Calculated Perfection

As Su Heng's shout rang out, four flaming magical beasts erupted from beneath the ground.

Pillars of light in four colors—profound, purple, peach, and blue—shot into the sky, anchoring the four directions and forming a killing array that completely enveloped the area for hundreds of meters around Mo Cheng.

"Roar!"

Deep, frenzied roars erupted from the throats of the four fire beasts. As they bellowed, heat waves surged from their bodies, instantly turning the entire stretch of sand into a living hell where the raging heat incinerated everything in its path.

Even a powerhouse like the five-star Dou Spirit Mo Cheng felt an unprecedented pressure; it was the flame of death, burning away life and devouring all vitality.

Through Su Heng's diligent research, the four types of beast flames had truly formed a formation, fusing and echoing each other to create a terrifyingly potent energy.

Each fire beast possessed the combat strength of a six-star Dou Master, and the combined power of the four beasts was comparable to that of a three-star Great Dou Master.

"Mo Cheng, heaven has ordained that I use beast flames to form this array; your time has come!"

A month ago, while Su Heng was in seclusion practicing the Four Spirits Profound Astral Formation, he had been genuinely worried about his inability to complete the fire array, filled with inexplicable anxiety.

Yet the final result had far exceeded Su Heng's expectations. Not only could the fire beasts formed from the four beast flames perfectly compose the formation, but the strength of the beasts themselves had also been elevated by the formation's attributes, with each beast possessing roughly eighty percent of Su Heng's own power.

"Profound Python Break!"

With the fire array activated, Su Heng wasted no words and launched a fierce assault on Mo Cheng, who was trapped within.

The Profound Flame, transformed into the Xuanjia Snake Emperor, led the attack. Su Heng had integrated his own close-combat techniques into the Profound Python Flame Beast; though he did not know how much power it would unleash, it ultimately boosted the beast's combat capability.

The Profound Python Flame Beast shot out like an arrow released from a bow, aiming straight for Mo Cheng's heart.

The move was both fast and fierce, but to a Dou Spirit-level expert like Mo Cheng, it was still too slow and weak. He merely swung his left arm diagonally, and the flame-like magical beast's forelimb collided with the Profound Python Flame Beast, sparking a spray of fiery embers.

The Profound Python Flame Beast was immediately knocked back several steps, its body partially dissipated.

"Hmph! If you were a Dou Spirit, I might truly die in this array today, but you are merely an eight-star Dou Master, and the fire beasts you control are only at the level of a six-star Dou Master. You think you can kill me with just this?"

Seeing that Su Heng's fire beast was fragile, Mo Cheng looked at him and sneered.

"Is that so? Then what about now!"

The first move had merely been a probe, and Su Heng hadn't taken it to heart. He pinched a hand seal, and the dissipated Profound Python Flame Beast instantly reformed, while the other three fire beasts launched a joint attack alongside it.

The Purple Flame Lion King spat out flames, taking the initiative as a purple pillar of fire surged toward Mo Cheng at several times the speed of the Profound Python Flame Beast.

The strike came too fast, and even Mo Cheng could only barely dodge it. However, although Mo Cheng avoided the lion king's pillar of fire, the Profound Flame Snake Emperor followed closely behind, charging in at full speed.

The Purple Flame Lion King forced the opponent to shift his position, while the Profound Flame Snake Emperor delivered the killing blow. The two attacks arrived almost simultaneously; even with the vast difference in their cultivation levels, Mo Cheng had no room to dodge and was forced to take it head-on.

Mo Cheng swung his arm to block, but he collided with the Profound Tortoise Flame Beast, which had condensed into a fire shield. Just as the tortoise beast was shattered, the Profound Flame Snake Emperor's attack became unavoidable. Mo Cheng was struck heavily in the chest, and under the impact of the immense force, dark red blood sprayed from his mouth.

The Profound Flame Snake Emperor dissipated immediately after striking Mo Cheng. The diffusing flames looked like brilliant fireworks, but beneath the "appearance" of these charming fireworks, a wisp of Profound Flame quietly entered his body, drilling into Mo Cheng's meridians.

"Qing Lin! Do it!"

Just as Mo Cheng was struck, a ghostly light flickered in Qing Lin's eyes. The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake suddenly erupted, taking advantage of the brief opening in Mo Cheng's defenses to launch a surprise attack from behind him.

