As expected, the moment Evan Yang jumped down, Old Ghost Bai appeared where Evan had been, glaring furiously at Evan's falling silhouette. "You—you—I won't let you go. Even if you turn to ashes, I'll hunt you down!"
After Evan jumped down, Old Ghost Bai immediately started searching for a solution. He finally took out a talisman, crushed it, and the talisman dissolved like dispersing spiritual energy before him.
A moment later, several figures appeared beside Old Ghost Bai.
"Patriarch!" These people were all elite guards of the Bai Family. When they saw Old Ghost Bai urgently summon them, they rushed over, only to find him with bloodshot eyes, scaring them into silence.
"Send people to thoroughly search the area around these volcanic fissures. Seal up every exit—don't let even a single animal escape! If anyone is found, capture them!" Old Ghost Bai ordered sharply.
"Patriarch, who exactly are you looking for?" One of the guards, bolder than the rest, asked.
"A little beggar. Spread the word—if anyone captures this person and informs the Bai Family, they'll be rewarded with a treasure artifact!" Old Ghost Bai said angrily.
"Who on earth offended the Patriarch, for him to offer a treasure artifact as a reward?" The guards were secretly shocked. They had served as guards for so long, but only those with great contributions could ever hope to obtain a treasure artifact; otherwise, they'd never touch one in their lifetime. If not for spreading the news, they'd wish to catch Evan themselves.
Seeing the guards fall silent, Old Ghost Bai snapped angrily, "Why are you still standing here? Go search immediately! That little beggar is the genius alchemist who's been causing a stir across Centralgate City—many people will recognize him!"
The little beggar's story had stirred up the whole area around Centralgate City. Meanwhile, Rockwell Nance, sitting in the city lord's manor, was pacing back and forth.
"Who exactly is this little beggar? Not only is his alchemy top-notch, he even took down a Foundation-Building cultivator." Upon learning Evan had killed Old Ghost Bai's son, Rockwell Nance's first reaction was that the beggar was far from ordinary.
"Could he be a close friend? Impossible—if that were the case, Old Ghost Bai would've said so already." Rockwell Nance considered the possibility, then dismissed it.
Just then, two people returned and reported the latest news to Rockwell. After listening, he was first shocked, then sneered, "Little beggar, little beggar, this time you've brought disaster on yourself. It's none of my business. Since the Bai Family is offering a treasure artifact for your life, I bet plenty of people will go after you. Heh, even if you have a big shot backing you, so what? As long as I'm not involved, it's fine."
Evan had no idea what was happening outside. At this moment, he was hiding in the volcanic fissures, searching for an exit. Fortunately, this volcano didn't have powerful flames or lava for now.
"Good thing that guy didn't come in." Evan had already moved far from the cliff's edge. When he could no longer sense the other's aura, he muttered to himself.
Walking inside, Evan found that many places had cracks like black holes—if you fell in, you'd never get out. He was extremely cautious, and by nightfall, realized he shouldn't have come here at all.
No one knew how long the volcanic fissures stretched through the mountain range. There were countless cracks, and strangely, some suddenly spat out flames. Evan nearly got scorched several times. To avoid burning his only clothes and ending up naked in just treasure armor and leggings—which would obviously expose his gear—he wore the treasure armor and leggings over his clothes.
Strangely, the Jade Rabbit in his hand wasn't affected by the flames at all. It looked around curiously, making Evan regard it with even more respect.
He wasn't unwilling to fly up, but he kept sensing powerful auras probing from above. Forced to keep searching below, Evan grew increasingly frustrated.
He had to worry about what was above and about the flames below. After several days of wandering, Evan was getting irritable. "This is driving me crazy—am I going to be stuck here forever?"
Evan discovered that the volcanic mountain range was extremely wide, with countless entrances and no sense of direction. Sometimes he even ended up retracing his steps, which made him want to just charge upward several times.
But every time he was about to rush up, he stopped—there were more and more cultivators above. Evan assumed they were Bai Family members, but in reality, most were rogue cultivators with no clan or sect, all searching for him for the treasure artifact reward.
Evan didn't realize it, but thanks to his treasure armor and leggings, the flames below barely affected him. The rogue cultivators weren't so lucky—the flames down here were vicious, and some could instantly devour a cultivator.
After several more days, Evan reached the mouth of a cave—actually, a volcano mouth. Staring at the huge opening and the dust-covered sky above the cliff, he muttered, "How did this place even form?"
Those above couldn't see what was happening below, and those below couldn't see above. The area interfered with spiritual sense. Evan tried several times to use divine sense to check his surroundings, but it was always limited. Because of this, he was sure the people above couldn't detect him, and figured they were waiting for him to surface.
"All these fissures look the same—I might as well check below." Evan eyed a narrow opening just a few people wide and slowly crawled in.
