"The Endpoint" 048. (Shou Ri Forest Chapter) Birth of the Fire Puppet

With a resounding "boom," a completely red object suddenly shot out violently from the midst of the molten magma vortex!\ In an instant, a powerful momentum, like a giant wave of fire, violently spread out in all directions! The aftershock of the momentum pushed Qingyan and his companions back about half a meter. The special forces soldiers standing directly in the front, even within the double gate formation, had their faces twitch, tightened their expressions, and caused the profound power within their bodies to surge even more frantically into the double gate formation in front of them. Amid the flashing cold light, the power seemed to increase even further!\ Qingyan carefully inched his body forward a few steps, managing to suppress the blood boiling inside him due to the overwhelming momentum. His eyes reflected unprecedented caution, and his entire body resembled a leopard ready for battle, slightly arching its back, prepared at any moment to face a battlefield that could change in an instant.\ This was the survival instinct from the forest!\ Perhaps, being young and almost inexperienced in combat, Qingyan might feel fear or even helplessness before such a crushing momentum, as if Mount Tai was pressing down on him. However, having survived the harsh forest, though many memories had faded, Qingyan's extraordinary combat instincts, the boiling desire to survive in his blood, would always be awakened and ignited at the most critical moments, completely suppressing the immature will in his heart, turning him into a wild wolf with terrifyingly calm intelligence!\ At this moment, Xiaoqing, the maid crouching by Qingyan's side, suddenly turned her head, looking at the apparently completely changed Qingyan. A strong shock and a faint trace of fear surged in her eyes instantly!\ She had personally felt this kind of aura before! And the owner of that aura was definitely a demon, one whose very name could instill fear to the core!\ Fortunately, Qingyan's forest-wild-beast-like aura did not have that same sharpness or bloodthirstiness, nor that bone-chilling cold… Xiaoqing comforted herself with this thought, while her body, unconsciously, moved a little further away from Dugu Xiaoxuan.\ Before them, a molten fireball, as large as a human head, was quietly hovering about four meters above the molten lava.The blazing crimson fire, slightly tinged with blue flames, danced lightly around the fireball. A furnace-like scorching heat bubbled up from it and spread in all directions, instantly counteracting the cold brought by the snow plum dust. The interior of the volcano became extremely hot again, with even the hair on the body beginning to singe slightly.\ The fireball itself surged out from the magma, radiating a terrifying power!\ Qingyan stared intently at the fireball. Despite the tension in his body, his thoughts remained uninterrupted. Qingyan knew that with his limited combat power, he had no chance at all against either the special soldiers or the powerful mysterious fireball before him…\ Lost in thought, Qingyan accidentally cast a sidelong glance and suddenly noticed the looks in the eyes of the maid Xiao Qing and Dugu Xiaoxuan, which made him shiver slightly and deepened the confusion in his heart.\ Desire! Yes, that look of desire was fixed intently on the fireball before them!\ It seemed that Dugu Xiaoxuan's true purpose for this journey was far more complicated than merely searching for the Fire Spirit vein…\ “Hah!”\ At that moment, the special soldiers below suddenly shouted loudly. The hands that had been paused moved again rapidly along a profoundly mystical trajectory. Within just a few seconds, more than fifty soldiers simultaneously executed the same hand formation, integrating it into the dual gate array before them.\ Immediately, a red-black mingled light suddenly separated from the dual gate array, instantly transforming into hundreds of dazzling beams that intertwined and twisted together, forming a miniature light net, yet carrying an imposing power as heavy as the dual gate array itself, wrapping around the fireball!\ Still, there was no movement; the fireball floated quietly above the magma, completely enveloped by the light net. Besides its persistent heat and immense power, the fireball seemed entirely frozen in place.\ However, everyone knew this was just the calm before the storm!\ Inside the volcano at this moment, it was eerily silent.\ The special soldiers had completely stopped their actions, channeling their mystical energy steadily and rhythmically into the dual gate array, their eyes fixed seriously on the fireball's slightest movement!And Qingyan and his companions became even more cautious, holding their bodies' mystical energy in check, keeping their breathing as low as possible. Their eyes were also fixed intently on the fireball in front of them. However, each of these people had their own distinct thoughts and considerations.

“Crack… crack…”

Suddenly, some light sounds came from the fireball in front of them, and in the nearly suffocating stillness of the space, it sounded like a clap of thunder!

With the crackling sound, the silently floating fireball rippled as if a giant stone had smashed the still surface of a lake. The "crack, crack" sounds became faster and louder. The "crackling" of molten lava continuously erupted on the surface of the fireball. As the explosions grew more intense, an even more scorching heat rose rapidly within the volcano's core!

“Boom!”

Abruptly, the fireball's molten iron might caused a terrifying shockwave, pressing Qingyan and the others so hard they almost spit blood! Something inside the fireball seemed about to burst out! At this moment, an even stronger aura surged violently from the fireball, seemingly trying to forcibly suppress the riot inside.

However, not even a few minutes later, the raging flames around the fireball began to flicker and dim. Clearly, this suppression was starting to falter.

Sure enough, the flickering of the flames gradually became instability, and in the end, they completely dissipated. The intense heat rapidly died down, and the fireball seemed to be turned ash-white as if the fire had burned out, hard as clay, with deep cracks running all over its surface!

“Jiii!!!”

Before silence could return, a sharp, piercing sound suddenly erupted from it! The remaining clay-like fireball exploded into pieces, falling into the molten lava with a "whoosh" and quickly melted away.

The owner of that shouting voice, another dim red figure, fully revealed itself to everyone.

It was, surprisingly, a crimson fire monkey only the size of two fists!

Its entire body was dark red, with soft red fur, which now stood on end like steel needles, trembling slightly, whether out of fear or excitement, no one could tell!At the tip of a slender, whip-like monkey tail, a mass of bright red flames mixed with a light blue hue was blazing fiercely, emitting a profound heat that seemed capable of scorching the soul, yet spreading calmly. And those deep red eyes were like two blazing flames, as if a single gaze could make one feel the terrifying power of their intimidation.\ At this moment, it seemed to be glaring angrily at the field of mysterious energy that still enveloped its body, its eyes full of fury, mouth continuously screaming sharply, its piercing shouts seeming capable of instantly tearing through the eardrums!\ Qing Yan quickly used mystical energy to protect his eardrums, his brows tightly furrowed, and his gaze, just like that of the four mercenary men, turned toward Dugu Xiaoxuan.\ After all, Dugu Xiaoxuan was the leader of this trip, and the so-called promise of being ‘prepared' had been spoken directly by her.\ Yet, at this moment, Dugu Xiaoxuan seemed completely unaware, her beautiful eyes fixed firmly on the fiery monkey before her, her body slightly trembling, as if at any moment she might rush forward to claim the fire monkey for herself!