Opportunity

Once everything was ready, Xiaofei lay on the bed and carefully reviewed the novel Douluo Continent that he had read in his previous life, recalling some of the Protagonist Group's opportunities, including certain secret realms from the four-part Douluo series.

As everyone knew, three great treasured lands ran throughout Douluo Continent: the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Heaven and Earth Asking Love Valley, and Dragon Valley. At this stage, the only one he might possibly come into contact with was the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. The other two could not be found at all.

There was also knowledge from later generations, which was Xiaofei's greatest opportunity at this stage. For example, the scarcity and prices of precious metals, the uses of Whale Rubber, and the Soul Core Cultivation Method. All of these had been overlooked in Douluo Continent I, and now was the best time to pick up bargains.

Of course, he had to keep all of this discreet. Xiaofei could not help recalling face-changing, one of the four great evil arts of Asia from his previous life. So, Xiaofei bought some necessities from the market, including a fake beard. He strapped a fake potbelly around himself, smeared some unknown pigment over his face, and finally dyed his hair red. After disguising himself, he examined his reflection and made sure there were no obvious flaws before slipping out through the window and walking straight down the street toward the auction house.

Inside the auction house, Xiaofei spent fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins on a huge piece of Whale Rubber that was roughly thirty thousand years old. He had truly scored an incredible bargain. Then he went to the street that sold ironwork materials and bought all kinds of supplies, including a massive piece of Deep Sea Silver. After making the rounds, he had spent another three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, and his Storage Soul Tool was nearly full. The Soul Tool he had obtained back then had a capacity of fifty cubic meters, yet he was already dissatisfied with it and wanted an even larger Storage Soul Tool.

After buying everything, Xiaofei began heading back. Sure enough, several rats were still following him. When he reached an empty alley and passed through it, he immediately unleashed Phoenix Flame, burning away his outer clothes, fake belly, face paint, and everything else. Then he emerged from another alley and blended into the crowd, leaving those rats utterly confused.

Back at the hotel, Xiaofei looked at the huge lump of Whale Rubber before him. He melted the whole thing with flames, then swallowed it in one gulp. A rank, fishy stench filled his mouth. Xiaofei only felt as if his entire body were being burned, as though the fire had seeped into every cell and every pore. At the same time, his Evil Fire seemed to be on the verge of acting up as well.

Xiaofei forcibly suppressed his desire and jumped into the bathtub he had prepared beforehand, continuously adding water. After a night of torment, the room gradually settled down, and Xiaofei himself fell asleep in the bathtub.

It was not until noon the next day that Xiaofei woke up. He felt as though every limb and bone in his body had been washed clean, like taking a cold shower in the height of summer. The water in the entire bathtub had turned black.

Xiaofei carefully examined his body. He was level 29 now. His physical condition, cultivation speed, and other aspects had all improved to a certain extent. His cultivation speed now should not be inferior to someone with Innate Full Soul Power.

After resting for a day, Xiaofei changed into a new set of clothes and left Suotuo City. After traveling for two full days, Xiaofei finally arrived at the outskirts of the Soul Hunting Forest. Seeing Xiaofei heading into the Soul Hunting Forest, people occasionally approached him. Some asked whether he needed to hire people to hunt Soul Beasts, some asked whether he wanted to form a team for Soul Beast hunting, and some directly tried to recruit him into mercenary squads. Xiaofei refused them all. He knew the cruelty of Douluo Continent and was more accustomed to being a lone wolf.

After another day of travel, Xiaofei finally returned to the Fire Phoenix Nest from last time. The few small Soul Beasts inside had either been killed or driven away by Xiaofei. Looking at this familiar place, Xiaofei sighed. "This place is still the best. It's close to the volcano and close to Fire Burning Forest, so the Fire Element here is excellent. I'll live here for a while."

After tidying up the nest, Xiaofei began meditating. Recently, he had been engaging in high-intensity spirit battles all the time, leaving him with little time to meditate, and the results were not as good as at the Blacksmith Shop.

And so, over the next three months, Xiaofei fought Soul Beasts in the forest during the day and meditated in the Fire Burning Forest Nest at night. He found this life very fulfilling.

