Chapter 121
Nine Star Hegemon Body Art
Chapter 121
Chapter 121 Flame Salamander
Within the darkness of night, that light was a bright lantern . At the beginning Long Chen had thought it was starlight and hadn’t cared too much about it .
It was only at this critical moment that he realized it was light from a fire . Forea blazing fire to appear within the middle of an endless desert was definitely out of the ordinary . But Long Chen’s gut told him that that spot should offer some protection .
If he was facing off against the dozen second rank Huge Desert Scorpions alone, he wouldn’t be that afraid . As long as he used his Pill Flame to protect his body, even if he couldn’t win, he definitely would be able to escape alive .
But that wasn’t the same for Little Snow . Although Little Snow was a Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf, an extremely rare third rank Magical Beast with an innate ability for both wind and fire, he was currently still only a second rank Magical Beast since he hadn’t yet fully matured . Although he had an inherited Battle Skill that was the wind blades, his control over those wind blades was still too rough and so they weren’t powerful enough yet .
Only once a Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf reached the third rank would it be able to explode with its most powerful battle strength . That was when they would awaken their flame strength, and once flame and wind were combined, that would allow a third rank Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf to stand at the peak of all third rank Magical Beasts .
Before Little Snow reached the third rank, he would only be able to barely resist higher temperatures . But he would definitely not be able to resist something like Long Chen’s Pill Flame . And so Little Snow had become Long Chen’s fatal weakness at this moment .
“Little Snow, run towards that light . ” Long Chen turned to look back and saw that the Huge Desert Scorpions were already within three hundred meters of them .
On the soft sand, Little Snow’s speed was much lower, while this was the home territory of the Huge Desert Scorpions . This was simply an unfair playing field .
Long Chen reached out his hand . The Pill Flame in his body circulated and a ball of fire slowly appeared in Long Chen’s hand .
This wasn’t a Battle Skill, but a simple way of using fire . If other Pill Cultivators were to learn he could condense his flame to the point that it was similar to a Battle skill, that would definitely awe them .
Ordinary Pill Cultivators would be asking for death if they tried doing this . Even if they were using their Core Flame, they still wouldn’t use it like this .
Pill Flame was merciless . That was a warning every Pill Cultivator told their disciples .
An ordinary third level Pill Cultivator, in other words a Pill Master, would need to refine some kind of flame into their Life Flame .
That kind of flame was called a Core Flame . The flame would need to be refined into the physical body and even into the soul . Once it was perfectly merged, it would be time to advance into the Pill King realm .
Grandmaster Yun Qi, Wei Cang, and Wang Luyang had all been Pill Masters . But only grandmaster Yun Qi had had a Core Flame .
It wasn’t necessarily because grandmaster Yun Qi’s talent was that much greater than theirs, but because grandmaster Yun Qi had managed accept his future . He knew he wouldn’t be able to encounter any better Pill Flames and just straightforwardly refined his ordinary beast flame which wasn’t that strong into his Core Flame .
As for Wei Cang, Wang Luyang, and many other Pill Masters, they were unwilling to do so . That was because a Core Flame was extremely important to their future . Without finding a suitable Pill Flame, it was something they would never form .
That was because once they refined a Core Flame, it would never be able to change . In other words, their futures would be set .
The majority of Pill Cultivators chose to refine beast flames as their Pill Flames . The stronger a fire attribute Magical Beast was, the stronger their beast flame would be .
Some peak tier beast flames were able to grow stronger along with their master . Such peak grade beast flames formed a list called the beast flame rankings . But whether it was Yun Qi or Wei Cang, any beast flames they could obtain were far from being able to enter the beast flame rankings .
Wei Cang and Wang Luyang had been unwilling to use a beast flame that wasn’t on the rankings to refine into their Core Flame . If they did find such a powerful beast flame, their futures would be unlimited .
Unfortunately their grand dreams had been extinguished by grandmaster Yun Qi . Perhaps when the two had died they had been extremely sullen . If they had also refined a Core Flame, the one who would have died should have been Yun Qi .
But even grandmaster Yun Qi who had refined a Core Flame would definitely not dare compress his PIll Flame to such a level without the usage of a Battle Skill . That required the utmost peak control of the Pill Flame .
Flames were naturally berserk . Such a compression was no different than compressing explosives . The slightest error would cause it to explode you into nothingness .
But Long Chen had his Pill God memories and his Spiritual Strength was beyond others . Adding on the fact that the Spirit World expert had expanded his meridians, this extremely dangerous action that was like dancing on the tip of a blade for others was simple and nothing to him .
Long Chen flung out a fist-sized ball of flames back in the midst of the Huge Desert Scorpions . With a huge explosion like a firework, the flames swallowed the Huge Desert Scorpions .
Grotesque cries rang out from the Huge Desert Scorpions as they were burnt and fled from the flames’ range .
“This Pill Flame’s strength is really too weak . ” Long Chen sighed . The beast flame he possessed was still acceptable for refining pills, but when it came to offense it was obviously far from strong enough, especially against such crustacean Magical Beasts .
If he wanted to give those Huge Desert Scorpions a true injury, he would need to collect all his Pill Flame’s power .
But his Pill Flame was limited . At most he would be able to release his strongest attack one time . Furthermore, it was not a certainty that it would be enough to inflict serious damage .
Luckily, his goal wasn’t to defeat them at this moment . Due to his attack just now, the Huge Desert Scorpions were in a complete panic and so their speed had sharply dropped .
