133: Chapter 133 Battle against the Red-Armored Lizard

As soon as these words were spoken, Ye Tianhao’s heart tightened, and he hurriedly said, "Senior, you overpraise me."

The old man remained kindly, simply introducing himself, "This old man’s surname is Qin. I just do chores in the Mission Hall; I cannot bear the title of Senior."

Ye Tianhao’s mouth twitched slightly. Ever since this old man appeared, he had made the arrogant Wu Meng so nervous; how could he possibly be a mere handyman?

But he followed the flow and said, "Senior, this Junior is in urgent need of taking on this mission, so I shall take my leave first."

Having said that, he pulled Ye Tianyao to the duty Disciple's desk to register the mission information. After receiving the mission plate, they could exchange it for a map of the mission location.

The two Disciples on duty still wore that same half-smiling expression.

While registering, one of them whispered a reminder, "Ye Tianhao, right? That Senior Brother is the son of the Outer Sect Manager; you two better be careful."

The mission in District C is dangerous. It was never something the Fourth Level of Qi Refining should touch. You’d better look out for yourselves."

His tone didn't reveal whether it was out of kindness or mockery, but it served as a warning.

After leaving the Mission Hall, they found a tea shop facing the street.

Once in the private room, Ye Tianhao didn’t forget to stick a Sound-Isolating Talisman nearby so that other Cultivators would be unable to overhear anything.

Ye Tianyao took out the books about Spirit Beasts she had bought on the street, spread them out, and said, "Brother, the Red-Armored Lizard we have to deal with is not simple!"

"Tell me about it," Tianhao said with a smile.

"The book says that the Red-Armored Lizard is covered in dark red scales as hard as steel. It's difficult for the Magical Artifacts of ordinary Qi Refinement Stage Cultivators to break through them, which is why it's named 'Red-Armored'."

"Furthermore, it can breathe fire and doesn't usually appear alone; they often move in groups of two or three, appearing near fire-attribute mineral deposits! It's indeed a bit tricky," Ye Tianyao explained logically.

Then her eyes lit up, and she said with great surprise, "Brother! That is to say, the place where this Red-Armored Lizard appears might have fire-attribute Ore? Then Xiao Chi might be able to advance?!"

Hearing this, Ye Tianhao said, "We can indeed go take a look. Tianyao, let's go prepare and set out."

The place where they were going to hunt the Red-Armored Lizard was a place called the Chaotic Stone Grotto. The terrain there was steep and the caves were deep. Although the mission wasn't difficult for the two of them given their cultivation...

...it was still better to be cautious.

Early the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten.

After the two of them counted the herbs and Spiritual Talismans in their hands, they set off.

The Chaotic Stone Grotto was located in a barren area called West Yin Mountain, five hundred miles from Tiangong Market. After Ye Tianhao and Ye Tianyao learned to fly on swords, their speed was much faster.

It took less than a day to arrive.

According to the map indicators, the Chaotic Stone Grotto was hidden in a Barren Valley within West Yin Mountain. The closer they got to the cave entrance, the hotter the surrounding air became.

One could even see fiery red magma on the ground. The cave entrance was obscured by jagged, strange rocks, only wide enough for one person to pass through.

Approaching the cave entrance.

It was incredibly hot, with scorched black marks on the rock walls. One could faintly smell a faint scent of sulfur and a burnt, fishy odor.

The Storage Pouch at Ye Tianyao’s waist was bulging slightly. Based on the mutual sensing between a master and a bonded beast, Ye Tianyao knew that Xiao Chi was feeling afraid and uneasy, so she gently patted the Storage Pouch to soothe it.

Ye Tianhao raised his hand to signal Ye Tianyao to be quiet, then released a wisp of weak Spiritual Qi, gently probing deep into the cave.

He only felt that the airflow inside the cave was turbulent, with fire-attribute Spiritual Qi intertwined. From deep inside, there were also faint sounds of scales rubbing against the rocks, coming from more than one or two places.

"There are at least three of them," Ye Tianhao whispered.

