The instant the flames made contact, over a hundred meters of cliff face burned away, leaving a giant star-shaped scar.
The Auspicious Beast turned to look at the scene behind her and swallowed.
Good thing she had not taken that head-on, or she would probably have been injured.
The next instant, the Auspicious Beast snapped out of her daze and called excitedly to Zeng Tian, "Zeng Tian, what's that skill called? It's so powerful! I want to learn it too!"
"It's called Fire Blast. I haven't fully mastered it myself yet, so I can't teach you."
As he spoke, Zeng Tian silently assessed Fire Blast's damage.
Fire Blast is much more powerful than I expected. Its overall damage isn't much higher than Flamethrower's, but its burst is far stronger. No wonder the Auspicious Beast didn't choose to take it head-on.
In the game, Fire Blast had a power of only 110, just over twenty percent higher than Flamethrower's 90. And since Zeng Tian's Flamethrower was already at the maximum lv10, the Fire Blast he had just unleashed was not actually much stronger than Flamethrower.
But Flamethrower dealt sustained damage, whereas Fire Blast delivered everything in a single burst. In terms of instantaneous damage, Fire Blast far surpassed Flamethrower.
Yet precisely because Fire Blast released all its energy in one instantaneous burst, it also came with a problem: an opponent fast enough could dodge the attack entirely.
What had just happened with the Auspicious Beast was a perfect example. Against a sufficiently fast opponent, Fire Blast really struggled to hit its target.
The burden is heavy, and the road ahead is long. I still have so much to learn.
Zeng Tian sighed inwardly as the thought crossed his mind.
At present, Zeng Tian had no shortage of offensive moves, and Terrifying Growl was enough to disrupt his opponents. What he still lacked was a move that could enhance his own abilities.
Flame Charge was good, but it only increased his speed, not his firepower directly.
The moves Zeng Tian most wanted to learn right now were Sunny Day and Dragon Dance. Mastering either would greatly increase his current combat strength.
With his leveling slowing down, skills had undoubtedly become Zeng Tian's avenue for a breakthrough.
Hearing Zeng Tian's answer, the Auspicious Beast could not help feeling a little disappointed. "All right, then."
After spending these past few months with Zeng Tian, she had also grown fond of the feeling of becoming stronger little by little.
The moment she learned a new skill, in particular, was downright addictive. Her old days of eating and sleeping, then sleeping and eating, were gone for good.
Knowing that a powerful skill was right before her eyes yet being unable to learn it left the Auspicious Beast feeling miserable.
Zeng Tian flashed over to the Auspicious Beast, rapped her on the head, and said, "What are you looking so disappointed for? Have you mastered Dragon Flame Roar yet?"
Dragon Flame Roar was, of course, an upgraded version of Golden Dragon Roar. By incorporating the powers of ultimate fire and ultimate light, its power had increased dramatically-nearly doubling, in fact.
Given the Auspicious Beast's current condition, if she mastered this move, even the Holy Spirit Cult's supreme grand elder would struggle to subdue her in a short time.
"Not... no, not yet. That move is really hard to practice!"
The Auspicious Beast rubbed her head, which ached slightly where Zeng Tian had rapped it, and spoke aggrievedly.
Unlike Golden Dragon Flame Fist, Dragon Flame Roar required her to control an entire dragon's body in combat. Even though she had become proficient in Golden Dragon Flame Fist, she was still a long way from gaining even an initial grasp of Dragon Flame Roar.
Then the Auspicious Beast tugged on Zeng Tian's wing, her gaze pleading. "How about teaching me that Great Sun Dragon Fist you mentioned first?"
"Great Sun Dragon Fist has extremely high requirements for fire and light. Even I can't manage it as I am now. Are you sure you want to learn it?"
Zeng Tian tilted his head and looked at the young Auspicious Beast with amusement as he spoke.
This little lass certainly liked reaching beyond her grasp. She wanted to run before she could even walk.
The so-called Great Sun Dragon Fist was actually a way to simulate the sun using ultimate light and ultimate fire, incorporating the golden dragon's power and Pressure. It was far more difficult than Dragon Flame Roar and was merely an idea Zeng Tian had conceived.
In theory, executing Great Sun Dragon Fist required the energies of light and fire to react violently and fuse at the instant the punch was thrown, creating a genuine miniature sun. If he could actually pull it off, its power would probably rival even Di Tian's Dragon God Claw.
"No, no, never mind."
Hearing that even Zeng Tian could not do it, the Auspicious Beast immediately shook her head repeatedly.
She merely liked the feeling of growing stronger and making progress; she did not enjoy asking for punishment.
On the contrary, she deeply hated the feeling of working hard for ages without gaining even the slightest clue. To her, that was the ultimate torture.
Just then, a dark-red streak of light raced toward them from afar, arriving before Zeng Tian and the Auspicious Beast moments later.
"Auspicious Beast, Zeng Tian."
Seeing the Scarlet King return, Zeng Tian greeted him as well. "You're here, Scarlet King. Let's carry on training, then."
Between training with a sparring partner and training alone, having a partner was naturally better. It allowed him to test his ideas and identify problems more quickly.
And for Zeng Tian as he was now, the Scarlet King was undoubtedly an excellent sparring partner.
His combat strength was just a notch above Zeng Tian's without being excessively powerful, putting pressure on him without defeating him instantly.
If Zeng Tian unleashed an explosive surge of power, he might even turn the tables and win.
Furthermore, the Scarlet King possessed something that greatly interested Zeng Tian: a domain!
Yes, the Scarlet King had a domain. Although it was not particularly powerful and its suppressive effect on Zeng Tian was limited, it could still cause him trouble.
This was also one of the main reasons the Scarlet King currently held an edge over Zeng Tian in combat. Without his domain's enhancement, even after learning Flame Charge, the Scarlet King would at most be evenly matched with Zeng Tian in his normal state.
Zeng Tian's interest in domains stemmed not only from the way they restricted his performance, but also from his desire to use them as an indirect path to understanding Sunny Day.
In a sense, a weather-enhancing skill like Sunny Day could be considered another kind of special domain. The two achieved similar results through different means.
"Not today. I came here because there's something I need to inform you about."
The Scarlet King shook his head, declining Zeng Tian's invitation.
At that, the young Auspicious Beast blinked and asked in confusion, "Inform us? About what?"
Zeng Tian likewise looked at the Scarlet King. Di Tian had just summoned the Scarlet King, and now he had returned with an announcement for them. Could this have something to do with Di Tian?
The Scarlet King replied, "Di Tian wants you to attend the next gathering. He sent me to let you know?"
"A gathering? What's that?"
Hearing a word that sounded rather out of place coming from the Scarlet King, Zeng Tian felt puzzled.
Was there anything like this in the original story?
Seeing Zeng Tian's confusion, the Auspicious Beast explained, "The gathering is really just Di Tian and the other ferocious beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest getting together to talk about what's happened lately. It takes place once every hundred years. Counting the time, the next one should only be a few months away."