The Nine Cauldrons

Book 8 Chapter 54 Qingshan’s Hunt for Treasure

At the moment when the blazing red light appeared above a volcano in the Blazing Flame Territory, over one hundred thousand treasure hunters in the entire Blazing Flame Territory looked up. Regardless of whether the experts were actively searching for the Blazing Flame Red Lotus or sitting down and resting, all of them immediately dashed towards the volcano shrouded by the blazing sunlight in a frenzied manner.

......

In Teng Qingshan’s residence on the Ox-Head Mountain:

Teng Qingshan and Mu Wang knew exactly what the bright fiery light signified.

“A sky filled with red clouds. This only happens when a Seven Leaf Red Lotus emerges,” said Mu Wang as his eyes flashed with a brilliant glint. He turned and looked towards Teng Qingshan before asking with a smile, “Brother Teng, are you going this time?”

“Of course, I am. I have a day of free time, after all.”

Teng Qingshan felt slightly excited.

When he was searching for the Dreamy Cloud White Fruit at the request of the Dreamy Cloud Martial Immortal, he was given a book which explained the different types of spiritual treasures and demonic beasts. The book took great care to describe the Blazing Flame Red Lotus in detail... According to the book, a bright fiery light would appear in the sky during the birth of a Seven Leaf Red Lotus.

They also learned that the Seven Leaf Red Lotus would be located in the volcano below the fiery light.

This had only happened once. However, when Teng Qingshan and Mu Wang saw the marvelous scene, they both believed that the Blazing Flame Red Lotus that emerged was a high-quality Lotus and must be in the volcano under the light.

“Haha, aren’t you coming?” Mu Wang smiled and transformed into a streak of lightning, leaving at high speed.

“Little Jun, I am going out! I will probably come back tomorrow morning.” Teng Qingshan instructed. He grabbed the Dark Blaze Rod and began performing Qing Gong, which was created by combining 《Crossing Worlds》and his earth elemental arts. As he pushed his Qing Gong to the limit, every step covered a distance of seventy to eighty Zhang. His speed was much faster than that of Mu Wang.

With two flashes, he vanished into the darkness of the night.

《Crossing Worlds》was a Qing Gong body art that Teng Qingshan had acquired in his previous life. It was divided into three levels, and the third level could only be performed by a Golden Dan innate expert.

Ever since Teng Qingshan reached the final stage of the Supreme Force, his ‘Spirit’ gained the power to control and eliminate air resistance like a Golden Dan innate expert. Moreover, the Internal Supreme Force at the final stage could act within the meridians and merge with muscles and bones. By combining 《Crossing Worlds》and the 《Earth Elemental Fist》, Teng Qingshan managed to create a new form of Qing Gong from the two.

Because of that Qing Gong body art, he was able to move at an extremely terrifying speed!

In the Blazing Flame Territory:

“Brother Teng, you are so fast.” Mu Wang, who had seemingly transformed into a streak of lightning, couldn’t help but laugh as he said, “I left before you, yet you managed to catch up to me.”

“Haha, if I were slower than you, and you ended up taking the Blazing Flame Red Lotus, then wouldn’t I have come for nothing?” Teng Qingshan guffawed. He then appeared on a mountain rock far away. As he took another step forward, he appeared seventy to eighty Zhang away.

Whoosh!

One was a flashing streak of lightning, while the other seemed to have teleported.

The speed of these two extremely powerful experts had reached an incredible level.

......

Currently, several thousand people had already gathered on the volcano below the flaming red light. Over one hundred thousand people in the Blazing Flame Territory were rushing toward this volcano, but because the Blazing Flame Territory had an area of eight hundred Li and the mountain road was difficult to traverse, it would take over twenty-four hours for ordinary martial cultivators to arrive by foot.

The cultivators that were originally near the volcano were lucky as they could arrive very quickly.

“Puchi! Puchi!”

Using a specially forged pickaxe, a muscular man was recklessly digging into the volcano. Some people were digging holes into the volcano, hoping to discover the Blazing Flame Red Lotus by chance. The specific location of the Blazing Flame Red Lotus was impossible to determine. One could only rely on luck.

