Blazing Sun Beast Stronghold

Qin Ming ended his cultivation, rose to stretch his body, and found that his Spiritual Mark had already taken initial form. This was precisely the first stage described in the Heart of the Angel.

The Heart of the Angel described four stages: Heart Seal, Divine Sea, Might Pressure, and God Bearing.

They should correspond to the Spirit Connection Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, Spirit Abyss Realm, and Spirit Domain Realm of Mental Power.

Qin Ming was currently at the first stage of the Heart of the Angel, the Heart Seal stage, corresponding to the Spirit Connection Realm of Mental Power.

Because Qin Ming had exchanged for only the first half, he only had the cultivation methods for the Heart Seal and Divine Sea stages. As for the second half of the Heart of the Angel, Qin Ming had not seen it in the Exchange Points store either.

However, the first half was already enough for Qin Ming to use for a long time, so he did not dwell on how to obtain the second half.

In his view, as long as his strength continued to increase, his status in Spirit Hall would naturally rise with the tide. Obtaining the second half would only be a matter of time.

Moreover, Qin Ming had another idea: in the future, he would create a Mental Power Cultivation Method tailored to his own needs.

Although the Heart of the Angel was also a top-tier Mental Power Cultivation Method on the continent, it was not the most suitable one for Qin Ming.

If he wanted something that perfectly suited him, he could only create it himself based on his own circumstances.

Qin Ming took out the map Ghost Leopard had given him from his Storage Soul Tool. A location very close to the Inner Ring had been marked with a prominent red circle.

This was a Blazing Sun Beast stronghold. Around six hundred Blazing Sun Beasts lived there, including more than fifty Millennium Soul Beasts, two hundred century-old ones, and the rest were ten-year Soul Beasts.

When Qin Ming had first arrived at Blazing Sun Valley, Ling Yuan had mentioned this place to him because the leader of this stronghold was an eight-thousand-year Blazing Sun Beast.

Qin Ming had challenged this stronghold once when he was Level 22, but there had been too many low-level Blazing Sun Beasts, forcing him to flee in disgrace.

Now that he had reached Level 29, not only had his Soul Power doubled, but he had also cultivated the first stage of the Heart of the Angel, causing his Mental Power to surge.

He wanted to find something to test his Mental Power combat methods on, and this stronghold was undoubtedly the perfect choice.

But that was not the most important reason. More importantly, Ling Yuan had once told him that Blazing Sun Beast nests were always located in places abundant in Fire Veins. They generally produced a cultivation resource called Fire Marrow Liquid, which would greatly benefit his cultivation at this stage.

Qin Ming had also found Fire Marrow Liquid in the Exchange Points store. A piece no bigger than a fingernail cost thirty Exchange Points alone, which had thoroughly shocked him.

Thus, he had two goals this time. The first was to test his strength, and the second was to see whether this Blazing Sun Beast stronghold had any Fire Marrow Liquid.

Having made up his mind, Qin Ming immediately set out.

This Blazing Sun Beast stronghold lay in a basin near the Inner Ring, quite far from the entrance to Blazing Sun Valley.

Irregular crimson rock walls surrounded the entire basin. Hundreds of pitch-black caves densely covered the walls, and a Blazing Sun Beast could be seen lying within every cave entrance. These were the Blazing Sun Beasts' dwellings.

At the center of the basin stood a crystal platform a hundred meters long and wide. A Blazing Sun Beast far larger than its kin lay atop it, while an orange-red lava pool flowed below. Qin Ming recognized at a glance that this enormous Blazing Sun Beast was the eight-thousand-year Blazing Sun Beast leader.

Along the edge of the lava pool lay a group of Blazing Sun Beasts a size smaller than the leader. Without exception, the Soul Power fluctuations they emitted were all at the millennium level.

Qin Ming stood atop the rock wall at the edge of the basin. He estimated that the Blazing Sun Beast leader was around thirty meters long. Lying there, it resembled a small mountain.

The Blazing Sun Beasts that had only just surpassed a thousand years were like infants before it.

Yet Qin Ming did not feel the slightest fear or hesitation. Instead, he was filled with anticipation. When he had first entered Blazing Sun Valley, the Blazing Sun Beasts here had besieged him and beaten him into a miserable retreat. After ten months of bitter cultivation, he had returned specifically to test the results of those ten months.

Qin Ming stepped forward and slid down the rock wall toward the basin.

The instant he moved, hundreds of Blazing Sun Beasts opened their flaming eyes simultaneously. Their vicious gazes locked onto Qin Ming, the intruder, as beastly roars rose and fell, shaking loose fragments of rock from the walls.

