Molten Demon Lion

The next morning, Ye Guchen woke up expecting Dai Mubai to bring Shrek Academy's teachers after him. But the whole night passed without a peep, and Ye Guchen couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He wasn't afraid of Shrek Academy's teachers. Even if he couldn't beat them, the worst that could happen was dying and starting over.

Though he had no idea why they hadn't come for revenge, Ye Guchen didn't want to wait for them to show up at his door. As soon as Zhu Zhuqing woke, he took her to Heaven Dou City.

After all, dying cost him one level of Soul Power. Better to save it whenever he could.

Meanwhile, at Shrek Academy, Flender and the other teachers were rushing around, busy with one thing after another.

Dai Mubai had barely made it to the academy gates before fainting from blood loss. He still hadn't woken up.

"Who did this!"

Flender stared at the bloodless face on the bed. Dai Mubai was one of Shrek's most prized students, yet now his eyes were shut tight, and his whole body had turned pale from the blood loss.

No one answered.

The night was dark, and no one knew who the culprit was.

The only person who knew was still unconscious.

The helpless frustration knotted in Flender's chest. He gripped the back of a chair so tightly that the hardwood cracked, splitting into several deep fissures.

Dai Mubai had been lucky to survive. Ma Hongjun, who had been sneaking out to find a woman, discovered him and saved his life.

While Ye Guchen hurried toward Heaven Dou City with Zhu Zhuqing in his arms in the Dou I timeline, after two or three days of travel, the group in the Dou II timeline also reached their destination: the Magma Mountain Range!

A group of Molten Demon Lions lived in the Magma Mountain Range. These fire-attribute Soul Beasts lived in packs, and their ranks ranged from Hundred-Year Soul Beasts to Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

Their target on this trip was a fifty-thousand-year Molten Demon Lion among the pride!

A wave of heat washed over them.

"We're here." Dai Yueheng raised a hand, signaling for everyone to stop. "This is Molten Demon Lion territory. Their leader is a seventy-thousand-year-old lion king. Stay alert."

The group crouched behind charred rocks and peered ahead.

"I suggest we find a way to split up the pride. The eight of us are nowhere near strong enough to take on a pack with over ten Soul Beasts that have lived for more than ten thousand years."

Dai Yueheng was the first to offer his opinion. Everyone nodded.

"Lure the pride away? Easier said than done."

Ling Luochеn folded her arms across her chest, her gaze sweeping over the roiling lava river in the distance.

"Those beasts aren't stupid. The seventy-thousand-year-old Lava Lion King is probably smarter than the average person. Look at that stretch of charred rock—"

Following her gaze, they saw that midway up the Magma Mountain Range, more than a dozen fire-red lions of different sizes were lazily sprawled across the black volcanic rock, their manes like blazing flames.

One especially massive male lion lay at the highest point, golden-red patterns flowing across its body. Even from several miles away, its scorching aura made the air shimmer.

"The Lava Lion King," Dai Yueheng murmured, his brow furrowing.

Gongyang Mo leaned close to Ye Guchen and said under his breath:

"Little Guchen, could you use Spiritual Detection to check how they're positioned?"

Ye Guchen nodded. Golden light flashed in his eyes as an invisible wave of spiritual power rippled outward.

A few breaths later, he shared what he saw with everyone:

"There are fifty-seven lions in the pride. Thirty-eight Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, twelve thousand-year ones, and seven that have lived for more than ten thousand years. Their positions look random, but there's a pattern. Every group of Hundred-Year and thousand-year lions has a Ten-Thousand-Year Molten Demon Lion guarding it, while the oldest one, the seventy-thousand-year-old lion king, is settled at the highest point, with the entire pride in its line of sight."

"A seventy-thousand-year Molten Demon Lion can fight on par with a Soul Douluo! This is tricky." Gongyang Mo ran a hand through his hair. "Sister Xiaotao is the strongest among us, and she's only at level sixty. We can't fight this!"

Everyone fell silent.

"I think we can do this: my Fire Luan Bird will lure the lion king away, then Sister Luochеn and I will draw the fifty-thousand-year Molten Demon Lion out of the pride."

"You get into position beforehand. While the pride and the lion king can't come to its aid, the eight of us will attack together and bring it down in one go. But don't kill it. We'll take it away from here before absorbing its Soul Ring."

The others nodded. For now, this really was their best option.

Yan Shaozhe was also guarding them from the shadows, so their lives were in no danger.

"If no one objects, let's split up! We'll stay in touch the whole time through my spiritual network!"

"Sounds good!"

A weathered Contract Grimoire appeared in Ye Guchen's hand.

The Fire Luan Bird let out a clear cry and spread its wings, each nearly a yard long. Its scarlet feathers flickered like flames, bright against the dark-red sky.

"Don't fight it. Just lure it far away. The farther, the better!"

"Little Red, go."

Ye Guchen patted the Fire Luan Bird's neck. A spirited response came through their spiritual bond.

The Fire Luan Bird soared into the sky, turning into a streak of crimson-gold light as it rushed toward the heart of the pride.

It deliberately left a long trail of light behind it, and its scorching wake warped the air. At the same time, countless Huo Yu rained down on the lion king.

It was the boldest of taunts!

The Lava Lion King at the highest point suddenly lifted its head, its golden-red eyes locking onto the foolish Fire Luan Bird in the sky.

There was no mindless rage in its gaze. Instead, a cold indifference flickered deep within.

