Are you really trying to cultivate immortality? Something feels off.

*

"Just let me kneel," Xie Weixing said helplessly. "If you kneel with me, your master will definitely think you're threatening him with your own life, and that will make him even angrier."

Tan Suiting held the hair ribbon hanging from his ponytail in her palm, her eyelashes lowered slightly: "Let him be. I don't want you to be punished alone."

Xie Weixing looked at the childlike cheeks of the dragon boy when he lowered his head, and his heart suddenly softened with sweetness. He smiled and whispered, "Thank you, Little Dragon Prince."

"What have you been busy with these past few days?" Tan Suiting asked, a little puzzled and a little unhappy. "You're not coming to Hanxin Lake with me."

Xie Weixing blinked, then realized, "Oh. I was studying that magic manual."

"So that's why you were dozing off in the Sun and Moon Palace?"

Xie Weixing nodded.

Tan Suiting pursed his lips: "I thought you didn't want to practice swordsmanship with me anymore."

"How could that be?" Xie Weixing quickly became obsequious. "Of course I'd like to practice swordsmanship with you, Dragon Lord. We're best friends."

Upon hearing this, the little dragon was delighted, lowered its head, and gently raised the corners of its lips, completely forgetting that it was going to suffer in the Li Huo Mountains the next day.

"You have to spend time with me during my holiday in a few days," he said.

Xie Weixing, who also wanted to rest, readily agreed: "Sure, where do you want to go? Your senior brother will go with you. We can even steal the old man's assorted potato and meat sauce steamed buns..."

Feng Jilan built several small kitchens behind the Hall of Longevity, and the food he cooked was top-notch; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to fatten up all his close disciples.

Xie Weixing's mouth watered just thinking about it, and he was even fantasizing about giant steamed buns...

"Let's go to Cold Heart Lake to practice our swordsmanship," Tan Suiting said calmly, his eyes cold and aloof.

Xie Weixing: ...

It seemed as if I could hear the sound of my own heart breaking.

All dreams have shattered.

What kind of holiday is this?

Seeing his silence, His Highness the Crown Prince frowned and stared straight at him: "You don't want to?"

Xie Weixing's lips twitched: "...I'm willing."

How could he bear to refuse a little dragon prince who was willing to kneel with him as punishment?

He was more than willing.

Tan Suiting was satisfied. He wrapped the crimson hair ribbon, which he had crumpled in his palm, around his fingertips and smiled slightly. "That's good."

*

Early the next morning, the five people were thrown by Feng Jilan to the Li Huo Mountain Range.

As the name suggests, this is a continuous mountain range.

There was a fire at the foot of the mountain, steaming the entire land and leaving it bare; the rugged, winding path seemed to have no end in sight.

The deeper you go, the closer you get to the fire source, and the higher the temperature gets.

Nie Zhao has a fire elemental root, while Tan Suiting has two elemental roots, one of which is a space elemental root, so they are relatively relaxed.

As a wind spirit root, Yu Xintang could barely survive.

The remaining two, Shen Chunri with a wood elemental root and Xie Weixing who can only use water and ice elemental roots, are going to suffer greatly.

"The Lihuo Mountain Range is thirty-five li long," Xie Weixing began. "We'll divide it into seven sections, each five li long. The closer we get to the exit, the higher the temperature. I'll start taking measurements from here. Later on, I might get dizzy and weak from exhaustion, so the data won't be accurate. Senior Sister is sensitive to fire, so she can verify my measurements with the temperature she feels."

Shen Chunri blinked: "Xie Kunkun, I'm really not good enough for you. Do you have to take your punishment so seriously? When I found out yesterday that I had to climb the Lihuo Mountain Range, I just wanted to die on the spot."

"This is very beneficial for cultivation," Xie Weixing raised an eyebrow. "You can die all you want, I have my own plans."

He never begged anyone or anything to be lenient with him, because he was always the kind of person who insisted on challenging fate.

