Chapter 29: Underworld Fire
What is underground fire?
To put it simply, it is volcanic lava.
Many volcanoes become dormant after erupting once, but lava is always bubbling inside, with extremely strong firepower that never dies down year round.
Therefore, in ancient times, many ascetics liked to use earth fire to refine elixirs and weapons.
Chen Jiu didn't know how to make elixirs or refine weapons, so naturally he had never played with underground fire. However, he knew how to find underground fire because many spiritual medicines with fire attributes would grow near underground fire.
Moreover, elixirs that enhance qi and blood generally require spiritual medicines with fire attributes. For example, the red Ganoderma lucidum, fire lotus seeds, and silver flame chrysanthemums used in Zhenyuan Pills, Qixue Pills, Peiyuan Pills, etc. all grow near the underground fire.
He just happened to be refining these pills, so naturally he had memorized the properties of these spiritual herbs a long time ago.
However, spiritual herbs are not so easy to find. The deep mountains and old forests are full of monsters, making it difficult to move. For ordinary people who run in, let alone find spiritual herbs, it would be lucky if they can come out alive.
Of course, Chen Jiu is not an ordinary person, and Jiaona is even more not ordinary people. They also have two extremely majestic mounts, Daqing and Xiaoqing, and they can roam freely in the deep mountains and forests.
The key is that spiritual herbs are rare and difficult to find.
Chen Jiu looked at the lush green forests and flowers and plants everywhere and couldn't help but frowning.
They had already entered the depths of Mount Yi. Daqing and Xiaoqing were carrying special rattan baskets on their backs. There was no problem in traveling as they did not have to carry anything. The problem was that they had been searching in the dense forest for more than half an hour and had not found a single spiritual herb.
"Wow, there is a peach forest here. There are so many peaches, big and small. Come pick them!"
He was frowning in thought when he heard the wolf demon's joyful howl in the distance.
This guy only knows how to show his affection!
Upon hearing this, Daqing and Xiaoqing stretched out their little tongues and began licking their mouths. It was obvious that they wanted to eat it.
Jiaona looked into the distance, but still endured it and didn't say anything.
They came here to look for underground fire, not fruit. If they found any spiritual herbs, they could pick them, but peaches would be fine.
Upon seeing this, Chen Jiu shook his head helplessly, then transformed into a soul about ten feet long, picked up two rattan baskets, and appeared in the peach forest in a flash. He passed by several peach trees like lightning, and soon the two baskets were full.
"I asked you to find the spiritual herbs, but you just stared at the tree."
He couldn't help but scold the wolf demon, then he dodged back.
Jiaona's eyes were full of stars as she said, "Wow, Jiu, you are amazing. You fought back and forth from such a long distance in the blink of an eye."
Upon hearing this, Chen Jiu couldn't help but slap his forehead.
I asked the wolf demon to look for something everywhere, but that guy had never seen the spiritual herbs. At least I had seen the spiritual herbs in the jade slips. If I could just use my soul to look for them, wouldn’t that be much better than the wolf demon?
Thinking of this, he closed his eyes, opened his spiritual sense, controlled his soul body to flash to a patch of flowers and plants, and took a careful look around.
"Swish" one piece, "Swish" another piece, in less than a quarter of an hour, he had searched the area within a few miles. This time, he really found a magical herb.
His spiritual awareness is extremely strong, and it is extremely convenient for him to control his spiritual body to find spiritual herbs.
"Jiao Na, if you hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten that the speed of the Yuan Shen body is indeed incredibly fast."
Chen Jiu looked at the spiritual herb in his hand and couldn't help but smile knowingly.
After that, they searched much faster. In about an hour, they had searched the forest forty to fifty miles and found several spiritual herbs.
Suddenly, the soul was stunned and stood motionless in a valley.
There were no flowers, plants or trees in this valley, except for an orchid that was as grayish-white as dead grass.
Silver Flame Orchid!
The flowers, plants and trees on the surrounding mountaintops are all growing well. There must be no shortage of rain in this valley, so why are there no flowers, plants or trees?
It is very likely because there is underground fire!
A few miles away, Chen Jiu suddenly opened his eyes and pointed in the direction of the valley and said, "Daqing Xiaoqing, there is a valley about three miles over there. Take us over there quickly."
Upon hearing this, Daqing and Xiaoqing ran over immediately. They reached the place in about three miles and a cup of tea.
Chen Jiu retracted his soul and spread his consciousness to explore underground. Sure enough, the fire spirit energy below was much thicker than that above.
"Old Ding, take a look, is there any underground fire underneath?"
The Great God Cauldron used its divine sense to carefully investigate, and then confirmed: "Yes, there is underground fire underneath. As long as we open a hole about five miles deep, the underground fire will surge up."
Five miles deep!
