Shi Teng slowly rose to his feet. Two heavenly grottos appeared around him, burning with crimson flames, and every movement radiated formidable power.
Both the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent and the Fire Qilin could not help looking toward Shi Teng.
Xia Youyu's eyes fixed on Shi Teng, his figure filling her gaze.
A blush involuntarily spread across her face.
Shi Teng's eyes flickered, then erupted with a vicious gleam. "Fire Qilin, I originally spared you because you were an Ancient Spirit Beast, yet you kept pressing me, trying to kill me again and again.
"Today, I'll leave your corpse buried in the Great Wilderness!"
With a slight shift of Shi Teng's will, scales instantly covered his right arm, and the phantom of a Fire Qilin appeared.
It was the Qilin Arm.
Shi Teng had now opened his second heavenly grotto, and his might was countless times greater than before.
The Fire Qilin immediately lunged at Shi Teng, and the two Fire Qilins collided.
"Break!"
Rumble!
The Fire Qilin's enormous body was instantly blasted away, slamming heavily into the stone wall.
The beast struggled up from the ground. With a slight shift of its will, a string of fireballs hurtled toward Shi Teng.
Shi Teng moved his right hand slightly, activating the Scarlet Emperor Fire Emperor Qi.
The Scarlet Emperor Fire Emperor Qi could neutralize all fire-based attacks, though he had only cultivated it to initiation.
Still, it was more than enough to neutralize these attacks from the Fire Qilin.
Shi Teng neutralized every fireball, drawing them into his second heavenly grotto.
Seeing this, the Fire Qilin let out another roar, its voice laced with defiance.
With a slight shift of its will, its enormous body formed a gigantic fiery-red fist that smashed toward Shi Teng.
Delight appeared on Shi Teng's face. "The Qilin Precious Technique! This Hybrid Qilin actually knows the Qilin Precious Technique!"
He immediately thrust his Qilin Arm forward to meet it.
Rumble!
The Fire Qilin was blasted away again. Clearly, the beast had not mastered its Qilin Precious Technique.
After all, the qilin race was one of the ancient Ten Fiends.
Any one of them could crush an entire world!
The Fire Qilin crashed heavily to the ground and struggled to rise.
It had barely stood up before collapsing again.
As Shi Teng strode toward it, the Fire Qilin's body trembled, and fear swelled within its heart.
Never in its wildest dreams had this mighty Ancient Spirit Beast imagined that a young human would drive it into such a desperate corner.
It stared at Shi Teng's clenched right fist and the streams of pure flame burning along his arm.
Its body trembled all the more.
It struggled up from the ground and let out a roar, trying to bolster its courage.
But the Fire Qilin was already an arrow at the end of its flight, while Shi Teng was riding the crest of his power. How could it possibly be his match?
Shi Teng's expression hardened slightly, and he said coldly, "Let's end this!"
Ding! System notification: This Fire Qilin possesses a trace of Pureblood Qilin bloodline. Through continued evolution, it can become a pureblood Fire Qilin. The host is advised to take it into his service and campaign across the Heavens together!
"What!"
Whenever the system spoke, it offered nothing but the finest!
But Shi Teng did not pause. His fist still thundered forward.
That punch did not strike the Fire Qilin, however. Instead, it struck the stone wall beside it.
Rumble!
Loose rocks immediately came tumbling down all around him. Huge stones rolled off the wall, nearly landing on Shi Teng.
Shi Teng jumped in fright.
Thank goodness I'm nimble. If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have shown off.
Shi Teng coughed twice and said in a low voice, "Considering how hard you've worked for your cultivation, I'll give you two choices.
"First, become my mount and campaign across the Great Wilderness with me!"
A mount!
How could a mighty Fire Qilin like me be reduced to a human's mount?
Defiance filled the Fire Qilin's face, and low growls rumbled from its mouth.
"Second, I'll kill you with my fists, boil your treasure blood to drink, and roast your flesh to eat!
