Deep within the Magical Beast Mountain Range, in a dense primeval forest.
Lu Changfeng followed the mountain path, searching for the Amethyst Winged Lion King's lair based on the location he remembered.
After walking for a while, he reached the vicinity of a cave. Just as he was about to approach, he spotted a woman leaning against the rock wall beside it.
She wore a long black robe and held one hand over her chest. Her face was somewhat pale; she was clearly injured.
Lu Changfeng stopped and glanced at her, recognizing her identity at once.
Yun Yun, the Misty Cloud Sect Master, a Dou Huang expert.
Yun Yun also noticed Lu Changfeng's arrival. She frowned slightly, feeling somewhat curious.
Danger lurked on all sides deep within the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Ordinary people would never dare venture this far in. Why would a young man appear in a place like this? He looked barely over twenty, and his clothes were plain, nothing like those of an expert here to hunt magical beasts.
After a moment's hesitation, Yun Yun spoke up to warn him.
"Young man, this isn't somewhere you should be. High-tier magical beasts roam nearby. You should leave quickly before you run into danger."
Hearing this, Lu Changfeng glanced at her, his face showing no surprise.
He merely replied calmly, "You mean the sixth-tier magical beast, the Amethyst Winged Lion King?"
"Perfect. I came here to find it."
But as soon as his words fell, Yun Yun froze, wondering if she had misheard.
What had this young man said? He wanted to find the Amethyst Winged Lion King?
That was a sixth-tier magical beast, equivalent to a human Dou Emperor expert. Moreover, magical beasts had stronger bodies than humans, and humans were often no match for them at the same level.
A young man barely over twenty actually said he wanted to find the Amethyst Winged Lion King?
Yun Yun thought he must have gone mad. Even she, a Dou Huang expert, was no match for the Amethyst Winged Lion King, and she had been injured and had her cultivation sealed because of it.
This young man was barely over twenty at most, wasn't he? At the absolute most, he could only be a Dou Zhe or Dou Shi, yet he dared make such a boast.
She could not help trying to persuade him again. "Young man, don't be rash."
"The Amethyst Winged Lion King is a sixth-tier magical beast with terrifying strength. I just fought it. Even I was no match for it, and I was injured."
"If a young man like you recklessly goes looking for it, you'll only throw your life away. Take my advice and abandon the idea. Don't gamble with your life."
Yet Lu Changfeng paid her words no mind, his expression still as light as the breeze and clouds.
He turned toward the distant cave and shouted directly at it.
"Amethyst Winged Lion King, where are you? Get out here at once, or I'll raze your lair!"
His shout rang through the silent mountain forest. His expression was icy, without the slightest emotional fluctuation; he plainly thought nothing of the sixth-tier magical beast.
Yun Yun froze on the spot, staring at the young man beside her with her eyes wide and mouth agape. She had never seen such a madman!
A young man barely over twenty actually dared shout challenges on a sixth-tier magical beast's territory, telling it to get out here and even threatening to raze its lair?
This was no longer a matter of being bold. He was simply courting death!
Shocked and finding it absurd, Yun Yun rapidly turned things over in her mind.
A young man his age could be a Dou Zhe at most, surely? Even stretching it to the limit, he could only be a One-Star Dou Shi.
A Dou Zhe or a One-Star Dou Shi challenging the sixth-tier Amethyst Winged Lion King?
What was that if not courting death!
Yun Yun anxiously tried to grab him, but the wound in her chest slowed her movements. Just then, a deafening roar came from the distant cave!
Immediately afterward, an enormous purple magical beast charged out of the cave. Its entire body was covered in amethyst-like scales, and its bloodred eyes stared fixedly in Lu Changfeng's direction.
It was none other than the Amethyst Winged Lion King!
Lu Changfeng's shout had enraged it. As the overlord of this part of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, it had never had anyone dare speak to it like that.
The Amethyst Winged Lion King opened its huge, blood-filled maw and roared in fury, then charged straight at Lu Changfeng.
At that moment, Yun Yun's expression changed drastically at the sight, and she hurriedly shouted, "Run!"
But to her surprise, Lu Changfeng stood where he was without moving a step. He merely raised his hand and casually struck forward with his palm.
A terrifying presence erupted in an instant, and even the air seemed to freeze.
The Amethyst Winged Lion King's enormous charging body abruptly stopped several zhang away from Lu Changfeng, as though it had struck an invisible wall.
It let out a shrill howl, its enormous body flying backward uncontrollably before slamming heavily into the mountain wall.
With a thunderous crash, a huge crater was smashed into the mountain wall, sending broken rocks flying everywhere. In the next instant, the Amethyst Winged Lion King lay sprawled on the ground, howling in pain. Several of the scales covering its body had shattered, and blood flowed continuously from its wounds.
It struggled to stand, but its body no longer obeyed it. It could only lie there, letting out low cries of pain.
Yun Yun, still standing in place, was utterly dumbfounded. She stood frozen as though struck by lightning, staring wide-eyed at the scene before her, her mind completely blank.
One casual palm strike had sent the sixth-tier Amethyst Winged Lion King flying. What kind of strength was this?
A Dou Emperor? Or a Dou Zong?
A young man who looked barely over twenty actually possessed such strength?
At that moment, Yun Yun felt her entire view of the world collapse. All her earlier guesses had been overturned completely.
What Dou Zhe or Dou Shi? With a single slap, he had gravely injured the Amethyst Winged Lion King that she could not defeat!
Lu Changfeng walked unhurriedly toward the Amethyst Winged Lion King and lowered his head to glance at it.
"I only want your lion blood, not your life. Will you hand it over yourself, or must I do it personally?"
The Amethyst Winged Lion King lay trembling on the ground. How could it dare offer a single word of resistance? It hurriedly forced a mass of purple blood out through its wounds and suspended it in the air.
Lu Changfeng then took out a jade bottle and collected the lion blood inside before turning to leave. As he passed Yun Yun, he paused and gave her an indifferent glance.
"Your injuries aren't light. You'd best go back and recuperate properly."
With that, Lu Changfeng headed back the way he had come without looking back, leaving Yun Yun standing alone in a daze, unable to recover her senses for a long time.
She watched the young man's retreating figure grow more and more distant, indescribable shock and complicated feelings surging in her heart.
Who exactly was this man? When had such an unfathomable expert appeared in the Jia Ma Empire?