It was the contemptuous killing intent of a king whose throne had been challenged by an insect.

It slowly rose to its feet, its mane flaring like a blazing sun. A low growl rolled from its throat, crumbling the charred rock beneath its paws.

The growl wasn't loud, but it carried a pressure that struck straight at the soul. For several miles around, the Molten Demon Lions lowered their forequarters and gave uneasy whimpers.

The Fire Luan Bird faltered for a moment. In that instant, the Lava Lion King moved.

Its four hooves shattered the rock beneath it, and its massive body shot into the sky like a golden-red blur.

It didn't fly. Its terrifying body, forged by seventy thousand years of cultivation, leaped from a standstill and pierced the sky in a single bound!

Its flaring mane stretched into a blazing arc as it moved at breakneck speed. With its jaws spread wide, it unleashed a concentrated golden-red blast that skimmed past the Fire Luan Bird's right wingtip.

"Pshh—"

Several scarlet feathers instantly blackened, curled, and crumbled.

A sharp stab struck Ye Guchen's mind. The Fire Luan Bird's pain and alarm pierced their spiritual bond like a red-hot needle.

They didn't share senses, but as the Fire Luan Bird's master, Ye Guchen could still clearly tell that the attack had grazed Little Red's wingtip.

A vein jumped at his temple. He pressed his lips into a thin line, but calmly sent the order:

"Little Red, southwest. Full speed!"

The Fire Luan Bird steadied itself, gave a clearer, more defiant cry, then turned and sped toward the southwestern horizon.

The Lava Lion King landed without a pause and leaped after it again. Two other Ten-Thousand-Year Molten Demon Lions tried to follow, but the lion king stopped them with a roar.

A proud king would tear that presumptuous firebird to pieces with its own claws.

Bird and lion quickly disappeared into the distance, leaving only two specks of light that grew smaller and smaller.

The scorching trail of that blast lingered in the air, slow to fade.

"Now!"

Golden light blazed in Ye Guchen's eyes as he unleashed Spiritual Detection, sharing every detail of the pride's movements with the others.

"The lion king is far away, but the other Molten Demon Lions are much more alert now."

"Sister Luochеn, come with me!"

Ling Luochеn silently nodded. Her icy-blue hair fluttered in the hot wind as she and Ye Guchen darted out from a crevice in the rocks, one on each side.

Their target was a fifty-thousand-year Molten Demon Lion at the western edge of the pride.

It was a head larger than the ordinary Ten-Thousand-Year Molten Demon Lions, with a row of dark-gold spikes running down its back.

As the second-strongest lion in the pride, it was still lazily basking in the sun.

A touch of frost formed beneath Ling Luochеn's toes, only to be vaporized by the heat a moment later into a fine mist.

In the air where cold met heat, a sharp hiss rang out, as if some ancient standoff had declared its challenge in silence.

Ye Guchen's spiritual power locked precisely onto the lion.

"Sister Luochеn, draw it toward the east. Once we reach the valley, use Little Bing to cut off its escape."

"Understood!"

As he spoke, Ye Guchen summoned the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Scorpion from the Contract Grimoire. It appeared in a flash of light, shrinking to the size of a palm.

Ye Guchen handed it to Ling Luochеn.

"Sister Luochеn, take Little Bing with you. It'll help."

Ling Luochеn reached out and took the Ice Jade Scorpion. A pure stream of ice-attribute Soul Power flowed into her body.

The energy seeped through the slightly parted pores in her palm and into her meridians, as clear and cold as the first drop of meltwater from the heart of a glacier.

The Ice Jade Scorpion's Ultimate Ice attribute once again clung to the ice-attribute Soul Power within her.

"Crack."

Like ice that had been frozen for years, something suddenly struck it like spring thunder, leaving an almost imperceptible hairline fracture.

Her body shuddered, and she nearly dropped the palm-sized scorpion.

It wasn't pain that made her tremble. That intoxicating feeling had returned.

She opened her eyes and looked at Ye Guchen.

In her gaze, there was not only burning intensity but also a softness she herself barely recognized.

"Ultimate Ice... With this power, just watch what I can do."

Ye Guchen nodded. Of course, he hadn't given Ling Luochеn the Ice Jade Scorpion merely so she could wield Ultimate Ice. A twenty-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion was far stronger than Ling Luochеn, who wasn't yet a Soul King.

He had given it to her as a safeguard.

By then, everyone was in position on the spiritual network.

Dai Yueheng's breathing grew heavier. Gongyang Mo closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, while rings of supporting Soul Power spread around him like ripples in water.

Yao Haoxuan clenched both fists, his knuckles cracking with a dull snap.

Ling Luochеn's lashes quivered. A fleck of ice formed at her fingertip, then was swept away by the hot wind and vanished into a wisp of white steam above the charred rock.

Through Ye Guchen's Spiritual Sharing, everyone could hear each other's heartbeats.

Steady, hurried, like war drums beating one after another in the darkness.

He closed his eyes and silently counted the beats. Then, as the eighth and heaviest beat fell—

He suddenly opened his eyes.

"Three!"

The Ice Jade Scorpion stretched out in Ling Luochеn's palm, a pale-blue glow silently rising around it.

"Two!"

Everyone's attention was fixed on the Ten-Thousand-Year Molten Demon Lion and the two of them. The breathing of the pride in the distance seemed to vanish all at once.

"One!"

"Move!"