136: An orange cat

"Exotic Fire!"

Teng Hai's eyes lit up, his attention immediately captured by the Exotic Fire.

"This aura..."

"Xiao Weiqing, this Exotic Fire is worth 200,000 points. After we leave the ruins, I'll give you 100,000 points and owe you a favor. If you need anything in the future, just let me know."

Xiao Weiqing nodded with satisfaction. "Fine."

"Huang Yitong, communicate with your Spirit Beast. If it's still unwilling to be summoned by you, you'll have to find another way."

"I've communicated with it. It says this place is fine, but there seems to be danger."

Huang Yitong had begun communicating with the Blazing Winged Tiger as soon as she entered, but it seemed hesitant, sensing danger.

"There's a Fourth Realm Flame Viper under the magma. I'll deal with it."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Teng Hai asked urgently.

Xiao Weiqing didn't act; instead, he shouted toward the path they came from:

"Come out!"

Step... step... "Friends from Great Xia, don't be nervous. This Exotic Fire and the Flame Viper coexist; it won't be easy to deal with. Let's cooperate. The elemental stones on the crystal walls will all be yours."

"There are nearly a thousand elemental stones up there, and their value isn't low. You should know that our assessment item this time is elemental stones."

"With these elemental stones, you can easily enter the final ruin assessment."

Clang!~

Red Dragon was unsheathed.

"Scram!~"

"What did you say?"

Xie Sheng's face darkened; this was the first time someone had ever told him to scram.

Xiao Weiqing didn't waste words. He stepped forward, swinging Red Dragon, which was laced with Refined Fire.

"Hmph! As if I'm afraid of you."

Xie Sheng drew his longsword and clashed with Red Dragon.

Boom~~

With just one strike.

Xie Sheng's longsword nearly flew out of his hand.

The powerful impact sent him crashing into the rock wall, blood welling up in his throat.

"Brother Sheng!"

Seeing this, Ruan Qiu immediately attacked Xiao Weiqing.

"Come back!"

Xie Sheng shouted in desperation.

"Bang!"

Ruan Qiu was sent flying back, her chest caving in as she vomited large mouthfuls of blood.

"Go! Quickly, go!"

Xie Sheng didn't have the slightest thought of resisting. Facing the god-of-slaughter-like Xiao Weiqing, he only wanted to escape. He picked up Ruan Qiu and called for Ruan Chun to flee.

After they left.

Xiao Weiqing still radiated Killing Intent.

"Teng Hai!"

"Ah?"

Teng Hai jolted.

"What 'ah'? Seize the Exotic Fire."

"Oh, right, right, seize the Exotic Fire."

Teng Hai's Spiritual Qi surged, wrapping him in the blue Ghostly Nether Flow Fire. He leaped up, heading straight for the Exotic Fire high in the air.

Just as Teng Hai was about to touch the Exotic Fire.

Swish!~ Swish~~

Countless streams of magma shot toward Teng Hai.

"Fierce Flame Shield!"

The crimson flames formed a light screen, blocking the magma.

Teng Hai successfully reached the circular platform mid-air.

In the center of the platform, a dazzling flame flickered.

The Exotic Fire seemed to sense Teng Hai's intrusion, its light flaring up.

"Hmph!~"

Teng Hai snorted coldly. Countless Ghostly Nether Flow Fires surged out, surrounding and suppressing the Exotic Fire.

The two sides were locked in a stalemate.

Below.

Hiss!~ Hiss~

The Flame Viper could no longer hold back. Even though it feared Xiao Weiqing's strength, it couldn't just let the Exotic Fire be taken away.

You should know that this Exotic Fire had been with it since its birth.

The Flame Viper tensed its body and instantly lunged out, opening its bloody maw.

It attacked Teng Hai.

Teng Hai glanced at it but didn't stop suppressing the Exotic Fire; he trusted Xiao Weiqing.

Sure enough.

Ang!~

A dragon's roar.

A crimson fire dragon lunged out, occupying nearly half the space.

"Bang!"

The dragon's claw struck the Flame Viper's body, causing a large amount of magma to splash.

The Flame Viper was injured.

Without the help of the Exotic Fire, it was no match for Xiao Weiqing and couldn't heal its wounds in time.

Suddenly.

The Flame Viper dove into the magma and wrapped its body around the pillar supporting the Exotic Fire.

"Crack~ Crack~~"

Several sounds of rock cracking.

The circular platform collapsed.

"Eh, holy crap..."

Teng Hai lost his footing and was about to fall.

"Watch out, I'll help you~"

Huang Yitong took out a round shield from her robes.

The round shield instantly expanded, catching Teng Hai steadily in mid-air.

Guided by the shield, Teng Hai returned to the ground, his hands still firmly suppressing the Exotic Fire.

The Flame Viper in the magma poked half its head out, staring intently at the three of them.

After a while.

A deep sense of resentment flashed in its yellow vertical pupils before it submerged back into the magma.

Teng Hai breathed a sigh of relief seeing this.

He was truly afraid this Fourth Realm Flame Viper would go mad. Although they weren't afraid with Xiao Weiqing there, they were inside a volcano after all; if it collapsed or erupted, they would all be finished.

