HLnovel Chapter 183 Fierce Battle Against 5 Fire Lions
Chapter 183 Fierce Battle Against 5 Fire Lions
After a fierce battle, they finally drove off the black birds and continued onward. Soon after, they came to a huge valley filled with thick fog, making it impossible to see what was inside.
Jiang Jingzhi pondered for a moment and said, "Let's enter carefully and be mindful of each other's safety."
The group cautiously entered the valley. The ground was slippery, and a pungent smell filled the air.
In the valley, they found some strange footprints and traces. Jiang Jingzhi squatted down and carefully examined the traces, saying, "It seems that someone has been here before, and quite a few people at that."
Xu Xiaoxiao said worriedly, "Senior Brother, could this have been left behind by those demon race people? Or by demon beasts?"
Jiang Jingzhi stood up and shook his head: "Not necessarily. Maybe they are just other explorers. Let's not be distracted by these traces and continue to search for our own clues."
Just then, a deep roar came from the valley, as if some huge creature was approaching. Everyone tensed up, gripped their weapons, and prepared to meet the impending challenge.
A gigantic two-headed monster slowly emerged from the mist. Its body was enormous, covered with sharp spikes, and its two heads spewed out flames and frost respectively.
Jiang Jingzhi shouted, "Everyone, spread out and find its weakness!"
The group quickly scattered and engaged in a thrilling battle with the monster. The monster's attacks were incredibly fierce, with flames and frost intertwining, putting everyone in a difficult situation.
With his agility and superb swordsmanship, Jiang Jingzhi relentlessly attacked the monster's legs, trying to throw it off balance.
Mu Zhusheng used the power of the talisman to set up a protective barrier around the monster, reducing the damage suffered by everyone.
Lan Ji and Xu Xiaoxiao were not to be outdone; they unleashed their respective special skills and engaged in a fierce battle with the monster.
After a hard-fought battle, the monster finally collapsed to the ground. The group was exhausted and had suffered many injuries, but their hearts were filled with the joy of victory.
They continued onward, and after leaving the valley, an ancient palace came into view. The palace gates were tightly closed, and mysterious runes surrounded it.
Jiang Jingzhi stepped forward and gently pushed the door, only to find that it did not budge.
Xu Xiaoxiao said, "Senior Brother, this door seems to have a mechanism."
The group began searching for clues about the mechanism in the surrounding area. After a careful search, Mu Zhusheng discovered a stone slab hidden in the wall.
He gently pressed down on the stone slab, and with a loud rumble, the gate slowly opened.
As the group entered the palace, they found it filled with an old and worn atmosphere. The walls were inlaid with various gemstones, and the floor was covered with intricate patterns.
Jiang Jingzhi walked cautiously, when suddenly he felt a powerful force coming from beneath his feet. He quickly shouted, "Everyone, be careful!"
Before the words were even finished, the ground began to shake violently, and cracks quickly spread out. Everyone jumped to avoid them, and the scene was extremely chaotic.
Just then, a mysterious voice rang out in the palace: "Intruders, if you want to find the Star Stone, you must pass my test."
"Senior Brother, what is a Star Stone?" Xu Xiaoxiao asked, searching for the source of the voice while tugging at Jiang Jingzhi's sleeve.
"Starstones are said to contain the power of the stars, possessing mysterious and unpredictable strength, capable of granting cultivators powerful supernatural abilities. It would be quite good if we could obtain one."
Jiang Jingzhi announced loudly, "Let's introduce the challenge."
The mysterious voice sounded again: "Very well, the first test is courage. Deep within this palace, there is a ferocious divine beast. Only by defeating it can you continue forward."
The group exchanged glances, their eyes filled with determination, and then walked without hesitation into the depths of the palace…
Just then, a deep roar came from the depths of the palace, as if some huge creature was approaching. Everyone tensed up, gripped their weapons, and stood ready for battle.
A gigantic five-headed fire lion slowly emerged from the darkness. Its massive body was engulfed in raging flames, and its five majestic heads continuously spewed out pillars of scorching fire, scorching everything in its path and turning the ground a fiery red.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Jingzhi immediately shouted, "Everyone, scatter and find its weakness!"
The group quickly dispersed and engaged in a thrilling battle with the fire lion. The fire lion's attacks were incredibly fierce, with five pillars of fire crisscrossing and raging, creating a sea of fire that put everyone in a difficult situation.
