Chapter 398 - 404: Capturing the Fire Spirit

"Of course, it can’t be that simple!"

A dark glint flashed through her eyes, and she immediately unleashed a flurry of kicks and punches on Jiang Cen.

Lava splattered everywhere.

Jiang Cen was quickly beaten black and blue, her bones nearly shattered.

Song Wanning had initially planned to cripple Jiang Cen, but on second thought, her main objective was to drag Jiang Cen’s father into the mess. If Jiang Cen were crippled, she would become the victim, making the rest of the plan difficult to implement.

Besides, from her experience, even if crippled, Jiang Cen could find some fortuitous opportunity to recover.

So, for now, it was best to just teach her a lesson.

After dislocating Jiang Cen’s jaw, Song Wanning’s anger had mostly dissipated.

She cheerfully tossed Jiang Cen into the lava. Her mood grew even brighter as she watched it scorch her.

"Let’s go."

With a grand wave of her hand, Song Wanning led the Dragon Spirit and the Divine Nether Profound Fire, plunging headfirst into the Flame Pool.

Inside the Flame Pool, scorching lava flowed and boiled without end.

The Dragon Spirit led Song Wanning ever downward until they slipped into a small opening.

They followed the narrow passage, pressing forward and descending deeper and deeper underground.

An hour later, she finally emerged from the passage.

But the scene before her was astonishing. They were no longer in the Flame Pool, but at the base of a massive Flame Mountain.

Countless Flame Stones littered the base of the mountain, their glare so bright it made her eyes ache.

The Spiritual Power within her body surged wildly, as if it would burst free and rush toward the Flame Stones.

Song Wanning’s eyes lit up. With a great, unhesitating wave of her hand, she swept up every last Flame Stone from the ground. When her own Storage Ring was full, she took out another one from her personal dimension and barely managed to fit them all inside.

This haul would be enough for her to cultivate all the way to the Late-stage Void Refining realm. For a fire-attribute Cultivator, these Flame Stones were a supreme treasure, far more important than Spirit Stones!

Once she had gathered all the Flame Stones, the Dragon Spirit impatiently urged Song Wanning to fly toward the middle of the Flame Mountain.

After breaking through layer after layer of lava, she finally caught sight of the Fire Spirit.

The Fire Spirit was a palm-sized, tiny ball of shimmering crimson light.

The moment it sensed someone approaching, the cunning Fire Spirit zipped away, giving Song Wanning no chance to get near.

Fire Spirits were known for their incredible speed, making them exceedingly difficult to catch.

Song Wanning’s heart sank, and she immediately gave chase.

The Dragon Spirit and the Divine Nether Profound Fire hurried after it as well; none of them wanted the Fire Spirit to escape.

...

"Host, you’ve racked up another two hundred-plus points in debt to the System. You need to hurry up with your conquests to earn points and pay it back."

The System’s reminder broke Xiao Heyun from his thoughts.

His eyes grew cold as he nodded with indifference.

This incident had made him aware of the danger, and his trust in the System had faltered.

Now that he had finally healed, he had no intention of continuing to chase women. Instead, he planned to find treasures and increase his strength on his own.

Xiao Heyun gathered his things and prepared to set off.

However, he had forgotten one crucial detail: his contracted Spirit Pet still had traces of Beast Attracting Powder inside it.

Thus, not long after he set out, he once again found himself under attack by demon beasts.

At first, he just chalked it up to bad luck, cursing as he fought off the beasts and continued his search for treasure.

It wasn’t until demon beasts began to swarm him in increasing numbers that Xiao Heyun finally realized something was amiss.

"Fuck, where the hell are these demon beasts coming from?"

Xiao Heyun inspected his Spirit Pet from top to bottom but couldn’t find any sign of the Beast Attracting Powder.

’Because of it, I was badly injured and my identity was exposed.’

A sliver of suspicion crossed Xiao Heyun’s mind. ’Could this Spirit Pet have some kind of incredible background?’

’Otherwise, how could it attract the covetous attention of so many demon beasts?’

The more he thought about it, the more plausible his theory seemed. ’After all, going by the usual tropes, a transmigrated chosen one like me isn’t supposed to get ordinary things.’

’It might even be some kind of Ancient Divine Beast that has awakened its bloodline!!!’

’It just hasn’t revealed its true power yet!’

The more Xiao Heyun thought about it, the more excited he grew.

He considered asking the System to check it out, but his brow furrowed at the thought of his outstanding debt.

He didn’t want the System to look down on him again, so he held back and decided not to ask for help.

And so, he was soon being hunted by a new wave of demon beasts, forced to flee and scramble wildly throughout the Secret Realm.

But this only strengthened his conviction about the Spirit Pet. ’If I can just activate its divine beast bloodline,’ he thought, ’I’ll have an incredibly powerful ally.’

’I could even surpass Liu Xingzhi and become the dream man for thousands of female cultivators.’

’At that point, who needs to work for affection points?’

’I’m done living the life of a simp! It’s nerve-wracking, there are no guarantees, and I even get punished!’

Soon, the Secret Realm was thrown into chaos once again, and many Cultivators were caught in the crossfire.

"Son of a bitch, it’s this bastard again!"

"This is outrageous! What did he do this time to send the demon beasts into another frenzy?"

"He’s gone too far! I almost had it, but then that demon beast went berserk! I nearly lost an arm because of him!"

"What kind of treasure did that kid get?"

Many people cursed under their breath. If looks could kill, Xiao Heyun would have been riddled with holes by now, with no place left for a grave!

"Go, let’s chase after him and see. I don’t believe he can escape every time!"

"Right, let’s follow and see!"

Besides, it wasn’t like they were finding any treasures anyway. They might as well follow him and see if they could pick up some scraps.

Thus, the scene repeated itself, and many people wondered if they were hallucinating.

Song Wanning’s avatar, leading her group, also spotted Xiao Heyun.

"It’s him again!"

Her eyes darkened, and she stopped in her tracks.

"Senior Sister Song, do you know who that person is?"

Yue Lin asked in a low voice. He had become one of Song Wanning’s die-hard fans, following her around like a shadow.

"Yes. That’s Xiao Heyun from the Eastern Domain’s Qingyun Sect."

Song Wanning replied gravely. Her gaze shifted to Yue Lin as a plan began to form in her mind.

’Since Xiao Heyun loves visiting the Southern Domain so much, I can’t let him leave empty-handed.’

"We’ll watch for now," she ordered. "If we get the chance, take him out!"

At her command, the group stopped looking for other opportunities. They kept a safe distance from the beast tide, tailing Xiao Heyun from afar.

「Meanwhile.」

After a long chase, Song Wanning finally captured the Fire Spirit.

The Divine Nether Profound Fire was ecstatic. It rushed forward and swallowed the Fire Spirit in one gulp.

Immediately after swallowing the Fire Spirit, the Divine Nether Profound Fire swelled in an instant, looking like a balloon on the verge of popping.

Song Wanning wasn’t in a hurry to leave. She had the Divine Nether Profound Fire begin absorbing its new power to advance right then and there. She, in turn, carefully stood guard for it within the lava while consuming the fruit of the Moonlit Mountain Flower she had acquired earlier.

A profound and mysterious sensation welled up from deep within her.