Battle Through the Heavens: Purple Heaven Thunder Emperor

Chapter 77: Could it be a different kind of fire?

As the moon sets and crows cry, a faint white light appears on the horizon of the Tagor Desert, signaling the approach of a new day.

A weathered man ran excitedly to the sand dune and shouted:

"Commander, Commander, we've discovered an underground passage!"

"Alright, everyone, you've worked hard!" Xiao Ding was delighted to hear this. After dismissing his subordinates, he looked at Xiao Bai to the side.

Xiao Bai actually knew this the moment they dug through, because the passage was constantly emitting large amounts of fire energy fluctuations.

"Qinglin, Qinglin, wake up!" Xiao Bai gently shook the little girl sleeping soundly in his arms, feeling a little helpless.

This girl refused to go to the tent last night, even vowing to stay here with her young master, but she couldn't stay awake and fell asleep.

Qinglin opened her big eyes, still a little groggy, and rubbed them. She was momentarily lost in thought before realizing where she was. She quickly stood up, fidgeting with her fingers, and called out, "Young Master, Qinglin, Qinglin."

"Alright! Don't worry about it!" Xiao Bai stood up, patted her head gently, and then said to Xiao Ding, Xiao Li, and Hai Bodong beside him, "Let's go take a look!"

The group headed towards the tunnel. Qinglin watched Xiao Bai's retreating figure, bit her lip, feeling a little guilty, and then hurriedly followed.

"Such rich fire elemental energy!" Hai Bodong, who had been acting like he was invisible for the past few days, exclaimed as he looked at the dark cave entrance.

"That means we've found the right place! Let's go down and take a look!" Xiao Bai felt the abundant energy around him and was very happy. After saying that, he led Qing Lin inside first.

The passage wasn't vertically downwards, but rather sloped downwards. Although it was a bit steep, it was no different from flat ground for the group.

"Big brother, you go down with this guy! I'll guard the passage from up here to prevent anyone from collapsing it!" Xiao Li said earnestly to Xiao Ding.

"Second brother is so thoughtful. Then I'll take a few brothers who are good at detection first. You be careful up there!" Xiao Ding patted Xiao Li with satisfaction. His second brother was always very cautious, as long as he wasn't facing Xiao Bai.

"Big brother, be careful when you go down, and also... remind that arrogant bastard!" Xiao Li hesitated for a moment, then said through gritted teeth.

Xiao Ding chuckled inwardly. The two guys nodded and called a few people to follow them.

Inside the passage, the group held moonstones, illuminating the dark passage brightly until they reached the end of the mercenaries' excavation.

"There are so many forks in the road here, should I call a few brothers to go and explore?" Looking at the rock layer at the end of the yellow sand passage, which had more than a dozen branching passages, Xiao Ding stepped forward and said.

"No need, just follow me!" Xiao Bai shook his head and led Qing Lin directly into one of the passages.

Seeing that he randomly chose one and went in, Xiao Ding sighed inwardly.

"Follow him! You can't go wrong!" Hai Bodong passed by him, glanced at Xiao Ding who was hesitant, and said calmly.

A Battle King can mobilize external energy, but this requires a certain level of perception of external energy.

Although he is currently sealed, his Douhuang senses are still intact. Following these senses, he can determine where the energy is most concentrated, so he has no objection to Xiao Bai's choice.

Xiao Ding looked at the mysterious old man who had always kept a low profile in the Mo Tie Mercenary Group, and nodded with a wry smile. He had always prided himself on his wisdom and resourcefulness, but it seemed that it was completely useless now. These guys were all unfathomable.

As they went deeper, the passage became increasingly hot and dry. Xiao Bai knew they were not far from the lava, so he stopped.

Looking at the people Xiao Ding had brought behind him, all of them were sweating profusely and their faces were flushed. Xiao Bai knew they had reached their limit.

"You've all worked hard, go back now! I've placed a moonstone at each fork in the road, just follow the route!" Xiao Bai said loudly.

He didn't stop them from coming in before because he didn't know if the situation inside would require their help, but now that he has sensed the location of the underground magma, these people won't have to suffer along with him.

"Can you still hold on?" Xiao Bai asked, looking at Xiao Ding, whose face was covered in sweat.

"Can!"

Xiao Bai nodded, then looked at Qing Lin, who had been following him. This girl, with her first-stage Dou Qi cultivation, was even more composed and calm than Xiao Ding, a five-star Dou Shi.

Xiao Bai could sense a constant flow of cold, yin energy within her body. It was this cold energy that allowed Qing Lin to maintain her composure. He couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

"What an amazing constitution!"

Qinglin had to go down with him this time. At first, he thought she would need his protection to go down, but it turned out that the girl didn't need it at all, which made Hai Bodong, who was standing next to her, look at her frequently.

For the next leg of the journey, the four quickened their pace. After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, they turned a corner, and a faint red light appeared in the passage.

"arrive!"

Xiao Bai looked at the end of the crimson passage not far away and walked quickly towards it.

At the end of the passage was a small platform, where several people stood, looking at the fiery red world before them with expressions of shock.

In the vast underground space, red magma flowed slowly, occasionally bubbling and rising with enormous bubbles. These bubbles floated on the surface of the magma, and after a moment, they burst open with a series of popping sounds, throwing the scorching magma high into the air like fiery red fireworks.

"I never imagined that such a magnificent underground magma world existed outside of Stone Desert City!" Xiao Ding exclaimed in amazement, his body enveloped in a layer of deep green light and his face covered in sweat.

Outside the passage, Xiao Li, who was guarding the entrance, noticed several bright red foxes on a sand dune about a kilometer away, constantly looking in his direction.

The Desert Fire Fox is a common Tier 1 fire-attribute magical beast in the Tagor Desert, and is extremely sensitive to fluctuations in fire-attribute energy.

They generally prefer to build their lair in places with abundant fire-attribute energy. Some fire cultivators like to follow these foxes and occupy their lairs to cultivate.

Although these foxes are magical beasts, they do not actively harm people. They feed on scorpions and venomous snakes in the desert, so Xiao Li only glanced at them and lost interest.

These desert fire foxes were definitely attracted by the fire-attribute energy emanating from the passage. As long as they didn't get close, Xiao Li didn't bother with them.

But he didn't notice that at this moment, one of the foxes had a faint snake-shaped mark on its forehead beneath its fiery red fur, and the mark emitted a faint purple-green light.

A thousand miles away, amidst a stretch of yellow sand, a charming and alluring figure suddenly turned around, her majestic phoenix eyes looking towards the direction of Stone Desert City, carefully sensing the fluctuations emanating from there. There was no mistake; this was the intense fluctuation emanating from the Desert Fire Fox whose seal had been triggered.

"Such concentrated fire-attribute energy, could it be a strange flame?"

(End of this chapter)