Chapter 73: Rushing into the magma
Lan Ke blew a soft and melodious whistle, and the golden-eyed eagle flew over and hovered above her head, its sharp golden eyes scanning the area below.
Yuan Ming and A Gula followed closely behind, keeping an eye on their surroundings and staying alert for the attack of the Fire Rock Snake.
"Goo!"
After a moment, the golden-eyed eagle suddenly called out and looked towards a black stone in the front right, which seemed to be the product of cooled magma.
Seeing this, Lan Ke raised her hand without hesitation and pointed forward. The silver bracelet on her wrist shot out and hit the black stone.
The light on the bracelet condensed, forming a silver blade-like light, splitting the black stone in half as if cutting through decayed soil.
A fist-sized fiery red jade was embedded in the black stone, it was the Fire Essence Jade.
Yuan Ming’s eyes flashed with surprise. The golden-eyed eagle’s eyes were so extraordinary that it could even see through the inside of the stone?
"The first one!" Lan Ke walked over and bent down to pick up the Fire Essence Jade.
A dark red shadow shot out from behind a nearby stone, it was a dark red snake as thick as a bowl, its sharp fangs biting towards Lan Ke’s calf. It was the unique Fire Rock Snake in this area.This snake was only a first-level lower-rank fierce beast, its attack was not particularly powerful, but its fangs contained potent poison. Even a peak Qi Refining cultivator would have trouble if bitten.
A Gula raised his hand, surrounded by blue light, and a water arrow quickly shot towards the Fire Rock Snake.
But his action was a step too slow, the water arrow clearly couldn’t stop the red snake.
Lan Ke frowned, the chain on her wrist lit up with silver light, about to intercept the Fire Rock Snake.
At this moment, the ground rumbled, and a sharp wooden spike emerged, piercing through the body of the Fire Rock Snake and lifting it up.
The blue water arrow finally arrived and hit the snake’s body.
With a loud bang, the snake’s body was split into two, blood splattering everywhere. The two halves of the snake twisted a few times and quickly stopped moving.
Lan Ke recalled the silver bracelet and put away the Fire Essence Jade. She turned her head and nodded at Yuan Ming, continuing to search ahead.
Yuan Ming followed closely behind, paying close attention to the movements around him.
A Gula felt somewhat embarrassed and his face became even uglier. A trace of viciousness flashed in his eyes as he looked at Yuan Ming’s back.
Half an hour quickly passed.
The three of them became more and more skilled in their cooperation. Yuan Ming and A Gula worked together to block all the sneak attacks from the Fire Rock Snakes, while Lan Ke, without any worries, could drive the golden-eyed eagle to search for the Fire Essence Jade at a fast pace.
So far, they had found more than twenty pieces of Fire Essence Jade. According to the agreed ratio, Lan Ke distributed the Fire Essence Jade to Yuan Ming and A Gula.
Yuan Ming touched his chest, where he had already stored seven pieces of Fire Essence Jade. They made a crisp sound when they collided. Five pieces of Fire Essence Jade could be exchanged for some contribution points, and these Fire Essence Jade were worth about one and a half contribution points.
It was still early, and if they continued at this speed, they could collect more than ten, or even twenty pieces of Fire Essence Jade before it got dark. That would be four contribution points.
At the thought of this, Yuan Ming’s heart suddenly warmed.
Just at this moment, his dantian suddenly jumped, and his mana was already running low.
Without enough mana to protect his body, he began to feel a dull pain all over.
Yuan Ming didn’t have the fire-resistant treasures like Lan Ke and A Gula, and it was already not easy for him to hold on until now.
"Two of you, my mana is about to run out, I need to leave here and rest for a while." Yuan Ming didn’t force himself and said.
A Gula raised his chin slightly, a hint of mockery flashed in his eyes, and his gloomy face looked slightly better.
"It’s fine, you can go first. The two of us can take care of ourselves." Lan Ke said.
"Yeah, you guys continue to search for the Fire Essence Jade. You can distribute the gains during my absence." Yuan Ming said, then quickly left and soon arrived at the foot of the volcanic peak.
The temperature here had returned to normal. He found a secluded place and operated the Nine Elements Technique.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth gathered and replenished his mana.
After a quarter of an hour, Yuan Ming suddenly opened his eyes.
The mana in his dantian had only recovered about half, and the recovery speed was obviously slower than before.
"What’s going on? The spiritual energy here is not thin." Yuan Ming was about to investigate when a squeaking sound came from a distance, sounding somewhat familiar.
He stood up and hid behind a large nearby rock, looking towards the direction of the sound.
A slender red figure resembling a fox appeared in the distance, quickly running towards the volcano. It was the Fire Ferret of the Third Cave Master.
"Fire Greedy! How did it come here? Could it be that the Third Cave Master is here?" Yuan Ming walked out.
He himself was brought into the sect by the Third Cave Master, and the Fire Refining Hall where he currently stayed was also under her jurisdiction. If she was nearby, he should go and pay his respects.
Yuan Ming looked around for a long time but did not find the figure of the Third Cave Master.
At this time, the Fire Ferret also noticed Yuan Ming in the distance, turned its head to look over, and its running footsteps paused for a moment.
But it quickly looked away and continued to run towards the volcano.
Yuan Ming looked puzzled. From the appearance of the Fire Ferret, it seemed like it was chasing after something?
Just at this moment, hurried footsteps came from a distance. It was a tall red-haired youth running towards here, sweating profusely. Judging from his attire, he was a disciple of the Beast Taming Hall.
