Xiao Yan stared at the giant Fire Python battering itself against the barrier below. "So this is the Fallen Heart Flame? What a terrifying aura."
"I never imagined the creature would have evolved to this extent. It is now scarcely different from an ordinary Magical Beast," Yao Lao's voice echoed, laced with surprise, inside Xiao Yan's mind.
"With my current cultivation, let alone capturing it—even getting close seems like a death wish." Xiao Yan's eyes never left the Fire Python, and he couldn't suppress a hard swallow.
"Then what do we do?"
"For now, we can only watch how things unfold. Your brother appears remarkably confident. When the moment comes, I will lend you my full assistance." Through the ring, Yao Lao observed that Xiao Tian still wore a perfectly self-assured expression.
*Screech!*
The Fire Python let out a piercing hiss. A colossal pillar of flame erupted from its mouth and struck the dark membrane of the shield head-on.
"Go!"
Xiao Tian watched the Fire Python on the verge of breaking through the seal. With a wave of his hand, three figures materialized in the lowest chamber of the tower—two men and one woman. Medusa. Wen Yan. Jin Mo. Three Dou Zongs.
Su Qian and the other Elders stared at the trio who had materialized from nowhere, their gazes shaken by the overwhelming auras radiating from them.
"One-Star Dou Zong… Four-Star Dou Zong… Eight-Star… Dou Zong!"
Though Su Qian's own strength did not match theirs, as the First Elder he still possessed certain unique methods. He could sense their auras with crystalline clarity.
The moment Medusa emerged, she shot Xiao Tian a "fierce" glare, clearly still nursing her grievances from their previous encounter. Xiao Tian said nothing. A chain of Heavenly Flame quietly materialized in his hand. Medusa's gaze immediately drifted elsewhere. Out of sight, out of mind.
"Thank you, all three of you, for coming to lend us your powerful assistance," Su Qian said, clasping his hands and bowing deeply toward them. The three nodded in silence, acknowledging his greeting.
"The moment it emerges, strike it directly," Xiao Tian instructed the three, as well as Su Qian and the other Elders.
*Bang!*
The energy shield shattered in an instant, the sound detonating through the chamber like thunder.
*Hiss!*
The invisible Fire Python loosed a deafening cry that almost seemed to carry laughter.
"Attack!"
Xiao Tian's long halberd cleaved the air, unleashing a massive arc of lightning straight at the beast. The others did not hesitate, unleashing every charged attack they had gathered. In a single breath, a kaleidoscopic barrage of techniques hurtled toward the roaring Fire Python.
Sensing a mortal threat, the Fire Python frantically condensed magma around its body, armor upon armor. Then it shot upward, aiming to burst through the Qi Refining Tower and taste the freedom of the open sky.
But it had barely moved when a colossal water dragon descended from above, crashing directly onto its head. The one who struck was Wen Yan.
*Sizzle! Crack!*
The water dragon and the Fire Python collided, the air between them shrieking with vapor. Water and fire were natural enemies—but only under equal circumstances. Wen Yan's water-attribute Dou Qi was still clearly inferior to the Heavenly Flame. Had his cultivation not been so formidable, the water dragon would have evaporated in an instant.
Yet it held. Wen Yan's water dragon repelled the ascending Fire Python, driving it back down. The attacks from the others arrived at that same moment, hammering into the creature's body without pause.
*Screech!*
The Fire Python cried out again—but this time, the sound was unmistakably one of agony. The magma plating its form was shattered and flung away in chunks.
"All other Elders, retreat!"
A titanic energy shockwave erupted. At the command, the Inner Academy Elders unfurled their Dou Qi Wings and shot toward the surface at full speed.
*Boom!*
A detonation that seemed to split the very earth thundered through every corner of the Inner Academy. Streaks of light exploded from within the Qi Refining Tower. Then, with a grinding roar, the entire tower shattered. Around it gaped a colossal crater, fifty meters wide and a hundred meters deep.
The Inner Academy students, already stationed a hundred meters back, were hammered by the residual shockwave, stumbling backward several steps.
"What's happening? Is someone attacking the Inner Academy?"
"Destructive power like this… it's insane!"
"What is that—magma?!"
Cries of shock rang through the crowd as magma began to bubble up from the center of the deep crater.
Han Yue ignored the exclamations around her. Her eyes swept desperately through the figures still in the sky until they found the one she was looking for. Xiao Tian. His robes were intact. No trace of injury. She let out a long, shaky breath of relief. As for the enchanting figure standing guard beside him, she paid her no mind at all.
High above, Xiao Tian stood upon the void, Medusa at his side. The instant the energy shockwave had erupted, she had appeared beside him, erecting a barrier that shielded them both.
At the same moment—roughly a hundred kilometers from the Inner Academy, at a hastily erected outpost, in the largest tent at its center—Han Feng, who had been seated in deep meditation, snapped his eyes open. He murmured softly under his breath. "Has it finally appeared again? It seems my previous feeling was not mistaken. Han Beng!"
He rose to his feet and barked into the empty space before him.
"Your slave is here!"
"Inform them to prepare to move out. Destination: Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy."
After Han Beng withdrew to carry out the order, Han Feng turned his gaze toward the Inner Academy. "That wretched Earth Demon Old Ghost—he took the benefits, yet still he fails to appear. Damned creature."
"Hehehe. If you are willing to offer your soul to me… or to assist me in collecting souls… I might consider helping you."
A black mist coalesced beside Han Feng, and from within it drifted a cold, eerie laugh.
"No need. A trifling Jia Nan Academy, with only a single Su Qian to call a Dou Zong. The rest are beneath notice. The forces I have now are more than sufficient. I do not require your assistance."
Han Feng's gaze swept coldly over the black, wavering shadow. He despised these creatures. They had once promised they could kill that old man for certain. The souls would be theirs, while all the old man's possessions would fall to him—especially the Burning Technique among them. But they had proven utterly useless. In the end, the old man had still escaped. Han Feng had gained nothing but a fragmented, incomplete Burning Technique. Even worse, he was dogged by the old man's friends, constantly under suspicion. Cornered and left with no alternatives, he had been forced to flee to this remote, forgotten corner of the Northwest Continent.
…
As the blinding light from the shattered tower slowly dissipated, the invisible Fire Python was revealed. It was in a dire state. The group's combined assault had left gaping wounds across its entire body. Half its form was now submerged in magma, frantically absorbing energy from below to repair itself.
"What kind of Magical Beast is this? It's too terrifying! And who is that beautiful woman beside Xiao Tian? Their relationship seems… rather close."
Lin Xiuya, Lin Yan, and the others had gathered near the Boundless Gate members, their gazes fixed on the monstrous beast ahead and the figures of Xiao Tian and his companion in the sky.
Han Yue also lifted her eyes toward Medusa, standing at Xiao Tian's side. Xiao Yu, noticing Han Yue's silent stare, sent a quiet voice transmission, explaining Medusa's identity.