Shen Chunri: ?

She squinted: "Do you want to fight?"

Xie Weixing remained calm, raising his hand to gently tighten the hairband, looking very arrogant and cool: "I'll be waiting for you to duel on the killing platform."

"Fine, let's fight like this," Shen Chunri said, hands on her hips. "If you lose, you'll run naked around the sect three times!"

Xie Weixing laughed: "Where do you get your confidence from, you stinky bastard?"

Shen Chunri turned to the side and shouted, "Yu Xintang, go! Bite him!"

Yu Xintang laughed in exasperation: "Your mother..."

Xie Weixing's witty banter lifted everyone's spirits considerably after being punished by their master.

The first seventh of the journey was manageable, and even these close disciples could occasionally crack a dry joke to relax.

Two-sevenths of the way through, the temperature rose noticeably, and the group's conversations decreased. Shen Chunri was already feeling unwell, and she frowned slightly.

"Are you alright?" Yu Xintang lit a talisman in her palm.

A protective charm against cold.

Before coming to the Li Huo Mountain Range, Master and Uncle gave us half a day to prepare.

He drew talismans until midnight last night, only stopping when he exhausted his spiritual power and fainted.

Falling asleep in bed in 0 seconds is quite convenient and works faster than calming incense.

I filled a whole bag with the high-quality talisman paper I bought before, as if it were free.

With the protective amulet, Shen Chunri's complexion improved noticeably. She gently shook her head and said, "We've only gone so far... Use it sparingly, second generation."

"Um."

The Qinghan Protective Talisman is a Golden Core Realm talisman, and it is made of high-grade talisman paper. Yu Xintang was exhausted last night and only managed to draw more than thirty of them.

Not to mention that Feng Jilan sealed half of their spiritual power before they came today.

The road ahead will be extremely difficult.

Three-sevenths.

Everyone fell silent, occasionally offering reminders about lava and warnings to stay away. The surface rocks were scorching hot from the underground fire, and from a distance, the entire mountain appeared to be shrouded in mist.

Even though Nie Zhao has a top-grade fire spirit root, he is now protected by phoenix fire.

Tan Suiting used spatial isolation to shield himself from the high temperature. Although it consumed a lot of spiritual energy, it was temporarily harmless.

Xie Weixing had tried it yesterday. As long as you control it carefully, you can quickly cool down by turning the Bodhi Ice Sprout into a thin layer to wrap around your body. Although it can only last for a short time under the high temperature of the Lihuo Mountain Range and will soon melt and evaporate, the effect is very good.

Moreover, it consumes very little spiritual energy.

Low-level spirit beasts began to appear frequently from the side, eyeing them menacingly.

Due to its harsh geographical environment, the Li Huo Mountain Range is virtually uninhabitable by any high-level spirit beasts.

But there's a saying that it's easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with his underlings. If you're targeted by these spirit beasts that live in the Li Huo Mountains year-round, and their numbers increase, it won't be a good thing.

Yu Xintang interlaced her fingers, bending her middle and ring fingers, and slammed a formation onto the ground.

"Pure Crystal!"

A verdant barrier surrounded them, and the spirit beasts that had dared to peek out quickly retreated.

Shen Chunri's face flushed, and he raised his hand to wipe away the sweat before feeding himself a pill.

Feng Jilan only left her a storage device, which was filled with about twenty Biluo Rejuvenation Pills.

These were just made yesterday. The rest were confiscated.

Four-sevenths of the ground was covered with crimson lines.

Yu Xintang had exhausted most of her spiritual power and could no longer maintain the Glazed Purification Array; her forehead was covered in sweat.

The Li Huo Mountain Range was already difficult to traverse, let alone the fact that they were there to be punished, having their other items confiscated and half of their spiritual power sealed.

"Sumeru Guide." Tan Suiting took over from him, enveloping the space where the five people were walking.