Chapter 81: Change of Events

"Green Lotus Core Flame!"

Yao Lao's voice, filled with both surprise and joy, suddenly echoed in Xiao Bai's mind.

Xiao Bai raised his eyes and saw a pure green glow suddenly appear within the azure magma ahead.

As they drew closer, he could make out a faintly discernible green lotus standing gracefully within the glow.

"There really is a Heavenly Flame here!" Hai Bodong was astonished as he watched the scene unfold. It was his first time seeing a naturally formed Heavenly Flame.

"Hiss!"

Just as the group was about to step into the green space, the Fire Spirit Serpent let out a sharp hiss. Its rhomboid pupils reflected traces of fear as it gazed at the lotus.

Xiao Bai waved his hand, dismissing the creature. It seemed that the serpent had once coveted this Heavenly Flame but had suffered a great loss.

Licking his dry lips, Xiao Bai stepped directly into the green glow. The searing heat he expected did not come. Instead, the surrounding temperature dropped strangely.

Sweeping his gaze around, he focused on the green lotus at the center.

The lotus had eight petals, each as clear and flawless as jade, seemingly crafted by nature itself. The lotus platform had small holes emitting a faint luminescence—these must be the Earth Fire Lotus Seeds!

Then, Xiao Bai's gaze landed on the swaying green flame atop the lotus platform.

Green Lotus Core Flame—ranked nineteenth on the Heavenly Flame list. Born deep underground, it underwent countless cycles of tempering, fusion, compression, and refinement by the Earth's flames. It took ten years to gain spirit, a hundred years to take form, and a thousand years to fully mature. Once fully formed, it took on a green hue, with a cluster of azure flames at its heart. Its power was unfathomable—when near volcanic regions, it could even trigger eruptions!

As Xiao Bai admired the lotus, an unusual movement stirred within him, similar to the sensation he had felt when facing the heavenly thunder before.

He wasn't sure what Xiao Yi and the others intended to do, but unlike the last time in the Demonic Beast Mountain Range, the situation here wasn't as dangerous. So, he relaxed his mind.

With no resistance from him, the three little creatures darted out, circling around him excitedly.

"W-What are those?" Hai Bodong was even more shocked by the three-colored thunder orbs than he had been by the Heavenly Flame.

He recognized the crimson thunder, but he hadn't expected there to be two others.

"Wood, fire... earth... Xiao Bai, could it be that you possess all five elements?" Yao Lao was astonished as he looked at Xiao Yi and the others. He was familiar with the fire and wood thunder from their encounter in the Demonic Beast Mountain Range.

"What's so strange about that? The heavens have five seasons, the earth has five directions, and humans have five extremities. In this world, who doesn't have all five elements?" Xiao Bai replied calmly to Yao Lao.

Then, he turned to Hai Bodong and said, "No need to be surprised. They're just some little creatures I've raised."

By now, Xiao Bai was no longer concerned about exposing these thunder entities. As his strength grew, he would inevitably have to use them in battle. Keeping them a secret was impossible. As long as his greatest secret, the Talisman, remained hidden, that was all that mattered.

Yao Lao was speechless. Was that even the point of his question? He wanted to know whether Xiao Bai possessed five types of thunder, but seeing how he avoided answering, Yao Lao understood that he didn't want to discuss it. So, he didn't press further.

After hovering beside Xiao Bai for a moment, Xiao Yi and the others shot toward the green flame atop the lotus platform.

Sensing the threat, the once-quiet green flame instantly erupted with a brilliant glow. Wisps of green fire mist rippled outward like waves, spreading across the space.

The three thunder entities also flared up, surging with electric light. In a flash, they appeared above the green flame.

In an instant, the entire space became a battlefield where heavenly thunder clashed with earthly fire. Yellow, red, and green lightning flickered, while green fire mist surged, intertwining in a fierce struggle.

"Xiao Bai! Hurry—hurry and withdraw your thunder!" Yao Lao shouted anxiously after observing the situation for a moment.

Damn it! This brat's thunder was actually absorbing the Green Lotus Core Flame. Yao Lao could clearly sense that the yellow thunder was absorbing its earth attribute, the crimson thunder was taking its fire attribute, and the green thunder was drawing in its wood attribute.

No wonder the brat hadn't summoned all five—he had brought just enough to match the Green Lotus Core Flame's three attributes. If this went on, it wouldn't be long before the Heavenly Flame's essence was harmed!

"No need to worry, senior. They won't be able to absorb much." Xiao Bai reassured him calmly.

He could feel it—without an ample supply of lightning attribute energy, the little ones wouldn't be able to absorb much. It was far from reaching the level of harming the Heavenly Flame's essence.

