Teng Qingshan stood motionless at the bottom of the gorge.

He was listening!

“Where did that fiend beast run off to?” Teng Qingshan strained his ears for a long time. Besides the sound of the wind and dry leaves skittering across the ground, he detected no trace of the beast running.

“This fiend beast must live around Flame Mountain; it’s certainly familiar with the terrain. Finding it might be difficult.” Settling his mind, Teng Qingshan began to move through the canyon, carefully surveying his surroundings, hoping to find some track or sign. However, after searching extensively throughout the gorge and scouring every nearby inch, Teng Qingshan found no sign of the fiend beast whatsoever.

“To think I let that fiend beast escape!” Teng Qingshan felt utterly helpless.

With no other choice, Teng Qingshan decided to retreat!

...

However, just as Teng Qingshan jumped down and landed near a ledge about twenty zhang up the cliff face above the canyon floor, there was a depression in the rock wall. The fiend beast’s four sharp claws were effortlessly sunk into the stone, its massive body curled up tightly within that hollow.

From the outside, there was absolutely no way to discover the beast hiding there.

The fiend beast’s icy eyes, occasionally flashing with a subtle, dark crimson light, occasionally swept downward toward the gorge.

It remained hidden for a full two hours. It wasn't until the darkest moment just before the next dawn that the canyon was completely swallowed by blackness. Only then did the fiend beast leap down with lightning speed, landing silently in the gorge, darting away a few times before vanishing completely.

The training grounds of the Jin Family Village. Torches were lit all around as the martial artists gathered.

“What in the world was that monster? It was even sturdier than a wild ox! And those dense scales—I struck it once, and my palm ended up throbbing in pain.”

“That was a fiend beast! Those scales are definitely impenetrable. I wager that even armor forged from materials like profound iron would fall short compared to that beast’s hide!” the martial artists marveled.

“If we could kill that fiend beast and skin it… Imagine making a suit of scale armor from it—haha… that would be a treasure beyond measure.”

“Stop dreaming. With your meager skill, you think you can kill that fiend beast?”

The group of martial artists seemed thrilled; simply witnessing a fiend beast was enough excitement for them. As for actually killing it, most of the martial artists of average strength never dared to entertain the thought.

The martial artists were energized, but the clansmen of the Jin Family Village were anxious and distraught.

The Jin Clan Chief, his face etched with worry, looked at the group of martial artists chatting so casually. He couldn't help but shout loudly, “Honored sirs! Has any one of you managed to slay that black monster?” He called out, but the martial artists continued their excited chatter, paying the chief no heed whatsoever.

A burly man standing beside the Chief grew frantic and roared, “You martial artists! My Jin Family Village faces a great calamity! We implore your aid, yet you cannot slay the beast and sit here laughing? You still have the nerve to…”

“Silence!” the Jin Clan Chief sharply commanded.

“Chief,” the frantic man’s eyes were red with desperation.

The entire Jin Family Village had been driven to near madness by this fiend beast. Seeing the martial artists so pleased with themselves only deepened the clansmen's misery.

“Hey, kid!” A large man with a long saber strapped to his back and a crimson birthmark on his face sneered at the enraged villager. “What, does the way we brothers talk displease you?” Instantly, the other martial artists accompanying him looked at the Jin Family man with mocking smiles.

The Jin clansman clenched his fists, his face turning ugly.

“Damn it, have you forgotten the power of my fist?” A light, flippant voice cut through the air. “You can’t kill the fiend beast, so you bully ordinary mountain folk instead? What kind of martial artists are you? I say, buy a block of tofu and smash your own heads in!” Duan Hou strolled over, grinning.

The faces of those martial artists immediately flushed red, and they exchanged glances. None dared to speak again.

They had all personally experienced Duan Hou’s strength when he first arrived at the Jin Family Village.

“Brother Qin Lang!” Duan Hou suddenly exclaimed with great joy, calling out into the distance.

Teng Qingshan had indeed just arrived on the training grounds. Seeing Duan Hou running toward him, he walked over. “Brother Duan!”

“Brother Qin Lang, you arrived so late. You must have been chasing that fiend beast, I presume. Did you manage to catch it?” Duan Hou inquired. At this question, the densely packed crowd of Jin Family clansmen on the training ground all turned their gazes toward Teng Qingshan with expectation and tension.

Being stared at by over a thousand pairs of eyes, Teng Qingshan felt a surge in his chest. In those eyes filled with yearning, Teng Qingshan understood how desperately these Jin Family clansmen wished for the fiend beast to be slain.

“That fiend beast was too cunning! I failed to kill it,” Teng Qingshan admitted, shaking his head.

The hope in the eyes of the thousand Jin Family clansmen dimmed; they were nearly in despair.

“However, I did manage to injure the beast. Given its intelligence, it likely won’t dare return to the Jin Family Village anytime soon,” Teng Qingshan added. This statement brought expressions of joy to the faces of many clansmen nearby.

“Esteemed sir, you say the fiend beast won’t dare come back in the near future?” The Jin Clan Chief rushed over.

Duan Hou spoke up beside him, “Elder, that fiend beast is as smart as a human! Having been wounded and suffered a loss this time, it won’t risk returning soon!” Duan Hou had personally witnessed the monster silently sliding the bolt off a dwelling door to sneak inside. A creature this intelligent would hardly dare return the next day after incurring injury.

“Big Brother, Big Brother!” Suddenly, a small figure darted toward Teng Qingshan and grabbed the hem of his trousers.