As soon as he entered, Evan felt a dramatic change in temperature—a surge of heat rushed into his body. Just as he was about to retreat, he sensed a cool stream from his treasure armor, instantly lowering his skin temperature. Noticing this, Evan recalled the connection between the Heaven-Cold Seed and his blood. "Could this armor also have a cooling effect?"
After confirming the effect, Evan reassessed the treasure armor. Through repeated tests, he found that not only did the armor cool him, but wherever it didn't cover, the Heaven-Cold Seed inside him released a faint cold qi, suppressing his blood and body temperature.
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"With the treasure armor and the now-weak Heaven-Cold Seed, I should be able to move around here." After confirming everything, Evan muttered to himself.
Evan acted on his decision, stepping deeper inside. Soon he found many flames below, each burning in different colors, and grew curious. "How do these flames even form?" he wondered.
Once inside, Evan felt like he'd entered a sea of fire. Flames of every kind swirled around him, but thanks to the treasure armor and Heaven-Cold Seed, he wasn't devoured by them.
After confirming his safety, Evan continued walking through the flames. When he finally reached a dead end, he sighed, "This place would be great for cultivation."
Seeing all these flames, Evan couldn't help but think of the Ninety-Ninefold Purefire technique. With pursuers outside, he decided to cultivate here.
He told the Jade Rabbit, "Jade Rabbit, stay beside me and don't wander off. I'm going to cultivate for a while."
The Jade Rabbit obediently replied, "Okay, big brother. Go ahead and cultivate."
Evan set the Jade Rabbit aside and found a jagged rock to sit on. He settled down, letting the flames swirl around him, completely unharmed.
The cultivators and Bai Family guards outside had no idea Evan was cultivating inside. After days with no progress, some began to doubt, even claiming that anyone staying below for days would have been devoured by the flames already.
Only Old Ghost Bai knew that Evan had acquired treasure armor and leggings, making it nearly impossible for the flames below to devour him. That's why he never gave up, even stationing elite Bai Family disciples around the area to prevent Evan from escaping.
Time flew by—days, then dozens of days, until a whole month passed. The rogue cultivators grew impatient and left, feeling they'd wasted their time. Who knew if the beggar was even there?
Even the Bai Family guards grew restless, but forced by orders from above, they had no choice but to wait.
Evan himself had lost track of how long he'd been cultivating inside. He felt that training Ninety-Ninefold Purefire in this atmosphere was extremely beneficial, so he ignored everything outside and devoted himself completely to cultivation.
After months, Evan's cultivation advanced another step—he reached the mid Foundation Establishment stage, and the Ninety-Ninefold Purefire technique was on the verge of a breakthrough.
Breaking through to mid Foundation Establishment, Evan felt his spiritual power could be wielded much more freely. His spirits lifted as he opened his eyes and looked around—the sea of fire was just as it had been when he entered.
"No wonder that Wang Family kid chose a hot place to cultivate Ninety-Ninefold Purefire. Turns out, training it in this environment is much smoother than before," Evan sighed inwardly.
With his cultivation improved, Evan felt much happier, no longer as irritable as when he first arrived.
Just as he was preparing to leave, Evan realized the Jade Rabbit was missing. Alarmed, he began calling out in the flames, "Jade Rabbit, where are you?"
After several calls, he finally heard a squeak. The Jade Rabbit hopped out from somewhere, jumped into Evan's hands, and exclaimed excitedly, "Big brother, there's something good below!"
"Below?" Evan glanced at the raging flames beneath him, puzzled.
"Yes! Underneath this sea of fire, there's a great place." The Jade Rabbit excitedly hopped out of Evan's hands and bounded downward.
Worried about the Jade Rabbit's safety, Evan didn't hesitate—he dashed through the flames, following after it. He soon felt the temperature rising, while the Jade Rabbit moved effortlessly, needing no protection. Evan couldn't help but marvel at the rabbit's mysterious abilities.
The Jade Rabbit had no idea what Evan was thinking and simply led him deep into the sea of fire, where there seemed to be a passageway.
Arriving at the entrance, Evan saw that it radiated intense heat, making it hard to bear. Yet the Jade Rabbit bounced excitedly at the mouth, urging Evan to enter.
Seeing the Jade Rabbit so eager, Evan could only resign himself and step into the passage.
After only a few steps, he reached a spacious area. The walls glowed fiery red, as if scorched by flames. On the other side was an opening, and out of curiosity, Evan followed the Jade Rabbit over.
When Evan entered, he was stunned. "What...?"
"Big brother, isn't this great? There are so many fire-element herbs here—they taste really good!" The Jade Rabbit couldn't wait to go inside, but seemed a little wary, as if something might be lurking.
"The fire element here is indeed dense, which has produced many precious herbs." Seeing the herbs, Evan felt the Heaven-Cold Seed inside him stir restlessly.