Female Protagonist Assistance System

Chapter 33 : . Green Lotus Core Flame

"Green Lotus Core Flame?"

Gu Xun'er murmured repetitively in confusion.

"The Green Lotus Core Flame ranks nineteenth on the Heterogeneous Flame list. It originates deep within the earth, forged through countless refinements, fusions, compressions, and sculpting by the earth's fire. It takes ten years to gain spirit, a hundred years to form shape, and a thousand years to become a lotus. When fully mature, its color tends towards green, with a cluster of green fire at the lotus core. It's called the Green Lotus Fire, also known as the Green Lotus Core Flame. Its power is immeasurable, capable of triggering volcanic eruptions in areas near volcanoes."

Xiao Han rarely spoke such a long passage. This information about Heterogeneous Flames was transmitted to her by the system.

"Hiss......" From the front, a sharp sound emerged from the fire spirit snake's massive mouth. Then its body swept around, quickly moving behind the two.

Gu Xun'er looked back and found its huge eyes gazing at the green light with trepidation, its body trembling slightly.

"Let's take a look," Xiao Han also glanced at the fire spirit snake, but paid it no mind. Heterogeneous Flames, formed from concentrated natural energy, exerted strong suppression on these magical beasts.

As they entered the green light, the expected intense heat didn't arrive. Instead, the surrounding temperature bizarrely decreased significantly.

The green lotus had eight petals. The eight green petals were as perfect as the most flawless jade, naturally formed. At first glance, they appeared crystal clear, giving one a sense of reluctance to let go.

Within the lotus seemed to be a small platform about two to three chi wide. In some of the holes on the platform, spots of fluorescent light were emitted. These were lotus seeds formed from the purest fire attribute energy.

Below the green lotus, the extremely slender stem was over ten meters long. The stem was densely covered with tiny tendrils. As these tendrils swayed, Gu Xun'er could clearly sense them frantically absorbing the violent fire attribute energy from the surrounding lava.

What caught Gu Xun'er's attention most was the quietly flickering green flame between the lotus platforms.

"Seen enough?"

At this moment, Xiao Han suddenly asked beside her.

Gu Xun'er came back to her senses and nodded.

Xiao Han scanned the green flame, raised her hand, and a blood-red Tribulation Lightning appeared in her palm. Then, she gently pushed her palm forward, and the Tribulation Lightning moved through the lava towards the lotus platform. Just before contacting the flame, the Tribulation Lightning instantly transformed into a blood-red net, tightly enveloping the flame.

To Xiao Han's surprise, the expected resistance didn't come. After being wrapped by the Tribulation Lightning, the flame remained quiet, even exuding a sense of docility.

What was going on?

Xiao Han was slightly astonished, but she couldn't figure out why. In the end, she could only attribute it to the Tribulation Lightning being part of the heavenly laws, having a natural affinity with this kind of naturally condensed heterogeneous energy.

Carefully collecting the Heterogeneous Flame wrapped in Tribulation Lightning back into her dantian, and repeatedly confirming that the Heterogeneous Flame wouldn't suddenly erupt, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned her attention to the lotus platform.

This green lotus platform took a thousand years of condensed earth fire to form. When a fire attribute practitioner sits on it to cultivate, their cultivation speed might not increase tenfold, but at least three to four times is more than enough. Moreover, when facing enemies, as long as one activates it with Dou Qi and releases the hidden earth fire within, even if the current Gu Xun'er encountered a Dou Ling level expert, while she might not defeat them, at least escaping would be unhindered.

Then there were the lotus seeds within the platform, known as the essence of fire spirit, the earth fire lotus seeds. One seed forms every hundred years, and the energy contained within made even Xiao Han's heart race.

After telling Gu Xun'er about the platform's effects, the girl became somewhat eager to try, wanting to take the platform away.

"This green lotus is a natural wonder. Ordinary iron would melt upon contact. To cut it, one must use pure jade materials to avoid contamination," Xiao Han said while taking out a high-grade jade ruler from her system space. This jade was said to be a tribute item from the imperial court several thousand years ago. Xiao Han wasn't well-versed in these things, but she had a system that claimed to know everything.

"Xun'er, remember, when encountering natural treasures in the future, always use jade items to collect and preserve them," Xiao Han said seriously.

Gu Xun'er nodded: "Xun'er will remember."

After repeatedly confirming there were no impurities in the jade ruler, Xiao Han finally enveloped it with her divine sense, directing the ruler to cut the part connecting the lotus flower to the stem.

After collecting the lotus platform, Xiao Han asked Gu Xun'er: "Do you know why I'm not taking the remaining stem?"

Gu Xun'er pondered for a moment, tentatively answering: "The stem is useless?"

Xiao Han shook her head: "Incorrect."

"Xun'er, I'll teach you a lesson today: always leave room for future possibilities," Xiao Han said in a deep voice. "When facing such natural treasures, one must not be greedy. If we were to take away this stem today, I fear there would be no more Green Lotus Core Flames forming in the future."

