32: Earth Fire Lizard and Soul Shock

The sudden appearance of the Earth Fire Lizard instantly tensed the entire team to its limits!

A Tier 4 magical beast, equivalent to a human Three-Star Dou Ling expert! Moreover, in this environment rich in fire attribute energy, its strength was even more formidable!

"Roar!" The Earth Fire Lizard let out a deafening roar, its thick tail sweeping violently, shattering a house-sized rock! It opened its maw, and a scorching pillar of magma fire, like an enraged dragon, sprayed towards the four people!

"Be careful!" Hai Bodong's expression was grave, and his powerful Dou Qi (Battle Energy) as a Three-Star Dou Ling erupted without reservation! He formed hand seals, and several thick ice shields instantly condensed in front of him!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The magma fire pillar slammed heavily onto the ice shields, producing earth-shattering roars! The ice shields trembled violently, their surfaces rapidly melting, but they ultimately blocked this terrifying attack!

"Mo Chen! Protect Ya Fei and Xiao Chen! I'll deal with it!" Hai Bodong shouted, his body moving, transforming into a blue stream of light, and actively charging towards the Earth Fire Lizard! He knew that in this environment, they had to finish the fight quickly, otherwise, if this beast completely ignited the ground fire, they would be in trouble!

"Profound Ice Dragon Soar!" Hai Bodong clasped his hands together, and a massive ice dragon, formed from surging ice attribute Dou Qi, charged towards the Earth Fire Lizard with an bone-chilling aura!

"Roar!" The Earth Fire Lizard felt the threat, roared in anger, its scales bristled all over its body, and crimson flame Dou Qi erupted, forming a flame shield!

"Boom!" The ice dragon and the flame shield collided fiercely, unleashing a terrifying energy shockwave! The surrounding ground cracked, magma splattered everywhere, and heat waves intertwined with cold air, forming a chaotic energy storm!

Hai Bodong and the Earth Fire Lizard fought intensely, a clash of ice and fire, a battle of Dou Ling (Spirit) level, with terrifying momentum!

Mo Chen shielded Ya Fei and Xiao Chen, his longsword drawn, vigilantly watching the surroundings to prevent other magical beasts or enemies from taking advantage of the situation.

Ya Fei's face was pale, gripping her sword hilt tightly. Although she was also a Fighting Master, she couldn't participate in a battle of this level at all.

Xiao Chen, on the other hand, fully activated his soul perception, closely observing the battle. He could feel that although Hai Bodong was powerful, his ice attribute Dou Qi was greatly suppressed in this fire attribute environment, leading to immense consumption. The Earth Fire Lizard, however, was in its element, growing stronger with each passing moment! With this ebb and flow, Hai Bodong probably wouldn't last much longer!

"I must find a way to help Elder Hai!" Xiao Chen's mind raced. A head-on confrontation? He couldn't even break the Earth Fire Lizard's scales. The only hope was his soul power!

"System, Scan the Earth Fire Lizard's weakness!" Xiao Chen urgently called out in his mind.

Scanning: Earth Fire Lizard (Tier 4 Low-grade)

Attribute: Fire, Earth

Strength: Equivalent to a Two-Star Dou Ling (Spirit) (Affected by environment, actual combat power is close to Three-Star Dou Ling)

Weaknesses: 1. Weak soul defense (a common ailment of magical beasts). 2. Abdominal scales are relatively soft. 3. Low resistance to extreme cold energy (already exploited by Hai Bodong).

Suggestion: The host can try using [Soul Impact] to interfere with its consciousness, creating an opportunity for Hai Bodong. Estimated success rate: 30% (Affected by host's soul strength and target's soul resistance). Risk: High (May cause backlash).

Soul Impact! Only a 30% success rate! And extremely high risk!

But this was currently the only way to possibly turn the tide of the battle!

Xiao Chen's eyes sharpened, no longer hesitating! He concentrated all his mental energy, frantically compressing his Spirit Movement Late-stage soul power, condensing it into an invisible spike, aiming it at the Earth Fire Lizard's massive head, and fiercely thrusting it!

"Soul Impact!"

Silently, an invisible mental storm crossed space, instantly blasting into the depths of the Earth Fire Lizard's consciousness!

"Roar—!!!"

The Earth Fire Lizard, which was fiercely battling Hai Bodong, suddenly stiffened, letting out a painful and furious roar! Its eyes, full of savagery, instantly became chaotic and dull, and the flame Dou Qi around its body also experienced a momentary disruption!

Now is the time!

How rich was Hai Bodong's combat experience? Although he didn't know what had happened, he immediately seized this fleeting opportunity!

"Profound Ice Thorn!" He let out a low shout, condensing an ice crystal spear emitting extreme coldness in his hand. His body flashed, dodging the Earth Fire Lizard's wildly flailing claws, and accurately pierced its relatively soft abdomen!

"Pfft!"

