Beast Taming: Slaughter Atlas-Chapter 386 - 314: Molten Rock Earth Fire
Chu Chen gently patted the back of Shadow Killer, signaling it to land on the ground.
Shadow Killer slowly descended to the ground, not daring to make a sound.
The Molten Earth Dragon is different from the swarm; it’s a King-level Star Beast with formidable perception skills. If it detected them, Chu Chen would have no choice but to escape for his life.
The consequence would be alerting the enemy, making the Molten Earth Dragon extremely vigilant. Attempting to stealthily investigate the cave again would likely be impossible.
Thinking of this, Chu Chen halted Shadow Killer and immediately summoned the Slaughter Atlas, intending to enhance Shadow Killer’s talent level.
Currently, there are 450,000 points of Slaughter Value remaining. Shadow Killer’s talents, Stealth and Mimicry, are both at D-level, requiring 100,000 Slaughter Value to upgrade to C-level.
With sufficient Slaughter Value, Chu Chen did not hesitate and directly upgraded both talents to C-level.
After the upgrade, Shadow Killer’s ability to conceal itself significantly improved, and it crept towards the Molten Earth Dragon cautiously.
However, Chu Chen and Shadow Killer didn’t dare to fix their gaze on it. Star Beasts generally have sharp perception, and a King-level Star Beast’s perception is extraordinary. Staring at it would undoubtedly expose their presence.
As they got closer to the cave, Chu Chen’s heartbeat intensified.
Fortunately, the Molten Earth Dragon was still asleep, unaware of their presence.
The cave was spacious, with a circular shape and a diameter of about three zhang, allowing Shadow Killer to fly within it.
The cave extended straight downwards for about thirty zhang before angling downwards to the right for nearly a hundred zhang, finally extending straight to the right.
Chu Chen’s sense of direction was decent. Although in the cave, it seemed they were heading towards the Forest Sea where the Bursting Flying Locusts resided.
Thinking of this, Chu Chen couldn’t help but display a peculiar expression. Could it be that the Molten Earth Dragon’s lair is beneath the Bursting Flying Locusts’ territory?
There’s no point in overthinking it; everything will be clear at the end of the tunnel.
After flying for another fifteen minutes, Chu Chen saw a faint glow ahead.
Chu Chen immediately instructed Shadow Killer to slow down, and they slowly flew towards the source of the light.
Upon seeing the source clearly, Chu Chen couldn’t help but gasp.
It was a massive rocky space, nearly ten thousand square meters in area. Judging by the marks on the rock walls, this space was likely excavated by the Molten Earth Dragon.
At the center was a huge magma pool, in which three Molten Earth Dragons rolled and swam freely.
All three were in their Growth Stage, with one reaching Lord Level and the other two Monarch Level.
At the center of the magma lake was a thumb-sized blood-red flame, radiating a temperature more than ten times that of the magma.
The three Molten Earth Dragons swam around the flame, occasionally opening their mouths to absorb a wisp of its fire.
The flame dimmed slightly as they absorbed it, as if its essence was being drawn away.
Whether due to the high temperature of the flame or other reasons, after devouring a wisp of flame, the rock armor on their bodies instantly turned blood-red, with their temperature rapidly climbing as if about to melt the next moment.
However, the three Molten Earth Dragons were highly resistant to fire, and after a few minutes of high temperature, they returned to normal.
They didn’t continue devouring the flame, and instead gathered fire elements from within the magma lake, carefully feeding them into the blood-red flame.
Nourished by the fire elements, the originally dim flame brightened again, even appearing slightly larger than before.
Chu Chen watched all this with delight, clearly recognizing the origin of the blood-red flame.
This flame is known as Molten Rock Earth Fire, an upper-grade Earth Rank Heavenly and Earthly Treasure. The conditions for its formation are extremely harsh: first, there must be a magma lake that hasn’t dried up for tens of thousands of years; second, the concentration of the fire element must be more than ten times higher than the outside world; third, there must be sufficient Star Power. Only then can Molten Rock Earth Fire be nurtured.
This magma lake existed long before the catastrophe, and the disaster made it satisfy the latter two conditions, resulting in the opportunistic birth of Molten Rock Earth Fire.
However, this Molten Rock Earth Fire seems newly formed. Although it has reached the terrifying upper-grade Earth Rank, its effectiveness and power are far from reaching the strength that should belong to this grade.
According to Chu Chen’s knowledge, this Molten Rock Earth Fire can not only increase the cultivation speed of fire attribute Guardian Beasts but also enhance ordinary fire attacks consumed by it, transforming them into Molten Rock Earth Fire with several times the power.
Recalling this, Chu Chen realized why the Molten Earth Dragon had annihilated or driven away all the Star Beasts in its territory.
It seems he misunderstood it. This creature is not a tyrannical brute, but is acting to protect the Molten Rock Earth Fire.
Among Chu Chen’s six Guardian Beasts, only Duo Fu possesses a fire attribute, but its strength is too weak. If it rashly consumed the Molten Rock Earth Fire, it would only meet the fate of being incinerated.
Nonetheless, Chu Chen was determined to acquire it, as such a treasure cannot be left to the Molten Earth Dragon.
Chu Chen then seemed to grasp the intentions of the Molten Earth Dragon.
This creature’s territory is adjacent to the Bursting Flying Locusts, and at first, Chu Chen thought it feared the power of the insects, but now it seems the insects were allowed to thrive intentionally by the Molten Earth Dragon.
Its purpose is not hard to guess; Molten Rock Earth Fire is comparable to Celestial Tier Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, and with its King-level strength, it can’t protect it.
For now, the Molten Rock Earth Fire is newly conceived. If its presence grows, other Star Beasts would certainly discover it.
By then, it would be impossible to fend off multiple threats, becoming easy prey for others.
Yet, the presence of the swarm gave it hope. Bursting Flying Locusts are extremely volatile insect-type Star Beasts. A little provocation causes them to self-destruct, and their numbers are terrifying. Most Star Beasts won’t provoke them willingly.
In fact, upon discovering their existence, more than 90% of Star Beasts would choose to avoid detours. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
After all, killing Bursting Flying Locusts yields no benefit, and a slight mistake could lead to severe injury or death.
The Molten Earth Dragon dared to foster them because the Bursting Flying Locusts can’t burrow and never discover the existence of the Molten Rock Earth Fire, only sensing the denser Star Power and fire elements compared to elsewhere.
This is also why the Bursting Flying Locusts chose this area as their territory.
As for the three Growth Stage Molten Earth Dragons, they’re undoubtedly the spawn of that King-level Molten Earth Dragon.
It’s apparent these three young ones are its offspring, secretly nurtured to eventually replace the swarm and dominate the area solely.
If Chu Chen hadn’t accidentally discovered the Molten Rock Earth Fire, it would only take a few years for this place to become a paradise for the Molten Earth Dragon clan. Many powerful Molten Earth Dragons would be born, and expanding their territory would inevitably endanger Celestial Star City and Black Mist City, as well as nearby towns, posing a huge disaster.
This is one of the reasons the Molten Earth Dragon hasn’t immediately devoured the Molten Rock Earth Fire.
The other reason is that the Molten Rock Earth Fire remains too weak, with the benefits far outweighing its current utility in nurturing its clan.
Thinking of this, Chu Chen felt a chill run down his spine. The Molten Earth Dragon’s intelligence was not inferior to humans. Its scheming and forbearance even surpassed most people.
