Chapter 76

"Indeed, it is a high-grade spiritual material."

Yuan Ming's eyes lit up with joy, and he grew even more fond of the fiery red unicorn. He carefully put it away, planning to study it further after returning to the sect.

To think that such a unicorn could be found within the volcanic lava in this tower; it seemed that this volcano was not ordinary.

However, he did not have the ability to explore the mountain at the moment. He turned and called to the fire marten, continuing on toward the distance, quickly leaving the area covered by volcanic lava.

Yuan Ming stood on a slope, looking at the scarred land.

After such a large-scale volcanic eruption, the fire jade in the vicinity of the volcano had all been submerged by lava. He had no means to search for fire jade in the lava, so this mission seemed to have reached its end.

He was unsure of what to do next, whether to look for others or return to the sect on his own.

After a brief consideration, Yuan Ming decided to look for others and set off in one direction with the fire marten.

Leaving alone at this moment would be somewhat heartless, and he only vaguely remembered the location of the Bi Luo Cave sect. Returning alone would be troublesome.

At this moment, a faint sound came from behind, like footsteps.

Yuan Ming quickly turned to look and saw a figure turning the corner of a mountain path—it was Le Gong.

"Junior Brother Yuan, you're still alive, and the fire marten is safe and sound. Thank goodness!" Le Gong, seeing Yuan Ming and the fire marten beside him, ran over excitedly.

Le Gong looked very disheveled, with much of his clothes burned and several places on his skin scorched, but fortunately, none of the injuries were serious.

The fire marten glanced at Le Gong and then turned away, seemingly disliking him.

"Senior Brother Le Gong, are you alright?" Yuan Ming's face also showed relief.

Encountering a familiar person at this time was always a happy thing.

"I'm fine, just some minor injuries, nothing to worry about. By the way, Junior Brother Yuan, have you seen Senior Sister Lan Ke and the others? And of course, Mu Li and the others?" Le Gong waved his hand and asked.

"The situation was urgent just now, I only focused on escaping and didn't pay attention to others." Yuan Ming shook his head.

"Oh, I wonder how she is." Le Gong scratched the back of his head, his face showing concern.

Yuan Ming's eyes flickered. Le Gong and Mu Li, Chishu, and Agula were just acquaintances, so his concern was naturally for Lan Ke, though he didn't know the nature of their relationship.

"Let's search around. With Senior Sister Lan Ke and the others' strength, they should be fine." He suggested without probing further.

Le Gong nodded, and the two of them set off in one direction.

The fire marten jumped onto Yuan Ming's shoulder, half-laying there with its eyes closed.

"Looks like the fire marten really likes Junior Brother Yuan! After returning to the sect, you might as well take on this task." Le Gong, seeing the fire marten's docile appearance, suggested half in envy and half in admiration.

Yuan Ming indeed had this idea and asked, "Senior Brother Le Gong, can you tell me more about the task from the Third Cave Master?"

"Junior Brother Yuan is really interested? The task itself is nothing much. The Third Cave Master's requirement is simple: take good care of the fire marten, feed it a few pieces of fire crystal daily, and ensure it doesn't get hurt." Le Gong said quickly.

"Sounds not too difficult." Yuan Ming said.

"Sounds easy, but it's not at all easy to do. Junior Brother Yuan, you don't know how mischievous this fire marten is." Le Gong sighed, holding his forehead.

At this moment, the fire marten, which had been dozing, suddenly opened its eyes and started to make a sound.

Le Gong, seeing this, quickly took out a red crystal and offered it to the fire marten, which looked like the one the Third Cave Master had previously fed it.

The fire marten, seeing the crystal, immediately raised its head, bit it, and started to chew and swallow it.

"What's the reward for this task?" Yuan Ming, stroking the fire marten's head, asked about the most important thing.

"The reward is generous. As long as you can take care of the fire marten according to her requirements, you can earn thirty contribution points per month, and you can also learn a spell from her for free, of course, within the realm of the Qi Condensation stage." Le Gong said.

Hearing this, Yuan Ming became even more interested.

Thirty contribution points were a generous reward. Working at the Fire Workshop, one could only earn ten contribution points per month, not to mention the opportunity to learn a spell for free.

He continued to play with the fire marten's head, secretly making up his mind.

"Junior Brother Yuan is not a disciple of the Beast Taming Hall. If you want to take on this task, you should start with the Task Management Hall. The officials there are also aware of the Third Cave Master's task." Le Gong added after some thought.

"Thank you for the advice." Yuan Ming thanked him.

The two continued to search, but found no clues after a long time.

Yuan Ming was fine, but Le Gong became increasingly anxious.

"Blindly searching like this isn't a solution. Why not try a different approach?" Yuan Ming suggested.

"Oh, what do you have in mind, Junior Brother Yuan?" Le Gong's eyes lit up.

"Since we can't find Senior Sister Lan Ke and the others, why not let them find us." Yuan Ming said.

Le Gong was taken aback, not understanding.

