Chapter 10

【Continue to request for collections, red tickets!】

As they traversed the winding path through the cave, the stench in the air grew increasingly pungent. Among the group, Xia Yue, who had been pampered all her life, was already complaining bitterly. Although Gu Fan and Jin Wu could endure it, their faces were still grim.

Only Lin Feng and Dantai Yan were completely unfazed, their attention focused on the approaching lair of the beast. They did not know how powerful the beast was, but they were determined to obtain the "Stone Heart Jade Bone." Even if it meant facing a dragon's den or a tiger's lair, they had to take the risk.

As for Bai Yang, he followed behind them, sensing the air filled with an energy that excited the power of the stars. He secretly realized that obtaining the "Jade Blood Marrow" would not be as simple as he had imagined.

*Huff... Huff...*

The beast's breathing grew louder, and before them, a faint light appeared, dim and flickering like a candle about to be extinguished by the wind.

Dantai Yan stared at the light for a moment, then suddenly became overjoyed. "This must be the beast's demon crystal fire. It seems to be severely injured and is using the demon crystal fire to heal itself!"

Lin Feng swung his Thunder Listening Sword, his voice tinged with excitement. "If that's true, we will have a bountiful harvest this time. However, we cannot let our guard down yet. We need to observe the situation before deciding whether to act."

The others, however, did not take this too seriously. A beast at most at the peak of the Bone Forging stage, now severely injured, would not be a threat to these young nobles with their many trump cards.

Dantai Yan led the way toward the source of the light, followed closely by the others. Bai Yang frowned, suppressing his unease, and quickly followed.

As they approached, the sticky, unknown substance on the ground had dried up. The closer they got to the light source, the more unbearable the heat became, spreading with each breath of the beast.

Suddenly, Bai Yang narrowed his eyes and stopped in his tracks, but Dantai Yan and the others, unaware of the danger, continued straight into the beast's lair.

"Huh? This is..." Lin Feng looked up, seeing a giant beast lazily lying in the center of the lair, bathed in the demon crystal fire. His face turned pale. "Heaven! It's a Flame Demon! How could such a high-level beast appear here?!"

Lin Feng's desperate cry made the giant beast slowly open its eyes, its enormous red eyes fixing on them with a hint of mockery.

Indeed, the beast, towering even while lying down, had a height of several zhang. Its eyes showed a human-like mockery, indicating that it possessed intelligence on par with humans, a noble and high-level beast.

Dantai Yan's face turned ashen as she stared at the Flame Demon's horns, their deep red, flame-like color proving it was a pure-blooded Flame Demon, born at the Bone Forging stage, equivalent to an eighth-stage Battle Qi human cultivator.

Even more disheartening was that the Flame Demon's four hooves, burning with flames, showed signs of turning blue, indicating it had the power of an adult Flame Demon. An adult Flame Demon was at the Blood Refinement stage, capable of matching human experts at the Gang Qi stage!

Despite its severe injuries, making it appear weak, it was still beyond the capabilities of these seventh-stage Battle Qi youths.

The injured Flame Demon, relying on the demon crystal fire to heal, planted its hooves on the ground, supporting its massive body as it stood up. The temperature in the lair soared, making it hard to breathe.

The Flame Demon stared at Dantai Yan and the others, treating them like insignificant and weak ants, and spoke in a deep, resonant voice, "Human whelps, what gives you the courage to intrude on my resting place!"

Standing up, it was a full ten zhang tall, and a wave of heat distorted the air, causing their clothes and hair to smell of burning.

Behind it, a pit was revealed, containing a piece of jade-colored bone as thick as an adult's arm, emitting a misty white vapor, lying quietly inside.

"Stone Heart Jade Bone!"

Dantai Yan's eyes widened as she saw her goal, almost forgetting the threat of the Flame Demon, and rashly moved forward to seize the Stone Heart Jade Bone.

The Flame Demon was enraged by her actions, roaring and spewing a ball of light blue flame, which exploded on the ground in front of her, creating a small sea of fire with an intense heat.

"Lowly humans, you dare to covet it! I waited for decades for the Stone Heart Jade Bone to mature, even suffering severe injuries for it. How can I let a weakling like you touch it!"

The Flame Demon's body was engulfed in raging flames.

"Bad, it's going berserk!" Lin Feng swung his Thunder Listening Sword, the runes on the blade activating, releasing a powerful crescent-shaped light that cleared the surrounding flames, creating an opportunity to escape. He shouted, "Quick, get out! Leave here!"

"No, we can't leave! Damn it, this Flame Demon is just putting on a show!"

