Douluo Continent: This Tang San is different

Chapter 276 Parasitic Plants in Magma: Crystal Lotus

Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.

The lava eruptions in the lava volcanic area have ceased, and smoke and dust are flying high into the sky in the strong winds, forming thick dark clouds. Lava flows on the ground, intersecting and converging in the ravines between the volcanoes.

It was a scene straight out of the apocalypse.

Within that lava, some golden, red, and silver crystalline minerals were revealed, radiating a fiery aura and shimmering faintly in the firelight of the lava.

hum-

The earth near the lava volcano trembled, and countless beasts and birds came from afar, some carrying flames, some emitting firelight, and rushed to the lava area where the volcanic eruption had ended. They used their sharp claws to dig through the semi-solidified lava, or used their sharp beaks to pick up the crystals inside, each displaying their unique abilities.

At this moment, even the soul beasts, who had a "prey" and "hunter" relationship with each other, did not have any conflict. They focused on finding various minerals and then consuming them.

The humans, on the other hand, watched from a distance, waiting for the soul beasts to have eaten and drunk their fill before they could take action.

In a sense, these humans who were searching for volcanic minerals were the earliest observers of volcanic ecology on the Douluo Continent. It's just a pity that almost no one was interested in the connection between these soul beasts and volcanoes. They were all thinking about mining minerals and collecting soul beast excrement later.

At this moment, the soul beasts ignored the two-legged creatures watching them eat, drink, and defecate, focusing instead on finding energy-rich ores to improve their cultivation.

Tang San and Huo Wu had found a path to a deeper area within the past seven days. Ignoring the hundred-year-old and thousand-year-old soul beasts, they headed straight for the deepest part of the lava volcano.

After traveling about 500 li, another volcano appeared before them, about 1,000 meters high. A deafening roar came from it, followed by a loud phoenix cry.

"What kind of spirit beast's cry is that?" Huo Wu asked.

"We're lucky." Tang San's spiritual power had already detected the appearances of the two soul beasts. With a smirk, he took the lead and began climbing the volcano.

Huo Wu hurriedly followed.

Upon reaching the edge of the crater, the lava below was slowly descending, revealing fan-shaped, platform-like black rock formations, each exceeding two hundred square meters in area.

On that rock wall were golden crystals the size of heads, within which flowed golden energy, and the emanating fluctuations caused the surrounding air to freeze.

"Based on Lou Gao's analysis of the metals and ores, this golden crystal is called Sun Crystal. It exists on the inner wall of a volcano and was born after being nurtured by magma for thousands of years. It contains surging fire-attribute energy and its explosive power is extremely strong, just like a sun falling into the earth."

Tang San explained, "Because they are difficult to harvest and prone to exploding, blacksmiths used to dislike these crystals. However, with the establishment of the Soul Guidance Technology City and the research on Soul Guidance Patterns, these crystals have regained their use as a power source to provide energy."

"But harvesting is still a big problem."

"However, some fire-attribute soul beasts can directly consume these crystals to refine their energy and improve their cultivation."

Right now, two soul beasts are collecting and consuming sun crystals.

One of them was over twenty meters tall, resembling a gorilla, but it had no hair on its body. Instead, it was covered with an outer armor that resembled lava, with wisps of reddish firelight shining through the gaps.

It gripped the black rocks, swung its arms, and leaped continuously, collecting the sun crystals. Every now and then, it would roar at another giant bird whose entire body was made of flames and light, as if asserting its dominance.

That bird was none other than the Radiant Cloud and Smoke Bird.

As it gnawed at the sun crystals on the volcanic rock wall, it also blasted fireballs at the Titan Fire Ape, seemingly trying to drive it away.

"Perfect! When the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits." Huo Wu was delighted, feeling lucky this time. "How many years are they respectively?"

"The Titan Fire Ape's cultivation level is judged by its size; depending on the situation, it's at least 50,000 years. The Radiant Cloud Smoke Bird's cultivation level, on the other hand, is judged by the number of phoenix feathers on its head. It takes 10,000 years for one feather to grow, and this one has six, indicating a cultivation level of 60,000 years." Tang San explained the cultivation levels of the two, then asked, "Have you decided which one to choose? The Titan Fire Ape? Or the Radiant Cloud Smoke Bird?"

The Titan Fire Ape is a fire-type creature with the ability to control gravity and possesses extreme power.

The Radiant Cloud Bird possesses both light and fire attributes, has a built-in levitation skill, and its entire body appears to be composed of energy.

"The Radiant Cloud Bird is the best choice. No matter how you look at it, it matches my Sun Goddess better. Although I do prefer the feeling of punches landing, I also have to consider my martial soul." Huo Wu hesitated for a while, but finally chose the Radiant Cloud Bird.

"Alright, let's wait until they're both exhausted." Tang San watched the battle between the two giant beasts below, while he and Huo Wu waited in comfort for the best opportunity to strike.

boom!

