Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor

Chapter 123: 123 Strange Spirit

”Too hot!”

As Yun Xiao just leaped into the mouth of the volcano, he felt a wave of heat hitting his face, causing his hair and eyebrows to curl up. It seemed that the temperature inside the volcano was much, much higher than outside.

Boom!

Walking along the inner walls of the volano, Yun Xiao looked down and shivered slightly, because deeper below was a pool of dark red magma. Fortunately, Yurong Mountain was in a dormant phase and did not erupt upwards; otherwise, Yun Xiao would have been instantly submerged.

A living volcano, it must have undergone tens of thousands of years of evolution to form, and Yun Xiao, confident as he was, never entertained the thought of contending with such natural forces. So, he just kept walking downwards along the cave walls.

There were rings of passageways along the cave walls inside Yurong Mountain that could accommodate people walking. How these passageways were formed was unknown. Yun Xiao, worried that Guan Tong might follow, and still wanting to search for the so-called Fire Spirit Crystals, kept moving downwards.

The further down he went, the clearer the volcanic magma became, until later, Yun Xiao could almost sense the particles dripping next to him from the splashing magma.

”Hmm?”

As Yun Xiao delved deeper into Yurong Mountain, his powerful soul power suddenly sensed something. With a thought, he looked around and finally discovered a small cave that was hidden and could shelter a person.

Phew...

A sturdy figure swept past not far in front of Yun Xiao, but seemed to not notice Yun Xiao hiding in the cave wall. Judging by the figure, if it wasn’t Guan Tong who had followed him in, then who could it be?

At this time, Yun Xiao naturally remained motionless. Earlier outside, he had used some clever tricks, otherwise fighting with this half-foot-stepped into the Meridian Rushing Realm genius of the Outer Sect would have been endless.

Splash!

Just as Yun Xiao held his breath, watching Guan Tong’s figure about to disappear ahead, unexpectedly, from below not far away in the magma, a fiery red figure suddenly attacked. This figure was also covered with trickling hot magma.

Yun Xiao’s soul power was so strong, he saw it clearly at a glance. It was a snake-shaped Vein Demon wrapped in magma, or perhaps it wasn’t a Vein Demon at all, but a special creature derived from the magma of Yurong Mountain.

”Could that be the Fire Spirit Snake?”

Seeing the appearance of this massive, fiery red magma giant snake, Yun Xiao recalled what Guan Tong had mentioned about the source of the Fire Spirit Crystal outside, and ideas began forming in his mind.

However, Yun Xiao did not act immediately, because he wanted to assess the strength of the Fire Spirit Snake, or rather, figure out exactly what this Fire Spirit Snake was. Was it a Vein Demon living in the magma, or something else?

Guan Tong, who was intently searching for Yun Xiao, suddenly felt a scorching heat coming from below, and couldn’t help but be shocked. His reaction speed was extremely fast. With no outsiders around and disregarding the embarrassment, he rolled directly to the side, barely dodging the Fire Snake’s attack.

”Fire Spirit Snake!”

Due to his mission, Guan Tong had studied the unique creatures within Yurong Mountain, so he immediately cried out in surprise, yet his face was filled with deep terror.

By this time, Yun Xiao had also sensed the Meridian Qi Cultivation of the Fire Spirit Snake. This was a Fourth Rank Low Level Fire Spirit Snake, stronger not just by a little compared to the Dark Night Owl he had outwitted the other day.

A Fourth Rank Low Level Fire Spirit Snake matched up to a human cultivator in the Early Stage of the Meridian Rushing Realm and could even hold its own against some strong fourth rank low level Vein Demons when facing middle stage cultivators of the Meridian Rushing Realm.

But in the next moment, Yun Xiao saw a magical transformation occur on the Fire Spirit Snake; its whole body seemed to turn into a pool of magma, directly wrapping towards Guan Tong.

”No, this is not a Vein Demon!”

Seeing this scene, memories of his past life as the Long Xiao Battle God flooded back like a tidal wave. He seemed to witness something extremely shocking and murmured to himself.

”Indeed, that is a... Strange Spirit!”

Yun Xiao’s memories from his previous life were powerful. Just moments later, he confirmed his thought; what he initially thought was a Fourth Rank Low Level Vein Demon, the Fire Spirit Snake, was not a real Vein Demon.

On the Nine Dragons Continent, humans and Devil Cultivators are generally revered, but beyond these two dominant races, there exists a special kind of creature called Strange Spirits.

Strange Spirits are unique beings evolved from plants, trees, and even inanimate objects like rocks and debris that have no inherent Spiritual Wisdom but have undergone cultivation. When they reach a high level of cultivation, they possess Spiritual Wisdom not inferior to Devil Cultivators or even humans, enabling them to roam the continent.

Yun Xiao had once encountered such a Strange Spirit in the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud, evolved from an ancient tree. When its powerful innate talent erupted, its entire body could transform into a colossal tree thousands of feet tall, so mighty that even the Long Xiao Battle God from those days dared not claim he could defeat it.

This is the power of Strange Spirits; they possess unique talents that neither humans nor Devil Cultivators have. However, it is relatively more challenging for plants and rocks to cultivate Spiritual Wisdom as it requires thousands of years of evolution, making their cultivation process far more arduous than that of humans or Devil Cultivators.