He gripped the moon-breaking sword in his hand: "The heat inside the cave is intense; we'll need to use spiritual power to protect our bodies. You stay on the left side to help me restrain them and keep watch. Our target is that First-Tier Middle Stage Red-Armored Lizard!"

Ye Tianyao nodded in agreement. She held a long sword, and her hand had already fished out three Explosive Talismans. Currently, because her Spirit Beast's strength was insufficient to fight this Red-Armored Lizard, she could only rely on her own actions!

The two of them stepped into the cave separately. Ye Tianhao walked in the very front, using a Vajra Talisman and a Defense Talisman on himself.

The Vajra Talisman could protect the body to the greatest extent, enough for the body to withstand sudden attacks.

The Defense Talisman transformed into a shield in front of him to block Spell attacks.

The inside of the cave suddenly opened up, with forks in the road crisscrossing. The stalactites were all smoked into a dark red hue.

When they reached a fork in the road, a sharp hissing sound suddenly came from ahead.

Three half-human-tall Red-Armored Lizards suddenly lunged out from the shadows. Their entire bodies were covered in thick, dark red scales that shimmered with a metallic luster, and saliva with sparks of fire dripped continuously from their mouths.

"Move!" Ye Tianhao shouted, and the Explosive Talisman in Ye Tianyao’s hand was instantly thrown out, exploding as soon as it hit the ground.

The three Red-Armored Lizards were not afraid at all, quickly curling up their bodies. The explosion only knocked them back slightly. The flames made a "sizzling" sound on the scales, but there was only charring without any serious damage.

"As expected, their defensive power is amazing!" Ye Tianhao was startled, which couldn't help but make him think of the scorpion he had fought with his grandfather before.

He immediately had a plan and shouted to Ye Tianyao, "Tianyao! Aim for its eyes and belly!"

Just as he finished speaking, two Red-Armored Lizards had already pounced in front of him, breathing out a ball of fire from their mouths, and a scorching heat wave rushed toward them.

Ye Tianhao reacted extremely quickly, cleaving the fireball with a sword strike and aiming directly for the Red-Armored Lizard's eye.

With a thrust of the sharp blade, it instantly pierced through the fragile eye into the skull.

"Awoo!" The Red-Armored Lizard let out a miserable cry and fell to the ground.

Ye Tianhao leaped up again, dodging the attack of another Red-Armored Lizard, and then stabbed into its eye in the same manner, killing it with a forceful thrust.

On the other side, Ye Tianyao also easily used her long sword to approach its eye, then pierced through it along with the head.

These three Red-Armored Lizards were only First-Tier Early Stage, and their strength was not great.

But what they wanted to hunt was a First-Tier Middle Stage lizard, so they still needed to go deeper.

Having dealt with the three First-Tier Early Stage Red-Armored Lizards, the two of them did not dare to be the least bit slack.

Seeing the lizard corpses on the ground, Ye Tianhao put them into his Storage Pouch: "These lizard scales are hard, and they are also First-Tier Spirit Beasts; they can be sold for a good price later."

Suddenly, a roar heavier than before came from deep within the cave, carrying a tremor of fire-attribute spiritual power, making even the rock walls beneath their feet tremble slightly.

The two of them moved forward and soon saw a Red-Armored Lizard that was twice as robust as the previous ones, coiled there. Beneath it was a dark red crystal, and fire energy could be seen swirling within it with the naked eye.

"What is that!" Ye Tianhao was attracted by the crystal and looked surprised.

Ye Tianyao immediately said, "Brother, no matter what it is, it must be something good!"

Some Yao Beasts would instinctively cling to Spiritual Plants full of spiritual power, or Ores containing spiritual power, using the Spiritual Qi they carry to Cultivate.

Therefore, what was beneath this Red-Armored Lizard was some kind of powerful spiritual Ore; they had truly hit the jackpot with this mission.

But this Red-Armored Lizard was not small, much larger than those three ordinary Red-Armored Lizards. The scales on its body were also harder, and the surrounding air had become even more scorching.