Chapter 103: Spiritual Fire Displays Its Might

In front was a sea of Carrion Beetles—green, dense, and enough to make one’s scalp tingle at a glance. Behind was the rumbling pursuit of the Golden Core Demon Beast, the Purple-Scaled Cloud Lizard, huffing and puffing out toxic mist! The Little Princess Mu Zhenqing was directly paralyzed with fear, sitting on the ground wailing. Even the Nanny’s face was ashen, shaking like a sieve. This situation was simply like receiving an invitation from King Yama—a dead end!

Fang Hao’s heart also sank to rock bottom, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead. Damn it, he’d really overplayed his hand this time! To jump into a hole and end up in a desperate strait! This luck was truly second to none!

"Ning... Guest Official Ning, what do we do?" the Nanny asked with a sob, her voice cracking.

What to do? Cold comfort! Fang Hao’s mind raced. Charge through the sea of insects? That was suicide; he’d be picked clean into a skeleton in an instant! Turn back and fight for his life against the Purple-Scaled Cloud Lizard? Even less of a chance; he’d be finished in a single encounter! Use the golden puppet? No! This place was too narrow for the golden puppet to maneuver, and it would make too much noise. If it attracted something even more terrifying...

Wait! Insects... Fire!

A thought flashed through Fang Hao’s mind like lightning! Carrion Beetles—the name alone suggested they were yin-evil filth. What did they fear most? Yang-extreme, robust flames! Especially... Heaven and Earth Spiritual Fire!

Fang Hao’s eyes suddenly lit up! How could he have forgotten this treasure! That wisp of Earth Core Flame Fire he had been nurturing in his Dantian! This thing was a spiritual fire formed by heaven and earth. Although he could only mobilize a small portion of its power now, it should be the perfect nemesis for these low-level yin-evil monster insects!

"I have a way!" Fang Hao barked, forcibly suppressing the panic in his heart as his gaze became sharp. "You two step back, press yourselves tight against the wall!"

Although the Nanny didn’t understand, she hurriedly dragged the Little Princess back, and the two of them pressed tightly against the stone wall of the passage.

At this moment, the heavy footsteps and roars of the Purple-Scaled Cloud Lizard behind them were close at hand, the stench of its breath hitting their faces! Meanwhile, the swarm of Carrion Beetles in front seemed to be disturbed as well, emitting an even denser’shasha’ sound as the green glow began to surge toward the passage, looking as if it were about to pounce!

Time was of the essence! Fang Hao dared not delay, immediately holding his breath and focusing his mind, sinking his consciousness into his Dantian!

In the center of the Dantian Qi Sea, that wisp of pale purple Earth Core Flame Fire pulsed slowly like an elf, emitting a pure and scorching aura. Fang Hao cautiously separated a thread of Divine Thought to communicate with this wisp of spiritual fire, while simultaneously operating the Chaos Derivation Art to slowly inject pure spiritual energy into it.

"Earth Core Flame Fire, come forth!"

Fang Hao shouted inwardly, his right hand’s fingers joined like a sword, pointing sharply at the surging sea of insects ahead!

Whoosh—!

A wisp of pale purple flame, as thin as a hair yet incredibly condensed, shot out from his fingertip! This flame seemed weak, but the moment it appeared, the temperature of the entire passage rose abruptly! An indescribable, scorching aura that seemed capable of purifying everything spread out!

The Carrion Beetles charging at the very front didn’t even have time to scream upon contact with the pale purple flame. Like ice and snow meeting a blazing sun, they were instantly vaporized, leaving not even a speck of ash behind! They were reduced directly to nothingness!

Even more miraculously, this Earth Core Flame Fire seemed to possess a spiritual nature, growing as it met the wind! It landed in the swarm and immediately spread at an alarming speed! The pale purple flames rippled outward, and wherever they passed, those disgusting Carrion Beetles disappeared in patches, without even a hint of resistance!

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—!

The sound of the fire burning was incessant, accompanied by a foul burnt smell (mainly the scent of insect corpses being instantly vaporized). The green sea of insects that had originally been densely packed and blocking the way was cleared into a path at a speed visible to the naked eye! At the end of the path was that cavern emitting green light!

"This... what kind of fire is this? It’s too powerful!" The Nanny watched, dumbstruck, having forgotten even her fear.

The Little Princess also stopped crying, her eyes wide as she looked at the miraculous purple flame, her small face full of wonder.

Fang Hao also breathed a sigh of relief; it really worked! The power of the Earth Core Flame Fire far exceeded his expectations! He dared not relax, maintaining the output of spiritual energy and controlling the flames to continue pushing forward, thoroughly clearing the passage.

"Quick! Follow the fire!" Fang Hao called out, taking the lead to charge into the passage cleared by the flames. The Little Princess and the Nanny snapped out of it and hurriedly followed.

The three of them jogged along, the Earth Core Flame Fire leading the way, invincible! Any Carrion Beetle that dared to approach was instantly turned to nothing. Soon, they charged into the cavern that had originally been occupied by the swarm.

The cavern was not small, with a pool in the center. The pool water was pitch black, emitting a chilling cold aura. More Carrion Beetles crawled all over the surrounding cave walls, but at this moment, they seemed intimidated by the aura of the Earth Core Flame Fire and dared not approach, only writhing restlessly and making shasha sounds.

"Guest Official Ning, what do we do now? Where is the way out?" the Nanny asked anxiously. Although they were temporarily safe, this cavern was like a dead end, and the Purple-Scaled Cloud Lizard would be catching up from behind any moment!

