Red Flame Tree, Thousand-Year Red Flame Fruit

After landing steadily on the winding road, Xiao Ming looked around.

All he saw was dark red geothermal magma, emitting terrifying high temperatures, at least several hundred, if not over a thousand degrees Celsius.

What was surprising was that amidst such high-temperature magma, numerous fire-element spiritual plants were growing.

These plants were firmly rooted in the magma, not only unaffected by any flames or high temperatures but even thriving luxuriantly!

Most of the spiritual plants were similar, seemingly of the same species, and the majority had bloomed into vibrant flowers.

Others were different, bearing fiery red fruits.

In the distance, the three disciples from Sunset City were flying back and forth above the magma, constantly picking spiritual flowers and fruits, looking quite busy.

“These spiritual plants growing in the magma are Fiery Spirit Flowers and Dark Magma Fruits, all containing rich fire spiritual energy,” Li Jianshi, who knew the most about the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven, explained proactively.

“The people of Sunset City specialize in fire-element cultivation techniques, so these spiritual flowers and fruits are very useful to them.”

“Then let’s not just stand around, let’s quickly compete for these spiritual flowers and fruits!” Ma Weiwei immediately said with urgency.

As she spoke, she soared into the air and flew towards several spiritual flowers not far away.

Li Jianshi hesitated for a moment, then looked at Xiao Ming, seemingly seeking his opinion.

Before departing, she had received instructions from her father, Li Yunxiao, to follow Xiao Ming’s directives in the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven for all actions.

Xiao Ming understood Li Jianshi’s meaning and nodded slightly, saying, “Be careful, don’t stray too far from me.”

“Understood!”

Li Jianshi nodded, then also flew up to gather the spiritual flowers and fruits.

Xiao Ming, however, made no move.

On one hand, he had already observed that the quality of these spiritual flowers and fruits was not very good; the oldest were only four or five thousand years old.

They held no appeal for him.

On the other hand, he needed to constantly monitor the movements of the disciples from the other two major cities to prevent any unforeseen incidents.

At this moment, the three disciples from Ziguang City also entered the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven.

They were wary of Xiao Ming and his group, as well as Sunset City, while carefully picking the spiritual flowers and fruits from the magma.

It didn’t take long for all the visible spiritual flowers and fruits to be harvested.

After all, the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven opens only once every twenty years, and in such a short period, not many mature spiritual flowers and fruits can be born.

Most of the spiritual plants were still hidden deep within the magma and had not yet emerged.

After dealing with the spiritual flowers and fruits on the magma’s surface, the people from the three major cities simultaneously flew towards the end of the main road.

The fire spiritual energy emanating from there was even richer!

Among them, the three from Sunset City were the fastest, reaching the end of the road in just a dozen breaths.

Immediately after, deafening explosions erupted, indicating that the people of Sunset City had engaged in fierce combat with something!

Upon discovering this situation, the people from Ziguang City behind them were slightly stunned, immediately adopting a defensive posture and slowing their advance.

Xiao Ming, Ma Weiwei, and Li Jianshi exchanged glances and cautiously pressed forward.

As they drew closer, Xiao Ming finally saw the situation at the end of the road.

At the end of the road was a vast underground space, and in its deepest part stood a dozens-of-meters-tall fiery tree.

Its branches bore many strange fruits covered with fiery patterns.

Many of the fruits were already ripe, emitting a rich, fiery spiritual glow.

As the distance closed, the three from Sunset City were working together to fight a group of strangely shaped fire-element demonic beasts.

These demonic beasts seemed to be protecting the fiery tree, making each one fiercer than the last.

Additionally, they were entirely dark red, resembling wild dogs but larger and more ferocious.

There were many demonic beasts, easily over a hundred, and each one was quite powerful.

The weakest were in the Divine Sea Realm mid-stage, while the strongest, the leading demonic beast, had reached the Divine Sea Realm Great Perfection.

“It’s the Crimson Flame Tree and Fire Prison Hounds!” Li Jianshi exclaimed, “The Crimson Flame Tree has many ripe crimson flame fruits, and the Fire Prison Hounds are preventing us outsiders from getting close!”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ming’s gaze swept over, fixing on a ripe fiery fruit, and he activated his viewing function.

