"Speed Talisman"
Huo Lie used this talisman, instantly increasing his speed.
"ROAR!" The fire dragon behind him roared, sending waves of wind.
They lifted his hair and made his skin shiver even more.
"Felix!" He shouted in panic. Even with his speed, the distance was closing.
In the sky, an eagle hovering above saw its master's danger.
It dove like lightning, appearing behind Huo Lie in less than ten seconds. Using its beak, it grabbed his red robe and tossed him upward.
"Ahhhh!" Huo Lie, being thrown, saw the sky getting closer.
And at the same time, he plummeted downward, but before he could fall, he was caught by Felix.
This made him sigh in relief as he looked at the dragon below.
Which, suddenly, formed a pair of wings on its back and took flight.
"Damn! How can this lizard fly?" He was doubtful and had no time to think about it—the dragon was too close.
...
By the Pool.
Jin Yun crouched down, placing his hand over the lava.
At the first touch, the liquid inside cooked his hand.
He protected it with his spiritual energy.
The effect lessened.
But with each passing second, it decreased by one percent.
'With my remaining energy, I can stay in this lake for fifty seconds.'
Jin Yun felt pressured. Not out of fear—he did not fear death.
But because of the circumstances.
If he ran out of energy, he might end up as dragon food upon returning.
And he wasn't sure if that was enough time to collect everything inside.
Even if he wanted to move as fast as possible, he needed to use spiritual energy to accelerate the process, reducing the time he could remain in the lava.
"Hmmm."
"Since we've come this far, there's no turning back empty-handed. And this isn't the first time I've been between life and death."
Sighing once more, he removed his clothes and dove into the lake.
With his entire body protected, he began swimming to the bottom.
The place had nothing but orange liquid, appearing to emit smoke.
So hot.
Diving like a swift fish, Jin Yun quickly reached the bottom, taking fifteen seconds.
In his vision, a row of aquatic plants exuded heat.
And three sunflowers, seemingly molded from pure blood, illuminated everything.
"This is beautiful." Jin Yun couldn't help but admire the marvelous sight.
And without wasting time, he grabbed two, temporarily storing them in a storage ring—the cheapest kind, not even worth a hundred gold coins.
Ten cubic in size.
Empty.
Jin Yun was poor. All his money was spent on buying metals.
The remaining one, he placed in his mouth and began chewing.
Refining it with the Qi absorption method. Using his spiritual root.
This was slow.
Normal resources, even those of heaven and earth, were useless to Jin Yun due to his low-level root.
"I spent money..." He cried internally but had no choice. This was the best way to last longer in the water.
And get what he truly wanted.
Gathering the other aquatic plants, he stored them as well, leaving none behind.
After doing so, he began swimming straight ahead.
Soon, in his vision, a destroyed cave appeared.
"The direction Lingxin told me to launch my attack… Is it really the cave?"
Jin Yun felt an unsettling sensation and realized that Huo Lie was not having an easy time.
"Thank you." He was grateful for having thought of a plan before coming here.
If he were alone, he would have been in deep trouble.
'That woman, with that strange personality... Did she want to kill me? I need to be more careful!'
He became alert and wasted no more time, entering the broken cave.
...
"Dragon, calm down!" Huo Lie, in the sky, was terrified.
Felix, even at full speed, still couldn't shake off the fire dragon.
"Damn! That bastard doesn't have Lightning Qi—how can he be so fast?" Huo Lie felt something off about this lizard.
At the same time, irritated, his temper began to flare.
"You think I'm afraid of you, damn it?! I am Huo Lie! The Young Master of the Huo Family! How can I be intimidated by a lizard?!"
He spat out these words in fury.
His body began to emit fire.
"Attack!"
He used his spiritual soul, a red flame, and transformed it into a bird, launching it toward the dragon.
However, it simply opened its mouth and swallowed the little bird.
"Hahaha... You're good." Huo Lie pulled out a bunch of talismans.
"Can you take this?" He threw all the talismans, which charged toward the dragon.
Ten centimeters from it, they started exploding like fireworks.
An explosion lit up the sky.
The dragon, struck, fell from the air, its body covered in wounds.
But that was not enough to defeat it. Before hitting the ground, it stopped its fall, its wounds healed, and its eyes emitted a dangerous glow.
Opening its mouth, the dragon exhaled. A gust of wind burst from its throat.
"Dodge!" Huo Lie shouted to Felix, as the incoming wave was too fast.
Before the little bird could evade, they were hit.
Both were sent flying by the impact, like kites in the wind.
Huo Lie hugged Felix and conjured multiple defensive shields over his body.
As they fell.
Boom!
They crashed into the ground, shattering it.
"My ribs..." Huo Lie felt intense pain. He looked at the eagle, which didn't seem to be in good shape either.
Placing a green pill in its mouth, he swallowed one himself.
And began to heal his injuries.
But before he could finish, he saw the dragon in the sky coming toward him.
"This is the best I can do, Jin Yun. The rest is up to you."
He grabbed Felix and threw a talisman on the ground, causing a purple glow to envelop him.
The next second, he disappeared from the spot.
The dragon, thirsty for revenge, roared upon seeing its target vanish.
What was once a beautiful place had turned into a wasteland, with trees losing all their leaves.
But that wasn't enough to appease the dragon's fury, which spewed fire, reducing trunks to ashes and scorching the earth.
After that, it left.
...
Inside the Cave. Jin Yun, unaware of what was happening with Huo Lie.
Ventured deeper inside, where a beautiful orange pearl lay. Next to it, an oyster was trapped in vines.
"The Infernal Fire Pearl…"
"Produced by Infernal Oysters…"
"An excellent material for fire-attribute beasts and for refiners to create explosive bombs."
Jin Yun was delighted. Quickly, he took the pearl.
Then, looking at the oyster, he realized how even nature could be cruel.
The dragon had imprisoned it to produce pearls endlessly.
Drawing his spiritual soul, he cut the vines, freeing the oyster.
As soon as it gained freedom, it started hopping.
"Little one, this isn't free, but I won't enslave you. I need you to help me with a hundred pearls. Do you accept?"
He asked gently. He didn't know if the creature before him understood, but he tried.
The oyster, a creature blessed by the energy of heaven and earth, understood. Though it didn't like the idea, it accepted.
"I won't harm you." Jin Yun continued in a gentle tone.
Holding the oyster in his arms, he quickly left the cave.
He didn't know when the dragon would return.
But just as he was about to leave, he saw two eyes staring at him.