With the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm helping conceal his presence, Ning Yuhao gradually approached the Scarlet Flame Demon Bear. He finally crept within fifteen meters and used his Wicked Lord Shingan to examine it.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm could only roughly sense a Soul Beast's strength. Determining its exact age still required Ning Yuhao's Wicked Lord Shingan.
"This one's around seventeen thousand years old," Ning Yuhao told the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and Ice Empress in his Sea of Consciousness after examining it.
"There were plenty of beasts in that bunch back then, but I remembered every last one of them. Among them was a seventy-thousand-year-old Scarlet Flame Demon Bear, and this one clearly isn't as powerful. The son pays the father's debts. Running into me today was its bad luck," the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said indignantly.
Ice Empress poked the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm. "All right, shut up."
Then she said to Ning Yuhao, "Seventeen thousand years-with your current constitution, you could just barely absorb it. Of course, if you want to play it safer, you could look for a younger one. We're only your Soul Rings now, after all. The final decision is yours."
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm fell silent as well. Naturally, he wanted revenge, but he knew even better that as long as Ning Yuhao lived, he would surely become a top powerhouse. When that time came, revenge would flow as naturally as water into a channel.
Ning Yuhao smiled faintly. "Since we've run into it, that means we're fated. Besides, you said it yourself: it would only be difficult, not impossible."
Having made his decision, Ning Yuhao continued creeping forward. It was already morning, but the Scarlet Flame Demon Bear was still asleep. A nearly picked-clean Soul Beast carcass lay discarded beside it. Ning Yuhao guessed it must have eaten its fill and was digesting its meal.
Only as he drew closer did Ning Yuhao get a clear view of the Scarlet Flame Demon Bear's entire body. His first impression was that it was big-enormous. Though it lay curled up on the ground, it looked like a small mountain.
Its thick, long fur was a dull, scorched brown at the roots, but the color gradually lightened toward the tips, shedding its black and turning red. The tips were scarlet, like thick iron rods heated red-hot.
Its head was enormous too. As it breathed in its sleep, faint wisps of white mist actually rose, showing just how intense its fire attribute was.
Ning Yuhao steadied his mind and gathered his Soul Power to its utmost.
"Spiritual Shock!"
Ning Yuhao struck first with his powerful spiritual power, then darted forward in a blur. At the same time, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion tattoo on his body glowed, and ice crystals covered both his hands.
"Ice Empress's Pincer!"
Ning Yuhao quickly crossed the few meters between them and slammed both hands viciously into the Scarlet Flame Demon Bear's head. Thick ice crystals soon formed over it.
The Scarlet Flame Demon Bear had been sleeping when it suddenly felt as though a sledgehammer had struck its head, startling it awake. Its head throbbed and swam so badly that it even felt faintly nauseous. Before it could react, its head suffered another devastating blow.
This time, however, it had truly been struck. First came excruciating pain, then bone-piercing cold spread from its head.
Before the Scarlet Flame Demon Bear could understand what had happened, it had already suffered a grievous attack. Its fire-attribute Soul Power seethed as it clutched its head and rolled violently, letting out agonized whimpers. It did not even have the strength to roar.
The Scarlet Flame Demon Bear was like a small mountain, and now flames erupted from its body as well. Ning Yuhao did not dare approach at all and could only retreat, unable to move in for a finishing blow. Still, he did not remain idle.
He summoned his Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. Its first floor opened, and a baby silkworm and an Ice Jade Scorpion flew out.
The moment she emerged, the Ice Jade Scorpion charged forward, brandishing her pincers. Ice Empress might have been only a meter and a half long, far smaller than the nearly five-meter Scarlet Flame Demon Bear, but her abilities were no joke. The Scarlet Flame Demon Bear could not touch her at all. Instead, Ice Empress pierced several holes in it with her tail stinger, and ice crystals began forming around those holes.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm did not remain idle either. Drawing on his powerful spiritual power, he unleashed Spiritual Shock almost without pause. The Scarlet Flame Demon Bear had never been known for its intelligence. The first wave of Spiritual Shock had already left it in unbearable pain, and now its head felt ready to split. At last, however, it noticed the creatures that had appeared in its lair.
The flames blazing over its body grew fiercer. By now, the ice crystals on its head had melted into mist, but those around the holes Ice Empress had pierced remained crystalline, melting very slowly.
The Scarlet Flame Demon Bear staggered to its feet. A Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast already possessed intelligence, but under the relentless onslaught of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's Spiritual Shock, it could now be said to have become a fool. Its only thought was slaughter-to kill the Soul Beasts and human before it.
As he continued unleashing Spiritual Shock, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's body gradually grew insubstantial. They had agreed on this beforehand: he would receive only a fixed amount of Soul Power this time, to prevent excessive consumption from leaving them unable even to flee if something went wrong.
Ice Empress, on the other hand, had consumed very little, and her body was still quite solid.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm roared, "Take my final blow!"
Then the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm gathered every last bit of Soul Power in this body into that single Spiritual Shock.
The Scarlet Flame Demon Bear's body involuntarily pitched backward, but it still steadied itself again. By now, however, it was bleeding from all seven orifices, a truly wretched sight.
The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's body vanished completely, returning through the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to Ning Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness. Ning Yuhao then summoned the Azure Armored Black Tortoise. An enormous tortoise appeared before him, with pieces of azure ore growing on its body-the source of its name.
The Scarlet Flame Demon Bear slammed a paw into the ground, sending a wave of heat and a shock wave surging toward them.
"Azure Armored Black Tortoise, hurry and use Mudstone Barrier!" Ning Yuhao poured Soul Power into the Azure Armored Black Tortoise. He should actually have called out, "First Soul Skill, Mudstone Barrier," but as a distinctive summoning-type Soul Master, he naturally had to choose a way of calling it that better suited his identity. Otherwise, wouldn't all this summoning have been for nothing?
The Azure Armored Black Tortoise raised its head and let out a long cry. A curved stone wall rose from the ground, but what made it unusual was that mud bound the rocks together, and even their surfaces glistened with moisture.
Dust flew, followed by the sizzling of water rapidly evaporating. The attack was blocked, but the Mudstone Barrier had dried out completely. Its defensive strength was greatly diminished, and even one corner had broken away.
Ning Yuhao used his Wicked Lord Shingan Martial Soul to check the Scarlet Flame Demon Bear's condition through the stone wall by looking at its Soul Power.