"Frost Erosion Palm!"

With the fire snake in front and Qing Lin behind, Mo Cheng was overwhelmed. Although he blocked the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's attack, he was struck on the shoulder by Qing Lin's palm.

The bone-chilling water-attribute Dou Qi instantly eroded his flesh, freezing his shoulder solid.

In the moment Mo Cheng's shoulder was frozen and his movement stalled, the Profound Tortoise Flame Beast transformed into a deep blue arrow, piercing straight toward his shoulder. Mo Cheng turned to block, only to be caught in a pincer attack by the Black Demon Snake and the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake.

Two massive snake tails, each over a zhang wide, squeezed Mo Cheng in the middle like a rolling pin pressing dough. Mo Cheng felt as if his internal organs were being crushed, and he immediately let out a shrill scream.

However, Su Heng and Qing Lin had no intention of giving him any breathing room.

Under Su Heng's control, the four fire beasts moved with perfect coordination, slamming into Mo Cheng from four directions once again.

This time, Mo Cheng was severely injured and truly unable to parry. The four beasts' flames flowed into his body, steaming his blood and releasing a cloud of red mist.

At the same time, the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake filled the gap, both heads spitting flames to completely engulf Mo Cheng.

As the flames scorched him, Mo Cheng felt as if he were being sliced to pieces, the pain unbearable. Before he could even scream, the Black Demon Snake's tail sweep arrived. Mo Cheng was struck heavily, his bones shattering, and he was sent flying dozens of zhang away.

Mo Cheng was knocked out of the battle circle by the Black Demon Snake. He scrambled to his feet and turned to run, but Su Heng's fire beasts had already caught up, trapping him once again.

"If you kill me, aren't you afraid the Misty Cloud Sect will come for revenge?"

The fear of death made Mo Cheng tremble. He feigned composure, struggling to block the fire beasts' onslaught while shouting, attempting to "threaten" his opponent.

"Hmph, all the injuries on your body are caused by the physical impact of magical beasts and the burning of beast flames. Even if the Misty Cloud Sect finds your corpse, they will think it was a magical beast seeking revenge, not suspect me."

"Furthermore, you being besieged by magical beasts was witnessed by Salt City's Lord Bo'er. Today, in this desert, there are only two humans here!"

Su Heng glanced at Mo Cheng with a cold sneer. He had long anticipated that Mo Cheng would use the Misty Cloud Sect to pressure him, so he ensured that Mo Cheng would not appear to have died at the hands of a human.

The injuries caused by the beast flames and the magical beasts, combined with the testimony of Salt City's Lord Bo'er, would lead anyone to conclude that Mo Cheng died at the hands of magical beasts, without casting suspicion on Su Heng.

"Little brother, I, Mo Cheng, was wrong. If you spare my life today, whatever you want—as long as my Mo Family can provide it—I will offer it all to you!"

Hearing Su Heng's words, Mo Cheng's heart, which had already gone cold, now froze completely. The person before him had come specifically to kill him!

"Hmph! I only want your life now. As for the Mo Family's belongings? Once you are dead, they will all be mine anyway!"

Su Heng ignored Mo Cheng's pleas. At this point, Mo Cheng had only one path to take: death.

"I have no grievances with you from the past, nor any recent enmity. Why are you targeting our Mo Family!"

Mo Cheng was now desperate, but like a trapped beast, he still wanted to fight for a glimmer of survival. He moved only to defend, not to attack, slowly retreating outward.

"Hmph, you and I have deep grudges from the past and fatal enmity in the present. You want to run? I advise you not to dream."

"During the battle just now, you were hit by my fire beasts several times, right? Didn't you notice anything unusual?"

Seeing that his scheme had been seen through, Mo Cheng was filled with indescribable shock, but what chilled him even more was that Su Heng seemed to have left a contingency plan.

"My flames have long been lurking inside your body. Whenever I wish, I can make the flames within you erupt, destroying you from the inside out. The power and effect are much better, aren't they?"

Su Heng locked his cold gaze on Mo Cheng's legs and clenched his right palm. The four types of beast flames hidden inside Mo Cheng's body instantly erupted, blowing his legs into a bloody mess and snapping them into several pieces on the spot!

"Ah!!!"

