Chapter 322 - Inferno Crater

Her dismissive answer only fueled Seraphina's curiosity, her mind racing. Who is this Panda, really? She's so mysterious, even though she claims to be from the Cloud Continent. A skillful alchemist wielding fire concepts, with that radar that uncovers resources effortlessly, and now a spatial communication device requiring rare spatial stones for long-distance communication. If I could have those… Greed swelled within her, her fingers twitching as she imagined possessing Anda's treasures.

But in the next moment, she froze. Anda's gaze locked onto her, chilling and piercing, as if she could snuff out Seraphina's existence with a thought. It was as though Anda had peeled back her mind, exposing every greedy impulse. Seraphina's skin prickled with goosebumps, her breath catching, feeling utterly naked under that stare.

"Seraphina, this is your last chance," Anda said, her voice lower than usual, devoid of her customary warmth, her usual mischievous smile gone, replaced by a stern, unyielding expression.

Seraphina's body shivered with dread, chills racing through her. "Yes, Big Madam! Forgive me! I won't do it again! I swear!" she pleaded, her voice trembling, panic seizing her. Fear overwhelmed her so completely that she felt a faint warmth of shame—she'd peed herself a little, her noble pride crumbling under Anda's terrifying presence.

The other ladies were completely confused about what had just happened. Seraphina must have done something unpleasant again. Only Cempaka still had the same blank expression.

Anda nodded, and her smile returned. "In life, there are certain lines you shouldn't cross because once you do… tragedy will befall."

Anda decided that if Seraphina still harbored such greedy thoughts, she would eliminate her. She sighed inwardly, thinking she had become a little soft. In the past, she would have already abandoned people like this at the least or eliminated them right away. No need to bring such a problem along.

Seraphina nodded vigorously without saying anything, still scared.

Moving on, Anda raised her hand with a flourish, summoning a large celestial cloud beside her. Vast enough for the group to lounge comfortably, it was a fusion of multiple clouds, woven into a single, majestic platform.

"Alright. This will be our transportation for this trip. A special cloud that can bypass the flying restriction," she announced, her tone brimming with pride.

Anda hopped onto the cloud, pouring her Qi into it. The celestial cloud flared with a reddish-orange glow, resonating with her fire elemental Qi, its edges flickered faintly, as if alive with tiny flames. The celestial cloud floated higher, casting a soft radiance over the clearing. Tamina and Lilian, familiar with the cloud from their time on Lapin's sky island, showed no surprise, their expressions calm. But Seraphina and Viola gaped, eyes wide with awe. Cempaka's blank face shifted subtly, her mouth opening slightly—a rare reaction for her.

"What a beautiful cloud…" Viola murmured, her voice soft with admiration. Initially unremarkable, the cloud transformed with Qi, its swirls and outlines becoming vivid, glowing with an ethereal beauty that seemed to dance in the sunlight.

Seraphina, with her jaw still dropped, noticed her greed swelling again, but her fear of Anda quickly overpowered it. She mentally beat the greed down and tossed it away. After all, she wasn't completely stupid. Anda definitely had a unique ability to read her mind or something similar.

But still, if she had a treasure like this all this time, why didn't she bring it out earlier? My legs hurt from all the walking, Seraphina complained inwardly.

"Okay, ladies, hop on. I'll show you how to maneuver the cloud first, and later everyone will take a turn steering. Ah, right, Sera, make sure to change into clean underwear first," Anda said mischievously.

The other ladies immediately stared at Seraphina strangely.

Damn panda! It's your fault to begin with! Seraphina cursed inwardly and quickly ran off to somewhere private to clean herself.

And so, the Mystic Pandaplorer team boarded the celestial cloud, departing for the isolated island.

---

In the land of inferno, somewhere within the Titanis Continent, a vast and desolate crater sprawled across several kilometers, its jagged edges and scorched earth hinting at a cataclysmic impact from outer space long ago. The crater's heart pulsed with an endless blaze, flames towering high, their crimson and orange tongues licking the sky, casting an eerie glow that painted the surroundings in hues of molten fury.

The fire was unnatural, never flickering or waning, as if fueled by an otherworldly source buried deep within the earth. The ground around the crater was cracked and blackened, radiating intense heat that warped the air, creating shimmering mirages that danced in the distance. The atmosphere was thick with the acrid scent of burning stone and sulfur, oppressive and suffocating, with waves of heat rolling outward, making every breath feel like inhaling embers.

