Star Dou Great Forest (II)

Running into Xie Yue, Yan, and the others had been an unexpected delight on this trip to the Star Dou Great Forest. Xue Ke thought that once she reached Spirit City, she would definitely find a chance to have a friendly spar with the Golden Generation. After all, whether at Heaven Dou Royal Academy or Shrek Academy, there was truly no one among her peers who could put up a fight.

Without an opponent, one lost a kindred spirit. And so, one became lonely.

"How lonely, how empty it is to be invincible. Alone atop the peak, the cold wind keeps blowing. My loneliness—who can understand me..."

Humming a little tune, Xue Ke clasped her hands behind her back and put on a cold, lonely expression.

"Elder Mo, has Princess been overstimulated?"

"Rubbish! How could we possibly understand Princess's realm?"

"Still, this old man thinks this song is quite nice. I need to write it down quickly, hehe, so I can sing it to my precious granddaughter when I get back."

"Stop talking. There seems to be movement in the distance."

A series of tremendous sounds came from a valley not far into the forest—not only rumbling thunder, but also the crash of massive boulders falling.

Xue Ke studied the map in her hand and roughly identified the direction before saying, "Elders, that valley seems to be Thunderclap Valley, the territory of the Blazing Nether Thunder Dragon."

"There seems to be a battle going on there. Princess, should we go take a look?" Elder Mo suggested.

"We can."

Thus, Xue Ke and the others cautiously approached Thunderclap Valley. About the time it took to burn an incense stick later, they reached the mouth of the valley and spotted two enormous soul beasts engaged in a fierce battle from afar.

Gathering power into her eyes, Xue Ke discovered that one of them was indeed the Blazing Nether Thunder Dragon. It was currently flying through the air, continuously condensing lightning spheres and attacking the soul beast below.

The soul beast below was covered in fiery red scales and measured roughly ten meters long. It looked like a giant lizard, with something seemingly held in its mouth. Though enormous, it was extremely agile, constantly dodging the incoming lightning spheres. It was precisely the Crimson Flame Scaled Beast Xue Ke had been searching for these past few days.

Seeing the Crimson Flame Scaled Beast effortlessly evade the lightning spheres, the Blazing Nether Thunder Dragon was thoroughly enraged. It let out furious dragon roars as lightning flickered around it. A massive lightning arrow slowly condensed, then shot toward the Crimson Flame Scaled Beast with a piercing shriek.

The Crimson Flame Scaled Beast did not panic in the slightest. Its scales glimmered as it condensed a semicircular dark-red shield around its entire body.

The huge lightning arrow arrived in an instant and slammed into the shield, yet failed to advance even an inch for a long while. Its energy instead grew weaker and weaker before ultimately being completely absorbed by the dark-red shield.

When the Blazing Nether Thunder Dragon in the air saw its strongest attack so easily neutralized, its dragon eyes widened in disbelief.

"As expected of a Crimson Flame Scaled Beast. Its hide is really thick!" Xue Ke could not help praising it.

Yet something even more unexpected followed. Purple light flickered across the dark-red shield condensed by the Crimson Flame Scaled Beast, and an identical lightning arrow shot out from it, racing straight at the Blazing Nether Thunder Dragon in the sky.

"Roaaar—" Pierced through by the lightning arrow and grievously wounded, the Blazing Nether Thunder Dragon let out a long, mournful cry and crashed heavily to the ground. It covered its slightly swollen belly with its claws, rolling around on the ground in pain.

"This Blazing Nether Thunder Dragon is female. It seems to be pregnant already," Xue Ke said.

Victorious from the opening exchange, the Crimson Flame Scaled Beast smugly spat a large purple flower from its mouth and looked provocatively at the endlessly wailing Blazing Nether Thunder Dragon.

"Isn't that the Seven-Colored Thunder Flower unique to Thunderclap Valley? The Crimson Flame Scaled Beast must have sneaked into Thunderclap Valley to steal it, only to be discovered by the Blazing Nether Thunder Dragon. That's why they started fighting."

Looking at the smug Crimson Flame Scaled Beast in the distance, Xue Ke suddenly felt that it was as deserving of a beating as Tang San. It had not only stolen someone else's things, but was even flaunting them in front of the owner. Beasts like this—people like this—just needed a harsh lesson from society. Xue Ke felt that she had to go over and let the Crimson Flame Scaled Beast experience what true, fiery "humanitarian care" was.

"Elders, this Crimson Flame Scaled Beast appears to be around twenty thousand years old, making it perfect for me. Keep watch for any other soul beasts nearby. I'll go deal with it alone," Xue Ke said to Elder Mo and the others.

As trusted confidants of Emperor Xue Ye, Elder Mo and the others naturally knew that Xue Ke was far from ordinary. Thus, they agreed to her plan and stationed themselves around the valley as instructed.

Xue Ke summoned her Jade Swan Martial Soul. Three soul rings—yellow, purple, purple—appeared as she circulated the black-green Demon Seed in her dantian, guiding demonic energy into the Jade Swan Martial Soul. In an instant, her martial soul transformed into the ink-black Dark Flame Emperor Goose.

Using the Bird Crossing Technique, Xue Ke had the Dark Flame Emperor Goose behind her flap its wings and soar forward, arriving before the Crimson Flame Scaled Beast in an instant.

"Third Soul Skill, Black Flame Swamp!"

The Dark Flame Emperor Goose spewed several streams of scorching black fire from its mouth, surrounding the Crimson Flame Scaled Beast within a domain of black flames.

"First Soul Skill, Black Flame Ray!"

A ray of dark fire shot from the goose's beak toward the Crimson Flame Scaled Beast.

The Crimson Flame Scaled Beast initially wanted to dodge, but discovered that its body had become far heavier than before and its movement speed had greatly declined. Left with no choice, it could only repeat its old trick and once again unleash its life-saving skill: Crimson Flame Shield.

The Black Flame Ray struck the shield, sending ripples across its surface before ultimately being absorbed. Then, black light flickered over the shield, and an identical Black Flame Ray shot toward Xue Ke.

Having witnessed the earlier battle, Xue Ke had long been prepared and easily dodged it.

"I refuse to believe your shield can last forever!"

Xue Ke fired several Black Flame Rays in succession. At the same time, she activated the Child of Reincarnation. Her brown pupils turned white, and the green flames unleashed by the Child of Reincarnation danced across the shield, gradually merging with the dark flames to form eerie dark-green fire.

Before long, the dark-red shield slowly shattered beneath the burning dark-green flames.

With no shield to protect it, the Crimson Flame Scaled Beast was instantly engulfed in dark-green flames. Painful hissing sounds continuously escaped its mouth. In only half the time it took to burn an incense stick, the Crimson Flame Scaled Beast was lying on the ground at death's door, with a scorched smell wafting from its body.

"The combined flames of the Child of Reincarnation's green fire and the Black Flame Ray have already reached the level of ultimate fire. That's why I was able to break the Crimson Flame Scaled Beast's shield so easily."

Xue Ke walked up to the dying Crimson Flame Scaled Beast, pried open its huge mouth, and removed the Seven-Colored Thunder Flower from within, lest the precious immortal herb be burned away by the flames.

In the end, the twenty-four-thousand-year Crimson Flame Scaled Beast drew its final breath. A black soul ring slowly emerged from its body.