"Senior brother ahead, please stop the Fire Ferret. It is the Third Cave Master’s spiritual beast, and it must not touch the magma. It cannot withstand the high temperature of the magma!" The red-haired youth shouted as he ran, his voice filled with urgency.
Yuan Ming was stunned.According to this person, is the fire mink going to jump into the lava?
Although the fire mink’s spiritual intelligence has not yet awakened, even ants have the instinct to survive. How could it jump into the lava?
However, the fire mink was rushing forward, its eyes full of fervor, showing a determination to forge ahead without looking back.
"It’s not really going to jump into the lava, is it?" Yuan Ming’s face changed slightly, and he hurriedly chased after it, shouting the name "Fire Mink".
However, the fire mink, which was usually quite close to him, completely ignored his call at this moment and continued to rush towards the volcanic lava without looking back, as if there was something extremely attractive to it there.
The fire mink ran very fast. Yuan Ming had already used the Shadowless Step, but he still couldn’t catch up, and the distance between them was still increasing.
Remembering the life-saving grace of the Three Cave Master, Yuan Ming gritted his teeth and used the Fur Technique.
The skin of the White Ape wrapped around him, instantly transforming him into the form of a White Ape, greatly increasing his speed, but he was just barely keeping pace with the fire mink.
At this moment, they were not far from the volcanic lava. With the speed of the fire mink, it would be able to reach it soon.
Yuan Ming quickly took out a piece of Fire Jade from his bosom and threw it forward.
He had seen the Three Cave Master attract the fire mink with a red crystal stone before. Fire Jade was also a fire attribute ore, perhaps it would be useful.
The Fire Jade drew an arc and accurately landed in front of the fire mink.
The fire mink looked at the Fire Jade, let out a joyful cry, pounced on it, and picked it up in its mouth.
"It really works." Yuan Ming was delighted and quickened his pace.
However, the fire mink raised its head and swallowed the Fire Jade in one gulp, then immediately continued to rush forward. It had only paused for three breaths.
Yuan Ming’s expression froze, but fortunately, the three breaths were time, and the distance between them had narrowed a bit.
He continued to chase after it, painfully taking out another piece of Fire Jade and throwing it out, landing in front of the fire mink.
The fire mink seemed to like the Fire Jade very much, and once again stopped to pick it up and swallowed it, then continued to run forward.
With the previous experience of picking up the jade, the fire mink only took about two breaths this time.
"It really can eat." Yuan Ming muttered helplessly, continuing to take out Fire Jade and throw it out.
Seven pieces of spirit jade were used up in the blink of an eye, but the distance between them had finally narrowed to less than three zhang (10 meters), but the fire mink was less than five zhang (16.5 meters) away from the lava.
Yuan Ming seized the opportunity to cast a spell, and the ground in front of the fire mink rumbled, and a wooden spike as thick as a bowl suddenly sprouted.
The fire mink almost ran into it, let out an angry growl, and detoured to the side.
However, there was another rumble on that side, and a large wooden spike sprouted again, blocking its way again.
Before the fire mink could react, the other directions around it were constantly rumbling, and wooden spikes kept sprouting, forming a wooden fence in the blink of an eye, trapping the fire mink in the middle.
After circling in place for a few times, the fire mink suddenly paused, then jumped up.
The wooden spikes were only four or five feet high, and the fire mink’s jumping ability was not bad, so it easily jumped out.
However, as soon as it jumped up, a large hand covered with white hair stretched out from the side and grabbed the fire mink’s back.
The fire mink’s claws flailed wildly, and it roared incessantly, but its neck and back were controlled, and no matter how much it struggled, it was in vain.
Yuan Ming ignored the fire mink and immediately dispelled the Fur Technique.
The longer the Fur Technique was used, the more death energy would accumulate in his body. Although the Death Moon method seemed to be able to resolve it, he still planned not to use it if he could.
The skin of the White Ape slid off him, and he grabbed it and stuffed it into his bosom.
At this moment, the fire mink, whether it was tired from roaring or seeing Yuan Ming’s true body, suddenly calmed down.
"Junior Brother Yuan, how did you get here?" A voice suddenly came from the front, and two figures walked out from a depression in the front, it was Mu Li and Chi Zhu.
"What have you caught? A fire fox? Be careful!" Mu Li saw the fire mink in Yuan Ming’s hand, his eyebrows furrowed, and he was about to hit it with his iron rod.
There were countless fierce beasts in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, and it was not surprising that they had any strange abilities. It was best to kill them immediately upon encountering them, otherwise, a moment of carelessness could cost one’s life.
Chi Zhu was forming a spell in his hand, and two fireballs the size of a human head appeared in front of him, ready to strike.
"Both of you, stop! That’s the Three Cave Master’s spirit beast, a young fire mink!" Yuan Ming quickly put the fire mink behind him and said.
"The Three Cave Master’s spirit beast! Why is it here?" Mu Li was taken aback, put away his iron rod and asked.
"I’m afraid we’ll have to ask him about that." Yuan Ming turned to look behind him.
The red-haired young man was panting as he hurried over. Seeing that the fire mink had been caught by Yuan Ming, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief and thanked him, "Thank you... Thank you, Senior Brothers, for your help!"
At this moment, they had reached the top of the giant peak. The terrain was uneven, with many protruding rocks blocking the view. The young man hadn’t seen Yuan Ming’s action just now, and thought that it was with the help of Mu Li and the others that the fire mink was stopped.