allonlinenovel Chapter 291 Phantom Flame Lizard
Chapter 291 Phantom Flame Lizard
Chapter 291 Phantom Flame Lizard
Over the next few days, Tieqiao guided Mo Yuming to carefully inscribe the rune array. These ten runes were extremely complex, with each rune corresponding to a type of Yin-Yang and Five Elements spiritual power. As Tieqiao inscribed the runes, he taught Mo Yuming the key points of application and instructed him to inlay mithril infused with ethereal gold at the nodes of the inscribed runes.
It took the two of them three whole days to complete the drawing of the ten runes, and Mo Yuming also learned a lot about runes.
Once the basic runes were inscribed, the rest of the work became much simpler. Although the stone crystal was heat-resistant, it wasn't very hard, and heat resistance didn't mean it was water-resistant. Simply pouring some water from the Cold Pool onto a large piece of stone crystal would instantly transform it into something like moist soil, giving it excellent plasticity. However, the Extreme Sunflower Water from the Cold Pool was the coldest water in the world. Even though only a small amount of Extreme Sunflower Water was poured onto the stone crystal, it was still extremely cold. The entire stone crystal felt as if it had been stored in a thousand-year-old ice cave for a hundred years, exuding a chilling aura. Mo Yuming had to use his profound internal energy to resist the invasion of the cold air while shaping the stone crystal.
Although the sculpting of the stone crystal was simple, the iron bridge required extremely high craftsmanship in furnace construction, handling every detail with meticulous care to achieve perfection. This extended the process, taking a full ten days to complete the main body of the furnace.
Looking at the towering furnace, two zhang tall, standing amidst the icy pool of the Red Spring, Tieqiao smiled contentedly, a hint of joy finally appearing on his long-standing brow. Although the furnace was still just a rough draft, Tieqiao was already in high spirits, temporarily forgetting the heaviness in his heart.
"Let's rest for a day and wait for the cold air inside the furnace to dissipate before doing the exterior decoration. Anyway, we don't have all the materials yet, so there's no rush."
"That works too. Don't we need some magic crystals from gold-type magical beasts for the auxiliary materials? How about we go to the mangrove forest tomorrow and try to gather some?"
"Alright! Let's just go for a stroll. It's been a long time since I've been there. I wonder how the magical beasts there have recovered after the beast tide!"
"Grandpa Iron Bridge, why don't the high-level magical beasts of Ruimu Valley dare to come to Yishi Valley? Is the mangrove forest really a barrier?"
"We're not entirely sure either. We've been in this canyon for decades, even centuries, and we've never seen a magical beast higher than level six leave the mangrove forest. Even during that beast tide riot, only a very small number of magical beasts above level six crossed the mangrove forest. We've also searched the mangrove forest, but without any results. Perhaps it's because the Thunder Barrier and the Illusionary Cloud Array above this canyon have a special taboo against high-level magical beasts, making them afraid to cross the boundary."
"There are taboos in this canyon, but there shouldn't be any taboos in the outside world, right? Why is it that Jian'an City, Luoxia City, and Wushuang Castle, which are all located in the heart of the mountains, have never seen any high-level magical beasts around them? Could it be that over the past thousands of years, humans have really driven out all the high-level magical beasts around this vital transportation route connecting the two continents? Or is it because adventurers and mercenaries have been exploring this area for many years? Are the high-level magical beasts so self-disciplined that they deliberately avoid it?"
"We don't know the exact reason, but it's true that high-level magical beasts have rarely appeared in this area for thousands of years. Nobody knows why. After years of exploration, people have discovered that the entire Magical Beast Mountain Range seems to be divided in two by this passage, and high-level magical beasts on both sides are basically unwilling to approach this area. Some people also say that this passage is a Dragon's Bane Land, where an ancient divine dragon fell and its flesh and spirit transformed into this passage. Although the dragon has turned into rocks and dust, its dragon might still lingers, so magical beasts dare not approach it."
Although this legend cannot be verified, according to some observant people, the terrain between Shangyuan City in the west and Gu'an City in the east is shaped like a giant dragon soaring into the sky. Shangyuan City is the dragon's head, Gu'an City is the dragon's tail, Wangxiang Town and Luoxia City are the two front claws, and Jian'an City and Wushuang City are the two hind claws.
Although this legend has been circulating among the people, no one has bothered to verify or take it seriously. After all, the Divine Dragon Realm is too fantastical, so no one cares about the veracity of these legends.
There are also rumors that this area is a massive sealing formation, within which an extremely dangerous demon king is sealed. High-level magical beasts with sentience are extremely sensitive to such things, so they dare not approach this area.
