The Mutant Flame Spirit King's body had already swollen to more than twice its original size. Cracks covered the surface of its dark-gold lava carapace, and blinding crimson-white light shone through them, like a living volcano on the verge of eruption.
The Flame Spirits it had devoured had not been fully digested—they had turned into violent energy that surged madly within its body, warping and twisting its frame under the strain. Even the edges of its wings showed signs of cracking. Leng Xia could not help swallowing. "This thing... isn't it going to explode?"
"It will." Xiao Cheng stared at the enormous creature, his voice calm yet resolute. "That's why we can't let it continue."
The Mutant Flame Spirit King suddenly opened its massive jaws and blasted out a crimson-gold pillar of fire over a meter wide toward Xiao Cheng, carrying enough terrifying heat to melt rock into magma.
A moment before the flames touched him, Xiao Cheng's body turned illusory—the heat wave passed through him and melted a deep crater into the rock wall thirty meters behind him.
Voiding.
The instant the fire pillar ended, a thick dragon tail swept across, sending rocks and magma flying everywhere. Xiao Cheng had already appeared thirty meters away, landing with barely a sound.
Xiao Cheng was observing.
Every attack from the Mutant Flame Spirit King carried uncontrolled, chaotic surges of energy. Nothing but brutality and madness remained in its draconic eyes. It had even lost the instinct to pursue intruders—it merely swung its claws, lashed its tail, and spewed flames from where it stood, like a barbecue grill with a jammed switch that only knew how to frantically release energy.
But what truly made Xiao Cheng wary was not its strength, which had now expanded to the level of a Titled Douluo.