The Blazing Sun Beasts in the caves along the rock walls attacked first. Roaring, they pounced toward Qin Ming and spat out fist-sized fireballs. Dense flaming projectiles covered half the sky, intending to drown him through sheer numbers.

Yet Qin Ming remained calm. For a Spirit Master like him, whose Martial Soul flames were of such high quality, this kind of purely Fire Attribute attack was almost completely harmless.

Qin Ming covered his entire body with Gray Wolf Fire, forming a protective barrier. The rain of fireballs struck it without even causing a ripple.

Instead, the impact from those strikes made Qin Ming descend even faster toward the ground.

Roar!!!

On the crystal platform at the heart of the basin, the Blazing Sun Beast leader had clearly noticed Qin Ming, the intruder. It even remembered that this human had invaded its territory not long ago.

And now he had come again. He was truly going too far!

The Blazing Sun Beast leader threw back its head and roared, ordering the Blazing Sun Beasts in the valley to surround and attack this human who did not know his place. Qin Ming had to be reduced to nothing but bones!

After receiving their leader's command, the Millennium Blazing Sun Beasts that had been gathered around the lava pool bared their fangs and claws as they pounced toward Qin Ming.

The first to reach Qin Ming was a Blazing Sun Beast that had only just reached a thousand years of cultivation. Its cultivation was the lowest among the Millennium Blazing Sun Beasts, yet it charged the fastest.

Qin Ming smirked crookedly. Two Soul Rings flashed beneath his feet, and crimson-gold Flame Armor instantly enveloped his body. He could have beaten this kind of trash like a dog when he was Level 22. To his current self, it was nothing more than a stray dog by the roadside.

Qin Ming flashed forward and slapped a claw directly onto the Blazing Sun Beast's head. In an instant, a spray of red-and-white fluid burst forth. The beast's body flew six or seven meters before stopping, its headless remains still burning with crimson-gold flames.

The Blazing Sun Beasts charging behind it stalled. They were Millennium Soul Beasts and possessed some intelligence. Seeing their companion get slapped to death in a single blow inevitably frightened them.

Seeing this, the Blazing Sun Beast leader behind them could no longer sit still. It let out a low roar, ordering the century-old Blazing Sun Beasts on the outskirts and the Millennium Blazing Sun Beasts to charge Qin Ming together.

In an instant, Qin Ming was surrounded by a dense mass of Blazing Sun Beasts. Faced with nearly a hundred Blazing Sun Beasts rushing at him, Qin Ming did not panic.

The angel-shaped Spiritual Mark within his Sea of Consciousness trembled slightly, and vast Mental Power instantly spread across a hundred-meter radius around Qin Ming.

After advancing the first level of the Heart of the Angel, Qin Ming's control over Mental Power was indeed completely different from before. In the past, he would have been unable to spread his Mental Power over such a vast area.

It would have collapsed after extending just over twenty meters.

Within the range covered by Qin Ming's Mental Power, he no longer needed to rely on his eyes. He could precisely sense every Blazing Sun Beast's cultivation, position, and even its intended next movement. The movements of nearly a hundred Blazing Sun Beasts were all within Qin Ming's grasp.

This gave him a certain ability to respond to enemies behind him.

Qin Ming stood where he was and condensed dozens of slender spikes out of Mental Power, sending them straight toward the century-old Blazing Sun Beasts charging at him.

The effects of the Spiritual Attack were immediate. More than a dozen century-old Blazing Sun Beasts struck by Qin Ming's Mental Power Spikes instantly let out miserable whimpers. Their heads jerked sharply to one side, and they froze on the spot, their beastly eyes unfocused as they were knocked unconscious by Qin Ming's spikes and collapsed to the ground.

Qin Ming then used Thousand Spin Steps, his figure transforming into a crimson-gold afterimage as he weaved through the beast horde.

The Gray Wolf Fire around him surged. The skin of every Blazing Sun Beast touched by the flames instantly ignited. Flames close to Ultimate Fire gave these century-old Blazing Sun Beasts no chance to struggle.

Under the combined assault of Qin Ming's Spiritual Attack and Gray Wolf Fire, nearly a hundred Blazing Sun Beasts were effortlessly wiped out.

Yellow Soul Rings densely covered the ground, while the Millennium Blazing Sun Beasts continued roaring at Qin Ming from the outskirts as though they were raging helplessly.

The Blazing Sun Beast leader let out a sorrowful wail. These were its clansmen! The last time this human had faced the swarm of its millennium- and century-old kin, he had only been able to flee in disgrace.

How had he become so powerful after such a short time?

Looking at the corpses of its fallen clansmen, the Blazing Sun Beast leader's eyes filled with fury. It roared, flames darker than those of the other Blazing Sun Beasts igniting across its body. It intended to enter the fight personally.