22: Chapter 22 Fire Spirit Crystal
Huo Rong Mystic Realm.
A mystic realm with the same name as a certain app.
Surrounded on all sides by magma, the charred ground emitted flame-like fuzz, and magma pools of all sizes could be seen everywhere. The scorching air, carrying a pungent sulfur smell, could instantly burn a person's respiratory system into charcoal.
Ever since the news that the Huo Rong Mystic Realm produced fire spirit crystals spread across the internet, the entire Beast Tamer circle in Ningyang City had exploded with excitement, with some people even willing to travel hundreds of kilometers from other cities to get here.
You have to know, fire spirit crystals are indispensable treasures for the high-level evolution of almost all fire-type beast pets, and they are also excellent items for helping fire-type beast pets break through level bottlenecks.
What? Your beast pet is low-level and you can't use them? Selling them for money to cultivate your beast pet is always an option, right?
The market price of fire spirit crystals has always remained high; even the lowest quality crushed fire spirit crystals can fetch a price of over a thousand yuan.
At this moment, on Huo Rong Island, people were gathered around magma pools of all sizes.
Beast Tamers, equipped with flame-insulating Bubble suits, looked like round Bubble spheres as they commanded their beast pets to descend into the magma pools.
"Little Fire Duck, jump down, you can do it! Believe me, this bit of magma is just like ice water to you." A Beast Tamer shouted to his beast pet.
"Quack, quack..." The Little Fire Duck wiggled its butt, looking at the magma below that was bubbling away and distorting the air, feeling a sense of dread in its heart.
After hesitating for a while, seeing that it could not escape, it finally closed its eyes, plunged in with a splash, let out a scorching scream, and slowly sank to the bottom.
"Lava Salamander, this is your home turf. Dive a bit deeper later; the good stuff is all down there. If you see anything shiny, bring it up for me, you hear?" A female Beast Tamer carefully instructed her beast pet.
The Lava Salamander emitted a sound like an infant's cry, then nimbly jumped into the magma, and before long, tossed out one of the half-cooked ducks.
The rich aroma of roasted duck instantly filled the air, and useless tears began to flow from the corners of many people's mouths, including the owner of the Little Fire Duck.
Song Jiang, Yang Juan, and the captain arrived at the Huo Rong Mystic Realm and, seeing the bustling "gold-panning" Beast Tamers inside, the three of them looked at each other.
"Yang Juan, I'm counting on you this time." The captain spoke, his voice coming from inside his Bubble, sounding muffled.
The captain was named Chen Danian, and he was considered a Beast Tamer with some seniority in Ningyang City; his strength was not great, but his discernment was decent.
He just scanned his surroundings and said: "The commotion over the fire spirit crystals this time is quite big. It's not just locals; I've also seen a few Beast Tamer teams from other places. Although the Huo Rong Mystic Realm is in its green safety phase, we still need to be extra careful."
"Mm! I understand." Yang Juan nodded heavily.
Coming here was originally intended to test the strength of the Blazing Fire Crow, and going into the magma to find fire spirit crystals was one of the steps.
There is an unwritten rule among fire-type Beast Tamers—magma is the only standard for testing a fire-type beast pet.
If a fire-type beast pet cannot even adapt to magma, then it is at most a weak fire-type newbie. Only by not fearing magma and being able to withstand its scorching heat can it be considered a qualified fire-type beast pet.
Of course, this "qualified" status is out of reach for many Beast Tamers.
Yang Juan's Fire Crow had previously tried contacting magma, but it almost got roasted. If she hadn't sensed that something was wrong and pulled it back with the rope within two seconds, they might have been able to have a meal right then and there.
Even then, the Fire Crow had needed half a month of treatment before it recovered.
It also had nightmares for a week.
For a time, it would get weak in the knees whenever it saw magma.
As the three of them just arrived at the edge of a magma pool, they heard a sudden exclamation from the crowd.
"It's out! It's out! fire spirit crystal!"
"What a huge piece of fire spirit crystal. Damn, so lucky... This is worth a lot of money."
