All Gone

The originally dense and eerie jungle was completely enveloped by a pitch-black sea of fire.

Wherever the Chaos Flame passed, whether it was the vegetation or the poisonous mist hidden within, everything was burned to ashes. Even the fallen leaves and gravel on the ground began to melt from the intense heat.

"Wow—it's burning!" Lan Xiaoke subconsciously grabbed Ye Chuan's arm, her face showing both surprise and a hint of excitement.

"Ye Chuan, your fire is way too amazing! It burned such a huge area all at once!"

But the next second, as if realizing something, she added, "Wait, if everything burns clean, what about my materials that I can sell for money?"

At Lan Xiaoke's words, Ye Chuan was momentarily taken aback. "Huh?"

Right.

"You don't understand. Good things won't be destroyed by fire," Ye Chuan coughed lightly.

Lan Xiaoke revealed a suspicious expression. "Ye Chuan, could it be that you just forgot?"

"Haven't you heard? True gold fears no fire." Ye Chuan pinched Lan Xiaoke's chubby cheeks, giving her a look that said she really knew nothing at all.

"Oh right, that makes sense, Ye Chuan." In the end, the Silly White-Hair was still fooled by Ye Chuan.

Ye Chuan wrapped his arm around Lan Xiaoke's waist, leaped up, and hovered steadily in mid-air.

They were a good dozens of meters above the sea of fire below. After putting up a barrier, they completely avoided the scorching heatwaves and pungent smoke.

Lan Xiaoke naturally wrapped her arms around Ye Chuan's neck and peeked downward, her eyes full of curiosity.

This fire really was massive.

However, because of this, they could see clearly if there was anything down there.

Just then, a bizarre writhing sound came from within the sea of fire, accompanied by an extremely shrill scream that broke through the crackling of the flames.

The originally flat surface of the fire suddenly looked as if something was desperately struggling and writhing beneath the flames, trying to break through the fire's restraints and escape this purgatory.

"Ye Chuan, look! There's something down there!" Lan Xiaoke pointed at the sea of fire below and exclaimed softly.

Ye Chuan lowered his eyes, his gaze calmly sweeping across the sea of fire.

Inside the flames, countless twisted silhouettes were struggling madly—

Some were vine monsters as thick as pythons, some were delicate and beautiful flower demons, and others were thorny shrub monsters. Every scream was filled with extreme agony.

They wriggled their bodies desperately, wanting to flee the fire, but the Chaos Flame clung to them like maggots on rotting bone. No matter how they struggled, they couldn't shake it off. They could only watch helplessly as their bodies were slowly burned, carbonized, and ultimately turned to ash.

The screams, the sounds of struggle, and the crackling of the burning flames intertwined, forming an eerie and terrifying symphony that made one shudder.

"These monsters are so pitiful." Lan Xiaoke wrinkled her nose, a hint of sympathy showing on her face, but she said no more—after all, these were plant monsters that would actively attack people.

"What's pitiful about this? They can still come into my place for some remodeling."

Ye Chuan flipped his other hand, and a flag radiating golden light appeared in his grasp—it was the Human Emperor Flag.

"Open."

Ye Chuan simply gave the flag a gentle shake.

Instantly, the Human Emperor Flag unfurled in the wind, flapping loudly. The golden patterns on the flag suddenly lit up, emitting a dazzling golden light that pierced through the sky-filling fire and smoke, illuminating the entire jungle.

The domain released by the Human Emperor Flag directly enveloped the jungle. Countless chains appeared out of thin air and shot into the sea of fire!

From within the flames, wisps of faint soul phantoms were pulled out by the chains.

Those soul phantoms were blurry, only vaguely showing the original forms of the monsters. They struggled and roared, trying to escape, but no matter how hard they tried, they were pierced by the chains and couldn't break free at all. They could only fly uncontrollably toward the Human Emperor Flag in mid-air.

[Absorbed Golden Core Realm soul. Magical treasure amplifies host attributes by +0.1%]

[Absorbed Golden Core Realm soul. Magical treasure amplifies host attributes by +0.1%]

[Absorbed Golden Core Realm soul. Magical treasure amplifies host attributes by +0.1%]

[Absorbed Golden Core Realm soul. Magical treasure amplifies host attributes by +0.1%]

...

Even mosquito legs are still meat. Ye Chuan began to refine all the monsters on this floor.

However, he also seemed to realize something.

If this tall tower had many floors of monsters, wouldn't that be perfect nourishment for the Human Emperor Flag?

What if so many monsters were let out to harm people? It would be better to just pull them directly into his flag for remodeling.

At this moment, the soul phantoms were like tiny black threads rising from the sea of fire, converging toward the Human Emperor Flag to form a spectacular torrent of souls.

Lan Xiaoke actually rarely saw scenes of Ye Chuan refining monsters. Seeing it now, she couldn't help but be amazed. "Wow... their souls are being eaten! This flag is way too awesome!"

The Chaos Flame continued to burn madly, devouring the entire jungle. The screams in the sea of fire gradually grew faint, and the torrent of souls became thinner and thinner.

Gradually, the originally dense jungle was entirely burned to nothingness. Only a patch of scorched earth remained, with sparse flames still burning on the ground, making crackling sounds.

The poisonous mist in the air had long been burned away by the fire, leaving only a thick scorched smell that slowly drifted away with the wind.

It seemed there were no monsters left.

Ye Chuan put away the Human Emperor Flag. Today was another tiny bit of improvement. The monsters in this forest weren't that numerous, but they more or less added some stats for him.

After all, even one percent was absolute domination.

The originally intricate and complex jungle had now become clear at a glance, and the distant scenery was clearly presented before their eyes—

They could vaguely see a denser stone forest. In that area, even though it had been scorched by the Chaos Flame, they could feel a different aura within it.

"Ye Chuan, it should be over there," Lan Xiaoke said.

"Yeah." Ye Chuan released his divine sense once more. This time, the entire second floor of the tall tower was finally completely grasped by Ye Chuan, and what appeared in his divine sense was a door.

That should be the entrance to the third floor.

As for the guarding monster...

In Ye Chuan's divine sense, there were no living monsters left.

Ye Chuan: "..."

Burned to death?

Expressionless, he took out the flag once again, reached his hand inside to grope around for a while, and finally pulled out a hundred-meter-long giant snake phantom.

"Oh... so this was it..." Ye Chuan examined it for a moment before finally stuffing it back in.

"Ahem, it's burned clean. Let's just go straight to the third floor."

"What about the materials?" Lan Xiaoke blanked for a moment.

What happened to 'true gold fears no fire'?

The materials, are they all gone?

"What are you worried about? Isn't the third floor even more formidable? Won't there be more good things?" Ye Chuan looked at Lan Xiaoke and said.

"Makes some sense..." Lan Xiaoke scratched her chest.

Alright, since that's the case, let's head out.