5: Chapter 5 An Unexpected Turn of Events!

Suddenly!

The dense forest on the flank suddenly trembled violently, dead branches and vegetation were uprooted and overturned, and a scorching heatwave surged forth! A slightly small, grayish-brown dragon body burst out from the forest, its resonant roar reverberating through the hills and wild fields.

Judging by its size, this was astonishingly another Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon around five thousand years old!

This fire dragon had clearly rushed over to support its kin after hearing the commotion. The moment it appeared, its blood-red slit pupils locked onto the battlefield, and swept up in violent flames, it launched a direct surprise attack on Uncle Lin, who was locked in combat.

Watching intently with vigilant alertness nearby, Lin Yan's gaze suddenly sharpened as he thought to himself, "Not good."

His figure shot out like an arrow off the string, instantly interposing himself in front of this suddenly appearing Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon.

Though he didn't know where this Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon came from or why it hadn't been discovered during their earlier scouts...

...it didn't matter. What if another one came?

It seemed that today, not only could he obtain the Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon's spirit ring, but he could also harvest another Withered-Prosperous Dragon Fire!

"Uncle Lin, focus on your battle! Leave this one to me!"

The young man's voice was clear and steady, carrying an innate Aura of certainty that commanded complete belief without needing excessive words.

Uncle Lin, who was struggling against his formidable opponent, felt his tension ease upon hearing this. Without the slightest hesitation, he replied, "Alright!"

He knew his young master's current strength well, and he knew that the faster he finished the battle on his end, the sooner he could reinforce his young master. Reining in all stray thoughts, his sixth black spirit ring lit up instantly.

"Sixth Spirit Ability—Black Tortoise Boundary Lock!"

An extraordinarily heavy rock barrier instantly enveloped all directions, completely confining the Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon in front of him inside the barrier, isolating interference, restricting its movements, and thoroughly stabilizing the battle situation.

On the other side, facing the Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon, Lin Yan shifted his thoughts. Scalding heat surged in his palm as the dazzling Nine-Colored Emperor Flame suddenly rose and flared, swirling around his body.

At the same time, Lin Yan's tied-up long hair spilled loose, every strand transforming into a nine-colored hue burning with crimson flames.

Two spirit rings—one yellow and one purple—slowly rose and fell beneath his feet, shimmering with brilliant light and extraordinary majesty.

Facing the aggressive fire dragon that opened its maw to spew a vast torrent of dragon breath, Lin Yan's expression remained composed, flames swirling in his eyes:

"First Spirit Ability—Flame Swallowing!"

Rolling heatwaves instantly swept across heaven and earth. The free-floating fire-attribute energy in the world agitated wildly and rushed toward Lin Yan, causing the Nine-Colored Emperor Flame to surge dramatically!

This first Spirit Ability, with an age of only eight hundred years, was the core Foundation that allowed Lin Yan's Spirit to continuously evolve from an ordinary flame. It had another, more fitting name—Flame Mantra!

It endowed the Emperor Flame Spirit with ultimate growth potential, allowing it to continuously swallow the Beast Fire and Strange Fire Origins in the world to undergo self-evolution and metamorphosis.

Furthermore, the unique properties of various flames swallowed by it could be perfectly integrated into his Spirit through Fusion.

Not only that, another effect of this Spirit Ability was a 200% boost to all stats! Moreover, this boost ratio could continuously increase as the quality and quantity of swallowed flames grew!

Now, after four years of effort by Lin Yan, the boost ratio had reached a terrifying 500%!

The scalding and domineering flame Aura suppressed all directions, its stifling heat distorting the surrounding air and light, but it was not over yet!

"Second Spirit Ability, Flame Spirit!"

The remaining thousand-year spirit ring suddenly burst with dazzling light. The Nine-Colored Emperor Flame swirling around Lin Yan split apart in all directions, separating into Origin flames of various colors and distinct characteristics.

The scattered flames floated in midair and instantly condensed into over a hundred Flame Spirits. Some were armored in scales, some sprouted feathers and held horns; they took diverse forms, displaying the shapes of a hundred types of Spirit Beasts.

An intelligent gleam flickered in the eyes of every Flame Spirit. They were not mere flame constructs, but elemental Spirits possessing genuine living spirituality!

Multi-colored flames churned on over a hundred Flame Spirits as they all encircled Lin Yan, making the youth look noble and dignified, like an emperor who ruled over all flames.

