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

The lava beast went berserk in pain, kicking wildly with its hooves and whipping its neck around, smashing the surrounding black rocks into countless fragments.

The little monster was thrown about wildly, but its teeth remained stuck in the cracks of the lava shell.

The lava beast rolled on the ground in pain, and magma gushed out from the cracks.

Ye Ling called out, "Don't just stand by and watch, go help!"

"No need for help, the little monster can take it down by itself!" Shen Yifei thought there was no problem.

"The Lava Beast's shell gets harder the more you fight it, and dragging it out will only cause more trouble!" Liu Mengli realized the trick.

Shen Yifei then realized that the magma gushing out of the crack in the lava beast had cooled and turned into rock on its body, becoming thicker and thicker.

If the little monster bites again, its teeth will get stuck in the lava beast's neck.

"Little monster, come back quickly!"

The little monster was biting so hard its mouth was practically spitting fire when it heard its master's call. Reluctantly, it let go of the food and darted back to Shen Yifei's side in a flash of lightning.

The lava beast regained its freedom, roared, and its size expanded even further. Its lava shell was nearly twice as thick as before, and the magma seeping from the cracks had turned a dark gold color.

Clearly, the temperature of the magma has risen considerably.

"Damn it, he gets stronger the more we fight, what's the point of fighting?" Shen Yifei cursed, and was about to summon the Long Sky Sword when Ye Ling stopped him.

"Don't bother with your sword, it's a waste of energy." Ye Ling looked at the lava beast with a cold gaze. "Things that grow in fire veins like this are unkillable as long as they're still there. Every time you slash at it, it burns off a layer of its shell to cover it up."

"What should we do then?"

"Remove it from the fire vein, cut it off at the root."

Shen Yifei's mind raced. "You mean... lure it away?"

Ye Ling did not answer. She swayed and transformed into a streak of black light, circling behind the lava beast and stabbing it in the buttocks with her spear.

Shen Yifei's buttocks tightened as he watched, but he shouted, "Wife, that's good!"

The spear tip, imbued with the red power of the Five Elements Demon God, pierced through the lava beast's rear, instantly creating a hole that sprayed lava everywhere.

The lava beast was stabbed in the buttocks by Ye Ling's spear, and roared angrily to the sky in pain.

It pounced on Ye Ling with all four hooves out.

Ye Ling was extremely fast; she specifically chose to run in open spaces.

The lava beast chased after them, causing the earth to shake and leaving a scorched crater in the ground with every step.

But the further away it is from Crimson Flame Valley, the slower it becomes.

The size of the lava beast is also shrinking.

Originally as big as a calf, after chasing for a while, it has shrunk to about the size of a large wolfhound.

"Haha! Honey, that was a brilliant move!" Shen Yifei shouted from behind.

Without turning her head, Ye Ling said, "Stop yelling and come help!"

Shen Yifei quickly drew his Changtian Sword, and a black sword aura slashed down, striking the lava beast's back and sending rocks flying.

The lava beast howled in pain and tried to turn around and bite him, but Ye Ling stabbed it in the face with a spear.

The lava beast suffered repeated blows, with more and more cracks appearing on its shell, and the magma almost stopped seeping out.

Just then, it suddenly stopped and turned to run back.

It has sensed the danger and wants to escape back to the fire vein.

"Trying to run?" Ye Ling flashed forward, blocking its path, and with a sweeping shot, forced it back.

Shen Yifei caught up from behind, and the two of them sandwiched the lava beast between them.

The lava beast charged left and right, but without the fire vein's supply, its strength grew weaker and weaker.

Finally, Shen Yifei cleaved his head open with a sword, revealing a layer of blood-red inner shell.

"Little monster! Charge!"

The little monster transformed into a bolt of lightning and darted out, biting into the lava beast's exposed blood-red inner shell.

With that bite, the lava beast let out a shrill scream, kicked its hooves, and collapsed to the ground.

The magma flowed out from the cracks in the inner crust and quickly dried up.

"This guy is really tough to deal with." Shen Yifei breathed a sigh of relief. "If it weren't for your good management skills, wife, we really wouldn't have been able to kill him."

Ye Ling glared at him irritably. "Enough nonsense. The Lava Beast is dead, and the Bewitching Heart's restriction should be broken too. Hurry up and go into the Fire Vein to find the Golden Essence."

The two returned to Crimson Flame Valley, where the ground, which had been sealed by the restriction, now had a huge crack, revealing a dark cave.

Looking down from the cave entrance, one can vaguely see a dark red light, the glow of magma deep within the fire vein.

Shen Yifei peered down and said, "It's deep enough, honey..."

Without a word, Ye Ling jumped down. Shen Yifei curled his lip; his tiger-woman was always more decisive than him.

The fire vein channel is very long, and the temperature increases as you go down.

However, both of them were protected by the aura of the Five Elements Demon God, so they could withstand that little bit of heat.

The passageway extended downwards for several hundred meters, and then the view suddenly opened up.

Below was a huge cavern, and in the very center of the cavern lay a dark red lava river, its water bubbling and churning, steaming hot.

Directly above the lava river, a fist-sized golden stone is suspended in the air.

The stone was entirely golden, like a polished gemstone. Golden light radiated out in concentric circles, illuminating the entire cave as bright as day.

"Golden Essence!" Shen Yifei shouted, pointing at the golden stone. "Found it!"

Just as he was about to step forward, he suddenly remembered something. "This thing was formed by Wan Shuo using the power of the five elements, so it should have a spirit. We can't just touch it directly. What if it doesn't recognize us? That would only make things worse."

Liu Mengli reminded her from inside the cauldron, "Master, I've told you before, you need to communicate with it using your divine sense and make it recognize you as its master!"

Shen Yifei condensed his divine sense into a thin line and slowly probed towards the golden essence.

As soon as his divine sense touched the golden essence, it was as if he had hit a red-hot iron rod. Shen Yifei hissed and gasped, immediately withdrawing his divine sense.

Seeing that Shen Yifei had been rebuffed, Liu Mengli laughed heartily, "Master, you should say a few nice words to it first, and introduce yourself."

"You want me to introduce myself to a rock?"

"Master, look at her! She's radiant with golden light, round and full—she's definitely a female!"

"Mengli, stop talking nonsense. It's true that this stone is full and there isn't even a crack. How can you tell if it's male or female?"

"Trust your gut feeling! Go up there and give it a try, start by introducing yourself."

Shen Yifei was speechless, but he couldn't ignore Liu Mengli's words, after all, she was now the Reincarnation Demon God.

Shen Yifei straightened his collar, cleared his throat, and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to Jin Jing. "Elder Sister Jin Jing, I am Shen Yifei, the Sect Master of the Tianyan Sect, and the successor of the Five Elements Demon God Wan Shuo. I have come here today to invite you back to the mountain with me, so that we..."

Before he could finish speaking, the piece of gold suddenly lit up, and a scorching wave of heat rushed towards him, turning the hair on Shen Yifei's head to ash.

"Ouch, damn it!" Shen Yifei quickly swatted out the sparks from his hair. "Big sister, I haven't finished speaking yet. Couldn't you have waited until I finished my pleasantries before you started?"

The golden light flashed again, this time accompanied by a string of golden arcs of electricity, which crackled and sparked as they fell into the lava river.

Shen Yifei was getting angry. "Why are you being so unreasonable? I'm trying to talk to you nicely, and you're acting all high and mighty. If you don't want to come with me, you can just say so. I'm not going to force you... uh... I'm not going to drag you away."

"Master, of course she's not happy that you call her 'Big Sister'!"