Three Old Bastards Who Set Their Disciple Up to Fail

The Amethyst Winged Lion King roared in fury, the amethyst light around its body blazing brightly.

A wisp of purple flame curled around its body before transforming into surging Purple Fire in the blink of an eye, erupting into a massive pillar of violet flames that shot straight toward Lin Ran.

The scorching heat was like a volcanic eruption, as though it would burn Lin Ran to ashes.

Seeing the Amethyst Winged Lion King's reaction, Lin Ran smiled calmly and gave a casual wave of his hand at the explosive pillar of fire rushing toward him.

With Lin Ran's movement, a vast surge of dou qi suddenly emerged throughout the entire cave abode.

That dou qi was invisible and intangible, yet incomparably fierce. If the purple flame pillar unleashed by the Amethyst Winged Lion King was an erupting volcano, then the dou qi Lin Ran released at this moment was a roaring, surging tsunami.

"Boom!!"

The two forces collided in an instant. The purple flame pillar continuously clashed with the dou qi, thunderous explosions reverberating throughout the cave abode as wave after wave of dou qi rippled outward.

Yet the stalemate lasted only a moment before the purple flame pillar was directly extinguished by Lin Ran's dou qi, dispersing in the wind like the candle flame on a birthday cake.

Staring at the completely unharmed Lin Ran, the Amethyst Winged Lion King's expression changed drastically. Only then did it notice Lin Ran's figure floating in midair.

Humans were not Monster Beasts. They had no wings and could not soar through the heavens. Aside from special flying dou techniques, one had to at least reach the peak of the Dou Ling realm and possess Dou Qi Wings in order to fly.

However, not every human needed wings to fly.

As long as one's strength reached the Dou Zong realm, one could grasp the Power of Space between heaven and earth.

They did not need wings to walk through the sky as though treading on solid ground. To them, the only difference between sky and earth was the structure of space.

This human brat was actually a Dou Zong expert?!

The Amethyst Winged Lion King found it hard to believe. Lin Ran looked far too young. How could a human of such an age possibly be a Dou Zong expert?

But Lin Ran's aura was simply too profound, and he had casually shattered its attack. Even if this brat was not a Dou Zong expert, he was at least a high-level Dou Huang. His strength was surely greater than that human woman who had come two days ago!

"Human brat, you sneaked into this king's cave abode, disturbed this king's rest, and stole the Companion Amethyst Source. What exactly are you after?!"

The Amethyst Winged Lion King stared fixedly at Lin Ran and suddenly shouted in human speech.

"So you're not a brainless brute."

Lin Ran looked at the Amethyst Winged Lion King and spoke calmly. "I want a drop of your Origin Essence Blood. Are you willing to give it?"

Origin Essence Blood?!

Hearing this, the Amethyst Winged Lion King paused slightly, and anger immediately appeared on its face.

To a Monster Beast, Origin Essence Blood was exceedingly precious.

If the Magic Core was the condensed essence of all its cultivation, then Origin Essence Blood was the very source of power for this tyrannical Monster Beast's body!

If it lost that, its cultivation would certainly plummet. It might even fall out of the Sixth-tier Monster Beast realm!

"It seems you are unwilling."

Seeing the Amethyst Winged Lion King's expression, Lin Ran sighed softly.

He had not actually wanted to kill the Amethyst Winged Lion King outright.

A Sixth-tier Monster Beast possessed combat strength comparable to a Dou Huang. Relying on its powerful body and special innate abilities, it was often even somewhat stronger than ordinary humans of the same realm.

He wanted to establish a branch of the Cloud Rain Sect on the Northwest Continent, and he was severely lacking in all kinds of resources.

Though the Amethyst Winged Lion King could not become a sect disciple, it would make a decent guard lion.

But unfortunately, this fellow did not seem to understand the situation it was in. Even after Lin Ran revealed the strength of a Dou Zong, it still seemed not to have grasped reality.

"Fine, then."

"Stop putting on airs!"

The Amethyst Winged Lion King roared. Purple light suddenly blazed within its beastly eyes as its enormous claw swept up a brilliant violet glow and smashed furiously down toward Lin Ran.

Wherever the claw passed, it tore through the air itself, producing a sharp sound wave that let out a piercing hum.

However.

At the instant the Amethyst Winged Lion King attacked.

Lin Ran calmly raised his slender hand and pushed forward. From his seemingly motionless palm erupted an incomparably massive energy, shaking even space itself into rings of rippling energy.

The palm strike seemed to cross the distance through space, landing on the Amethyst Winged Lion King in the blink of an eye.

Energy burst forth, and the Amethyst Winged Lion King, which had been charging in so fiercely just moments before, let out a mournful cry.

Its enormous body was sent flying, slamming directly into the cave wall as dust and smoke filled the air.

By the time the thick smoke dispersed, the overlord of the Monster Beast Mountain Range was already severely wounded and barely clinging to life.

Lin Ran took a step, and in a blur, he had arrived before the Amethyst Winged Lion King. He brought his five fingers together into a hand blade and plunged it into the beast's chest.

The Amethyst Winged Lion King's defenses were exceedingly formidable. Its flesh and blood were naturally powerful, and its body was further covered in a thick layer of amethyst crystals.

Yet when Lin Ran's hand blade touched them, it was like a hot dinner knife cutting through butter, meeting almost no resistance.

"Origin Essence Blood is generally located near the heart... the heart... hm, found it."

"Roar! Roar!!"

The Amethyst Winged Lion King struggled wildly. Pain of this degree was enough to drive it mad. Its fanged maw howled, its purple wings flapped, and blazing Purple Fire continuously surged from its body as it tried to stop Lin Ran.

But unfortunately.

"Behave yourself."

An invisible suppression suddenly descended. The Purple Gold Winged Lion King, which had been thrashing about moments earlier, abruptly froze.

Space Seal, the signature technique of a high-level Dou Zong!

Completely restrained, the Amethyst Winged Lion King could only widen its beastly eyes and watch as Lin Ran extracted the Origin Essence Blood from its body. It could only feel its life gradually draining away, utterly helpless.

Death quietly descended.

The Amethyst Winged Lion King's Origin Essence Blood was roughly the size of a fist, a purplish-red mass. Though it was blood, it was scorching hot, like burning flames.

Lin Ran took out a specially made jade bottle from his Storage Ring and placed it inside.

Then he used his hand like a blade to split open the Amethyst Winged Lion King's head and dug out its Magic Core.

The Magic Core required for the Heavenly Spirit Blood Dragon Pill had to be Seventh-tier. This Amethyst Winged Lion King's Magic Core did not meet the requirement, but it was still the core of a Sixth-tier Monster Beast and was worth a fortune. Naturally, Lin Ran would not waste it.

After putting away the Magic Core, Lin Ran waved his hand and stored the Purple Gold Winged Lion King's entire corpse in his Storage Ring.

No waste, no waste.

The corpse of a Sixth-tier Monster Beast was excellent whether it was carved up for alchemy, forged into weapons and armor, or cooked into food. Even if Lin Ran needed none of that, burying it directly underground could greatly increase the density of heaven and earth energy in an area.

The Cloud Rain Sect Northwest Branch had yet to be established. Only when one managed a household did one understand the cost of rice and firewood. Lin Ran knew full well just how vast the resources required to establish a sect branch were.

Those three old bastards would not give him any resources, leaving him to figure everything out himself.

What else could he do? He was helpless too!