Immediately, the fruit’s information appeared:

Name: Crimson Flame Spirit Fruit

Status: Ripe

Quality: Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Fruit

Description: A unique heavenly material and earthly treasure of the Fire Domain Grotto-heaven. The Crimson Flame Tree, after absorbing enough fire spiritual energy, produced this Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Fruit.

“A Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Fruit, you say?” Xiao Ming was slightly surprised, then overjoyed.

Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Fruits were extremely rare; although only a thousand years separated them from nine-thousand-year-old high-grade spirit herbs, their effects were completely different.

This was because Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Fruits had undergone a qualitative change; their medicinal power, both in quality and energy content, far surpassed that of nine-thousand-year-old spirit herbs!

Just as Xiao Ming was about to make his move, the three from Sunset City suddenly exerted their full power, unleashing an extremely strong force.

All three of them were in the Divine Sea Realm Great Perfection, wielding long swords and forming a mysterious sword formation.

The sword formation they formed was incredibly powerful, like an unstoppable bulldozer, pushing towards the Crimson Flame Tree with the might of slicing through melons and vegetables.

Everywhere it passed, the obstructing Fire Prison Hounds were instantly obliterated.

Even the strongest Divine Sea Realm Great Perfection Fire Prison Hound leader lasted only a second before being pulverized on the spot by the trio’s sword formation.

Seeing this, the eager Ma Weiwei immediately suppressed her urge to rush in and snatch treasures, her expression becoming extremely solemn, as if facing a formidable enemy.

She was afraid!

After witnessing the power of the sword formation formed by the three from Sunset City, even Ma Weiwei, who could advance to the Half-Step Royal Qi Realm at any moment, couldn’t help but be shocked.

At this moment, a whooshing sound came from behind.

The three disciples from Ziguang City had arrived.

And upon seeing the sword formation of the three from Sunset City, the people of Ziguang City all gasped, even taking a few small steps back.

It was clear they were wary of Sunset City and had no intention of trying to snatch treasures.

“Three-person sword formation, three-person sword formation… Ah, I remember now,” Li Jianshi exclaimed in a low voice, as if something clicked, “This is Sunset City’s famous Eclipse Sun Sword Formation.

Under normal circumstances, it is typically formed by at least three cultivators of the same Cultivation Level, and its power is extremely formidable.”

“I didn’t expect the elite disciples sent by Sunset City to have also learned this sword formation.”

After speaking, Li Jianshi turned to Xiao Ming and whispered, “Brother Xiao, I’m afraid we are no match for Sunset City.

We can only wait for them to finish gathering the crimson flame fruits before continuing further inside.”

Xiao Ming didn’t speak.

Because at this moment, he was narrowing his eyes, carefully sensing the power of the Eclipse Sun Sword Formation.

After a period of observation, Xiao Ming found that the power of the Eclipse Sun Sword Formation before him was roughly equivalent to that of a Yuqi Realm early-stage expert.

Just like the martial skill of Worship Leader Ma, whom he had previously eliminated, its power was formidable, but it posed no threat to him.

At least, it was nowhere near as powerful as his Azure Lotus Sword Intent!

While Xiao Ming was contemplating, the three from Sunset City had already slain all the obstructing Fire Prison Hounds and arrived beside the Crimson Flame Tree.

They were preparing to harvest the ripe spirit fruits from the tree!

It was at this moment that Xiao Ming moved!

With a flicker of his body, Xiao Ming transformed into a swift gust of wind and shot forth, instantly vanishing from his original spot.

The next moment, a sudden gust of wind arose, and Xiao Ming appeared out of thin air above the Crimson Flame Tree, extending his hand to snatch the spirit fruits from the tree.

“Brother Xiao actually went over!” Li Jianshi exclaimed in surprise.

“This guy is really bold; he dares to charge in even against a three-person sword formation!” Ma Weiwei’s beautiful eyes widened as she spoke in astonishment.

The disciples from Ziguang City also looked stunned, seemingly completely unprepared for someone daring to compete with Sunset City for treasures.

And the three from Sunset City, upon discovering Xiao Ming charging over, immediately became furious.

“How dare you, brat!”

“You dare to snatch things from our Sunset City? Are you tired of living?!”

As their voices rang out, the three from Sunset City simultaneously swung their swords.

The three sword qi they unleashed instantly merged into one, forming an even more ferocious and massive sword qi, which violently slashed towards Xiao Ming not far away!