Great Battle Against the Ferocious Beast

"Roar--!"

Lin Yan let out a heaven-shaking roar. Although he was merely an Earth Dragon of meager strength, he was an Earth Dragon with a temper.

The enemy had already reached his doorstep; he could not remain indifferent.

Lin Yan revealed his body, nearly a hundred Zhang in length. The earthy-yellow light upon it surged instantly, and the Earth Element Spiritual Qi within the canyon seemed to have received a summons, converging toward him frantically to form a thick layer of Rock Armor over his skin.

The Scorpion Demon Lion did not show any weakness either. Dark red baleful energy burned upon its body like flames. It dug its four limbs into the ground, opened its blood-red maw, and lunged fiercely at Lin Yan.

Although Lin Yan was angry, he had not lost his reason. He knew well that the physical body of a fierce beast was formidable, and the corrosive power of its baleful energy was extremely strong; he could not afford a head-on collision.

Seeing the Demon Lion pounce, his massive body displayed astonishing agility. He twisted sharply to one side, and at the same time, his thick tail, carrying the force of ten thousand jun, whipped out like a giant steel lash, striking viciously at the Demon Lion's waist and abdomen.

"Bang!"

A dull, thunderous boom echoed through the canyon. Lin Yan's massive tail struck the Demon Lion's body squarely. The immense force sent it tumbling backward for a long distance, and a clear crack appeared on its dark red scales.

However, this strike completely ignited the Demon Lion's ferocity. It let out a deafening roar, causing the few Earth Dragon subordinates hiding on the sidelines to tremble in fear.

After the Demon Lion flipped back to its feet, its massive scorpion tail shot out like a venomous snake emerging from its hole. With a piercing whistle through the air, it struck lightning-fast toward Lin Yan's head.

Lin Yan lowered his head to dodge. The venomous hook on the tail grazed the scales atop his head, kicking up a trail of sparks and making his scalp tingle. He dared not be negligent and opened his mouth to spray a highly condensed beam of yellow light—this was one of the Innate Divine Abilities he had learned from his Bloodline Inheritance: Wutu Divine Light.

The Wutu Divine Light was incredibly heavy and contained a power of suppression. It slammed into the Demon Lion's chest, sending it tumbling away once more, its massive body crushing a large patch of Spirit Plants and herbs.

"Hiss!" The Demon Lion leaped up, the violent aura in its three eyes growing even more intense. The baleful energy around its body suddenly churned violently, and then it opened its mouth wide, spewing a thick, black breath. Wherever the breath passed, the vegetation withered instantly, and the soil hissed, losing all its spirituality.

Lin Yan opened his mouth again to release a beam of Wutu Divine Light, striking the black breath head-on. The two energies collided in the air, emitting a "hissing" sound. Although the yellow light was constantly dissolving the black baleful energy, it was clearly struggling, and the baleful energy continued to push forward slowly.

The gap in cultivation was now apparent. The strength of this juvenile Scorpion Demon Lion was comparable to the early stage of the Earth Immortal realm, while Lin Yan was still at the peak of the Transformation Realm, slightly inferior in cultivation.

Seeing the baleful breath about to overwhelm him, Lin Yan's thoughts raced, "Earth Sink!"

His Earth Dragon clan had the innate talent to manipulate the earth; as long as it was not too far from him, the soil beneath his feet would change shape according to his will.

The ground beneath the Demon Lion's feet collapsed downward instantly. Caught off guard, its lower body sank as if into a quagmire. With its posture unstable, the baleful breath in the Demon Lion's mouth faltered.

Lin Yan seized the opportunity and channeled the Wutu Divine Light with all his might, finally neutralizing the remaining baleful breath.

The few Earth Dragon subordinates watching from the side saw the Demon Lion fall into the pit and plucked up their courage, each launching their own bloodline abilities. In an instant, earth spikes, stone balls, and earth walls rained down upon the Demon Lion as it prepared to escape the pit.

However, these attacks caused almost no damage to the thick-skinned Demon Lion, though they effectively served as a nuisance, making the beast incredibly irritable.

