Chapter Ninety-Two: The Hardworking, Lovely Firefolk

The sword and the bug arrived at the place where the fire lotus had fallen and discovered that the volcanic ash here was unusual, faintly glowing red.

“Big Brother, the red glow covered a much larger area just now, but in such a short time it has already shrunk a lot.”

After taking a look, Qin Chuan recalled the black mud that had nurtured the golden lotus and said, “Little Brother, have you found anything else?”

“Yes, yes. I found that all these red glows were surging toward one place, but it was inside the volcano.”

“Mm, then perhaps the treasure that nurtures the fire lotus has absorbed the red glow. Wait for Zi Zi a moment, and then we’ll go take a look.”

“Okay.”

Soon, Zi Zi came over as well. Curiously eyeing the volcanic ash, which now held only a faint trace of red glow, she could not help asking, “This is the treasure you were talking about? Little Buggy, don’t tell me you’re planning to eat volcanic ash?”

The Sleepy Bug hurriedly shook its head. “Of course not. Sister Zi Zi, this is only the bait. The treasure is down below!”

Zi Zi blinked her beautiful eyes, confused. “Down below?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Little Brother, make sure of the direction. Let’s get to work.”

“Sure thing, Big Brother.”

So the Sleepy Bug took a little stroll and arrived at the foot of the volcano, saying excitedly, “Big Brother, just dig in from here.”

“Mm. Zi Zi, rest for a bit. Let us rough work fall to me and my little brother.”

A faint warmth rose in Zi Zi’s heart. She smiled and answered, “Mm.”

She suddenly realized that Qin Chuan seemed rather gentle and considerate.

Qin Chuan’s tone was so soft that even the Sleepy Bug could not help saying, “Big Brother, what you just said made my skin tingle.”

Clang!

Qin Chuan directly gave the Sleepy Bug a flick on the head, then said, “Still tingling? If it is, I can help loosen your hide!”

“No, no, Big Brother. I suddenly don’t feel it anymore!”

Seeing Qin Chuan recover his usual dignity, the Sleepy Bug hurriedly begged for mercy.

“Hurry up and stop dawdling. Digging the tunnel is what matters.”

“Mm-yes!”

Watching the sword and the bug messing about, Zi Zi felt an emotion she could not quite name.

Though both were spirit beings, they treated one another with loyalty and affection, full of warmth and humanity.

It was somewhat like Zi Hanyu, who had always cherished her, even if she appeared stern on the surface.

Zi Zi murmured in a daze, “I suddenly miss my sister a little.”

At this moment, one had to admit that the sword and the bug were highly professional. In the short time Zi Zi had been lost in thought, they had already dug out a passage more than ten meters long.

“Sister Zi Zi, hurry and come in.”

“Mm, I’m coming.”

About ten minutes later, they finally dug to the target location.

Before their eyes spread a field of blazing red. The stone wall was covered in brilliant scarlet fruit, glimmering with flowing light and exceedingly tempting.

“Ding! Third-tier top-grade Fire Crystal Fruit discovered.”

...

“Damn, is this the firefolk’s lair?”

“Mm-hmm, it has to be. Wow, so many fruits. Just looking at them tells you they must be delicious!”

The Sleepy Bug could not stop swallowing, its adorable blue eyes shining with excitement.

“My heavens, these are third-tier top-grade Fire Crystal Fruits. Are we really this lucky?”

Zi Zi was also full of surprise and delight. These Fire Crystal Fruits were very helpful to her cultivation as well.

At this point, Qin Chuan could not help praising, “No wonder it could nurture so many firefolk elites. This really is a blessed land.”

“These firefolk are hardworking and adorable.”

There were over a thousand Fire Crystal Fruits here. The three bandits each divided more than three hundred of them, so happy they could not close their mouths.

Because the fruits looked so good, Zi Zi could not help parting her lips and taking a bite. The juice surged into her mouth at once, filling it with fragrance.

“Mmm, fragrant and sweet. I can basically convert it into spiritual power without refining it at all, and my whole body feels warm. It is indescribably comfortable.”

Zi Zi narrowed her eyes, her face glowing with satisfaction.

Seeing this, the Sleepy Bug swallowed so much saliva that it almost flowed out before it could be swallowed down.

