The Companion Amethyst Source is Acquired!

High in the sky, Yun Yun hovered not far outside the cave entrance, the azure sword in her hand already drawn.

"Amethyst Winged Lion King, come out and talk."

Her voice was not loud, but strengthened by Dou Qi, it carried clearly into the cave.

A moment later, a deep roar came from the depths of the lair, shaking the entire cliff.

Then, an enormous beast strode out of the cave and stood suspended in midair.

Its body was five or six zhang long, covered in Amethyst Armor that glimmered with rainbow hues beneath the sunlight. Its savage beast head tilted forward, purple eyes fixed coldly on Yun Yun.

An invisible pressure descended, making the surrounding air seem to solidify.

"Human woman, what are you doing in this king's territory?" the Amethyst Winged Lion King said, its voice like thunder.

Yun Yun remained calm. "I would like to borrow a piece of Purple Spirit Crystal from the Lion King."

"Purple Spirit Crystal?" The Amethyst Winged Lion King let out a derisive laugh. "This king only sheds a small piece once every twenty years, and you dare ask for it just like that?"

"I can trade something for it," Yun Yun said.

"Trade?" The Amethyst Winged Lion King stared at her. "Fine. This king happens to be at the transformation stage. Get me a Transformation Pill, and I'll give you Purple Spirit Crystal. What do you say?"

A Transformation Pill was a seventh-grade medicinal pill. Across the entire Jia Ma Empire, it had been a long time since a seventh-grade pill had appeared.

Yun Yun frowned. "I can't obtain a Transformation Pill. But I can offer three fifth-tier monster cores, along with a high-level Xuan-rank cultivation method and its matching Dou Technique. Will you trade?"

"No." The Amethyst Winged Lion King bared its massive jaws. "If you can't produce a Transformation Pill, then get lost."

Yun Yun sighed and raised her sword. "Then we can only settle this with force."

"Hahaha!" The Amethyst Winged Lion King laughed, its laughter shaking the forested mountains. "I know you're a Dou Emperor, but if you think you can run wild in this king's territory, whether you'll even make it back alive is another matter."

"We'll find out."

Azure light flared in Yun Yun's hand.

A tiny azure tornado suddenly appeared in midair. It was only about two meters tall at first, but in the blink of an eye, it expanded to dozens of zhang!

The tornado howled as trees were uprooted from the ground and shredded into fragments.

"Hmph, you dare cause trouble in my territory?" The Amethyst Winged Lion King growled, opening its massive jaws as purple flames began to gather frantically.

Ye Xiu hid behind a massive boulder, narrowing his eyes as he watched the sky.

The momentum on both sides was rising rapidly. They were about to fight.

He quietly suppressed his presence to its lowest point, waiting for the Lion King to be drawn away before making his move.

Before long, the man and beast in the sky were locked in a fierce battle in the distance, and Ye Xiu moved.

He did not charge in directly from the front. That would have been too stupid. The Amethyst Winged Lion King was no fool; even if Yun Yun had lured it away, there was no telling what safeguards it might have left behind in the cave.

Ye Xiu circled around the side of the cliff. He put away his flame wings and climbed upward with his bare hands instead. With the physical abilities of a Three-Star Dou Wang, scaling such a steep cliff was like child's play. Within a few breaths, he had leaped up beside the cave entrance.

He pressed himself against the rock beside the entrance. At this moment, the Amethyst Winged Lion King's aura was moving farther and farther away, while Yun Yun's battle was raging fiercely. Even from a great distance, he could hear the thunderous booms.

Ye Xiu no longer hesitated and flashed into the cave.

The cave was quite deep, twisting and winding, and the farther in he went, the hotter it became. Purple crystals were embedded in the walls, emitting a faint glow that barely illuminated the path. Ye Xiu moved quickly, but he did not lower his guard. His soul power remained spread out at all times, afraid that something might suddenly leap out from some hidden corner.

After walking for roughly the time it took to burn an incense stick, the space ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a large stone chamber, at least half the size of a football field. In the center lay a pile of dry grass heaped like a small mountain, likely where the Amethyst Winged Lion King slept. Numerous bones were scattered beside it—some from magical beasts, others from humans.

Ye Xiu ignored them and swept his gaze across the chamber.

He soon found the Purple Spirit Crystals, and there were quite a few of them.

But Ye Xiu's true objective this time was not the Purple Spirit Crystals. It was the Companion Amethyst Source.

The Companion Amethyst Source was far rarer than Purple Spirit Crystal. When an Amethyst Winged Lion King was born, it would be accompanied by some source amethyst essence. It was a tonic for the Lion King itself, and an even greater treasure for humans.

Swallowing it gave one a chance to condense Purple Flame within the body. Though it could not compare to Heavenly Flames, it was far stronger than ordinary Dou Qi flames.

Ye Xiu searched the stone chamber but saw nothing unusual. He overturned the pile of dry grass and rummaged through the bones, but found nothing.

"That shouldn't be..."

Frowning, he carefully searched the chamber again.

This time, he noticed that the wall at the innermost end of the chamber was somewhat strange. Many purple crystals were embedded in it, but one was darker than the rest and faintly radiated warmth.

Ye Xiu walked over and pressed his hand against the crystal. With a forceful push, the crystal actually sank inward slightly.

"Crack, crack, crack—"

A series of mechanism-turning sounds rang out. A crack opened in the wall, revealing a passage leading downward.

Ye Xiu grinned.

The Amethyst Winged Lion King was quite good at hiding things.

He followed the passage downward. After only a few steps, a dense wave of energy washed over him. At the end of the passage was a small stone chamber, only about ten square meters in size. At its center stood a half-human-height purple crystal.

The crystal was hollow and filled over halfway with thick purple liquid. Faint firelight flowed within it.

Companion Amethyst Source!

Ye Xiu's eyes lit up.

He hurried over. There was a small opening at the top of the crystal, likely formed naturally. Taking out a high-grade jade bottle, he aimed it at the opening and slowly tilted the crystal with Dou Qi. Purple liquid began to flow out.

The instant it flowed out, a wave of warm energy spread through the air, raising the temperature of the entire stone chamber by over a hundred degrees.

When the bottle was half full, he suddenly heard panting behind him.

Ye Xiu did not stop moving his hand or turn around. His soul power had already swept over the area.

Three meters behind him, a small creature had appeared at some unknown point.

It stood about half a meter tall and was covered in purple fur. It looked rather like a cat, except for the tiny horn on its head and its purple eyes. It glared at Ye Xiu, rumbling softly from its throat.

Ye Xiu raised an eyebrow.

This little thing was probably the Amethyst Winged Lion King's cub. It had likely been born not long ago, and its aura was only around that of a third-tier magical beast—equivalent to a human Da Dou Shi.

The little lion stared at Ye Xiu for a moment, then looked at the crystal in his hand leaking purple liquid. Its fur suddenly bristled.

"Roar—"

With a young, childish roar, the little lion kicked off with all four legs and pounced straight at Ye Xiu. Purple flames flickered around its claws, looking quite intimidating.

Ye Xiu sighed.

His left hand continued holding up the crystal to collect the Purple Amethyst Source, while his right hand rose and casually stretched forward.

"Pfft."

Crimson-gold Dou Qi shot from his fingertips and pierced straight through the little lion's head.