With his agility and superb swordsmanship, Jiang Jingzhi constantly dodged the pillars of fire, attempting to get close to the fire lion and attack its belly.
He moved with lightning speed, weaving through the gaps in the flames, his longsword gleaming coldly, each swing bringing with it a sharp sword aura.
However, the fire lion reacted extremely quickly. As soon as Jiang Jingzhi got close, one of its heads would turn to him and spew out a thick pillar of fire, forcing him to retreat and dodge.
Mu Zhusheng used the power of talismans to set up a protective barrier around everyone to resist the high temperature. He chanted incantations and quickly formed hand seals. Talismans flew out from his hands and slowly rotated around everyone, forming a transparent light screen.
Although the light barrier effectively resisted the high temperature of the fire lion's flames, it began to show fluctuations and cracks under the fire lion's continuous attacks.
Mu Zhusheng's face was solemn, and his forehead was covered with sweat. He knew that this barrier could not last long and he had to find a way to defeat the fire lion as soon as possible.
Lan Ji and Xu Xiaoxiao were not to be outdone. They unleashed their respective special skills and engaged in a fierce battle with the fire lion. Lan Ji used the power of water element to fight against the fire lion's flames and tried to suppress the fire. She waved her hands, and the surrounding water vapor quickly condensed to form water curtains to block the flames spewed by the fire lion.
The collision of water and fire produced a hissing sound and generated a large amount of water vapor, making the palace shrouded in mist.
Xu Xiaoxiao, with her agile movements, kept attacking the fire lion from the flanks. She wielded two swords and moved as lightly as a swallow, swiftly shuttling around the fire lion, looking for an opportunity to attack. However, the flames on the fire lion were too hot. Every time Xu Xiaoxiao got close, she could feel her skin being burned by the high temperature and had to quickly retreat.
The battle reached a stalemate, and everyone was exhausted, but Fire Lion remained energetic. Jiang Jingzhi realized that this was not a solution and they had to change their strategy.
While dodging the fire lion's attacks, he observed the fire lion's movement patterns. After some observation, he discovered that when the fire lion turned its head to spew flames, there would be a brief pause at the neck, where the flame defense was relatively weak.
Jiang Jingzhi immediately relayed his discovery to everyone, and they decided to use it as a breakthrough to launch a new round of attacks.
Jiang Jingzhi launched the first attack, causing the three heads of the fire lion to spew flames at him simultaneously. Then, using the force of the flames, he leaped high into the air, flipped in mid-air to avoid the direct impact of the flames, and at the same time unleashed a sharp sword aura, slashing at the neck of one of the fire lion's heads. The fire lion roared in pain, its head snapping back, shattering Jiang Jingzhi's sword aura.
Taking advantage of the fact that Fire Lion's attention was drawn to Jiang Jingzhi, Xu Xiaoxiao, like a black lightning bolt, swiftly approached Fire Lion from behind. Her two swords gleamed coldly as she stabbed towards Fire Lion's hind legs.
Sensing the attack from behind, the fire lion quickly turned around, and a head spewed flames toward Xu Xiaoxiao. Xu Xiaoxiao hurriedly dodged to the side, and the flames grazed the hem of her clothes, scorching a piece of her garment.
At this moment, Lan Ji increased her water element output, condensing the surrounding water vapor into a giant water dragon that roared towards the fire lion. The water dragon collided with the fire lion's flame pillar, producing a loud bang, and the huge impact made the fire lion's body sway.
Mu Zhusheng also took the opportunity to strengthen the power of the talismans. He threw out all the talismans in his hand, forming a huge talisman array around the fire lion in an attempt to restrict the fire lion's movements.
Under the combined attack of the group, the Fire Lion gradually fell into trouble. Its movements became sluggish, and its flames were no longer so fierce.
However, the Fire Lion was, after all, a powerful divine beast. When it sensed a threat to its life, it unleashed its last strength, with all five heads spewing out flames at the same time, forming a huge vortex of fire that swept towards the crowd.
The vortex of flames was incredibly powerful; the palace floor was instantly reduced to ashes, and the ground was melted into a pool of lava.
The group was forced to retreat by the vortex of flames, and the protective barrier was completely shattered by the impact of the flames.