"Fine! But if they take even a sip of its essence, your Alchemist inheritance will drop by one rank. Do as you wish!" Yao Lao said irritably, clearly growing impatient with Xiao Bai's unhurried demeanor.

Xiao Bai rolled his eyes. It seemed the old man was truly anxious—he was even resorting to threats now.

"I-I can't take it anymore!" Hai Bodong suddenly shouted with difficulty before turning and dashing out of the space.

Once outside, he took a deep breath. The ice armor covering his body had been reduced to a thin layer, faint arcs of lightning still flickering on its surface. If he hadn't retreated in time, he had a feeling he might have died in there.

Looking back at Xiao Bai, who remained inside the space unfazed, he noticed that an invisible protective force seemed to surround him, preventing the fire mist from coming near. Hai Bodong couldn't help but feel envious—having strong soul power was truly an advantage!

"I need to lift my seal as soon as possible!" He realized that staying at the Dou Ling level wasn't enough when following this guy. If he were a Dou Huang, he wouldn't have ended up in such a miserable state today.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Xiao Yi and the others seemed satisfied, returning to Xiao Bai's side full of energy, while the Green Lotus Core Flame looked weak—almost as if it had been ravaged by a group of burly men.

Xiao Bai examined the little creatures, sensing that their power had increased. Nodding in satisfaction, he reabsorbed them into his body.

"Senior, look—it didn't harm its essence, did it?" Xiao Bai said with a smile.

Yao Lao let out a deep breath. Fortunately, the Heavenly Flame had only lost some of its energy and hadn't been damaged at its core.

"Brat, next time, can you at least give me a heads-up first? I almost thought—" Yao Lao stopped mid-sentence.

"Oh? Did you think I was tempted and was planning to break our agreement?" Xiao Bai raised an eyebrow, teasing him slightly.

Truthfully, he had been tempted. He had never considered that Xiao Yi and the others could absorb the Green Lotus Core Flame before. But in the end, he had abandoned the idea of taking the Heavenly Flame for himself.

First, he had already promised Yao Lao. Second, he had long planned something else for Xiao Yi and the others.

Right now, they were still weak, so it wasn't noticeable, but once all five elemental thunder seeds were gathered, if some of them became too powerful individually, would it throw his five elements out of balance? That was his concern.

After all, these thunder seeds were connected to his five internal organs. The five elements interacted through mutual generation and restriction. If one or more elements became disproportionately strong, would it negatively impact his cultivation?

The best solution would be to find a treasure that could continuously provide all five elemental energies, allowing the thunder seeds to grow together in balance.

Absorbing energy sporadically—some wood energy today, some earth energy tomorrow—was fine while they were weak, but once they grew stronger, this approach could become problematic.

As for a treasure that could provide a constant supply of the five elemental energies, Xiao Bai recalled certain items that had appeared in the Dou Qi Continent. It seemed that one Heavenly Flame could achieve this. However, his cultivation was still too low—it wasn't time yet.

"Haha… Let's go, let's go—time to collect the flame!" Yao Lao laughed awkwardly, clearly wanting to change the subject. "Listen, you can't just forcibly take the Green Lotus Core Flame—"

"Huh? You actually know how to extract the lotus platform?" Yao Lao was surprised when he saw Xiao Bai's actions. He hadn't even explained that step yet!

"Who do you take me for?" Xiao Bai cast a glance at the black ring on his finger and spoke with a faint smile.

"Heh…" Yao Lao let out a dry chuckle and rubbed his nose. Damn, I almost forgot—this brat is mysterious as hell. He's no clueless rookie like my disciple.

---

Meanwhile, in the desert, about two thousand meters from the underground passage, two groups of people were locked in a tense standoff.

"Xiao Ding, hand over the treasure you unearthed, and I'll let you leave!" a burly middle-aged man bellowed.

"Luo Bu, don't go too far! I've already told you—we were commissioned to survey the terrain, not to excavate some ancient ruins! We don't have any treasure!"

Surrounded by the Sand Mercenary Group, Xiao Ding frowned as he spoke.

Today was troublesome. Luo Bu had clearly come prepared. He didn't seem interested in any so-called treasure—rather, it looked like he intended to wipe out their entire Desert Iron Mercenary Group of over a hundred men.

The Sand Mercenary Group was known as the strongest in Rock Desert City, but Xiao Ding wasn't afraid of them.

They only had one Da Dou Shi and one Dou Shi, whereas the Desert Iron Mercenary Group had four Dou Shi. If a fight broke out, the outcome was far from certain!

The leader of the Sand Mercenary Group, Luo Bu, was a Three-Star Da Dou Shi. Normally, he wouldn't be much of a threat, but today, many of his brothers were absent, and it was just him and Xiao Li facing off—things were not looking easy.

