Chapter 142: unusual Energy Fluctuation

"Perfect timing." Victor pushed off the ground and retreated.

Boom!

The pincers slammed into the spot where he had been standing, tearing two deep cracks through the ground.

Instead of counterattacking, Victor took advantage of the scorpion’s turning movement to circle toward the other side of the crystal pillar.

But the Molten-Armored Rock Scorpion had no intention of allowing him to approach the core of its lair so easily.

Its tail rose, and crimson fire-attribute mana gathered around the stinger. A blazing projectile shot toward Victor!

Whoosh!

Victor swiftly dodged to the side.

Boom!

The fiery projectile struck the rock wall behind him, blasting apart a large section of stone.

"Not bad at ranged attacks either."

Victor analyzed the creature’s attack rhythm.

A Level 30 magical beast at the peak of the First Tier was indeed far more formidable than the Level 25 fire lizards he had encountered outside, especially in such a confined environment, where the scorpion’s enormous body and thick carapace provided it with considerable advantages.

However, it also possessed one weakness.

Its turning speed was relatively slow.

Realizing this, Victor stopped retreating and charged toward the scorpion’s left side.

The Molten-Armored Rock Scorpion swung its enormous pincer to block his path.

But just as the pincer was about to strike, Victor’s figure vanished!

Shadow Blink!

Swoosh!

In the next instant, he appeared behind the scorpion’s right side!

The Crimson Flame Fang swept forward, its blade accurately striking the joint between two sections of the creature’s carapace!

Clang!

Sparks scattered in every direction!

Although the strike successfully tore open a narrow crack, it did not inflict any serious damage.

Victor, however, had never intended to finish the battle with that attack.

What he truly needed was to draw the magical beast away from the crystal pillar.

Sure enough, the Molten-Armored Rock Scorpion became completely enraged after being struck. It immediately lunged toward Victor in a frenzy!

Rather than remain and exchange blows, Victor deliberately moved toward the opposite end of the cavern.

As the two continued clashing, the distance between the scorpion and the crystal pillar gradually increased.

Finally, when the creature raised its tail once more in preparation for another fire-attribute attack, Victor stopped retreating.

"That should be enough." He glanced overhead.

Directly above them was the section of rock whose connections he had deliberately weakened earlier.

The next instant, Victor raised his sword!

A concentrated crimson slash erupted from the blade, accurately striking the heavily fractured rock above!

Crack!

The already unstable rock formation could no longer withstand the impact, and a large section of the ceiling collapsed!

Rumble!

Several enormous black boulders came crashing down one after another, smashing into the ground around the Molten-Armored Rock Scorpion!

The scorpion released a piercing screech and swung its massive pincers in an attempt to defend itself. However, the falling rocks were far too numerous, restricting its movements for the moment.

One particularly large boulder even landed directly on its tail!

Victor pushed off the ground at that exact moment.

Shadow Blink!

His figure vanished once more, and in the next instant, he reappeared beside the crystal pillar!

Without hesitation, he thrust the Crimson Flame Fang directly into the fractured gap at the pillar’s base, then forcefully wrenched the blade upward!

Crack!

With a sharp shattering sound, the entire crystal pillar broke free from the rock wall!

Victor reached out and caught it, revealing the fist-sized crimson crystal embedded within.

Incredibly dense and pure fire-element mana spread from the crystal!

"Just as I thought!"

Delight flashed across his face, but he did not waste time admiring his discovery.

Not far away, the Molten-Armored Rock Scorpion was already struggling violently beneath the fallen rocks. Several enormous boulders were beginning to shake under its tremendous strength.

Clearly, the debris would not restrain it for much longer.

Victor made his decision. He stored the entire crystal pillar inside his storage ring, then rushed toward the cavern’s side wall.

Using several protruding rocks as footholds, he quickly climbed back toward the opening through which he had entered.

Just as he reached the upper platform, an enraged roar erupted behind him!

Boom!

