Beast Tomb, which meant these underground passages were not naturally formed but created by magical beasts.
'To create passages of this size, it's likely the work of snake-type magical beasts.'
This was not good news. Although snakes were naturally cold-blooded and feared the Heavenly Flame, there were exceptions, such as fire-attribute snake races.
"Should I send someone down to explore carefully before going in?" Xiao Ding looked at the pitch-black passage underground and frowned with worry.
Xiao Yan slightly shook his head. "No need, Big Brother. If my strength isn't enough to ensure safety down there, then bringing others along will only lead them to their deaths."
"Third Company Leader, you gave us pills and took good care of us. If we retreat when you need us, wouldn't that make us ungrateful cowards who forget favors?"
"That's right. If the Third Company Leader needs us, we will charge through fire and water without hesitation!"
"Through fire and water without hesitation!" the mercenaries echoed in unison.
Xiao Yan rubbed his nose and said, "It seems that I was being overly cautious. Regardless of whether we gain anything this time, everyone will be rewarded with pills when we return! I'll be counting on all of you!"
In the end, Xiao Ding selected a few team members experienced in underground exploration to accompany them. In addition to the three Xiao brothers, Qing Lin, who had first discovered the traces, also joined them to descend into the passage.
'Let's hope the Heavenly Flame is still there.'
'Qing Lin, hold onto me tight.' Xiao Yan wrapped an arm around Qing Lin's willowy waist and took the lead in sliding into the underground passage.
As they descended, he used his Spiritual Strength to sense their surroundings, all the while feeling the soft, gentle pressure against his body.
Relying on Qing Lin's special sensory ability and the mercenary team's experience, Xiao Yan's group continuously explored and found the correct passages to advance.
'Hmm? Why has the fire-attribute energy suddenly become so much stronger here?'
Xiao Yan's expression grew increasingly serious as they delved deeper. He could feel that the fire-attribute energy had suddenly strengthened a lot, to the point that his Qi Method automatically circulated and refined Dou Qi without any conscious effort on his part.
"Third Company Leader, there's a discovery up ahead!" The mercenary in charge of scouting excitedly shouted after turning another corner.
Xiao Yan's body trembled with excitement as he wiped the sweat from his face. The group quickened their pace and swiftly covered the short distance before arriving at the end of the
Standing at the end of the passage, everyone looked at the fiery red world that appeared before their eyes with shocked expressions.
Fiery red magma flowed slowly in the vast cavern. Occasionally, huge bubbles would emerge from the magma and burst open with a light pop after a short while, spewing out scorching magma like a magnificent, fiery red firework.
This was a complete magma flow!! Simply put, it was equivalent to a volcano buried beneath the desert!
If stimulated, it would erupt and form a brand new volcanic crater!
"What do we do now? There's no way forward." Xiao Li looked at the flowing magma world in front of them. This was not a place humans could venture. Let alone Dou Masters like them, even Dou Grandmasters would be courting death in a place !
Xiao Yan slowly closed his eyes and activated the Spirit Heart Gathering Soul Technique. A powerful surge of Spiritual Strength spread out in all directions. Suddenly, a cluster of emerald-green fire attribute energy appeared in his spiritual perception.
He slowly opened his eyes and set Qing Lin down. Then he took out a bottle of Ice Spirit Cold Fountain from his storage ring and handed it to Xiao Ding as he said, "Big Brother, I'm going in. This is a cold fountain that can be used to cool down and save lives if necessary."
"Go in? Into the magma? There's no path here! Don't tell me you plan to swim across?" Xiao Ding's expression changed slightly as he softly rebuked.
Xiao Yan only smiled faintly. His body suddenly began to float upwards as the Eagle Wings appeared on his back.
"Dou Qi Wings?!!! Xiao-Yan-Zi, you're a Dou King?!" Xiao Li exclaimed in shock. Wasn't he supposed to be a Dou Grandmaster? How did he become a Dou King?!
"This is a flying-type Dou Technique. Big Brother, Second Brother, I'll be right back!"
Just as he was about to turn and fly toward the depths of the magma, a cold little hand suddenly grabbed him.
"Young Master, there seems to be something hidden in the magma!" Qing Lin tightly held onto him. At this moment, her eyes emitted a faint emerald-green light, and vague patterns seemed to appear in her pupils.
Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes. He naturally sensed a Rank 4 magical beast existing beneath the magma with his 5th-tier alchemist Spiritual Strength. But Qing Lin wasn't even a Dou
Practitioner, yet she had sensed it too!
'This girl Qing Lin is extraordinary.'
He patted the back of her hand lightly and said, "Don't worry. Your Young Master isn't stupid enough to not notice there's a magical beast underneath the magma."
The Eagle Wings soared above the magma with a whoosh. The next second, a huge black shadow suddenly appeared in the originally crimson magma, as if something was about to burst out from underneath.
Xiao Yan smiled coldly, took out a bottle of Ice Spirit Cold Fountain from his storage ring, and
directly threw it down like a grenade. The terrifying freezing power actually froze the magma with a rumble. The originally flowing magma instantly turned into black rock, trapping the mysterious creature underneath.
He had no time to deal with this magical beast right now. He wanted to see if the thing at the center of this magma world was really a Heavenly Flame!
His powerful Spiritual Strength spread out as he flew. After an indeterminate amount of time,
a green lotus suddenly appeared not far away, gracefully standing in the middle of the
"Green lotus? Could it be the Green Lotus Core Flame?!"