A tough battle

The Flame Unicorn Beast's lair was hidden within an extinct volcano. A small and remote path led towards it.

The volcano was surrounded by a wasteland and there wasn't a single living organism around. This also proved that the Flame Unicorn Beast was the king of this area and other Demonic Beasts didn't dare break into its territory.

Ye Qing Han's face revealed a rare look of caution and gravity, then turned to the people and commanded: "When Old Lu and I deal with the beast, you three support us from the side. If any of you are wounded, go to Lou Mu Yan for treatment.

"Yes, Young Lord."

"Yes!"

"Right, Mu Yan, do you still have the powder you used against the Fur Crimson Boar King?" Ye Qing Han asked Lou Mu Yan expectantly.

Lou Mu Yan took out a small paper pack and handed it over: "This drug can freeze Tier 4 Demonic Beasts for around the time for eight or nine breaths, but against a Demonic Beast with Tier 5 strength, it probably could only last three breaths. Know what you're doing."

"Three breaths is good." Ye Qing Han took the small paper pack with a soft smile—this powdered drug was very useful.

Then he waved his hand and led them into the cave cautiously.

The walls around the cave and the path they took were all dark red and waves of heat rushed towards them from all around. Everyone used their Elemental Energy to create a barrier and protect their body, guarding them from the invasion of heat.

However Lou Mu Yan could only walk arduously through the passage herself, her small face glowing red, and her clothes soaked in sweat.

But she didn't make a sound, following the rest closely.

Ye Qing Han glanced back at Lou Mu Yan who hung at the end of the party. Without Elemental Energy to isolate the heat wave, using only the body of a normal human, she could actually clench her teeth and persevere? The toughness of this woman surprised him greatly.

A quarter of an hour later, they finally arrived at a narrow, deep, dark red path.

Entering their eyes was a large, open space and at the centre of the open space laid a deep crimson Demonic Beast that was at least a metre tall and three metres long. Its body was covered in red scales and there was a thick, sharp horn protruding from its head. With only one look, it was clear that it had extremely high defence.

The Flame Unicorn Beast noticed them the moment they stepped into its cave. It opened its eyes and the pair of eyes as large as copper bells revealed a look of disdain.

Only when Demonic Beasts reached Tier 4 could they gain intelligence, but this Demonic Beast belonged to a superior race, therefore they obtained intelligence from the moment they could cultivate. Naturally, they could perceive the strength of the incoming people.

The Flame Unicorn Beast found that two of the humans were of the same tier as him, but its combat power was comparable to the Sword King Stage cultivator, and the rest were like ants, so it belittled these humans that dared to break into his territory. 

[ROAR!!] The Flame Unicorn Beast stood up lazily and pressured them with its roars.

Aside from Ye Qing Han, Old Lu and Lou Mu Yan, the other three covered their ears in agony. Lou Mu Yan was fine because her Mental Energy was strong, so this sort of sound couldn't affect her, while Ye Qing Han and Old Lu relied on their pure strength.

"Go." Ye Qing Han gave Old Lu a look and the two of them leapt over and landed on the open space.

The Flame Unicorn Beast sprayed two streams of hot air from its nose, a sign of its growing fury. It must tear these arrogant humans, who dared to disturb its sleep, into pieces.

Ye Qing Han also noticed that the pressure from the Flame Unicorn Beast continued to increase. With a thought, a little bit of Mental Energy slithered into the Spirit Pet Bangle around his wrist.

[ROAR!!] A roar with the same pressure echoed in the cave.

At the drop of the roar, a pure white tiger appeared on the open space, its entire body exuding the pressure of a Peak-Phase Tier 4 Demonic Beast. a Chinese character on its forehead even contained a trace of a mysterious, fluctuating Elemental Energy.

Lou Mu Yan stared at the mighty white tiger with slight surprise—a mutated Snow Tiger King. Ye Qing Han's Spirit Pet wasn't inferior to the Flame Unicorn Beast Race by much.

