The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

The three of them made a plan and set off from Chiyang Inn at dawn.

Shen Yifei and his two companions traveled for two days and arrived at the outer edge of Crimson Flame Valley on the evening of the second day.

Crimson Flame Valley was not quite what Shen Yifei had imagined.

He had initially imagined that, given its name, Crimson Flame Valley, it would be a desolate, molten lava landscape, shrouded in flames. But upon arriving, he found only a deathly silent valley.

The valley is surrounded by mountains on all sides, and the valley floor is covered with black stones. The surface of those stones is covered with fine cracks, as if they had been scorched by a raging fire.

Even more strangely, there was not a trace of heat in the entire valley; instead, there was a chilling, bone-deep feeling.

"This is Crimson Flame Valley?" Shen Yifei sensed something was wrong. "Shouldn't it be hot? Why is it chilly?"

Liu Mengli frowned as well. "In the memories of the Reincarnation Demon God, there should be a scorching underground fire vein in this place, and the bottom of the valley should be filled with rolling heat waves. But it looks like this... something's not right."

Shen Yifei thought of a possibility: "Could it be that he was also drained dry by that old bastard Huoxin?"

Ye Ling squatted down, closed her eyes and sensed for a moment, then said, "The fire vein is still there, but it's deep underground, and it's been sealed off. Someone must have set up a restriction later."

Liu Mengli leaned closer and probed the ground with her divine sense as well. "It's a mind-controlling technique combined with traditional demonic restrictions. In other words, he's been here before."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yifei understood that since Huoxin could drain the demon veins of the entire demon territory, it would naturally not let go of the Crimson Flame Valley, the fire vein.

This fire vein inherently contains the power of the five elements. If he were to draw life force from it, it would be much faster than if he were to condense the essence of myriad spirits' blood.

"Did he take the gold essence?" This was Shen Yifei's biggest worry.

Liu Mengli showed a relaxed expression: "Don't worry, the Golden Essence is still there. That thing has become one with the fire vein, and it's not something anyone can just take away. If Huoxin really wants to take the Golden Essence, he'll have to drain the entire fire vein. He probably thinks that keeping the Golden Essence will continue to nourish the fire vein's vitality, so he's reluctant to take it away."

When Shen Yifei heard from Liu Mengli that the Golden Essence was still there, a huge weight was lifted from his heart.

But another problem immediately occurred to him: "Golden essence is fused with the fire vein, how do we extract that stuff? We can't exactly move the entire fire vein, can we?"

Liu Mengli tilted her head and thought for a moment, "When Wan Shuo condensed the golden essence back then, it seems that he established a connection with the golden essence using his own divine sense. Only when the golden essence recognizes its master can it be taken away. If you want to take the golden essence, you probably have to make it recognize you first."

"Recognize a master? How do you do that?"

"Use your divine sense to touch it, let it feel your presence. You are the successor of Wan Shuo, and you possess the power of the Five Elements Demon God within you, so it shouldn't reject you."

After hearing Liu Mengli's words, Shen Yifei felt more confident.

The golden essence is still there. As long as we can get into the depths of the fire vein, see that thing, and then find a way to make it recognize us as its master, that will be fine.

But then another problem arises: how do we break the restrictions set up by the bewitching mind?

Liu Mengli closed her eyes and sifted through the memories of the Reincarnation Demon God for a long time. "That old bastard Huoxin's restrictions have a certain quirk. He usually leaves a beast core as the array eye. That beast is his watchdog, both stupid and fierce."

"What do you mean?"

"Once you kill this watchdog, the barrier will collapse on its own."

Shen Yifei raised an eyebrow: "It's that simple?"

"Hmm, it's that simple. It's like a watchdog for the Bewitching Heart... it's been raised for tens of thousands of years. It's at least a peak Tribulation Transcending cultivator."

Shen Yifei's lips twitched twice; he really wanted to slap Liu Mengli twice.

Ye Ling sensed it carefully. "There is indeed a living thing in the barrier, in the middle of the fire vein. That thing has already awakened."

"It's awake?" Shen Yifei was taken aback. "We haven't even touched it yet."

"It smelled human presence." Ye Ling stood up. "And it seems quite excited."

As soon as Ye Ling finished speaking, the ground beneath her feet suddenly trembled.

At the bottom of the entire Crimson Flame Valley, the black rocks crackled and popped, spewing out waves of heat from the cracks.

Immediately afterwards, a roar came from the depths of the earth, a sound that made Shen Yifei's teeth ache.

"Oh dear, Master, you're disturbing my sleep. This is morning grumpiness." Liu Mengli hugged Shen Yifei's arm. "Master, hold on, this heat... I can't stand it... I'm going back to the cauldron first."

Just then, as gravel flew everywhere, a dark figure darted out from the crack in the rock and landed three zhang away from Shen Yifei.

The monster was about the size of a calf, covered in a layer of blackish-red lava shell, with dark red flames seeping from the cracks in the shell. It had four short, thick legs, a long, thin tail, and a pair of curved horns on its head, the tips of which dripped scalding lava.

"What the hell is this thing?" Shen Yifei looked it up and down. "It's neither a dog nor a cow, it's really fucking ugly."

Ye Ling stood behind Shen Yifei and said coldly, "Lava Beast, a demonic beast that breeds in the Crimson Flame Valley's fire veins."

The lava beast seemed to understand human speech. When Shen Yifei called it ugly, it spewed out two plumes of black smoke from its nostrils and let out a low roar, seemingly very angry.

"Hey ugly thing, if you understand, nod. Let's talk this over. You move aside and let me go in to get something. After that, we'll leave each other alone. How about that?"

The lava beast raised its head and roared, then spewed out a mouthful of lava!

Shen Yifei was prepared and dodged to the side. The ball of lava crashed to the ground, instantly burning a large crater in the black stone, sizzling and emitting white smoke.

"Can't negotiate?" Shen Yifei chuckled. "Then I'll beat you until you can negotiate!"

Shen Yifei felt that this monster should be dealt with by the monster itself!

"Little monster, come out, there's something delicious to eat."

"Awooo!" With a long howl, the little monster emerged.

Shen Yifei took one look and exclaimed, "Ouch!"

The little guy had grown even bigger, now about the same size as the lava beast in front of him.

The moment the little monster burst out of Shen Yifei's body, it landed directly in front of the lava beast and let out a long howl.

The lava beast clearly hadn't expected Shen Yifei to be hiding something like this.

He paused for a moment, then lowered his head, exhaling two puffs of black smoke from his nostrils and making a series of low gurgling sounds, assuming a fighting stance.

The little monster didn't hold back either, baring its teeth at the lava beast, pressing its claws to the ground, and a ring of electric arcs crackled around its body.

Lava Beasts are creatures from the Fire Vein, and they are known for their violent nature. How could they tolerate being provoked by a Thunder Devourer?

It roared and poured a mouthful of lava down on the little monster's head like a fountain.

The little monster blurred into a streak of lightning. Lava crashed down where it had been standing, scorching the ground. In that instant, the little monster circled around to the side of the lava beast and bit down on its neck and molten shell.

"Snap!"

With a sharp crack, a fissure appeared on the lava shell around the lava beast's neck.

The little monster's teeth crackled with electricity as they drilled into the crack.

The lava beast let out a painful scream and frantically shook its head, trying to throw the little monster off.

But the little monster's teeth were firmly clenched, its four claws gripped the gaps in the lava shell, and its entire body clung to the lava beast's neck, refusing to let go.