137: Ancient Flame Temple, Home of the Elves

After a violent dizzy spell, Lu Yuan felt his feet give way, then landed heavily on solid ground.

“Pah!”

He shook his head, trying to clear the intense dizziness.

The Heavenly Thunder Light Falcon beneath him let out an uneasy whimper, flapping its wings, struggling to maintain balance.

Lu Yuan opened his eyes, and what greeted him was a vast, circular space.

All around were dark red rock walls, hundreds of meters high, rough-surfaced, emitting an astonishing heat.

Upon the rock walls were carved countless ancient runes he didn’t recognize; each rune burned with fire, emitting a faint red glow.

In the air, the extremely pure fire element energy was almost solidified, more than a hundred times denser than outside!

“What… what kind of hellish place is this?” Lu Yuan took a deep breath, feeling a wave of heat rush into his lungs.

The Heavenly Thunder Light Falcon flapped its wings uneasily; the lightning power on its body seemed to be suppressed here, making it appear somewhat listless.

“Chirp chirp!”

In stark contrast to the Heavenly Thunder Light Falcon’s reaction, the Flame Sprite in Lu Yuan’s arms chirped excitedly and suddenly darted out of his embrace.

The Little Fellow happily twirled in mid-air, opening its small mouth, greedily absorbing the dense fire element around it.

The flame on its head, which had been somewhat dim, visibly brightened and grew stronger at a speed perceptible to the naked eye.

“This place…” Lu Yuan frowned slightly, looking up.

In the center of this circular space, a magnificent dark red temple stood majestically!

The temple was entirely constructed from an unknown dark red giant stone, with an ancient style, exuding a wild and primitive aura!

Dozens of thick stone pillars supported the massive dome; the overall structure was somewhat similar to the ancient Roman temples he had seen online in his previous life, but it was rougher and more majestic.

The top of the temple was not a spire or a sculpture, but a massive ball of flame, like the core of the sun!

It was this flame that illuminated the entire circular space.

“My goodness… this is quite an undertaking!” Lu Yuan clicked his tongue.

“Is this… that Old Elf’s lair?”

As this thought arose, he immediately became vigilant; the ancient sea shark war halberd had already appeared in his hand, and Source Power circulated secretly within his body, ready to respond to any potential danger.

What did that old fellow want to do by bringing him here?

Just then, a few small heads poked out from behind the temple’s massive stone gate.

They were several sprites similar in appearance to the Flame Sprite, but slightly larger in size.

The flames on their heads varied in color; some were orange-red, some were crimson gold, and one was even an ethereal blue.

They curiously observed the suddenly appearing Lu Yuan and the Heavenly Thunder Light Falcon.

When their gazes fell upon the Flame Sprite, who was happily absorbing fire elements, they first paused, then simultaneously let out joyful “chirping” sounds.

They flew out from behind the door, seven or eight of them, quickly gathering around.

“Chirp chirp! Chirp chirp chirp!”

The Flame Sprite that flew out of Lu Yuan’s arms also appeared exceptionally excited upon seeing its kin; it actively went to meet them and began to “chirp and gurgle” in communication.

Looking at their intimate manner, it was as if they were long-lost family members.

The newly appeared sprites did not show any malice towards Lu Yuan; they merely observed him with their pure, flame-burning eyes, as well as the somewhat nervous Heavenly Thunder Light Falcon beside him.

A few bolder ones even flew to Lu Yuan’s side and gently rubbed their small, flame-burning heads against Lu Yuan’s trouser leg, seemingly expressing some goodwill.

“Hello?” Lu Yuan attempted to speak, forcing a friendly smile onto his face.

However, the sprites merely tilted their heads, looking at him, and continued to make “chirping” sounds, seemingly unable to understand his words.

Lu Yuan understood in his heart: “It seems not all Flame Sprites can speak human language. Perhaps only beings of the Old Elf’s caliber can master language.”

He looked at these Little Fellows circling him, their eyes full of curiosity and innocence, and his vigilance relaxed slightly.

At least for now, they didn't seem hostile towards him.

Lu Yuan recalled the Black Iron Ore Vein resource card that Lin Haige had dropped earlier, which his Little Fellow had eaten as a snack.

A thought stirred in his mind, and he took out a few spare low-grade fire source stones from his backpack.

These were what he usually used to feed the Flame Sprite; although not high-grade, the fire element they contained was quite pure.

“Here, for you to eat.” Lu Yuan tossed a few fire source stones over.

Upon seeing the fire source stones, the sprites’ eyes immediately widened, and they let out joyful “chirping” sounds. Without ceremony, they swarmed over, each taking a stone, quickly dividing and consuming the fire source stones.

After swallowing the fire source stones, the flames on their heads visibly intensified, and their gaze towards Lu Yuan also became much more affectionate.

Lu Yuan’s Flame Sprite even puffed out its small chest proudly, as if saying, “See, my boss is great, right!”

Seeing this, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but laugh softly.

He temporarily put down his guard.

It seemed he wouldn't be able to leave this accursed place anytime soon.

Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it.

He might as well figure out exactly where this place was before making any plans.

Lu Yuan looked at the magnificent dark red temple, pondering silently.

That Old Elf wouldn't have simply teleported him here just to invite him as a guest.

His gaze lingered for a moment on the deep entrance of the temple.

“Chirp chirp!”

Just then, Lu Yuan’s Flame Sprite flew over, gently tugged at his clothes, then pointed towards the depths of the temple, letting out a series of urging chirps.

The other sprites also chimed in, seemingly inviting him into the temple.

“You want me to go in?” Lu Yuan asked.

The Flame Sprite nodded repeatedly, its small face full of anticipation.

Lu Yuan pondered for a moment, then nodded: “Alright, I’ll go in and take a look.”

He couldn't leave anyway, so he might as well follow these Little Fellows and see what mysteries lay within this temple.

Seeing Lu Yuan agree, the Flame Sprite cheered, taking the lead and flying towards the temple’s huge stone gate.

The other sprites also clustered around Lu Yuan, chirping happily.

Although the Heavenly Thunder Light Falcon was still somewhat uneasy, under Lu Yuan’s soothing, it folded its wings and followed closely behind.

The moment they stepped through the temple gate, an even denser, purer fire element energy washed over them.

The interior space of the temple was much vaster than Lu Yuan had seen from the outside!

The further they went, the more open the space became.

A wide passage, paved with dark red flagstones, extended forward, leading to an unknown destination.

On both sides of the passage were towering colossal pillars, carved with lifelike patterns of fiery divine birds and lava beasts, full of a primitive, wild beauty.

“Such dense fire element…”

Cultivating fire-attribute secret techniques or cards in this environment would definitely yield twice the results with half the effort.

The Flame Sprite led Lu Yuan around a corner, and the scene before them suddenly opened up.

An even larger circular hall appeared before Lu Yuan.

In the center of the hall was a massive circular platform.

Around the edge of the platform burned a circle of unextinguishable pale flames.

And in the very center of the platform, Lu Yuan saw something that made his pupils suddenly contract!

It was a huge altar, constructed from countless dark red stone slabs!

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