Chapter 409: The Consequences of Volcanic Eruptions

The mountains erupted in succession, and gushes of lava spewed out. The power of the heavens and the earth was truly astounding. Teng Qingshan could even feel the burning air although he was several hundred Li away.

“This—this...” Fu Dao’s eyes widened.

“Rumble~~”

The Ox-Head Mountain Range was very near the Blazing Flame Territory, located only 800 Li south of it. Volcanic eruptions with such high intensity had not occurred for thousands of years. Due to the eruptions, the Ox-Head Mountains quivered. With the Blazing Flame Territory as the center, the areas within a thousand Li could feel the quiver of the earth.

“Explode!” Teng Qingshan could feel his own mind being ignited by these fierce and violent volcanic eruptions.

“Boom!”

After Teng Qingshan cultivated the 《Fire Elemental Fist Art》 to the sixth move, he could no longer make any improvements. An unknown restriction, like an extremely thin but opaque paper, had obstructed him. However, the simultaneous eruptions of the several volcanoes prompted Teng Qingshan to gain an indescribable awareness of the implication of the Fire Elemental Dao...

Fu Dao, Mu Yunji, Duan Shijin, Li Jun, Teng Shou, Yang Dong, and Fu Yuping were all marveled by the simultaneous eruptions.

It was a stunning scene!

After a long time, the eruptions of the numerous volcanoes located at the Blazing Flame Territory finally stopped. The lava had flowed to every area of the Blazing Flame Territory. Evidently, the temperature of the Ox-Head Mountain had become exceedingly high at this point. Within a few moments, the temperature had increased drastically, as if summer had arrived suddenly.

“Throughout my whole life, I have seen many of the Blazing Flame Volcanoes erupt. However, I have never seen so many of them erupt at the same time!” Fu Dao said in astonishment.

“It is an extremely magnificent sight,” Mu Yunji said as his eyes lit up.

After seeing that scene, Teng Shou, Yang Dong, Fu Yuping, and Li Jun could still feel adrenaline surging through their veins.

“How many volcanoes erupted at the same time? Duan Shijin asked.

“Seems to be around seven to eight,” Yang Dong answered.

However, Teng Shou, who was beside Yang Dong, shook his head and said, “Including the small volcanoes, there should be around ten.”

“You are all wrong. Some big volcanoes have smaller craters, and during an eruption, two to three gushes of lava will burst out of these smaller craters simultaneously. This time, nine big Blazing Flame Volcanoes erupted!” Since young, Fu Dao had lived in the Eastern Flower Region, which wasn’t far from the Blazing Flame Territory. Therefore, his discernment should be accurate.

Mu Yunji narrowed his eyes and said softly, “The scene from earlier was breathtaking! Because of where we are standing, it’s not weird if the discernment is inaccurate. However…... one thing is for sure. At least seven volcanoes erupted at the same time.”

“Everyone should know what this occurrence means,” Mu Yunji said as he looked toward Fu Dao, Duan Shiji, and Teng Qingshan.

However, Teng Qingshan had his eyes closed.

“Brother Mu, are you talking about the…... Blazing Flame Red Lotus?!”

“Blazing Flame Red Lotus? What does this have to do with the Blazing Flame Red Lotus?” Li Jun, who was at the side, asked hastily.

Mu Yunji quickly explained, “Lady Li Jun, you should know that there are three great spiritual treasures in the Duanmu Continent, and they are the Dreamy Cloud White Fruit in the Dreamy Cloud Swampland, the Blazing Flame Red Lotus in the Blazing Flame Territory, and the Tianfeng Aqua Bead in the Tianfeng Canyon. All three are exceedingly magical but extremely rare to the point that people have searched vigorously for them. The number one of the three spiritual treasures is undoubtedly the Blazing Flame Red Lotus!”

“Blazing Flame Red Lotus? Is it the Blazing Flame Red Lotus that can help you reach the Innate Realm?” Li Jun held her breath as she asked.

In the several thousand years of history of the Duanmu Continent, it was recorded that nine red lotuses had been discovered.

