Chapter 50 – Burning Heaven Ablaze

“A party trick! How dare you pull such a thing in front of me? Long Chen, it’s fake!”

Without Ling Xi, the sudden change would have likely scared Long Chen. The Moon Devouring Wolf had traumatized him greatly after all. But now that he knew it was just the small Purple Illusory Rat, he ignored the wolf he was seeing and lunged forward!

When the Purple Illusory Rat saw that Long Chen wasn’t even afraid of the Moon Devouring Wolf, it ran off with its tail between its legs. It had only taken a few strides before it returned to its original form, its fat bottom swaying in front of Long Chen as it ran. If Ling Xi hadn’t told Long Chen to follow from afar, he would’ve caught up and kicked the rodent in a breath’s time.

Now that they had the Purple Illusory Rat leading them, in just about fifteen minutes, Ling Xi cried excitedly, “Long Chen, Long Chen! I can feel it! It’s a strong smell! There are a lot of Dream Lingzhi Mushrooms ahead!”

Long Chen observed his surroundings as he chased after the Purple Illusory Rat. The black valley was slowly changing color.

Whatever, the changes in the valley are none of my business as long as I find the Dream Lingzhi Mushroom!

Ling Xi suddenly gasped and Long Chen looked up. There was a small depression in front of him that looked like a crater made by an asteroid. The rat had slipped into the crater!

Most importantly, there was a strong medicinal fragrance from the deepest part of the crater that almost knocked Long Chen over. He squinted and saw that it was full of Dream Lingzhi Mushrooms that formed a sea of purple. There had to be more than a hundred mushrooms growing there.

If Long Chen was knocked over by the scent, Ling Xi definitely was too. “I ... I want them. Hurry, take them!” Ling Xi stuttered with excitement when she saw so many mushrooms, imagining how much more powerful she would become.

Long Chen had only expected to find a few more mushrooms, and the sheer number of them left him in such shock that he couldn’t even move quickly. When Ling Xi reminded him anxiously, he ran like the wind towards the deepest parts of the crater!

The stalks of mushrooms made Long Chen forget about the rising temperature. The air was almost filled with firelight now. A black steel token as large as a palm was vibrating violently in the center of the mushrooms, glowing with firelight!

As he sprinted, Long Chen sensed that something was wrong. He spotted fire suddenly bursting out of the center of the mushroom patch. The flames rose angrily, spreading quickly towards the mushrooms around it and in an instant, the fire swallowed the mushrooms!

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Ling Xi paled and cried in a panic, “Long Chen, there’s something very strange at the center of the fire. It’s very destructive, run!”

But the Dream Lingzhi Mushrooms were right in front of him. Although the fire was quickly approaching, Long Chen didn’t want to leave after all the effort of getting there. He clenched his jaw. When he saw that the fire was burning brighter and about to swallow all the mushrooms, he roared and activated the Dragon Soul Transformation!

As he sprinted forward, blood-red dragon scales appeared on his body and within a breath, he transformed!

He now ran ten times faster than before.

Whoosh!

He appeared at the patch of mushrooms but in the next moment, the exploding fire swallowed him! “Long Chen!”

Within the sword, Ling Xi paled instantly.

By the time she’d cried out, Long Chen had already been swallowed by the flames. She was extremely anxious because she didn’t know how powerful the fire was.

Long Chen was now cemented deep in her heart because she knew he could have escaped but instead, he had run into the fire despite the danger just to get her the herb she needed to live!

She had never met anyone not part of her family who would sacrifice themselves like that for her. Grief washed through her, and her heart ached when she thought that Long Chen might be injured or dead.

Suddenly, she felt Long Chen move. The flames were fast, and they headed in all directions. Long Chen had just rushed in and crouched down when the flames crashed into him!

But his Dragon Soul Transformation ultimately saved him. Long Chen ran out of the fire quickly and when he finally got out, he realized that he was hurting all over despite being in his transformed state!

Thank goodness his beautiful red scales weren’t damaged. However, the tall flames behind him were still chasing after him, so he was forced to run. He shielded the mushrooms tightly with his body and arms as he ran, then stuffed them into the Universe Pouch.

