Myriad Beast Spirit Flame

"At this rate, if I devour another four or five beast flames like this, I'll be able to break through to two-star Dou Shi."

Delight filled Xiao Yuan's voice, and his attitude toward beast flames had shifted to an intense hunger.

After all, who wouldn't love a treasure that could increase their strength like this?

As his absorption of the beast flame neared its end, Xiao Yuan sensed an aura within the valley that shared the same source as the flames on the Crimson Flame Tiger's soul earlier.

Xiao Yuan's mind jolted, and the vigilance he had just relaxed surged back up.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze piercing the layers of heat rising through the Valley to settle on that deep, pitch-black cave.

"Scarlet flames... controlling the souls of magical beasts..."

"Could this... be the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame?"

Disbelief filled Xiao Yuan's voice. This was the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, the flame ranked twenty-second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.

It wasn't that he was jumping to conclusions. Ordinary flames simply couldn't control magical beasts and enhance their abilities.

Only a heavenly flame, hailed as a King of Ten Thousand Flames, could possess such terrifying power.

And among the twenty-three heavenly flames, the only one associated with magical beasts that might appear in the Magical Beast Mountain Range was probably the twenty-second-ranked Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.

Standing atop a crimson rock, Xiao Yuan felt his heart pounding wildly despite himself.

Twenty-second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking—the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame!

He had only seen a few brief accounts of it in ancient texts, yet the wondrous powers described in those words remained deeply branded in his mind.

This flame fed on the souls of myriad beasts and could divide into countless child flames, form beast bodies, manifest beast souls, and command thousands upon thousands of savage beasts. Everything before him was the clearest proof.

No wonder the Crimson Flame Tiger had left no body after its death, only a beast soul.

"So from the very beginning, it wasn't a real magical beast at all, just a child-flame puppet split off from the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame."

Xiao Yuan murmured to himself, excitement churning in his eyes alongside deep apprehension.

"A single child flame forced me into a desperate fight, and its beast soul nearly possessed me. How terrifying must the main flame inside that cave be?"

"If I can devour a few more child flames split off from the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, it won't take long. Four or five, and I'll be able to break through to two-star Dou Shi."

At that thought, an intense desire kindled in Xiao Yuan's heart.

For the Ten Thousand Transformations Source-Dividing Art, the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame's child flames were practically treasures born of heaven and earth.

Each one he devoured would not only strengthen his Dou Qi but also merge the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame's properties into his own Thunderfire, making his attacks even more overwhelming.

Yet beneath that desire, his reason remained clear.

"But I can't rush this." Xiao Yuan slowly clenched his fists. "

I'm only a one-star Dou Shi right now. Recklessly slipping into that cave would be no different from a lamb entering a tiger's jaws. The main flame controls countless child-flame beast souls. Once I'm surrounded, there'll be no chance of escape."

According to the ancient texts, the most evident manifestation of the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame was its command over countless Beast Spirits. Every Beast Spirit was under its control and could fight independently.

This was both a manifestation of the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame's power and the source of that power.

A plan formed in his mind.

Rather than storming the cave to confront the main Myriad Beast Spirit Flame directly, he would devour its child-flame Beast Spirits one by one along the outskirts. This would weaken the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame while increasing his own strength.

After devouring the Crimson Flame Tiger's soul, he had examined that aura. There were at least nearly a hundred more flame Beast Spirits like it within this cave.

Their strength ranged from Second Tier to fourth order, and they were scattered throughout the valley's outer region, as though guarding it.

There were Beast Spirits in the inner region as well, but he hadn't dared probe them for fear of alerting the main Myriad Beast Spirit Flame. The Beast Spirits in the central region were probably no weaker than fourth-order magical beasts.

Xiao Yuan's brow furrowed as he silently weighed his options.

Nearly a hundred Beast Spirits—a considerable number—and their auras were linked to one another. If they were all alerted at once and swarmed him from every direction, even with the Ten Thousand Transformations Source-Dividing Art, he would struggle to escape unscathed.

"I can't provoke too many at once. I have to hunt them down one by one."

His gaze swept across the Valley. The Beast Spirits patrolling its outskirts were spread far apart.

As long as he struck quickly enough to kill and devour a child-flame Beast Spirit before the others arrived to reinforce it, he would have a chance.

"I'll start with the Second Tier Beast Spirits. Better to play it safe."

The Second Tier Beast Spirits were about as strong as the Crimson Flame Tiger he had just faced. Having refined the Crimson Flame Tiger's child flame, his Thunderfire Dou Qi had incorporated the beast flame's properties, making him stronger than before. He was confident he could handle Second Tier Beast Spirits.

As for Third Tier and fourth-order Beast Spirits, he couldn't touch them for now. A fourth-order Beast Spirit was equivalent to a high-level Dou Ling expert. With his cultivation as a one-star Dou Shi, encountering one would mean certain death.

Xiao Yuan slowly retreated beyond the Valley's heat waves and found a rise with a broad view, screened by dense trees.

From here, he could overlook the entire Valley and clearly see the cave entrance, as well as the movements of the Beast Spirits patrolling the outskirts.

He sat cross-legged where he was, continuing to assimilate the Origin of the Crimson Flame Tiger's child flame while observing quietly.

Time trickled by.

Heat waves churned within the Valley, and from time to time, the aura of a Beast Spirit emerged from the cave as it wandered out to patrol along the Valley's edge.

About an hour later, an enormous grayish-brown figure slowly slithered out of the cave.

It was a Rockscale Giant Serpent, its entire body covered in hard stone scales. Faint scarlet beast flames coiled around its body, and its eyes glowed crimson. It was a Second Tier Beast Spirit split off from the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.

The Rockscale Giant Serpent meandered slowly along the Valley's outskirts in search of prey, drawing ever closer to the rise where Xiao Yuan was hidden.

Xiao Yuan held his breath and suppressed his Dou Qi as much as possible, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes.

"Here it comes."

He waited quietly, ready to strike once the Rockscale Giant Serpent had fully entered his ambush range.

The Rockscale Giant Serpent's enormous body slowly ground across the scorching rocks, its scales scraping against them with a dull rustle.

Its forked tongue flicked in and out, sensing the surrounding auras as its crimson slit pupils scanned the area. It had not noticed Xiao Yuan hiding among the trees on the rise at all.

It continued wandering until it slowly entered Xiao Yuan's chosen ambush zone.

Now!

Xiao Yuan waited no longer. He burst out of the trees, pushed off hard, and hurtled down the slope.

His one-star Dou Shi Dou Qi roared into motion. Intertwining purple and scarlet Thunderfire coiled around his fists, the newly fused trace of beast flame glowing faintly within it. Thunder and scorching heat waves swept around his clenched fists.

Boom!

He drove a punch straight toward the Rockscale Giant Serpent's head.

The Rockscale Giant Serpent reacted with astonishing speed. The instant it sensed killing intent, its enormous body twisted sharply, raising its hard stone scales to take the blow head-on.

A deafening crash erupted, sending shattered stone flying.

Xiao Yuan felt as though his fist had struck a thick iron plate. A tremendous recoil surged back along his arm, leaving it slightly numb.

"Those scales are so hard!"