Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

His hand rested on the rock, its temperature higher than his body temperature, obviously warmer than the last time he was here.

Comparing with the map, Ji An began to move swiftly downward, occasionally using Earth Escape Technique for verification.

The closer to the ground, the narrower the passage became, but as he descended, it opened up suddenly, occasionally encountering a cavity as large as a house.

From about ten zhang deep underground, black and red patterns began to appear on the passage walls, becoming more evident the deeper he went.

This was the result of erosion from the Fire Evil Spirit Mechanism, accumulated over countless years, and the patterns were extremely chaotic.

Sometimes he would encounter cultivators searching for spiritual objects, and both sides would cautiously avoid one another.

As he continued deeper, the temperature in the cave rose higher and higher, often encountering scalding steam jetting from rock crevices, imbued with black and red fire fiend.

These could not obstruct him; for five consecutive days, he had nearly explored the entire labyrinthine underground maze.

Reaching the depths of the cave, he saw a flowing lava river, bright and fiery like molten iron, with bubbles occasionally bursting forth, noisily shattering into specks of "red mud."

His discovery included finding two potential locations where the abundance of spiritual power could possibly cultivate extreme fire spirit power, further enlightening him about the divine intent that fire generates earth.

In this cave, there was another unique creature, the Molten Armor Lizard, a type of demon beast Ji An had never heard of before.

These creatures weren’t large, resembling crocodiles, but with black and red scales, blending seamlessly with the rock when still.

Truly blending with the rock, with no heartbeat or aura, just like a stone.

They also possessed chameleon-like abilities, able to change the patterns on their scales to completely integrate with their surroundings.

Ji An expanded his divine sense and arrived at a fork in the path, the last area on the map, where, according to the jade slip, a giant cavity over ten zhang high exists.

The entrance to the fork was extremely narrow, barely allowing someone to crawl through, but the map showed a hidden grotto beyond it.

Gathering his divine sense into a beam, he probed in, finding the passage widened after about five to six zhang.

"This map was worth the purchase!"

He praised out loud; without the map’s guidance, even if he found this fork, he would not have chosen to enter.

Retrieving his divine sense, Ji An used Earth Escape Technique to cross the narrow passage within.

His mind remained tense, walking forward not too fast, nor too slow, occasionally employing Earth Escape Technique to travel without relaxing even though the task was almost done.

Danger often arises from negligence, and he wouldn’t let himself fall into danger from such a foolish reason.

The passage twisted and turned, and after a while, he finally saw light ahead.

His figure flickered, and Ji An appeared thirty zhang away, entering the cavity.

The spacious area opened up, with a four or five zhang wide molten rock lake in the center, bubbles emerging intermittently, producing "gurgling" sounds echoing in the quiet space.

Ji An quickly scanned the area and suddenly noticed a glimmer above, as if a bulb had lit up.

He sensed an explosive burst of fire element spiritual energy, realizing immediately that he was about to be ambushed.

He cast Earth Escape Technique again, disappearing and reappearing in the passage he came from.

At this moment, he saw a wave of fire pouring down, a nearly one-zhang-long Molten Armor Lizard crashing to the ground, landing exactly where he had just stopped.

Dense demon qi spread out, and the demon beast, having failed its ambush, roared and turned to pounce at him.

Ji An narrowed his eyes slightly, noticing that this demon beast had reached the Chao Origin Stage, yet he hadn’t detected its presence before it attacked.

He couldn’t help but develop a strong interest in the Molten Armor Lizard’s camouflage skills since without using Earth Escape Technique, he would have been caught in a barrage.

Even though he felt he wouldn’t be injured by the attack, being passively beaten would certainly be unpleasant.

The Molten Armor Lizard was relentless; the prey it targeted seldom escaped its grasp.

With prey resembling this one’s form, it captures one every few years, and they taste divine; drool trickled from its mouth at this moment.

Then, the pupils of its eyes shifted to silver as countless delicate flying swords surged like a tide toward it.

