Btth: The Rise of Qingshan

At the end of the underground passage, a wave of red light swept over, illuminating Yan Qingshan's and Qing Ling's faces with a dazzling crimson glow.

In the huge cave before Yan Qingshan, fiery red lava flowed slowly in an area resembling a lava lake. Occasionally, huge bubbles emerged from the lava, creating quite a commotion.

With a soft sound, boom, it burst open, and scorching lava shot out, as splendid as a fiery red firework. The boiling lava rippled, bringing waves of heat.

"Young Master, is this what you're looking for?"

Qing Ling looked at the almost endless lava world before her, feeling shocked and worried. She unconsciously tightened her grip on Yan Qingshan's hand.

She never expected that there would be such a lava world under Rock Desert City, and she didn't know what Yan Qingshan was looking for. However, she could sense the hidden danger within.

Yan Qingshan didn't reply. His cultivation was much higher than Qing Ling's, but he looked even more distressed. His clothes were soaked, and his Dou Qi was difficult to circulate. The wood attribute was suppressed too terribly in this place.

Qing Ling was by Yan Qingshan's side. Although her cultivation was not yet at the Dou Zhe level, she appeared more composed, seemingly unaffected.

"Young Master!"

A cold little hand gently grabbed Yan Qingshan's hand, which was wiping sweat. Qing Ling timidly said, "There seems to be something hidden in this lava. Let's not go any further, okay?"

"Qing Ling, where is what you sensed!"

Yan Qingshan looked around but only found some red stones and lava bubbles. Hearing this, he quickly looked down and asked Qing Ling.

Qing Ling's pair of emerald eyes met his blue glowing eyes. She subconsciously avoided eye contact and pointed to a spot in the endless fiery red lava.

"Young Master, there seems to be something inside the lava over there. I can feel a faint aura... It's very strong... stronger than Chief Luo Bu of the Sand Mercenary Group in Rock Desert City..."

Qing Ling stared intently at a spot in the constantly rolling lava. A faint glow appeared in her emerald eyes, as if she could see through the lava and the mysterious thing hidden beneath.

"Stronger than Luo Bu, that should be the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent. The problem now is, how to lure it out and let Qing Ling make a contract with it!"

Yan Qingshan's blue glowing eyes flickered with electric light. He pushed his soul perception to the limit, and with Qing Ling's guidance, he vaguely sensed the sleeping two-headed giant snake beneath the lava. It was the most powerful being Yan Qingshan had ever seen.

Yan Qingshan wasn't foolish enough to provoke the Flame Spirit Serpent now. This lava land was its home, and here, the Flame Spirit Serpent was even more difficult to deal with than a Dou King.

Moreover, Yan Qingshan could sense that this was not an ordinary fourth-rank magical beast.

It had accumulated vast power in its body and was probably at the peak of the fourth rank, transforming into the fifth rank.

With just a chance, it could become a fifth-rank magical beast, comparable to a Dou King, not weak on the entire continent.

The strength of the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent was beyond Yan Qingshan's imagination. The encounters with the Yellow Sand Magic Scorpion group and the unexpectedly powerful Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent seemed to deviate from the original story.

In fact, this was normal. In a real world, how could everything be exactly the same as in the book?

However, according to Yan Qingshan's speculation, the weakened strength of the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent encountered by Xiao Yan was related to Queen Medusa, who came to seize the Heavenly Flame few years later.

When Queen Medusa took away the Green Lotus Core Flame, she left behind many scales, which seemed to confirm that she had gone through a great battle to succeed.

The opponent of this great battle, besides the Green Lotus Core Flame, which instinctively resisted, was the guardian beast of the lava land, the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent.

Judging from the fear the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent showed when mentioning Medusa in the future, it must have suffered a great loss.

Xiao Yan encountered not the peak Flame Spirit Serpent, but a Flame Spirit Serpent that was injured and still recovering, so its strength was weaker.

It was precisely because the Flame Spirit Serpent itself was still injured that it was so easily subdued by Qing Ling later, and it was also because of the injury that it could not defeat Mo Cheng of the Dou Spirit level, which led to Qing Ling being captured later.

…

Beside the underground lava lake, a figure spread its purple wings and slowly flew diagonally upward, maintaining a low altitude and heading towards the depths of the lava lake.

In the lava lake, which was constantly bubbling and surging, four red lights slowly appeared. The sleeping giant beast was awakened, and its four eyes stared at the "birdman" in mid-air.

Yan Qingshan flew in the air, with flowing lava beneath him, converging into a lake in the center. Occasionally, as a wave of scorching air surged out, a fiery red lava column would suddenly rise from the lava lake, and the splashing lava would erode the surrounding rocky ground, leaving darker, blacker marks.

The lava world in the cave was also a world of death. Few creatures could survive in such a place, but Yan Qingshan could feel that something had already set its sights on him. Not far behind him, two small shadows were watching him closely.

