Battle with a Sixth Tier Magical Beast

The enormous Purple Crystal Winged Lion King flew into the sky and unleashed its aura. The heavens, which had been completely occupied by Gu He's Dou Qi, immediately fell into a tug-of-war, eventually splitting into purple and red halves.

"Human, why have you disturbed this king's rest?" Having confirmed that the enemy was also a Dou Emperor, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King suddenly roared in human speech.

"No particular reason. I simply don't like the look of you," Gu He said calmly, staring at the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King as he controlled his emotions.

Unwilling to waste any more words, he extended his palm and condensed a longsword. The Dou Qi Wings behind him beat fiercely, and his body instantly turned into an afterimage as he shot toward the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King like lightning.

His figure flashed across the sky. With the support of his powerful Dou Qi, the sharp sword tip easily sliced through the air. In the blink of an eye, it had reached the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's eyes.

Though surprised that Gu He had attacked directly, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King had always been wary of humans. Its Dou Qi surged at full speed, easily catching Gu He's figure. It furiously raised a claw and swatted at him. Empowered by Dou Qi, the purple crystals covering the claw shone with dazzling light, their defensive power increasing by far more than a single level.

Sword and claw collided, and a fierce gust of wind erupted from the point of impact, sending ripples through the air. As the ripples spread outward, they easily shattered the rocks below.

Screech!

With his longsword blocked, Gu He did not panic in the slightest. With a flick of his wrist, the sharp sword shot toward the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's right eye like an arrow released from a bowstring.

"Hmph!" Watching the swiftly approaching sword, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King let out a thunderous snort from its huge maw. With a beat of its wings, it easily glided a hundred meters away, evading the sword. At the same time, a towering pillar of purple flame, two or three zhang wide, surged from its body and swept toward Gu He.

Gu He condensed an identical longsword and slowly swept his right hand toward the fire pillar. A massive sword formed entirely of Dou Qi immediately appeared before him. The instant it took shape, it crashed into the pillar of fire.

Boom! A thunderclap exploded out of nowhere in the clear sky. The fire pillar and giant sword collided fiercely, each releasing terrifying energy. At the point where they met, even space itself seemed to ripple faintly.

Bang! After several minutes of stalemate, the fire pillar and giant sword finally exhausted their energy and vanished into thin air amid a muffled boom that echoed throughout the mountain range.

As the two attacks dissipated, Gu He held his sword in his right hand and traced a circle before him. As the blade trembled violently, streams of sword qi formed around him. By the time he completed the circle, countless sword shadows densely filled the space around his body.

Seeing such a display of power, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King did not dare underestimate him. Thick purple flames wrapped around its body as its wings beat violently, bringing it instantly to Gu He's side. Its enormous claw, trailing a brilliant purple glow, smashed down furiously at him. Wherever the claw passed, it slightly tore through the resistance of the air, and faint black cracks flickered beneath it.

With a wave of Gu He's right hand, the countless streams of sword qi around him shot toward the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King in a frenzy.

After passing through the purple flames surrounding the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's body, the sword qi was burned down considerably. When it struck the beast's surface, it only barely cracked the layer of purple crystal. Still, the countless sword qi wounded the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King, and the impact force contained within them knocked its swinging claw off course. The claw slammed into the empty air beside Gu He, seemingly twisting the space beneath its palm.

Though Gu He appeared to hold the upper hand in this exchange, only he knew that he had already prepared himself to leave in defeat. His signature Dou Technique had merely broken through the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's outer crystal layer and inflicted a minor wound. Thousand Flame Sword Qi was an Earth Grade mid-level Dou Technique, the highest-level technique Gu He could use. Though he had used it hastily and had not displayed its full power, causing only such damage undoubtedly proved that the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King was not an opponent he could defeat in his current state.

The battle between man and beast in the sky grew increasingly violent, disturbing many magical beasts. All sorts of strange roars immediately rang out across the mountains, and one rare magical beast after another began appearing and moving toward the battlefield.

Yet despite the large number of magical beasts gathering, not a single one stepped forward to help the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King. They understood clearly that, as the king of this region of the Monster Mountain Range, anyone who chose to offer help would be insulting the king's dignity—and would suffer the king's terrifying retaliation.

The aftershocks of their battle blasted pit after pit into the nearby ground. The Purple Crystal Winged Lion King's purple flames set the forest below ablaze. Had the Water Attribute magical beasts below not contained the fire, no one knew how far it would have spread. Directly beneath the center of the battle, a small lake of magma had nearly formed. All life in the vicinity had been extinguished, silently proclaiming the terror of a Dou Emperor battle.

"Rude human, didn't you say you disliked the look of me? Then why do you keep running away instead of facing me head-on? You won't be able to hit me like this." Seeing Gu He slip away like an eel, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King taunted him during a lull in the battle, hoping this hateful human would not be able to endure the provocation and would let itself finish him sooner.

While dodging a massive purple flame nearly half a meter thick that the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King had fired at him, Gu He said with ease, "Lion King, I admit that you are indeed stronger than me right now. That is also why I won't fight you head-on. But with my rate of growth, I'll surpass you soon enough. Why would I be so reckless while I'm still weak?"

"Such shameless boasting." The instant Gu He's words diverted part of his attention, the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King beat its wings at high speed while condensing an energy shield beneath its feet. Its millstone-thick beast legs kicked fiercely, crushing the shield inward as it transformed into a purple streak of aurora and shot toward Gu He.

Watching the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King rapidly close in, Gu He's pupils contracted. It was already too late to dodge. Then I'll gamble on this! A ferocious expression appeared on Gu He's face as he crazily drove the Dou Qi within his body, sending it surging like a tide into the longsword in his right hand. In an instant, incomparably dense Dou Qi enveloped the blade. Then, through a mysterious circulation method, the Dou Qi compressed across the sword's surface, eventually forming a crystalline film attached to the blade.

"Cloud Tearing Sword Qi!"

With a fierce shout from Gu He, the crystalline film instantly detached from the sword, forming a sword shadow identical in size to the longsword in his hand. With a savage swing of his right arm, it shot toward the rapidly charging Purple Crystal Winged Lion King.

The sword shadow cut through space, and violent fluctuations spread outward continuously like ripples on water. Its speed was like a streak of light, giving the Purple Crystal Winged Lion King no time to think before it arrived before its eyes. Faced with the terrifying sword shadow head-on, and with the Lion King's own terrifying speed, the collision would happen in an instant. It could only tilt its head as far to one side as possible while stacking its claws before itself to meet the sword shadow, the purple glow on its claws growing ever more intense.