“Thank him if you want to thank someone. We didn’t do anything and don’t dare to take credit,” Chi Shu glanced at Yuan Ming and said to the red-haired youth.

“Thank you, Senior Brother. I would have been in big trouble today if it weren’t for you,” the red-haired youth quickly bowed to Yuan Ming and expressed his gratitude.

“I can’t accept the title of Senior Brother. I am Yuan Ming from the Fire Refining Hall. I just recently entered the Bi Luo Cave. These two are Mu Li from the Refining Furnace Hall and Chi Shu from the Rules and Regulations Hall. May I know your name?” Yuan Ming introduced Mu Li and Chi Shu before asking.

“I am Le Gong, a disciple of the Beast Taming Hall,” the red-haired youth scratched his head and quickly introduced himself.

“So you’re Senior Brother Le Gong. I have seen this Fire Ferret before. It is the beloved spirit beast of the Three Cave Masters. Why did you bring it here?” Yuan Ming handed the Fire Ferret over and asked.

Le Gong quickly reached out to catch it, but as soon as the Fire Ferret reached his hand, it suddenly struggled violently, squealing loudly and scratching the young man’s hand fiercely.

The Fire Ferret’s claws were quite sharp, and Le Gong’s hand was immediately cut with several deep wounds, blood gushing out.

He cried out in pain, loosening his grip, and the Fire Ferret fell to the ground.

Yuan Ming quickly reached out and caught the Fire Ferret.

Strangely enough, as soon as the Fire Ferret was in Yuan Ming’s hands, it immediately became docile. It not only stopped struggling and hurting people, but also gently rubbed its head against his body.

Seeing this scene, Le Gong, Mu Li, and Chi Shu all showed surprise.

“I didn’t expect Junior Brother Yuan to not only be skilled in refining tools, but also proficient in beast taming!” Le Gong said.

“I am just a newcomer to the sect. I don’t know anything about beast taming. It’s just that I had the opportunity to meet the Three Cave Masters in the Ten Thousand Mountains and spent some time with them, so maybe it remembers me,” Yuan Ming explained half-truthfully.

“I see.” Le Gong nodded, his expression seeming somewhat disappointed.

Mu Li and Chi Shu exchanged glances when they heard that Yuan Ming was familiar with the Three Cave Masters, and their gazes towards Yuan Ming unconsciously changed.

Caw…

A piercing screech sounded, and the Golden-eyed Eagle flew over. Lan Ke and A Gula stood on its back, apparently noticing the situation here and rushing over.

“Why are you here, Le Gong?” Lan Ke jumped down from the eagle’s back and looked at Le Gong, seeming to be familiar with him.

A Gula also followed suit and jumped down. His clothes seemed to have grown bigger at the chest, indicating that he had gained something during this moment.

“Lan Ke Senior Sister, it’s because of this Fire Ferret,” Le Gong nodded and greeted her with a wry smile.

“Could it be that you took on the task from the Three Cave Masters?” Lan Ke looked at the Fire Ferret in Yuan Ming’s hand and asked.

“Yes, I didn’t consider it carefully. This task is much more difficult than I expected. If it weren’t for Junior Brother Yuan and the others helping today, I would have almost messed it up. It seems that my talent in beast taming is not enough. Let’s stop here for this task,” Le Gong sighed.

“What are you two talking about? Don’t just think about yourselves, let us hear it too. Le Gong, are you carrying out a sect mission?” Mu Li frowned and asked.

They were here to collect Fire Essence Jade and didn’t want to get involved in other matters.

“Mu Li Junior Brother, don’t worry. The mission I’m talking about is not something else. It’s just taking care of this Fire Ferret, which was issued by the Three Cave Masters. It won’t affect our collection of Fire Essence Jade,” Lan Ke said.

“Taking care of a Fire Ferret? There’s such a task?” Yuan Ming looked surprised.

Why would they need to issue a task just to take care of a spirit beast? If the Fire Ferret is mischievous, they can just lock it up.

“Junior Brother Yuan, you don’t understand beast taming, so you don’t know the intricacies. Cultivating a spirit beast is not just about feeding and taking care of them. It also requires careful attention to their emotions and guidance of their nature. This Fire Ferret is still in its infancy and is in a lively and active stage. Keeping it confined for a long time will affect its growth. The Three Cave Masters are usually busy and don’t have time, so they issued this task,” Le Gong explained.

“I see, but I didn’t see this task in the Hall of Mission Execution. Why is that?” Yuan Ming asked.

“There are too many people in the Hall of Mission Execution, and the Three Cave Masters didn’t directly issue this task. They only informed the people from our Beast Taming Hall, so it doesn’t appear on the mission stone tablet,” Le Gong said.

Yuan Ming nodded and was about to say something when the Fire Ferret suddenly struggled violently in his hand and jumped out, falling to the ground.

Yuan Ming was startled and was about to reach out to grab it again, but the Fire Ferret didn’t run away. Instead, it bit onto Yuan Ming’s clothes and pulled him towards a distance.

“Caw caw caw!” Lan Ke’s Golden-eyed Eagle also let out a sharp cry, looking terrified towards the volcanic peak.

Everyone present was stunned.

At this moment, the ground beneath their feet suddenly shook violently. Even with their strength, they almost fell.

Before they could stabilize themselves, the ground shook for the second time, and then the third…

Yuan Ming’s face turned pale as he held onto a large rock next to him, barely stabilizing himself.

At this moment, a rumbling sound came from underground, like countless rolling thunders. The ground trembled violently, as if an irresistible force had erupted.

