15: Earth Core Fire Scorpion

“Auntie!”

Mo Yuhan was truly anxious this time, his small fists clenched. “You’re getting more and more outrageous! I’m only eight years old, and…and who said I was going to marry her?”

He held it in for a long time, but Liu Erlong’s swollen red scar on her honey-colored skin, the undulating lines of her taut waist and abdomen, and those crimson eyes burning with indomitable flames involuntarily flashed through his mind. A strange tremor went through his heart, and he shook his head, quickly casting the image away.

Bibi Dong looked at his attempts to cover up and his vexed indignation, and finally couldn’t help but let out a giggle. Her beautiful face blossomed with astonishing radiance under the sunlight, making even the surrounding forest seem to brighten a little.

“Alright, alright, I won’t say anymore. Our Xiao Han is still young and thin-skinned.”

She smiled and shook her head, her gaze drifting towards a certain direction deep in the forest, carrying a hint of deeper meaning. “However, who can say for sure about destiny? That Spirit Bone…heh, it’s quite an interesting catalyst.”

As she spoke, Bibi Dong’s speed suddenly slowed, and she lightly landed with Mo Yuhan in a relatively open clearing in the forest.

In the center of the clearing, there was a gurgling hot spring, its water a strange dark red, emitting a strong sulfurous scent and pure fire-attribute energy. And on the edge of the hot spring, a massive Spirit Beast, shaped like a giant lizard, was comfortably soaking within it.

The Spirit Beast was covered in a thick, dark red armor-like shell, which was covered in crack-like patterns. Orange-red light faintly seeped through the cracks, as if lava flowed beneath it.

Its head was ferocious, with a single spiraling horn, and its tail was as thick and strong as a hammer. Most striking was the palm-sized, molten ruby-like crystal embedded in the center of its back shell, greedily absorbing the fire-attribute energy from the hot spring.

A Millennium Spirit Beast—the Earth Core Lava Armor Scorpion!

Judging by the color of its shell and the brightness of its core crystal, its age definitely approached the limit for a Millennium Spirit Beast. It was precisely Mo Yuhan’s perfect target for his second spirit ring—possessing both fire and earth attributes, astonishing defensive power, and vast, profound core energy, perfectly matching the “Earth Origin Flame” characteristic of Xuan Huang Flame!

“Go, Xiao Han.”

Bibi Dong released Mo Yuhan, standing with her hands behind her back, her beautiful face showing a hint of encouragement and absolute confidence. “This Earth Core Lava Armor Scorpion is your second spirit ring. Don’t worry, Auntie is here.”

Mo Yuhan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the ripples in his heart that his auntie had stirred up. His eyes instantly became calm and focused, like polished obsidian.

His small body subtly crouched, and the dark yellow Xuan Huang Flame silently rose from within him, enveloping his entire body and emitting a heavy, scorching aura.

The Earth Core Lava Armor Scorpion also sensed the intruder. It raised its ferocious head from the hot spring, letting out a low, sulfurous roar, and the lava core in the center of its back shell glowed brightly.

“Roar—!”

The battle instantly erupted. The Lava Armor Scorpion’s thick tail swept out like a battering ram, bringing with it a scorching heatwave. Mo Yuhan, instead of retreating, advanced. The Xuan Huang Flame beneath his feet suddenly burst forth, and his body shot out like a cannonball.

“First Spirit Ability! Xuan Huang Lion Flame Crash!”

The dark flames instantly condensed on his body into a thick flame armor resembling a lion's head, especially on his shoulders and forearms. The outlines of the flame lions were clear, exuding a metallic luster and a will to penetrate everything, as he bravely met the sweeping giant tail.

“Bang—!”

A dull thud echoed like a drumbeat. Mo Yuhan’s small body trembled violently, knocked back several steps by the immense force, his feet ploughing two scorched marks into the ground.

The lion-head flame armor covering his forearms fluctuated violently, dented but stubbornly unbroken. The “penetrating burn” characteristic of Xuan Huang Flame activated, and the dark flames ignored the hard shell, like maggots clinging to bone, surging madly into the interior of the Lava Armor Scorpion’s tail along the point of contact, scorching its muscles and bones!

“Hiss-ang—!”

The Lava Armor Scorpion let out a painful hiss. The sweeping motion of its tail clearly paused, and the circulation of its vital energy became sluggish.

Mo Yuhan’s application of his first Spirit Ability was already perfected. Using the recoil, he spun his body sharply, and his right shoulder, covered in the thick lion-head flame armor, carrying the full force of his body and the condensed heat of Xuan Huang Flame, slammed fiercely into the soft, unprotected joint of the Lava Armor Scorpion’s abdomen, which it had raised in pain.

This move was identical to Liu Erlong’s method of dealing with devil spiders.

“Thump—!”

The second impact! It was even duller and more penetrating. Xuan Huang Flame surged in furiously, and the Lava Armor Scorpion’s massive body staggered. Fine cracks even appeared on its abdominal shell.

The Lava Armor Scorpion was completely enraged. It opened its large mouth, and a viscous stream of dark red, burning lava poured down like a volcanic eruption towards Mo Yuhan, who was at close quarters. The terrifying high temperature distorted the air.

Mo Yuhan’s pupils contracted, then he immediately sidestepped with a few leaps. The dark red lava stream, capable of melting metal, exploded violently about three feet from his body, scattering in all directions.

Then, Mo Yuhan’s small figure erupted with astonishing speed. Xuan Huang Flame exploded beneath his feet, instantly propelling him beneath the Lava Armor Scorpion’s lowered head, which was still spitting lava.

“It’s over!”

He let out a low cry. The Xuan Huang Flame on his palms condensed and compressed to an unprecedented degree, forming two intensely pulsating, almost solid, dark yellow fireballs. Within the fireballs, there seemed to be an earth pulsation, heavy and explosive.

Mo Yuhan struck with both palms, slamming them fiercely onto the Lava Armor Scorpion’s weakest, unprotected soft flesh on its lower jaw.

“Xuan Huang Flame—Blast!”

Boom—!!!!

The two extremely compressed Xuan Huang Flame fireballs exploded violently. The dark yellow flames, carrying the terrifying power to tear apart everything and incinerate origins, instantly poured into the Lava Armor Scorpion’s head and chest cavity through the weak point of its lower jaw. The scorching fire current surged madly!

“Awooo—!!!”

The Lava Armor Scorpion let out an earth-shattering shriek of agony. Its massive body convulsed and struggled wildly, and the lava core on its back shell rapidly dimmed.

Finally, its head, burning with painful flames, slammed heavily onto the ground, raising a cloud of dust, and completely lost its life force.

A deep, purple spirit ring with dark red edges slowly rose from the corpse of the Lava Armor Scorpion.

The spirit ring’s color was rich, and its energy fluctuations were vast and profound, carrying the profoundness of the earth and the explosiveness of lava. Its age was approximately 1,800 years, which was the limit for Mo Yuhan to absorb a Millennium spirit ring.

Mo Yuhan was breathing heavily, his small face pale from the consumption of Soul Power, but his eyes were unusually bright.

He walked to the spirit ring, sat down cross-legged, and without any hesitation, immediately began to guide this purple spirit ring.

Bibi Dong immediately stepped forward to protect Mo Yuhan, a hint of subtle concern on her cold, charming, peerless face.