Dantai Yan extinguished the flames on her body, a cold smile on her face as she stared at the Flame Demon. "If it still had its strength, that breath would have killed me. But it didn't, which means it's just putting on a show. Let's attack together and kill it! A mature high-level Flame Demon can exchange for a lot of resources in the sect!"

Admittedly, despite her arrogance, Dantai Yan's courage was commendable. In this moment, she wanted to kill the Flame Demon to gain cultivation resources, a truly疯狂的想法.

If the Flame Demon were not injured, it would be at the peak of the Blood Refinement stage, just a step away from the Transformation stage, equivalent to a human cultivator at the Fixed Yuan stage. Even as a half-step Transformation, it was far more powerful than a tenth-stage Gang Qi cultivator. Killing a seventh-stage Battle Qi Dantai Yan would be effortless.

However, the light blue flame, though impressive, did not harm Dantai Yan, revealing its weakness.

The Flame Demon's eyes flared with anger, its front hooves crushing the ground. "Greedy humans, you dare to kill me?!"

But in response, Lin Feng unleashed a sword qi, striking its chest and causing a deep, bleeding wound. After the strike, Lin Feng was drained of most of his Battle Qi, his face pale.

The high-level magical weapon, the Thunder Listening Sword, was inscribed with a layer of martial technique runes, requiring the user to infuse it with power to activate it instantly.

With Lin Feng's strength, two consecutive activations were nearly his limit. However, seeing the Flame Demon injured, he slowly retracted the Thunder Listening Sword and said to Dantai Yan, "It seems your assessment was correct. The Flame Demon is at the end of its strength and can't even defend against my sword qi."

"Hmph, hurry up and kill it!" Dantai Yan coldly said, and with Xia Yue included, the five quickly attacked the Flame Demon.

In front of the Flame Demon's massive body, they were like weak ants, but when these ants attacked, even the mighty Flame Demon felt a surge of agitation. "Damn it, cunning humans, I'll kill you!"

It swallowed the demon crystal, which was healing it, and a surge of power erupted within it, its body burning with true blue flames.

This time, the flames were not a show but carried a destructive heat. With its massive body, it charged, knocking Dantai Yan away and setting half of her body on fire.

Dantai Yan, after being knocked away, spat out a mouthful of blood and decisively used a jade talisman, which instantly extinguished the flames, leaving only a faint green smoke.

Her outer disciple's robe was mostly burned, revealing her developing figure, which had a certain allure.

However, in the face of the crisis, no one had the time to notice.

The enraged Flame Demon, now a fearsome ancient beast, kicked Lin Feng and the others away. Just as it was about to finish them off, the flames on its body flickered and quickly dissipated.

Lin Feng, who had been kicked away, saw an opportunity and, despite his injuries, swung the Thunder Listening Sword again, aiming for the Flame Demon's hind leg.

The six layers of runes on the Thunder Listening Sword lit up, and a powerful sword light drained Lin Feng of his remaining Battle Qi, severing one of the Flame Demon's hind legs and causing it to lose balance and fall to the ground.

"No! I cannot be defeated! I cannot be defeated by you, these cunning, lowly humans!" The Flame Demon, lying on the ground, let out a roar of defiance, struggling to rise but failing each time.

Its injuries were too severe. To mature the Stone Heart Jade Bone and to break through to an adult Flame Demon, it had fought a peak Blood Refinement stage Frost Wolf, severely injuring it but also suffering heavy injuries, nearly shattering its vital lava core, significantly weakening its power.

"If it weren't for this damned Stone Heart Jade Bone, you wouldn't even be able to touch a single hair on my body!"

After several failed attempts to rise, the Flame Demon, realizing it was doomed, glared at the Stone Heart Jade Bone and suddenly spat out a two-meter-tall flame giant.

This was its lava core, nearing the Transformation stage, and also its soul.

Ironically, the third stage of the Transformation for beasts was to transform into the most lowly form of humans.

Despite being favored by nature, beasts coveted the human body, which was a vessel of the earth's essence.

Once reaching the Transformation stage, not only would their form change, but their power would also fundamentally transform. For example, the flame giant, if it completed the Transformation, would mature the Flame Demon's bloodline, making all the flames in the world its power. This was also the ability of human cultivators at the Fixed Yuan stage, borrowing the power of the earth to fight.

The flame giant, spewed by the Flame Demon, roared and lunged at the Stone Heart Jade Bone. Dantai Yan, in shock, shouted, "Stop it, it wants to destroy the Stone Heart Jade Bone!"

Jin Wu and Gu Fan, being the closest, rushed to stop it, but the flame giant was too fast, shrinking to the size of an average adult and grabbing the Stone Heart Jade Bone, growling, "Since I can't refine it, I won't let you have it either!"

With that, it was about to crush the Stone Heart Jade Bone!