Fang Hao’s gaze swept around quickly, his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes operating to their limit. Suddenly, he noticed that on the opposite side of the pool, the color of a section of the stone wall seemed different from the surroundings, and there was a faint, weak airflow!

"Over there! There might be an exit!" Fang Hao pointed to the opposite side of the pool.

But the problem was, how to get across? The pool didn’t look shallow, and it was pitch black—who knew what ghostly things were inside? Fly across directly? In this narrow cavern, flight techniques were hard to execute and would make them easy targets for the insects.

Just then, there was a thunderous boom! Rubble flew from the passage entrance as the massive, purple-scaled head of the Purple-Scaled Cloud Lizard lunged in! Its cold, vertical pupils instantly locked onto the three people in the cavern!

"Roar!" Seeing its’snacks’ had actually run here and even burned so many of its ’appetizers’ (the Carrion Beetles) to death, the Purple-Scaled Cloud Lizard was completely enraged! It roared, its massive body trying to squeeze into the cavern!

"No more time!" Fang Hao gritted his teeth, his heart turning ruthless! He suddenly increased the output of the Earth Core Flame Fire! The pale purple flames instantly surged, turning into a wave of fire—not attacking the Purple-Scaled Cloud Lizard (that thing was thick-skinned and fleshy, so fire wouldn’t be very effective), but sweeping across the entire surface of the pool!

Sssss—!

The pool water contacted the Earth Core Flame Fire, producing a violent sound as large clouds of black gas were evaporated! The entire surface of the pool was instantly covered by a layer of pale purple flames, becoming a temporary ’fire road’!

"Go!" Fang Hao grabbed the Little Princess with one hand and roared at the Nanny: "Step on the flames and get across! Quick!"

Step on the flames? The Nanny and the Little Princess were both scared witless! That fire could burn even a Demon Beast to ash; would they still be alive if they stepped on it?

"Trust me! This fire won’t hurt you!" Fang Hao said urgently. He still had confidence in his control of the Earth Core Flame Fire; as long as he controlled it with his will, the flames would not harm the designated people.

Seeing that more than half of the Purple-Scaled Cloud Lizard’s body had already squeezed into the cavern, its bloody maw opening to pounce! There was no time to hesitate!

"I’ll risk it!" The Nanny gritted her teeth, pulled the Little Princess, closed her eyes, and charged toward the fire pool!

As their feet stepped on the pale purple flames, the expected burning sensation did not appear. Instead, a warm force supported them, allowing them to walk as if on level ground! The two were both surprised and delighted, running quickly toward the opposite bank!

Fang Hao followed closely behind, maintaining the flames while remaining alert for the Demon Beast behind and the surrounding insect swarms.

Seeing the three of them actually ’crossing the river’ right under its nose, the Purple-Scaled Cloud Lizard was driven mad with rage, suddenly spitting out a thick purple toxic mist that covered the entire pool! It wanted to use the toxic mist to extinguish the flames or poison the three of them to death!

However, the Earth Core Flame Fire was a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Fire; how could it be extinguished by ordinary toxic mist? When the toxic mist met the flames, it instead acted like fuel, sizzling as it was burned and turning into wisps of green smoke, unable to get near Fang Hao’s group at all!

Taking this opportunity, the three had safely reached the opposite bank of the pool! Fang Hao withdrew the Earth Core Flame Fire and turned to look at the other side.

The Purple-Scaled Cloud Lizard roared unwillingly, but its size was too large, and it seemed somewhat wary of that pitch-black pool, not daring to enter the water easily. It could only scrape the ground anxiously and spit toxic mist on the other side.

"Quick, find the exit!" Fang Hao no longer paid attention to the beast’s impotent rage and turned toward the differently colored stone wall. He gave it a push, and the stone wall actually wobbled slightly! It was hollow behind!

"There’s a way!" Fang Hao was delighted and, gathering his strength, gave it a fierce push!

Rumble!

The stone wall opened inward, revealing a narrow, upward-extending natural stone fissure behind it! A gust of fresh air blew in from the fissure!

"It’s a way out!" The Little Princess and the Nanny wept with joy.

Without hesitation, the three immediately ducked into the fissure and climbed up the steep rock walls. After climbing for about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, light appeared ahead! Pushing aside the vines blocking the way, the three emerged one after another!

Outside, the sun was bright, and the birds were singing amidst fragrant flowers! They had actually appeared in a secluded valley! Looking back, the exit was hidden behind a patch of dense vines, extremely well-concealed.

"We’re out! We’re out!" The Little Princess jumped up excitedly, the joy of surviving a disaster making her forget her previous fear.

Fang Hao also let out a long sigh of relief and sat down on the ground, feeling as if his whole body was about to fall apart. Continuously activating the Earth Core Flame Fire just now had taken a massive toll on his spiritual energy and mind.

He glanced back at the hidden exit, inwardly thinking how lucky they were. Being able to escape death this time was entirely thanks to the ’trump card’ of the Earth Core Flame Fire. It seemed he would have to dig more into the uses of this spiritual fire in the future.

After resting for a moment, Fang Hao stood up and surveyed the surroundings. This valley seemed to still be within the scope of the Secret Realm, but it was already far from the core area from before.

"We need to find Captain Qin and the others quickly, or find a way to leave the Secret Realm," Fang Hao said. Having experienced this series of thrills, he now only wanted to send this little ancestor back safely. This bodyguard job really wasn’t for humans!

However, just as he finished speaking, he heard a burst of clamor and the sound of clashing weapons from the other end of the valley! It seemed... someone was fighting again?

Fang Hao’s face turned bitter. Great, this Secret Realm really was a place of trouble; he couldn’t even catch a break.