Qin Chuan looked at them a little enviously. After all, being able to eat with one’s mouth really was a pleasure.

“All right, let’s start refining.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Qin Chuan activated Devour against the pile of Fire Crystal Fruits.

“Ding! Devouring Fire Crystal Fruit successful. Gained 2,000,000 experience points and 200,000 evolution points.”

...

Though the Fire Crystal Fruits and the Exotic Fragrant Fruits were both third-tier top-grade, the Fire Crystal Fruits were clearly much more advanced.

The energy contained in the juice was exceptionally pure. In truth, it was the result of endless effort from the firefolk, who had cultivated them day and night with untold devotion.

Because the fire lotus had only just appeared, the firefolk had not yet had time to enjoy them.

Now all these fine things had become the feast of the three bandits, and the satisfaction was simply beyond words.

“Ding! Evolution points are full. A direction of evolution may now be chosen.”

...

“Ding! Devouring successful...”

Qin Chuan narrowed his eyes, savoring the cool sensation. Though he could not eat with a mouth, the pleasure of devouring was still remarkably good.

This harvest was truly abundant. Even after the evolution points had filled up, the celestial prompt still rang on and on.

After another while, Qin Chuan finally finished devouring all the Fire Crystal Fruits and gleefully advanced in rank.

“Ding! Evolution successful. Congratulations to the host for advancing to third-tier top-grade.”

“Mm-hmm, wonderful. All attributes increased by another 20 points. Hahaha!”

Qin Chuan happily glanced at his attribute panel. The numbers were once again dazzlingly impressive.

[Host]: Qin Chuan

[Title]: Seven-Star Elite (35 points to all attributes)

[Species]: Dragon-Patterned Cold Jade Sword

[Rank]: Third-tier top-grade (adds 20% to sharpness)

[Quality]: Unique (adds 15% to all attributes)

[Level]: 24

[Attributes]

Sharpness: 538+294.45 (55%)+188.3 (35%) 1020+

Toughness: 482+173.52 (36%) 655+

Speed: 496+188.48 (38%) 684+

Evolution Points: 26,000,000/208,000,000

Experience Points: 770,000,000/832,000,000

Rage: 60/100

Slaughter Value: 7580/10000

[Innate Talents]

Devouring Source

Basic Morphing

Source of Metal: 0/200

Source of Wood: 0/200

Source of Water: 0/200

Source of Fire: 220/200

Source of Earth: 205/200

[Skills]

Flow Strike: First-stage Flow Strike Level 3, Second-stage Glide Level 1 (five meters)

Blink: First-stage Blink Level 3, Second-stage Immunity Level 4 (1.2 seconds)

Enhance: First-stage Enhance Level 3, Second-stage Freeze Level 6 (30% slow, 60% chance to freeze, freeze duration 3 seconds)

Falling-Sky Flow Strike: First-stage Falling-Sky Flow Strike Level 3, Second-stage Movement Level 1

[Mutated Skill]

Level 2 Slaughter (Passive): Temporarily increases sharpness by 10% and reduces all attributes of opponents within twenty meters by 10%. Triggers when a target is killed. Duration: three seconds.

[Chakra Talents]

First Layer, Root Chakra: all attributes increased by 10 points

First Layer, Navel Chakra: permanently increases the chance of quality advancement by 5%

[Additional Attributes]

Critical Hit 10%

Critical Strike 3%

Slow 10%

Freeze 5%

Qin Chuan carefully read through the attributes once, and his heart was truly overflowing with delight.

“Ahhh, in the blink of an eye I am almost leveling up again. This is really comfortable.”

At this time, Zi Zi was still slowly refining, while the Sleepy Bug was also gulping down mouthful after mouthful and could not stop.

Qin Chuan casually looked around and discovered faint flashes of red light on the stone wall.

Stepping closer to inspect, he found root-like veins, like blood vessels. Following along those roots, a patch of blazing red appeared not far away, and a scorching heat hit him in the face.

Qin Chuan came to a cliff. Below it lay a seething sea of molten magma, from which flames occasionally burst upward.

Floating in the center of the magma was a fire dragon, vivid as life and red as jade.

Its roots extended along the cliff wall into the firefolk’s lair.

“Ding! Fire Dragon Tree discovered...”