Chapter 52

Chu He followed the main vein of the underground fire all the way down, even submerging half of his body into the magma in narrow places. It was only thanks to the Yin Cold Pearl that he could withstand the intense heat.

However, there was a discovery that greatly invigorated Chu He: during one of his plunges into the magma, his spiritual sense caught some worm-like creatures. He grabbed two of them and confirmed they were fire worms.

After exploring the fire vein for so long, he found fire worms only in this section, indicating that he was not far from where the Earth Flame Snakes lived!

After several dozen breaths, he didn't know how far he had moved through the winding and twisting fire vein.

Suddenly, Chu He felt the surrounding air become slightly cooler.

His heart stirred, knowing that the exit was not far. Only when approaching the exit would the hot air vent out, causing the temperature in a section of the fire vein to drop.

After another dozen breaths, a faint white light appeared in the distance, starkly different from the red color inside the fire vein.

"Phew!" As he flew out of the fire vein, Chu He took a deep breath, summoned Xiao Bai, and looked around.

This was a subterranean space several hundred feet in diameter, about a hundred feet high, and conical in shape, with an exit about ten feet wide at the top. Green miasma could be clearly seen flowing in from the exit.

The exit of the underground fire was about ten feet above the ground. The magma formed a small waterfall here, splitting into several streams upon landing and flowing through the ground covered with shrubs before disappearing into a large pit at the opposite end.

"Zhi Zhi!" Besides the sound of the magma hitting the ground, there was another fine, dense sound filling the air.

Following the sound, Chu He couldn't help but shudder: the wall behind the waterfall was crawling with fire worms, wriggling and moving, with many being squeezed and falling off. Even more had evolved into large fire worms with wings, densely covering the area below.

"Si Si!" Occasionally, long, greenish-red shadows moved back and forth below.

These were Earth Flame Snakes. They were present in the thin streams of magma, on the land, and even on the trees that resembled shrubs. They were mating, playing, and some even had wings and flew around.

This place was a den of thousands of snakes!

At this moment, the snakes below began to stir, clearly sensing Chu He's foreign aura. The winged Earth Flame Snakes were already flapping their wings and flying towards him.

The presence of wings on the back of an Earth Flame Snake indicated that it was about to advance in rank, already at the peak of a third-level beast. If it successfully advanced, it would grow a pair of claws from its front abdomen, becoming a strange creature.

However, the most formidable aspect of the Earth Flame Snakes was their venom, a mixture of green miasma essence and the essence of the underground fire. Even a cultivator at the innate realm would lose half their life if they were contaminated without a good antidote to suppress it.

Fortunately, they were not adept at flying, and their speed was not very fast, or else Chu He would have been caught off guard.

In an instant, Chu He quickly launched over a dozen Yin Cold Pearls and directed his magical tool to rise.

"Bang Bang Bang Bang!" The Yin Cold Pearls exploded in mid-air, turning into cold fragments that enveloped the space below, immediately cooling the previously scorching air.

The Yin Cold Qi indeed had a restraining effect on the Earth Flame Snakes. The flying snakes showed signs of fear and avoided the cold fragments.

Chu He's methods were not limited to this. He first sent several mid-grade Earth Elemental talismans into the fire vein, creating earth walls to block the magma.

With the temporary absence of the underground fire, Chu He swallowed a few Essence Cultivation Pills and then used water and ice elemental talismans.

The appearance of these talismans was extremely spectacular. As long as the talismans were activated, they could be thrown without aiming. The feeling of bombarding and cleansing the ground was something Chu He had never experienced before, and it was incredibly exhilarating.

He used Water Talismans, Ice Spike Talismans, Frost Talismans, Snow Talismans, Hail Talismans, and more—whether they were life talismans, attack talismans, or performance talismans. His goal was to turn this place into a cold and icy land, driving the Earth Flame Snakes into the deep pit.

As long as he could buy a little time, he could easily obtain the Green Flame Tree Heart and Green Flame Fruit. There were plenty of both, and he could take as many as he wanted.

Chu He had purchased over a hundred water and ice elemental talismans, not to mention the dozens of Yin Cold Pearls. A space of several hundred feet could not withstand such an onslaught.

The Earth Flame Snakes directly hit by the talismans were either washed away by the water, frozen, or knocked out by the hail.

Within a dozen breaths, a layer of snow and thin ice covered the ground, transforming the scorching area into a cold and icy place, similar to an ice cave.

As Chu He had predicted, the remaining Earth Flame Snakes could not withstand the low temperature and fled towards another entrance of the magma. Some fierce ones tried to attack him, but they were either blown away by the Ice Storm Talismans or knocked down by the cold light from Xiao Bai.

With perfect coordination and the unlimited use of talismans, no snake dared to stand against him.

Seeing the opportunity, Chu He took out two jade boxes and descended on his circular blade magical tool.

As he descended, he activated another Yin Cold Pearl, then identified and picked a Green Flame Tree.

This Green Flame Tree was the closest to the underground fire, and its fruit was the best he had seen.

The fruit was easy to pick, but the Green Flame Tree Heart was more challenging. Due to its long growth, it was extremely tough. Even with a sharp mid-grade magical tool, it took him about a dozen breaths to extract it.

Just then, the collapsed fire vein entrance rumbled, clearly indicating that the magma had gathered enough force to break through the collapsed area.

He quickly placed the tree heart and fruit into the jade boxes, stored them in a jade slip, and was about to leave.

Suddenly!

"Chi!" A green light flashed from a nearby Green Flame Tree, moving extremely fast. Chu He only saw a flash in the corner of his eye, followed by a pain in his right arm.

He saw a unique Earth Flame Snake biting his right arm, with not only wings on its back but also four limbs tightly gripping his arm!

Xiao Bai, connected to his mind, immediately shot a cold light at its back.

A powerful force emerged, and despite being injured, Chu He grabbed the creature and threw it. It might have been frozen by Xiao Bai's attack, as it struggled only once before colliding with the rock wall.

It then flapped its wings and flew up before landing, its green eyes filled with hatred as it stared at Chu He.

Chu He broke out in a cold sweat, feeling weak and powerless. His mind had already driven the Purifying Fire to the wound. However, the poison was extremely potent, and if not for the enhanced Purifying Fire, he would have been in serious trouble.

Even so, after the Purifying Fire entered the transformation state, the remaining toxins still reduced his combat strength by about seventy percent.

With wings on its back and four limbs, this was clearly the king of the Earth Flame Snakes! Chu He realized.

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