Myriad Beast Spirit Flame!

Thoughts raced through Xiao Lei's mind like lightning. He quickly steadied his spirit, sensing the pressure bearing down upon his soul.

The number of serpentine magical beasts the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils could control was limited, a constraint primarily determined by the disparity in strength between the beast and the wielder of the pupils.

So that's how it is! I successfully controlled that one head just now, but since Xiang Liu has nine, controlling only one is useless!

Stunned by a sight that defied his understanding, Xiao Lei hadn't even registered the pressure weighing on his soul until now.

"Hurry and leave, Xiao Lei!"

Seeing Xiao Lei standing there in a daze, Yun Yun felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety.

"It's fine. Move back a bit; I'll handle this magical beast!"

Having grasped the situation, Xiao Lei regained his confidence. He pulled Yun Yun's hand away and dove straight down.

"Hey, Xiao Lei!"

Yun Yun felt as if she were going insane from Xiao Lei's actions; not only was he refusing to flee, but he was also actively attacking!

Whoosh!

With his Dou Qi wings cutting through the air, Xiao Lei relied on his movement technique once more to dodge an incoming strike.

Calming down, Xiao Lei observed Xiang Liu's movements. He noticed that the beast never pursued; after one head lunged to a certain height, it would immediately fall back.

One had to remember that Xiang Liu was a Rank 6 magical beast capable of flight; such behavior was clearly meant to conceal something.

As Xiang Liu leaped to its highest point, Xiao Lei channeled his Dou Qi, launching a fierce assault on the portion of the beast buried beneath the ground.

Bang!

Just as his attack was about to land, the water surface exploded. Two more heads surged out, charging straight at Xiao Lei.

Their hideous maws spat out two massive pillars of water directly at his face. However, Xiao Lei did not flinch. He held his ground and summoned the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.

A flash of emerald light flickered, and the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower pattern appeared within the pupils of the two heads, though their offensive momentum remained unabated.

The water pillars slammed into Xiao Lei, the impact sending his body flying back hundreds of meters before he could barely stabilize himself.

"Let's see how many heads you have for me to control!"

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Xiao Lei endured the agonizing pain from the impact and rose once more.

Xiang Liu's attack relied heavily on toxins. Accompanied by a sizzling sound, the alchemist's robe Xiao Lei wore—which was touted as superior to imperial armor—rapidly dissolved into acidic sludge.

At the critical moment, Xiao Lei channeled his Dou Qi, forming a dense, vibrant shroud of energy around his body to avoid any embarrassing exposure.

Yet, that was the extent of the toxin's effect on Xiao Lei!

Xiao Lei could even feel his cultivation slowly strengthening under the erosion of the poison.

How exhilarating! Truly exhilarating!

However, witnessing this scene, Yun Yun was nearly scared to death. Especially when Xiao Lei was struck by the toxin-laden water pillars, she felt as if her heart had been gripped by a cold hand.

But when she saw that Xiao Lei was completely fine aside from being shaken by a minor injury, she was left utterly bewildered again!

Was it not said that Xiang Liu's poison was the most yin and evil, capable of melting anyone who touched it into a pool of blood?

When she first saw the Poison Nether Swamp beneath her feet, Yun Yun had assumed it was a natural formation, but seeing Xiang Liu, she finally realized it was the beast's doing.

Yet, this toxin capable of altering the landscape had no effect on Xiao Lei, who even wore an expression of enjoyment!

Yun Yun dared not intervene. From the moment Xiang Liu appeared, she understood the gap in their strength; rashly attacking might only hinder him, just as it had when the beast first emerged.

In truth, it wasn't just Yun Yun who was shocked; Xiang Liu was also completely baffled, its remaining three heads communicating rapidly.

"This human has low cultivation, but he isn't afraid of poison. What do we do?"

"Old Nine and the others have been controlled. We can only rely on our superior proficiency to forcibly control their bodies, but that will only drag us down and leave us restricted!"

"Then abandon them and let the Boss escape. As long as the Boss escapes, we can all be resurrected!"

Six consciousnesses flickered rapidly within the single body, yet the one referred to as the Boss remained silent.

"That human has a way to control us. If I try to break through alone, I'll be controlled by him instantly!"

The Boss looked at the other five heads, speechless. In its nine-headed form, Xiang Liu's intelligence was at its lowest.

As for the Boss, few knew that the Nine-Headed Xiang Liu did not possess nine heads from the beginning; the other heads were actually generated by this one, the "Boss" in the eyes of the others.

It was also the only one whose intelligence remained unaffected.

At this moment, Xiao Lei attacked again, his long blade dragging purple flames as he slashed into the ground, heading straight for the other heads.

"So, Boss, what should we do?"

"Make a decision, Boss!"

