Chapter 26: Searching for the Heavenly Flame

Early the next morning, Wei Yang set out with Ye Xian'er.

The vast desert stretched endlessly, with relentless wind and sandstorms.

In the Tagore Desert, daytime was always accompanied by scorching sunlight and raging sandstorms. But at night, the temperature would drop drastically, with some places even reaching below freezing.

A streak of black and crimson light flashed across the sky, heading eastward.

In less than half an hour, the light finally came to a slow stop over a stretch of desert, about a hundred miles away from Stone Desert City.

Wei Yang held Ye Xian'er in his arms, his black wings gently flapping behind him as they hovered in the air, surveying the terrain below.

The landscape looked no different from other parts of the desert, with the same monotonous appearance.

Looking down at the detailed map in his hand, Wei Yang noted the clear and precise depictions of cities, water sources, oases, and even areas frequently visited by the Snake People tribe.

Wei Yang recalled from the original story that Xiao Yan seemed to have found an underground passage about a hundred miles east of the city. However, looking at the endless yellow sands below, finding a passage to the underground seemed extremely difficult.

Closing his eyes, Wei Yang carefully sensed the surrounding fire attribute energy.

Quickly, he opened his eyes and softly said, «The fire attribute energy here is normal, just like other places.»

With that, he flapped his wings and left the area, moving to another place to continue his search.

After half a day, he finally stopped to rest.

Having explored many areas without detecting any unusual fire attribute energy, Wei Yang felt a bit frustrated.

Ye Xian'er, in his arms, took out a water pouch and handed it over, «Brother Yang, have some water.»

«Okay,» Wei Yang smiled, taking the water pouch and gulping down several mouthfuls.

«Brother Yang, I've checked carefully. We've almost explored this area,» Xian'er said, holding a map and pointing in a direction, «We haven't checked over there yet.»

«Good job, Xian'er.» Wei Yang put away the water pouch, kissed her forehead, and flapped his wings, flying in the direction she pointed.

…

At dusk, Wei Yang and Xian'er returned to Stone Desert City with no success.

For the next three days, they still found nothing.

It wasn't until the fifth day, near the afternoon, that Wei Yang finally made a discovery.

«The fire attribute energy here is somewhat unusual. It's slightly denser and a bit more violent than other places.»

As soon as he entered the area, Wei Yang's powerful spiritual sense keenly detected a difference without the need for detailed sensing.

«Xian'er, we might have found it,» Wei Yang smiled.

«Mm-hmm,» Ye Xian'er, nestled in Wei Yang's arms, looked up and responded softly.

Holding Xian'er, Wei Yang swooped down, slowing his descent as he neared the ground, and finally landed steadily on a sand dune.

Putting away his black wings, Wei Yang closed his eyes to sense the area more carefully, confirming a slight anomaly.

«Brother Yang, how did you know there would be a Heavenly Flame near Stone Desert City?» Ye Xian'er asked curiously, still clinging to Wei Yang.

«Someone told me,» Wei Yang replied with a mysterious smile, not explaining further.

Ye Xian'er pouted in slight dissatisfaction, her cheeks puffing up like a little bun.

«Stop clinging, get down now,» Wei Yang said with a laugh, kissing her puffy cheeks and patting her gently.

With time, the little girl had become more attached to him, especially after coming to the unfamiliar Tagore Desert.

Once Ye Xian'er got off him, Wei Yang rubbed her cheeks and tidied her slightly messy hair.

Ye Xian'er smiled with narrowed eyes, enjoying Wei Yang's attentive care.

Wei Yang then walked a bit away, closed his eyes, and his robe and long hair fluttered without wind.

A strong soul force surged from his forehead, spreading out around him.

At this moment, Wei Yang seemed to have opened a god-like perspective, able to 'see' everything within the range of his soul force.

The scene he 'saw' was completely different from what he could see with his eyes.

With this view opened, it was like seeing another world.

Above ground, the air was filled with omnipresent fiery red fire attribute energy.

Underground, there was earthy yellow earth attribute energy, vast and boundless like the endless sea of sand, infinite and majestic.

This place could be considered a paradise for practitioners of fire and earth attributes, with inexhaustible energy.

Next, Wei Yang concentrated his soul force, focusing it into a thin line and probing into the yellow sand below.

As his concentrated soul force penetrated underground, he 'saw' an earthy yellow world.

In this world, his soul force was clearly suppressed.

As his soul force continued to delve deeper, the suppression became more severe, rapidly consuming his soul force.

Ten meters, twenty meters… fifty meters, a hundred meters…

After a while, Wei Yang retracted his extended soul force, rubbing his forehead in fatigue.

Delving nearly two hundred meters underground, he saw nothing but an earthy yellow world, with no significant discoveries.

This depth was also the limit of Wei Yang's current soul force penetration.

«It doesn't seem to be here,» Wei Yang shook his head.

«Brother Yang,» Ye Xian'er approached, her face full of concern.

«I'm fine,» Wei Yang smiled, rubbing her head.

«Let's go, we'll try another place.» After a brief rest, Wei Yang took her hand and walked forward.

The Green Lotus Core Flame was a flame that existed in underground magma. It formed in the depths of the magma, after countless temperings, fusions, compressions, and carvings by the earth's fire…

Ten years to become sentient, a hundred years to take shape, a thousand years to form a lotus. At its peak, it turned green, with a cluster of green flames at its heart, named the Green Lotus Flame, also known as the Green Lotus Core Flame.

So, Wei Yang was looking for a place filled with fire attribute energy, deep in the earth's magma.

Just now, his soul force had penetrated over two hundred meters underground, but he only saw a world filled with earthy yellow energy, with no significant fire attribute energy present.

Such a place clearly did not match what he was looking for.

Taking Ye Xian'er to another location, Wei Yang once again used his soul force to probe underground.

Having roughly determined the area, it now came down to meticulously exploring every inch.

Time passed slowly.

By dusk, when Wei Yang retracted his soul force from the ground, his mind was filled with waves of dizziness.

This made his body sway, almost causing him to fall.

Seeing this, Ye Xian'er quickly rushed to support him, asking anxiously, «Brother Yang, are you okay?»

Wei Yang shook his head, then closed his eyes to rest for a while before opening them again.

His eyes revealed undeniable fatigue. Placing one hand on Xian'er's shoulder and the other rubbing his forehead, he said hoarsely, «I'm fine, just exhausted from overusing my soul force.»

He couldn't help but feel a bit emotional. Even knowing the plot and having a specific target and clues to follow, it wasn't easy to find what he was looking for.

Suddenly, he thought of another point.

With his current soul force strength, it shouldn't be much weaker than Queen Medusa's, right?

Even with his knowledge of the plot and specific targets, it was still difficult to find the place. How did Medusa manage to locate it?

It's worth noting that this place was only about a hundred miles from Stone Desert City, within the influence range of the Jia Ma Empire, and a buffer zone between the Snake People and humans.

Could it be that Medusa searched every inch of this desert?

If so…

That woman is insane!

Imagining Medusa wandering around the desert, sensing changes in fire attribute energy, and occasionally using her soul force to explore underground, just like him, left Wei Yang speechless.

Of course, it's also possible she had clues.

After all, Hai Bodong had a clue about the Green Lotus Core Flame, so it wouldn't be surprising if Medusa had one too.

(End of Chapter)