Salamander

In the dark of night, that beam of light was like a beacon. Initially, Long Chen thought it was starlight and paid it no mind.

Now, in this critical moment, he realized it must be a firelight. In the endless desert, the appearance of firelight was highly illogical, yet Long Chen's intuition told him that it might offer him some protection.

If Long Chen were facing the dozen or so Second-Rank Desert Giant Scorpions alone, he wouldn't be afraid. As long as he activated his Alchemy Flame Body Protection, even if he couldn't defeat these Desert Giant Scorpions, he would at least be able to escape calmly.

But Little Snow couldn't. Although Little Snow was called the Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf, a highly precious Third-Rank Demonic Beast, and possessed the ability to manipulate both wind and fire elements,

Little Snow was currently only at the Second-Rank level and was still in its growth phase. Although it had the Legacy battle skill—Wind Blade, its control over the Wind Blade was extremely crude, and its power was not strong.

Only after the Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf reached the Third-Rank would it explode with its most powerful combat strength, Awakening the power of fire. With wind and fire combined, only then could the Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf stand at the Peak position among Third-Rank Demonic Beasts.

Before Little Snow reached the Third-Rank, it could only barely withstand some high heat, but it definitely could not withstand Long Chen's Alchemy Flame. Now, Little Snow had become Long Chen's fatal weakness.

"Little Snow, run towards that light!"

After giving the instruction, Long Chen turned his head and discovered that the dozen or so Desert Giant Scorpions had already closed in within a hundred zhang.

In the soft sand, Little Snow's speed was greatly reduced, and since this was the Desert Giant Scorpions' home turf, it was an unfair contest.

Long Chen stretched out one hand, circulating the Alchemy Flame power within his body, and a fireball slowly appeared in his hand.

This was not a battle skill, but a simple circulation of flame. However, being able to circulate ordinary flame and compress it to a level similar to a battle skill—if other Alchemy Cultivators saw this, their jaws would absolutely drop.

For an ordinary Alchemy Cultivator to do this would be courting death; even with an Origin Flame, no one would dare to use it like this.

"Alchemy Flame is ruthless," this was a warning that every Alchemy Cultivator would give when teaching a Disciple.

Usually, a Third-Rank Alchemy Cultivator, meaning someone at the Alchemy Master level, needed to refine a type of flame into their Life-Flame.

This type of flame was known as the Origin Flame. By merging the flame into one's own flesh and blood, or even one's Soul, to achieve the strongest compatibility, one could use this to Breakthrough to the Alchemy King realm.

People like Great Master Yun Qi, Wei Cang, and Wang Luyang were all Alchemy Master-level experts, but only Great Master Yun Qi possessed an Origin Flame.

This was not because Great Master Yun Qi had immense talent, but because Great Master Yun Qi had seen his own future. Knowing he would not encounter a more suitable Alchemy Flame, he simply refined the not-so-powerful Beast Flame in his possession into an Origin Flame.

As for Wei Cang, Wang Luyang, and the others, they were currently unwilling to do so, because the Origin Flame was tied to their future. Until they found a suitable Alchemy Flame, they would absolutely not do this.

Because once an Origin Flame was refined, it could never be changed for the rest of one's life; in other words, their future was basically set in stone.

Most Alchemy Cultivators chose to refine Beast Flames, and the stronger the fire-element Demonic Beast, the stronger its Beast Flame.

Some top-tier Beast Flames could grow alongside their master's cultivation level; such top-tier Beast Flames were listed on the Beast Flame Ranking. However, regardless of whether it was Yun Qi or Wei Cang, the Beast Flames they had obtained were not enough to be listed on the Beast Flame Ranking.

Therefore, Wei Cang and Wang Luyang were unwilling to settle, always wanting to wait until they encountered a Beast Flame from the Beast Flame Ranking to refine into an Origin Flame, ensuring unlimited future achievements.

Unfortunately, their great dream was strangled to death by Great Master Yun Qi. It is estimated that when the two of them died, they felt extremely stifled; if they had also refined an Origin Flame, the one who died should have been Yun Qi.

But even Great Master Yun Qi, who had refined an Origin Flame, would absolutely not dare to compress flame to such a high degree without using a battle skill. This required microscopic-level control over the flame.

Fire is violent; such compression was no different from frantically compressing a ball of explosives. One wrong move, and he would be blown to smithereens.

But Long Chen possessed the memories of the Alchemy Emperor, and his Soul power was ridiculously strong. Added to that, an expert from the Spirit Realm had opened up his meridians for him. What others considered dancing on the edge of a blade was, in Long Chen's hands, as simple as a daily chore.

"Boom!"

A fist-sized fireball from Long Chen's hand was flung out, landing in front of the Desert Giant Scorpions. It exploded with a roar, like fireworks, sweeping in all directions and engulfing the group of Desert Giant Scorpions.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak…"

The Desert Giant Scorpions were engulfed by the flames and immediately let out strange cries, scrambling in a sorry state out of the range of the fire.

"The fire power is too weak."

Long Chen secretly lamented. The Beast Flame he possessed was fine for Alchemy, but for attacking, especially against these crustacean-type Demonic Beasts, it appeared far too weak.

To inflict real damage on the Desert Giant Scorpions, he would need to concentrate all of his Alchemy Flame power.

However, his Alchemy Flame was limited; he could at most release one strongest attack, and even that might not necessarily cause them heavy damage.

Even so, Long Chen had achieved his goal. His strike had caused panic among the Desert Giant Scorpions, and their speed had decreased significantly.

When the Desert Giant Scorpions approached again, Long Chen threw another fireball, forcing them back temporarily. Repeating this, Long Chen and Little Snow were temporarily safe.

