Hearing this, Qin Shi fell into deep thought for a moment before nodding solemnly, "Alright, I can promise you that. Tell me where this lava cave is."
"I'll use vines to send you there in a bit, but once you're inside the lava cave, you'll have to rely on yourself. There's an extremely terrifying power inside, and without an Explosive Flame Pearl, you won't be able to enter at all. Even I won't be able to help you," the Divine Pregnant Tree said fearfully.
Jade In The Book couldn't help but worry, "Pebble …!"
"Sister Yu, it's fine. I said that I'd help you find the Divine Pregnant Tree Fruit. I've weathered many storms and waves, so this bit of difficulty definitely won't be a problem for me," Qin Shi interrupted Jade In The Book with a smile, "Besides, don't I still have you to accompany me?"
Jade In The Book stared blankly for a moment before nodding seriously, "Mm, we'll be together in life and death."
Withdrawing his smile, Qin Shi turned to face the Divine Pregnant Tree, his black eyes filled with a chilling coldness as he said coldly, "I'll make this clear first. I'll do my best to help you extinguish the Bejewelled Nectar Fire, and I can help you deal with the baleful Qi here. However, you'd best not lie to me. Once everything's over, give me the Divine Pregnant Tree Fruit. Otherwise, even if I have to risk my life, I'll make you shed a layer of skin!"
The deep eyes on the tree rings met with Qin Shi's gaze, causing the branches and leaves of the Divine Pregnant Tree to tremble involuntarily, revealing a hint of panic.
The determination that the Divine Pregnant Tree saw in Qin Shi's eyes made it certain that if it dared to lie to Qin Shi, Qin Shi would definitely fight to the death with it.
"Haha, good kid. With such boldness, I'm afraid that the Wasteland Continent is going to change soon."
The Divine Pregnant Tree laughed bitterly and agreed, "Don't worry. This old fellow has lived for ten thousand years, so I still have that bit of credibility."
Qin Shi stared at the Divine Conception Tree. After confirming that there was nothing fake about it, he nodded in satisfaction. "That's for the best. Send me to the lava cave you mentioned."
Having reached an agreement, the Pregnant Tree smiled. It liked Qin Shi more and more, and a different light flashed in its deep eyes. Only then did it wrap its vines around Qin Shi's body and send him out of the palace.
When they reached the boundary between the palace and the scorching lava, the vines wrapped around Qin Shi trembled a few times. "Little guy, take out the Explosive Flame Pearl. We're about to leave this place."
Qin Shi obediently took out the Explosive Flame Bead and injected it with spirit energy.
Buzz!
A barrier appeared.
Under the barrier, Qin Shi was immediately sent out of the palace. As soon as he stepped out of the palace, he was hit by a fiery red sky. Even though he was inside the barrier, he couldn't help but frown, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
The location of the lava cave was most likely below the Bejewelled Lava Volcano. The vines continuously pulled Qin Shi deeper into the earth's core, and the surrounding temperature soon doubled again. Even the rocks began to melt.
Just like that, they reached a depth of 500,000 meters underground. There were no more rocks around them, only flowing lava.
At this moment, Qin Shi's eyes suddenly lit up. A floating mountain that was several thousand meters tall appeared in the air. It was like a heavenly mountain in a celestial realm, standing in the middle of the raging flames. It was extremely wondrous.
"The lava cave is behind this mountain. I can only bring you up to here. I can't get any further down, so you'll have to rely on yourself." The Pregnant Tree's urgent voice came from the vines.
After staring at the mountain for a while, Qin Shi nodded. The vines around him loosened, and he used his spirit energy to travel through the lava.
As soon as he reached the back of the mountain, Qin Shi saw a cave halfway up the mountain. He couldn't help but become serious. "Looks like this should be the lava cave that the Pregnant Tree mentioned."
"Mm, Shi Tou, be careful later. I can sense that this place isn't simple," Jade In The Book said solemnly.
Qin Shi nodded. He also knew this. After all, this was a place that even the Pregnant Tree couldn't reach, so how could it be simple?
After adjusting his aura, Qin Shi got up and slowly leapt into the lava cave.
As soon as he entered the cave, Qin Shi frowned. The inside of the cave was extremely hot, and this kind of heat was different from the lava. The heat in the lava was nothing more than a scorching sensation on his skin, but this place seemed to be burning his soul from the inside out.
Left with no choice, Qin Shi set up a spirit energy barrier inside the Explosive Flame Bead's barrier, and only then did he gradually feel more comfortable.
Just like that, he walked into the cave for about an hour, but still didn't find anything. He couldn't help but feel vexed. "There's nothing here. Could the Pregnant Tree be lying to me?"
Just as Qin Shi relaxed, Jade In The Book suddenly screamed, "Shi Tou, be careful!"
Qin Shi frowned. Suddenly, several fire dragons spat out from the wall beside him, baring their fangs as they pounced towards Qin Shi.
The fire dragons were extremely ferocious.
Left with no choice, Qin Shi quickly leaned to the side and leapt into the air. Only then did he barely manage to dodge the fire dragons. Then, he heard a rumble behind him.