Within the volcano:

“Gurgle~~” A bright red pool of magma with a tint of gold was boiling, bubbles popping occasionally. A large group of martial cultivators was on the mountain wall beside the lava, staring at the lava below. None of them dared to go down.

“Please don’t tell me the Blazing Flame Red Lotus is in this Magma Lake. If you are right, then this trip was a waste of time.”

“Of the nine Blazing Flame Red Lotus discovered in the past, four were found at the bottom of a Magma Lake. The Seven Leaf Red Lotus was found submerged in lava as well.

“If it’s in here, then only Martial Saints can find it.”

Those martial cultivators stared at the boiling lava. All of them felt unresigned, but none dared to dive into the Magma Lake.

“Whoosh!”

A figure carrying a war saber suddenly appeared atop the mountain wall and began sprinting downwards. He occasionally borrowed momentum from his fall, and as he dashed to the side of the Magma Lake, a silver-white glow surrounded his body. With a “plop”, lava splashed up as he dove deep into the molten lava, disappearing from sight.

“This is the second Martial Saint that entered, right?” A bald man with a scar on his face asked.

“It is the second one.” A chubby elder to the side nodded, “However, the third will come soon.” Without stopping, a figure enveloped by a fiery glow leaped and darted into the Magma Lake.

“Plop!”

The figure vanished into the Magma Lake.

The temperature of the lava was extremely high. If someone that hasn’t reached the Innate Realm entered the Magma Lake, he would be burned into dust. Only after becoming an innate expert could a ball of protective Innate True Origin be formed to dive into lava without fear.

As time passed, innate experts jumped into the lake one after the other. All of the Martial Saints believed that the high-quality Blazing Flame Red Lotus was most likely at the bottom of the Magma Lake. Thus, all of them were now searching the depths of the Magma Lake.

“Plop!” “Plop!”

“That’s the tenth.” The bald man and chubby elder were counting beside the Magma Lake. How many Martial Saints are there in the entire Duanmu Continent? Even the Tianfeng Clan doesn’t have ten Martial Saints. Being able to see ten Martial Saints nearly at the same time was an extremely rare occurrence.

At the same moment in time...

Enshrouded by red battle armor, a figure holding a long rod flashed past. He instantly teleported in front of the Magma Lake and jumped into it. The speed was so fast that the bald man and the chubby elder at the side blinked their eyes and nearly missed him.

“My eyes weren’t blurry, were they? Did someone just go in?”

“Yeah, it seems like it.”

Shortly afterward, a misty streak of lightning flashed and entered the Magma Lake. The splashes of lava were the only proof that someone had entered the Magma Lake.

“Did someone just go in again?”

“I think so.”

Right now Teng Qingshan was covered from head to toe by fiery battle armor. With the Dark Blaze Rod in hand, he advanced within the lava. The temperature of the battle armor was even higher than the lava. Thus the temperature of the lava couldn’t affect Teng Qingshan at all. As for the pressure? In this environment, Teng Qingshan, creator of the《Swimming Pisces Body Art》, was as agile and nimble as a loach.

“According to the records, it’s highly likely that the Blazing Flame Red Lotus is in the depths of the Magma Lake.”

“However, it’s impossible to see in the lava. How can I find it?” Teng Qingshan felt his head aching as he thought to himself.

The lava wasn’t water. Submerged in the Magma Lake, Teng Qingshan couldn’t see anything but the burning hot molten magma.

“Whew!”

“Whew!”

Teng Qingshan advanced through the Magma Lake. He struck with his left palm, producing a violent wind that pushed the lava several Zhang before him away. The other gush of lava instantly filled the empty spaces, but Teng Qingshan could at least know whether the Blazing Flame Red Lotus was several Zhang in front. And so—

He struck with his palm, over and over again! By relying on the wind produced by his strikes, he checked whether the Blazing Flame Red Lotus was in front.

After a while.

Teng Qingshan struck away the lava before him again and coincidentally saw a figure in front of him. The figure had an appearance very similar to Cat, his wife in his previous life. It was the Martial Saintess. Immediately, another gush of lava filled into the empty space, blocking their view.

“Eh?” Teng Qingshan was slightly surprised.

“Mister Teng.” The Martial Saintess’ voice sounded.