Teng Qingshan looked down to see a child who looked barely six or seven years old.

The child looked up at Teng Qingshan, eyes filled with tears: “Big Brother, I beg you, you must kill that monster and avenge my mother and father! Please!”

“Erwa, let go quickly,” the Jin Clan Chief called out, pulling the child aside. He did this primarily out of fear that Teng Qingshan might be displeased and harm the child, as—after all—not all martial artists possessed humanity.

“I beg you, Big Brother,” the child sobbed.

The Jin Clan Chief explained quickly, “Esteemed sir, our Jin Family Village has lost many clansmen over the past month. Erwa’s parents were eaten by that monster one night. Erwa was lucky not to have been sleeping in the same room, or he would have been devoured that day as well.”

Teng Qingshan looked at the child and felt a slight tremor in his heart.

In his previous life, he had been an orphan himself!

So young, and already without parents!

“Don’t worry!” Duan Hou clapped his hands reassuringly toward the Jin Family clansmen. “We martial artists are numerous and powerful. Even if there aren't enough of us today, more, stronger martial artists will certainly come later. That fiend beast will surely meet its end one day.” Hearing this provided only slight comfort to the hearts of the surrounding clansmen.

“Brother Qin Lang, did you recognize what kind of fiend beast it was?” Duan Hou asked. “I know of many fiend beasts, but I don't recognize this one.”

“Nor do I,” Teng Qingshan shook his head.

Teng Qingshan had spent too little time in the Guiyuan Sect to have looked up books concerning fiend beasts.

“Brother Qin Lang, when you pursued the beast, did you notice anything unusual? Anything that might help determine its species?” Duan Hou pressed.

Teng Qingshan held nothing back. “The fiend beast suddenly turned entirely crimson, its speed surged tremendously, and it managed to shake me off.”

“Entirely crimson?” Duan Hou paused, then his eyes brightened.

...

On the training grounds, the expert from the Iron Cloth Gate, Jin Tao, had overheard Teng Qingshan and Duan Hou talking. When he heard ‘entirely crimson,’ a look of wild ecstasy crossed Jin Tao’s face. “Entirely crimson? This… could this be the Crimson Scale Beast? Yes! Records about the Crimson Scale Beast state that when they are young, their scales are black! Only after the beast matures and consumes a ‘Black Fire Spirit Fruit’ will its scales turn entirely red, and it will grow to three zhang tall!”

“A juvenile Crimson Scale Beast,” Jin Tao mused to himself. “This knowledge cannot be spread, or obtaining the Black Fire Spirit Fruit will become difficult.”

Just then—

“Haha, it’s the Crimson Scale Beast, it’s the Crimson Scale Beast!” A loud laugh rang out, and Jin Tao’s face drastically changed. The one laughing was none other than Duan Hou.

“Duan Hou,” Jin Tao rushed over and shot him a glare.

“Why are you glaring at me?” Duan Hou then broke into a laugh. “Haha, I get it. You want your Iron Cloth Gate to monopolize that treasure, don’t you?”

“Stop talking,” Jin Tao lowered his voice.

Teng Qingshan, standing nearby, felt confused and pressed for details, “Brother Duan, what is this Crimson Scale Beast you speak of?”

Jin Tao immediately turned and glared at Teng Qingshan, but Teng Qingshan ignored him.

Duan Hou said with a smile, “Someone doesn’t want me to speak of it, but I insist! Brother Qin Lang, the Crimson Scale Beast is an incredibly formidable fiend beast. Legend says it stands over three zhang tall and spans five or six zhang long, resembling a small mountain. Furthermore, its entire body is scarlet, and even a Xiantian expert would struggle to break through its scales! It can also spew fire that melts gold and liquefies iron!”

Teng Qingshan was stunned by the description.

Over three zhang tall? That’s a colossus the height of two or three stories! And its scales are tough even for Xiantian experts to penetrate, plus it breathes fire that melts metal? This truly sounded like a terrifying beast.

Jin Tao fumed silently beside them.

However, he knew Duan Hou’s strength. Furthermore, Duan Hou had already been injured pursuing the beast, meaning he was certainly no match for Duan Hou. Not to mention the presence of the mysterious expert ‘Qin Lang,’ who had managed to injure the Crimson Scale Beast.

“However, that is the adult form of the Crimson Scale Beast. In the books, the description of the young beast is simple: its scales are black, and in moments of extreme crisis, its entire body can turn crimson. Those two sentences alone are too brief. I hadn’t realized it was a Crimson Scale Beast before. Now that we know, this is a juvenile Crimson Scale Beast—an adolescent one!” Duan Hou explained in detail.

Teng Qingshan felt a strange mix of amusement and helplessness upon hearing this. Such a monstrously defensive creature was apparently just a juvenile.

“But no matter how powerful the Crimson Scale Beast is, we can’t capture it. What truly excites martial artists is the spiritual treasure that accompanies the Crimson Scale Beast: the ‘Black Fire Spirit Fruit,’” Duan Hou continued, his eyes bright. “Brother Qin Lang, when that Crimson Scale Beast grows up, it absolutely must consume the ‘Black Fire Spirit Fruit’ to achieve its final metamorphosis—shedding its black scales for scarlet ones!—and becoming that terrifying beast! We martial artists can snatch that Black Fire Spirit Fruit before it can!”

Teng Qingshan’s mind stirred.

So, the Crimson Scale Beast only transforms into a monster feared even by Xiantian experts after consuming the Black Fire Spirit Fruit.

What if a human were to consume it?