Deep within the cavern lay a serpentine, treacherous subterranean fissure, stretching for eleven li and plummeting nearly a hundred zhang. Below this great chasm flowed the slow, brilliant red magma of the earth-fire.

The earth-fire relentlessly spewed forth from the massive crack, occasionally surging dozens of zhang high, while the river of magma bubbled with countless searing pockets. The entire magma river blazed a fierce crimson, its red light shooting skyward, bathing the entire cavern in a blood-red hue. Near the river, the oppressive heat was palpable; even common low-tier fire-attributed demonic beasts dared not linger in such intense proximity.

At this moment, a figure clad in green and a young maiden in blue stood at the edge of this vast fissure. They were Ye Qin and the veiled girl. They had cautiously evaded the demonic beasts along their path, even slaying over a dozen third-tier and even a fourth-tier beast, only now arriving at this river of magma. Barely a hundred zhang beneath their feet churned the breathtaking sea of lava.

Ye Qin had already activated his azure, water-attributed protective shield to fend off the scorching blast of air washing over them. The heat here was too intense; maintaining the barrier required a constant, slow drain of spiritual power just to sustain it.

The veiled maiden halted at the rim of the great fissure, gazing down at the magma river, feeling it necessary to explain things to Ye Qin, lest he remained utterly confused.

She lightly pursed her red lips, her delicate voice remarking, "This great fissure is the deepest point of the Wan Ku Ridge. Thousands of years ago, the earth-fire within this magma river erupted violently, terrifying every demonic beast in this subterranean cavern. In their panic, they fled through a collapse in the second layer of the grotto, surging into the spirit stone mining tunnels and causing countless casualties among the miners of the great immortal cultivation sects. Once the earth-fire subsided, these beasts gradually returned here."

Ye Qin asked, "How did Senior Sister Huangfu learn this?"

The veiled maiden chuckled softly. "Thousands of years ago, the founding patriarchs of the various sects detected this earth-fire eruption and came to investigate. They entered this cavern together and extracted a massive quantity of fire-attributed mineral crystals, millennia in the making, from the banks of this magma river. Among them was a founding ancestor of the Qing Dan Sect, who also came here and left some incidental information for the sect's descendants, briefly mentioning the situation here."

"The reason the spirit stone veins of Wan Ku Ridge were sealed was not solely due to the constant infighting among the sects, but also because the subterranean magma river here is unstable and prone to eruption at any moment. This forced the abandonment of the Wan Ku Ridge spirit stone veins, and the ancestors personally sealed the caves of Wan Ku Ridge. Otherwise, even if the major immortal cultivation sects had suffered far greater miner losses, they likely wouldn't have been willing to leave this place."

"There are many such subterranean magma rivers within the Spirit Mist Mountain Range. Along the banks of these rivers, fire-attributed mineral crystals aged for hundreds, even thousands or tens of thousands of years, can be found. However, any fire-attributed crystals found near a magma river are quickly harvested by high-level cultivators once discovered. Beneath the Qing Dan Mountain Range, there is also a minor earth-fire, from which fire-attributed crystals are gathered every five hundred years to temper fire-attributed magical artifacts."

The veiled maiden paused before continuing, "The eruption of the earth-fire and magma here subsided only after several hundred years. The major immortal cultivation sects gradually forgot about this place, and no one mentioned reopening Wan Ku Ridge, so it was completely abandoned. Now, it seems this earth-fire eruption in Wan Ku Ridge was merely a small-scale event, not causing any significant hindrance. All that is required is to completely clear out the demonic beasts below to prevent harm to the miners."

Ye Qin couldn't help but remark, "Wan Ku Ridge has been sealed for thousands of years; it must have accumulated a considerable amount of fire-attributed mineral crystals aged over millennia. Once the cultivators of the various sects enter this cavern and clear out all the demonic beasts, they will then begin large-scale extraction of the fire ore."

The veiled maiden nodded. "Precisely. We must quickly retrieve a small portion of the fire-attributed mineral crystals here. Otherwise, when the cultivators of the various sects arrive, it will cause a great deal of trouble."

Ye Qin nodded silently.

Senior Sister Huangfu’s words resolved many of the confusions swirling in his mind. He looked down towards the magma river. The most precious fire-attributed mineral crystals lay beneath the rock walls of this great fissure, having been continuously scorched by the earth-fire for centuries, refining them from the most common fire ore into priceless crystals.

He said calmly, "This rock wall is nearly a hundred zhang high. How deep must we descend to find these fire-attributed crystals?"

"At the edge of the earth-fire eruption," the veiled maiden replied, hesitating slightly. She wasn't entirely clear on the specifics herself. The Golden Core ancestor of the Qing Dan Sect from millennia past had only mentioned the presence of fire-attributed crystals by the subterranean magma river, not their exact location.

She stood at the fissure's edge, scanning the rock faces on either side of the magma river. After a moment, she spotted glittering red crystals embedded in the wall, and a look of sudden surprise crossed her face. "Junior Brother Ye, the fire-attributed crystals are down there, about ten zhang above the surface of the magma river."

Ye Qin narrowed his eyes and looked closely. Indeed, on the rock walls of the fissure illuminated by the dazzling red light of the magma river, there were faint, shimmering red mineral crystals.

But after seeing them clearly, he sucked in a sharp breath.

