"Um, Zeng Tian, could you teach me that Flame Charge you taught the Auspicious Beast?"
The Scarlet King's voice rang out, leaving all the soul beasts present momentarily stunned.
Zeng Tian was the first to recover. He gave the Scarlet King a surprised look. "You want to learn Flame Charge?"
"That's right. Is that not allowed?"
The Scarlet King felt a little uneasy. Even if Zeng Tian refused, he could keep secretly learning it, but secretly copying a technique and receiving proper instruction were different things, after all.
As the creator of Flame Charge, Zeng Tian could easily point out any problems that arose during his training.
Without Zeng Tian's guidance, he would need an immense amount of time to reproduce it.
If time were the only issue, that would be one thing. More importantly, his final result would most likely still fall short of Zeng Tian's original.
And even if he perfectly reproduced Zeng Tian's Flame Charge, what about the other skills Zeng Tian possessed?
Was he supposed to learn every last one by eavesdropping and imitation?
That was clearly impossible. Since that was the case, he might as well lay his cards on the table from the start and ask Zeng Tian for instruction directly.
Hearing this, Zeng Tian looked the Scarlet King up and down. He hadn't expected this old fellow to be so eager to improve that he would even ask him for instruction.
"I can teach you, but why should I? What can you offer me, Scarlet King?"
Zeng Tian considered it for a moment before speaking.
At those words, the Scarlet King knew he had a chance and hurriedly replied, "I can give you my Blazing Flame Valley. The concentration of fire energy there is no lower than at the Lake of Life, and it's covered in blazing fire grass. Consuming blazing fire grass over a long period can purify a soul beast's flames."
"I have ultimate fire. Would this blazing fire grass you mentioned still work on me?"
Zeng Tian hadn't let the promise of improving his flames go to his head. The effects of this blazing fire grass had to be limited; otherwise, why was the Scarlet King still stuck at the threshold of ultimate fire, unable to advance?
The Scarlet King replied, "You have ultimate fire, and the oldest blazing fire grass in the Blazing Flame Valley is only ten thousand years old. It most likely won't improve the quality of your flames, but blazing fire grass contains abundant fire-attribute energy. Eating it should allow your cultivation to advance further.
"At the very least, with the amount of blazing fire grass in the Blazing Flame Valley, raising your cultivation to the ten-thousand-year level shouldn't be a problem. Cultivating there will also be somewhat easier."
"In that case, I agree. Where is this Blazing Flame Valley?"
After hearing him out, Zeng Tian nodded and agreed to the Scarlet King's request.
He had already taught Flame Charge to the Auspicious Beast anyway. Teaching one or teaching two made no difference.
Teaching the Scarlet King would not only earn him a place where he could resume leveling up, but also the Scarlet King's goodwill. This was a worthwhile deal.
As long as he leveled up quickly enough, nothing happening in the outside world would be able to affect him.
Seeing Zeng Tian agree, the Scarlet King breathed a sigh of relief, delight appearing on his face. "Good, then I'll take you to Blazing Flame-"
"No! I don't agree!"
Just then, the Auspicious Beast suddenly interrupted their conversation.
At her words, both Zeng Tian and the Scarlet King turned to look at the Auspicious Beast.
The Scarlet King asked in bewilderment, "Auspicious Beast, what do you mean by that? Why are you stopping me from learning Flame Charge?
"If you're worried about your safety, I can ask Zi JI to protect you temporarily."
After Zeng Tian's instruction over these past days, the Auspicious Beast's strength had improved considerably. Ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul beasts were no longer a match for her.
As for humans, unless a Super Douluo above level ninety-five came, capturing or killing the Auspicious Beast would be practically impossible.
This was also one reason the Scarlet King was so eager to improve his strength. At the Auspicious Beast's current rate of progress, she might surpass him in just a few years.
If he, her bodyguard, was weaker than the Auspicious Beast herself, what was the point of having him as a bodyguard?
Faced with the Scarlet King's questions, the Auspicious Beast tilted her head. "I just don't agree, that's all."
If the Scarlet King learned Flame Charge, wouldn't my plan to sneak out and play with Zeng Tian go up in smoke before it even began?
So I absolutely can't let the Scarlet King learn Flame Charge!
Zeng Tian rubbed his chin, roughly guessing what the Auspicious Beast was plotting. He went over to her and whispered into her ear, "Don't worry, my dear Auspicious Beast. Flame Charge is by no means the finish line. When I develop an even stronger acceleration skill, you'll be the first one I teach. I guarantee you'll leave the Scarlet King so far behind he won't even be in sight."
As she listened to Zeng Tian, the Auspicious Beast's ears twitched. Then she sent him a telepathic message. "Then~ you'd better keep your word. And don't put quite so much effort into teaching the Scarlet King.
"Zeng Tian, you must be really short on resources, right? He has plenty of good things. Now that he's opened this door today, he'll definitely ask you to teach him other skills later. When that happens, ask him for something in return."
Hearing this, Zeng Tian gave the Auspicious Beast before him a surprised look. He hadn't realized she had the makings of a crafty merchant.
Then Zeng Tian smiled and patted the Auspicious Beast's shoulder. "Got it. Do you want to come take a look with me?"
About an hour later, Zeng Tian and the others arrived above a valley lush with grass and aquatic plants.
"The Blazing Flame Valley is down below. This place used to be an enormous volcano. The volcano is dormant now, but the fire-attribute energy in the valley is still first-rate. It has even nourished natural treasures like blazing fire grass."
As he explained, the Scarlet King led Zeng Tian into an enormous cavern. Red crystals were embedded throughout it, radiating fiery red light that illuminated the cavern as brightly as day.
"Clan leader! Auspicious Beast!"
They hadn't gone far before two Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hounds appeared before Zeng Tian and the Auspicious Beast and bowed to them.
Zeng Tian briefly examined the two Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hounds. Both were considerably larger than the ten-thousand-year Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hound he had first encountered, and their auras were much more powerful. They had at least forty or fifty thousand years of cultivation.
The Scarlet King nodded slightly. "You can head back. From now on, this place belongs to Zeng Tian."
"But..."
The two Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Hounds exchanged glances, each seeing confusion in the other's eyes.
Still, this was their clan leader's command. They didn't dare object and swiftly left.
Watching this, the Auspicious Beast pursed her lips. "You even stationed two juniors here to guard it. Are you that afraid other soul beasts will discover it?"
"This place is a treasure trove for fire-attribute soul beasts. If I didn't station juniors here to guard it, those fire-attribute soul beasts would probably devour all the blazing fire grass in no time."
The Scarlet King glanced at the Auspicious Beast as he spoke.
When they reached the end of the passage, a scarlet world appeared before Zeng Tian's eyes.
The space was roughly egg-shaped and covered about ten thousand square meters. A peculiar red herb grew thickly across the bottom and all around it.