The Molten-Armored Rock Scorpion violently broke free from the rocks pinning it down. Its enormous body slammed wildly into the surrounding stone pillars, causing the entire cavern to tremble.

Victor glanced back.

The scorpion was waving its massive pincers, attempting to climb the rock wall in pursuit.

However, without the advantage of its familiar terrain, its enormous body was incapable of moving as flexibly as Victor.

"I’ll be taking this, then."

Victor smiled and casually waved his hand before departing along the platform.

After all, he had already obtained what he truly wanted.

...

A little over ten minutes later.

Redrock Canyon, on another relatively safe rocky platform.

After confirming that no magical beasts were active nearby, Victor stopped and retrieved the crystal pillar from his storage ring.

Upon examining it, he discovered that although most of the crystals contained a respectable amount of fire-element mana, their purity still fell short of his requirements.

The only truly valuable part was the fist-sized crimson crystal embedded at its base.

Victor extracted it and held it in his palm.

An exceptionally pure current of fire-element energy flowed into his hand.

Unlike ordinary fire crystals, the mana within this crystal was not only abundant but also remarkably stable. Even without external stimulation, it circulated in a unique pattern.

With a thought, Victor attempted to examine it using his fire affinity.

\[High-Purity Fire Element Core detected!\]

\[Item: High-Purity Fire Element Core\]

\[Quality: Rare\]

\[Contains highly concentrated fire-element energy. Can be used to assist fire-attribute professionals in cultivation and improve certain fire-element affinity talents.\]

Upon seeing this, Victor broke into a smile.

He had found it!

The first high-purity fire core!

Although he still needed two more, he had at least confirmed that the resources mentioned in the academy’s records were real.

More importantly, this exploration had revealed a useful method of locating them.

With his fire affinity, he could track ley line convergences far more keenly than ordinary professionals.

As long as he continued exploring areas with particularly active ley lines, his chances of finding the remaining two cores should be reasonably high.

Nevertheless, Victor did not allow his first success to make him careless.

The Level 30 Molten-Armored Rock Scorpion he had encountered was proof enough that such valuable resources rarely fell into an explorer’s hands without resistance.

If he encountered an even stronger guardian beast or an area with more dangerous terrain, repeating his previous strategy would probably not be so easy.

"Two more to go."

Victor stored the crystal away, then unfolded his map and checked his current position once more.

According to his planned route, continuing deeper into the canyon would gradually bring him closer to the second recorded production area for high-purity fire cores.

But just as he was about to set off, a deep rumbling vibration spread through the distant ground.

Rumble...

Victor raised his head.

Beneath a black mountain farther inside the canyon, a previously calm stream of lava had begun to churn violently. Several scorching pillars of fire erupted from the ground in rapid succession, illuminating the surrounding rocks with a brilliant crimson glow.

A surge of fire-element mana far denser than anything he had sensed earlier spread outward from that direction.

Victor stood still, examining the energy fluctuations.

That power did not resemble the fluctuations produced by ordinary fire-element ley line activity.

There seemed to be something else mixed within it.

An aura that was even more concentrated and far more intense.

The distance, however, was too great for him to determine exactly what it was.

Victor turned his attention back to the map.

That direction led toward the deeper parts of the middle region, an area for which the academy possessed relatively limited information.

He considered the situation but did not immediately rush over.

Now that he had obtained his first core, the most important thing was to determine what those unusual fluctuations actually signified.

If it was merely an ordinary ley line eruption, there would be no reason to take unnecessary risks.

But if that place truly contained an even more valuable fire-attribute resource...

Victor tightened his grip on the Crimson Flame Fang, his attention returning to the pillars of fire rising continuously in the distance.

He had no intention of allowing excessive caution to make him miss an opportunity right in front of him.

"I’ll go take a look first."

Having made his decision, Victor put away the map and continued along the rocky path beside the canyon, heading toward the region where the fire-element fluctuations were exceptionally intense.

Ahead of him, the previously calm lava ley lines seemed to be gradually growing more active.