Chapter 727

Chapter 727: Fire God Lotus

However, it is just a mere Seventh-rank Great Demon, so no matter its appearance, it does not surprise Fang Lie. The only thing that truly astonishes him is the silver star at the very center of its forehead, clearly marked by someone’s Star Power.

This mark constantly radiates Star Power, as if reminding of its location.

Fang Lie is initially puzzled, but soon he realizes and cannot help but exclaim excitedly, "Hahaha, now I understand! It’s like searching everywhere but finding effortlessly! The fool from West Kunlun is really helping me a lot!"

This mark was placed there by the Thunder Tribulation Immortal from West Kunlun, clearly intended to monitor the Earth Fire Dragon Worms in the area.

Although the Earth Fire Secret Realm is closed and the Earth Fire Dragon Worms cannot escape, these creatures often dive into molten lava thousands, even tens of thousands of feet deep. Without specific monitoring methods, it is extremely difficult to count their numbers.

It is essential to know that the Earth Fire Dragon Worms are treasures for both East and West Kunlun. One side needs their flesh and blood to create ointments that enhance bodies, while the other needs their skin to craft banners and Dao Robes.

For the two Kunluns, these Earth Fire Dragon Worms are vital resources that must be protected at all costs.

Since they are already scarce, they need strict protection to prevent poaching. In fact, even between the two Kunluns, there is not enough trust; each fears the other will sneak in and poach one when they are not paying attention.

To prevent such incidents, they decided to mark each Earth Fire Dragon Worm with Star Marks. This way, every few years, both sects can dispatch disciples to inspect, easily noting the numbers without needing to search everywhere, and they no longer have to worry about sudden losses.

This measure has undoubtedly been extremely successful; at least for many thousands of years, there has never been a case of lost Earth Fire Dragon Worms here.

But now, it has unwittingly given Fang Lie, the poacher, a significant advantage.

Initially, Fang Lie thought that searching for Earth Fire Dragon Worms would be an incredibly complicated task, even contemplating using the Netherworld warship to assist in the search.

However, now with the guide of the Star Marks, all the locations of the Earth Fire Dragon Worms are clear, freeing Fang Lie from great trouble.

Fang Lie had expected to spend ten days or more to manage this task and was certain there would be stragglers, making it impossible to catch them all.

But now, Fang Lie can not only catch them all but could do so in just two or three days, which is a significant difference!

The former would leave seeds behind, allowing the population to recover over time, but now, the Earth Fire Dragon Worms will become extinct, at least as far as the two Kunlun sects are concerned.

Next, Fang Lie becomes excited, and all his clones launch a furious assault to capture the Earth Fire Dragon Worms.

The solitary nature of the Earth Fire Dragon Worms provides Fang Lie with great advantage in capturing them.

If they were to gather together, Fang Lie might have to engage in a tough battle and might even need to kill some.

But when spread out, the flying and teleporting Fang Lie becomes their nemesis.

From a distance, Fang Lie’s clones can find the Earth Fire Dragon Worms, while the creatures remain unaware of Fang Lie’s approach.

In this situation, ten clones of Fang Lie teleport next to one, using Jianku Reaches the Heavens, the ultimate divine skill, to directly imprison it in a sneak attack style. The rest is simply to pack it up and take it away.

This kind of hunting is almost too simple, to the point where Fang Lie feels a little embarrassed.

With Fang Lie’s current strength at over 80,000 miles in Qi Sea, even a Ninth-Rank Earth Fire Dragon Worm surrounded by ten Fang Lies can only surrender, having no power to resist.

In this way, things going so smoothly is simply maddening; within only a day, Fang Lie’s clones have caught all the Earth Fire Dragon Worms.

The total number is 1,200, including eight Ninth-Rank, three hundred Eighth-Rank, and the rest being Seventh-Rank or larvae.

In addition, Fang Lie also picked up many enormous bargains, namely the treasures from heaven and earth in the Earth Fire Dragon Worms’ nests.

The Earth Fire Secret Realm has an exceptionally abundant fire element Spiritual Energy, not only meeting the needs of the Earth Fire Dragon Worms but also allowing many fire element treasures to develop here, with Spirit Plants growing in abundance.

These items often reside at the spiritual eyes of the fire element Spiritual Veins, where the fire element energy is richest, and it is the most preferred habitat for the Earth Fire Dragon Worms, with many high-tier Earth Fire Dragon Worms building nests there.

Therefore, while capturing them, Fang Lie also conveniently collects countless treasures, such as Fire Crystals, Fire Steel, and Fire Jade, all of high quality.

In fact, the two Kunlun sects are aware that there are treasures here, but they only take Ninth-Rank materials, as Seventh and Eighth-Rank materials can still be upgraded in such places, and retrieving them early would be like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Even with Ninth-Rank materials, they only took what they needed, leaving most behind. After all, this place nourished the materials continuously; the longer they stayed, the higher their quality. Once brought to the sect, the quality would no longer be indicated, and keeping what wasn’t used was obviously a waste.