At the critical moment, the Boss seemed to summon immense resolve and quickly pulled out the snake tail that had been buried deep underground.

Just then, Xiao Lei, charging toward Xiang Liu, felt the flames within his body wither, and the purple fire on his blade rapidly retracted, as if fearing something!

The next moment, a thick snake tail whipped out, and a blood-red flame shot directly at Xiao Lei.

Xiao Lei's pupils constricted! Upon seeing the flame clearly, he couldn't help but exclaim.

"Myriad Beast Spirit Flame!"

Its color was blood-red, and as it burned, phantom images appeared within it, resembling the forms of ten thousand beasts.

It was formed from the souls and bloodlines of ten thousand beasts—a sacred flame of the beast race!

"Fire Screen!"

Xiao Lei hurriedly raised his hand, manifesting a barrier of flames in an attempt to block the incoming Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.

The next moment, the blood-red flames violently shattered the barrier, and the poisonous mist surrounding the beast dissipated just in time, causing the firelight to flare brilliantly!

The Heavenly Flame lunged straight at Xiao Lei's body.

Xiao Lei could not dodge in time; a wisp of the Heavenly Flame instantly burned through his Dou Qi gauze and touched his skin!

Xiao Lei reacted swiftly, immediately channeling his Dou Qi to suppress this wisp of Heavenly Flame while retreating.

It was a perilous moment, but fortunately, Xiao Lei's reaction was quick, and since only a single wisp of the Heavenly Flame had landed on him, he avoided serious injury.

"The Myriad Beast Spirit Flame—to think this thing would appear in the Magical Beast Mountain Range!"

The shock in his heart remained difficult to calm, and what terrified Xiao Lei even more was that Xiang Liu seemed to have mastered a way to utilize this Heavenly Flame, actually being able to consciously control its eruptions.

The suppression exerted by a Heavenly Flame upon a fire-attribute cultivator was beyond doubt.

However, upon seeing the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, Xiao Lei did not retreat; instead, his determination to control Xiang Liu only grew firmer. One had to remember that Xiao Lei's cultivation technique was still only of the Low-Grade Yellow Tier!

At this moment, Xiang Liu had already retracted the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, preparing to flee, and Xiao Lei hurriedly activated the Step of the Dipper to keep up.

Seeing that he could not shake Xiao Lei off, Xiang Liu knew that if this continued and Xiao Lei unleashed that control ability a few more times, it would still be finished. Driven to desperation, it decided to stake everything on one final gamble.

The next moment, Xiang Liu's entire body surged violently from the mire, its nine heads coiling toward Xiao Lei simultaneously.

At this point, Xiang Liu no longer cared about hiding its body; it soared into the air, choosing to fight Xiao Lei to the death!

At the same time, the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame was once again hurled toward Xiao Lei by Xiang Liu.

At this critical juncture, Xiao Lei did not hesitate to activate the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils, unleashing their full power toward the remaining six heads.

Bearing the souls of six Rank 6 Magical Beasts at once caused even Xiao Lei to bleed from his eyes, a truly ghastly sight!

BOOM!

At the crucial moment when the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame collided, Yun Yun channeled her Dou Qi and arrived, slashing at it with her sword and instantly kicking up a terrifying wave of fire.

Understanding that the outcome would be decided in this single clash, Xiao Lei could not even spare a thought for the blood streaming from his eyes, frantically pushing the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils to their limit.

BANG!

In the instant the outcome was about to be decided, one of Xiang Liu's nine heads suddenly severed from its main body and rapidly swam toward the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame that had been knocked away by Yun Yun.

To the horror of both, the Heavenly Flame, which had previously relied on the flick of a snake tail to move, now actively flew toward the severed head.

"I succeeded! So that's it! So that's it—I've been going in the wrong direction all this time! The quantity of souls is useless; the Heavenly Flame cannot accept the imprints of nine different consciousnesses at once!"

The head that had escaped nearly cheered aloud. After years of waiting, it had finally reached a successful conclusion at this very moment!

The poisonous mist that had originally swirled around the Heavenly Flame now actually invaded the very source of the fire!

And Xiang Liu had successfully mastered this Myriad Beast Spirit Flame!

Xiang Liu's venom was renowned for its corrosive nature, capable of turning a normal landscape into a poisonous swamp, and now, Xiang Liu had achieved the feat of corroding a Heavenly Flame with its toxin.

Having seized control of the Heavenly Flame, Xiang Liu immediately wanted to turn back and kill Xiao Lei, but unfortunately...

When Xiang Liu turned back, it was met only by Xiao Lei's eyes, which now bore a strange, intricate pattern!

"I'll take this Heavenly Flame off your hands!"

The next moment, the pattern of Xiao Lei's Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils emerged within the pupils of the snake.

It was completely and utterly controlled!