Third Soul Skill, Golden Feather Armor

After bidding farewell to the Old Principal, Nan Li entered the Star Dou Great Forest accompanied by Third Elder and Dan Hong.

Several months later, somewhere within the Star Dou Great Forest.

Rumble—rumble—

A faint tremor ran through the ground, startling flocks of birds from the branches.

Small Soul Beasts fled in every direction, howling. In the direction opposite their flight, a massive Red-brown Lizard hissed and roared as it crazily pursued the two red figures ahead.

It was an enormous Mane Lion Lizard. Its red-brown body was thick and flattened, its back and neck covered in thorn-like scales. The spikes along its sides were arranged in regular rows, stretching all the way to its forelimbs.

Its head bore many long, sharp horn-like scales that extended upward or backward.

Its enormous forepaws ignored the thorns and trees on the ground. As though it felt no pain, it slammed a paw down, leaving a deep crater in the earth.

The Mane Lion Lizard was a huge and ferocious Flame Beast with a trace of Fire Dragon Bloodline. Its appearance possessed traits of both dragons and lizards. When enraged, its scales rose layer upon layer like a mane lion's fur, hence its name.

This type of Soul Beast preferred hot, dry environments. It was usually slow-tempered and aloof, but once provoked, it would exact frantic revenge upon whoever angered it.

Judging by this Mane Lion Lizard's size, its cultivation was likely no less than ten thousand years!

"What's going on? Why did this lizard suddenly go mad?" Nan Li asked Dan Hong as she dodged the Flame Breath spewing from the giant lizard's mouth.

She had not even done anything. Why was it so determined to chase her?

Dan Hong was equally baffled. They had been sparring perfectly well when the lizard suddenly went berserk, continuously spewing Flame Breath as if it intended to roast her and Nan Li like chickens.

After leaving Nuoding Academy, Nan Li had condensed her Third Soul Ring under the protection of Third Elder and Dan Hong. Third Elder had then told the two of them to train on their own.

The arrangement had been for Nan Li to spar with the other party, while Dan Hong would offer suitable pills, spirit herbs, or spirit materials as compensation and promise to heal its injuries.

Their previous sparring sessions had gone smoothly. Who could have expected that while fighting this lizard today, the big fellow would suddenly lose its temper?

"Um..." Jiang E Li quietly reminded Nan Li within the Sea of Consciousness, "You seem to have hit its tail..."

Nan Li:?

"Hiss-roar—"

A tremendous surge of energy came from behind her. The giant lizard condensed a fireball in its mouth and blasted it at Nan Li.

Flames could not do much damage to Nan Li, but the impact of the fireball was not to be underestimated.

Bang—

A towering tree thick enough for two people to wrap their arms around toppled in response. Flames still burned along the charred, curved break.

"What does that mean, its tail?" Nan Li could not understand. She had never encountered anything like this before. Besides, the lizard's tail was incredibly long, nearly as long as its body. Hitting it during an attack was unavoidable.

"What?" Dan Hong heard Nan Li's words and thought carefully for a moment. "You probably happened to strike somewhere it cared about. With such a long tail, it's not strange for the lizard to cherish it."

Third Elder flew through the air with arms folded, gaze following Nan Li and Dan Hong, but showed no intention of intervening. Sun Island had little contact with the mainland, and the island's Soul Beast varieties were limited. More experience in the human world would do them no harm.

"Hiss-roar—" Seeing that its breath attacks could not hit the two birds ahead, the Mane Lion Lizard spat out another fireball.

This fireball grazed past Nan Li and knocked over a giant flower, scattering the insect eggs on its petals all over her.

"What is this?!" The Burning Insect Eggs crackled loudly, and an indescribably complex odor made Nan Li frown.

"First Soul Skill, Weave Fire!" Dan Hong wove flames into a massive cage, attempting to restrain the giant lizard.

But the instant the lizard touched the flaming cage, its body was covered by a layer of hard, scorching Flame Shell, easily breaking free of the restraint.

"First Soul Skill—"

"Fourth Soul Skill—"

"Crimson Feather Slash!"

Nan Li and Dan Hong unleashed single-target attack skills at the same time. Crimson-white and flame-red blades of light slashed toward the giant lizard, carving several narrow, deep pits into the ground.

The dense barrage of slashes formed a Soul Power Seal, trapping the Mane Lion Lizard within.

After a series of clanging impacts, the giant lizard emerged from the dust completely unharmed. It raised its head and flicked out its tongue, seemingly mocking Nan Li and Dan Hong for overestimating themselves.

How could this be?!

It was one thing for Nan Li's First Soul Skill to be ineffective, but Dan Hong's Fourth Soul Ring had a full seventeen-thousand-year cultivation!

Even Third Elder was somewhat surprised. That was a ten-thousand-year Fourth Soul Skill, yet it could not harm this creature in the slightest?

What thick hide!

Seeing another Flame Breath attack incoming, Nan Li fixed her eyes on the flames' path, snorted coldly, and released her Third Soul Skill.

"Third Soul Skill, Golden Feather Armor!"

The Crimson Feathers on Nan Li's back instantly took on a Golden Sheen. Her Soul Power Condensation Translucent Wings hardened into Sturdy Armor, and her Wings folded before her to block the attack.

Though it was a defensive soul skill, that did not mean it could not attack!

Nan Li dove toward the Mane Lion Lizard. Upon reaching directly above its head, she curled her entire body together and used the High-speed Descent Impact to smash down fiercely!

"Bang!"

"Hiss!" The lizard's head was knocked aside, and its body toppled onto the ground with it. Its head slammed into the earth, and beneath the cool soil, it seemed to recover some of its rationality.

It fiercely slapped the ground with its forepaw, then crawled back onto its feet, shook the dirt from its body, and angrily snorted two streams of air from its nostrils.

After the strike, Nan Li flew back into the air and once again used the momentum of her descent to smash toward the giant lizard.

"Hiss hiss—" Where was the spirit grass you promised?!

Nan Li abruptly stopped midair and spread her Wings, only to come face-to-face with the Mane Lion Lizard's Ferocious Face. Speechless, Nan Li planted her feet atop its head for leverage and sprang back into the sky.

"You really are shameless. You changed your attitude just like that!" Nan Li flew back to Dan Hong's side, astonished by the giant lizard's audacity.

"Hmph!" The Mane Lion Lizard shook its body and looked at Dan Hong. It had not forgotten that the one beside her was the "sponsor."

"There." Dan Hong tossed a Star Flame Flower toward the giant lizard.

When the Star Flame Flower bloomed, it shone like a star. The dancing flames on its petals would not extinguish upon touching water, making it a top-grade Fire Attribute Spirit Grass.

The Mane Lion Lizard swallowed the Star Flame Flower in one bite. It did not ask Dan Hong to heal its injuries, instead turning its head, flicking its tail, and striding away.

After seeing off the Mane Lion Lizard, that "great lord," the two went to rejoin Third Elder.

Third Elder stroked the beard that was barely an inch long. "The Soul Beasts of the mainland truly are diverse. Its unusual creatures are no less remarkable than the exotic beasts on Sun Island."

The Mane Lion Lizard in this chapter was based on the bearded dragon.