At dawn the next day, Wei Yang set off with Ye Xian'er.
The vast desert stretched endlessly, with the fierce wind and sand raging without rest.
During the day, the Tagore Desert was always accompanied by the scorching sun and relentless sandstorms.
But at night, the temperature would plummet drastically, sometimes even dropping below freezing.
A black-red streak of light flashed across the sky, heading eastward at high speed.
In less than half an hour, the streak gradually slowed down, hovering over a desert area about a hundred miles away from Rock Desert City.
Wei Yang held Ye Xian'er in his arms, his black wings gently flapping as he hovered high in the air, gazing down at the terrain below.
At first glance, this area looked no different from the rest of the desert—just the same endless stretch of yellow sand.
Lowering his head, he examined the detailed map in his hands.
The map was meticulously drawn, marking the locations of cities, water sources, oases, and even areas where Snake-People frequently appeared.
Comparing it to the original novel, Xiao Yan had discovered the underground passage somewhere a hundred miles east of the city.
But now, looking at the vast and boundless desert, trying to find a hidden passage leading underground was like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Closing his eyes, Wei Yang focused his senses, carefully detecting the presence of fire-attribute energy in the surroundings.
A moment later, he opened his eyes and murmured, "There's nothing unusual about the fire-attribute energy here. It's about the same as everywhere else."
Flapping his wings, Wei Yang left the area and continued searching elsewhere.
For half a day, he kept exploring different regions, pausing occasionally to rest.
Yet, despite searching so many places, he still couldn't sense any significant fluctuation in fire-attribute energy.
From within his arms, Ye Xian'er pulled out a waterskin and handed it to him.
"Brother Yang, have some water first."
"Mm." Wei Yang smiled, taking the waterskin and gulping down several mouthfuls.
"Brother Yang, I've been carefully looking at the map. We've already searched almost every area nearby." Xian'er said as she held up the map, pointing in a certain direction. "That area is still unexplored."
"Mhm, Xian'er is so smart." Wei Yang put away the waterskin, gave her a kiss on the forehead, and flapped his wings, flying toward the location she pointed at.
By dusk, after a full day of searching, they returned to Rock Desert City empty-handed.
For the next three days, they continued searching—but still found nothing.
It wasn't until the fifth day, in the afternoon, that Wei Yang finally made a breakthrough.
"The fire-attribute energy here is slightly different. It's a bit denser than in other places... and also a bit more violent."
The moment he stepped into this area, Wei Yang didn't even need to actively sense—his powerful spiritual perception instantly picked up on the abnormality.
"Xian'er, I think we've found it." Wei Yang said with a smile.
"Mhm." Ye Xian'er clung to Wei Yang, curling up in his embrace. Hearing his words, she looked up and softly responded.
Wei Yang held her close and dove down, gradually slowing his descent as he neared the ground, finally landing steadily on a sand dune.
Retracting his black wings, he closed his eyes and carefully sensed the area.
There was definitely something unusual about this place.
"Brother Yang, how did you know there would be a Heavenly Flame near Rock Desert City?" Ye Xian'er, still nestled in his arms, asked curiously.
"Someone told me." Wei Yang replied mysteriously, choosing not to elaborate.
Hearing this, Ye Xian'er pouted, her small face puffing up like a little bun in dissatisfaction.
"Don't cling to me, get down." Wei Yang chuckled at her expression, kissing her puffed-up cheeks, then lightly patting her small backside.
As time passed, this little girl had become more and more attached to him—especially after arriving in this strange and unfamiliar Tagore Desert.
After Ye Xian'er reluctantly let go, Wei Yang rubbed her cheeks and gently tidied her slightly messy hair.
Ye Xian'er squinted her eyes, smiling happily as she enjoyed Wei Yang's gentle care.
Then, Wei Yang stepped aside alone, his eyes slowly closing.
His long robe and hair began to flutter despite the absence of wind.
An overwhelming surge of soul power erupted from his brow, spreading out in all directions.
At this moment, Wei Yang's perspective became like an omniscient god, allowing him to 'see' everything within the range of his spiritual perception.
What he saw was entirely different from what could be seen with the naked eye.
As his soul perception expanded, it was as if he was peering into a hidden world.