A shrill scream echoed through the desert air. Mo Cheng had wanted to find an opening to escape, but Su Heng gave him no chance, directly cutting off his path to survival.

Just as Mo Cheng collapsed, the Black Demon Snake's eyes spat fire. Seizing this rare opportunity, it lunged at Mo Cheng's mangled body and tore off his left side in one bite, the transplanted magical beast limb being bitten off along with it.

"Mo Cheng! Turn into charcoal in the flames of the magical beasts!"

Seeing that Mo Cheng was on the verge of death, Su Heng gave the order. The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake immediately followed up, both snake heads spraying a massive amount of flames to completely incinerate Mo Cheng's scattered remains.

The Great Elder of the Mo Family, a generation of Dou Spirit powerhouses, thus turned into a piece of charcoal in the flames.

"Finally! Won..."

Watching with his own eyes as Mo Cheng was completely incinerated by the flames of the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake, the exhausted Su Heng collapsed to the ground the moment his nerves relaxed. Qing Lin hurriedly supported him in her arms and took out a Qi-Replenishing Pill, placing it into Su Heng's mouth.

"Lord Bo'er, I have won now. Mo Cheng is dead, and the Mo Family will be destroyed. The rest are merely remnants not worth worrying about. If you cooperate with me, we can root out the Mo Family completely and eliminate future troubles. How about it?"

Regaining a bit of his strength, Su Heng called out to Bo'er immediately. Throughout the entire battle, Bo'er had been watching from the sidelines. He was waiting for a result: if Mo Cheng had a chance of winning, he would step in to kill Su Heng; if Su Heng had the upper hand, he would step in to kill Mo Cheng.

But Mo Cheng had been defeated too quickly, and Su Heng's strikes had been too ruthless, leaving Bo'er with no opportunity to intervene.

Now, he seemed to have the choice of joining forces with Su Heng to completely root out the Mo Family and make them disappear from Salt City forever.

Bo'er said nothing, silently hovering in mid-air. His expression was complex as he stared fixedly at the exhausted Su Heng and the two fourth-order magical beasts that had spent all their energy, seemingly making a decision.

A moment later, Bo'er's face hardened. His figure flickered, and he raised his palm, charging down toward Su Heng!

"You ultimately made the wrong decision..."

Su Heng smiled bitterly, feeling quite helpless and a bit regretful.

Bo'er's attack was untraceable, and in the blink of an eye, he was already in front of Su Heng and Qing Lin. However, this strike failed to hit Su Heng; Bo'er's palm landed heavily on a scale as hard as a giant rock.

The Rock-Scaled Rattlesnake let out a pained cry and was sent flying a hundred zhang away by Bo'er. But the moment Bo'er's palm touched the rock-like scales, a cloud of white mist erupted from the gaps between the scales. Before Bo'er could react, he had already inhaled the mist.

A bone-chilling cold instantly flowed through his entire body. Bo'er's body stiffened, and he collapsed to the ground immediately.

"You didn't choose to help me kill Mo Cheng, nor did you choose to eradicate the Mo Family with me. You ultimately chose to kill me!"

"Just by yourself? Can you kill me?"

"You were afraid the Misty Cloud Sect would come for you because of Mo Cheng's death, and you didn't believe the Misty Cloud Sect wouldn't find out the truth. Rather than living in fear, you thought it better to kill me and report the merit to the Misty Cloud Sect."

"You have some guts, but not much. You have some ruthlessness, but you are mostly a coward."

"You were even worried that if you attacked with Dou Qi from a distance, I could escape with the help of the magical beasts, so you chose a surprise attack, wanting to kill me in one blow at close range."

"The result is that I calculated all your thoughts and made sufficient preparations. Now, how does it feel to have your blood coagulate and be slowly frozen to death?"

Su Heng looked with contempt at the Salt City Lord Bo'er, whose face was blue and purple, who could no longer speak, and whose whole body was trembling. For this man, he felt nothing but disdain from the bottom of his heart.

Before returning to Stone Desert City, Su Heng had worked with Otto and Frank to refine the Frostbone Blood-Coagulation Pill, and he had let Qing Lin hide it in the gaps of the Rock-Scaled Rattlesnake's scales before the battle began.

This was the final trump card of this battle!

Whether it was Bo'er or Mo Cheng, neither had any possibility of survival when faced with this poisonous pill.

Before the battle started, Su Heng had determined that Bo'er only had two choices.

