Interstellar Farming: I Make Potions and Climb to the Top

"Contractor, stay by my side. Don’t wander off," Yun Han said, turning his head to instruct Ning Xuan.

"Mm," Ning Xuan nodded lightly.

The RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE of vibrations grew ever closer as a wave of heat erupted from deep underground. The sword at Yun Han’s side suddenly let out a hum like a dragon’s cry, and the frost patterns on its scabbard began to glow with a faint, cold, blue light.

He pulled Ning Xuan behind him. The fire-resistant combat suit he wore sizzled in the blast of heat.

Thirty paces away, the ground bulged and cracked in a tortoise-shell pattern. The smell of sulfur mixed with scalding steam spewed from the fissures.

"Yun Han, take the Master and leave," Di Youlin said to Yun Han, already spreading his wings and taking flight.

Qinghe’s frame swelled, and beneath his clothes, the plates of his Scale Armor flared out.

The two of them attacked the fissure.

The others quickly tightened their formation. Wang Teng bit his fingertip and sprinkled the blood onto the shield in his hand. The tortoise-shell pattern on the shield suddenly lit up, and a pale green barrier of light, like an overturned porcelain bowl, covered the area three meters around him.

The others used their own defensive measures.

At that moment, Lin Mo came to Ning Xuan’s side and released the King’s Guardian Barrier, enveloping her within it.

Through the barrier, Ning Xuan saw the ground suddenly explode. Splattering debris struck the barrier, sending up sparks.

Then, she saw a behemoth rise from the blasted earth. It had not yet revealed its full form, but she could see that its entire body was covered in crimson scales, each the size of a copper basin. A golden-red, lava-like liquid flowed from the gaps between them.

With a hissing roar, the moment the giant snake’s head burst from the earth, all vegetation within a ten-zhang radius instantly withered and scorched.

"It’s an Earth Fire Lava Python! This type of giant snake lives in earth-fire lava. Legend says they are mixed-blood descendants of the ancient Divine Beast, the Torch Dragon, and can control lava and earth fire," Yun Han explained to Ning Xuan, his face tense.

Ning Xuan pulled three sheets of Purple Gold Talisman Paper from her sleeve. These were Spiritual Fire Talismans she had gone to great trouble to create, using special materials. She bit her finger and smeared blood on the center of the talismans. "Separation Fire Essence, go!"

The talisman papers transformed into streams of fire as Ning Xuan flung them out. Spinning rapidly toward the giant snake, they carved three crimson-gold tracks of light through the dusty air before slamming into its body.

Struck by the Separation Fire, the flames engulfing the python’s body seemed to be suppressed, and its crimson scales instantly dimmed.

The python roared, its silvery-gray vertical pupils narrowing to slits. Its barb-covered tail swept out, snapping thick, ancient trees in half. The crashing canopies instantly burst into flames upon hitting the ground. The python then locked onto Ning Xuan’s position and spat a ball of golden fire at her.

The edge of Yun Han’s sword cleaved through the oncoming inferno. The Annihilating White Light struck toward the python’s raised head, while Qinghe swung his greatsword, hacking at its body.

Di Youlin flapped his wings and joined the battle.

Ning Xuan wanted to charge forward again, but Lin Mo grabbed her. "Contractor, they are enough. You must not put yourself in danger."

Yun Han, Di Youlin, and Qinghe fought the Earth Fire Lava Python together. In less than two minutes, the python was covered in wounds. The massive body coiled in the lava pool showed no trace of its former might; the scales that once shone like Red Crystal Armor were now shattered and broken.

Droplets of dark red blood trickled down the jagged edges of its scales, raising puffs of green smoke as they hit the surface of the lava.

On its neck, as thick as a grown man’s waist, a wound cut so deep that bone was visible. Golden-red blood gushed from the gash, and with every twitch of its muscles, more blood sprayed into the air as a mist, condensing into fine blood crystals.

On the python’s back, some scales had been completely torn off, the exposed muscle tissue charring and carbonizing at a visible rate. Dozens of sword marks carved a strange starburst pattern on its scales, the deepest of which nearly reached the spine. Whenever the python tried to raise its head, fractured bone fragments would pierce through its flesh, blossoming like ghastly white flowers amid the waves of dark red scales.

The most fatal wound was the one that had nearly severed its neck; through the peeled-back flesh, half of its trachea could be seen trembling in a froth of blood. The scales, once flowing with patterns of lava, were now all dim, like volcanic rock doused by a downpour, and covered in a web of cracks.

Suddenly, in its death throes, large patches of scales on its abdomen peeled away, revealing a belly cavity full of charred holes. A blinding light erupted from the wounds pierced by Spiritual Power, and a stream of dark blue venom shot out in all directions.

The venom vaporized in the intense heat of the lava, turning into clouds of toxic mist. This mist, as if it had eyes, drifted toward Ning Xuan and the others.

Di Youlin and Yun Han acted in unison, intercepting the toxic mist. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Take the Contractor and fall back," Yun Han shouted to Lin Mo.

Lin Mo took Ning Xuan and retreated several dozen meters. When everything had settled, Yun Han’s clothes had been corroded by the toxic mist, and a few feathers on Di Youlin’s wings had been scorched with small holes where the venom had splattered.

"The Earth Fire Lava Python... its entire body is a treasure trove. Especially its Snake Gallbladder and inner core. The gallbladder can neutralize all kinds of poisons, and the inner core is even more useful. It’s an incredibly rare treasure," Lin Mo said excitedly.

With the Earth Fire Lava Python dead, there were no other dangers left in this part of the forest.

But after such a battle, the area was a complete mess. Droplets of blood sizzled on the scorching hot rocks.

The area for several kilometers around had already been turned to scorched earth. The broken trunks of thick, ancient trees were stuck in the ground like black spears, their bark still flickering with unextinguished, dark red flames.

The python’s mangled corpse lay across the center of the cracked earth. Where its red scales had peeled off, lava-like organs were exposed. Yun Han used the tip of his sword to pry away the broken scales and slice open its chest. A fist-sized Fire Essence Inner Core was pulsing with red light, and the air around it warped from the intense heat.

Yun Han put on a pair of special gloves and placed the inner core into a special box, one specifically crafted to contain Fire Element Cores.

After stowing the inner core, Yun Han waved his hand, and the entire python was taken into his spatial bracelet.

After the python’s enormous body vanished, the ground suddenly began to tremble, and the rock layer beneath collapsed with a ROAR.

A chain reaction followed as large swaths of the underground rock layers caved in, leaving behind a deep pit.

The moment Lin Mo heard the commotion, he tried to evacuate with Ning Xuan, but she refused. She was standing on a Flying Disc made of Flying Elephant Ant Wings, hovering in mid-air and looking down at the scene below.

A crimson glow shot up from the chasm. Countless Earth Fire Crystals clung to the walls like an inverted cluster of red stars, refracting thousands of streams of fire in the darkness.

At the same time, Ning Xuan felt a dense and pure energy. Following it to its source, she saw a Red Flame Vine clinging to the rock wall. Among its dragon-claw-shaped leaves, seven Golden Fire Lotuses were slowly blooming. Earth Fire Flame Heart Lotuses—there were actually seven of them here!