The spiritual beast's roar continued to spread from the peak of the Flaming Mountain, growing muffled as it reached their ears, yet the anger within the sound was becoming increasingly palpable.
"Senior Brother Lan Shang, we really can't climb any higher."
A few hundred meters below the summit, Liu Hemeng managed a strained, bitter laugh while gasping heavily, his robes completely soaked. His handsome face was flushed crimson, slightly contorted with effort. Lan Shang beside him was no better off; his chest rose and fell rapidly, sweat pouring from his brow.
Behind them, scattered across an area ranging from a few meters to fifty meters back, Nie Fenghua, Gu Ruofei, Jing Lan, Ji Shen, Wu Dongliu, and the other disciples from Lingyu City and Moxi Sect were all struggling, barely holding their ground against the oppressive heat emanating from the peak, unable to advance another step.
Secretly calculating the distance, Lan Shang sighed dejectedly. "It seems Junior Brother Nie Kong and the others must be grappling with that spiritual beast somewhere on the summit. I wonder how they even got up there? With Junior Brother Nie Kong and Junior Sister Bai's strength, reaching this point is possible, but passing that final one or two hundred meters is absolutely impossible."
"There's also Mu Hongling."
Liu Hemeng tried hard to regulate his breathing. "Senior Brother Lan Shang, I suspect the problem lies with her. The pressure on the mountainside was already immense, making even our movements sluggish, yet she moved as if unaffected. Her being a Fire Spirit Master is truly unique."
"Indeed! We can offer no help now. Whether they triumph over that beast depends entirely on them."
Lan Shang shook his head helplessly...
...
Deep within the massive crater, inside the space surrounding the central stone pillar.
"Hoo!"
The Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon circled to the side, maneuvering out of the reach of the dark green vortex. Its massive tail lashed out directly toward Nie Kong and the other two behind the vortex. The scorching aura surged forth like a bursting dam, tumbling endlessly.
Wherever it passed, even the void seemed to ignite with burning flames, accompanied by a grating, sharp crackling sound.
However, before the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon’s attack could land squarely, the dark green vortex suddenly tilted eerily, positioning itself directly in front of the dragon’s tail.
"Boom!"
The tail struck deep into the vortex, and a sudden explosion erupted.
The next moment, the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon let out a painful screech and frantically struggled to pull free. Although it eventually broke free from the vortex's suction, a small section at the very tip of its tail was torn off. Its body was condensed from soul power, so the tail could regenerate, but the feeling of being restrained by its own designated sustenance sent it into a towering rage.
"Stupid dragon, how does that taste?" Nie Kong burst into laughter, simultaneously drifting backward with Bai Yuqing and Mu Hongling. The enormous dark green vortex sealed off the entrance to the passage, completely cutting off any thought the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon had of attacking from the flank.
Currently, the exit of the passage was still sealed by the soul power separated out by the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon. Only when the dragon's soul perished would the exit unseal. Of course, Nie Kong could also reverse the vortex to disintegrate that segment of soul power, but doing so would fully expose the bodies of the three of them to the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon’s attacks, placing them in an extremely perilous situation.
The safest course now was naturally a stalemate—whoever broke first would lose!
"Roar!"
Seeing this, the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon became even more furious. "Three mere Spirit Transformation Masters think that's all it takes to defeat this great lord?" Immediately, its massive draconic form transformed into that towering, robust strongman. The figure retreated dozens of meters, settling near the edge of the pulsating scarlet sphere.
In this position, although a faint trace of soul power still seeped out from within the strongman, the suction force felt from the vortex had weakened considerably.
"Hoo!"
The fan-like giant palm churned and squeezed the void. A fireball the size of a washbasin tore through the air, whistling down toward the vortex opposite like a meteorite.
"Boom!"
The fireball detonated, scattering a sky full of crimson light, while the vortex merely trembled, seemingly on the verge of collapse.
"Good!" the strongman roared with laughter, summoning another fireball that shot toward the vortex. When it impacted the depths of the vortex, the vortex shuddered again, appearing even more unstable. The strongman’s spirits lifted, and fireballs continued to materialize, chaining together to form a long line of fire that hammered relentlessly into the core of the dark green vortex.
Boom! Boom...
However, what left the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon dumbfounded was that after dozens of strikes, the dark green vortex never collapsed. No matter how violently it shook under attack, it stubbornly persisted in its rotation.
This phenomenon was entirely beyond the comprehension of the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon.
"Damn it! Damn it!" The strongman's face became extraordinarily savage, revealing its fierce nature. It let out three furious growls, and fiery fireballs wrapped in piercing, sharp whistles rushed toward the dark green vortex opposite.
It was utterly frenzied.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
For a time, violent collisions rose and fell incessantly, filling the entire space...
...
"Three days!" Looking at the massive pillar of fire soaring into the sky from the mountain peak, Liu Hemeng couldn't help but sigh with emotion. By this time, they had all relocated to a position midway up the Flaming Mountain.
