142: Harvest the Azure Lotus Earth Core Fire

Mo Yuhan didn't even look. With his left hand, he carefully cupped the colorful small snake and the Azure Lotus Core Flame within the lotus seat. With his right hand, he quickly tore off a piece of his tattered shirt from his chest and swiftly wrapped the snake and the flame together, forming a makeshift bundle that he tightly tied around his waist.

The cool snake body and the warm lotus seat pressed against his waist and abdomen through the fabric, providing a continuous, strange sensation.

“Ah Yin! Instructor Ruo Lin!” He struggled to get up, calling out in a hoarse voice. His gaze anxiously swept across the surrounding swirling sand and chaotic energy aftermath.

Not far away, Ah Yin lay motionless on the sand, only her faint breathing indicating she was still alive.

Further away, Instructor Ruo Lin lay in a depression in the sand dune, her sky-blue robe largely stained red, her life unknown.

Mo Yuhan's heart sank to the bottom.

He staggered, first rushing to Ah Yin's side, checking her breath—faint but steady.

He exhaled slightly in relief, then painstakingly moved to Ruo Lin's side. Ruo Lin's breathing was even fainter, her face as pale as gold leaf, and the front of her robe was soaked with blood, indicating severe internal injuries.

“Cough… Yu… Yu Han…” Ruo Lin seemed to sense his approach, struggling to open her eyes slightly, her voice barely a whisper, “Quick… go… leave… this place…”

Mo Yuhan gritted his teeth, his mouth full of a metallic taste. He glanced into the distance.

The colorful storm in the direction of the temple ruins had begun to weaken, but the destructive aftermath was still terrifying. Gu He, Yun Yun, and others also seemed to be awed by the terrifying explosion, temporarily ceasing their attacks and cautiously investigating the explosion's center with uncertainty.

Mo Basi and the other Snake People leaders let out piercing roars, rushing towards the deep pit without hesitation, clearly searching frantically for something.

An opportunity!

A decisive glint flashed in Mo Yuhan's eyes.

He forced himself to endure the intense pain in his body, using his left hand to support the unconscious Ah Yin, letting her lean on his back, while his right hand painstakingly helped the heavily injured Ruo Lin to her feet.

Three people—two heavily injured and unconscious, one on the verge of collapse—stumbled like refugees in the desert.

He took one last look at the center of the destructive storm, feeling the strange sensation of coolness and warmth intertwined from the bundle at his waist, and took a deep breath of the hot, bloody air.

He turned, moving step by step, with difficulty yet with immense determination, towards the depths of the vast desert, in the opposite direction from the holy city.

With every step, deep bloody footprints were left on the scorching sand.

With every step, he moved further away from the chaotic battlefield and the deadly vortex.

The wind and sand whimpered, carrying a scorched smell and the scent of blood, gradually swallowing the three small figures supporting each other and stumbling forward.

And in the makeshift bundle at his waist, a faint colorful light and a pure azure flame, beneath the tattered fabric, gently rose and fell with Mo Yuhan's steps, like a spark of hope quietly blooming in the desert.

He didn't know how long he had trekked through the scorching sand sea, his consciousness repeatedly pulled between the brink of agony and exhaustion.

Mo Yuhan's lips were cracked and bleeding, and each breath brought the pain of sand grating against his lungs.

The weight of Ah Yin on his back and Ruo Lin supported by his side felt like two heavy mountains, almost crushing him completely.

His vision was blurry, the world spun, and only an unyielding will kept him going.

At his waist, the simple bundle pressed against his skin, continuously transmitting a cool (colorful small snake) and warm (Azure Lotus Core Flame lotus seat) sensation, the only unusual comfort in this deadly sand sea.

The small snake seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep, no longer wriggling.

Just as Mo Yuhan's will was about to be completely eroded by the boundless sand sea, an extremely faint but unusually sweet and moist scent, like a spring in the desert, quietly entered his parched nostrils.

He abruptly lifted his head, and the last glimmer of light burst forth from his cloudy eyes.

Ahead, beyond the outline of the sand dune, an extremely dim but incredibly real patch of green appeared in his vision, like a mirage!

It wasn't a hallucination.

