Chapter 139: Vital Blood Blossoms a Fiery Red Lotus

However, the flamingo remained unimoved, standing proudly in its original spot without the slightest ripple of emotion.

For this reason, Huo Liuli could only flap its wings angrily and fly onto Baimu's shoulder, staring intently at the flamingo ahead. Its two bean-sized eyes were filled with rage.

After a stalemate that lasted for quite a while, the flamingo finally shook its head helplessly and let out a sigh of its own accord.

"Senior, what are you lamenting?" Baimu raised his head and asked in confusion.

"Forget it, forget it."

The flamingo rolled its beady little eyes, fixed its gaze on Baimu's handsome face, and smiled bitterly, "I can teach you a way to obtain the fire lotus, but you must promise me two conditions."

"What are they? Please give your instructions. As long as it is within my power, I, Baimu, will not hesitate even if it means stepping through fire and boiling water."

"There's no need for that!"

The flamingo grinned and said freely, "I will give you a chance to gather the fire lotus, but you must promise me that after obtaining it, you must present one petal to my Huo Liuli. Secondly, when you leave the cave, you must take Huo Liuli away with you. How about that?"

"Senior..."

Baimu asked in quite a bewildered tone, "If I can obtain the fire lotus, presenting a petal to Huo Liuli is naturally out of the question. But why does Senior want me to take Huo Liuli out of the Ancient Blazing Flame Cave?"

"Don't ask too many questions for now. You just need to answer me whether you can do it or not, and that will be enough."

This question really put Baimu in a difficult position.

From a selfish point of view, Baimu certainly did not want to take Huo Liuli along with him.

After all, ever since leaving Mount Dongwang, he had suffered a great deal along the way and experienced too many dangers. If he were to take a weak Huo Liuli on the road as well, wouldn't that invisibly add a burden to himself?

Moreover, the flamingo wanted to dump its child onto Baimu for no reason, which inevitably made the sharp-minded Baimu suspect the hidden meaning behind this move.

Yet, upon a second thought, if he did not agree to the flamingo, then gathering the fire lotus would be completely hopeless.

After weighing the pros and cons in his heart multiple times, Baimu finally clenched his teeth and agreed to the two requests made by the flamingo.

In the end, seeing that Baimu had agreed, the flamingo glanced over the two yet-unbloomed fire lotuses ahead and said indifferently, "Back then, another flamingo—Lichen, and I were ordered by the Ancestral God to guard the Ancient Blazing Flame Cave and ensure the safety of the fire lotus within. It has been nearly ten thousand years since then."

"When the Ancestral God was cultivating in the Ancient Blazing Flame Cave, he nourished the fire lotus with the blood from his own heart. A single drop of primordial essence blood caused three fire lotuses to bloom. Lichen received the protection of the Ancestral God and consumed a petal of the fire lotus, thereby transforming into a divinity. At present, it is lurking within the cave to cultivate and has been in secluded meditation for more than seven thousand years."

"Seven thousand years ago, the Heavenly Emperor suddenly appeared in the Ancient Blazing Flame Cave and also imitated the Ancestral God by nourishing the fire lotus with his own essence blood, causing two fire lotuses to bloom."

"I also received the grace of the Heavenly Emperor, consumed a petal of the fire lotus, and after cultivation, shed my bird body and transformed into a divinity."

"It's just that showing myself in the form of a bird for years and months has long become a habit. Coupled with the fact that I was ordered by the Heavenly Emperor and the Ancestral God to guard the fire lotus in the cave, I still usually appear in the posture of a flamingo."

"As for Huo Liuli, it is the child of Lichen and me. Because it has never had the opportunity to consume the ten-thousand-year-old Fiery Red Lotus, although it has cultivated for nearly a thousand years, it remains in the form of a small bird and has never been able to shed its demonic body and transform into a human."

"Today, since you saved Huo Liuli's life and have the fortune to enter the Ancient Blazing Flame Cave, this can be considered quite a considerable opportunity."

"If you can nourish the unbloomed fire lotus into blooming with the primordial essence blood from your own heart, then the bloomed fire lotus will become your personal property. At that time, you may take as many petals as you wish!"

"Really?"

Baimu still stared at the flamingo with some doubt, his eyes filled with suspicion, clearly skeptical about the truth of these words.

After all, the flamingo had just said that the previous two people who used essence blood to bloom the fire lotus were of the Heavenly Emperor level at the very least, while the first one was the Primordial Ancestral God—that was the ancestor of all gods.

Thinking of this, Baimu felt a bit discouraged, pondering that even if he were to bleed out all the essence blood from his heart, he probably wouldn't be able to shake the fire lotus by even the slightest fraction.

Seeing that the handsome young man before him seemed to lack enthusiasm, the flamingo simply smiled freely and slowly said, "Baimu, you don't need to belittle yourself too much. The ten-thousand-year-old Fiery Red Lotus is a spiritual object; it cannot be made to bloom solely by cultivation—the most important thing is destiny and fortune."

"If you have the fortune, then you won't need much. Just a single drop of essence blood from your heart will be enough to make the fire lotus bloom!"

"If you have no fortune, then even if you bleed out all the essence blood in your body, you will never witness the moment the fire lotus blooms."

"Then I shall give it a try?" Baimu asked, holding a curious mindset.

"Hmm."

The flamingo acknowledged dismissively and said nothing more.

Since the master of the Ancient Blazing Flame Cave had spoken, Baimu had no reason to back down.

Besides, upon careful thought, this seemed to be a completely risk-free and profitable deal.

In case the essence blood from his heart could make the fire lotus bloom, then this Fiery Red Lotus would become his to keep. At that time, not only would he be able to save Lingyan and Fansheng, but he himself, along with Bifang and Huo Liuli, could also enjoy the infinite wonders brought by the fire lotus.

Taking a step back, even if he were to fail unfortunately, it would merely mean losing a bit of vital energy. Although the heart's essence blood was undoubtedly precious, it could still be recovered after resting for a few days.

With these thoughts settled, Baimu decisively circulated the Supreme Virtue is Like Water Qi within his body, slowly directing it to the position of his heart. Finally, he clenched his teeth and forced out a drop of essence blood from his heart, intending to expel it from his body via the Hand Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian, so that it would drip onto the fire lotus in the magma pool and exert a nourishing effect.

At the crucial moment, however, a sudden thought crossed his mind: his strength and cultivation realm could not compare to those of the Heavenly Emperor and the others. Under the condition of congenital deficiency, would a single drop of heart's essence blood be a bit too little?

Without hesitation, he clenched his teeth again and forced out another drop of essence blood from his heart. Thus, two drops of essence blood merged into the Supreme Virtue is Like Water Qi.

As the Supreme Virtue is Like Water Qi slowly passed through the Hand Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian and finally permeated out from the Shaoshang acupoint of his index finger, it was enveloped by his spiritual consciousness and quickly flew down to land on one of the yet-unbloomed fire lotuses in the magma pool.

The moment the crimson essence blood touched the unbloomed flower bud of the fire lotus, it merged into the surface layer at a speed visible to the naked eye and instantly vanished. The golden lotus body still radiated firelight without leaving the slightest trace.

"Oh..."

The flamingo, watching coldly from the side, also muttered in confusion, "Strange, the essence blood of a kid like you can actually merge into the fire lotus so smoothly. You truly possess a rarely seen Supreme God physique."