Everyone around them remained silent, yet relaxed smiles adorned their faces.
These three days had filled them with astonishment.
The spiritual beast's roar from the summit had lasted for a full three days. Initially, the sound was wild with fury, keeping them all secretly alarmed. But as time passed, the sound gradually weakened; especially by this morning, it had become listless, barely perceptible if one didn't listen closely.
Moreover, the intervals between roars were growing longer.
"It seems Junior Brother Nie Kong and the others are close to defeating that spiritual beast," Gu Ruofei couldn't help but laugh loudly. "I didn't expect them to be locked in a stalemate with the beast for this long. I wonder what grade that spiritual beast is?" His voice involuntarily carried a hint of disbelief.
"..."
Regardless of its grade, the spiritual beast's strength certainly surpassed that of the "Blood Soul Jade Belt Worm" they encountered previously, otherwise, the outcome wouldn't still be pending after three days.
That Blood Soul Jade Belt Worm was already at the peak of Grade Five. Could the spiritual beast on the Flaming Mountain peak be Grade Six?
Yet, after reviewing all the spiritual beasts their seniors had warned them about multiple times, it seemed no known spiritual beast exceeded the peak of Grade Five. That information was compiled by countless senior Spirit Masters over millennia; there shouldn't be any mistakes.
Could it be that the spiritual beast on the Flaming Mountain peak had never appeared before?
No longer worried about Nie Kong and the others' safety, doubts began to breed thick and fast in everyone's minds...
...
Inside the massive stone pillar, the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon had long reverted from its strongman form back to its dragon shape.
After such a prolonged confrontation, it had lost immeasurable amounts of soul power. At this moment, its body, materialized from soul power, had become a faint, hazy silhouette, extremely indistinct.
"Damn bastards!" The Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon’s blood-red eyes were filled with fatigue. It cursed weakly, "This great lord is merciful; today, I shall grant you three insignificant humans a path to survival!" As it spoke, the silhouette flickered and vanished into the small scarlet sphere behind it, leaving no sound.
"Hoo,"
At the entrance to the passage, the dark green vortex continued to spin rapidly. In an instant, wisps of scarlet soul power began to leak out from the sphere at the center of the space.
"How is this possible?"
In the next moment, the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon's shocked voice emerged from the sphere. "I have entered the Dragon Heart myself, how is my soul power still being siphoned away? Impossible, impossible! This is my Dragon Heart, damn it!" Its voice betrayed unconcealed panic.
"Nothing is impossible in this world."
Nie Kong's relieved laughter echoed from behind the vortex. Although his body, Bai Yuqing's, and Mu Hongling's formed a peculiar cycle, meaning they didn't need to worry about spiritual energy depletion, the prolonged standoff required them to maintain constant tension and intense concentration, leaving them utterly exhausted now.
Fortunately, this tug-of-war could finally conclude.
"Stop sucking!"
Feeling its soul power draining continuously, the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon could hold back no longer and roared, "Otherwise, you will regret it!"
"Regret?"
Nie Kong smiled wryly. "How do you spell those two words?" His tone held a hint of mockery, and the actions in his hands did not pause in the slightest.
According to the information revealed by the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon, that scarlet sphere was its heart. If he relaxed his efforts now, perhaps it could recover quickly. He needed to drain it until it was nearly dead, and then, just as he dealt with the 'Ghost Hawk King,' absorb it into his Inner Sea. Only then could he calmly interrogate it about the Flaming Mountain.
"Damn you..."
"...You will regret this..."
"You will definitely... re... gret..." The Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon's voice grew fainter and fainter. The moment its voice vanished, no more soul power leaked from the sphere; it seemed to have completely perished at that instant.
"It's over just like that?" The vortex in his palm rapidly shrank and melted back into his body in a flash. Nie Kong felt a surge of astonishment in his heart.
Based on his estimation, although the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon's soul power was severely weakened, it was nowhere near the point of collapse; it should have taken at least another hour to drain completely.
"Hoo!"
Bai Yuqing retracted her palm and let out a long breath.
"Finally free!"
Mu Hongling cheered with immense relief. "Disciple, that dragon must be dead, right? If you were scared, you should just say so. Still trying to scare us by saying we’d regret it? Hmph, your grandma has never known the meaning of 'regret'! Oh, and its Dragon Heart could release such intense flames—it must be a good item. We need to figure out a way to take it!" As she spoke, her eyes had already turned bright and shiny.
Nie Kong remained silent. The sudden, rapid dissipation of the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon’s soul left him with a distinct feeling that something was amiss. His gaze fixed upon the pulsating Dragon Heart, Nie Kong’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
Could there really be some unforeseen change after the soul of the Prison Fire Soul Heaven Dragon died?
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The Dragon Heart continued to beat, but after a moment, not only Nie Kong, but also Mu Hongling and Bai Yuqing noticed that the force of its beats was weakening, and the flames rising from the Dragon Heart were growing smaller. The expressions on the three faces involuntarily shifted slightly...
...
...