The environment here was more favourable for the Flame Unicorn Beast, but being surrounded by two people and one beast, there wasn't any suspense to the battle. The Flame Unicorn Beast would lose as long as no accidents occurred.

[ROAR ROAR!!]

[ROAR!!]

When the two powerful Demonic Beasts met, neither wanted to be suppressed by the other, so they roared and pounced at each other. Ye Qing Han also wanted to observe his Spirit Pet's prowess, so he didn't do anything for the time being.

With the most primitive violence, the two Demonic Beasts attacked and tore away at each other, though the Flame Unicorn Beast clearly had the advantage. Its defence was much stronger than the Snow Tiger King, plus it could utilise the energy from the volcano, so it quickly overwhelmed the Snow Tiger King and bit down on its neck.

Ye Qing Han frowned—this Snow Tiger King was subdued by him when it was still a cub, so its barbarity lacked a little compared to the Flame Unicorn Beast. Not to mention it lacked experience in fighting, so it was being suppressed.

With his own Spirit Pet's neck firmly bitten by the Flame Unicorn Beast, blood spurted from the area and dyed its white coat crimson. Ye Qing Han's eyes grew cold, drew his sword and wielded it against the Flame Unicorn Beast.

A sword aura with powerful Elemental Energy fell directly on the Flame Unicorn Beast, but didn't penetrate its body, only leaving a small wound where a few red scales fell.

Meanwhile Lou Mu Yan quickly headed towards the Snow Tiger King, took out a porcelain bottle, and poured the green liquid with the fragrance of medicine onto its wound. The injury immediately stopped bleeding.

[ROAR!!] The Flame Unicorn Beast felt pain on its back, turned around in fury and leapt at Ye Qing Han.

Ye Qing Han's lips curled up, avoided the attack from the Flame Unicorn Beast, while a small paper pack accurately fell on the Flame Unicorn Beast's nose. The white powder instantly spread and entered its nostrils.

The Flame Unicorn Beast fell onto the ground, frozen in its state of attack, and Ye Qing Han shouted: "Break!"

At that moment, a golden sword aura burst from the prized sword he held and slashed fiercely down on the Flame Unicorn's body. Old Lu took the opportunity to pierce through the area between its limb and the body, where its defence was the weakest.

The eyes of the Flame Unicorn Beast were bloodshot and it could only feel the pain of its scales torn from numerous parts of its body. But then it felt that it could finally move.

It stood up furiously and roared again, and the roars encompassed its entire Elemental Energy. [ROAR!!]

"Not good!" Lou Mu Yan felt the entire cave tremble at the roar of the Flame Unicorn Beast and stones fell. It was about to collapse.

"Get out quickly." Ye Qing Han yelled at Lou Mu Yan and three of his subordinates, then flashed beside the Flame Unicorn Beast with Old Lu, utilising his sword skill with the intention of severely wounding it.

What the Snow Tiger King lacked was only experience, so even though its defence wasn't as strong as the Flame Unicorn Beast, the latter's bite still wouldn't have been able to break its neck. Although injured somewhat, with Lou Mu Yan's medicine, the pain faded as well.

It glared and kicked its hind legs, pouncing at the Flame Unicorn Beast.

[ROAR ROAR!!] Together with the roar of the Flame Unicorn Beast, the entire cave trembled even more severely.

Lou Mu Yan ran towards the exit of the cave, but only after a bit more than ten steps, the ground cracked open into numerous fissures and from within rose an inexplicable gravitational force, sucking her in.

She didn't even have the time to use her Flash Step, and her body fell towards the bottomless crack with the gravitational force.

She could only feel the pressure of the roar that lingered by her ear, then her vision blacked out and she felt herself slowly losing consciousness. Before falling unconscious, she rolled her eyes inwardly—this damned body was just too weak.

[Chinese character, often seen on the head of mythical tigers or tigers in general—same word as 'King'. Seen on the head as in, the black pattern of their fur makes that character.]