Juju lowered its head toward the puppet. Its nose drew so close that the heat from it curled the puppet’s hair. “If you dare amuse yourself at my expense…”

“Do you think I’m so bored I came all this way just to play games with you?” He Lingchuan cut it off. “Even if I fail, I’m the one who suffers. What do you have to lose? At worst, you keep staying here playing with mud, eat a few mouthfuls less, and go on exactly as usual.”

White steam poured from Juju’s body, though whether or not it was from anger was hard to say.

In the end, however, it dug a small piece of hard rock from its chest, kneaded it in its claws for a long while, then drew in a deep breath over it.

With a dull thud, the thing landed in front of the puppet.

“Here, take it.”

Seeing the puppet try to wrap it in his clothing, Juju added, “It isn’t hot.”

The fire and heat had both been drawn away, leaving only a black stone sphere by the puppet’s foot.

He picked it up. It was only warm to the touch, about the temperature of a hand-warmer.

However, cracks across its surface occasionally glowed faintly red.

“This is an earthfire seed, and also my avatar.” Juju walked back into the magma pool and sank beneath the surface. Only...