In the face of this tremendous force, everyone present was like saplings in a strong wind, completely powerless to resist. Their bodies were thrown out.

Then, a loud bang came from a distance!

Yuan Ming looked up in shock, and his expression immediately changed.

He saw the volcanic crater shaking violently, and a massive column of magma surged out, pouring down the mountain like countless streams of red lava.

The place where they were also had magma sweeping towards them.

Yuan Ming immediately activated his Beast Transformation Technique and turned into a white ape form.

As a white ape, he was stronger and more stable than in human form, and he stumbled and ran down the mountain.

Lan Ke and the others also quickly used their techniques and fled towards a distance.

At this moment, everyone could only take care of themselves and couldn’t care about others.

Yuan Ming crawled and rolled, escaping towards a distance. He didn’t know how many times he fell, but he finally reached the foot of the mountain.

If it weren’t for the tough skin and protection of the white ape form, he would have long been covered in bruises and bleeding from hitting his head.

Even with the protection of the ape skin, he was still bruised and bleeding from his nose and mouth, and his head was buzzing.

But now was not the time to rest. The surging magma was already not far behind him, melting and engulfing everything on the road.

“Squeak squeak squeak…” the Fire Ferret’s cries came from the front. It agilely ran towards a small mountain on the right, unaffected by the shaking ground.Yuan Ming’s eyes lit up, and he immediately fled towards the low hill, arriving at its base in no time.

He activated the White Ape Beast Skin, his ten fingers growing sharp ape claws that easily pierced into the rocks, allowing him to quickly climb towards the top of the low hill.

The surging lava flowed and roared, rushing several miles down the hill before slowly stopping, swallowing everything in its path in a sea of red.

The earthquake triggered by the volcanic eruption gradually subsided, and the ground slowly returned to calm.

At this moment, Yuan Ming had already climbed to the top of the low hill. He deactivated his transformation, lying down in a spread-eagle position, panting heavily with lingering fear.

The fire mink lay quietly beside him.

“Fire Mink, thank you for your help this time.” Yuan Ming gently stroked the fire mink’s head.

If it hadn’t been for the fire mink’s warning, allowing him to take refuge on this low hill in time, he would most likely have been swallowed by the lava, leaving no trace behind.

He closed his eyes and rested for a moment, then got up and looked around for signs of others.

Lan Ke, Mu Li, and the others all had flying spirit beasts. As long as they could summon them in time and fly into the sky, they should be able to escape.

He wasn’t sure if that Le Gong had managed to escape, as he didn’t seem to have a flying spirit beast.

The surroundings were all red molten rock, not a single bird, let alone a person, could be seen.

Yuan Ming shook his head and surveyed the situation around the low hill.

Three sides of the hill were already covered by lava, but fortunately, there was still an area at the back that was free of lava, leaving a passage.

After a moment’s hesitation, Yuan Ming picked up the fire mink and headed in that direction.

“Squeak, squeak, squeak…” As they passed a certain spot, the fire mink suddenly let out excited squeals, its eyes fixed on a patch of lava not far away, a look of longing in its eyes.

Yuan Ming stopped in his tracks and followed the fire mink’s gaze.

“Huh!” His eyebrows raised, and he cast a spell.

The ground in the lava area rumbled, and a large wooden spike shot out, already charred black.

Green light stubbornly emanated from the inside of the wooden spike, resisting the burning of the lava. It suddenly bent and flicked outward, like a hand splashing water.

With a “splash”, a patch of lava was flung away by the wooden spike, landing not far in front of Yuan Ming.

A long object rolled out from the lava, a fiery red object about a foot long, curved like the horn of some exotic beast.

The horn shone with a red light, as if there were flames burning on it.

Yuan Ming’s eyes lit up. This fiery red horn didn’t emit much spiritual power fluctuation, but just by its appearance, it was extraordinary, far superior to fire jade, and should be a high-grade spiritual material.

Was the fire mink’s frantic rush towards the lava earlier for this object?

The fire mink let out a cheer, transformed into a blur, and pounced on it, biting the fiery red horn as if it wanted to swallow it.

“Stop, no, shut your mouth!” Yuan Ming hurriedly lunged forward, grabbing the other end of the fiery red horn.

This was not some low-grade spiritual material like fire jade. Any high-grade spiritual material was of great value, and it would be a huge loss if he let the fire mink eat it.

The fire mink stubbornly bit the fiery red horn, its strength surprisingly great. Yuan Ming used most of his strength, but still couldn’t wrest it away.

In his urgency, he was about to use some other means to snatch the horn when he suddenly realized that the fire mink’s teeth couldn’t bite into it at all. Its sharp teeth didn’t leave a single mark.

Yuan Ming relaxed, no longer struggling, and smiled at the fire mink.

The fire mink bit and gnawed at the horn until its teeth were sore, but it couldn’t make a dent in it. It could only give up reluctantly.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming finally picked up the fiery red horn and held it up to his eyes for a closer look.

The object was hot to the touch, but not scorching, and felt quite comfortable in his hand. The patterns on the horn revealed some strange flame patterns, which seemed to be natural.

“What kind of exotic beast’s horn is this? How could it be perfectly preserved in the lava?” Yuan Ming wondered to himself, his eyebrows suddenly raising.

He was standing not far from the molten rock, the surrounding heat was unbearable, and he had been exerting all his strength to resist it. But after he got this fiery red horn, the surrounding heat suddenly weakened a lot. Could it be that the fiery red horn was isolating the surrounding heat?