The Flame Viper had given up.

But the Exotic Fire was still struggling. Beads of sweat appeared on Teng Hai's forehead; it was clearly not easy.

"Can you do it or not?"

Huang Yitong asked from the side; she felt Teng Hai was far behind Xiao Weiqing.

Xiao Weiqing shouted, "Huang Yitong, focus on yourself. Hurry up and summon that online dating partner of yours."

Huang Yitong: "..."

"Hmph, I'll summon it right now. I'll show you what a Blazing Winged Tiger is and stop you from looking down on me."

Then.

Huang Yitong focused her mind, and a dimensional channel appeared before her. As she poured in her Mental Energy, the channel slowly expanded until it was as tall as a person.

Xiao Weiqing silently took a few steps back; this Blazing Winged Tiger looked like it wouldn't be small.

A few seconds later.

An orange-yellow paw reached out from the middle of the channel.

Then came the other paw.

The head, body, and tail all emerged.

Xiao Weiqing's brow twitched, feeling somewhat puzzled.

He even felt a bit like laughing.

Huang Yitong was stunned, her gaze a bit dazed.

Even Teng Hai was momentarily distracted.

Because the Spirit Beast Huang Yitong summoned was an Orange Cat, less than a foot long.

"Eh? fire essence."

The Orange Cat spoke in a childish voice, leaped up, and flew toward the Exotic Fire.

With one bite.

It even sucked in part of Teng Hai's Ghostly Nether Flow Fire. The soccer-ball-sized Exotic Fire had a chunk bitten out of it by the Orange Cat.

One bite wasn't enough; it wanted to bite again.

Xiao Weiqing grabbed it by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up.

The Orange Cat's fur stood on end, and flames flared out, trying to burn Xiao Weiqing. But Xiao Weiqing, who possessed Samadhi True Fire, wasn't afraid at all.

He applied some pressure with his hand.

"Meow~~"

"It hurts... it hurts... let go quickly."

"Let go, you brat! Let go of this lady right now!"

The Orange Cat threatened in its childish voice; if its expression were more ferocious, it might have been more intimidating.

"Huang Yitong, you've got to be kidding me. How did you summon an Orange Cat?"

"I am a Blazing Winged Tiger! What Orange Cat? You're insulting me!"

Huang Yitong pouted, looking like she was about to cry. After working so hard, she only got a pet cat.

Online dating really never ends well.

"Huang Yitong, don't be discouraged. This little thing could swallow the Exotic Fire without any trouble, so it must have some ability."

Xiao Weiqing tossed the Orange Cat back to Huang Yitong to comfort her.

The Orange Cat didn't resist and leaped into Huang Yitong's arms; the contract between them made them feel a sense of closeness.

"Are you really a Blazing Winged Tiger?" Huang Yitong asked weakly.

"Of course! As my contractor, how can you not trust me? We Blazing Winged Tigers are among the top ten Spirit Beast races in the Spirit Beast Realm."

"But you..."

"Don't worry. As long as you feed me a few fire essences every day, I'll grow up very quickly. When that time comes, I'll be able to pin this guy down with a single paw."

"Don't call yourself 'this lady.' Just say 'I.' How old even are you?"

"By your age standards, I should be 20 years old."

Xiao Weiqing chuckled, "Huang Yitong, you've summoned an ancestor."

"Xiao Weiqing, don't say that..."

"By the way, what's your name?" Huang Yitong asked.

"Second Girl!"

Huang Yitong: "..."

"Good name," Xiao Weiqing laughed.

"Right? I think so too. I picked it myself." The Orange Cat raised its head proudly.

"By the way, Second Girl, why didn't you come to my side earlier? And didn't you say you were very weak?"

Second Girl said, "Enemies have been hunting me down, and I was injured."

"If the summon hadn't succeeded this time, there probably wouldn't have been another chance."

"Oh, then how is your injury now?"

Second Girl replied, "I just ate a mouthful of fire essence, so I'm much better. Once I finish refining it, my injuries will be fine. Don't worry."

Xiao Weiqing asked, "Enemies are hunting you? They won't follow you to our Blue Star, will they?"

"Impossible. Without a contract, Spirit Beasts cannot enter Blue Star."

At this time.

Teng Hai finally suppressed the Exotic Fire and withdrew it into his body.

Second Girl looked like she hadn't had enough, licking her lips.

"Alright, Second Girl. Once we're out of the ruins, I'll find fire essence for you. That one belongs to someone else."

"Fine. Don't worry, once I grow up, I'll definitely let you walk with your head held high." Second Girl made a grand promise to Huang Yitong.

Huang Yitong stroked the cat and smiled, "Okay, I'll be waiting."

Gurgle...

Gurgle...

Just then.

The center of the magma began to boil violently, with a large number of bubbles surfacing.

"What's happening?"

Second Girl said, "Nothing much. This place is about to erupt. There's an earthworm down there disturbing the core."

The three looked at each other.

"Run!~"

Without even having time to pluck the elemental stones from the crystal walls, the three of them sprinted toward the cave entrance.