Chapter 458 - 278: Acquiring Fire Crystal Again, Insect Emperor Ancient Scroll

Chapter 458: Chapter 278: Acquiring Fire Crystal Again, Insect Emperor Ancient Scroll

If Brother Lin found anything, she would only be happy for him.

...

「About an hour later.」

A figure in a green robe emerged from the narrow passage.

He wore a faint look of excitement, but his heart jumped when his gaze swept forward and he detected the subtle fluctuations of an Array. His Divine Sense instantly flared out and his five senses went on high alert. Only after perceiving the figure within the stone chamber did he finally relax.

"Brother Lin."

Mo Zhaoli knew Lin Changheng had come out, so she immediately deactivated the Array and went to greet him.

"It was a decent haul," Lin Changheng said with a slight smile.

Under Mo Zhaoli’s gentle gaze, he tossed out a Storage Bag. "There’s a lot of Flowing Fire Stone Essence inside. We’ll split it, half and half."

"That’s not right."

Mo Zhaoli shook her head, refusing.

’The rules are clear: whoever does the work gets the reward. That’s perfectly normal. Although this trip was only possible because of me, it still wouldn’t be right to just take half.’

"There were also some Molten Fire Crystals in there, which are useful to me. I didn’t take those out to be divided."

Lin Changheng shook his head. He had nothing to hide from Mo Zhaoli.

Just now, he had followed the distribution of the Flowing Fire Stone Essence, carving a path straight down until he discovered it connected to an Earth Fire Cave.

The cavern was only about ten feet square, but it was filled with surging Earth Fire, and the temperature was extremely high. Even an ordinary Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator would probably have trouble staying for long.

Unable to block the flames and intense heat, their Magical Power Shield would be breached, and they would be burned to ashes.

This was where the True Intent of his Fire Manipulation Divine Abilities, his Fire Resistance Demon Talent, and his Fire Extinguishing Demon Technique—all acquired through Spirit Stealing Metamorphosis—finally came into play.

By unleashing his full power, Lin Changheng blocked the vast majority of the surging Earth Fire and intense heat. For someone like him, who Specialized in Fire Technique and had cultivated the Jade Void Brilliance Scripture to the Realm of Perfection, the remaining portion was actually comfortable.

He felt like a fish in water.

In the core of the Earth Fire Cave, at the point where the Earth Fire had burned and tempered the rock for countless years, he had obtained three Molten Fire Crystals, each the size of an infant’s head.

They were quite difficult to retrieve and took him a considerable amount of effort.

For any other Foundation Establishment Cultivator who practiced Fire Technique, never mind retrieving them, just getting close would likely have been a fatal risk.

But the reward was enormous. These three Molten Fire Crystals were enough for him to empower and evolve his Red Sky Profound Flame to Tier Three.

Once he possessed this Tier Three flame, the illusion of superiority surrounding Fake Core Cultivators would be shattered before him. They would no longer seem so high and mighty, so untouchable.

Only after hearing this did Mo Zhaoli agree to accept the Storage Bag.

After that, neither of them left the cave again.

Night had fallen, making the Outer World even more dangerous. There was no rush to clear out a new area and begin Array Formation.

They immediately set up a Third Layer Array for concealment and protection. For the first time in over ten years, the two were once again spending the night alone together.

The last time had been when they teamed up to hunt a Cyan-striped Tiger, completing a mission to obtain the key resources needed to advance to Middle Stage Foundation Establishment.

This time, they were once again roasting Demon Beast Meat over a fire. Grease dripped into the flames with a soft SIZZLE, and a rich aroma filled the air.

But where they had once sat facing each other across the campfire, they were now sitting shoulder to shoulder on a fallen log.

The distance between them had closed, unnoticed.

The leaping firelight flickered across their profiles, now bright, now dark.

Mo Zhaoli kept her head slightly bowed, her focus fixed on the slowly turning roast in her hands as if it were the most fascinating object in the world. But the faint blush creeping up her ears betrayed that she was not as calm as she appeared.

Lin Changheng, however, was perfectly composed, clearly able to smell the faint, fresh scent wafting from her.

"CRACKLE! POP!"

The Array created a pocket of tranquility around them. The only sounds were the crackling of the firewood and the distant, muffled roars of beasts from the Wilderness, weakened by the Array.

Whatever transpired in the Outer World, it could not affect the swaying firelight as it cast the long, long shadows of their gradually leaning figures onto the cave wall behind them.