10: Chapter 10 Fire Spirit was bewitched by the Demon Tree and threw herself into my arms, this ferocious beast?

"Shi! Hao!!"

Wang Teng let out an earth-shattering roar, causing the entire mountain range to tremble.

It felt like throwing a full-strength punch into cotton; the frustration made him want to cough up blood.

He was a Nine-Nether Ao!

One of the Ten Primordial Evils!

An overlord who could walk tall in Baiduan Mountain, yet he had been played by that Bear Kid once again!

"You think you can escape?"

Wang Teng watched the golden speck vanishing in the distance, a frenzied battle intent flickering within his Dual Pupils.

"Baiduan Mountain is only so big; where could you possibly hide?"

He lowered his head and looked at the Crimson Spirit Reishi that Princess Huo Linger had dropped on the ground.

Wang Teng walked over, swallowed it in one gulp, and felt the medicinal power dissolve within his body.

"Princess Huo Linger, is it? Princess of the Fire Kingdom, right?"

Wang Teng gave a sinister laugh. "Since Shi Hao wants to protect you, I'll make sure to capture you."

"I want to see if he'll still run when his 'Fat Girl' junior sister becomes my mount!"

The Ten Heavenly Passages behind Wang Teng slowly retracted.

His massive body turned into a dark shadow once more, following the aura Shi Hao left behind.

In the Baiduan Mountains, jagged rocks pierced the sky and ancient trees reached for the heavens.

"Junior Sister, this Big Black Dog has gone crazy! He's locked onto us and won't let go!"

"Listen to me, we'll split up. I'm a trouble magnet, so I'll definitely be able to lure him away. We'll meet up at the Divine Pool in the treasury later!"

Shi Hao leaped through the forest while barking instructions at high speed.

He was calculating in his heart: this Nine-Nether Ao had a "grudge over a lost tail" and a "vendetta for a bitten nose" with him, so it would surely dog his steps.

With his Kunpeng Extreme Speed and the complex terrain, shaking off this Big Black Dog would only be a matter of time.

Though Princess Huo Linger's face was pale with fright, she knew she couldn't be a burden and nodded.

She turned and vanished into a dreamlike sea of white trees.

However, Shi Hao had miscalculated.

Wang Teng stopped at the fork in the road, his Dual Pupils narrowing slightly.

He watched Shi Hao's retreating figure and let out a mocking cold snort.

"Trying to lure me away? This seat has no interest in your tough bones right now. The True Phoenix bloodline and the medicinal fragrance on that princess are far more nourishing!"

Wang Teng's nostrils flared as his keen senses locked onto that faint feminine scent in the air.

It was the unique body fragrance of a girl from the Fire Kingdom's royal family; to a Nine-Nether Ao's sense of smell, it was as bright as a lighthouse in the night.

"Ah!"

Sensing the danger behind her.

In her panic, Princess Huo Linger stumbled into an extremely eerie area.

There were no vibrant flowers here, only crystal-clear white fluff dancing throughout the air.

The fluff was as light as snowflakes, yet it carried a sweet, intoxicating fragrance.

"What... what is this place?"

Princess Huo Linger felt her steps growing lighter as the world before her eyes began to overlap.

She saw the distant mountains turn into flowing lava and saw her royal father waving to her.

Puchi—

A slender white root soundlessly burst from the ground and gently pierced Princess Huo Linger's ankle.

Her abundant spiritual power instantly drained away through the root, yet she remained oblivious, a strange flush appearing on her face instead.

At the center of the clearing stood an ancient tree that was charred black all over but covered in pure white fluff balls—the Pu Mo Tree.

This was a taboo creature that even deities feared during the Primordial Era!

Its specialty was releasing hallucinogenic spores to drain a living being into a withered husk while they were trapped in their sweetest dreams.

"Hehe... a pure royal bloodline... such a sweet sacrifice..."

A twisted human face appeared on the Pu Mo Tree's aged trunk, greedily shaking the spores from its branches.

Unfortunately, this "old bark" didn't see the dark shadow behind the princess.

"Roar—!"

A violent, thunderous roar shattered the fluff filling the air.

Wang Teng's massive frame crashed through the clearing's barrier and charged into the mist.

He looked at Princess Huo Linger, whose eyes were vacant as she knelt on the ground, then at the demonic tree preparing to feast, and the killing intent within his Dual Pupils surged.

"The slave this seat has claimed—you dare touch her?"

Wang Teng didn't fear those so-called hallucinogenic spores at all.

The Nine-Nether Ao was born in the Nine-Nether; they were the ancestors of darkness and death.

Mere illusions were as fragile as thin ice before his will, which had opened the Ten Heavenly Passages.

"Ten Heavenly Passages, Oblivion Fire!"

The ten black holes around Wang Teng's body vibrated in unison, spewing out deep purple Netherfire.

The floating spores turned to ash the moment they touched the Netherfire.

"A Nine-Nether Ao? Damn it, how could such a monster appear here!"

The Pu Mo Tree fearfully retracted its roots, its countless branches turning into bone spears that stabbed toward Wang Teng.

Wang Teng neither dodged nor evaded, tanking the blow with his dark-gold scales.

He lunged upward, his nine tails transforming into sky-blotting black iron chains that tightly coiled around the Pu Mo Tree's thick trunk.

"Break for me!"

Wang Teng pressed his claws against the trunk, the muscles on his back bulging like mountains as terrifying explosive power converged on a single point.

Kacha—! Boom!

In Princess Huo Linger's blurred vision, she saw a pitch-black god-fiend.

It had snapped the trunk of that terrifying demonic tree by force and uprooted it completely!

"No, have mercy!"

Vitality essence exploded everywhere as the Pu Mo Tree let out a shrill scream...

With the death of the Pu Mo Tree, the hallucinogenic effects did not immediately vanish.

Instead, because the tree's core essence had exploded, it produced a strange side effect.

Princess Huo Linger slumped onto the ground, her consciousness on the edge of chaos.

In her hazy perception, the monster before her was no longer a hideous god of slaughter.

Catalyzed by the medicinal power, what she saw was a peerless hero who had trampled the darkness and come toward her against the light in her moment of despair.

Those hard scales made her feel incredibly safe, and that violent roar became a protective divine melody.

"You... you saved me..."

Princess Huo Linger's eyes were dazed as she actually struggled to her feet.

Under Wang Teng's stunned gaze, she threw herself onto his cold, hard, and blood-stained chest.

The girl's warm body pressed against Wang Teng's iron-like muscles.

"Don't leave me... Big Black... Hero..."

Her watery eyes gazed at Wang Teng.

Not only was her previous fear gone, but she was also filled with reliance and an inexplicable adoration.

Wang Teng lowered his head, his massive wolfish head just centimeters from Princess Huo Linger's face.

He could clearly smell the fragrance from the girl's hair and hear her heart racing with excitement.

He had originally intended to capture her as a "herb-gathering slave" and even thought about eating her if she didn't behave.

But now, this delicate princess of the Fire Kingdom was actually hugging his neck.

Her small face rubbed against his mud-stained scales, looking completely submissive.

"Holy... this isn't in the script, is it?"

Wang Teng's transmigrator soul was in a bit of a mess.

"What is this? A monster version of a hero saving a damsel? Or has this girl been drained into stupidity?"

"Hey, we're different species. Princess Huo Linger, don't let your hands wander..."