Chapter 149: Flame Sealing Treasure

Staring at the now damaged patch of rock, Victor knew attempting to forcibly touch such a high tier natural flame with a First Tier body was clearly not a wise decision.

However, he did not retreat because of this.

He could sense that as the flame continued expanding, the flow of fire elements throughout the surroundings was undergoing a noticeable change.

The energy originally scattered throughout the cavern seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, converging toward the center along the dark golden patterns on the rock walls.

At the places where those patterns were most concentrated, faint strands of golden light could even be seen.

"These patterns..." Victor shifted his attention toward the lower section of the cavern.

With the help of his High Level Fire Element Affinity, he quickly discovered that the dark golden patterns were not merely mineral traces.

Instead, they were natural energy channels formed through prolonged exposure to concentrated fire elements.

The entire cavern was like an enormous natural energy-gathering formation.

And the golden flame at its center was the final destination of all that energy.

But after observing for a while, Victor suddenly noticed something else.

Although the golden flame was constantly expanding, its center had maintained its original size.

The outer golden flames alternately expanded and contracted, as though vast amounts of fire elements were continuously circulating around a much more condensed core.

"The true flame origin should be inside." He concluded.

Still he didn’t rush

A high tier natural flame was not ordinary fire-attribute mana. Absorbing something like this was certainly not as simple as drawing it into one’s body.

Especially when the flame before him was clearly in an extremely active state.

If he recklessly made contact, he might suffer severe burns from the surrounding fire elements before he could even begin absorbing its origin.

Just as he was considering how to approach the situation, a System notification suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Ding!]

[High tier natural flame detected!]

[Target: Earth Vein Golden Flame!]

[Type: High Tier Natural Flame!]

[Current Status: Origin active. Earth vein energy continuously converging!]

[Detected that the host possesses the Heaven Burning Sword Art!]

[This flame satisfies the flame requirement for the evolution of the Heaven Burning Sword Art!]

[Warning: The flame origin is currently extremely unstable. Forced absorption carries a high risk!]

Looking at the name, Victor finally confirmed the origin of the flame before him.

As expected, it was a natural flame born within a special earth vein environment.

The Heaven Burning Sword Art was a King Rank sword art, and the flame before him was suitable for its evolution. Absorption would fulfill the flame requirement, but reaching Perfection would have to come later.

However, the immediate problem remained unresolved.

How was he supposed to obtain it?

Victor began examining the cavern’s structure again.

The central magma pool was more than ten meters wide, surrounded by only a relatively intact ring of black rocky ground.

The Earth Vein Golden Flame hovered directly above the magma.

Even with Shadow Blink, he could not simply remain suspended in midair to absorb the flame without a place to stand.

More troublesome still, scorching waves of heat continued erupting around the magma pool.

If he charged straight toward it, he would likely be in danger before even touching the flame origin.

"Looks like I’ll have to find a way to make it come to me."

An idea gradually formed in Victor’s mind.

Since the Earth Vein Golden Flame could actively absorb the surrounding fire elements, perhaps changing the distribution of nearby energy would influence its position.

However, he did not immediately attempt it because at that moment, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed from the rocky passage behind him.

"So it really is here!"

A slightly excited voice rang out.

Victor turned his head looking at the source of the voices.

After the lava eruption eased, the Level 41 middle-aged mage managed to make his way through the fissure and into the cavern.

Behind him, the Level 35 broad-bladed swordsman and the Level 33 swordsman were hurrying to catch up.

The moment the three entered the cavern, their attention was immediately drawn to the continuously expanding golden flame at its center, especially the middle-aged mage.

The gloomy expression on his face was almost instantly replaced by excitement.

"A high tier natural flame!"

"It’s actually a high tier natural flame!"

He stared fixedly at the golden fireball floating above the magma, his voice unconsciously rising several pitches.

As a Level 41 fire mage, he naturally understood just how precious such a treasure was.

Although ordinary fire-attribute materials could also assist cultivation, their value was on an entirely different level compared to a genuine high tier natural flame.

If he could obtain this flame, even if he could not directly absorb it for the time being, merely bringing it back for research would be enough to yield enormous benefits.

Moreover, he was a fire-attribute professional himself!

At that thought, the middle-aged mage temporarily forgot about Victor standing on the other side.

But the Level 35 swordsman clearly had not forgotten their previous encounter.

"Captain, it’s that brat!"

He tightened his grip on his broad-bladed sword, his face filled with anger.

"If it weren’t for him earlier, I wouldn’t have nearly fallen into the magma!"

The middle-aged mage raised a hand to stop him.

"Ignore him for now."

"But..."

"I said don’t attack yet!"

The mage’s tone grew noticeably harsher.

The swordsman could only shut his mouth.

Turning his attention back toward the center of the cavern, the middle-aged mage’s eyes burned with undisguised desire.

"Something like this isn’t a treasure you can encounter whenever you please."

As he spoke, he retrieved a reddish-copper metal container from his storage ring.

Its surface was covered in complicated flame runes, with a fist-sized red crystal embedded in its center.

Victor glanced at it and roughly guessed the man’s intentions.

"A magical tool for sealing flames?"

The middle-aged mage turned toward him.

"At least you have some knowledge." He snorted coldly. "Since you’ve already seen a genuine high tier natural flame, you should understand that this isn’t something a First Tier brat like you can touch."

"Oh?"

Victor glanced at the container in his hand.

"So you’re planning to put it inside that box?"

"Naturally."

The mage made no attempt to conceal his intentions.

"This container was specifically designed to seal special flame seeds. As long as I suppress the outer flames first, there’s a chance I can collect the origin inside."

Victor did not argue further. Instead, he voluntarily stepped several paces to the side.

"Then be my guest."

The middle-aged mage had been preparing to threaten him again, but seeing this, he could not help frowning.

Why was this brat suddenly being so cooperative?

Nevertheless, the treasure before him was far too tempting, and he had no desire to waste any more time arguing.

"You two, guard the entrance."

The mage instructed his companions.

"Without my orders, no one is allowed to approach."

"Understood!"

The two swordsmen immediately spread out to take their positions.

Meanwhile, the middle-aged mage approached the edge of the magma pool and slowly raised the reddish-copper container.

As mana flowed into it, the flame runes on its surface gradually lit up.

Circles of crimson light spread outward, eventually forming three intersecting rings of fire above the magma pool.

HUM!

The three rings slowly began contracting.

The Earth Vein Golden Flame at the center of the cavern also underwent a change.

The golden flames that had originally been spreading outward suddenly moved toward one of the rings, as though responding to some special energy attraction.

"It’s working!" The middle-aged mage was overjoyed.

He increased his mana output, attempting to use the rings to restrict the Earth Vein Golden Flame’s movements.

But in the very next moment...something unexpected happened!