So whether it's legend or human intervention, due to the passage of time, it's impossible to verify. In any case, little has changed over the centuries, and no special circumstances have occurred, so no one has bothered to investigate further. People simply believe that this area has always been this way.
“I think sealing is more reliable. After all, the two huge magic arrays in the Valley of Heartbreak are real. It’s entirely possible that those powerful beings set up an invisible array above them to drive away the demonic beasts.”
"Who cares? Whatever the reason, it's all beneficial to us, so why bother digging into his past?"
"The mangroves are just ahead, let's be careful,"
"The trees in this mangrove forest are all red, but the new leaves of the fire maple trees only start to turn red after autumn, while the mangrove trees are all red, like a ball of fire. It's really peculiar. I don't think I've seen such peculiar trees anywhere else."
"This mangrove tree also has another name, Fire Spirit Fir. It is a very peculiar tree species. It contains the spiritual power of the two attributes of Yi Wood and Bing Fire, and has the effect of warding off evil and promoting righteousness. Some poisonous insects and evil spirits dare not approach it."
"Since Yi wood generates Bing fire, the older the tree, the more mellow the Bing fire attribute spiritual power, making it an excellent material for refining fire-attribute weapons. For example, using this redwood to make the shaft of the Flame Spear is an excellent choice."
"No wonder people are suspicious. Look, starting from this mangrove forest and looking back, you see the towering trees of Ruimu Valley. At the exit of Ruimu Valley, the cliffs of the Houpu Grassland section are huge magnetic cliffs. And the stream that flows through the entire Yishi Valley and into Xianghe Valley originates from the waterfall flowing down beside the magnetic cliffs. Not far away on the opposite side is Huoyun Cave and the Crimson Spring Cold Pool. Don't you think all of this is too much of a coincidence?"
Iron Bridge stood in front of the mangroves, looking back in contemplation.
"Is that so strange? Is there some hidden secret behind it?"
Mo Yuming didn't know what Tieqiao wanted to say.
"Wood generates fire; fire generates earth; earth generates metal; metal generates water; water generates wood. Look at this mangrove forest, the Fire Cloud Cave, the Crimson Spring, the Cold Pool, the Giant Forest, the Magnetite Cliff, the Waterfall, the Stream, and the Auspicious Valley. These seemingly natural distributions, if examined closely, are all cleverly and perfectly arranged according to the Yin-Yang and Five Elements mutual generation formation. Otherwise, how could the sacred treasure 'Water Soul' be nurtured in the Fire Cloud Cave? How could the Myriad Thunder Barrier and the Illusionary Cloud Array above have remained prosperous for thousands of years? The entire canyon is free from demonic beasts, and exotic flowers and rare herbs can be seen everywhere!"
If all of this is naturally formed, then this place is undoubtedly the foundational spiritual vein of the entire Tianxuan Continent! If it is man-made, then that person must be a god whose words carry on the law, surpassing mortals.
"Are there gods in this world?" Mo Yuming asked.
"I don't know, but it is said that above the Heavenly Rank is the Heavenly God. However, for hundreds or even thousands of years, no one has ever been heard of reaching the ninth level of the Heavenly Rank, let alone surpassing the Heavenly God who is at the peak of the Heavenly Rank! But how could ordinary Heavenly Rank experts achieve the many miracles and secret realms in this world? All indications suggest that even if there is no one in this world who has surpassed the Heavenly Rank, there must have been an unparalleled person in ancient times who far surpassed ordinary Heavenly Rank martial artists."
Iron Bridge replied.
"careful!"
As the two were walking and talking in the mangrove forest, Mo Yuming suddenly felt an unidentified object shooting rapidly toward their heads from the left diagonal.
Although Tieqiao was talking to Mo Yuming, he was still a second-level Heaven Rank expert and naturally noticed something amiss. However, he was surprised to find that Mo Yuming, who was only at the Earth Rank, had a perception ability that was no weaker than his own.
'break!'
With a casual wave of his hand, Tieqiao sent a fiery red palm print radiating intense heat toward the unidentified object.
'laugh……'
A sound of liquid being burned immediately rang out in the sky, sparks flew everywhere, and a burnt smell quickly spread.
"Good heavens! Ming'er, quickly cut off their retreat! This is excellent material delivered to us."
Seeing this, Tieqiao was overjoyed and shouted urgently to Mo Yuming. At the same time, he rushed over impatiently.
"Uncle Bridge, what is that?"
Upon hearing this, Mo Yuming immediately assumed a fighting stance and circled around to the side. Although he sensed the unusual movement immediately, he still couldn't figure out what kind of magical beast it was.