The ice crystal spear pierced into the Earth Fire Lizard's abdomen without any hindrance! The extremely cold Dou Qi instantly erupted, frantically corroding its internal organs!

"Ow—!"

The Earth Fire Lizard let out an extremely mournful shriek, its massive body convulsing violently, blood and magma mixed and gushing out from the wound! It struggled frantically, smashing the surrounding rocks to pieces!

Hai Bodong, having landed a successful blow, immediately retreated, his face slightly pale. That attack had consumed a considerable amount of his Dou Qi.

Xiao Chen, however, felt his vision go dark, and a tearing pain shot through his brain! The backlash of the Soul Impact had arrived! He forcibly stabilized his body, a trace of fresh blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth, his soul power instantly plummeting to rock bottom, with less than 30% remaining!

"Xiao Chen! Are you alright?" Ya Fei quickly supported him, asking with concern. Although she hadn't clearly seen what Xiao Chen had done, the Earth Fire Lizard's abnormality and Hai Bodong's success were clearly related to him.

"I'm fine..." Xiao Chen waved his hand, his voice a little weak, "Look quickly!"

After struggling frantically for a moment, the Earth Fire Lizard's aura rapidly withered, and it finally crashed to the ground, twitching a few times before becoming motionless. The huge wound on its abdomen was still emitting cold air.

Hai Bodong breathed a sigh of relief, walked to the Earth Fire Lizard's corpse, and inspected it, confirming that it was dead. He dug out the magical core, which was a fist-sized, Tier 4 magical core emitting rich fire attribute energy, worth a fortune.

He put away the magical core, turned to look at Xiao Chen, his eyes complex, with a hint of shock and inquiry: "Just now... was that you?"

Xiao Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, forcing a smile: "This junior was just lucky and used a family secret mental technique to interfere with it for a moment. Fortunately, Elder Hai seized the opportunity."

He naturally wouldn't expose the existence of the system, attributing the credit to a non-existent "family secret technique."

Hai Bodong looked at him deeply, without further questioning, just nodded, his tone much softer: "Thank you for this time. This magical core, by rights, belongs to you." Saying that, he handed over the Tier 4 magical core.

A Tier 4 magical core! Xiao Chen's heart skipped a beat; the energy contained in this thing probably exceeded a thousand units! But he knew that now was not the time to be greedy. He quickly declined: "Elder Hai, you overstate it. Killing the magical beast was your credit; this junior merely contributed a small effort. Please keep this magical core; it will be more helpful for our next actions."

Hai Bodong saw that Xiao Chen's attitude was sincere, not feigned, and a hint of appreciation flashed in his eyes. He no longer acted coy, put away the magical core, and said: "Good! I will remember this favor. You should recuperate and recover first. We will rest here for a while before continuing forward."

Ya Fei and Mo Chen also gathered around, their gazes towards Xiao Chen filled with surprise and gratitude. If not for Xiao Chen's timely intervention, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Xiao Chen sat cross-legged, swallowed a qi recovery powder (though it was useless to him, he made a show of it), and began to fully circulate the Spirit Nurturing Art to restore his soul power. This Soul Impact had consumed a huge amount and the backlash was not light; he needed time to recover.

After this battle, the relationship between the team members had clearly grown much closer. Hai Bodong's attitude towards Xiao Chen was no longer cold; he even actively gave him some pointers on energy manipulation techniques. Mo Chen also nodded to him, signifying his acknowledgment.

After half an hour of rest, Xiao Chen's soul power had recovered significantly, and the team set off again.

The deeper they went into the valley, the higher the temperature, the denser the fire poison, and the stronger the magical beasts they encountered. Fortunately, with Hai Bodong, a Dou Ling (Spirit) expert, in charge, coupled with Xiao Chen's soul perception warnings, the group managed to pass through the most dangerous areas without major incident.

Finally, on the afternoon of the third day, they arrived at the deepest part of the Demon Flame Valley.

Before them was a huge basin, and in the center of the basin stood a thousand-zhang-high active volcano! The crater continuously spewed thick smoke and sparks, and the air was filled with suffocating heat waves and the smell of sulfur.

And at the foot of the volcano, on a relatively flat open space, over a hundred people were gathered! These people were divided into several factions, clearly separated, confronting each other warily. A tense atmosphere permeated the air.

Xiao Chen's soul perception swept over, and his heart was greatly shaken! He felt dozens of powerful auras! Fighting Master and Great Dou Master were everywhere, and there were even a few auras that were no weaker than Hai Bodong's! Those were... Dou Ling (Spirit) experts from other forces!

Moreover, in the crowd, he saw some familiar figures—Xie Biyan of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect! And... several people wearing Yunlan Sect attire!

People from the Yunlan Sect had also come!

Xiao Chen's gaze finally fell on the central open space in the basin. There, a huge crack had opened in the ground, and from within the crack, strange light and spatial fluctuations faintly emanated!

The entrance to the Illusory Spirit Realm ruins was right there!

They had finally arrived! But the real challenge had only just begun!