The effect of the Sound Transmitting Technique within the Magma Lake was surprisingly good.

“Jiang Yan.” Teng Qingshan spoke as well. Simultaneously, the Martial Saintess approached. Because the lava obstructed their views, they couldn’t see each other clearly. However, a faint outline of their figures could be seen.

“Is Mister Teng here to find the Blazing Flame Red Lotus?” The Martial Saintess asked with a smile.

TLN: ABUDEN? Dive into this hot place to eat lava?

“Yes. However, I realized that it is not easy to find the Blazing Flame Red Lotus in the depths of this Magma Lake.” Teng Qingshan said helplessly.

“Mister must be joking. If this were a water lake rather than a Magma Lake, the great number of innate experts here would be able to find it within fifteen minutes.” The Martial Saintess laughed and said.

After accompanying the Martial Saintess for a while, Teng Qingshan went his own way.

If he searched with the Martial Saintess and they found it, who would be the possessor of the Blazing Flame Red Lotus?

......

Half a day later.

“Boom!” Teng Qingshan was leaning on a mountain wall, resting amidst the mountain rocks within the volcano.

As he was unable to see anything in the Magma Lake, the search for the Blazing Flame Red Lotus was extremely difficult. After searching for half a day, Teng Qingshan left the Magma Lake and dashed into the tough mountain beside the Magma Lake. He darted a distance of several Zhang in one breath and sat down to rest.

“Eh?” Teng Qingshan stared at the Dark Blaze Rod in astonishment.

“Why is the Dark Blaze Rod so hot?” Teng Qingshan was slightly shocked as he thought to himself, “The Dark Blaze Rod wasn’t this hot when I was in the Magma Lake. Now that I have left the Magma Lake, why has it become even hotter?”

The Dark Blaze Rod was forged by a material that doesn’t conduct heat well.

When Teng Qingshan was in the Magma Lake, the Dark Blaze Rod was mildly warm. However, it had suddenly become burning hot.

“In the past, the Dark Blaze Rod has never shown such changes. It only turned hot when I went into the volcano.” Struck by a thought, Teng Qingshan stood up and began advancing through the mountain. In front of Teng Qingshan, the mountain walls were like bean curd. As Teng Qingshan carved a tunnel with ease while moving forward, he realized in astonishment...

“It has become even hotter.” Teng Qingshan’s face revealed a sense of joy.

However, after moving five steps in the same direction...

“Eh, the temperature dropped.” Teng Qingshan hastily moved a few steps back, and the Dark Blaze Rod became hot again. However, when he continued stepping backward, the temperature of the Dark Blaze Rod dropped.

After Teng Qingshan tried moving at various angles, he finally found the direction that raised the temperature of the Dark Blaze Rod...

“The Dark Blaze Rod was the godly weapon that the God of Heaven obtained when he defeated his enemy. I still don’t know the material of the Dark Blaze Rod. Furthermore, the toughness of the Dark Blaze Rod was even greater than that of Millennium Coldsteel. As expected...the Dark Blaze Rod is special.” With exhilaration, Teng Qingshan could distinguish the right direction with the help of the Dark Blaze Rod.

In short, as long as the direction he was moving in raised the temperature of the Dark Blaze Rod, he continued advancing.

After a while...

“It’s right in front!” Teng Qingshan struck out his fist and crushed the rocky mountain wall.

Walla~~~

A great amount of lava burst out, nearly setting Teng Qingshan’s clothes on fire.

“I am in the lava.” Teng Qingshan’s body was instantly enveloped by battle armor made of Supreme Force.

“Whew. I was fortunate. If I moved slightly slower, my clothes would’ve been burned, and I would be naked.” Teng Qingshan heaved a sigh of relief. Simultaneously, his body swayed, and he moved several Zhang forward.

Chi—

Teng Qingshan was astounded as he stared at the scene before his eyes.

Before him was a completely empty area. The lava seemed to have been forced outside the area by a shapeless power. In this spherical vacuum, a red lotus flower hovered in the center. Red flames kindled on the lotus flower as red sparks of fire came from all directions and flew into the floating lotus flower.

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...” Teng Qingshan counted and mumbled in shock, “Nine leaves! A Nine Leaf Red Lotus!!!”