Bang!
Looking back, he saw that the rocks that even the lava outside couldn't melt had been turned into boiling liquid by the fire dragons.
"What a terrifying heat!" Qin Shi couldn't help but feel a lingering fear.
Jade In The Book's beautiful eyes looked down, her gaze fixed on the place where Qin Shi had just stepped. Suddenly, she noticed a protruding rock, and said in a low voice, "It seems that there's a mechanism here."
"A mechanism?"
"Yes, look here." Jade In The Book pointed at the protruding rock. Only then did Qin Shi understand.
"Shi Tou, be careful later. Look around and see if there are any secret passages that can be opened," Jade In The Book said thoughtfully.
Nodding, Qin Shi put away his earlier contempt and continued to carefully dive into the depths of the lava cave. Along the way, he saw many protruding rocks. Every rock that was touched by spiritual energy would trigger a variety of mechanisms.
However, apart from the mechanisms, he still couldn't find the secret passage that Jade In The Book had mentioned. Soon, Qin Shi circled around the lava cave, and couldn't help but feel vexed.
Bang!
While he was vexed, the last mechanism was also activated by Qin Shi, and seven fire dragons rushed toward Qin Shi.
Having anticipated this, Qin Shi easily dodged.
Just as he dodged, Jade In The Book's beautiful eyes lit up. She suddenly looked back at the place where the seven fire dragons had penetrated, and indifferently said with joy, "Shi Tou, I know!"
"Sister Yu, what do you know?"
"I know where the secret passage is. Shi Tou, think carefully. The positions where these fire dragons appeared just now correspond to the Big Dipper formation."
Jade In The Book explained excitedly, and pointed to the place where the seven fire dragons had bombarded. She said, "Look carefully, here is Dubhe, and here are Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid. These seven places are the seven big formation eyes of the Big Dipper formation. If I'm not wrong, this lava cave should be composed of a huge formation."
"Formation?"
Qin Shi frowned, and then suddenly realized. Before, he had only been looking for the secret passage, and hadn't thought about it in this direction. If it was a formation, then it was really possible.
Thinking of this, he said excitedly, "Sister Yu, can you break it?"
"Give me some time, I'll take a look."
Jade In The Book became serious, and signaled Qin Shi to take two steps forward, and began to study the formation alone.
In terms of array formations, Qin Shi had great confidence in the Jade in the Book. Therefore, he was not worried at all as he waited by the side. As expected, there was a result very quickly.
"I know, the formation eye of this formation is actually the mechanism that we just touched. The most dangerous place is also the safest place to cover the formation door. It's really incredible. I'm sure that the person who left this formation is not simple," Jade In The Book said excitedly.
Qin Shi nodded approvingly, "Then you guide me to break this formation first."
"Okay."
Jade In The Book agreed, and pointed with her jade-like hand, "Fifty meters ahead, on the left is the formation eye of Dubhe. Fifty meters below the side are the formation eye of Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid. The seven formation eyes must be broken in order, otherwise the formation will immediately start again, and the previous rules will be broken."
"I'll try."
According to Jade In The Book, Qin Shi found the mechanism one by one, and then combined his spiritual power to destroy it. Sure enough, as Jade In The Book expected, after one mechanism was destroyed, the whole lava cave began to shake violently.
Boom!
With a strong wave, the central stone wall of the lava cave suddenly began to fall a large amount of gravel.
When the gravel scattered, what reflected in his eyes was an exaggerated tomb. This tomb was thousands of meters wide. Staring at the exaggerated scene in front of him, Qin Shi was stunned for a long time, and then he swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "I can't believe that there are so many secrets hidden under this Bejewelled Lava Volcano."
"Shi Tou, go in and take a look. The problem should be here," Jade In The Book said excitedly.
Qin Shi nodded in response, and also stepped into the tomb with joy.
There was an altar in the tomb. The altar was unusually grand, and a red ball of fire was suspended above it. It contained an extremely terrible power, and even the barrier of the Exploding Flame Bead caused billowing ripples under it.
"What a terrible power."
"Well, if I'm not wrong, the raging fire of this Bejewelled Lava Volcano all year round is caused by this ball of fire. I can feel that something extremely terrible is being bred from this ball of fire," Jade In The Book said, gritting her teeth.
Qin Shi nodded, "If that's the case, as long as I find a way to control this ball of fire, I can extinguish the raging fire of the Bejewelled Lava Volcano."
Thinking of this, he began to cautiously approach the altar.
Boom!
Unexpectedly, just as he was about to approach the altar, the huge tomb suddenly trembled violently. The ground in front of the altar suddenly split open, and a hurricane rose up in this enclosed space, gathering the gravel in one place, and suddenly turned into a ferocious puppet.
As soon as the puppet appeared, it stirred up anger.
Like a god of war, it madly pounced on Qin Shi.
Bang!
Qin Shi's black eyes widened, and he quickly took a few steps back. Immediately, he saw that the ground in the tomb was shaking, and the mountains were shaking. The place where he had been a moment ago was directly opened up into a deep ravine.
"What a terrible power …!"