263: Yingtian Trio

"Right, where is the Flame Flying Lion? Why hasn't it returned yet?" Long Yuan was slightly taken aback. Looking up, he saw no sign of the lion king. His Divine Sense was restricted to the area around the crater, and he couldn't see the lion above either. Consequently, he decided to go all out and scavenge everything, not even sparing the crystal fragments. Although these fragments were useless, he discovered after a trial that they could be recycled by the devouring portal of the Heavenly Dao Space. Furthermore, they were high-energy waste materials. This discovery made Long Yuan even happier; what he lacked most right now was this kind of high-energy waste. With full power unleashed, he completely stripped the Flame Flying Lion's home of its assets... According to the prompts from the Heavenly Dao Eye, if he recycled a large amount of Fire Spiritual Qi waste, an extreme environment of Fire-attribute Spiritual Qi would soon appear within the Heavenly Dao Space, much like the volcanic area before him!

In just this short time, Long Yuan could feel that the Heavenly Dao Space seemed to have improved significantly. Wisps of Fire Spiritual Qi were constantly emerging within it, making the world inside the space feel completely refreshed!

He looked at the churning magma deep at the bottom of the mountain, wondering if he could recycle magma as well.

The Heavenly Dao Eye quickly gave a prompt: Yes!

"That works too? Should I give it a try?" Long Yuan looked at the magma emitting misty heat, his heart racing... After a moment, he made up his mind. Since he was already here, how could he leave without trying?

Thus, he extended a thread of Divine Sense toward the magma zone, slowly making intimate contact with the magma at the edge!

"Sizzle!!!" His Divine Sense felt a slight sting, scaring him into a hasty retreat.

He carefully reflected on the contact just now and realized it was actually fine—not as terrifying as he had imagined. The pain earlier was more of a psychological stress response.

So he continued to try and found that it was much better this time. The Soul Power within his Divine Sense even felt a warm sensation, quite comfortable, as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

He cast out his Soul Power to scoop up a glob of magma and gave a light shout, "Collect!"

With a "swish," the magma was swallowed whole by the devouring portal within the space!

"It actually worked!!!" Long Yuan was overjoyed.

His spirits soared. This much magma was all high-energy waste. Recycling the magma from this single volcano would be far more effective than visiting multiple waste yards himself, and he wouldn't need to waste Formation flags for concealment. No sooner said than done, he began to recycle with all his might!

"Collect," "Collect," "Collect"... The magma in the crater disappeared at a visible rate, revealing deeper layers of magma. Long Yuan even discovered many crystals and Spirit Stones forming within, but he recycled them all as waste. According to the Heavenly Dao Eye, collecting this much was already enough to generate a small volcano within the space!

Furthermore, during the process of devouring, Long Yuan discovered that as his Soul Power made more contact with the high-temperature magma, it seemed to show signs of mutation. The scorching sensation had become quite distinct, which should be of great help in raising the level of his Soul Power. Moreover, in combat, Fire-attribute Soul Power would definitely cause terrifying damage to others' Soul Power... This result gave Long Yuan an instant epiphany. The improvement of Soul Power could rely on such extreme environments. For instance, he could increase the temperature here at the volcano, increase the frigidity in icy lands, and even increase the violence of heavenly lightning during thunderstorms... If various extreme environments appeared within the Heavenly Dao Space, it would be of immense help to his Soul Power cultivation!

"Great! I'll come back when I have the chance. It's getting late; I'll stop here for today," Long Yuan thought to himself and began his return.

As he neared the top of the crater, he cautiously checked the outside with his Divine Sense. Finding no sign of the Flame Flying Lion, he confidently rushed out of the crater, identified the direction of Nanming City, and used Shadow Step to depart... While passing the edge of a forest, Long Yuan suddenly froze, and his speed slowed. He discovered a large area of the forest had been destroyed, and the faint sounds of fighting could be heard. He followed the sound and found that it was actually the Flame Flying Lion engaged in a fierce battle with those three stone thieves!

The current situation seemed extremely unfavorable for the three stone thieves. One man was already heavily injured and had lost his combat capability, lying on the side and twitching incessantly. The other man and woman were also covered in wounds, their faces pale. Under the Flame Flying Lion's assault, they could only barely hold on and were liable to collapse at any moment... "Yingtian Academy?!" Long Yuan noticed these words printed on the trio's robes along with a striking school badge. Moreover, these three did not look very old. It was highly likely they were students of the Yingtian Academy in Yingtian Prefecture. To reach the rank of Martial Ancestor at this age, they were certainly the elite of the elite, Geniuses among Geniuses. No wonder they had the courage to run into a volcano to steal crystals and Spirit Stones; it was a classic case of pulling chestnuts from the fire. Without significant strength, it would be impossible to pull off such a feat.

However, they had underestimated the strength of the Flame Flying Lion. Although it appeared to be only at the Peak of the fifth rank—equivalent to the Peak of the Human Race's Martial Ancestor realm—its strength could definitely not be judged by that alone. On one hand, the talent and Bloodline of a Strange Beast allowed its true combat power to reach the early stage of Martial General. On the other hand, there was the issue of Xuan Beast transformation that Long Yuan had just thought of. This Flame Flying Lion had clearly lived in the crater for a long time, nurtured by Fire Spiritual Qi, and might have already begun transforming into a Spirit Beast. Thus, its true strength was far beyond the early stage of Martial General. Long Yuan could see now that the Flame Flying Lion wasn't using its full strength at all; it was merely toying with these people. Even so, the three of them were already at their limit and about to be finished... "Well, since I've seen it, I'll help them in secret..." Long Yuan did not hesitate. Regardless of who these people were or what their character was like, they were still part of the Human Race. When the Human Race was in trouble, he naturally had to lend a hand; otherwise, he would have a hard time living with himself.

He separated a wisp of Divine Sense and condensed it into a tiny Soul Needle. It moved instantly, traveling with the wind at the speed of light. In the chaotic environment of the battlefield, no one noticed the sudden appearance of this tiny Soul Needle...

"Tong Hongxia, take Yu Huacheng and escape first! I'll hold it off!" the man still fighting roared loudly.

Tong Hongxia, the woman, showed a look of struggle on her face. She was unwilling to leave like this, because she knew that once she and Yu Huacheng fled, Guan An, who remained alone to face the Flame Flying Lion, would surely die!

If her survival was built upon the foundation of Guan An's death, even if she did successfully escape, she would likely live in this shadow for the rest of her life... "What are you still hesitating for?! A Xuan Practitioner must be decisive; save whoever can be saved!!!" Guan An roared. The saber light in his hand suddenly flared intensely as he launched a frantic attack toward the Flame Flying Lion!