"The Phantom Flame Lizard is a high-level, level six fire-type magical beast. Its scales can change color to match the environment, giving it a high talent for camouflage. Its scales can be used to replace the scales of the Fire Dragon in the crafting of meteorite iron spirit treasures. It can also imbue these spirit treasures with camouflage properties. Although the Phantom Flame Lizard is not as high-level as the Fire Dragon, it is rarer and harder to catch, making its scales even more precious than the Fire Dragon's. I never expected to see it in this mangrove forest."
Iron Bridge explained excitedly.
"How can I catch it? This guy is so hard to lock onto!"
Although Mo Yuming could sense the presence of the Flame Lizard with his divine sense, this guy's camouflage talent was too good. As long as it didn't move, it was impossible to see its presence with the naked eye. Moreover, it seemed to be able to hold its breath, making the divine sense perception very blurry at times. Only when it moved could some traces be caught.
"Use stillness to control movement. Although the Phantom Flame Lizard has a strong talent for camouflage, it is not very fast. Its main attack methods are venom and its long tongue. The venom can be defended against with earth-type shields or burned with fire spiritual power; just apply it to the body. Its tongue is very fast and has strong attack power, but it is also its greatest weakness, because as soon as it opens its mouth, its camouflage will be exposed. Its purplish-black tongue can be lashed out like a soft whip, but it cannot change color like scales, so it cannot be disguised. Therefore, as long as we know its approximate location, we can set up defenses in front and behind to block its retreat, and just wait for it to attack."
Tieqiao kept his eyes fixed ahead as he described the characteristics of the Phantom Flame Lizard to Mo Yuming.
"What if it doesn't move? Are we just going to wait like idiots? If we can't sense its presence, how can we be sure it's already escaped?"
"Hehe, don't forget, it's a magical beast, not a human. As long as a human stands in front of it, it will inevitably be unable to ignore them, and it will attack even if it knows it is no match! Don't worry, use your divine sense to sense carefully. No matter how good its disguise is, there will be flaws. Moreover, it doesn't have the ability to teleport, and its movement speed isn't very fast. It's impossible for it to have escaped so quickly! It must be lurking in this area."
Is that so? After taking the initiative to prepare his defenses, Mo Yuming calmed down and carefully sensed the surroundings with his divine sense. A level six magical beast was equivalent to the peak of the Earth Rank to the early stage of the Heaven Rank, so Mo Yuming was not afraid.
Although the mangrove forest contains many ancient Fire Spirit Fir trees, their extremely slow growth means the largest are only about an arm's length in diameter. Most trees are only a few feet in diameter, and the forest is relatively open with few other tree species, offering limited hiding places. Yet, the Flame Lizard remains unseen, demonstrating its exceptional camouflage skills. Unless it attacks, even two people passing right by might not notice its presence.
Just as Mo Yuming was searching with his divine sense, he suddenly noticed that a branch of a Flame Fir tree in front of him moved slightly. Since there was no wind in the entire forest, even ants crawling on the leaves could not escape Mo Yuming's perception due to his super-strong divine sense. So, for this branch, which was about the thickness of a finger, to move without any wind was definitely abnormal.
Mo Yuming immediately and without hesitation used his mind to shoot the Soul Sword out of his sea of consciousness.
"Clang! Clang!" The Soul Sword struck the twig like lightning. The seemingly thin twig was severed by the Soul Sword's rapid strike, producing a sound like metal clashing before being cut in two. Mo Yuming knew how sharp his Soul Sword was; a twig that could make such a sound when struck by the Soul Sword must be as hard as a high-grade iron weapon.
After severing the branch, the Soul Sword made another impact, this time bouncing back without piercing through. Behind the branch was like a giant, transparent crystal; the Soul Sword struck it, producing only a few sparks but leaving no mark.
Although it didn't cause any damage to the Flame Lizard, the flying slash of the Soul Sword was still quite powerful, causing the Flame Lizard's body to tremble slightly. It was this slight tremor that completely exposed the Flame Lizard to the two people's perception. Almost at the same time that the Soul Sword was deflected, Tie Qiao raised his palm and slashed at it.
Even with its strong defense, the Flame Lizard couldn't withstand the palm strike of a second-level Heavenly Rank expert. With a 'bang,' Tie Qiao's palm struck the Flame Lizard's back solidly, knocking it off the Fire Spirit Tree. The Flame Lizard crashed heavily onto the dark brown ground, its disguise completely broken, revealing a giant lizard over two zhang long and as thick as a water bucket before the two of them.