Battle Against the Lion Pack

"Watch out!"

Just as Tang Wulin was about to move in for the finishing blow, a ball of golden flame hurtled toward him. Xie Xie shouted a warning from the side.

Boom!

Tang Wulin slashed at the fireball with a claw, shattering it as sparks scattered everywhere.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Rustling came from the surrounding bushes as one massive figure after another emerged.

"Damn, we're finished! They're all Flame Demon Lions!"

Xie Xie cried out, his face turning grim.

There were at least twenty or thirty of them. Judging by their size, they were all Flame Demon Lions over a hundred years old. And at the very back stood a Flame Lion King even larger than the Thousand-Year Demon Lion from before.

The Flame Demon Lions had already formed a circle, trapping them tightly within it. Meanwhile, the Thousand-Year Flame Demon Lion from earlier had also climbed back to its feet.

"Go!"

Tang Wulin called to Xie Xie as he rushed toward Lin Xuan.

"What a hassle."

Lin Xuan frowned as he glanced at the Flame Demon Lion pack glaring hungrily at them. If he were alone, getting away would be no problem at all, but there were quite a few people with him now.

"Xu Xiaoyan, is your time up yet?"

Lin Xuan asked Xu Xiaoyan.

"No... not yet. There's still over an hour."

Xu Xiaoyan checked the time on the metal Distress Beacon in her hand and shook her head.

"Lin Xuan, you're not going to abandon me, are you?"

Xu Xiaoyan grabbed Lin Xuan's hand, looking fearfully at their surroundings. She was so close to the end; she did not want all her efforts to go to waste!

"Then we can only fight!"

Lin Xuan pulled his hand free from Xu Xiaoyan's embrace and spoke to her.

"I'll naturally make good on what I promised you."

"Brother Xuan! What do we do?"

Tang Wulin and Xie Xie rushed over at that moment and looked at Lin Xuan.

"We'll take a gamble! I'll hold off that Lion King. You deal with the other Thousand-Year Demon Lion."

Lin Xuan spoke. To capture bandits, first capture their leader. As long as they killed the two Thousand-Year Flame Demon Lions leading the pack, the remaining Flame Demon Lions would be nothing more than a disorganized mob.

"But there are still more than twenty Century Demon Lions protecting them. It'll be hard for us to get close."

Tang Wulin voiced his concern, especially since the Flame Lion King was hiding tightly behind the lion pack.

Just then, a hearty laugh came from the sky.

"With a thunderous boom from the heavens, your daddy makes his dazzling entrance! Hehe, your big brothers are here!"

Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi descended from the sky.

Whoosh!

As the two landed, Zhang Yangzi's first Soul Ring lit up. Ink-black darkness swept across the area, and a Dark Light Curtain enveloped everyone.

"Jinxi! Yangzi!"

A smile appeared on Tang Wulin's face. With two more powerful allies joining them, their odds of victory had risen considerably.

Zhang Yangzi's domain skill in particular had practically created a home-field advantage out of thin air.

"Hehe! You guys are really good at attracting trouble, huh? Such a huge pack of Flame Demon Lions."

Wang Jinxi gave Lin Xuan and the others a thumbs-up, teasing them with a grin.

"We got set up."

Xie Xie spoke gloomily. The simulated soul beasts in the Spirit Ascension Platform were far too realistic—they even knew how to use bait.

"Yangzi! What's the maximum range of your domain right now?"

Lin Xuan asked Zhang Yangzi. The size of Zhang Yangzi's domain depended on his own strength, unlike Lin Xuan's Azure Leaf Sword Formation, which had a fixed range limit.

"About thirty meters, but I won't be able to use any other soul skills while maintaining it."

Zhang Yangzi said. Expanding the light curtain domain to its maximum range required his complete focus.

"That'll work! Pull the Century Flame Demon Lions on the left into the domain. We'll take them down one by one."

Lin Xuan nodded and spoke to the others. With the Dark Light Curtain supporting them, they could change their strategy.