Mo Yuhan squeezed out the last bit of strength from his body, practically dragging Ruo Lin and Ah Yin, stumbling over the last sand dune.

The view suddenly opened up.

A small Oasis, like a lost pearl in the desert, lay quietly nestled in the embrace of a sand valley.

It wasn't large, with a small, clear pond at its center, only about two to three zhang in circumference.

By the pond, several clumps of dense desert willow and a few short date palm trees grew tenaciously, their sparse green leaves swaying in the scorching wind.

Moist water vapor permeated the air, carrying a captivating scent of life.

“Oasis…” Mo Yuhan's throat produced a hoarse gurgle, almost weeping with joy.

He could no longer stand, collapsing with Ruo Lin and Ah Yin onto the damp sand at the edge of the Oasis, kicking up a cloud of dust.

He didn't even stop to catch his breath, immediately untying the bundle at his waist. Inside, the colorful small snake was still curled up, its breath faint but steady, seemingly unaffected much.

The azure lotus seat fragment and the Azure Lotus Core Flame spark flickering upon it were also safe and sound, the azure flame burning docilely.

Mo Yuhan carefully placed the bundle beside the roots of a shaded desert willow tree.

Then he struggled to crawl to the pond, scooping up the cool pond water with his remaining strength and gulping it down.

The sweet spring water moistened his parched throat and his almost smoking lungs, restoring a bit of clarity to him.

He immediately returned, first helping Ah Yin up, carefully feeding the cool spring water to her bit by bit.

Ah Yin swallowed unconsciously, and her pale face seemed to regain a touch of vitality.

He then did the same, feeding water to the unconscious Ruo Lin. After all this, Mo Yuhan collapsed under the shade of the tree, breathing heavily, and checking his own injuries.

His Dou Qi was almost depleted, his meridians were torn in many places, and his external injuries were shocking, but fortunately, there were no fatal wounds.

After resting for a moment and regaining some strength, Mo Yuhan's gaze fell upon the azure flame at the center of the verdant lotus seat.

Azure Lotus Core Flame.

Ranked nineteenth on the Heavenly Flame List, it originated deep within the earth, forged, fused, compressed, and carved countless times by the earth's fire… taking ten years to form a spirit, a hundred years to take shape, and a thousand years to become a lotus.

Its color is predominantly azure, with a cluster of azure fire at its lotus heart, named Azure Lotus Flame, also known as Azure Lotus Core Flame.

Its power is unfathomable; near volcanic regions, it can even trigger volcanic eruptions, forming a destructive force of nature.

At this moment, this destructive flame was confined to a palm-sized lotus seat fragment, appearing unusually docile.

Mo Yuhan knew that this was not the true nature of the Heavenly Flame, but rather the result of Queen Medusa's forced suppression during her evolution, coupled with the fact that the lotus seat itself was a companion to the Azure Lotus Core Flame, giving it a natural affinity and binding power over the Heavenly Flame.

More importantly, he could clearly feel the remaining Xuan Huang Purple Flame within him creating a strange… attraction and suppression towards this Azure Lotus Core Flame.

Xuan Huang Flame, ranked twenty-third on the Heavenly Flame List.

Although its ranking was lower than the Azure Lotus Core Flame, its “origin burning” characteristic had a certain deterrent and assimilation power over any Heavenly Flame.

Furthermore, Mo Yuhan's Xuan Huang Flame had already fused with the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's Purple Flame, forming the even more powerful Xuan Huang Purple Flame.

At this moment, facing the Azure Lotus Core Flame, which was suppressed by Queen Medusa, bound by the lotus seat, and in a weakened state of its original spark, the advantage of the Xuan Huang Purple Flame was infinitely magnified.

An opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Mo Yuhan's heart pounded.

He suppressed his excitement and sat cross-legged.

His Soul Power carefully extended, like the gentlest of tentacles, slowly approaching the cluster of azure lotus flame.

There was no violent resistance as he had expected. The Azure Lotus Core Flame merely flickered slightly, transmitting a faint sense of confusion and instinctive closeness.

It seemed to have mistaken the Xuan Huang Purple Flame aura contained within Mo Yuhan's spirit for some kind of homologous power, or even… some kind of reliance in its current weakened state.