The earth-fire within the magma river raged fiercely, occasionally spitting out a gout of scorching magma that leaped over ten zhang high. Even with the protective shield active, he could only last a brief moment within this intense heat. However, in that fleeting moment, digging out the fire-attributed crystals was utterly impossible. Even the spirit stones on the second layer were hard to dislodge, let alone these fire-attributed crystals by the magma river on the third layer. Being struck by the earth-fire eruption would be equivalent to being hit by a significantly empowered mid-tier attack, draining the shield's spiritual power immensely. If his internal power depleted, death would follow. Retrieving those fire-attributed crystals would be anything but easy.

Ye Qin exclaimed in alarm, "Ten zhang above the river surface—that’s too close to the magma! The earth-fire can easily erupt that high, and we could be hit at any moment. Taking one hit might not be a major issue; it won't breach the shield, but withstand a few more, and no one can manage! How are we supposed to mine them?"

The veiled maiden shook her head solemnly. "We cannot use the protective shield to block the earth-fire. The ordinary Red Flame earth-fire is roughly equivalent to the Yang Fire of a Qi Refining cultivator. Among every thousand strands of Red Flame earth-fire, there is one strand of the more formidable Azure Flame earth-fire, which equals the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator's Innate True Fire. And among every thousand strands of Azure Flame earth-fire, there is one strand of Purple Flame, whose power approximates a Golden Core cultivator's Samadhi True Fire. Should we encounter even one strand of Purple Flame earth-fire, it would be enough to pierce the protective shield, reducing us to ash, with no chance for the primordial spirit to escape. Therefore, we absolutely must not use the shield; we must use magical artifacts to defend ourselves."

Saying this, the veiled maiden smiled wryly and said crisply, "Junior Brother Ye, I recall the magical artifacts on those disciples from the Ancient Artifact Sect are gone. You took them, didn't you? Now is the time to lend Sister a couple of artifacts for use."

The veiled maiden was unwilling to use her own Ice Soul Sword for mining the cinnabar ore crystals by the rock wall; damaging her Ice Soul Sword wouldn't be worth it. With a cunning smile, she set her sights on Ye Qin, knowing he possessed quite a few low-grade magical artifacts.

Ye Qin paused, rummaging through his storage pouch for a good while, held captive by the veiled maiden’s intense gaze. Reluctantly, he pulled out a low-grade flying sword artifact and a low-grade Ruyi Ring artifact. The six or seven artifacts left by the Ancient Artifact Sect disciples had all been collected by him; since he wasn't using them immediately, they were tossed into his pouch, proving unexpectedly useful now.

The veiled maiden took the two delicate artifacts, her pretty face placid, though inwardly smiling with satisfaction. Junior Brother Ye was indeed accommodating. This flying sword could be used for mining, and if the earth-fire erupted, the Ruyi Ring could be used for defense—it was perfectly suitable.

"Let's go, follow Sister!"

She walked several li along the edge of the subterranean great fissure, seeking a spot where the magma river surface was calmer and the earth-fire eruption less violent. After observing for a full hour and finding no anomalies, she began slowly climbing down the rock wall on one side of the great fissure. The situation here was dangerously unstable; using the Wind Riding Art was completely out of the question.

Ye Qin followed cautiously, stepping on the uneven rocks of the wall, gradually descending, a trace of bitter, faint smile touching his lips.

Climbing this wall reminded him of the situation seven or eight years ago when he was gathering medicinal herbs in Zhu Qi County—requiring him to brave great danger scaling mountain cliffs to collect herbs. Back then, he was merely a ten-year-old apprentice collector, possessing nothing but endurance, facing wild wolves in the hills with only his desperate legs to save him. Had he not accidentally stepped onto the path of immortality, he would likely still be in Zhu Qi County, running through the ridges for those precious herbs.

Now, he was a cultivator at the ninth layer of the Qi Refining stage, infinitely better off than seven or eight years ago. Yet, in the entire world of immortal cultivation, he remained one of the lowest rungs, possessing almost no status. Should he die in this cavern trial, not even a ripple would be left behind.

Ye Qin climbed slowly, gripping the rock as he thought. He unexpectedly discovered many cracks in the rock wall, some large enough to accommodate several people. These likely formed when the great subterranean fissure split open.

He climbed down about seventy or eighty zhang, leaving about twenty zhang to the surface of the magma river. The heat at this height was so intense that even the protective shield struggled, causing a faint stinging on his skin. At this level of the rock wall, many red fire-attributed mineral crystals were already visible.

Ye Qin glanced down; Senior Sister Huangfu was still descending. Gritting his teeth, he took his gourd from his waist, taking a small sip of the Frost Fruit Wine. An immediate, profound coolness spread through him, dispelling the dryness, and he continued his climb.

They stopped only when they reached ten zhang from the earth-fire magma river, ceasing their descent. This was the optimal location. When the earth-fire erupted, it struck exactly at this height. The ore here had undergone continuous tempering by the earth-fire for thousands of years, rendering it exceptionally pure. Descending closer to the magma surface would be too perilous, while climbing higher meant the intensity of the earth-fire was insufficient, and the crystals less pure.

The fire ore here ranged from pale purple to deep purple. The deeper the color, the older the mineral crystal.

Ye Qin joyfully noticed small patches of purple crystals embedded in the dark rock wall. Most were pale purple, but one patch was deep purple. He suddenly looked at the purple blade he held for mining, wondering, "These crystals are the same color as the Purple Blade? Could they be refined from Purple Crystal?"

The veiled maiden laughed, "The Purple Blade only has a small amount of Purple Crystal infused into it; they are not the same at all. These Purple Crystals here were only formed after repeated tempering by the Purple Flame earth-fire. If one were to temper a magical artifact using an entire block of Purple Crystal, the resulting power..." She tilted her head, thinking hard about the extent of that power, "...perhaps even a Golden Core cultivator could not overcome it."