Starting from Douluo Continent, I've become a god through daily check-ins.

Chapter 557 Searching for the Fire

As the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame drew closer, the terrifying heat it emitted caused even Elder Yao to show a hint of shock on his face. Clearly, the energy contained within this strange flame, ranked nineteenth on the Strange Flame Ranking, was somewhat beyond his expectations.

When the massive azure flame stopped about a meter in front of Jing Chen, even though the interior of the cave had been stripped away by Yao Lao's soul power, the terrifyingly high temperature it emitted still caused some of the hard bluestone inside the cave to gradually crack. After a moment, the boulder turned into small pebbles, which were then burned into piles of fine azure powder.

With a solemn expression, Yao Lao stared at the enormous azure flame hovering before Jing Chen. Suddenly, the surface of Yao Lao's slightly ethereal body rippled violently like water. Seeing the change in himself, Yao Lao's expression shifted slightly. His hands flashed into a hand seal, and with a low shout, a chilling white flame rapidly rose from his body, only gradually subsiding after completely enveloping his body.

After summoning the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, Yao Lao's figure finally returned to calm. He took a few steps back, his face grave as he stared at the churning azure flames. He quickly said, "Put your palm into the azure flames. At the center of that strange fire, there is a wisp of fire. Grab it out! Hurry!"

Upon hearing Yao Lao's words, Jing Chen's body trembled violently, his eyes widening beneath his blood-red keratin layer. He gave a slightly incredulous twitch of his lips. Was this really absorbing a strange fire, or courting death? Reaching into the strange fire to find a spark?

However, there's no better way at the moment. Jing Chen can only do as Yao Lao says. After a moment, Jing Chen calmed himself down from his astonishment. Since Yao Lao said so, he would do it. Jing Chen had no experience in devouring strange flames, so he could only follow Yao Lao's every instruction.

Although any slight mistake during the process of devouring the strange fire would result in being devoured by the fire and reduced to ashes, Jing Chen still placed complete trust in Yao Lao.

Nodding imperceptibly, Jing Chen suddenly raised his head, staring intently at the approaching cyan flames. His slightly trembling hands opened and closed slightly, ready to rush into the strange fire at any moment.

When the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame reached within two or three feet of Jing Chen, a huge hole had already been burned into the surrounding rocks and ground. And this was only with Yao Lao's efforts to protect it; if Yao Lao were to remove his soul power protection now, the entire mountain would be burned to ashes by the strange fire in a very short time.

Sitting on the lotus throne, the lotus released a faint blue light shield. This shield blocked most of the temperature of the strange fire for Jing Chen. However, even so, some residual heat still seeped in, leaving drops of crimson liquid on the blood-red keratin layer.

His dark eyes reflected the eerie blue flames. Jing Chen stared at the enormous flames that had stopped in front of him, his throat bobbing slightly. At a certain moment, he gritted his teeth and slowly extended his arm, covered by a layer of blood-red keratin, into the ball of blue lotus earth core fire.

As the arm gradually extended into the Azure Lotus Earth Core, the blood-red keratin layer covering it began to melt rapidly. Drops of liquid, resembling fresh blood, dripped down, and each time these drops detached from the arm, they were quickly incinerated by the azure flames into nothingness.

Although the blood-red keratin layer melted extremely quickly in the strange fire, as it melted, the medicinal power of the Blood Lotus Pill within Jing Chen's body once again released a continuous stream of icy energy. This energy traversed the meridians and finally quickly repaired the melted blood-red keratin layer on his arm.

In this cycle of continuous melting and repair, Jing Chen's arm finally reached completely into the strange fire.

Upon such close contact with the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame, Jing Chen's entire body's crimson keratin layer melted to varying degrees, then dripped crimson liquid like flowing water, appearing as if blood was constantly seeping from his capillaries. His monstrous face was now covered in the gushing blood, making him look like a demon crawling out of hell, utterly terrifying.

His eyes were fixed intently on the churning blue flames, his hands moving rapidly within the strange fire. This was the first time he had ever been so close to a strange fire uncontrolled by anyone. While he felt a strange sense of novelty, he was mostly filled with unease and trepidation. In this situation, if the blood-red keratin layer on his arm couldn't be repaired in time, he would likely be reduced to ashes within mere seconds.

Beneath the blood-red stratum corneum, sweat dripped from Jing Chen's forehead and into his eyes. Although it stung and hurt, he didn't dare to blink. He pursed his lips and his hands moved inch by inch in the blue flames.

While searching for the nano-fire seed of the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame, Jing Chen couldn't help but feel shocked and amazed by the high temperature of this strange fire. The high temperature it contained far exceeded Jing Chen's expectations. Even when preparing to break through to the next level, the terrifying high temperature carried by the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame still slowly penetrated the blood-red keratin layer and the protection of the Azure Lotus energy shield, making Jing Chen's skin as red as a red-hot iron.

Gritting his teeth and enduring the intense burning pain, Jing Chen quickly glanced around and was somewhat horrified to find that the surrounding cave, which was not very spacious to begin with, had now been expanded by almost double.

At this moment, the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame seemed to have sensed Jing Chen's actions. Instantly, the azure flames surged violently, and the energy of heaven and earth contained in the surrounding space also seemed to erupt at this moment. The mottled energy of various colors flowed slowly, like a five-colored river, which was extremely dazzling.

Multicolored, mottled energy swirled around the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame. Occasionally, a cluster of flames would leap up, instantly turning these circular, mottled energy rings into something resembling a pie with a bite taken out of it, missing corners and edges.

As the Azure Lotus Earth Core Flame suddenly erupted, the already terrifying temperature inside the cave surged even higher. The surrounding caverns also began to crack rapidly under this sudden increase in temperature, with massive fissures quietly spreading and covering the entire cavern in just a short time. Judging from the mangled interior, it would likely have collapsed long ago had it not been for Elder Yao's support.

(End of this chapter)