Finally, on this day, Xiaofei broke through to level 30. Hunting his next Soul Ring would be rather troublesome. There was no one left to help him now. He truly could not trust mercenaries, while the nearby Soul Beasts were all Fire Attribute, but their ages were far too low. The strongest were not even two thousand years old.

This time, Xiaofei's target was a five-thousand-year Soul Beast, or perhaps six thousand years if possible. Xiaofei raised his head and glanced at the Volcanic Crater, feeling that there was something inside it that he wanted. Gritting his teeth, Xiaofei decided that he had to investigate the volcano. If things truly went wrong, he could always fly away quickly.

He climbed upward along the Volcanic Crater until he reached its rim. Looking down, he saw an exceptionally spectacular sight. Below lay boiling magma everywhere, and along its edges were some water-shaped hollows, barely large enough for a person to stand on.

Suddenly, Xiaofei's eyes flashed. On one of those small hollows, he spotted a tiny figure: an Earth Fire Lizard, a Soul Beast that lived near magma. Its offensive power was not strong, but the flames on its body possessed an extremely high temperature, rumored to be close to Ultimate Fire. Xiaofei studied the Earth Fire Lizard carefully. It was only around 1.7 meters long—seven thousand years old. An Earth Fire Lizard grew one meter in its first thousand years, then another ten centimeters for every thousand years afterward. Once it reached two meters, it became a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Ten-thousand-year Earth Fire Lizards began to approach Ultimate Fire. Legend had it that hundred-thousand-year Earth Fire Lizards possessed Ultimate Fire itself and could burn everything in the world to ashes.

As Xiaofei looked at the Earth Fire Lizard, he felt a trace of longing from the Fire Phoenix Martial Soul within his body. Xiaofei lowered his head and pondered for a moment, mainly because this Earth Fire Lizard's age was simply too high. It was nearly comparable to some people's fifth Soul Ring.

After thinking for a long time, Xiaofei still felt that he should take the risk. After all, this was the first time his Fire Phoenix Martial Soul had shown such desire.

Xiaofei secretly crept closer to the Earth Fire Lizard, but somehow it sensed him and directly burrowed into its hole. Left with no choice, Xiaofei could only wait at the entrance. Earth Fire Lizards had to come out periodically to breathe, after all. Finally, seven days later, the Earth Fire Lizard cautiously poked its head out. Xiaofei seized this sole opportunity. His right hand transformed into a sharp claw and went straight for the Earth Fire Lizard's head. This was Xiaofei's strongest attack at present—his External Soul Bone skill: Blazing Strike.

Although the flaming claw pierced part of the Earth Fire Lizard's head, it ignored its injuries and bleeding and burrowed back inside. "Not good, this Earth Fire Lizard is trying to escape."

Xiaofei charged at the Earth Fire Lizard without hesitation, desperately grabbing its neck with both hands. Could an Earth Fire Lizard still live without its head? Xiaofei could not make sense of it. Suddenly, another head bit down toward Xiaofei's arm. Xiaofei hurriedly slashed at the Earth Fire Lizard's head with his wings. The other head was badly injured as well.

This was not the Earth Fire Lizard from before. It was a Two-Headed Earth Fire Lizard, a mutated variant of the Earth Fire Lizard. What followed was a tug-of-war between the two sides. The Earth Fire Lizard desperately crawled toward the hole, while Xiaofei desperately pulled it back. The entrance was far too small for his wings to be of any use.

Xiaofei's left hand had already been severely burned, while his right hand was filled with unimaginable pain. The smell of charred flesh hung in the air. Finally, after holding on for half an hour, the Earth Fire Lizard no longer had any strength left, and Xiaofei dragged it out of the hole. The Earth Fire Lizard was already barely alive.

All of a sudden, a low roar came from beneath the magma, and Xiaofei instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

Xiaofei hurriedly grabbed the still-living Two-Headed Earth Fire Lizard, flapped his wings, and left the Magma Vent at his fastest speed.

Half an hour later, Xiaofei finally returned to the Fire Phoenix Nest. He tossed the still-living Two-Headed Earth Fire Lizard aside and began recovering his body without regard for anything else, gasping heavily all the while.