At the edge of the lava lake, Qing Ling's slightly sharp cry suddenly rang out: "Young Master, it's following you! Come back quickly!"

"Finally coming, Dawn, record and collect the actual movement data of the Flame Spirit Serpent, simulate the feasibility of the plan, and adjust the best plan..."

Yan Qingshan had also noticed the opponent. Qing Ling's sudden shout caused the thing under the lava to move instantly.

Yan Qingshan had already made plans. He stamped his feet on the fiery red stalactites hanging upside down in mid-air, and a heat flow instantly came from under his feet.

The stalactites broke under the force, and the broken stalactites smashed into a spot in the lava. Yan Qingshan took the opportunity to turn and quickly returned to Qing Ling's side along the planned route.

As soon as Yan Qingshan landed, a muffled sound and an angry roar came from behind him. Seemingly angered by the loss of its prey or by the attack, countless scorching lava shot out, and a giant monster surged out of the lava lake.

"Go!"

Yan Qingshan was very clear about the strength of the guy inside. Seeing that the purpose of provoking the opponent had been achieved, he threw a porcelain bottle behind him, which exploded into a cloud of powder.

Then, he pulled Qing Ling and left towards the original tunnel without stopping.

As soon as Yan Qingshan left, a huge mysterious creature suddenly burst out of the lava amid the flying lava, hissing and biting towards the direction they left.

Because Yan Qingshan reacted in time and left in advance, it bit into nothing. The two big heads bit into a mouthful of powder and air.

However, the monster did not return. Instead, after biting into the powder, its eyes became redder, and it quickly swam towards the direction Yan Qingshan left.

"Hiss! Hiss! Hiss..."

Yan Qingshan ran through the passage with Qing Ling. Hisses and angry roars came from behind him. Every time he went a distance, he threw down a porcelain bottle.

As more powder was inhaled by the Flame Spirit Serpent, it became more and more manic and chased after them relentlessly.

As a fourth-rank peak magical beast, the Flame Spirit Serpent's intelligence was not too low. Unable to catch up for a while, its huge tail swung out fiercely.

The stalactites in the uneven passage behind Yan Qingshan exploded into countless flying rocks, shooting towards them as they fled. Each one was like a shell from a cannon, whistling through the wind.

"Warning, a dangerous source is rapidly approaching behind you. Estimated arrival time, thirteen seconds later..."

"Phoenix Flight Steps!"

Yan Qingshan didn't care about the consumption of Dou Qi at this time. After using his movement technique, his speed increased rapidly. He dodged the whistling rocks and ran towards the depths of the passage at a faster speed.

Yan Qingshan took Qing Ling and, chased by the Flame Spirit Serpent behind them, came to the slanting entrance they had entered earlier.

There were ten or so forks here. He chose a slightly cooler passage and turned into it.

Soon, the Flame Spirit Serpent chased after them and followed the scent of the powder and their aura. It had no interest in the entrance leading to the outside world.

Yan Qingshan ran with Qing Ling in the dark passage, running for an unknown time. The passage became increasingly cold and damp. When they reached the next turn, there was even the sound of dripping water.

"Big guy, why did you stop? Don't dare to chase anymore!"

After chasing to this place, the Flame Spirit Serpent hesitated and slowed down. It disliked the cold and humid environment here.

However, Yan Qingshan threw two or three porcelain bottles at it at the corner.

The exploding powder was inhaled into its body again, and its meager rationality was overwhelmed by anger.

It wanted to tear apart this 'little bug' that kept provoking it.

The Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent hissed and roared as it chased after Yan Qingshan.

The chase led them to the depths of the passage, where a shallow water pit, about thirty meters in area, was surrounded by small streams of water. The temperature here was extremely low.

Yan Qingshan spread his wings and glided across the water pit, landing on the other side. He put down Qing Ling and told her to stand back, then turned to face the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent, which was charging towards the water.

The Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent was extremely long, roughly four or five zhang in length. Its entire body was fiery red, like a round piece of fire jade, with palm-sized red scales covering its surface.

The Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent, as the name suggests, had two heads. At the fork of its slender neck, two ferocious heads stared with huge diamond-shaped pupils, filled with violent and bloodthirsty killing intent.

This big guy hadn't suffered at the hands of the Queen Medusa yet, so it was even more violent. If it were the one from a few years later, it might not have been provoked by Yan Qingshan to leave the lava lake.

"Hiss~~~"

The Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent also noticed that the guy who had angered it had stopped. As it approached the water pit, its speed gradually slowed down.

It lived in lava and disliked the cold water pit environment. If it entered, its strength would definitely be affected.

"Warning, target energy flow is gathering, it will completely erupt in nine seconds..."

"Is it going to unleash a big move? Qing Ling, hide quickly!"

Yan Qingshan noticed that the Two-Headed Flame Spirit Serpent's neck was gradually swelling, as if it was about to spit something out. Knowing it was preparing a big move, he quickly told Qing Ling to hide behind the corner of the passage.