Chapter 242 - Refining the Lotus Seed

It really is the Fire Celestial Lotus.

Mu Chen’s eyes were blazing as he stared at the rainbow-coloured lotus submerged in the magma lake. Joy had settled within him as his plan bore fruit, as expected. The Fire Spiritual Energy around here was so strong that it could support many Fire Spirit Lotuses at once, so there simply had to be one that’d managed to evolve. The only difference in his plans was that the treasure hadn’t been floating on the surface; instead, it’d been hidden deep in the magma.

The magma was boiling so hot that it could melt metal. Even Heavenly Transform Stage experts wouldn’t dare to dive into it. If the Nine Netherflames hadn’t been protecting Mu Chen’s body, then he wouldn’t have been able to obtain the Fire Celestial Lotus, even if he knew where it’d been hidden. The only thing he could’ve done was sigh and leave with depressed spirits.

Mu Chen licked his lips as he continued his pace towards the Fire Celestial Lotus.

But, the moment before Mu Chen reached the Fire Celestial Lotus, he sensed a sudden ripple through the magma. A scarlet light pierced through the lake and was headed towards him at a startling speed.

Mu Chen was temporarily caught off guard by the sudden attack, but he still managed to shroud his body within the Nine-layered Pagoda with a wave of his hand.

Claaaang!

The scarlet light collided with the Nine-layered Pagoda, causing it to shake violently. The dark light flickered, then rapidly faded away, before re-entering Mu Chen’s body.

“Pffffff.”

Mu Chen’s face turned pale as the Nine-Layered Pagoda dulled and returned to him as he spat out a mouthful of blood. His eyes glazed over in shock as he barely managed to turn his head towards the right.

A scarlet snake slithered through the magma. It was covered in scarlet scales and had flaming horns. Other than that, it didn’t look to be all that powerful. The only thing that was unique about it was the fact that its horns were burning with dark-gold flames and flowed with fiery-red magma.

In fact, this scarlet snake was actually far smaller than the Flame-Eating Pythons that Mu Chen had seen from the surface. However, the strength that flowed from this one was far greater. Mu Chen felt much more power emanating from it than from even that grey-clothed elder.

Is this the King Flame-Eating Python?! Mu Chen felt a jolt in his heart and tasted something bitter on his tongue as he looked upon the smaller scarlet serpent. How could he have forgotten that? The Fire Celestial Lotus was such a rare treasure — how could it not have a guardian Spiritual Beast? The ordinary Fire Spirit Lotuses floating above him were already enough to attract all those regular Flame-Eaters; so, of course, the higher grade Fire Celestial Lotus would have something guarding it.

Based on the way this particular Flame-Eater was acting, Mu Chen guessed that it was as strong as a Heavenly Transform Stage Middle Phase expert. He also had to take into account the fact that they were currently inside the magma. Forget about Mu Chen, even Su Xuan wouldn’t be able to win in this situation.

“Hissss. Hiss.”

The King Flame-Eater savagely stared down at Mu Chen with its triangularly arranged pupils. Given that it was so powerful, of course it’d developed a decent amount of intelligence over time. It looked at Mu Chen with the mocking expression of a cat watching a mouse. It knew its own strength — it also knew that this little human would certainly become food in its mouth, sooner or later.

Mu Chen didn’t even twitch as he looked at the Fire Celestial Lotus right before his eyes, then back at the King Flame-Eater that was still eyeing him like a predator watching its prey. He decisively grounded his teeth and retreated.

At his current level, there was no way Mu Chen could deal with that King Flame-Eater. If he loitered around there any longer, he’d definitely lose his life.

Shhhhhu!

The moment Mu Chen moved, something primal flashed through the eyes of the King Flame-Eater. With a twitch of its tail, a frightening Spiritual Energy swept out. Mu Chen sensed the magma around him bear down even harder than before, slowing him down, little by little, until he came to a full stop.

The King Flame-Eater could actually control the magma with such precision.

Cold sweat beaded on Mu Chen’s forehead as the Nine Netherflame continued to protect his body from within. He slowly raised his eyes to see the King Flame-Eater tearing through the magma towards him like a scarlet ray of light.

“Damn it!”

Mu Chen’s expression changed and his Spiritual Energy surged as he prepared to meet the threat.

But right before Mu Chen could act, something jolted him from within his body. A clear and resonant cry sounded from him.

“Liiii!”

The pride, honor, and power carried in that cry were as clear as day.

The King Flame-Eater immediately braked on its charge as the cunning pupils were overwhelmed with shock and despair. It looked as if it’d seen something truly terrifying.

Rustle!

The King Flame-Eater twisted its body, turned, and fled.

Boom!

As it turned to flee, a surge of black flames poured from Mu Chen’s body and took the shape of a dark bird. The bird’s eyes were stone-cold as they stared at the retreating figure of the King Flame-Eater. When it opened its beak, a stream of black flames poured out and raced through the magma, enveloping the King Flame-Eater.

