Chapter 126 - 101: Visiting Members and the Red Flame Realm

Chapter 126: Chapter 101: Visiting Members and the Red Flame Realm

However, the Molten Lava Lake was a Holy Land of the Iliet. Outsiders approaching without permission could trigger conflicts. It was necessary to establish a trusting relationship with the Yilit Tribe first.

The second area: deep within the Ashen Mountain Range. The mountain range was located in the central part of the Red Flame Realm and was one of the areas with the highest density of Fire Elemental Spirits.

A Third Level Apprentice once encountered a Middle Tier Fire Elemental Spirit here. After a narrow escape, he reported seeing a glowing object suspected to be a Fire Source Crystal Core in the cracks of the mountain range. However, the danger level was high, and entering alone posed a significant risk.

The third area: the Fallen Land. Legend had it that a great battle between High Tier Fire Elemental Spirits in ancient times caused many Elemental Spirits to fall here. Their Energy Cores were buried deep underground, forming a Fire Element anomaly zone that persisted to this day.

The database recorded two instances of private exploration teams of Wizard Apprentices entering. One team was forced to retreat after encountering Middle Tier Elemental Spirits, while the other lost two members due to protective equipment failure.

There were no subsequent attempts. The danger level was extremely high, and entering alone was not recommended.

The fourth area: the Volcano Crown. The highest peak in the Red Flame Realm, the crater erupted with high concentrations of Fire Elements year-round, and there was a platform at the summit.

According to internal legends among the Iliet, the "Heart of Fire" of the Red Flame Realm slumbered deep within the crater. However, no outsider had ever confirmed this, and the danger level remained unknown.

Chen Shang noted the four coordinates on his Crystal Plate and marked out a route on the map in order of lowest to highest risk.

The optimal plan was to first head to the Yilit Tribe at the Molten Lava Lake to obtain clues about the Fire Source Crystal Core through communication and trade.

If that yielded no results, he would venture deeper into the outskirts of the Ashen Mountain Range and attempt to harvest one without alarming any High Tier individuals.

The Fallen Land and the Volcano Crown would serve as final options, requiring further preparation.

Just as he put away the Crystal Plate, the Golden Crow flew in from outside. It flapped its wings frantically, its voice carrying an irrepressible excitement.

"Boss! Boss! You made it into the Truth Daily!"

Chen Shang was taken aback. The Truth Daily was one of the most authoritative newspapers in the Wizard World, officially published by the Pan-Wizard Alliance. It daily featured Alliance news, academic developments, major Plane events, and more.

What qualifications did he have to be in the newspaper?

The Golden Crow pulled out a Crystal Plate from its beak. Displayed on the screen was a digital edition of the Truth Daily, and the Golden Crow had already scrolled to the Seventy-Third District section.

Chen Shang took it and scanned from top to bottom. Academic developments, laboratory news, membership changes... He scrolled for quite a while before finally finding a small line of text at the very bottom of the page.

"Second Level Apprentice Chen Shang of Starfall Laboratory recently became a visiting member of the Elemental Storm Association."

Just that single line, with no photo or introduction, looking as though it were a routine copy-paste—yet the Golden Crow was extremely thrilled. "Boss, this is the Truth Daily! The entire Wizard World can see it! You’re someone who’s made the newspaper now!"

Chen Shang shook his head. "Not the entire Wizard World. At most, the Seventy-Third District will pay attention. I just rode on the coattails of the Elemental Storm."

He knew very well that making the newspaper was purely because a super-faction like the Elemental Storm had included it as a matter of routine.

The Golden Crow didn’t care at all, hugging the Crystal Plate to its chest. "That still means the Elemental Storm has acknowledged you. At the very least, it shows that you’re quite outstanding among Second Level Apprentices."

Chen Shang waved his hand, dismissing the excited Golden Crow, while he pondered another matter.

The Seventy-Third District section of the Truth Daily corresponded to the coverage area of World No. 73 among the 108 worlds guarding the Truth Continent.

The seventy-third branch of the Elemental Storm Association was established based on this number. Star Fall was also one of the nearby Plane Academies, and there were dozens of Plane Laboratories and academies scattered around this area.

Additionally, the Red Flame Realm was one of the Planes under the jurisdiction of Elemental City No. 73, so the Iliet should also be subscribed to the Truth Daily.

Even if they weren’t directly subscribed, the stationed personnel of the Elemental Storm Association would regularly translate the regional news into the common tongue and pass it on to allied races through trade channels.

That meant if he went to the Yilit Tribe at the Molten Lava Lake to negotiate a trade, they might already know he was a "visiting member certified by the Elemental Storm."

Although it wasn’t a particularly remarkable status, it carried more weight than just being "a Second Level Apprentice," which might increase the success rate of his operation.

Thinking of this, Chen Shang subconsciously glanced at today’s front-page headline.

"Ninth Level Great Wizard Visari of the Blood and Flesh Abyss Organization turns himself in to the Pan-Wizard Alliance."

Huh?

Chen Shang’s eyes widened instantly. He carefully read the entire report, then let out a long breath.

It turned out that this Great Wizard had initiated a small project focused on the Concept Level Weapon, the Genetic Weapon.

Deviating from the norm, he didn’t mess around with genetic attacks. Instead, he believed that genes were consultation letters written by living beings to the universe.

In these letters, every species asked the Endless Star Sea an ultimate question: "How should I survive?"

And the natural environment of the Endless Star Sea was the recipient that constantly wrote back.

Based on this principle, he selected a few test subjects in a Spiritual Civilization and conducted experiments on them.

He didn’t unleash any viruses or destroy any Life Information. Rather, deep within the genes of these test subjects, he implanted a question.

This question was: "How can we evolve into an absolutely unified collective lifeform while preserving individual consciousness?"

Then things spiraled out of control. Even though it was only supposed to be a small portion of test subjects, the entire civilization seemed to undergo co-evolution. All individuals developed this question within their genes.

Thus, that civilization went "mad."

The entire civilization began to frantically reorganize itself. They attempted to fuse, attempted to share consciousness, and attempted to use a single physical body to bear billions of Souls.