The Earth Fire Crisis

Su Qing was somewhat surprised that the girl had retreated so quickly.

It seemed that while her sharp-tongued nature hadn't improved much, her intelligence had certainly progressed over the years. At the very least, she no longer pushed Su Qing to the point of wanting to resort to violence, knowing exactly when to stop.

While it wasn't a massive leap in maturity, it was growth nonetheless, which was worth a bit of praise.

Su Qing pondered this as she stretched her shoulders and exhaled a long breath, deciding not to worry about the girl any further. She had far more important things to attend to and couldn't afford to waste time on her.

'Next... I need to properly investigate the state of the Earth Fire,' Su Qing thought as she walked into the forging room.

This room was naturally equipped for refining medicine and elixirs. Given the abundant Earth Fire resources available, it would have been a waste not to utilize them. Because the forging room had been designed from the start to connect with the Earth Fire, Su Qing only needed to enter and establish a connection to get a clear picture of its current state and any changes.

While it might not provide the most precise data, it would give her a solid understanding of the situation.

Su Qing entered the forging room. Numerous runes were carved into the floor, forming the array that channeled the Earth Fire. She walked to the center of the room, the heart of the array, and sat down cross-legged.

She formed a hand seal and began to commune with the array.

As she did, the temperature in the room began to rise steadily. Faint flickers of flame rose from the ground. However, these anomalies soon ceased as Su Qing withdrew from her meditative state.

She exhaled a long breath and rubbed her temples, muttering to herself, "I didn't expect that sharp-tongued girl to actually be right. There really is a problem with the Earth Fire... If it's malfunctioning, it means the Changbai Mountains might be due for an eruption. If it truly erupts, things will get complicated. Not only will the town I built be destroyed, but the surrounding counties will also suffer."

Su Qing was well aware that the Changbai Mountains was an active volcano. Even if she hadn't known in her previous life, it became obvious once she became its Mountain God. It would be quite laughable for a Mountain God not to know what kind of mountain they governed.

She had known for a long time that this was a volcano, and an active one at that. It was precisely because of this that there were so many hot springs and an inexhaustible supply of Earth Fire. However, all these benefits came with a hidden price tag, which was the threat of an eruption.

Yet, upon confirming this, Su Qing didn't panic. In fact, she felt even more composed than before.

The reason was simple: previously, she had been in a state of confusion, not knowing what was wrong with the mountains or why she felt such a sudden sense of dread. Now that she understood the situation and the cause of her worry, she naturally calmed down.

After all, the unknown is the most terrifying thing. When the unknown becomes known, it loses much of its power to frighten. Identifying the problem meant that a solution could be found.

Even if the solution was hard to find or difficult to execute, there was always a way. Therefore, Su Qing had no reason to be more anxious than she was before. Furthermore, the volcano wasn't going to erupt this very second. Unless an eruption was imminent, she could afford to think things through calmly.

"The next step is to figure out how to resolve this impending crisis..." Su Qing thought. A crisis had to be dealt with; she couldn't just let it sit and fester. If the situation was still within her control, she had to stabilize it now. Waiting until things spiraled out of control would be too late.

"The primary task is to manage the Earth Fire... If that can be handled, the volcano won't erupt. But how do I deal with it? I can't exactly just... use it all up, can I?"

Trying to solve the problem by simply using up the fire was an incredibly foolish idea. Setting aside how long that would take, the sheer volume of fire to be consumed was a problem in itself. No matter how much she refined, she could never use that much Earth Fire. Thus, that option was immediately ruled out.

"Then... perhaps I can try to suppress it," Su Qing mused. "If I suppress the Earth Fire the same way I suppressed the mutated Earth Veins during the Great Decline, would that work?"

While this seemed plausible, it still presented many operational challenges. It wasn't necessarily the best solution, though it was certainly a viable one.

Su Qing fell silent, her mind racing as she searched for a way forward. After a long period of quiet contemplation, she finally made a difficult decision.

She would seek outside help!

Trying to figure everything out on her own in isolation was clearly not the smartest move. It was better to leverage her connections and find an external helper who could assist her.

As for who to turn to first, Su Qing already had an answer in mind. Currently, who was more suitable than Chang'e?

There were others, of course, but Su Qing wasn't sure she could convince them to help, or they were already inside the Jianmu Tree and couldn't come out for the time being. Thus, Chang'e was the most appropriate choice.