"Roar!" The Demon Lion roared again, struggling to break free from the Earth Sink. Ignoring the harassment of the other Earth Dragons, it lunged crazily at Lin Yan once more, attacking him with everything it had—scorpion tail, sharp claws, and baleful breath.

Lin Yan had zero experience in combat. Seeing the enemy charge, his blood surged, and he decided to go all out. Relying on his tough physical body, he engaged the Scorpion Demon Lion in a brutal melee.

Within the canyon, the rumbling was constant, earth and stone flew, and Spirit Plants were destroyed in droves. The once fairyland-like home had now become a tragic battlefield.

Although Lin Yan was protected by his scales and stone armor, wounds began to appear on his body under the Demon Lion's attacks. In some places, the scales were shattered, and blood stained the yellow earth beneath him.

The Demon Lion was not having an easy time either. Although its cultivation was high, its intelligence was very low; it fought purely on instinct and almost never defended itself. Having been struck repeatedly in the same spot by Lin Yan's Wutu Divine Light, a massive hole had appeared on its giant body, and black blood gushed out from the opening like water.

The battle entered its most brutal stage of attrition. It had become a contest of who could take more of a beating; whoever couldn't hold on first would be the one to lose.

When Lin Yan had exhausted almost all the Spirit Power stored in the eighty-one segments of his body, the Scorpion-tailed Demon Lion finally reached its limit. It staggered to its feet, wanting to disengage from the battle and seize an opportunity to flee.

But after paying such a heavy price, how could Lin Yan let it go so easily? He poured all the remaining mana in his body, along with a portion of his Life Essence, into his mouthparts with frantic intensity.

A massive beam of yellow light, flashing with a dazzling radiance, shot out from his mouth. The heavy Wutu Divine Light streaked toward the third eye on the Demon Lion's face like a comet striking the moon.

"Puchi!"

The Wutu Divine Light precisely pierced the Demon Lion's eye socket, driving deep into its brain.

"Awoo—!"

The already exhausted Scorpion-tailed Demon Lion let out a shrill, dying howl. Its massive body convulsed violently, and a destructive baleful aura erupted from within, leveling everything within several dozen zhang to the ground.

Lin Yan was also blown away by this baleful aura, crashing heavily into the distance. Blood continued to pour from the wounds on his body, and his consciousness grew nearly blurred.

Only when he saw the once arrogant Innate Fierce Beast collapse to the ground in the distance and its aura completely dissipate did he feel relieved enough to lose consciousness.

Lin Yan did not know how long he had been unconscious. When he woke up, the first thing he saw were nine small earthworm heads staring at him in unison. Lin Yan could actually discern a look of worry on their faces.

"Don't worry, your Boss isn't dead yet," Lin Yan endured the intense pain racking his body and barely managed to transmit his thoughts to the nine little earthworms.

Hearing that their Boss was fine, the little earthworms instantly became active. They vied to convey their admiration to Lin Yan, while simultaneously scrambling to boast about how brave they had been in the previous battle and how much effort they had contributed—even though, from start to finish, they hadn't even managed to scratch that fierce beast.

After praising the performance of his little brothers, Lin Yan turned his head to look at the battlefield.

The valley, once lush and full of life, was now a complete mess. The Spirit Fields were destroyed, the spirit herbs had withered, the spirit spring was murky, and the earth veins had been severely shaken by the battle, causing the flow of spirit energy to become chaotic. The air was filled with a thick, baleful aura and the stench of blood.

Years of hard work, destroyed in an instant.

Lin Yan felt as if his heart had been struck by a heavy hammer, sending waves of sharp pain through him. Although he had known from his Bloodline Inheritance that the Primordial World was cruel, he had hidden in the valley developing peacefully since birth and had never truly experienced that cruelty.

Now, a juvenile Innate Fierce Beast had destroyed his home like this, making him deeply understand that in this dog-eat-dog Primordial World, without sufficient strength, one could not protect even the best home, and no matter how much effort one put in, it could all vanish in an instant.

"Might makes right, that's the hard truth. This was just a low-level little fierce beast, yet it caused me such heavy losses. If I run into those powerful fierce beasts and great gods in the future, wouldn't I just be a sitting duck? No way. I didn't come to the Primordial World just to be pushed around by the likes of you."