118: The ingenious use of Naruto

Inside the Earth-Splitting Beast Canyon of the Houtu Secret Realm.

"You shameless bastard, have the guts to fight me one-on-one!"

As Xiao Ya waved both hands, her brass knuckles left deep wounds on the Green Bone Weasel in front of her. She then crouched down awkwardly to avoid the fist of a charging Demonic Ape. A gust of wind from the punch messed up her hair and turned her face pale, but she continued to curse relentlessly.

At that moment, the Berserk Thunder Rabbit arrived. In the most violent manner, it grabbed the Demonic Ape's raised arms and kicked out with both legs, completely snapping its spine. However, the price the Berserk Thunder Rabbit paid was being hit simultaneously by the attacks of three Demon Tamers Beasts, sending it flying back.

"Little Bucktooth!" Xiao Ya was about to rush over to check on it.

"Watch out!"

A cold, icy blade light slashed behind her, hitting the Green Bone Weasel that was trying to launch a sneak attack and temporarily freezing it.

"Hehe, you still have the heart to help others?" Tiger Zhao gave a cold laugh, using the thick back of his blade to strike with force, sending Lu Bingyun stumbling backward.

Lu Bingyun narrowly avoided a blade strike, though a few strands of her hair were cut off. She gritted her teeth and raised her leg, kicking Tiger Zhao in the chin and sending him back several steps. She said coldly, "What a shameless fellow. It's not certain yet who will win or lose!"

Tiger Zhao spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, gave a crooked smile, and tilted his head to dodge an arrow flying through the air. "How ignorant. Once your lion is dead, you'll all have to die too."

Upon hearing this, Lu Bingyun's brow furrowed.

Dozens of meters away, the Flowing Fire Ice Lion was facing seven Demon Tamers Beasts at once. Two of them were even at Bronze Rank 8, only slightly weaker than itself. It was covered in blood, and its wounds were frozen into ice, shimmering with a magnificent red under the light.

If not for the Heavenly Star Bird providing support from time to time, its situation would likely be even more dangerous.

Compared to the battle on the ground, Lan Yu's control of the Heavenly Star Bird was not easy either. Behind her, three avian Demon Tamers Beasts were chasing them, their strength not much different from the Heavenly Star Bird's.

Even so, she still kept an eye on the overall situation, providing support whenever Lu Bingyun or Xiao Ya needed help.

"Chirp!"

Suddenly, the Heavenly Star Bird let out a cry and made a sharp turn, whipping up a Star Storm to attack Tiger Zhao.

The Green Tiger Vine noticed and coiled its vines, lashing out at the bird. The impact made the bird wobble, and it was soon surrounded by the other flying Demon Tamers Beasts.

"Oh no!" Lan Yu frowned, holding her longbow and preparing to attack.

Lu Bingyun and Xiao Ya also noticed her predicament and were anxious, but they couldn't pull themselves away for the moment.

Just then, a voice came over: "Kid of the Zhao Family, bullying the few with many... you're really embarrassing your brother."

"Who's there!" Tiger Zhao turned his head to look, and his face instantly turned green. Ignoring the battle, he pulled back several meters, looking at the newcomer with a wary expression.

When Lu Bingyun saw the newcomer, she let out a long breath, but her gaze was very complex.

The battle between the two sides was forced to stop, and they returned to their respective sides.

"Ye Feiyu? You should have gone to the ruins, why are you here!" Tiger Zhao asked with a dark face.

Unexpectedly, Ye Feiyu only gave him a glance before walking straight past him toward Lu Bingyun.

"What are you doing here?"

Ye Feiyu didn't mind Lu Bingyun's indifferent tone. She pursed her lips and smiled. "After all, the blood of our Ye Family flows in you. You can't embarrass the Ye Family."

Lu Bingyun snorted and said, "My surname is Lu!"

"Whatever you say." Ye Feiyu shrugged, turned around, and flicked her long spear. Pointing it at Tiger Zhao, she said murderously, "She's my sister. You dare try to touch her?"

"You, you... your sister!" Tiger Zhao exclaimed, feeling a chill all over his body, though it was unclear if it was from fear or something else.