"Start a fire to create smoke." Yuan Ming pointed to a nearby grove of trees.

"That's a good idea." Le Gong rubbed his hands together, pleased.

The two worked together, cutting down the trees and starting a fire.

Black smoke soon rose, reaching high into the sky, forming a column of smoke.

The volcanic lava had calmed down, and there was little smoke, making the black column quite noticeable.

A moment later, a clear crane call echoed from the distance, and two white cranes appeared in the sky, quickly flying over.

The two figures on the white cranes were Mu Li and Chishu.

"Everyone, you're safe, that's great." Yuan Ming waved to greet them.

Le Gong, feeling disappointed, managed to force a smile and asked about Lan Ke's whereabouts.

A piercing cry came from the other side, and a gray shadow quickly approached—it was the golden-eyed eagle, with Lan Ke and Agula on its back.

"Senior Sister Lan Ke, you're all safe, thank goodness." Le Gong, overjoyed, waved.

Yuan Ming also showed relief, feeling a bit emotional.

After such a natural disaster, all six of them had survived, which was indeed fortunate.

The golden-eyed eagle landed, and Lan Ke jumped down, but Agula did not move.

His right leg below the knee was charred black, with a significant portion of the flesh burned away, clearly due to the lava. He also had multiple burns on other parts of his body, looking quite pitiful.

Seeing this, Mu Li and the others' faces changed, and Yuan Ming's brows furrowed.

"Junior Brother Agula, how did you get injured like this?" Mu Li, who had worked with Agula on several tasks and was close to him, asked with concern.

Agula gave a bitter laugh but did not speak.

With such an injury to his right leg, the leg's meridians were likely damaged, and it was uncertain if he could recover.

Lan Ke sighed and recounted how Agula got injured.

When the lava came, he released the white cranes to try to escape, but the cranes, fearing the volcanic disaster, abandoned Agula and fled on their own.

In shock and anger, Agula had to escape on his own. On the way, he was attacked by a fire rock snake, which bit his right leg. He was then caught by the surging lava, which burned his right leg, and he was about to be buried there.

At the critical moment, Lan Ke, passing by, saved Agula's life.

"Regardless, everyone is still alive, which is a stroke of luck. Although Junior Brother Agula's injuries are severe, there are ways to recover, but we need to return to the sect first." Lan Ke said.

Mu Li, a disciple of the Alchemy Hall, was skilled in medicine and immediately applied ointment to Agula's wounds and bandaged them.

"Thank you, Senior Brother Mu Li." Agula thanked him.

The group, having narrowly escaped, were all quite exhausted and rested around the fire.

"Strange, why did such a large-scale volcanic eruption occur suddenly?" Mu Li looked at the volcanic peak.

"Such a natural disaster is beyond our mortal prediction." Lan Ke shook her head.

"Maybe the Tali Flame Demon is turning over in the mountain, ha ha..." Seeing Lan Ke was safe, Le Gong returned to his usual lively self, laughing.

"The Tali Flame Demon?" Yuan Ming looked over.

"This is a legend of the Tali volcano. This area was once a lush, green mountain range, and the peak was an ordinary mountain. Later, a celestial being sealed a flame demon under the peak. The flame demon controlled the fire, burning the rocks, turning this area into a volcanic zone." Le Gong said animatedly, occasionally glancing at Lan Ke.

Yuan Ming remained silent, thinking of the fiery red unicorn he had just obtained. Could it be the horn of that flame demon?

He shook his head and laughed, scolding himself for being naive. How could such a myth be true?

"By the way, the legend says that the flame demon turns over every five hundred years, causing a massive volcanic eruption. I've read records about the Tali volcano in the sect, and it seems that a large-scale volcanic eruption occurred here a few hundred years ago. Perhaps the legend is true." Le Gong, seeing everyone looking at him, became even more enthusiastic and spoke at length.

"Enough, these are just folk myths. You're a cultivator, yet you believe in such absurd tales." Lan Ke frowned and scolded him.

Le Gong laughed foolishly and obediently closed his mouth.

However, his rambling did lighten the atmosphere.

After a brief rest, everyone had mostly recovered.

"What are everyone's plans next?" Lan Ke asked.

"After such an event, it's impossible to continue searching for fire jade. We should return to the sect first, and Junior Brother Agula's injuries need to be treated as soon as possible." Mu Li said.

The others had no objections, and the group immediately set off for the sect.

...

Task Management Hall.

The others who had returned from the mission with Yuan Ming all turned in their fire jade to receive rewards, but his fire jade had all been eaten by the fire marten, so he could not receive any reward.

However, Yuan Ming was not concerned. He had already decided to take on the task of caring for "Fire Glutton" and went directly to the official in charge.

After registering for the task, Yuan Ming was informed that non-Beast Taming Hall disciples who took on spirit beast care tasks needed to go to the Beast Taming Hall to learn relevant knowledge and gain approval.

After all, it was about the Third Cave Master's beloved pet, and no one could bear the responsibility if anything went wrong.