Out of the nine red lotuses discovered, there were the Three Leaf Red Lotus, the Four Leaf Red lotus, the Five Leaf Red Lotus, and the Seven Leaf Red Lotus. Seven leaves was the highest number of leaves discovered. The seeds of the Blazing Flame Red Lotus were the most significant part, and the number of leaves a Blazing Flame Red Lotus had represented the number of seeds. The nine red lotuses, which had been discovered in the past, had a total of 42 seeds. Out of the forty-two experts who had consumed the lotus seeds, there had only been one who failed to reach the Innate Realm!

“One Blazing Flame Red Lotus was enough to aid several experts, at the peak of the Postliminary Realm, in achieving a breakthrough and reach the Innate Realm!” Mu Yunji said excitedly. “Now, there are only ten Martial Saints in the entire continent. Thus, the difficulty of reaching the Innate Realm is obvious. The birth of the Blazing Flame Red Lotus will cause a great struggle amongst the people of this continent.”

At the side, Fu Dao nodded and said, “Lady Jun, the births of the nine Blazing Flame Red Lotuses were all accompanied by the eruptions of volcanoes! Moreover, we discovered a pattern. Whenever more than seven volcanoes erupt simultaneously, it meant that the birth of a Blazing Flame Red Lotus was imminent!”

“When seven volcanoes erupt, the Blazing Flame Red Lotus will definitely emerge?”

Li Jun involuntarily cried out in surprise, “Then this means that the Blazing Flame Red Lotus will be in the Blazing Flame Territory?”

“Yes.”

Fu Dao, Duan Shijin, and Mu Yunji all nodded.

“Moreover, based on the eruptions of volcanoes, we speculate that the Blazing Flame Red Lotus will have at least five leaves this time,” Fu Dao said solemnly.

“Mister Teng!” Mu Yunji shouted as he at Teng Qingshan.

However…... Teng Qingshan’s eyes were still closed.

“What happened to Uncle?” Fu Yuping was astonished. The marvellous eruptions of the volcanoes had stunned her, so she hadn’t even noticed that Teng Qingshan, who was behind her, had his eyes closed.

“Don’t disturb Big Brother Teng,” Li Jun said hastily. Simultaneously, she smiled and explained, “Whenever Big Brother Teng gains enlightenment, he closes his eyes to absorb the knowledge and endeavor to understand it meticulously.”

“Oh.”

Mu Yunji, Fu Dao, and Duan Shijin all sighed inwardly. They had all seen the eruptions of volcanoes. Teng Qingshan gained enlightenment, while they did not… Truth be told, Mu Yunji, Fu Dao, and Duan Shijin could not to be blamed for that. Teng Qingshan was only able to gain an enlightenment because he had reached a bottleneck in his cultivation of the Fire Elemental Dao.

Today was the day he achieved breakthrough.

……

During the volcanic eruptions, the audacity to fight against the heavens appeared in Teng Qingshan's mind, and the heavens and earth seemed to tremble. Simultaneously, the images of the four successive forms of the 《Thirty-six Splitting Mountain Forms》, from the 17th to the 20th form, also appeared in Teng Qingshan’s mind.

The four forms contained the Earth Elemental Dao, Metal Elemental Dao, and the Fire Elemental Dao.

Now, out of the cultivations of the three Daos, Teng Qingshan’s cultivation of the Fire Elemental Dao had the least achievements. His cultivation of the 《Earth Elemental Fist》 had reached the eighth move, while the 《Metal Elemental Fist》 had reached the seventh move within one month.

……

In the courtyard on the summit of the hill, apart from Teng Qingshan, everyone was engaged in a discussion about the volcanic eruptions. None of them dared to disturb Teng Qingshan, who was at one side.

However, suddenly—

Teng Qingshan, who had his eyes closed while pondering, suddenly began practicing his fist art in the center of the courtyard.

“Whew! Whew!” Teng Qingshan’s fists instantly ignited. The moves of the powerful fist art were performed in unbroken succession, stupefying Mu Yunji, Fu Dao, and Duan Shijin.

“This fist art…...” Mu Yunji said in astonishment.

“This is…...”

Fu Dao and Duan Shijin were stunned.

Teng Qingshan, who was practicing fist art, actually showed many concepts through it. His fist art was like flames blazing the great earth... like sparkles of a fire igniting the great plains, and like a fire spreading from one area to another…... The concept of each successive move was different, and when Teng Qingshan performed the last move—

“Boom!”

The entire area suddenly exploded. It was like Fu Dao and the others were witnessing a volcano erupt violently, shooting a pillar of lava up towards the sky and endeavoring to tear the heavens and the earth apart.