The sky above was choked with dark, swirling clouds of ash, blotting out the sun, leaving only the inferno's glow to illuminate the hellish landscape. No life stirred here. No plants, no creatures. Only the relentless roar of the flames and the occasional crackle of splitting rock.

At the outskirts of this raging inferno, a man in an outfit exuding royalty paced restlessly. His deep navy coat, adorned with intricate gold embroidery along the sleeves and chest, shimmered faintly under the firelight, though its luster was dulled by ash and soot.

"Arrghh! It's so hot!" The man was Crown Prince Dastan. Even with a cooling spirit artifact, the heat still reached him.

"What's taking this guy so long? This prince has been waiting here for three days already. Could something have happened to him? Did his fire immunity ability run out of fuel, burning him to death? Ahem… don't be mistaken… this prince isn't worried about that country bumpkin or anything. This prince just doesn't want to lose his escort. He promised to bring this prince to the Royal Guard, after all."

Crown Prince Dastan was talking to himself.

"It's been a year, and we still haven't seen anyone else, probably because of him. After all, we took a long detour to search for his Fire Essence Beads. Everyone else must have gotten close to that tree or even reached it. This prince is sick and tired of visiting all these hot places. How many volcanoes have we explored? This prince has so many Special Fires now, and this prince isn't even an alchemist! Sigh, look at my skin. This prince is so tanned now, looking like a grilled crown prince."

Crown Prince Dastan continued complaining to himself.

BOOOOOM!

Suddenly, A deafening explosion erupted from the crater's heart, the towering inferno surging higher, crimson and gold flames clawing at the reddened sky. A ferocious gust blasted outward, scattering embers and ash, the ground trembling under the shockwave.

"WHAT THE HECK!" Crown Prince Dastan fell on his butt, shocked by the sudden explosion.

"What's going on? Dammit, Leyvi! Where are you?" Dastan shouted, panic seizing him. Torn between fleeing or waiting, he glanced nervously at the raging flames.

"Ruuuunnnnnn!" A voice bellowed from above.

"Huh?" Dastan looked up, squinting through the haze. A human-shaped mass of rock plummeted toward him, hurtling like a meteor. "Fuck! Leyvi!" he cursed, instantly recognizing his companion.

BOOM!

Leyvi crashed to the ground near Crown Prince Dastan, leaving a small crater. The volcanic rocks covering his body crumbled, revealing him.

The hardened volcanic rocks that covered Leyvi's body, providing great defense, were part of the Great Eruption Martial Skill. Leyvi had successfully learned it while visiting many volcanoes over the past year. The perfect environment accelerated the Qi combination to a great degree.

However, Leyvi was still far from fully mastering the martial skill. He could only conjure armor around himself for now. Still, this had already helped him a great deal.

"Ouch! Ouch! My back hurts! That thing is so strong. Dastan! Crown Rider, now!" Leyvi groaned, wincing as he staggered to his feet, his body radiating heat.

Crown Prince Dastan immediately summoned the Crown Rider and rode it.

"Come! Hop on!" he shouted.

Situations like this weren't new. Over the past year, their explorations had provoked a lot of demonic beasts and monsters, and Dastan had become Leyvi's trusty getaway driver.

Without wasting time, Leyvi hopped onto the back seat, his right hand landing on Crown Prince Dastan's shoulder.

"Arrghh! Dammit, Leyvi! Your body is still hot! Don't touch this prince!" he yelped.

"Hahaha! Sorry, sorry! Move now, Dastan. That thing is terrifying."

"What is it this time? What monster did you provoke?" Crown Prince Dastan asked while accelerating the Crown Rider.

"I'm not sure either. It's a huge burning rock. I met rock monsters when I first arrived. They were made of many rocks combined together. This one has many combined rocks too, but it has a single black rock in the middle that's burning the hottest. That's probably the meteoric rock that crashed here long ago," Leyvi described.

While conversing, Leyvi kept his attention on the situation behind him. His spiritual sense aimed at the crater in case the fiery rock monster decided to chase them, which Leyvi certainly hoped it wouldn't.

"Hmm… doesn't seem like it'll chase us. Maybe it doesn't want to leave the crater." Leyvi muttered, his voice barely audible over the wind, a flicker of relief easing his tense shoulders.

Suddenly, the raging flames parted, and a massive flaming rock hurtled toward them like a meteor.

"Shit!"