Above ground, Little Five along with White Ape stood guard at the entrance to the Earth-Fire Spirit Stream. Together, they stood off against most, if not all of Maple City’s most reputable people.
Besides Ye Yuzhou and Huangfu Ming’s group who had made their way over earlier, men were dispatched from the City Lord Manor as well. It wasn’t just Zuo Wentang, but Bai Zhenkong was here too.
In spite of this, Little Five dug her heels into the ground. She wasn’t going to let even the City Lord in.
At first, Bai Zhenkong grew displeased and ready to lash out, but Zuo Wentang quickly reminded him who Little Five was as well as Lin Jin’s current social status. Upon hearing that, Bai Zhenkong went quiet.
It went without saying that he could not afford to offend them.
News of ‘Curator’ invading Daluo Temple recently had spread far and wide, so being a city lord, Bai Zhenkong couldn’t have been oblivious to the incident.
What was Daluo Temple?
They were an entity that even the Emperor of Jade Dragon Kingdom had to respect and whom premium countries feared to provoke. With the odds stacked so much against him, Curator went into their turf on his own and wreaked havoc on their temple with his mysterious array of spells.
There had been various versions with all sorts of farfetched accounts. Some people even swore they saw the sun come crashing down.
Although Bai Zhenkong did not believe them all, it was a fact that Curator was a phenomenal character.
Bai Zhenkong already knew that Lin Jin was Curator’s disciple, so no matter how courageous he was, stepping on Lin Jin’s tail was out of the question.
In fact, it went to the extent that he even had to be respectful of Lin Jin’s ‘handmaiden’. If she said no one was allowed inside, no one could reject her declaration, not even the city lord.
“Haha, City Lord Bai, relax. Since Appraiser Lin is already down there, I’m sure he’ll be able to handle the situation no matter what happens,” Ye Yuzhou remarked.
Being a highly experienced and well-respected veteran, his words held considerable weight.
“I’m just worried. You know, there’s a demon sealed down there, and if it’s released, I’m fairly certain that no one here can bear that responsibility,” Bai Zhenkong responded.
As city lord, he was unsurprisingly aware of the fact that there was a monster sealed at the Earth-Fire Spirit Stream. Similarly, being their nation’s guardian, Ye Yuzhou knew about it as well.
Truth be told, Ye Yuzhou was also worried at first because he knew that the monster sealed down there was most probably a Rank 5.
There was no way to make light of the situation. Peace in the entire Jade Dragon Kingdom would be jeopardized if the creature was ever released, never mind Maple City.
However, Ye Yuzhou was aware of Lin Jin’s capabilities, and since the latter was down there, there should be no problem.
“That dragon cry earlier was most probably the sign of that demon being released. I wonder what’s happening there right now.” Unable to enter, Bai Zhenkong could only wait anxiously.
He kept wiping away the pearly beads of sweat that dotted his forehead, only for them to form again.
Suddenly, someone spoke up, “Everyone, do you feel the temperature rising?”
Huh?
“It’s true!”
“I feel it too. It shouldn’t be summer yet but why do I feel like it’s boiling around here?”
The longer they stood there, the higher the ambient temperature soared.
Ye Yuzhou performed a spell and got his soaring cloud flood dragon to gather water energy which helped everyone cool down. Even then, it wasn’t long before the water-energy evaporated away.
Not only that, but Ye Yuzhou also noticed his flood dragon growing increasingly fearful and apprehensive.
It was as if there was something terrifying down underground.
Ye Yuzhou and the others knew something huge must have happened down there but they had no idea what it was. It wasn’t hard to imagine the agony they were in due to their burning curiosity.
Since it was already balmy above ground, it was all the more so one thousand feet below.
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The green blaze was on full blast, and the temperature in the cave was so high that they were under the imminent risk of suffocation. Mother dragon had retreated into a tunnel but no matter how strong she was, this heat was still too unbearable.
Elder Mo couldn’t take it too. It was only by retreating to the tunnel could he continue to endure the heat.
Suddenly, a loud cry came from below.
The fire-lizard crawled up from the flames.
Elder Mo’s heart raced, and coupled with that reaction was an incredulous and delighted expression.
“My pet beast evolved!”
The outer skin of his fire-lizard was like a layer of glazed tile fresh out of a furnace. It was translucent and glowing with the light of a burning fire. It looked amazing.
Apart from these changes, one could see visible flames burning in the fire lizard’s eyes. It was as if its body had been remolded anew, and the aura it exuded was overwhelming.
Indeed, the fire-lizard evolved.
It had grown from Rank 3 to Rank 4.
While Lin Jin’s needles may have contributed to the process, it was mostly thanks to the green blaze’s fire energy.
It was practically effortless for rare exotic flames to evolve a fire lizard.
Elder Mo had coincidentally struck great fortune here because based on his fire lizard’s qualities and potential, evolution was impossible within the foreseeable future. Otherwise, being the elder of their Beast Appraisal Association, Elder Mo would have already tried to evolve his pet beast a long time ago.
The fact that his pet beast evolved made him temporarily the happiest man on earth.
This evolution had propelled him into the status of a nation’s guardian, so from now on, he would gain a seat among the figures of authority in Jade Dragon Kingdom.
With his pet beast evolved, Elder Mo himself had made gains through their blood pact too. He was now able to endure the heatwave inside the cave.
Although he was excited, Elder Mo remained quiet.
The evolution of his fire-lizard was surely thanks to Lin Jin’s help. Unknown to him, this evolution was merely the appetizer. The main dish had yet to come.
Now, Elder Mo decided that he would watch the entire process because incredible events like these were what made life worth living.
Sure enough, Lin Jin and Zhao Jingyan didn’t care much for the fire lizard’s evolution.
Throughout the entire process, the fire-lizard had only remained outside the green blaze. On the other hand, two silhouettes remained inside the heart of this green blaze.
One was Zhao Jingyan’s phoenix egg, and the other was Lin Jin’s pet beast, Xiao Huo.
Zhao Jingyan was getting nervous again.
Two hours had now passed since she tossed the egg in, and for two whole hours, she observed no changes to the phoenix egg.
This obviously worried her.
“Appraiser Lin, how are things going now?” Zhao Jingyan asked.
Lin Jin’s entire focus was also on the blaze. Just as he was about to speak, he sensed something out of the blue, so he invoked a spell in response.
“Fire amulet, rise!”
Moments earlier, he sensed the mixed fire amulet he had embedded in the phoenix egg start to throb. It was hard to imagine how an amulet could throb like a human being, but it actually happened.
Thanks to the fire amulet, Lin Jin could finally sense a change in the sturdy phoenix egg.
Such was a change that shook the heavens.
Thus, the cave began to quake. From its original bright green color, the green blaze began to turn partially crimson. As if scarlet ribbons had come alive, the flames shifted their form.
Simultaneously, from the depths of these flames, they heard the sharp cry of a bird.