When they charged and began to once more encroach too close to them, Long Chen once more threw out a ball of flames, temporarily forcing them back again . By repeatedly doing this, Long Chen and Little Snow temporarily managed to stay out of their reach .
But what Long Chen hadn’t expected was that that light he had seen which hadn’t seemed that far had only grown slightly in size after travelling for over an hour . It was still quite far .
As for the Huge Desert Scorpions, they were completely infuriated with Long Chen and were set on chasing after him . Luckily just those ball of flames didn’t exhaust much of his Pill Flame and he could continue for along time .
That was a strange scene . Under the darkness of the night, Long Chen and Little Snow fled towards a distant light . Chasing them was a group of Huge Desert Scorpions . Occasionally, brilliant fireworks would light up the pitch-black desert .
After running for a whole night, the sky was starting to brighten . Long Chen finally reached his target . That was a hill .
The hill wasn’t large, only three hundred meters tall . It was completely bare, looking like a huge burial mound . There was a cave at the top from which the light was shining out of .
Rushing forward, terrifying heat surged out . It felt as if even the air was about to ignite . Long Chen arrived at the cave entrance and saw a flame inside .
Despite aving rushed this far, those Huge Desert Scorpions suddenly seemed to be extremely intimidated by this region . Seeing Long Chen approach the hill, they suddenly stopped advancing and began to pace around .
Since they were no longer chasing him, Long Chen also paused . That was because he saw that Little Snow was also starting to be affected by the high heat .
Luckily Little Snow was a Scarlet Flame Snow Wolf . Although he had yet to give birth to his flame strength, he was definitely superior than other Magical Beasts when it came to resisting high temperatures .
Those Huge Desert Scorpions which had paused for a moment suddenly scattered and fled back to their original territory . That had actually given up .
Long Chen finally relaxed slightly . At least they had managed to escape from that group of vicious poison insects . But he was also a bit depressed at having to flee for his life like this .
But when he thought about, cultivation was simply like this . Enemies wouldn’t always be fighting against him on terrain he was suitable to . If he really wanted to be strong, he would have to reduce any of his weak points .
Suddenly Long Chen realized something was wrong . Those Huge Desert Scorpions had fled just now at a speed even greater than when they had been chasing them .
Then that didn’t seem like they were unwilling to leave, but more like… Long Chen suddenly felt his heart sink and he turned his head .
He didn’t know when, but at some point the light from the cave had disappeared . That was because an enormous figure had completely blocked up the three meter thick cave opening . On its huge head were two lantern-like eyes that were fixed onto Long Chen and Little Snow .
“Flame Salamander!” Long Chen cried out in shock .
The Flame Salamander was an extremely rare fire attribute Magical Beast . Its body looked like a lizard and it absorbed fire energy in order to live . Once matured, it was a terrifyingly powerful third rank Magical Beast .
Long Chen finally understand why those Huge Desert Scorpions would flee for their lives like that . This Flame Salamander was a perfect counter to them .
BOOM! That Flame Salamander had clearly been enraged by the intruders on its territory . Its huge foot slammed on the ground as it charged at Long Chen .
Only once it left its cave did Long Chen manage to see its entire body . It was thirty meters long, making him feel like he was as small as an ant .
“Ao!” Little Snow roared and was just about to attack when Long Chen pulled him aside .
“This guy’s mine . Little Snow, you get back a bit . ”
Having recognized this Flame Salamander, not only was he shocked, but he was also excited . That was because such a rare fire attribute Magical Beast like this must possess its own beast flame source .
Seeing the Flame Salamander, all of Long Chen’s irritation at having to flee for his life disappeared .
After entering the alchemist guild, Long Chen had gone through their countless records and once seen something called the beast flame rankings .
If Long Chen recalled correctly, the Flame Salamander’s beast flame was ranked number ninety-seven . That was definitely a true treasure .
Others like grandmaster Yun Qi, Wei Cang, and Wang Luyang had spent their whole lives without even being able to see such a thing . How could Long Chen not be excited?
Pill Cultivators longed for more powerful flames . That was something that would definitely make every single Pill Cultivator go crazy, and Long Chen was no exception .
He had to send away Little Snow from this battle because the Flame Salamander was incomparably terrifying . If Little Snow wasn’t present, he wouldn’t be able to explode out with his full flame strength .
Little Snow obediently listened to Long Chen’s order and ran over a mile away . At that point, the Flame Salamander had already charged right at Long Chen, its mouth wide open and biting down on him .
“Your breath stinks . ” That terrible smell was noxious . Long Chen stamped on the ground, jumping into midair the moment its jaw was about to snap down on him .
The Flame Salamander’s attack fell short and it only got a mouthful of sand . Long Chen made a fist with his right hand . Just as he was about to attack, he felt a wind blow across his back and instinctively punched out behind him .
BOOM! Long Chen felt as if a meteorite had struck him . He was immediately sent flying into that bare hill .
Long Chen was surprised to realize that bare hill was actually entirely made of rock . He smashed right into that rock hill .
Long Chen’s head buzzed from the collision . Only now did he realize he had been struck by the Flame Salamander’s tail .
Shaking out his body, he felt an ache all over his body . That strike had truly been fierce enough . Anyone else would probably have had their body turned to pulp .
The Flame Salamander once more roared and charged over . Long Chen coldly snorted and stamped on the ground, a coldly shining longsword appearing in his hand . He jumped out, slashing down on the Flame Salamander .
“Parting Wind Slash!”