"Captain, look at their behavior earlier. They must have found something valuable. Otherwise, why would Xiao Ding hurry back to the city right after coming out of that passage?" Mo Xing, standing next to Luo Bu, sinisterly fanned the flames of suspicion.

Luo Bu didn't take Mo Xing's words seriously. He could see right through the thoughts of the only Dou Shi in the mercenary group, who had been beaten by Xiao Li several times and always wanted to take revenge on him.

The real reason for Luo Bu's actions today wasn't about the so-called treasure. It was because the Desert Iron Mercenary Group had been growing too rapidly in recent years, and Luo Bu was worried about them.

This was a rare opportunity to eliminate these two, and under Mo Xing's "persuasion," he reluctantly decided to go along with the "malicious rumors."

"Xiao Ding, since you care more about treasure than the lives of your subordinates, then today, I'll leave you all here!"

Luo Bu shouted to avoid any changes and immediately charged toward Xiao Ding and Xiao Li with a long sword in hand. Mo Xing, with a sinister smile, also stepped forward.

Xiao Ding and Xiao Li didn't dare be careless. They hurriedly met the attack.

A moment later, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were retreating in a somewhat embarrassed manner. Seeing the murderous intent from the two in front of them, they knew that it was going to be a tough battle today.

"Big Brother, let me lead the brothers to protect you as we charge out. After we get back, remember to avenge me and kill these two bastards!" Xiao Li wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and glared viciously at Luo Bu and Mo Xing.

Xiao Ding didn't respond right away. In truth, he wasn't worried—so long as that little girl was around, they wouldn't die. But recalling Xiao Bai's instructions, he hesitated for a moment.

However, seeing that his second brother was already prepared to die, Xiao Ding didn't care too much. He grabbed Xiao Li and moved to Qing Lin's side.

"Big Brother, what are you doing?" Xiao Li looked confused.

Xiao Ding didn't reply but instead turned to Qing Lin. "Miss Qing Lin, please help us and lend us your strength!"

"Big Brother, are you okay? She's just a little girl who has just started cultivating!" Xiao Li looked at Xiao Ding in shock, wondering if his big brother had gone crazy.

Xiao Ding glared at Xiao Li and continued to look at Qing Lin.

Qing Lin nodded. She had wanted to release Little Fire earlier but had refrained when she remembered Xiao Bai's warning not to release the Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake easily.

However, now it seemed fine to release it, right? These two young masters' family members wouldn't be able to handle the bad guys across from them, and if they didn't act soon, they would be dead.

She touched her sleeve, and a red light flashed out. In an instant, a massive two-headed snake, several meters long, appeared in front of everyone.

"W-what is this?!" Xiao Li stammered, staring at the enormous creature. He finally understood why Xiao Ding had asked for help from this little girl.

"A Fourth-Rank Magical Beast!" Luo Bu and the others stared at the fiery-red, bloodthirsty twin-headed snake, feeling its powerful aura. Their breath caught in their throats as they exclaimed in shock.

"Run, run!" Someone from the Sand Mercenary Group shouted, and the encirclement that had originally surrounded the Desert Iron Mercenary Group quickly scattered.

Luo Bu, seeing the two-headed snake coming straight at him, felt his legs tremble. He gritted his teeth and prepared to fight to the death.

He knew that this magical beast had been given orders—otherwise, it wouldn't have singled him out. Turning to flee would only lead to certain death.

The Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake locked eyes with Luo Bu and, with a cautious flick of its thick tail, swung it toward him.

"Clang!" "Boom!"

Luo Bu's long sword struck the snake's tail, sending sparks flying, but it only caused the tail to pause for a moment. Then, Luo Bu felt a sharp pain in his chest. His armor shattered, and he was sent flying.

The Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake looked at Luo Bu, who lay on the ground, bleeding. It seemed almost human as it nodded in approval. This is more like it!

It was clearly delighted. Having grown up in underground lava, it had never seen a human and had initially thought all humans were like the ones who had beaten it earlier!

Feeling excited, the snake was ready to put on a show. Its jaws widened, and its cheeks puffed up as it prepared to shoot out a blast of magma!

Suddenly, a powerful aura descended from the distant sky. The previously panicked crowd in the desert froze in place, unable to move. They had never felt such a strong pressure before.

The Twin-Headed Fire Spirit Snake, which had been so proud, immediately deflated, its once puffed-up head now drooping. It slithered to the ground, no longer exuding the earlier arrogance.

In everyone's gaze, a figure appeared in the sky above the desert, adorned with red energy wings and a crown, exuding a seductive and enchanting aura.

"Medusa Queen!"