Free Web NovelChapter 297: Chapter 224: Lord of Flame and Earth
The scarlet-red finger was swollen into a large, awkward lump, as if it had been smashed by something heavy.
"Chirp?"
Egg Pancake scratched its head sheepishly, casting a guilty glance at Ah Fei, who was floating not far away.
"Chirp, chirp, cheep!"
Ah Fei pointed at Egg Pancake’s thick claw and continued to let out a series of high-pitched dragon roars, as if helping it improve its cultivation method.
"Cheep!"
Egg Pancake nodded, its attention once again focused on its fingertip, and began to control its Dragon Power.
A continuous stream of Dragon Power seeped from every corner of Egg Pancake’s body.
Gradually, a scarlet mist enveloped the tip of its claw.
Soon, faint red waves of energy materialized around it.
Just as the red Dragon Power had gathered into a mass the size of a dragon’s claw and was contracting between its muscles and bones, not even emitting a red halo...
Egg Pancake’s claw, like a big red ball of dough, began to twist violently, resembling an unstable compound.
BOOM—
With a tremendous bang, it exploded.
A powerful shockwave erupted from the dragon’s claw.
It sent Han Ning’s hair, who was standing nearby, flying.
Egg Pancake poked its soot-blackened face out from the smoke, blinking its bright eyes with an innocent expression.
It didn’t look injured, at least.
"It’s alright, it’s alright! Failure is the mother of success. Keep up the hard work!"
"Dragon Power carries a berserk effect. Remember to neutralize that berserk property before reabsorbing it into your body," Qing Fan explained to Egg Pancake with a smile.
"Chirp~"
Egg Pancake wiped its face and eagerly went back to practicing.
Although the Transformation Technique was relatively simple, it couldn’t be mastered in just a few hours.
...
Time flew by during practice. In the blink of an eye, two days had passed.
During these two days, Han Ning not only trained himself but also remembered to train Yin Yi and Fei Lin.
The Cyan Sky Nest was filled with Soul Beasts that matched their strength, so there was never a shortage of battles.
Before breaking through to the Lord Level, Yin Yi and Egg Pancake had to master a more advanced Energy Compression Technique. Otherwise, even with all the materials collected, they wouldn’t be qualified to advance!
「That night, the sky was wreathed in mist.」
At the Deep Grey Volcano Group, outside the area the Insect-men called the Fansen Secret Realm and the Dragon Blood Race called the Jade Forest.
Han Ning squatted, his eyes fixed on the ground ahead. In his mind’s eye, more than twenty faint red dots of light were rapidly approaching the surface.
A series of soft squishing sounds came from the ground up ahead.
Two Rock-Breaking Ants easily broke through the subterranean soil, escorting twenty worms wreathed in fiery red halos as they emerged.
Unlike when they had first departed, the twenty Flaming Fire Insects’ translucent bodies were now filled with scattered particles of various sizes, like burning bits of lava.
Under the command of the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm, they all expelled the lava-like particles from their bodies, gathering them together.
A short while later, all the lava-like particles had been expelled from the Flaming Fire Insects’ bodies, coalescing into a rocky mass about the size of two human heads, its surface covered in dark red, molten patterns.
"So this is the Purgatory Red Lotus? It looks a lot like ordinary lava."
Han Ning drew closer, carefully observing the pile of precious material.
A dense aura of Fire and Earth Elements washed over him.
Although it looked like lava on the surface, its texture wasn’t actually hard. It felt more like modeling clay, mixed with some plant roots that hadn’t been completely incinerated.
Viewed from a distance, the scattered, crisscrossing patterns did indeed resemble a burning red lotus.
’Alright... Now, I can start preparing for Egg Pancake’s breakthrough ritual.’
To ensure their safety, Han Ning took Egg Pancake and returned to the Jade Forest.
Here, they had the protection of Soul Beasts above the Lord Level, and they didn’t have to worry about being spotted by a passing Insect Master.
On a wide, grassy clearing.
"First, place ten Fire and Earth Type War General Level Soul Beast Crystal Stones in the four cardinal directions. Then, on the target Soul Beast, use the blood of a Fire Type Lord to draw Runes that gather Spiritual Energy..."
Following the system’s description, Han Ning took out ten bright red Crystal Stones and placed them in four directions, each 30 meters from Egg Pancake.
And beneath Egg Pancake’s feet, a Lord Level Fire Type Crystal Stone was also placed!
All of these materials came from Fei Ming’s private collection.
Next, he took out a brush made from the fur of a wolf-type Soul Beast from the forest, dipped it in the Lord Soul Beast’s blood, and began to paint one strange pattern after another on Egg Pancake’s body, following the prompts on the panel.
A little over an hour later, Egg Pancake’s massive body was covered in patterns that looked like red lotuses.
"Finally... have the Soul Beast directly consume the Purgatory Red Lotus... feel the flow of Spiritual Energy, and break through to the next Level."
Han Ning offered the head-sized Purgatory Red Lotus to Egg Pancake, patting its lowered head as he said,
"Eat this. Try to continuously draw on Elemental Power, compress the density of your flesh and blood, and search for the opportunity to break through."
"Chirp!"
Egg Pancake obediently swallowed the Purgatory Red Lotus and nodded emphatically.
Han Ning retreated about 50 meters away and, along with Qing Fan, watched Egg Pancake with a solemn expression.
"Is this a unique Secret Technique of yours? I can feel the surrounding Fire Element starting to grow restless."
Qing Fan stared at the mysterious patterns on Egg Pancake’s body, her gaze filled with curiosity.
THUMP—THUMP—THUMP!
As they were speaking, a series of gigantic thumps, like the beating of war drums, echoed across the clearing.
Egg Pancake’s eyes were squeezed shut, its body trembling slightly.
All around, specks of fiery red and earthy yellow light, like fireflies, began to appear and converge on its body.