The ground, the air, the surrounding space—everything was saturated with dense, fiery-red energy of the fire attribute.
Beneath the surface of the earth, a vast expanse of yellow-brown earth energy stretched endlessly, like the boundless ocean of sand above—infinite and inexhaustible.
Majestic and vast!
This place could be considered a paradise for fire and earth-attribute cultivators.
The elemental energy here was limitless—one could draw upon it endlessly without exhausting its supply.
Gathering his soul power, Wei Yang condensed it into a finer, more focused state, then directed it to penetrate into the depths of the sand below.
As his soul power drilled deeper underground, he began to 'see' an entirely different world—a yellow-brown realm composed purely of earth energy.
Within this world, his soul power was met with an invisible suppression.
And as he continued to probe deeper, this suppression intensified, placing increasing strain on his soul power.
Ten meters… twenty meters… fifty meters… one hundred meters…
As he reached nearly two hundred meters deep, Wei Yang suddenly withdrew his soul power, feeling a wave of fatigue wash over him.
He rubbed his brow, feeling the exhaustion from overuse of his spiritual energy.
Even after probing nearly two hundred meters underground, he had found nothing but an endless expanse of earth energy—not a trace of the fire attribute energy he was searching for.
And two hundred meters was already the limit of how deep his current soul power could penetrate.
"It looks like this isn't the right place." Wei Yang shook his head.
"Brother Yang." Ye Xian'er walked over, her face filled with concern.
"I'm fine." Wei Yang smiled, reaching out to ruffle her hair reassuringly.
"Come on, let's check another spot."
After resting briefly, he took her small hand, leading her forward.
The Green Lotus Core Flame was a Heavenly Flame that existed deep within underground magma.
Born within the depths of molten rock, it endured countless years of refinement, compressed and sculpted by the fire of the earth…
Ten years to gain a spirit, a hundred years to take form, a thousand years to bloom into a lotus.
When it fully matured, its color turned a deep azure, with a cluster of blue flames at its core, earning it the name Green Lotus Fire, also known as Green Lotus Core Flame.
Thus, Wei Yang knew that what he needed to find was an underground magma vein, a place teeming with fire-attribute energy.
But just now, even after probing two hundred meters underground, all he had seen was earth energy—not a single trace of dense fire energy.
Clearly, this wasn't the right place.
After moving to another location, Wei Yang once again unleashed his soul power, probing deep into the ground.
By this point, he had already narrowed down the general area.
All that remained was to conduct a meticulous, inch-by-inch search until he found the exact location.
Time ticked by…
As dusk approached, Wei Yang withdrew his soul power from the depths once again.
A sudden wave of dizziness washed over him, making his body stagger.
For a moment, he nearly collapsed.
Seeing this, Ye Xian'er panicked. She rushed forward to support him, her face filled with worry.
"Brother Yang, are you okay?"
Wei Yang shook his head, then closed his eyes for a brief moment to regain his focus.
After a while, he reopened them, his gaze revealing undeniable exhaustion.
Resting one hand on Xian'er's shoulder, he used the other to massage his brow, his voice slightly hoarse as he replied:
"I'm fine. I just overused my soul power, so I'm feeling a bit drained."
At the same time, a thought crossed his mind, making him sigh inwardly.
Even though he knew the storyline and had a clear goal, finding the exact location was still extremely difficult.
And then, another realization struck him—
Based on his current soul power strength, he shouldn't be too far behind Queen Medusa, right?
Yet, even with his foreknowledge and a specific target to search for, it was still so difficult to locate.
So how did Medusa manage to find this place?
After all, this area was only a hundred miles from Rock Desert City—technically within the Jia Ma Empire's sphere of influence.
It was also a buffer zone between Snake-People territory and human lands.
Could it be that Medusa had searched through the entire desert inch by inch?
If that were really the case…
That crazy woman!
The thought of Queen Medusa possibly wandering through the desert right now, just like him—searching for fluctuations in fire-attribute energy, occasionally probing deep underground with her soul power—left him feeling speechless.
Of course, there was also the possibility that she possessed additional clues.
After all, even Hai Bodong had some intelligence regarding the Green Lotus Core Flame.
So it wouldn't be surprising if Medusa did as well.