Capítulo 100: Chapter 100: Another Heavenly Flame, Journey to the Imperial Capital
After subduing the Snake Tribe, Gu Changqing didn't rush to leave the Tagore Desert. Instead, he stayed to help Queen Medusa awaken her bloodline while also searching for any remaining heavenly treasures in the desert.
According to the map given by Hai Bodong, there were three potential locations where Heavenly Flames might exist. So far, Gu Changqing had only explored one, where he found the Green Lotus Core Flame. Naturally, he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to investigate the remaining two locations—even if they didn't contain a Heavenly Flame, they might hold something equally extraordinary.
Sure enough, as Gu Changqing neared the holy city of the Snake Tribe, he discovered a peculiar area that was scorching hot during the day but bone-chilling cold at night.
This was one of the places marked on Hai Bodong's map, suspected to be home to another Heavenly Flame.
"There's a massive, thousand-foot rock here that constantly absorbs the fire attribute energy from the heavens and earth. During the day, with the sun's rays, the fire energy concentrates here, turning the place into a furnace. But at night, when the energy supply diminishes, the area becomes bitterly cold," Queen Medusa explained, her tone filled with both awe and frustration.
"This has been an unsolved mystery for our Snake Tribe ever since we settled in the Tagore Desert."
In the vast, barren desert, a luxurious sleigh without wheels glided across the sand. Inside, two intertwined figures moved gracefully through the desert, heading toward the mysterious, searing land.
What was even more shocking was that the sleigh was pulled by nine beautiful snake women from the Snake Tribe.
Once there were tales of dragons pulling coffins. Now, there were nine serpents pulling a chariot!
Had it not been for Queen Medusa being no match for Gu Changqing and needing his help to awaken her tribe's bloodline, she would never have agreed to such an outrageous request. Even more absurd was how this man boldly flaunted his conquest of her before her trusted subordinates.
If these nine snake women weren't her loyal followers, she might have had them silenced after the ordeal.
"Pop!"
Gu Changqing stood up slowly, casually straightening his clothes as his gaze swept across the strange, fiery landscape.
"This place is indeed unusual. You all stay here while I go check it out."
With a single step, Gu Changqing vanished, reappearing hundreds of meters away.
"Ugh!"
Queen Medusa let out a soft groan, quickly adjusting her serpentine body to prevent any residual divine energy from leaking out. After hurriedly wrapping herself in a silk robe, she chased after him.
"Open!"
Gu Changqing reached the scorching desert's core, softly chanting a command. The burning sands parted before him as if responding to his will.
Soon, a massive, irregular stone slab—stretching for hundreds of meters—emerged from the depths below.
The stone was a fiery yellow, akin to a smoldering piece of coal, and it appeared to be composed of countless grains of sand fused together by intense heat.
"Fire-refined Yang Essence!"
Gu Changqing's eyes brightened as he muttered to himself.
"What is that?"
A fragrant breeze wafted by as Queen Medusa's mature, voluptuous figure appeared beside him.
"A rare material for crafting artifacts," Gu Changqing replied nonchalantly.
"You can forge artifacts too?" Queen Medusa asked, surprised.
"Of course. Haven't I already molded you to my design?" Gu Changqing teased, flashing a playful glance at her.
"You dog! Nothing good ever comes out of your mouth!" Queen Medusa glared at him fiercely.
"Well, it takes a dog to know one," Gu Changqing shot back with a smirk as he flicked his sleeve, continuing to clean the dust off the massive stone.
"Do you know what's inside this thing? Our Snake Tribe has tried countless methods, but we've never been able to crack it open," she asked, her voice laced with curiosity.
"Most likely, there's another Heavenly Flame inside," Gu Changqing said abruptly.
"Another Heavenly Flame?" Queen Medusa's shock was palpable.
"It's not that surprising. This rock predates the birth of the Green Lotus Core Flame. However, because it's made of fire-refined Yang Essence, even alchemists or strong cultivators like Dou Zun can't easily split it open. That's why it ended up in your Snake Tribe's hands. Lucky for you," Gu Changqing explained.
Fire-refined Yang Essence is an extremely rare material used in artifact crafting. Its creation requires the intense heat of the sun to form a spark of Yang Fire. After being tempered by this fire over countless years, the essence is forged.
Given the size of this thousand-foot rock, it was clear that the Yang Fire had been accumulating for over ten thousand years. Such a long period was enough to transform even a simple spark of Yang Fire into a powerful Heavenly Flame.
This Heavenly Flame was likely even stronger than the Green Lotus Core Flame!
"Well, aren't you lucky now," Queen Medusa sneered coldly before asking, "Do you know what kind of Heavenly Flame lies within?"
"No idea," Gu Changqing admitted calmly.
Queen Medusa scrutinized his expression closely and, after confirming that he wasn't lying, asked again, "Can you break open this stone?"
"No."
The straightforward answer made her grit her teeth.
"Then what are you busy doing here?" she demanded, frustrated.
"If we can't break it open, we'll need to fight fire with fire. I'll have to find a Heavenly Flame stronger than this one to crack it. But before that, I'll set up some formations to hide the Fire-refined Yang Essence," Gu Changqing said, still calm.
"Do you think Heavenly Flames are that easy to find?" Queen Medusa scoffed, rolling her eyes at him.
"Aren't they? We've already stumbled upon two," Gu Changqing said nonchalantly.
". . ."
Queen Medusa was momentarily speechless. If what he said was true, they had indeed encountered two Heavenly Flames.
However, despite his confidence, she couldn't help but feel skeptical. If Heavenly Flames were so easy to find, they wouldn't be so rare and precious.
Gu Changqing stayed with the Snake Tribe for almost half a year. During this time, aside from refining pills and setting up formations, he focused on helping Queen Medusa awaken her bloodline.
They spent many days in close contact, either she lying atop him or he over her.
Their intense training bore fruit, as half of Queen Medusa's bloodline had already evolved into colorful hues. She was now only one step away from completing her transformation.
Initially, she wanted to use the Green Lotus Core Flame to stimulate her bloodline evolution, but Gu Changqing refused.
Instead, he taught her an ancient demonic cultivation technique, the Devouring Heaven Technique, instructing her to absorb the world's energy daily to purify her bloodline. This would eventually lead to her evolving into the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python.
Leaving Qing Lin and Liu Mei behind to train within the Snake Tribe, Gu Changqing took Xiao Zijing Yi Shi Wang and departed for Jia Ma Empire's Imperial Capital.
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