When Chen Jiu heard this, his eyes almost popped out.
He is not a drilling machine, so how can he dig a hole five miles deep?
Besides, the temperature of the lava is extremely high. If he keeps digging like this, he will be scalded to death.
He was stunned for a long time, then he said awkwardly: "Old Ding, how do you dig such a deep hole? Won't the underground fire burn people?"
Honghuang Shending said heartlessly: "Don't you have claws on your Tiger God body? Just use your claws to dig. The underground fire is hot, so don't touch it. When you dig three or four miles deep, stop and smash it hard. As long as you crack the rocks above the underground fire, the underground fire will gush out."
Damn, you’re still smashing it hard?
Chen Jiu couldn't help but ask, "Will this cause a volcanic eruption?"
Honghuang Shending said calmly: "Don't worry, if this volcano was going to erupt, it would have erupted a long time ago. It hasn't erupted for thousands of years, and it is very likely that it will not erupt again."
Okay, you have experience, I believe you.
Chen Jiu immediately flew down from Da Qing and came to the bottom of the valley. He then waved his hand and said, "You all stand on the top of the mountain. I'm going to start digging."
After saying that, he let out a wild roar, transformed into his true form of the Tiger God, stretched out his two front paws, and started digging fiercely at the bottom of the valley.
Mud and rocks suddenly gushed out, and a huge pit with a radius of ten feet soon appeared at the bottom of the valley.
The speed of the Tiger God's true body is really amazing, and digging a pit doesn't require much effort. The key is that the pit is too deep, three or four miles, which is more than a thousand meters, nearly two thousand meters!
Chen Jiu dug about ten feet deep and then he couldn't dig any further. There was no other way. No matter how strong he was, he couldn't lift the dirt and gravel so high. The dirt and gravel in the pit couldn't come out, no matter how hard he dug.
He could only ask Jiaona to find some strong vines, weave a few large baskets, and take turns lowering them while Daqing, Xiaoqing and the wolf demon pull up the dirt and gravel.
He worked hard from morning until the sun was about to set, and finally he dug into an extremely hard rock layer.
Fortunately, the Tiger God's true body is extremely powerful. If someone else were to dig, it would probably take a month to dig so deep.
At this moment, the huge pit was pitch black and extremely hot. Chen Jiu could hardly bear it.
He panted for a while, communicated with the Honghuang Divine Cauldron, and then mobilized all his energy and blood and slapped .
With a loud bang, gravel flew everywhere and the entire pit began to tremble.
Before Chen Jiu could react, a stream of hot air gushed out, and in that instant, he felt like he was about to be roasted.
"Fuck, Lao Ding, you're tricking me. This is too hot. I can't handle it!"
With a "whoosh", the Great Divine Cauldron swallowed him up directly, flashed out of the pit in a few flashes, appeared next to Jiaona, and spit him out.
At this time, the entire valley began to shake, and it was as if there was a dragon rolling underground, with a rumbling sound.
Seeing this, Chen Jiu couldn't help but worry: "Lao Ding, are you sure this volcano won't erupt?"
Honghuang Shending said without hesitation: "It's just a small noise, don't worry, it will not explode."
Sure enough, after the fiery red lava gushed out of the cave, it slowly retreated back, repeating this process several times. Finally, the lava stayed about half a foot deep in the pit like well water and did not move.
Seeing this, Honghuang Shending couldn't help but said excitedly: "The underground fire mouth is finally opened. My old cauldron can finally show its power."
Uh, is that all?
Chen Jiu couldn't help but wonder: "Don't you need to build a stove or a furnace or something?"
The Great Desolate Divine Cauldron said in a boastful tone, "Do you think my old cauldron is a furnace cauldron made by ordinary cultivators? You don't need any stoves or furnaces! You just need to build a big shed to cover it."
Well, this shed will probably have to be more than ten meters high.
Chen Jiu looked at the hillsides on both sides of the valley, made a rough estimate, and then said decisively: "It is definitely impossible to build it today. Let's come back tomorrow. Let's go to Weihe first to see if Yu Qi has prepared the materials."
Upon hearing this, Honghuang Shending suddenly used his spiritual sense to communicate slyly: "My injuries are still a bit serious at the moment, and it is still a bit difficult for me to refine the weapon. You absorbed so much energy and blood this morning, but you only gave me 10%. Isn't that too stingy?
Anyway, Yu Qi and the others will help you catch them, and you don't have to do anything. Otherwise, you can absorb an extra 10% for me every day. This way, I will recover much faster and can refine weapons faster."
This guy is just thinking about my blood and energy. Don’t I need to strive for the eighth level of the Tiger Demon Divine Fist?
Chen Jiu hesitated for a moment, but still gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll give you an extra 10% every day, go ahead and take it."
