Chapter 1072. Unexpected Encounter In The Magma Cave.

Having fallen into this new area, the girls started looking at their surroundings with eyes full of wonder. This location was a fiery counterpart to a lush forest. The vegetation you could spot was seemingly made out of basalt and constantly spewing fire, making tree canopies and other types of flora and fauna. Meanwhile, a river full of searing magma continually flowed at speeds far above what you would expect the dense material to move. 

Yasenia flew over the landscape, her gargantuan wings creating a massive shadow on the terrain wherever she passed. "Darling, can you tell me in which direction I should fly?"

Andrea answered right away. She had been sensing the direction during this time, and just as Yasenia asked, she caught the feeling coming from it. "Love, turn around. We are getting further away from it."

"Understood~." 

Yasenia tilted her body, her body making a one-eighty and changing directions. Her wings flapped slowly, moving the air and energy underneath and creating incredible lift and thrust. 

As she flew over the landscape, the rest of the girls started planning on how to traverse this place once they landed. Evelyn spoke, her tone somewhat heavy as the heat started affecting her. "So hot!" Evelyn fanned her face as she felt her clothes getting stuck to her body from how sweaty she was. Kali asked. "Do we take the pills already? We managed to explore deeper in the other site before we took the pills."

Evelyn shook her head, smiling faintly. "If it is for me, don't bother. It's hot but bearable. It's just that taking in this hot air is so bothersome."

Cecile looked at Evelyn and blurted. "Then, stop breathing."

"..." The blunt words that sounded quite wrong made Evelyn evaluate if she had offended Cecile in any kind of way lately. However, when looking at the Moon Phoenix Woman, Evelyn saw that her chest was completely still. Evelyn realized and asked, curious. "Oh… do you mean it literally?"

Cecile tilted her head. "How else would I mean it?" Cecile added. "If you don't breathe this hot air in, you can avoid your body temperature rising that fast."

Evelyn crossed her arms and nodded. Then, she asked, thoughtful. "Are you using energy to cool down the air when you take air in to speak?"

Cecile nodded, her cold and indifferent voice pleasantly reaching Evelyn. "That's right."

Hearing their exchange, many of them started doing the same, and they managed to feel some relief. Even then, the temperatures were extreme and constantly increasing as they flew deeper into the cave system.

Angel, sitting on Yasenia's head, asked with a surprised tone. "How far does this area go…? We've been flying for a few minutes already." 

Yasenia commented, squinting as she looked into the distance. "I can't really see the other side… I guess that this place is like an underground continent. It must spread across the entirety of the underground of the volcanic area."

"Wow~." Angel smiled excitedly. "Do you think we can discover indigenous people to this land?"

"Indigenous people…?" Yasenia frowned. "That should be impossible, right? Newborn children would instantly be vaporized with the amount of heat that there is underground."

Woosh!

BANG!

Yasenia squinted as a massive fireball struck her side, creating a large explosion. However, the strength was not that high, failing even to hurt her. 'Hm? I failed to sense the incoming attack…'

Angel asked, anxious. "Are you okay, Yasenia?"

"I am okay, but…" Yasenia slightly turned her body, looking toward the location from which the attack came. "I was wrong, Baby."

"Wrong~?" Angel puffed her cheeks. "You are never wrong!"

Yasenia laughed gently and tilted her body even more as she looked toward where she started circling. "Look down there, Baby."

Looking over, Angel was stunned to find a small village. The people there were all pointing their weapons at them, many having terrified faces. "Oh! People!"

Meanwhile, on the ground, the people were more than scared. At first, they saw a giant creature flying in their direction. So, thinking that they were going to be attacked, they sent a powerful attack in its direction.

Sadly for them, the attack did nothing else but catch the attention of the enormous dragon. Then, the creature that could practically hide the cave ceiling with her wingspan's tremendous size began circling around their town, looking at them with a pair of profound golden draconic eyes.

"V-Village head! What do we do now!?"

A male warrior asked an elderly man. The elderly man looked up, and seeing the majestic creature, he shook his head with a sigh. "We will receive punishment… We should've never provoked such a being."

Tatyana suggested. "Little Treasure, how about we ask them about the trial place? We might get hints to reach the location."

The dragoness hummed and asked the rest. "What do you think? Do we continue our blind search with the figurine, or do we ask them?"

Kali looked at Andrea, who was looking down with surprise in her eyes, and she smiled. "I think that we should make a stop. If we find nothing, we fly away. But if we do, it would be worth the stay."

Andrea saw Kali's smirk, and she coughed. "Don't look at me like that." 

The Fox's tails waved gently as she laughed. "Well, I don't blame you. I am as surprised as you are."

The dragoness descended from the sky and landed in front of the village. Her body was like a massive mountain, creating tremors around the place just as she landed.