Enraged, the Titan Fire Ape exerted a little force, crushing a piece of black rock. It immediately lost its balance and tumbled downwards.

Fortunately, his arms were agile, and he slammed them into the inner wall of the volcano, restraining his body. But the inner wall suddenly broke, revealing a huge hole.

Titan Fire Ape twitched its nose, abandoned its fight with the Radiant Cloud Smoke Bird, and ran inside without looking back.

The Radiant Cloud Smoke Bird seemed to have also sensed something that attracted it, and flew in as well.

In the blink of an eye, the two disappeared without a trace.

"What should we do now?" Huo Wu was shocked. She hadn't expected such a turn of events. The Titan Fire Ape had actually broken through the barrier and found an opening.

"Let's go in and take a look." Tang San decided to investigate, so he jumped into the crater and leaped along the black rock platform on the edge towards the dark cave entrance.

Fire Dance followed closely behind.

Upon arriving at the cave entrance, Huo Wu sensed an extremely dense fire-attribute energy of heaven and earth, mixed with light-attribute energy, causing her Sun Goddess Martial Soul to tremble, as if urging her to hurry inside.

"There must be treasures with the two extreme attributes of light and fire inside!" Tang San took out a soul-guided lighting device similar to a flashlight from his storage wristband and led Huo Wu inside.

Following the footprints left by the Titan Fire Ape on the ground, the two moved forward quickly. In less than ten minutes, Tang San realized that he and Huo Wu and the others were running down the inner edge of the volcano.

Inside the volcano's inner wall, there are spiral staircases leading downwards!

However, the volcano is cone-shaped, and for every ten meters it descends, the circumference they need to run around it increases. Fortunately, both of them are Soul Masters, and on the way to the lava volcano area, Tang San had already passed on various unique skills to Huo Wu. The Traveler's Running Technique in the Free and Easy Wind Riding: Nine Steps to the Sky unfolds, and the speed is undeniably fast.

In about half an hour, the two of them had already circled the spiral-shaped inner wall of the volcano and saw the exit ahead, which was about 100 meters high and about 50 meters wide.

A rich crimson light shone from the cave entrance, radiating a scorching heat.

Tang San looked around and saw several streams of lava cascading down like waterfalls, but what lay below was not the lava pool he had imagined, but a large island composed of sun crystals...

At the center of that island made of sun crystals, there was a huge golden lotus-shaped plant, its entire body a brilliant gold, shining brightly in the light of the lava fire.

Titan Fire Ape and Radiant Cloud Smoke Bird were running towards the lotus flower.

"What is that?" Huo Wu asked. "Is it something like the rare herbs or treasures you brought back from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well?"

"I'm afraid so." Tang San nodded, but he didn't know what it was, so he spared a bit of his attention to ask the know-it-all in his mind.

"I'm certainly not an expert," Electrox retorted, then carefully examined the lotus flower with his divine sense, sighing, "I never imagined such a thing actually existed!"

"What exactly is this?"

Tang San pressed on, "All I can see is that even if a Soul Master who is not of the Light or Fire attribute takes this thing, they will still benefit greatly, and it may even cause their Martial Soul to evolve, and evolve to the extreme of the Light or Fire attribute."

"When I was still alive, I found a secret document that described a strange plant shaped like a lotus." Electrolux sat cross-legged in Tang San's upper dantian, resting his chin on his hand, and slowly recounted what he knew. "Legend has it that each plane is an unawakened life. The earth and the ocean are its skin, the rock layers are its muscles, the magma is its blood, and the core is its soul."

"And the creatures living on the earth and in the ocean, including humans, are just insignificant parasites, not even that."

"The real 'parasite' is the being that feeds on His blood energy—"

"Crystal Lotus".

"A unique plant that draws energy from magma to survive."

"The places where this plant is found are usually home to large-scale volcanic clusters, a means by which the will of the plane removes it from its 'blood'..."

"This crystal lotus should have been located deeper in the magma, but due to this volcanic eruption, it was pushed to a region closer to the outer layer of the earth."

"Now I believe it to be true, and it's similar to what you told the Fire Dancer about how creatures adapt to their environment. For example, fish can't live without water, and fire spirit snakes can't adapt to air. This crystal lotus can't adapt to a non-magma environment either."

"Originally, this crystal lotus should have been ejected and then withered and died in the air, but this one was lucky. It was blocked by the magma in this place instead of being ejected directly from that big mouth. However, the temperature here is extremely low compared to the inner layer of the magma. It's like a person suddenly going from a normal temperature environment to a temperature environment of minus ten degrees Celsius."

"It is estimated that this will cause great damage to the Crystal Lotus, and it will take three hundred years to recover... This also created the legend of this lava world in the Lava City outside."

As Electrox finished speaking, the Titan Fire Ape and the Radiant Cloud Smoke Bird had already approached the crystal lotus...

(End of this chapter)