At first, the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound paid no mind when he saw Zeng Tian clash beams with him.
In his eyes, however strong Zeng Tian was, he was still only a thousand-year soul beast. Unless he was a thousand-year soul beast like a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear or the Auspicious Beast, there was no way he could be his match.
Especially since Zeng Tian also had a fire attribute. Aside from ultimate fire, could any other flame be stronger than his dark fire?
Under the suppression of his dark fire, it would be impressive if the other beast's flames could exert even half their power.
Yet in the next instant, the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound's eyes widened in astonishment.
The other beast's bluish-white flames had not only withstood his killing move, but after a brief deadlock, they had completely overwhelmed his dark red beam and swept back toward him.
By the time the blue flames reached him, the astonishment in the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound's eyes had turned to terror.
Rumble-
The next instant, the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound's enormous body was completely engulfed in bluish-white flames. The flames split into several pillars that scattered behind him, their searing heat turning the ground molten wherever they passed.
Soon, Zeng Tian stopped unleashing Flamethrower and looked toward where the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound stood.
A moment later, when the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound reappeared, his dark red fur was somewhat scorched, and all three heads looked as though they had been blackened with soot, making for a rather comical sight.
The Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound's three heads glanced at one another. Upon seeing those soot-blackened heads, his expression turned exceedingly ugly.
As a Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound, he stood among the pinnacles of fire-attribute soul beasts, and possessed dark fire that approached ultimate fire. Now, an unfamiliar fire-attribute soul beast had scorched his entire body black. This was nothing short of an insult.
The Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound roared inwardly, How is this possible? My ultimate move was actually weaker than that strange soul beast's?
He only suffered minor injuries!
Looking at the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound opposite him, Zeng Tian was equally astonished.
By his estimate, his current Flamethrower could easily burn a ten-thousand-year soul beast to ashes.
Even a twenty- or thirty-thousand-year soul beast would be severely injured by a single hit unless it excelled at defense or possessed fire resistance.
Yet his opponent had suffered only superficial injuries. Just how strong was his fire resistance?
This soul beast is too strong! ×2
For a moment, both Zeng Tian and the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound reached the same conclusion in their hearts.
Should I keep fighting?
The Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound was already thinking of retreating. After all, the Star Dou Great Forest was so vast that he could always find another volcano if he kept searching. There was no need to fight this opponent to the bitter end.
Unlike the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound, however, Zeng Tian only grew more excited.
Their strength was roughly equal, they were both Fire-type, and his opponent had thick skin, tough flesh, and exceptional survivability. Where could he find a better sparring partner?
The next instant, roaring flames ignited around Zeng Tian's body once again, and he charged toward the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound.
"Roar!" (Don't push your luck! Do you really think I'm afraid of you?!)
Seeing Zeng Tian charge, the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound gritted his teeth and met him head-on.
Whatever else, he was still a Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound. If he let a thousand-year fire-attribute soul beast chase him around and beat him up, where would that leave his clan's pride?
An hour later.
"Roar!" (Stop, stop, stop! How about we call it a day?)
After yet another clash, the thoroughly bedraggled Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound hurriedly called out.
Opposite him, Zeng Tian relaxed upon hearing the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound's words and nodded.
He was nearing his limit as well. If they kept fighting and another soul beast swooped in to reap the spoils, that would be trouble.
At the same time, Zeng Tian could not help reflecting that, for Pokémon to level up quickly, battle really was the answer.
During that single hour of combat, he had swiftly broken through the level 33 bottleneck that had been holding him back. It was far faster than when he had buried himself in solitary training.
Seeing Zeng Tian stop, the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, this soul beast still had some sense.
Then, not daring to linger, the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound transformed into a streak of dark red light and vanished.
Watching the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound leave, Zeng Tian inwardly lamented the loss.
What a fine punching bag. A shame I can't keep using him.
Then Zeng Tian turned and entered the volcano again, drawing on the dense fire-attribute energy within it to replenish the energy he had expended.
Meanwhile, after leaving the volcano, the Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound hurried toward the core region.
"You're saying you lost to a thousand-year soul beast in the mixed region, and that it even had a fire attribute?"
After hearing his descendant's report, surprise appeared in the Scarlet King's eyes.
A ten-thousand-year soul beast losing to a thousand-year soul beast was nothing unusual. Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bears, Titan Giant Apes, and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion could all match or even defeat ten-thousand-year soul beasts while still at the thousand-year level.
Xiong Jun, a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, had even wounded Di Tian with his claws. That alone proved how formidable such soul beasts were.
But clearly, the soul beast his descendant had just described was not any species he knew. It was an entirely new kind of soul beast.
"A new mutated soul beast? Interesting."
Mutated soul beasts were not uncommon, but those capable of possessing the strength of a ten-thousand-year soul beast at the thousand-year stage-and matching a ten-thousand-year soul beast like a Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound, at that-were few and far between.
The Scarlet King's gaze shifted slightly as he pondered, If I have time, I can go take a look. If this soul beast can reproduce, I could try breeding him and see whether I can create a new species.
I could even find a female of my clan to mate with him and see whether they can produce a variant stronger than a Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound.
Clearly, compared with Zeng Tian's strength, the Scarlet King cared more about what benefits he could gain from him.
After all, even if Zeng Tian could contend with ten-thousand-year soul beasts now, he would still need long years to grow to the Scarlet King's level.
By comparison, incorporating his bloodline seemed much more practical.
The Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound lineage had originally acquired a portion of true dragon blood because an ancestor had crossbred with a true dragon, gradually evolving into the clan that existed today.
Unfortunately, a partial true dragon bloodline still fell far short of those of the truly top-tier soul beasts.
Take him, for example. Never mind Xiong Jun as he was now-even when Xiong Jun had only been at the hundred-thousand-year level, the Scarlet King had been unable to defeat him.
Ultimately, his bloodline was of too low a quality, leaving him insufficiently strong.
If he could purify that portion of his bloodline, or evolve his own flames further into ultimate fire, then he might not fall far behind a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear of the same age.
Just then, another roar rang out nearby. The Scarlet King looked toward the sound, and a headache immediately came over him.
Sigh... That little madam is at it again.
Then the Scarlet King transformed into a streak of dark red light and swiftly followed.
If anything happened to the Auspicious Beast, he could not bear the responsibility.