“What is this fist art?” Mu Yunji and the other two were completely stunned.

“Screech~~Screech~~” At this moment, the Blue Luan, who had arrived without anyone knowing, was emitting excited cries. As the Blue Luan gawked at Teng Qingshan practicing the Fire Elemental Fist, a bright glow beamed out of its beautiful eyes.

Teng Qingshan opened his eyes, and a smile crept up his face.

“What a pity…...” Teng Qingshan shook his head.

“Big Brother Teng.” Li Jun was rather excited.

“Congratulations, Mister,” Fu Dao said hastily. At the side, Mu Yunji and Duan Shijin also congratulated Teng Qingshan. All of them knew that Teng Qingshan had achieved a breakthrough.

Teng Qingshan was very happy indeed. He stared at the Blazing Flame Territory in the north and thought to himself, “The volcanic eruption this time has indeed enlightened me. I instantly understood many things I did not understand. Through the achievements of the 《Earth Elemental Fist》 and the 《Metal Elemental Fist》, the four successive forms, and the enlightenment which I gained upon the sight of volcanic eruption, I was able to create two moves at a stretch.”

However, Teng Qingshan felt slightly disappointed as well. When the volcanoes erupted, he’d thought the insight he gained was the strongest concept of the element Fire.

However, this concept he perceived only aided him to create up to the eighth move.

“Now, both my 《Earth Elemental Fist》 and the 《Fire Elemental Fist》 have reached the eighth move, while the 《Metal Elemental Fist》 has reached the seventh move, and my 《Earth Elemental Fist》 has only reached the sixth move.” Despite such thoughts, Teng Qingshan was still very pleased. The observation of the volcanic eruptions and the enlightenment he gained had aided him to progress greatly in this realm.

“Mister Teng, more than seven Blazing Flame Volcanoes erupted at the same time. The birth of the Blazing Flame Red Lotus is evident!” Mu Yunji stared at Teng Qingshan and asked, “Mister, do you want to search for it?”

“The Blazing Flame Red Lotus?”

The Blazing Flame Red Lotus was a spiritual treasure which could create Innate Experts. Although the Black Fire Spirit Fruit existed in the Land of the Nine Prefectures, its effects couldn’t be compared with that of the Blazing Flame Red Lotus. Teng Qingshan was ambitious; he wanted to make the branch of the Internal Martial Arts flourish in the nine prefectures. He also desired to aid the Gui Yuan Sect overpower Qing Hu Island.

Therefore, he desperately needed this Blazing Flame Red Lotus.

“Haha. So, the Blazing Flame Red Lotus has emerged. But it’s probably not easy to find.” Teng Qingshan stared at Mu Yunji as he remarked this.

“Yes, the Blazing Flame Red Lotus could grow in anywhere within 800 Li of the Blazing Flame Territory. It’s highly possible that it might be in the magma within the crater of a Blazing Flame Mountain. It could also be underground.” Mu Yunji said, “Every birth of the Blazing Flame Red Lotus attracted millions of people. However, the search for it had taken at least ten to fifteen days. The longest period of the search was one year.”

Teng Qinghan grinned.

Now, his cultivation of the 《Earth Elemental Fist》 and 《Fire Elemental Fist》 might reach the last step, and he might then attain the Emptiness Realm.

Search the 800 Li Blazing Flame Territory like a blind person? That would be a waste of time.

Maybe by the time the others found the Blazing Flame Red Lotus, Teng Qingshan would have already attained Emptiness Realm.

“The Blazing Flame Red Lotus is a precious item searched for by millions of people. Even if I endeavor to search for it, I may not find it, so I will not be going.” Teng Qingshan looked towards Mu Yunji, Fu Dao, and Duan Shijin and said with a smile, “Alright, I gained enlightenment earlier and I need to cultivate in seclusion right now. Therefore, I will not be accompanying you guys.”

“Haha, I just realized you guys couldn’t even eat a good meal at my place.” Teng Qingshan looked down at the wooden table. Due to the vibration caused by the volcano eruptions, the plates and bowls on the table had fallen to the ground and shattered completely.

“We will come next time.” Mu Yunji laughed and said, “Since Mister Teng is not going, we will send someone to search for the Blazing Flame Red Lotus.”