In the next second, Soul Power circulated at Lin Yan's fingertips as he called out in a low voice: "Flame Spirits Form Armaments!"

Among the hundred Flame Spirits, nine figures with distinct characteristics suddenly leaped into the air. Splitting with precision, they attached themselves around Lin Yan's body and began condensing into a set of armor!

The Thunder Fire Eagle formed from Purple Flame Thunder-Fire condensed into the Thunder-Fire Wings behind his back, swirling with purple flames and flashing electric arcs.

The Earth-Core Lava Turtle formed from Earth-Core Lava Fire melted and forged into a magma chestplate, thick, scorching, and flowing with magma.

In addition, the Nether Fire Lion formed from Nether Fire condensed into Nether Pauldrons; the Green Forest Luan Bird formed from Life Spirit Fire formed the Jade Forest Belt; the Crimson Bone Flame Leopard formed from Bone-Refining Fire formed the left and right Crimson Bone Vambraces; the Black Flame Giant Snake formed from Black Flame Mysterious Fire forged the Black Flame Greaves; and the Falling Star Fire Crow formed from Meteor Fire transformed into the Falling Star Sabatons.

Finally, the Sacred Flame Spirit Deer formed from Sacred Fire condensed into the Sacred Flame Helmet, and the Blood-Burning Giant Lizard formed from Blood-Burning Fire refined a Blood-Burning Halberd brimming with towering blood flames!

In an instant, a set of Flame Spirit Battle Armor woven from nine colors and glowing brightly covered his entire body. Flame patterns circulated across its surface, and a scalding, domineering flame breath soared into the sky!

This was Lin Yan's second Spirit Ability. Its effects were divided into two aspects: first, Gathering Flames into Spirits, and second, Transforming Flame Spirits into Armaments!

Not only that, when the second Spirit Ability was linked with the first Spirit Ability, using the Emperor Flame Spirit as the Foundation to rediffine the Origin Beast Fires of various Spirit Beasts previously swallowed and integrated by the Emperor Flame, and then using these differentiated flames to condense Flame Spirits, the second Spirit Ability would derive a more wondrous and powerful third trait on top of its original two traits of shared vision and damage sharing!

Namely: As long as Soul Power does not drain, Flame Spirits will not perish!

At the same time, when Flame Spirits transformed into Flame Spirit Armaments, each piece of Flame Spirit Armament provided Lin Yan with a boost, up to a limit of stacking the boosts brought by nine pieces of Flame Spirit Armaments.

As for the Flame Spirit Battle Armor developed by Lin Yan through this method, the nine flame properties were interwoven and integrated, complementing one another. Currently, it could even provide him with a 300% boost across six dimensions, including attack, defense, speed, recovery, mental strength, and elemental enhancement!

With dual Spirit abilities stacked, the ultimate boost was fully realized!

At this moment, the Emperor Flame around Lin Yan was scalding and domineering, nine-colored firelight illuminating the mountain forest. His mental perception covered a hundred-meter radius; every movement of the fire dragon and every thread of flowing fire were accurately captured by him.

Empowered by the Thunder-Fire Wings, his movement speed was extremely fast. Every shift in position left behind layers of gorgeous flame afterimages, making real and illusionary hard to tell apart.

"Roar—!"

The Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon was completely infuriated by the human before it. Its massive dragon body surged forward violently, causing the ground to collapse with a crash as countless stone fragments splattered in all directions.

Opening its huge maw lined with razor-sharp fangs, an overwhelming flood of Withered-Prosperous Fire gushed forth like a grayish-green curtain sweeping across heaven and earth. Carrying a bizarre power that plundered vitality, wherever it passed, vegetation instantly withered and turned to ash, and soil and stone disintegrated, charging aggressively toward Lin Yan!

Facing the soaring waves of fire, Lin Yan's expression remained unchanged as his figure suddenly shifted sideways.

With a gentle flap of his Thunder-Fire Wings, electric arcs exploded and air currents boomed as he instantly glided over ten meters away, perfectly dodging the dragon fire breath.

The scalding Withered-Prosperous Fire slammed heavily onto the ground where he had just stood, exploding into a sky full of rain-like fire, and instantly burning a massive, charred deep pit into the earth.

Before the fire dragon could recover its stance, Lin Yan took the initiative to strike!

"Besiege and kill."

