The Might of Charmeleon

"Char!"

As Little Fire Dragon absorbed the energy radiating from the Red Orb, Xiao Yan also finished refining the Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire!

Hot and cold, two extreme forces erupted simultaneously!

The bottleneck of Xiao Yan's soul power shattered in response! Level 16! Level 17! Level 18!

The moment his soul power surged, Little Fire Dragon's entire body exploded with blinding white light, forming a massive cocoon of light.

It was the light of evolution!

Bathed in the white radiance, Little Fire Dragon's body gradually grew slender and his limbs became more robust. He raised his head high, dragon claws held before his chest, and then slowly tore through the white curtain of light.

A golden dragon form was revealed!

The flame at the tip of his tail burned more majestically than ever; because of the Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire Xiao Yan had absorbed, one could see hints of azure blue dancing within the flames.

It was the same color as the flames of a Charizard X after Mega Evolution.

"Little Fire... no, Charmeleon, congratulations!"

Xiao Yan stepped forward and grasped Charmeleon's dragon claw, and then, man and dragon shook hands.

"Ga-ao!"

Able to evolve, Charmeleon was equally overjoyed, though it was a pity that after breaking through the bottleneck this time, he only reached Level 18 and failed to master any new skills.

Still, the fact that Little Fire Dragon could evolve was a good thing in itself.

"Alright, now that the Red Orb has been integrated by you and the Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire has been absorbed by me, this anomaly will vanish soon."

"That giant python won't be interested in this exotic fire, but that Great Sun Rainbow..."

Xiao Yan couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. As a ten-thousand-year soul beast nearing the hundred-thousand-year threshold, the Great Sun Rainbow was already incredibly powerful, not to mention how furious it would be to find its home ransacked after fighting for so long.

"However, having absorbed the Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire, Little Fire Dragon... no, Charmeleon has evolved, and he has also integrated the Red Orb..."

"The me of now is no longer the same person I was before."

Xiao Yan looked at Charmeleon again, seeing only soaring fighting spirit in the other's eyes.

"Ga-ao!"

"Is that so? You want to battle that top-tier soul beast as well..."

A trace of madness flashed in Xiao Yan's eyes.

Fine.

"Then let it see our evolved strength!"

As his words fell, a wisp of pale flame shot up from his palm, instantly piercing through the earth and soaring straight into the clouds!

The next instant, the Pale Blue Flame erupted into the sky.

The Great Sun Rainbow and the Fallen Heaven Python were locked in a fierce battle when they suddenly felt a chill.

"Ga!"

It let out a harsh, duck-like cry; this was because its neck had been bitten by the Fallen Heaven Python earlier, slightly damaging its vocal cords, which caused such a comical sound.

The Fallen Heaven Python, seeing the Great Sun Rainbow stop its attack, also paused to catch its breath.

This Great Sun Rainbow was truly troublesome. If it were allowed to consume that Earth Fire and promote its cultivation, the entire Sunset Forest might belong to it in the future!

How could that be allowed!

Suddenly, the Fallen Heaven Python sensed something wrong. It turned back, only to see that the anomaly of the Earth Fire burning the heavens and scorching the earth had ceased.

The Earth Fire had emerged? But why was there no fire source? Why was it so calm?

Just as it was utterly confused, it saw a Pale Blue Flame erupt from the fissure!

Earth Fire... no, it was an exotic fire!

The Fallen Heaven Python's eyes widened. Aside from the fire attribute, this exotic fire must possess yin-cold properties—that was the part it could absorb!

Hmph! It had originally thought that as long as this mangy chicken didn't fight for the Earth Fire, it wouldn't mind letting it go, but it seemed that wouldn't do now!

Heavenly treasures and such opportunities belong to those who are capable! If that mangy chicken could absorb the exotic fire, why couldn't this Fallen Heaven Black Underworld Python? Was an exotic fire really such an inconvenient thing?

Mangy chicken! Prepare to die!

