20: The Great Xia Spirit Guards should be the first to die.

Guo Linshan looked up at the formation and said, "If the formation Xiao Xu set up truly has the power to block the eruption of Tianyun Volcano, I would have no complaints even if I were trapped here until death."

"But since even the Fusang Dark Guards could infiltrate without being detected, I won't put my trust in this formation. Thus, stopping the volcano's eruption is something we must do."

"There's no time to lose, let's set out!"

Guo Linshan turned to the crowd and said, "We need a Suicide Squad now... Those who have joined the Great Xia Spirit Guards, step forward!"

All the Great Xia Spirit Guards stepped forward in unison. They were not intimidated by the name 'Suicide Squad'; it was as if they were utterly fearless of death.

"Very good. I believe none of you have forgotten the oath you once took."

"Great Xia Spirit Guards, shall be the first to die!"

"Behind the Spirit Guards are the thousands of lights of Great Xia!"

"When danger arrives, we shall surely die before everyone else. The bodies of the Great Xia Spirit Guards are the final protection for the citizens of Great Xia."

"So today, even if we have to fill it with our corpses, we will extinguish this volcano!"

There was no need for any flowery declarations, because from the moment they became Great Xia Spirit Guards, they had already sworn their oaths.

He turned to face the Great Xia Spirit Guards below and raised his arm, shouting loudly, "Great Xia Spirit Guards, shall be the first to die!"

The crowd responded in a loud chorus, "Great Xia Spirit Guards, shall be the first to die!"

Without the slightest hesitation, everyone followed in Guo Linshan's footsteps.

Looking at their unified pace and unwavering backs, Yu Shenghuo couldn't help but say, "Such resolve... It seems there was indeed a reason why I wasn't accepted into the Great Xia Spirit Guards back then."

Then he also shouted loudly, "But our Beast Tamer Association cannot be outdone by them! Let's go and let those fellows know that Great Xia's territory isn't a place where those little runts can come and go as they please!"

He then led his people to chase after the Fusang Dark Guards towards the formation's exit... As soon as Guo Linshan reached the mountaintop, he saw Su Ze completely encased in a water sphere. Su Ze would occasionally stick his head out to breathe and then dive back in before the water fully evaporated.

Even in such a situation, Su Ze had not chosen to go down the mountain, which moved Guo Linshan quite a bit.

"Child, human strength can hardly shake the majesty of heaven, let alone you being too weak to stop a volcanic eruption. Leave this place to me; you should head down the mountain first."

Su Ze listened with a dazed expression, not knowing what he meant.

Guo Linshan used his power to expand a barrier, isolating the heat, and Su Ze was finally able to emerge from the water sphere.

He said, "Captain Guo, I can't fly. If the volcano erupts, I won't be able to escape with my speed anyway. If you can stop it from erupting, I won't have to run, so I don't think there's any need to go down the mountain."

Although the system said that once the demon beast egg hatched, it would automatically sign a contract with Su Ze, he was still afraid of any accidents.

After all, this was a diamond rank demon beast. If someone else snatched it, he would cry himself to death. So, there was no way he was going down the mountain.

This instead made Guo Linshan admire him even more.

"If... we fail to stop the eruption, you are the one I would feel most sorry for among all these people."

Over the years, Guo Linshan had participated in dozens of Beast Taming College Entrance Examinations and seen countless candidates.

But Su Ze's talent was among the best, and even more rare was his patriotic and public-spirited character.

While they were talking, the rest of the Great Xia Spirit Guards also climbed to the mountaintop and spread out around the crater.

Guo Linshan arranged, "Alright, now we'll see if we can calm this irritable big fellow down! Those contracted with water-attribute and ice-attribute beasts, step forward first!"

Immediately, one or two hundred people stepped out from the group.

Under Guo Linshan's command, they manipulated the power of their beasts, attempting to use human strength to oppose a natural disaster.

But the lava in the crater seemed to have a life of its own, appearing very dissatisfied with being cooled by the water and cold air.

The surging magma directly pushed back the beasts' cold air and water flow, then fell back into the crater itself.

This scene left Guo Linshan stunned. "Strange... Why does this magma look so odd? Could those Fusang fellows have done something else?"

If he looked at his side at this moment, he would find Su Ze looking quite guilty.

Because he had seen very clearly just now that there was actually a fiery red egg in the lava, controlling the magma to strike back before falling back down.

"It has this kind of magma-controlling ability before even fully hatching? It's resisting because it feels the temperature of the magma dropping, which affects its hatching, right?" Su Ze speculated in his heart.

Seeing that both water and ice had failed, Guo Linshan then had the earth-attribute Beast Tamers step forward—himself included—intending to seal the crater with earth.

But the effect was still minimal; the volcano even erupted with even greater power after being momentarily sealed.

Feeling the ground gradually bulging beneath his feet and the violent power within it...

In his despair, Guo Linshan couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, even if I have to use my body to fill it today, I will plug this volcano!"

...While the Great Xia Spirit Guards were thinking about how to stop the eruption, Yano Takashi led the fleeing Fusang Dark Guards to a random edge of the formation.

Compared to when they entered, he had lost more than half of his men. At this moment, he wanted to use the yata no kagami in his hand to break the formation as before.

However, perhaps because the power of the imitation yata no kagami had declined, the formation continued to operate normally, and he did not succeed.

Yano Takashi looked up hatefully and then cursed at someone unknown.

With a grim face, he led his subordinates towards the formation's exit. "The yata no kagami can no longer open the formation; we can only leave through the exit."

He also knew that because of the time they had lost, Great Xia would definitely have arranged personnel at the exit to prevent them from escaping.

But when he reached the exit, he couldn't hide his excitement. "Old Man Yu, why are only you and these little brats here? Where are Guo Linshan and his Great Xia Spirit Guards?"

Yu Shenghuo gave a cold snort. "Dealing with you remnants is more than enough for us!"

Yano Takashi seemed to have guessed something. He looked back toward the volcano and mocked, "He couldn't be trying to take his men to stop the volcanic eruption, could he?"

"Haha, how foolish! This is the Great Xia Spirit Guards, known as the world's number one military force? I see they're nothing special, being led by such a stupid person!"

Yu Shenghuo snorted coldly at his words and flew toward Yano Takashi. "You runts, who have no faith and no bottom line, naturally cannot understand this spirit. But this is exactly why my Great Xia Spirit Guard Army can be the world's number one military force!"

He was clad in golden beast taming armor, and the protector on his chest was shaped like a roaring lion.

His full head of white hair flew up like flames or a lion's mane.

As soon as they clashed, Yano Takashi felt something was wrong.

Compared to before, Yu Shenghuo's moves had become fierce and powerful, heavy and forceful, as if he had returned to his peak state from his youth.

"Old Man Yu, are you burning your life force?! Aren't you afraid you'll lose your life while fighting?!" Yano Takashi exclaimed in shock.

Yu Shenghuo laughed nonchalantly. "The greatest regret of my youth was not being able to join the Great Xia Spirit Guard Army. Today, I just happen to want to experience this feeling of being the first to die!"

While struggling to resist Yu Shenghuo's offensive, Yano Takashi cursed, "Madmen, you Great Xia people are all madmen!"