Some of the fiery trees below her belly spewed flames, tickling her stomach and making Yasenia giggle. "The trees are quite tall~. Their fire plumes are tickling my belly."

The girls jumped from Yasenia's back, taking the chance as they fell down to look. Seeing the long fire plumes touching the dragoness's belly, they all laughed. Evelyn commented with a laugh. "It looks as if you are being cooked, Yasenia."

The dragoness snorted. "If anything, I would be the one cooking them! My flame is hotter than their measly fire!"

The girls finally landed on the ground amidst laughter. When they turned to look toward the villagers, they saw them kowtowed. The voice of an elderly man reached them. "We are terribly sorry for our offense, Dragon Riders! I hope that you can forgive our offense by taking only my life!"

His sudden confession came as a surprise, but the girls were slightly annoyed that someone had attacked their dragoness, so they didn't really correct them. Instead, they took this to their advantage. Andrea walked forward and spoke firmly. "While we are angry, we are not unreasonable people. Thankfully, our dragon has received no injury from your feeble attack. Still, an offense is an offense regardless of the outcome."

Andrea added firmly. "We want information in exchange for your offense. Your lives are of no use to us-."

The villagers felt a sense of hope, and they all raised their heads to look at Andrea, getting surprised themselves. '... Is this woman a descendent of our village?'

Yet, before Andrea could finish her sentence, a smiling, cold, elegant voice spread from behind her. 

"You sure?" Tatyana blinked twice as a powerful Death Energy spilled from her. "I can do something with their lives~." Tatyana grinned. "A village of people with skin tones similar to yours is quite rare, Andrea~."

The reason for Andrea's surprise was this: this village of people all had tanned skin! Due to the purifying nature of Cultivation, having a tanned skin color was extremely rare. Hence, if anyone had such a skin tone, it was due to their constitution or cultivation technique's side effects.

Andrea saw the terrified villagers and sighed. She then looked at Tatyana and commented. "Let's get the information and leave, alright? We have no reason to kill them."

Tatyana raised her eyebrow and looked at Andrea with her profound red eyes. "But they attacked Little Treasure. They should die, no?"

Andrea raised her eyebrow. "Then, Fylia should've died as well."

Fylia got shot while lying down, making the poor Spirit Moon Qilin want to lament. 'Why did this time's group have to be these people?'

Cecile looked at Fylia and patted her snout. "There, there. She is just joking around."

'... Somehow, this feels quite nice.' Fylia paused and came to an extreme realization. 'Am I being domesticated!?'

Andrea looked at the group of villagers and took out the figurine. "I am here to find the origin of this figurine. Do any of you have any idea of what this is?"

The second she took out the figurine, the Village Head shouted in reverence. "Oh! A [Sun God Figurine]!"

The girls paused and looked at the Village Elder with interest. Andrea smiled faintly, but she recovered her serious expression quite quickly. "We want to know where this item leads us. If you can guide us there, we will spare you from your offense."

The Village Head became thoughtful. What Andrea was asking was quite difficult since, even if they guided them, returning would be a problem.

However, as he pondered, a young man stood up and walked forward, going down to one knee. "Dragon Riders! I am Fulo, the Son of the Village Head. I know the way to the Sun God Altar, where you can take the trial. As long as you leave our village alone, I promise to guide you there!"

The Village Head's face changed, becoming full of shock. He stood up quickly, not wanting to let his only son take such a dangerous journey. "Fulo! Why did you suggest that!? I refuse! If anyone needs to go, it is I, your father! You are young and the future leader of our Village. You are too precious!".

Our girls saw the two men start discussing, and they didn't interrupt for a while, learning plenty of things from their exchange. 

For starters, this village could live here because a formation needed blood of a certain lineage every century. The formation protected their homes from the extreme heat, allowing children to be born and eventually develop immunity to the environment.

Lately, the formation was more of a beast-repelling formation since they've evolved to be unbothered by the Deadly Magma Cave's extreme heat. 

Having understood the situation, Andrea commented with a serious tone. "Fulo will follow us in our journey. I won't accept anyone else with this burden."

The Village Head's face paled. 

This decision surprised Yasenia more than anyone else. Usually, her darling was quite righteous, and she would try to be forgiving to people without crossing certain lines. Yet, this time around, she actually chose this option. 'Why did you choose him, darling?'

Andrea answered softly. 'While I pity them, I can't bet our future on that old man. He is too apathetic to his own life, and if we carry him, he might trick us and guide us to a trap. His son, on the other side, is very optimistic and forward. The chances of a betrayal are much slimmer with him guiding us.'

Yasenia's eyes glittered, and her tail started wagging, destroying a large part of the fiery forest behind her.