Deep within the passageway, a column of fire spirit guards came marching forth in grand array, Samadhi True Fire blazing fiercely around them and scorching the surrounding walls red-hot.
"Big Brother, wh-what is that?!"
The heavenly soldiers who arrived afterward were shaken to their souls by the sight before them.
At the head of that column of fire spirit guards stood an especially terrifying being.
Not only was it clearly twice the size of the other fire spirit guards, but a crimson fire wyrm coiled around its flaming body!
The wyrm's eyes were scarlet, its scales and claws faintly visible, as though it could choose someone to devour at any moment.
Paired with that enormous fire spirit body, it appeared all the more tyrannical and savage.
Even heavenly soldiers hardened by years of battle could not help but feel fear rise in their hearts.
"Could this... be the legendary Fire Spirit General?!"
The minor commander sucked in a sharp breath.
"Fire Spirit General?"
Most of the other heavenly soldiers looked utterly bewildered.
They did not garrison the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda long-term, rotating out once every three years, so their knowledge of the pagoda's secrets was limited.
The minor commander said in a trembling voice, "It is said that every hundred years, Samadhi True Fire Heaven gives birth to a Fire Spirit General, one in ten thousand, whose strength rivals that of a heavenly general—perhaps even surpasses one! Look at its bearing; it is almost certainly one! What is even rarer is that it was born alongside a crimson fire wyrm, and the purity of the Samadhi True Fire around it far exceeds that of the other fire spirit guards. It must be the Fire Spirit General! Perhaps... it has already gained intelligence!"
"Hiss—"
The heavenly soldiers clicked their tongues in