Chapter 502: A Legendary Thing

Ye Wucheng’s bead struck true, injuring the Demon Patterned Beast’s hind leg. As expected, its movements slowed considerably.

After that, everyone contributed, and working together, they quickly took care of the Demon Patterned Beast.

When it was over, Lu Sangjiu volunteered to go and collect the Demon Patterned Beast’s corpse, using the opportunity to get a closer look at the wound on its hind leg.

‘Hmm… Besides the wound from the explosion, it looks like there are injuries from lightning, too?’

‘So that little ball contained lightning as well?’

She didn’t dare to look for too long. She quickly butchered the Demon Patterned Beast’s corpse, set aside the useful parts, then turned to divide them among the group.

As she was dividing the spoils, she spoke as if it were a casual thought, “Speaking of which, we have Ye to thank this time. You contributed the most, so you should have the Demon Patterned Beast’s teeth!”

Ye Wucheng was a very cold person. He merely grunted a soft “Mm” in response to her praise and accepted her kind offer.

Lu Sangjiu didn’t seem to mind. She continued smiling cheerfully. “By the way, Ye, that little ball you used was incredible. What was it?”

Ye Wucheng didn’t answer, but Fan Xing, who was standing beside him, covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled. “A little ball? That was a Thunder Bomb.”

“Haven’t you heard of them, Mr. Lu? That’s Ye’s signature technique.”

“With his Thunder Bombs, Ye can even kill people above his level.”

It was great that someone was willing to explain. Lu Sangjiu quickly feigned curiosity. “A Thunder Bomb? It’s that amazing? Is it some sort of High-level Magical Artifact?”

Fan Xing was about to say more, but Ye Wucheng cut her off. “That’s enough. We should keep moving.”

After he spoke, he shot Lu Sangjiu a cool glance. He didn’t say anything, but perhaps he had grown suspicious, or maybe he was simply displeased with her.

Lu Sangjiu felt a bit frustrated. ‘I was so close to learning something useful. Why did he have to interrupt?’

But this wasn’t the time to press the issue, or Ye Wucheng would really start to suspect her.

So, though she was reluctant, she had no choice but to fall silent and continue following the group deeper in.

With the Demon Patterned Beast dealt with, there were essentially no more dangers. They followed the path to the deepest part of the cave and found a small pool. In its center grew an Earth Fire Demon Lotus.

Fan Xing was overjoyed to see the Magic Lotus. “It really is an Earth Fire Demon Lotus! This is great! Judging by the richness of the Demonic Qi, it must be mature!”

However, she didn’t rush over. Instead, she observed her surroundings carefully and said, “An Earth Fire Demon Lotus needs at least Earth Fire to grow, but I don’t see any trace of flames yet. Nobody make a move. Let’s be cautious and observe first.”

Just then, the male cultivator named Sun Rang formed a hand seal and thrust his hands toward the water.

However, the surface of the water remained undisturbed. It seemed he was using this technique to observe what was underneath.

A moment later, Sun Rang withdrew his hands. “There’s an underground palace beneath the water,” he announced. “I can feel an intense heat coming from it. The Earth Fire might be in there.”

“An underground palace?” Fan Xing said, a little surprised. “So it isn’t growing here naturally? Is someone cultivating this Earth Fire Demon Lotus with Earth Fire on purpose?”

Just then, Ye Wucheng suddenly spoke up. “I’ll go down and take a look.”

Li Qifeng immediately added, “I’ll go too!”

Hearing this, Lu Sangjiu certainly wasn’t going to miss the opportunity. “I’ll go with you all!”

Since they didn’t know what the situation was like down below, having a few people go down while the others remained above was indeed the right decision.

Fan Xing didn’t overthink it and nodded. “Okay. You three go take a look. If there are no problems, we’ll harvest the Magic Lotus up here!”

Lu Sangjiu thought, ‘This Fan Xing is so naive. Hasn’t it occurred to her that there might be more than just Earth Fire down there?’

‘After all, if it were just a matter of cultivating a lotus with Earth Fire, there’d be no need to build an entire underground palace, would there?’

‘She suspected the reason Ye Wucheng was so quick to volunteer was that he also thought there might be treasure below.’

That was why his brow had furrowed imperceptibly when he heard Li Qifeng and Lu Sangjiu say they wanted to go too; he seemed reluctant.

But he probably couldn’t find a good reason to refuse, so in the end, he said nothing.

The three entered the water one by one, protective barriers shimmering around them. They quickly passed through the pool and arrived in the underground palace.

None of the three said a word. They simply kept a certain distance from one another as they slowly explored deeper into the underground palace.

There was indeed fire within the underground palace. They could feel the scorching heat the moment they arrived.

The trio passed through a long corridor, encountering several traps along the way.

No one helped anyone else, but it was clear they were all capable. In the end, they all made it through, shaken but unharmed.

It was only then that Li Qifeng glanced at Lu Sangjiu, a faint, mocking smile on his lips. “You have some real skill, Mr. Lu.”

Lu Sangjiu gave a cold, indifferent nod. “Li Dao You is not bad yourself.”

Ye Wucheng, however, paid no attention to either of them and simply quickened his pace.

Lu Sangjiu and Li Qifeng saw this and hurried to catch up. They didn’t expect that just as Ye Wucheng rounded a corner, a figure came hurtling back and slammed right into them.

Lu Sangjiu reacted quickly and dodged, but Li Qifeng wasn’t so lucky. Ye Wucheng crashed right into him, knocking him to the ground, and the two of them fell in a heap.

Li Qifeng was furious. “Ye, what do you think you’re doing?”

He couldn’t see Ye Wucheng’s condition, but Lu Sangjiu could. There were distinct black scorch marks on his body, as if he’d been struck by fire.

He scrambled up from on top of Li Qifeng, looking a little battered. He didn’t answer the question, merely frowning as he stared ahead.

Lu Sangjiu raised an eyebrow and stepped past the two men, taking a couple of cautious steps forward.

She was mindful of the distance, stopping just past the corner, and so she wasn’t attacked.

Her eyes, however, clearly saw a flame burning silently on a pedestal not far ahead.

The flame was pure black, and she could feel the immense energy it contained even without getting close.

Lu Sangjiu racked her brain but couldn’t identify what kind of fire it was.

The only thing she was sure of was that this was definitely not ordinary Earth Fire.

Just then, the two men caught up behind her. Seeing the flame, Li Qifeng couldn’t help but gasp, muttering under his breath, “Is that… the Demon Eye Fire?”

Lu Sangjiu turned around, curious. “Demon Eye Fire? What’s that?”

Li Qifeng must have felt there was no need to hide it, because he answered readily.

“The black flame born from a demon’s eye. That is the Demon Eye Fire… one of the four great Divine Fires of the Immortal Spirit Realm. It’s the stuff of legends.”

Lu Sangjiu was stunned. ‘There’s something legendary inside a minor Secret Realm like this?’

‘It sounds incredibly powerful.’

Just as she was about to ask another question, Li Qifeng, who was standing right beside her, suddenly attacked Ye Wucheng without any warning!