Their thinking was sound; the Secret Realm belonged to them, and they could come back to gather more anytime. However, they never expected a thief like Fang Lie would sweep away all the materials they were usually reluctant to take.

After Fang Lie collected these materials and the occasional appearance of Spirit Plants, he felt a bit anxious because the quantity was overwhelming. Not to mention the mountain of materials below Eighth-Rank, just the valuable Ninth-Rank materials stacked up to form a small hill. Selling them would easily trade for ten Eighth-Rank High-Grade treasures, possibly even at a loss!

This shows just how much Fang Lie had taken.

What appeared next shocked Fang Lie even more; it was a lotus pond spanning over a thousand miles filled with over a hundred thousand red Fire God Lotuses, including more than a hundred golden Ninth-Rank Fire God Lotuses.

Each Fire God Lotus was one zhang in size, making it a top-notch alchemy material that could also be refined into treasures.

If a fire element Cultivator sat on a Fire God Lotus to practice cultivation, they would gain much more power quickly and purer than taking pills, many times stronger! Each Fire God Lotus had lotus seeds; the Seventh-Rank ones took five hundred years to mature, yielding 108 Fire Lotus Seeds, which could be used for alchemy or consumed directly, equivalent to a Seventh-Rank High-Grade fire element spirit pill.

The Eighth-Rank Fire God Lotuses took a thousand years to mature, producing 72 Fire Seeds, usable for alchemy or as an Eighth-Rank High-Grade fire element spirit pill, enhancing not just magic but also greatly improving understanding of fire element Dao magic, making it a perfect tool for breaking through bottlenecks, valued like an ordinary Ninth-Rank spirit pill.

As for the highly prized Ninth-Rank golden Fire God Lotus, it bore fruit once every ten thousand years, yielding only 36 seeds each time. A bit of refining resulted in valuable Seventh-Rank treasures, and consuming one produced effects similar to a Ninth-Rank High-Grade spirit pill, drastically increasing a Cultivator’s understanding of fire element Dao magic, even effective for Semi-Immortals!

Clearly, the Ninth-Rank Fire God Lotuses produced the most supreme pills in the mortal world, making countless fire element Cultivators go mad for them.

It was said that to advance to Ninth-Rank, Fire God Lotuses required at least a hundred thousand years, confirming their immense rarity—a treasure left by their ancestors since ancient times.

If Fang Lie took all of them, West Kunlun would surely go insane.

Honestly, even the bold Fang Lie felt uneasy with such treasures and wanted to abandon them, but then he recalled how he had been ambushed by West Kunlun, betrayed after being kind. This ignited his wrath.

Without hesitation, he uprooted all the Fire God Lotuses, leaving not a single seed behind!

After doing this, Fang Lie didn’t rush out; he wandered within the million-mile Secret Realm, carefully setting up chaotic Destiny divine symbols.

Fang Lie felt like he had stirred up something significant and didn’t dare leave any trace, so he set up the divine symbols with great caution, calculating to ensure their power covered the entire Earth Fire Secret Realm.

Once everything was ready, Fang Lie controlled the Boundary-Breaking Divine Shuttle, locking onto the preset coordinates, and slipped away. Before leaving, he remembered to activate all the divine symbols.

After Fang Lie departed, dozens of chaotic Destiny divine symbols exploded simultaneously. Although they didn’t cause destruction, they completely scrambled the local Heavenly Dao’s secrets. Unless a deity descended, no one could deduce what had happened here.

Upon returning, Fang Lie quickly collected everything and detonated the last chaotic Destiny divine symbol, simultaneously rendering himself invisible as he left.

Shortly after Fang Lie’s departure, at a large town near the territory of West Kunlun, Immortal Lan Shan was sipping tea in a quiet room.

Suddenly, a wave of unease washed over him, causing the porcelain tea cup in his hand to slip and shatter into countless pieces.

Seeing this, Immortal Lan Shan froze. As a Semi-Immortal, he was not supposed to make such mistakes, but now it had happened, indicating one thing: a warning from the Heavenly Dao! Clearly, West Kunlun was in great trouble!

At that moment, his direct disciple, Daoist Tuguan, rushed in. He had been serving outside but hurried in upon hearing the noise.

He saw the broken tea cup, frowning and asking, "Master, did the tea go wrong?"

Clearly, he didn’t think it was a mistake and assumed Immortal Lan Shan, in a fit of rage, had smashed the cup!

Immortal Lan Shan looked regretful as he replied, "The tea was fine; I am the one at fault!"

"Master? What do you mean?" Daoist Tuguan asked in surprise.

"I accidentally broke it!" Immortal Lan Shan replied solemnly.

"Ah?" Daoist Tuguan exclaimed, "How could this be possible?"

"Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be, but there is one situation where it definitely could happen!" Immortal Lan Shan said angrily, "A warning from the Heavenly Dao; West Kunlun is in great danger! Fang Lie— it must be Fang Lie!"