At that moment, Long Qianming, who stood nearby, looked into the cave at the sight, an exceedingly strange smile gradually curling his lips.
"Xiao Tian, kill him for me."
The moment his words fell, a twelve-meter-long Dark Sacred Dragon rushed out of the space, its entire body plunging into the cave.
Boom!
The female dragon eagle, which had done little to guard itself, was knocked straight to the ground. Sharp dragon claws pierced its wings, and cold dragon eyes stared down at the female dragon eagle pinned beneath it.
Screee!
The female dragon eagle let out an agonized cry. Outside the cave, the male dragon eagle grew even more frantic. Countless black ice crystals condensed out of thin air and shot toward Dugu Bo below.
It paid Dugu Bo no further attention, preparing to rush into the cave to help the female dragon eagle. However, in the very next second-
"Martial Soul Avatar!"
Dugu Bo swiftly activated his Martial Soul Avatar, all his attributes soaring by 200%. A ten-meter-long Jade Phosphorous Serpent charged at it, its tail whipping out and striking the male dragon eagle squarely in both legs.
"Still trying to save it? Get down here!"
The Jade Phosphorous Serpent's tail yanked hard.
Thud!
The male dragon eagle was dragged down heavily, while cracks appeared in the ice platform supporting them.
Crack!
The cracks in the ice rapidly widened, spreading into the massive ice platform. Then came-
Crack!
With a sharp snap, the entire ice platform shattered. As it fell, Long Qianming swiftly pushed off it and leaped into the cave.
"Boy, don't worry about me. I can only leave the rest to you. I'll break free and come help you as quickly as possible."
Dugu Bo called out his instructions as he fell alongside the male dragon eagle.
At that very moment, the battle inside the cave continued. Although the dragon claws had pierced the female dragon eagle, it was a ten-thousand-year soul beast, after all, and still had the strength to resist. Its sharp talons suddenly slashed forward.
A shallow wound was cut through the diamond-hard scales on the Dark Sacred Dragon's belly. Then the female dragon eagle kicked with both legs, sending the Dark Sacred Dragon astride it flying.
The enormous dragon body slammed into the cave wall. Huge quantities of falling ice completely sealed the already fragile entrance, and visibility inside the cave dropped once more.
Dragging its injured wings, the female dragon eagle slowly rose, and countless black ice crystals began to condense.
At that moment, Long Qianming would give it no further chance.
"Xiao Tian, go."
"Second Soul Skill, World-Burning Black Flame!"
Dark Qi rapidly gathered in Xiao Tian's neck. In less than a second, vast quantities of scorching black flames sprayed toward the female dragon eagle.
With the space inside the cave limited, the undying flames' temperature would rise further, and their lethal range would also expand.
The mass of black ice crystals shooting toward Long Qianming all turned to steam and dissipated inside the cave. The female dragon eagle had no time to retreat at all.
Its entire body was scorched by vast quantities of undying flames. The feathers on both wings were burned away, and large portions of its body were charred, most noticeably its wings.
Screee!
It let out an even more wretched cry. Just as it prepared to retreat and protect its child-
"First Soul Skill, Space-Rending Claw!"
Xiao Tian was no longer the Xiao Tian of before. Only after evolving into a Dark Sacred Dragon had the effects of his first soul skill fully emerged.
A dragon claw wreathed in endless black Qi seized the gravely wounded female dragon eagle, swiftly slicing through its outer black scales. The other dragon claw plunged through the wound and pierced its body, plucking out its heart and tossing it into the air.
The enormous dragon maw swiftly caught the heart and swallowed it. A black soul ring emerged from the dead ten-thousand-year Snow Moon Dragon Eagle.
At that very moment, however, dozens of blue icicles shot toward Long Qianming. Xiao Tian swiftly swung his tail to sweep away the icicles, establishing a solid defensive line in front of him.
"Very few soul beasts can withstand my second soul skill inside a cave. This Snow Moon Dragon Eagle's child counts as one."
No sooner had Long Qianming spoken than a four-meter-long, lightly injured Snow Moon Dragon Eagle, blue and white all over, flew toward him with tremendous speed.
"Xiao Tian, take it alive. This dragon eagle is around four thousand years old, and its mutated attributes are quite good."
Xiao Tian nodded slightly and charged out again. With the strength of his body, he swung his dragon tail, blasting the already injured and somewhat sluggish Snow Moon Dragon Eagle away. Just as its body struck the cave wall, his dragon claws pierced its body.
Screee!
A sharp, thin eagle cry rang out. Its presence rapidly surged, and the soul power within it gathered in one place.
"You Snow Moon Dragon Eagle, you still want to self-destruct? Not a chance!"
Long Qianming swiftly drew eight Dragon Whisker Needles. Using his current soul power and practiced technique, he launched them, and the Dragon Whisker Needles struck unerringly inside the Snow Moon Dragon Eagle.
The Dragon Whisker Needles rapidly twisted its body. The power amassed for its self-destruction was swiftly disrupted and rampaged chaotically within the Snow Moon Dragon Eagle. Blood seeped from its beak and eyes.
Thud!
Its entire four-meter-long body crashed down, falling unconscious.
Only then did Long Qianming walk forward and take a close look.
"Oh! I didn't expect this Snow Moon Dragon Eagle's attributes to have mutated so thoroughly. It actually abandoned its darkness attribute and moved toward a pure ice attribute. Unsuitable. Far too unsuitable."
Just as he stood up, Xiao Tian carried a soul beast's corpse out from the deepest part of the cave in his jaws. It was only three meters long, pitch-black all over, and resembled a crow.
"Xiao Tian, is this a Snow Moon Dragon Eagle too?"
At the sight of the crow-like soul beast, Long Qianming still could not believe it. But after examining it carefully, he nodded helplessly and said,
"I didn't expect there to be a fourth Snow Moon Dragon Eagle in this cave. What a pity! This Snow Moon Dragon Eagle had a pure darkness attribute."
When Long Qianming saw the intense longing in Xiao Tian's dragon eyes, he understood something.
"If you want to eat it, go ahead! This Dark Moon Dragon Eagle makes quite a good little supplement."
After receiving his master's permission, Xiao Tian swallowed the Dark Moon Dragon Eagle in three mouthfuls. Then he flopped heavily onto the ground, slowly closed his dragon eyes, and fell asleep.
Long Qianming was speechless at the sight. He walked up to the ten-thousand-year Snow Moon Dragon Eagle's corpse and was just about to absorb the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring when the sound of shattering ice rang out, and the ice-blocked cave entrance burst open.
The temperature inside the cave rapidly dropped, and ice swiftly formed on the walls, quickly restoring the cave's general appearance from before.
At that moment, an extremely anxious Dugu Bo walked into the cave. Seeing the soundly sleeping Dark Sacred Dragon, the largely unharmed Long Qianming, and a soul beast's corpse, he was both delighted and shocked.
"Boy, did you kill all these?"
"I killed them! There was actually a third Snow Moon Dragon Eagle too, but it was too weak, so Xiao Tian ate it."
Hearing this, Dugu Bo was astonished once more.
Three? One man and one beast killed three subdragon soul beasts, and one of them was even a ten-thousand-year soul beast. This boy was only a quasi-soul elder. How could he unleash Soul Emperor-level combat strength?