"Brother, I advise you not to get any crooked ideas. That is the Doll Girl of the Rongrong Team, a Silver-level powerhouse. Ten of you wouldn't be a match for her."
Chen Danian and the others exchanged glances and squeezed through, and sure enough, they saw a Lava Salamander crawling up, its whole body scorching, with a shiny, quail-egg-sized object in its mouth, and magma dripping from its jaws.
"Such a big piece, it's worth hundreds of thousands." Song Jiang exclaimed.
Chen Danian nodded: "The Rongrong Team follows an extreme fire path. For them, this Huo Rong Mystic Realm is just like a backyard; it's not surprising they found a fire spirit crystal."
Yang Juan did not speak, but silently steeled herself.
Everyone plays with fire; who's afraid of whom!
Thinking of this, Yang Juan was full of fighting spirit. She raised her hand to summon, and a fire-red light shot into the sky, transforming into the shape of the Blazing Fire Crow.
Chen Danian and Song Jiang exchanged glances; they did not speak, but they both smiled.
The Yang Juan of the past was disheartened and did not have this competitive spirit; seeing others showing off, she had felt no ripples in her heart.
Now, the Fire Crow had evolved, and her state of mind had recovered along with it.
A good thing!
The people around were attracted by the Blazing Fire Crow and began to clamor; some asked "What kind of beast pet is this?", others said "I've never seen it before," and suddenly, all attention was on this exotic beast pet.
Even the Doll Girl of the Rongrong Team could not help but look over, then looked at Yang Juan and smiled kindly.
Yang Juan nodded expressionlessly in response, then commanded the Blazing Fire Crow: "Into the magma, pick up the fire spirit crystal!"
"Caw—"
The Blazing Fire Crow let out a high-pitched cry, then immediately dove, like a bolt of flame, smashing towards the magma pool, scaring the surrounding people into retreating, fearing that splashed magma would land on them.
Just as it was about to land in the magma, the Blazing Fire Crow suddenly slammed on the brakes, hovered over the magma, and extended a claw, testing the magma.
Everyone: "..."
They knew this well.
This was no different from testing the water temperature before soaking your feet in the middle of winter.
Everyone looked at Yang Juan with strange expressions.
Chen Danian and Song Jiang could not help but show embarrassed expressions; this bird had been scared by the heat last time.
The Doll Girl of the Rongrong Team could not help but let out a light laugh.
Yang Juan's face darkened, and she shouted at the Blazing Fire Crow: "Dilly-dallying, hurry up!"
After testing the water temperature, the Blazing Fire Crow let out a "Caw" and flew high upward, like an arrow released from a bow, shooting into the magma again. Not even a single "splash" emerged; the surface of the magma was quiet, with only some ripples and Bubbles surfacing.
The surroundings quieted down.
Yang Juan clenched her hands, pursed her lips, and became tense.
Last time, she had tied a rope to the Fire Crow, but this time she hadn't.
If the Blazing Fire Crow had an accident in the magma, it would really become a roast duck, and she might even have to beg the Doll Girl to send a beast pet down to retrieve the corpse.
Although it does not cost twenty thousand to retrieve a corpse in the Beast Tamer world, she would still owe a favor.
"Don't worry, you know Brother Li's level; the Blazing Fire Crow will definitely be fine." Song Jiang comforted.
Chen Danian also said: "The higher the quality of a fire-type beast pet, the higher its tolerance to external flames. Given the Blazing Fire Crow's quality, it should be no problem."
Yang Juan nodded but did not speak, continuing to stare at the magma pool.
A few minutes passed.
Just as people were getting impatient and Yang Juan's heart was becoming increasingly panicked.
The magma suddenly bubbled violently.
Bubble, Bubble...
Splash—
The magma exploded, scaring everyone into shrinking back. Scattered magma splashed onto their protective Bubbles, leaving several scorching marks.
"Caw, caw—"
Everyone looked toward the sound and was immediately stunned.
They saw the Blazing Fire Crow with a quail-egg-sized fire spirit crystal in each of its two claws, and a ping-pong-ball-sized, flame-emitting crystal in its mouth. It flew in mid-air, its fire-red color and the glimmer of the three crystals echoing each other.