Hearing Ye Feiyu's words, Lu Bingyun clenched her fists but said nothing.

In the end, facing Ye Feiyu, whose strength was on a completely different level, Tiger Zhao could only lead his people away dejectedly despite his resentment.

After Tiger Zhao's group left, Ye Feiyu looked at Lu Bingyun, nodded to Lan Yu and Xiao Ya, and said, "He should have given you guys a mission too. Keep it up. I have things to do, so I have to leave first."

Lan Yu replied, "Okay, thank you for your help."

Ye Feiyu put her spear back on her back and waved her hand without looking back, walking toward the people waiting not far away. Together, they disappeared from sight... inside the cave beneath the ruins.

Xie Ning and Little Mantis had already slain over twenty waves of Yao Beasts, even killing three Purple-backed Twin-headed Centipedes, gaining a massive amount of evolution value.

At his current position, the temperature was much higher than before. Any sweat that broke out was instantly evaporated. If not for his foundation in ancient martial arts, it would have been truly difficult to withstand this heatwave.

Finally, after passing a turn, the view ahead suddenly opened up. A golden light seemed to coat his body in a layer of gold dust.

Appearing before Xie Ning was a spacious area at least several hundred meters in diameter. Clusters of Golden Fire burned on the ground, the flames reaching no higher than two feet. they burned slowly, as if slumbering, but the temperature was staggeringly high.

Xie Ning looked at these docile flames, yet he knew they were highly exclusionary. Any other element entering them would provoke an even greater counterattack.

"Spending two years laboriously carving out this passage, thinking there would be some harvest, only to find a sea of fire at the end of the stone wall... only he himself knows how that feels." Xie Ning muttered to himself. Seeing Little Mantis's discomfort in this high-temperature environment, he said, "Little Mantis, come back for now."

After putting away Little Mantis, he summoned White Fang.

"Awoo?" White Fang had just come out and was about to let out a long howl when it was suddenly drawn to the flames in front of it.

"This is a Place of Fire Origin, which shares the same source as your Talent. Try to see if you can use this to enhance your fire abilities. Remember, don't be reckless, and definitely don't evolve impulsively," Xie Ning instructed White Fang. He then cast Elemental Sharing on White Fang and activated his newly learned Beast Taming Skill—Fire Shadow.

In the next second, fire patterns appeared on both him and White Fang. The flames in front of them suddenly became less oppressive, feeling only slightly warm at most.

"What a miraculous Beast Taming Skill..." Xie Ning marveled, then stepped forward into the fire source.

The sensation was wonderful. Instead of being enraged, the golden flames accepted his presence, allowing Xie Ning to move through them freely.

White Fang also walked into the flames and lay prone on the ground as if sleeping. With its breathing, the Golden Fire was gradually drawn into its body.

Seeing this, Xie Ning did not disturb it further and instead walked quickly toward the depths.

In less than a minute, Xie Ning passed through the flames and arrived at another empty space. This place and the fire source seemed to be separated by an invisible wall; people could pass through, but elements could not.

Walking along the grayish-white, ancient stone slabs, he came to a Formation. Energy from the surroundings flowed along the Formation into several Formation cores.

At the edge of the Formation, a giant beast nearly a hundred meters long lay dead in a prone position. Its flesh had long since dried up, leaving only a skeleton and a demon core on its forehead. Beneath the skeleton, there was also an inner elixir emitting a dense yellow light.

Looking at the massive skeleton that still inspired fear even in death, Xie Ning took a moment to compose himself. He picked up the inner elixir from the ground and found it was as large as a fist.

"Just what level of Yao Beast could have such a large inner elixir!"

Amidst his shock, Xie Ning decisively put away the inner elixir and then the demon core. Only then did he look at the Formation cores. Among them, what caught his attention most was the strange large disc in the very center. According to what Mu Tian had said, that was the box storing the holy yuan fruit. The purpose of the Formation on the ground was to allow the holy yuan fruit to continue growing even after being removed from the tree.

Just then, a rumbling sound came from somewhere, shaking some dust down from the ceiling.

Xie Ning's expression turned serious as he summoned the Rift Blade War Mantis: "Little Mantis, we need to hurry."