Everything in the world has its own destiny; since Strange Spirits face such difficult cultivation, once they succeed, their combat abilities are much stronger than those of Devil Cultivators or humans of the same level.

Moreover, Yun Xiao also knew that the Strange Spirits on this continent, jealous of the cultivation speed of humans and Devil Cultivators, were generally unfriendly towards these two dominant groups. During his time in the Nine-layered Dragon Cloud, he often fought against these malevolent Strange Spirits.

Therefore, with just one strike, Yun Xiao recognized that it was not any Devil Cultivator, as ordinary Devil Cultivators, let alone living within volcanic magma, could not possibly transform their bodies into a pool of magma water.

It seems that over thousands of years, Yurong Mountain has evolved to harbor some special creatures with Spiritual Wisdom. Although this Fire Spirit Snake is only a Fourth Rank Low Level, its combat power is much more formidable than a human Cultivator at the Meridian Rushing Realm Early Stage.

Thinking of this, a Schadenfreude expression appeared on Yun Xiao’s face. Guan Tong was persistently pursuing him, so how could he possibly harbor any pity? At this moment, Guan Tong was undoubtedly facing a perilously critical situation.

Originally, Guan Tong was at the peak of the Meridian Gathering Realm, nearly stepping into the Meridian Rushing Realm, which was only slightly stronger than the typical peak of the Meridian Gathering Realm. Facing this Fourth Rank Low Level Fire Spirit Snake, his chances of survival were slim.

After all, even a real Cultivator in the initial stage of the Meridian Rushing Realm might not be able to subdue this Fire Spirit Snake, let alone Guan Tong who was merely halfway through the Meridian Gathering Realm.

Transformed into a pool of magma, the Fire Spirit Snake attacked Guan Tong with great speed, turning his face instantly pale as he recognized that it was not just any ordinary Devil Cultivator but a Strange Spirit whose combat power was much greater than that of a normal Devil Cultivator of the same level.

Unable to withstand even ordinary Fourth Rank Low Level Devil Cultivators, how could Guan Tong possibly withstand a strike from this Fourth Rank Low Level Strange Spirit? As he was enveloped by the pool of magma, he was inevitably incinerated into a wisp of green smoke.

At this moment, in Guan Tong’s heart, there must be regrets. He originally had no intention of entering Yurong Volcano because he knew about the Fire Spirit Snake. This low-rank Spiritual mission was certainly not something he, who had not yet reached the Meridian Rushing Realm, an Outer Sect prodigy could complete.

While there is only a thin line between the peak of the Meridian Gathering Realm and the Meridian Rushing Realm, the difference between them is vast. Otherwise, the top two prodigies of the Mortal List from the Outer Sect wouldn’t dismiss Guan Tong so lightly.

Unfortunately, just earlier outside, Guan Tong was once again outsmarted by Yun Xiao. Feeling foolhardy, he impulsively entered the Yurong Volcano and tragically met with disaster.

Perhaps in Guan Tong’s heart, there was a glimmer of hope that he would not encounter the Fire Spirit Snake before he caught up with and killed Yun Xiao, or even if he did, he believed he had a chance to escape.

However, Guan Tong’s calculations were completely off. Not long after entering Yurong Volcano, although he didn’t find Yun Xiao, he was attacked by a Fire Spirit Snake, plunging him into a certain-death situation.

Only when faced with a Fourth Rank Low Level Strange Spirit did Guan Tong realize how ludicrous his claim of being halfway into the Meridian Rushing Realm was. Without any unforeseen circumstances, he could only be incinerated into nothingness within the magma body of the Fire Spirit Snake.

Bang!

However, just as Yun Xiao watched indifferently, and Guan Tong was in utter despair, suddenly a mighty force struck precisely on the magma formed by the Fire Spirit Snake.

Under a splatter of magma, Guan Tong’s numbing scalp finally relaxed, for he knew an outsider had arrived, and the deadly magma of the Fire Spirit Snake that was about to claim his life had been blasted away by this person.

Whether the newcomer was friend or foe, Guan Tong knew he had narrowly escaped death. With a formidable enemy present, the Fire Spirit Snake should no longer trouble him.

This sudden change of events also caught Yun Xiao, who was hidden and enjoying the spectacle, by surprise. 술в he then turned his gaze toward Guan Tong’s back where a tall, thin figure in green appeared, looking quite young.

”This person...”

Yun Xiao observed the green-clad young man who casually walked up to Guan Tong’s side, frowning slightly, as he seemed to have noticed something unusual. This guy was definitely not to be underestimated.

”Shen Xiao, Senior Brother?!”

But just as Yun Xiao was sensing the newcomer’s cultivation level, Guan Tong also finally came to his senses. As he turned his head, a voice filled with respect already emanated from him, allowing Yun Xiao to instantly know the identity of the newcomer.

At the same time, the Fire Spirit Snake, propelled by some force, underwent transformations in the air and morphed back into the form of a snake-like Devil Cultivator, its eyes, which seemed almost non-existent, fixed intently on the green figure.