Yan Pojun picked up his teacup. The tea had already gone cold. He did not drink it, and set it down again.
His gaze passed through the bamboo window and settled on the vast Bamboo Forest outside the window. Bamboo leaves rustled in the wind.
"That was a thousand years ago." His voice was low and hoarse, as if he were telling a story from a very, very long time ago.
"A thousand years ago, an extremely unusual Soul Beast appeared in the Hundred Thousand Volcanoes. No one knew where it came from, and no one knew what it was. It resembled no known Soul Beast—it had no fixed form, like a special mass of flame. At times it condensed into a human shape, at times it scattered into sparks across the sky, at times it shrank into a clump the size of a fist, and at times it blotted out heaven and earth."
Yan Pojun's gaze grew distant.
"Wherever it landed, a great fire would ignite. Forests, grasslands, villages, towns—none were spared. Once the fire started, it could not be put out. Water could not douse it, earth could not smother it, and wind only made it burn fiercer. In just a few short months, two great tribes were devoured by it, and tens of thousands died in the Sea of Fire. Tens of thousands—not warriors, but civilians. Old people, women, children."
Phoenix Flame Maiden's fingers clenched around the hem of her clothes, and Spirit Flame Maiden bit her lip.
Xiao Yun asked curiously, "Did no one try to kill it and obtain its Spirit Ring and Spirit Bone?"
"Of course they did." Yan Pojun's voice carried a trace of bitterness. "Spirit Hall sent out three Titled Douluo at the time, the strongest experts on the continent. The Mountain