Yay, it’s Cola, my favorite drink!

Cola immediately put the recent unpleasantness aside, and along with the desire to learn to fly, focused entirely on enjoying the quiet night with its owner.

Suddenly,

Liu Jinglan’s voice broke the night’s silence: "I feel that Flame Mountain is getting stranger and stranger."

Chen Yuan looked up: "Why do you feel that way?"

Liu Jinglan held his head with both hands, gazing at the peak of Flame Mountain shrouded in night. The clouds pressed down the sky, and the burning wildfire was clearly visible: "It’s just an indescribable intuition, but it feels like there have been too many strange occurrences on Flame Mountain."

He sat up straight, his tone grave: "Think about it, the mountain perpetually ablaze is already unreasonable, and recently the wildfires have been erupting, unsettling this entire area."

"What’s with the Wandering Fire Ash Spirit, what’s with the Spirit Plant in the mountain fire, all these things combined are just too strange."

Chen Yuan pondered and spoke: "Now we’re in the Spiritual Energy Revival Era, we can’t look at everything with outdated perspectives."

"What’s unreasonable is reasonable."

"I know..." Liu Jinglan changed his usual playful demeanor, giving a bitter smile, "But I have a vague premonition, always feeling that something bad will happen to Flame Mountain."

"In the not-so-distant future."

Liu Jingyi raised her right hand, exclaiming excitedly: "I know, I know, that monster buried under Flame Mountain is about to appear!"

"Just like in cartoons, a monster that’s been asleep for years emerges, trying to destroy the world, but is defeated by the heroic protagonist!"

Liu Jinglan rubbed his forehead helplessly: "My sister, this is the real world, not the cartoons you watch. What kind of creature can live so long?"

"Even if it’s Extraordinary Creatures, they’d have suffocated long ago under the mountain."

At the same moment, Chen Yuan and Chang Yuhuan exchanged a silent glance.

Perhaps, Liu Jingyi’s guess wasn’t wrong.

According to the Jade Pendant, a Divine being lies dormant in this area, and based on currently known clues, it’s highly likely to be the giant monster passed down by word of mouth in Fire State.

Chen Yuan contemplated silently: "The eruption of the mountain fire might be a sign that this Divine being is about to awaken."

"It seems we need to hurry, lest night falls with dreams untold."

"And after leaving, we must report the anomalies here to the higher-ups, so the local Association can prepare in advance."

December 3rd, Wednesday.

Early morning, while the temperature wasn’t too high, Chen Yuan and the others continued on, delving deeper into Flame Mountain.

The closer to the core area, the more widespread the havoc of the mountain fire became. Often, a single blaze could spread tens or even hundreds of meters, with flames blazing fiercely, making for a spectacular scene.

The number of Wandering Fire Ash Spirits grew, often operating in groups of dozens, with many being Tier Two.

By the time the sun hung high in the sky, baking the earth with scorching heat, Chen Yuan and the group found a cool place to rest.

Liu Jingyi removed a device, glanced at the screen, and became instantly excited: "We’re ranked fourth!"

Liu Jinglan frowned: "So low?"

With Chen Yuan leading, they almost steamrolled through the Wandering Fire Ash Spirits, resolving each encounter swiftly and smoothly absorbing the flames.

Liu Jinglan felt they should at least be in the top three, yet they were only fourth?

But Liu Jinglan quickly thought of an explanation.

Though the process of absorbing the flames was smooth, Liu Jingyi’s Fiery Flame Eagle had only recently advanced to Tier Two, its strength far inferior to Spark and the Red Flame Ox, making absorption slower.

This on and off delay cost them quite some time.

A thought flashed, and Liu Jinglan muttered to himself: "My sister is indeed a burden."

"Who are the top three?" Chen Yuan suddenly asked.

Liu Jingyi replied: "First place is the Wild Wolf Roar Team, second is I Can’t Say Team, and third is What You Said Team."

Liu Jinglan’s eyes twinkled: "They indeed made it to the first place."

The team had a champion, a powerful Beastmaster from out of town, and two other impressive Beastmasters for numbers, creating a magical chemistry together, with almost no team able to compete with them.

Chen Yuan smiled slightly: "No rush, there’s still a day before the competition ends."

The current point gap isn’t significant; there’s still a possibility to overtake.

After a brief rest, as everyone was about to move on, suddenly they saw four miserable-looking male Beastmasters approaching from not far away.

Their clothes showed obvious burn marks, and their Pet Beasts were similarly marked, with scorched bodies.

Chen Yuan raised an eyebrow: "Got burned?"

"I know these guys, I’ll go ask." Liu Jinglan strode forward, waving enthusiastically at the four Beastmasters, "What’s going on?"

Chen Yuan glanced at Liu Jinglan, then shifted his gaze to Liu Jingyi, speaking softly: "Why do I feel like your brother knows every Beastmaster in Fire State?"

Since they started eating yesterday, Chen Yuan noticed Liu Jinglan was very well-known in Fire State, with an extraordinary number of friends, able to chat with almost anyone they met.

This was somewhat different from Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan was more renowned in Baokun City, with almost everyone knowing him, yet he himself knew only a small fraction of people.

However, Liu Jinglan was different. His connections were mutual, not one-sided.

Liu Jingyi explained: "That’s how my brother is. Since he was young, he’s loved making friends, always the leader among kids. As he grew older, it got worse; the number of friends he knows can’t even be counted."

Chen Yuan didn’t correct the misuse of "got worse," but instead nodded with admiration: "That’s great, having friends wherever you go."

After a while,