The Fallen Heaven Python hissed and lunged at the Great Sun Rainbow in the sky once more, while the Great Sun Rainbow dodged repeatedly, as if it didn't want to engage in battle.

Screw you, you mud loach! Can't you see the exotic fire has been absorbed by someone else? We've been robbed!

It must be said, the Great Sun Rainbow's intelligence was higher; it was sharp enough to realize this. However, the Fallen Heaven Python was relentless, determined to bite it to death today. The mangy... I mean, the Great Sun Rainbow dodged and weaved, finding no opportunity to investigate who had actually absorbed the exotic fire.

Xiao Yan rode the Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire out of the cavern. The moment he saw the light of day again, he saw the Fallen Heaven Python attacking the Great Sun Rainbow. His eyes lit up—how could he miss such a golden opportunity!

"Charmeleon, breathe fire! Use your control to condense it into a vortex, use Fire Spin!"

As Xiao Yan gave the order, he mobilized the Pseudo Bone Spirit Fire, intertwining it with the flames Charmeleon spat out, and used his own control over fire to wrap around and guide Charmeleon's flames into a vortex.

Gradually, a massive vortex took shape. Red and blue flames intertwined, and under the power of the Red Orb, they condensed into an even more tyrannical orange blaze!

"Release!"

At Xiao Yan's command, Charmeleon exerted all its strength, its dragon claws thrusting the massive vortex forward. The vortex soared into mid-air and detonated right in front of the Great Sun Rainbow!

The Great Sun Rainbow had been twisting and turning, constantly dodging the Fallen Heaven Python's attacks, so how could it have expected a sneak attack from behind? It turned around, and upon seeing the assailant, it felt a familiar aura! Wasn't this the aura of Earth Fire? Wait, the Earth Fire had been refined—impossible!!

BOOM!

The vortex exploded, leaving the Great Sun Rainbow covered in soot as it plummeted from the sky. Seeing this golden opportunity, the Fallen Heaven Python revealed its vicious nature, shooting forward like a pitch-black arrow, intent on ending the Great Sun Rainbow's life.

"Great chance! Charmeleon, let's bolt!"

Seeing this, Xiao Yan had no desire to linger. His new killing move had been tested, so there was no need to risk being pursued by the Fallen Heaven Python by continuing to interfere in their battle; greasing his heels and running away was the best policy.

The Great Sun Rainbow let out a cry of unwillingness, but it could only glare indignantly as the flames that were supposed to be its meal were stolen by Xiao Yan, all while it still had to face its formidable enemy, the Fallen Heaven Python.

"Gugu-gaga!!!" (Heaven is unfair!!!)

It was three days later when Xiao Yan stepped through the gates of Shrek City once again. Having broken through his bottleneck, Xiao Yan had spent those few days cultivating in peace.

Finally, the time had come to... oh, it wasn't any special day at all.

"Let's go, Old Xiao, let's go find something to eat outside."

Xiao Yan was roused from his cultivation state by Xiao Yulü, only to see the other looking haggard. He initially thought something had gone wrong with the other's cultivation, but after some fuss, the situation was finally explained.

Ever since Xiao Yan had returned, he had been in bitter cultivation for a full week, living his life as if it were a rigid formula.

Every day was just classes, meals, and cultivation; he did nothing else, and he hadn't even exchanged a word with his roommate, Xiao Yulü.

This had led to a situation where Xiao Yulü had made some gains during his own cultivation and wanted to share them, but felt too embarrassed to disturb Xiao Yan, so he had to keep it all bottled up inside.

After a week, he was truly feeling stifled, which was why he planned to ask Xiao Yan to go out for a stroll and, incidentally, have a sparring match to reflect on the gains he had made during this period.

"You want to be a punching bag? You should've said so earlier. However, the Freshman Tournament is coming up soon, and I'd rather not expose some of my trump cards to you just yet..."

Xiao Yan pondered for a moment, then suddenly hatched a plan.

"Hey, how about we go find people from other classes to fight? At the very least, we might be able to probe some of their secrets, right?"