What Long Chen didn't expect was that the light, which didn't look far away, had only grown slightly larger after running for more than half an hour. It seemed there was still a long distance to go.

The group of Desert Giant Scorpions seemed to have been enraged by Long Chen and followed doggedly behind. Fortunately, Long Chen's fireballs consumed very little Alchemy Flame, allowing him to keep going for a long time.

Thus, Little Snow and Long Chen galloped through the night, followed by a group of Desert Giant Scorpions. In the pitch-black desert, brilliant fireworks would light up from time to time, appearing extremely eerie.

After running for the entire night, as dawn was about to break, Long Chen finally arrived at his destination. It was actually a hill.

The hill was not high, only about a hundred zhang. It was bare, looking like a giant burial mound, and there was a cave on it; the light was shining out from inside the cave.

Running closer, a terrifying heatwave struck, making it feel as though the air itself was about to burn. Through the cave, Long Chen could see the flames inside.

"Chi, chi, chi, chi…"

Upon reaching the vicinity, those Desert Giant Scorpions seemed extremely wary of this place. Seeing Long Chen approach the hill, they actually stopped in their tracks and circled in place.

Seeing that they were no longer chasing, Long Chen also stopped, because he discovered that Little Snow was also starting to have trouble adapting to the high temperature here.

Fortunately, Little Snow was a Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf. Although it had not yet developed the power of fire, its resistance to high temperatures was far greater than other Demonic Beasts.

After circling in place a few times, the group of Desert Giant Scorpions suddenly scattered and sprinted back in the direction they had come from; they had actually given up.

Long Chen finally let out a long sigh of relief; he had finally shaken off those hateful poisonous insects, but at the same time, he felt a bit stifled.

However, thinking about it, that's just how cultivation is; enemies won't always confront you in areas where you excel. If you want to become stronger, you must try your best to have no weaknesses.

As Long Chen was thinking, he suddenly felt something was wrong. The speed at which the Desert Giant Scorpions left seemed faster than when they were chasing them.

That behavior didn't look like an unwilling retreat, but rather like… Long Chen suddenly felt a chill in his heart and turned his head to look.

Before he knew it, the light at the cave entrance had vanished, because a massive figure had almost completely blocked the zhang-wide cave entrance. On a giant head, two eyes like lanterns were staring fixedly at Long Chen and Little Snow.

"Flame Lizard Beast!"

Long Chen exclaimed, clearly recognizing this massive Demonic Beast.

The Flame Lizard Beast was a very rare fire-element Demonic Beast, similar in body shape to a lizard. Legend had it that it survived by absorbing the power of fire. Once an adult, it was a Third-Rank Demonic Beast with terrifying combat strength.

Long Chen finally understood why those Desert Giant Scorpions had been fleeing for their lives; this Flame Lizard Beast was their natural nemesis.

"Boom!"

The Flame Lizard Beast was clearly enraged by the intruders before it. It slammed its giant foot against the ground and lunged at Long Chen.

When the Flame Lizard Beast exited the cave, Long Chen finally saw its full appearance. Its body, nearly ten zhang long, made one feel as small as an ant.

"Awoo!"

Little Snow roared angrily and was about to attack, but was suddenly pushed away by Long Chen.

"This guy is mine. Little Snow, stay away!"

After recognizing this Flame Lizard Beast, while shocked, Long Chen was also filled with excitement, because this was a rare fire-element Demonic Beast, and that meant it was a source of Beast Flame.

Upon seeing this Flame Lizard Beast, Long Chen had long since thrown his complaints about Tu Fang to the back of his mind.

After entering the Alchemist Guild, Long Chen had examined countless classics in the guild and had even seen something called the Beast Flame Ranking.

If Long Chen remembered correctly, the Flame Lizard Beast's Beast Flame was ranked ninety-seventh on the Beast Flame Ranking; that was an absolute supreme treasure.

Things that people like Great Master Yun Qi, Wei Cang, and Wang Luyang had failed to obtain in their entire lives were right in front of him. No matter how calm Long Chen was, his heart couldn't help but race.

What Alchemy Cultivators craved the most was the power of fire; that was absolutely something that would make every Alchemy Cultivator go crazy, and Long Chen was no exception.

He sent Little Snow away because this Flame Lizard Beast was incomparably terrifying; with Little Snow present, he would be unable to fight with full firepower.

Hearing Long Chen's command, Little Snow obediently ran more than a thousand zhang away. At this moment, the Flame Lizard Beast had already charged in front of Long Chen, opening its massive mouth to bite at him.

"Your mouth stinks!"

A foul, incredibly pungent odor made him nauseous. Tapping his toes on the ground, at the very moment the Flame Lizard Beast's massive mouth was about to bite him, he leaped into mid-air.

The Flame Lizard Beast couldn't stop its momentum and took a mouthful of sand. Long Chen clenched his right fist, just about to attack, when suddenly, the sound of wind arose behind him. Without thinking, he swung his fist backward.

"Boom!"

Long Chen felt as if he had been struck by a meteor; he was immediately sent flying backward, slamming headlong into that bare mountain.

What Long Chen hadn't expected was that the bare mountain was actually made entirely of rock. Slamming into the mountain produced an explosive sound.

The impact left Long Chen's head buzzing. Only then did he realize that he had just been swiped by the Flame Lizard Beast's tail.

Shaking his body, he felt a wave of soreness all over. That strike was ruthless enough; if it had been anyone else, they would likely have been flattened into meat paste in an instant.

Seeing the Flame Lizard Beast roar and charge over again, Long Chen let out a cold snort. Tapping his feet against the rock, a glistening longsword appeared in his hand, and he lunged toward the Flame Lizard Beast.

"Wind Parting Slash!"