“Chiii! Chii!”

The King Flame-Eater desperately struggled against the attack as it wailed mournfully.

The dark bird blazed and ignored the cries of the serpent. Then, it opened its beak again and inhaled. The black flame-shrouded snake writhed as it turned into a streak of dark light and was devoured.

Mu Chen watched with a dumbfounded expression. Then, he looked towards the slender black bird. Nine Netherbird?

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The bird that burned with black flames casually turned to Mu Chen. That expression. Who else could it be, if not the Nine Netherbird?

“So, you can leave my body now?” Mu Chen said with a little shock. It looked like the Nine Nther Bird had regained quite a bit of strength.

“This is only a form created with Spiritual Energy.”

The Nine Netherbird’s voice resounded deep inside Mu Chen’s heart. Then, it stretched its wings and looked at Mu Chen. “I don’t want to die just because I associated with you.”

Mu Chen shrugged and smiled. Thanks to the Bloodline Bond between them, if he’d died from the King Flame-Eater, then the Nine Netherbird would’ve also died with him.

The Spiritual Energy image of the Nine Netherbird suddenly flapped its wings and a black flame spurted towards Mu Chen, “It looks like something that the King Flame-Eater ate hasn’t been fully digested.”

As Mu Chen observed the lump of black flames with wide eyes, the flames dispersed and revealed a palm-sized medal that looked like it’d been forged in silver. The surface of the silver medal flickered with a strange aura and had been engraved with the image of a soaring white dragon.

What’s this? Mu Chen was astonished. He examined the medal and its carving of the dragon, but didn’t sense anything off about it. He frowned as he muttered to himself and stowed it away.

Based on the design of the white dragon, this should’ve been something left behind by the White Dragon Sovereign. But why was it inside the King Flame-Eater?

Mu Chen had no idea how to use the silver medal, so he stowed it away and looked back towards the Fire Celestial Lotus. This time, he swam over without meeting any obstacles and gingerly landed on the petals of the rainbow-coloured lotus.

At the center of the lotus surged a strand of pure Fire Spiritual Energy. And inside this strand floated a rainbow-coloured lotus seed the size of an infant’s fist.

Over time, this rainbow-coloured lotus seed had slowly turned glossy as it gathered the Fire Spiritual Energy in the area. Even now, it constantly emanated an extremely pure fire-attributed Spiritual Energy.

“You can have the Fire Celestial Lotus seed. Once you eat it, give the rest of the flower to me.” The Nine Netherbird swept an eye over the Fire Celestial Lotus and a look of satisfaction filled its eyes. Treasures like these — brimming with rich Fire Spiritual Energy — were exactly what it needed the most.

Mu Chen had no objections to the Nine Netherbird’s request. The lotus seed was where the purest Spiritual Energy had gathered. The flower itself was also quite extraordinary, but the Spiritual Energy there was much more wild. Mu Chen would have to spend much more time and energy absorbing the flower — luxuries that he couldn’t afford at the moment. He might as well hand it over to the Nine Netherbird.

“Refine it quickly. The Fire Celestial Lotus can counter the flame miasma. On top of that, cultivating with it here will greatly benefit the way you absorb the Spiritual Energy inside the lotus seed. You must take the opportunity, before my Spiritual Energy body disperses. I can still guard you, for now, but you must not waste time.” The black flames surged around the Nine Nether bird, then died down as it rapidly shrank to fit in a palm and landed on the lotus flower.

Mu Chen nodded and didn’t delay. He took two steps forward and plucked the multicolored lotus-shaped seed floating between the petals.

Onom. Onom.

The moment Mu Chen touched the lotus seed, the Fire Spiritual Energy around him began to churn chaotically. Several surges swept towards Mu Chen, but were absorbed as he circulated the Great Pagoda Art.

Mu Chen quickly unfolded his palm to see the glowing seed. A burning sensation was spreading through his palm, although it was pleasantly warm. When Mu Chen first dived into the magma lake, some of the flame miasma had managed to penetrate the Nine Nether Flame’s defenses and invaded his body. It had now been dispelled.

“Good stuff.”

Mu Chen exclaimed in admiration as he sat down on top of the lotus flower and pacified the ripples of Spiritual Energy within his body. He placed one palm on top of the seed and one below, then pulled; the suction from his palms caused the seed to explode with a dazzlingly scarlet light that was as intense as the burning sun.

An extremely pure scarlet Spiritual Energy rushed out from the lotus seed and bathed Mu Chen in a scarlet light. It poured into Mu Chen through his mouth, nose, and even his pores.

Mu Chen’s skin turned scarlet red and the Spiritual Energy within his body boiled vigorously and blazed with astonishing energy!