The Molten Armor Lizard didn’t perceive any danger, opening its large mouth to spew a fire cloud glowing with a ghostly blue light.

Blue was a cool color, giving a cold impression despite being fire.

Ji An’s lips curled into a small smile; he could see the demon beast’s fate without looking too closely.

Even if the Molten Armor Lizard defended with all it had, it would tremble under his Geng Metal Spirit-Slaying Sword, not to mention its daring open mouth!

True gold fears no fire; the delicate flying swords, an inch long and finger-width, pierced through the seemingly cold yet warm fire cloud, stabbing into the demon beast’s eyes, mouth, nose, and abdomen.

The demon beast, charging with tank-like momentum, slid through the passage due to inertia, stopping three zhang away from Ji An.

The beast’s whole body convulsed, its many scales shattered, clearly unable to withstand the assault of the flying swords.

It hadn’t even had time to cry out before dying cleanly and swiftly.

The Geng Metal Spirit-Slaying Sword erupted within it, its brain and some internal organs a ruin from the rampant metal element spiritual qi.

The convulsions were merely bodily reflexes.

Ji An stepped forward, chuckling:

"A gift delivered right to my door!"

The essence blood of a fire element demon beast was excellent material for making talisman ink; the quality of a Fire Dragon Talisman depended one-fourth on the talisman ink, another fourth on the beast hide, and half on the Talisman Maker’s skill.

He extended his divine sense, confirming that the demon beast was only left with instinctive muscle reflexes, before using Object Control Technique to suspend it in the passage.

Opening a cut in the beast’s belly, Ji An took out a specially crafted jade bottle to collect the fresh blood.

After preliminary refinement, this blood could become top-notch raw material, and adding other spiritual objects could produce talisman ink.

In the sect’s talisman-making heritage, there were few talismans at the Chao Origin Stage level, only the Fire Dragon Talisman, Profound Armor Talisman, and Earth Escape Talisman, with his speciality being the Fire Dragon Talisman.

A moment later, after confirming the beast’s blood was mostly drained, Ji An placed it into the Void Realm Space, then once more stepped into the grotto.

He remained vigilant, as there was no evidence suggesting only one demon beast resided here.

As expected, he found another Molten Armor Lizard in the molten rock lake.

This demon beast was also at the Chao Origin Stage, killed instantly by him using the same methods.

Ji An wasn’t surprised by this outcome.

The Geng Metal Spirit-Slaying Sword at the Great Perfection Level, combined with the stacking of a top-grade Dao Seed, had formidable attack power that surpassed the scope of the Chao Origin Stage level.

After processing the demon beast the same way, Ji An meticulously searched the area, subsequently discovering a pile of sandpot-sized, oval eggs near the molten rock lake.

The eggshells had a faint gray hue, with black and red coin-sized patterns similar to the Molten Armor Lizard’s scales.

Ji An’s eyes lit up; after once again releasing his divine sense to ’scan’ the surroundings, he began to count the number of Molten Armor Lizard eggs and assess their life force quality.

Clearly, these eggs were laid by the two demon beasts he had killed, and since both parents had reached the Chao Origin Stage, these eggs certainly had significant potential.

He checked carefully, spending two kè before finishing.

"An unexpected surprise!"

He laughed heartily; the sound echoed in the vast cave with an inexplicable eerie vibe.

A total of thirty-six eggs were found, three of which reached the Earth Grade Bloodline Level, with one nearing Celestial Grade, comparable to the Cyan Deer’s aptitude.

Aside from five dead eggs, the rest all possessed top-grade bloodline quality, which, if hatched, could easily be nurtured into late-stage Foundation Establishment demon beasts.

Ji An happily collected the eggs into his Spirit Beast Bag, then stood by the molten rock lake, feeling the surging heat.

Bubbles sporadically burst forth; this place resembled a boiling cauldron, chaotic and booming with spiritual mechanism.

His mood improved steadily; chaotic spiritual mechanism implied intense conflict, making this a viable candidate for gaining insight into the divine intent of fire generating earth.

Thus, he gained three potential locations.