"I'll use your bones to make Qilin Bone Wine and your hide to make armor!
"I'll pull out your teeth and make a bracelet,
"And chop off your limbs to take back to Stone Village!"
Hearing Shi Teng's words, the Fire Qilin began trembling again.
It seemed this fellow truly was ruthless. There was probably nothing he would not do.
Its once-proud head slowly lowered, and it prostrated itself before Shi Teng.
Shi Teng nodded and gently stroked the Fire Qilin's head.
"Mm, wouldn't it have been better to submit to me earlier? You could've spared yourself a savage beating!"
Xia Youyu and the others were utterly dumbfounded. That actually worked?
Meanwhile, Shi Hao activated his Ancient Desolate Sacred Body. Golden light blazed from his eyes, his strength surged, and he was savagely pummeling the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent.
At that moment, Shi Hao held the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent by its tail, wildly swinging the Fire Qilin's enormous body through a full three hundred and sixty degrees.
Then he hurled it away, smashing it heavily into the stone wall.
Rumble!
The Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent had been thoroughly beaten into terror. Not a trace of its domineering aura remained, and its enormous body shook uncontrollably.
It turned around, hoping to leap into the lava and escape with its life.
Shi Hao bellowed, "Trying to run? Where do you think you're going?"
He immediately hoisted a huge rock with both hands and hurled it at the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent, pinning it beneath the stone.
The Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent shifted its body slightly, and the huge rock instantly shattered.
Clearly, the beast was no weakling.
Still, this gave Shi Hao more time.
Shi Hao unleashed the Green-Scaled Eagle Precious Art and rushed over, sending the ten-headed beast flying onto an open patch of ground with a single punch.
The Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent was also an ancient exotic beast and possessed considerable intelligence.
Seeing that the Fire Qilin had saved its miserable life by accepting Shi Teng as its master, it immediately followed suit, kneeling before Shi Hao and begging for mercy.
But Shi Hao showed it no consideration whatsoever.
"Sorry, my big brother wants snake soup tonight!"
Bang!
Another punch drove the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent's head straight into the rock.
The Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent swept its tail toward Shi Hao again.
Shi Hao leaped up, dodging the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent's blow, while the huge rock beside him was smashed to pieces by its strike.
A vicious gleam burst from Shi Hao's eyes. "You dare use that move again? Die!"
Shi Hao leaped up and wheeled through the air, unleashing the second strike of the Green-Scaled Eagle Precious Art, Feather Blade.
The razor-sharp wing swept across the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent's waist like a gigantic green blade, cleaving its entire body in two.
The Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent let out a mournful cry and immediately lost consciousness.
Shi Hao landed lightly beside Shi Teng, his face brimming with excitement. "Big brother, big brother, I killed a huge snake!"
Shi Teng wiped the blood from Shi Hao's face. "Mm, Little One is getting stronger and stronger!"
The golden light faded from Shi Hao's eyes, and he immediately fainted, collapsing to the ground.
Shi Teng caught Shi Hao and lifted him into his arms.
This was probably the drawback of the Ancient Desolate Sacred Body: drawing on the body's strength in advance left it weakened afterward.
It seemed he would have to give him a good nourishing boost.
Treasure blood gushed from the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent's severed body. This was all good stuff; he could not let it go to waste!
Shi Teng took a large cauldron from his inventory and channeled all the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent's treasure blood into it.
Then he placed Shi Hao inside.
He found some dry firewood nearby. With a slight movement of his right hand, a stream of Scarlet Emperor Fire Emperor Qi surged out and ignited the wood on the ground.
He murmured softly, "Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent-it sounds pretty impressive. Why was it so weak?"
The Fire Qilin leaped down, opened its blood-red maw, and tore into the Ten-Headed Blazing Sun Serpent's vital point seven inches below its head, revealing an Inner Core the size of a quail's egg.
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