Gu Xun'er's heart trembled slightly. This was the first time she had heard such an argument.

"This is also one of the bottom lines for alchemists. Destroying the source is most shameful."

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After obtaining what they wanted, the group of three people and one snake didn't rush to leave. The fire attribute energy here was very abundant, very suitable for Gu Xun'er to absorb the Heterogeneous Flame, so they temporarily stayed.

After separating the Heterogeneous Flame from her body, Xiao Han took out a jade box containing a blood-colored pill the size of a longan.

This round, blood-colored pill was the essential item for devouring Heterogeneous Flames: the Blood Lotus Pill.

Then, she took out the lotus platform, removed the lotus seeds from within using her divine sense, and motioned for Gu Xun'er to sit on it.

The Green Lotus Core Flame and this green lotus were of the same origin. Absorbing on the lotus platform would be much easier for Gu Xun'er.

"First, take the Blood Lotus Pill," Xiao Han said when she saw Gu Xun'er seated. Then, she paused slightly, her expression softening, "Don't worry, I'm here to protect you. Even if you fail, you won't be in danger."

Gu Xun'er nodded, looking relatively relaxed.

However, the complete version of the Flame Mantra could increase the success rate of absorbing Heterogeneous Flames to eighty percent. With Xiao Han's protection, the Golden Emperor Skyscorching Flame's suppression, and the lotus platform's enhancement, if Gu Xun'er still failed, it could only be said she was extremely unlucky.

The Blood Lotus Pill was only a fifth-grade pill. Xiao Han had prepared in advance, refining a large batch specifically for Gu Xun'er to use when absorbing Heterogeneous Flames.

As soon as the Blood Lotus Pill entered her mouth, it transformed into a slightly cold energy that quickly penetrated various meridians in Gu Xun'er's body, finally permeating into her meridians and bones like layers of blood membrane.

Exhaling slowly, Gu Xun'er's eyes seemed to have golden flames dancing within. She reached out her hand, and the green flame slowly floated before her.

"Extend your hand into the green flame. In the center of that Heterogeneous Flame is a fire seed. Grab it quickly," Xiao Han said in a deep voice. "Envelop your hand with the Golden Emperor Skyscorching Flame."

Gu Xun'er didn't doubt Xiao Han's words. She raised her hand, staring intently at the green flame. On her hand, golden flames slowly appeared, spreading along her arm, quickly enveloping her hand.

In the next second, Gu Xun'er swiftly reached into the flame.

She quickly withdrew her hand, a strand of green lava-like liquid slowly writhing in her palm.

As the fire seed was extracted, the massive green flame before Gu Xun'er began to gradually shrink. After a moment, it turned into a thin green flame and dove into the green liquid in her palm.

The enormous power condensed over a thousand years was compressed into this small amount of liquid. Gu Xun'er could imagine the terrifying power contained within.

However, she had the Golden Emperor Skyscorching Flame in her body, which was even more powerful than this Green Lotus Core Flame, so she only marveled for a moment.

Exhaling slowly, Gu Xun'er raised her head and put the liquid into her mouth. At the same time, her body violently shook as if struck by lightning, her face, which still had some color, suddenly turning pale.

The green liquid flowed into her body, instantly splitting into several streams, rushing towards her meridians at extreme speed, seemingly wanting to destroy them. But in the next second, the Golden Emperor Skyscorching Flame surged out.

Seeing Gu Xun'er's expression change dramatically, Xiao Han sighed. Devouring the Heterogeneous Flame could only be done by Gu Xun'er herself. All Xiao Han could do was provide pills and rescue her if she might fail.

To prevent Qing Lin from being injured by the potentially overflowing power of the Green Lotus Core Flame, Xiao Han divided some of the Tribulation Lightning to create a protective barrier for her. As a natural anomaly, the Green Lotus Core Flame was no match for the higher-plane Tribulation Lightning, so Xiao Han didn't need to worry about Qing Lin's safety.

[Host, do you think the female lead will succeed?] The system, bored, came out to chat with Xiao Han again.

Xiao Han nodded: [No problem.]

The system was somewhat surprised: [Host, you're so confident in the female lead? Just because she's the protagonist, with a protagonist's halo?]

Xiao Han shook her head, her gaze deepening: "Because... she is Gu Xun'er."

In the many years of interacting with Gu Xun'er, Xiao Han had discovered many qualities in Gu Xun'er that weren't mentioned in the original story. This made her clearly realize that the world she was living in now wasn't just a book, and the people in this world didn't act strictly according to the personalities set in the book.

People are very complex and won't be as one-dimensional as in books.

Therefore, Xiao Han's attitude towards Gu Xun'er had changed from initially thinking, "She's the female lead from the book, if I don't watch her carefully, she might conform to the plot again," to later thinking, "She's a living person with her own thoughts."

So Xiao Han's confidence in Gu Xun'er wasn't because she was the protagonist with some so-called protagonist's halo.

It was simply because she was Gu Xun'er.

That confident, willful, yet tenacious and stubborn girl.

How could she possibly lose?