"Alright!"

Zhang Yangzi nodded, understanding Lin Xuan's intentions. They would use his domain to create a numbers advantage. Within the domain, their allies' senses would not be disrupted.

Under Zhang Yangzi's control, the Dark Light Curtain expanded outward, directly sweeping the nearest five Century Demon Lions into the domain.

"Attack!"

Lin Xuan called to Tang Wulin and the others before charging ahead himself. Every one of these was spiritual power!

A day of getting rich was right before them!

Tang Wulin, Wang Jinxi, and Xie Xie followed closely behind, while Gu Yue remained in the rear, constantly harassing the demon lions with elemental attacks.

Before long, the group had wiped out those Century Demon Lions.

"Keep going!"

Lin Xuan turned and called to Zhang Yangzi.

Next, they repeated the same tactic. Like a big fish swallowing little fish, the Dark Light Curtain continuously divided the lion pack before devouring it piece by piece.

"Not completely stupid."

In the monitoring room, Wu Changkong remarked blandly, though his tone was much better than before. This was far better than the chaotic melee they had engaged in earlier.

Wasn't the reason humans could stand above soul beasts and occupy the dominant position on Douluo Continent the cooperation of soul master teams?

There were certainly people who could slaughter soul beasts alone, but among humanity's vast population, such geniuses were still few and far between.

"This is..."

Wu Changkong suddenly frowned as he stared at the Lion King displayed on the screen, then turned to the staff member beside him.

"That's a mutated soul beast. It seems these little ones aren't very lucky."

The Spirit Pagoda staff member flipped through the record book in his hands before explaining to Wu Changkong.

"To keep developing powerful soul spirits, we sometimes fuse the bloodlines of different soul beasts to induce mutations in the soul spirits. This Flame Lion King should be an experimental subject whose data was uploaded by some researcher, placed in the Spirit Ascension Platform for practical testing."

"If it were an ordinary Flame Lion King, they might really have dealt with it this easily."

The Spirit Pagoda staff member spoke regretfully.

On the electronic screen, the golden mane around the Flame Lion King's neck blazed fiercely like Golden Holy Flame as it hid among the lion pack.

Clusters of golden flames gathered around the Flame Lion King, their scorching tongues of fire making the air hiss and crackle.

Roar!

The Flame Lion King let out an enraged roar toward the sky, and countless golden flames rose into the heavens. At the same time, the other Thousand-Year Demon Lion also roared, sending its oscillating sound waves toward the Dark Light Curtain again.

"Hm? A mental attack."

A flash of purple passed through Lin Xuan's eyes, crushing the sound waves that had invaded his mind. The others did not possess that ability, however, and instantly froze in place.

At that moment, the golden flames floating in the sky fell toward the Dark Light Curtain like meteors.

Heavenly Flame Funeral!

This was the bloodline soul skill the Flame Lion King had obtained after mutating. With its strength approaching three thousand years, a single fireball could burn everything within several meters to ashes.

"Not good!"

Lin Xuan's figure flashed as he charged toward Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan, who were closest to him. He scooped one under each arm and ran backward.

Halfway through, as he passed Tang Wulin, Lin Xuan saw a golden flame falling straight toward him and kicked Tang Wulin.

Bang!

Tang Wulin rolled across the ground several times. The instant the golden flame struck the ground, it spread outward, turning the earth charred black. If Tang Wulin had been hit just now, he would likely have been eliminated immediately.

"Ow!"

Tang Wulin rubbed his face as he climbed to his feet. He had only just broken free of the sound wave's control when Lin Xuan's kick came flying at him.

Only when he saw the raging golden flames ahead did Tang Wulin realize that Lin Xuan's kick had saved him.

"Brother Xuan! Couldn't you have avoided kicking my face?"

Tang Wulin complained resentfully, but when he saw the two people in Lin Xuan's arms, his heart grew even more sour.

You value girls over friends! Brother Xuan, don't forget the bond we've shared since childhood!