"The Moon Palace isn't far, and Sister Chang'e is usually bored out of her mind. Asking for her help is a solid choice," Su Qing thought, rubbing her chin. "It's decided!"

Since the matter was urgent, Su Qing didn't dawdle. Once the decision was made, she left the forging room and went out into the courtyard.

She formed a hand seal and summoned her crimson Somersault Cloud, speeding toward the Moon Palace. Her speed was incredible, and in moments, she arrived at the palace gates.

The familiar guards were still stationed there, as they were every year, seemingly unchanged. Su Qing gave them a brief greeting and entered the Moon Palace.

As always, the palace was cold and quiet, a fact Su Qing had long grown used to. She moved quickly and soon reached the main hall.

There, she found Chang'e sitting in the hall, looking bored as she stared at a stack of official documents. Although Su Qing didn't know why she was suddenly looking at paperwork, it was certainly an unexpected sight. Usually, when Su Qing came here, she expected to find Chang'e hosting a solitary banquet.

She usually looked for her in the hall because it was spacious and where Chang'e often spent her time. To find her actually working was a shock. Even though she looked disgruntled and clearly wasn't being very diligent, she was nonetheless doing the work. This alone was a massive change and enough to make Su Qing marvel in surprise.

"I never thought I'd see the day when Sister Chang'e would look at official documents without someone supervising or a deadline looming," Su Qing couldn't help but say.

Hearing this, Chang'e looked up and rested her head on her hand, saying with surprise, "I didn't expect you to come looking for me so soon. What's wrong? Are you that bored lately? As for me? Who told you I wasn't being supervised? You just... can't see her right now. Forget it, it's not important. Someone is indeed watching me. Even though she can't force me to do anything, she is supervising. As for who it is, don't ask; you wouldn't know her anyway."

Chang'e was the type of person who wouldn't work seriously—or at all—unless someone was watching over her. Thus, the fact that she was working meant someone was indeed keeping an eye on her.

"Is that so? I really didn't expect that," Su Qing smiled and continued, "Anyway, let's talk about something serious. I didn't come here to play today. I have a favor to ask and need you to come with me."

Chang'e blinked, then said with a hint of delight, "Sure! I'd be happy to go with you! As long as I don't have to stay here and look at these documents."

Seeing her so excited, Su Qing felt a bit helpless. "Sister Chang'e, aren't you going to ask what it's about before you agree to go?"

"Huh? Is there a need to ask? It's definitely not going to be something simple."

Chang'e crossed her arms and said, "You are a powerhouse in the Heavenly Immortal realm. You wouldn't come to me for help with something trivial. So it's either something incredibly troublesome or something you can't solve alone. Either way... it won't be easy. As for the specifics, you can tell me once we get there. It won't make much of a difference to me anyway."

Su Qing was somewhat speechless at Chang'e's logic, but she was right about one thing: the matter was indeed troublesome, which was why she had thought of asking for her help.

"Fine, fine, have it your way. Since you're willing to go without asking questions, let's go!" Su Qing smiled. "We can talk on the way."

Chang'e had no objections. She nodded and followed Su Qing out of the hall, and they flew toward the Changbai Mountains. On the way, as promised, Su Qing explained the situation in detail.

After listening, Chang'e paused for a moment and nodded. "I see. You don't need to overcomplicate things. Since it's a problem with the Earth Fire, just deal with the Earth Fire."

"Uh... that's obvious," Su Qing rolled her eyes. Did she really need to state the obvious?

"Sorry," Chang'e scratched her head. "What I mean is, why not just suppress it? If suppression doesn't work, then strengthen the seal until it's completely stable. If all else fails, add more arrays—arrays that consume Earth Fire to drain the excess. Wouldn't that solve it?"

"Sister Chang'e... your methods are certainly simple and crude..." Su Qing smiled helplessly and explained, "However, that is indeed a viable method. It's just that I have some additional concerns."

Chang'e shrugged. "I don't know what you're worried about. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have all those concerns; I'd just get to work."

Chang'e had a straightforward personality; if a method seemed workable, she would just do it without overthinking. Su Qing smiled and said, "It's not so much a concern as it is a consideration... Sister Chang'e, you probably don't realize how vast the Earth Fire veins of the Changbai Mountains actually are, do you?"

"???"