As his voice fell, over a hundred Flame Spirits surrounding him scattered and encircled the target. Whether in beast form or transformed into Spirit armaments, they blocked all of the fire dragon's dodge paths from every direction.

A sky full of attacks precisely locked onto the fire dragon's eyes, nostrils, scale gaps, and other weak points all over its body. Furthermore, bizarre Flame Spirits formed from beast fires like Heart-Burning Fox Fire constantly darted around to distract and disrupt its rhythm.

Meanwhile, the scalding and domineering Emperor Flame pressed down layer by layer against the dragon's innate dragon fire, which should have been bizarre and troublesome. The Withered-Prosperous Fire that was originally capable of plundering vitality continuously annihilated and collapsed before the Emperor Flame, and was even swallowed in reverse!

"Roar!!"

Both shocked and enraged, the Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon writhed its massive body frantically. Its thick dragon tail, carrying thousands of pounds of force, swept across violently with a booming sound of tearing air, attempting to shatter the surrounding Flame Spirit enclosure.

However, under the ultimate defense boost and the Flame Spirits sharing damage, Lin Yan stood as firm as a rock.

Stepping forward to charge, his figure was incomparably fierce. The Blood-Burning Halberd in his hand swept with waves of flames, launching a brutal strike accompanied by air-ripping sonic booms!

Boom!

The sharp and dominant flame blade of the halberd struck precisely at the gaps between the scale armor on the fire dragon's chest and abdomen. Ultimate armor-piercing damage burst out instantly, hard dragon scales shattered on impact, and scalding, crimson dragon blood spewed out like a gushing spring.

But before the dragon blood could hit the ground, it was vaporized by the terrifying high temperature of the halberd blade, rising into a sky filled with blood mist and steam.

Bone-deep pain completely ignited the fire dragon's ferocity. Recklessly throwing its head back in a roar, Withered-Prosperous Fire burst out from all the gaps in its scales, aiming to force Lin Yan back with a self-sacrificing torrent of flame.

Seeing this, the sky full of Flame Spirits expanded their encirclement in response. Retreating when the enemy advanced and pursuing when the enemy retreated, they tightly locked down all of the fire dragon's attack and escape routes.

Moreover, Flame Spirits destroyed during the siege could undergo Rebirth within moments and rejoin the battle.

A hundred Flame Spirits continuously besieged it in turns, steadily draining its Soul Power and physical stamina.

Lin Yan used his Thunder-Fire Wings to maneuver through the air, periodically leaving behind deep, bone-exposing charred wounds on its body.

Before long, the fire dragon's heavy, hard dragon body grew increasingly covered in wounds, battered and scarred beyond recognition.

Meanwhile, on the other battlefield, the Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon trapped within the Black Tortoise Boundary Lock barrier was already bruised and battered under Uncle Lin's relentless barrage of Spirit Abilities.

Rock-attribute Spirit Abilities were heavy and domineering, breaking through defenses layer by layer and steadily wearing down the fire dragon's vitality and Soul Power.

As the final Fissure Rock Wild Torrent smashed down, this seven-thousand-year-old Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon uttered a weak wail and collapsed heavily to the ground, falling into a state of severe injury and unconsciousness, completely losing its ability to fight.

Having finished off his opponent, Uncle Lin turned his head toward the other side of the battlefield, his pupils instantly shrinking slightly.

Although he had long known his young master possessed astonishing combat power, seeing Lin Yan go all out for the first time still made it impossible to conceal the shock in his heart.

The youth wore armor of flowing nine-colored flames, standing straight like a pine tree. Tens of thousands of flames churned around him and a hundred Flame Spirits swept across all four directions, making him look like an emperor among flames. Even when facing a top-tier five-thousand-year sub-dragon, he remained unhurried and completely dominant!

Uncle Lin hesitated no longer. With a flash of his movement, he rushed straight over to assist.

With Uncle Lin joining the battlefield, it signaled that this battle was about to come to a complete end.

When the last Withered-Prosperous Fire Dragon collapsed to the ground, exhausted and covered in wounds, Lin Yan raised his hand to recall the wild flames and the sky full of Flame Spirits, drawing back his powerful Aura and stepping out of his battle stance.

The scorching heatwave slowly began to recede, and the smoke-filled mountain forest returned to tranquility, leaving behind only shattered, charred dragon scales scattered across the ground and dragon blood soaking into the earth, misting with a faint scent of heat and dragon Aura!