“Long Chen ...”

Ling Xi felt like crying again when she saw Long Chen using his body to protect the five mushrooms he’d snatched. She felt a sense of warmth at being protected and loved like this, even though she had lost her physical body. “Hey, thank you so much ...”

“Whatever. If you get rich next time, just remember to spoil me with your money!”

She’d thought he was adorable but his words exposed his shamelessness once more.

The fire spread in all directions behind him. By the time he escaped out of the crater, it had turned into a sea of fire. He turned to see tall flames burning fiercely and spreading like a plague!

“Ling Xi, I think I saw a steel token just now. The flames exploded from it, I think. Do you know what it is?”

Long Chen had kept the mushrooms safe. Based on Ling Xi’s consumption rate, five mushrooms could last her a while. At least, she wasn’t on the brink of death and he could focus on other matters.

However, he was still extremely reluctant to leave when he thought about the hundred mushrooms he’d seen.

If he had run faster, he would’ve gotten more! “I sensed a powerful Yang energy from that part of the crater too. It’s very powerful to you, at least. But I couldn’t see clearly because of the chaos just now ...”

Ling Xi was also disappointed when she thought about the vast number of mushrooms. If she got all of them, her soul would probably stabilize enough to return to her strength level at the moment of losing her body.

Long Chen had run a long way by now so he could afford to turn to look. He saw the sea of fire spreading across the entire Burning Heaven Valley. Countless demonic beasts were escaping from the fire. It was a gruesome scene. “I wonder what that steel token is to cause such a powerful fire. If this continues, the entire Burning Heaven Valley is going to be filled with fire. Then the flames will literally burn the heavens!”

He had only stopped to turn and look for a few moments but the fire was about to catch up soon. Since he had gotten the Dream Lingzhi Mushrooms, there was no need to stay any longer.

That steel token is obviously a piece of treasure. If only I could control it, I’m sure it’ll be extremely useful. It’s a pity that the fire’s so strong and has already covered a five-kilometer radius. If the fire continues to intensify, the whole Burning Heaven Valley will be on fire and I won’t get the steel token. It’ll just be a waste of time.

Long Chen finally gave up on getting the token. He was frustrated because he should’ve gotten a lot more mushrooms but his plans had been foiled by a steel token that he also couldn’t get.

As they were leaving, Ling Xi suddenly called out, “Look, the fire’s retreating!” Long Chen turned and saw that the sky-high flames were starting to retreat. “We still have some time. Long Chen, why don’t you go check it out? We might even find out what the steel token is.”

Ling Xi said exactly what was Long Chen’s mind. There was still enough time to rush back to the Yang family, so he was not in a hurry and returned to the site.

The sea of fire had shrunk into the crater. Long Chen remained hidden as he headed towards the place where he found the Dream Lingzhi Mushrooms.

The sea of fire had spread over the course of approximately half an hour; it took the same amount of time to shrink too and quickly returned to the location where Long Chen had been. He was extremely anxious.

“Quick, hide. The two men from before are here too.”

Long Chen was still in his transformed state. He knew whom Ling Xi was referring to. How could Chen Xiongzhou and Feng Mingyang not notice such a huge commotion?

They were in Burning Heaven Valley for treasure, and when the sea of fire appeared, they knew it was there.

Long Chen still didn’t know if the steel token was dangerous. Now that he had two people to be his lab rats, Long Chen was very pleased. If it turned out to be a real treasure, he would not hesitate to steal it from them.

By the time the fire shrank, they all were already at the edge of the crater. Although Long Chen had noticed them, they hadn’t noticed Long Chen. When the fire completely disappeared, the two rushed into the crater immediately!

Long Chen peeked a little and was surprised to see Chen Xiongzhou and Feng Mingyang fighting viciously. Both of them glared at the other with a violent look in their eyes, as if they were willing to kill each other.

Long Chen froze, thinking how the two of them called each other brothers. “Is this treasure that valuable? If Bai Sheng could harm the Yang patriarch, then these two brothers can kill each other over a treasure ...”