One was to stand on the sidelines, pretending to know nothing, and then fully defect to the Mo Family after Mo Cheng secured victory.

The other was to kill everyone when Su Heng and Mo Cheng were both exhausted, then take Su Heng's head to the Misty Cloud Sect to claim credit. In this way, Bo'er could simultaneously eliminate two people who threatened him in Salt City and become the biggest winner.

Considering that Bo'er had shown some small kindness to the Su Clan, Su Heng had decided to give him one last chance by inviting him to watch the battle.

If Bo'er helped him kill Mo Cheng during the fight, he would cooperate with Bo'er to strengthen the Su Clan and divide the Mo Family's assets.

If Bo'er watched the whole time, he would poison him with the Frostbone Blood-Coagulation Pill.

Bo'er was a man who liked schemes and plots but lacked the ruthlessness of a true schemer. Essentially, he was a greedy and cowardly person. He wanted more wealth and resources but was afraid of offending the strong. His excessive caution had cost him everything.

Su Heng took one last look at Bo'er and turned his Profound Flame into a blade, severing Bo'er's head. After all, he was a Dou King powerhouse; the Frostbone Blood-Coagulation Pill might not have been a hundred percent certain to kill him.

The Salt City Lord's story ended here. He had indeed shown kindness to the Su Clan, but the moment he made a move against Su Heng, the only outcome awaiting him was death.

Su Heng took the storage rings of Bo'er and Mo Cheng and had the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake incinerate Bo'er's corpse. Only when all traces related to him had been completely erased did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Su Heng struggled to his feet and hurried to the side of the Rock-Scaled Rattlesnake, which had been knocked away by Bo'er, to check on its condition.

Could a magical beast at the peak of the Great Dou Master level block a strike from a Dou King powerhouse with its full defense?

The Rock-Scaled Rattlesnake gave the answer: Yes!

Although the scales where it was struck were completely shattered and its body was a bloody mess, almost broken, Little Gold still had a pulse and had not yet died.

Su Heng took out a fourth-grade healing pill he had prepared long ago and fed it to it. The pill melted upon contact, and the wounds on Little Gold's body healed rapidly under the effect of the medicine. Its breathing also changed from a faint thread to something slightly more normal.

Seeing that Little Gold was out of danger, Su Heng could finally rest easy. This magical beast had accompanied him and Qing Lin for a year and was already a partner like family to them. If it had died because of him, Su Heng truly wouldn't know how to face Qing Lin.

Fortunately, Little Gold's luck was good, and everything had not headed in the worst direction.

The severely injured Rock-Scaled Rattlesnake gradually fell into a deep sleep, and the other two magical beasts, exhausted from the fierce battle, also moved closer. They curled up together, enjoying a rare moment of peace.

Just as Su Heng and the magical beasts were resting, a green figure approached slowly and unhurriedly through the dust of the desert.

Qing Lin seemed to sense something and stood up immediately. Su Heng, on the other hand, remained calm and composed, not moving his body.

"I didn't expect that someone so young would have such schemes and means. Eliminating the Mo Family's Great Elder and poisoning the Salt City Lord—it seems that from now on, this Salt City belongs to the Su family."

In a few breaths, the green figure had arrived in front of Su Heng and the others. However, she seemed to have no hostility; instead, she was clapping and praising Su Heng.

"Su Heng is here. Many thanks for the compliment, senior."

Su Heng made no move. He simply responded to the other's praise with the little strength he had left, and he was not humble.

"Little brother, your courage is indeed great. To be so calm even when facing a Dou Emperor powerhouse makes me admire you a bit."

The green figure had no intention of stopping. She continued forward, slowly approaching Qing Lin, while still constantly praising Su Heng.

When the distance was appropriate, the green figure flashed instantly, charging toward Qing Lin. But the moment the figure flashed, a burst of emerald green ghostly light erupted from Qing Lin's eyes, completely enveloping the green figure.

Only an inch away, the green-clad person's index finger would have touched Qing Lin's forehead, but this inch of distance was like a chasm, impossible to cross.

The green-clad person's body stiffened completely, unable to make any movement, pinned in place an inch in front of Qing Lin by her gaze.

"Alright, now we can have a good talk."

Su Heng slowly stood up, walked in front of the green-clad person, and tore off her green outer robe.