Upon seeing this, Jiang Jingzhi immediately gathered everyone together. He unleashed his strongest swordsmanship, forming a sword energy barrier in front of them to withstand the impact of the flame vortex.
At this critical moment, Xu Xiaoxiao suddenly thought of a way. Ignoring the high temperature of the flames, she rushed towards the vortex of fire.
Seeing this, Jiang Jingzhi wanted to stop her, but it was too late. The moment Xu Xiaoxiao approached the vortex of flames, she released all the spiritual power in her body to form a spiritual power shield. With this shield, she rushed into the center of the vortex of flames.
The fire lion was startled by Xu Xiaoxiao's sudden action. Its five heads turned towards her, spewing flames to burn her to death. However, Xu Xiaoxiao was prepared. As she rushed into the vortex of flames, she plunged her twin swords into the ground and then, using the twin swords as the center, unleashed her ultimate technique—the Phantom Sword Formation. Countless sword energies shot out from the twin swords and flew towards the fire lion's five heads.
The fire lion hurriedly dodged, but the sword energy followed closely, and several heads were still struck by it. The fire lion let out a painful roar, and the power of the flame vortex weakened accordingly.
Seeing this, Jiang Jingzhi and the others immediately seized the opportunity and launched another attack. Jiang Jingzhi unleashed his strongest sword strike, a huge sword aura slashing towards the Fire Lion's body; Lan Ji condensed the water dragon into a sharp water sword and stabbed it towards the Fire Lion's chest; Mu Zhusheng concentrated all the power of the talisman at one point and shot it towards the Fire Lion's forehead.
Under the combined attack of everyone, the fire lion finally couldn't hold on any longer, and its huge body slowly collapsed to the ground. The flames gradually died down, and everyone was exhausted and collapsed on the ground. Everyone had suffered a lot of injuries. Xu Xiaoxiao's hair was singed from being burned by the fire, and her magic robes were tattered.
Jiang Jingzhi was the first to recover. He forced his exhausted body to look around and check on his companions' condition.
Xu Xiaoxiao collapsed not far away. Her once neat robes were now tattered and torn, with shocking burn marks from the flames in many places. Large pieces of fabric were burned away, revealing her fair shoulders, slender abdomen, and long legs.
Jiang Jingzhi's gaze inadvertently swept over this scene, and his heart skipped a beat. A strange panic surged into his heart, and a faint blush quickly rose on his cheeks, as if reflected by the flames of a fire lion. He subconsciously turned his head away, coughed lightly, and tried to hide his inner unease and embarrassment.
Xiaoxiao couldn't be seen like this by anyone else, not even Mu Zhusheng. He composed himself and quickly rummaged through his storage ring to find a cloak.
He had acquired this cloak many years ago during his travels. It was made of superior material and was exquisitely crafted. He had always kept it carefully. Now, he carefully picked up the cloak and quickly walked to Xu Xiaoxiao's side.
Xu Xiaoxiao was still immersed in the exhaustion and daze after the battle, completely unaware of her disheveled state. She was struggling to sit up, but couldn't help but frown because of the pain in her body. Just then, a warm cloak gently fell on her body, completely covering her exposed skin.
Xu Xiaoxiao looked up and her eyes met Jiang Jingzhi's. Jiang Jingzhi's eyes were filled with concern and a hint of shyness. He lowered his head slightly and said softly, "Put this on quickly, don't catch a cold."
Xu Xiaoxiao then realized her disheveled appearance, and two blushes instantly appeared on her face. She quickly pulled her cloak tighter and said gratefully, "Thank... thank you, Senior Brother," her voice tinged with a hint of shyness and embarrassment.
Lan Ji happened to see this scene. She was exhausted, but she suddenly became interested. Lan Ji winked mischievously, a sly smile on her lips, and teased, "Brother Jiang, do you have any more cloaks? I need one too." As she spoke, she deliberately straightened her body to show off her equally tattered robes.
Jiang Jingzhi was taken aback by Lan Ji's sudden teasing. A look of embarrassment appeared on his face. He was about to respond, but he was speechless and didn't know what to say.
Just then, Mu Zhusheng walked over. He looked at Lan Ji's tattered robes and noticed that although she had scales covering her, girls generally don't want others to see them like this.
Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately took out a cloak from his storage ring. Mu Zhusheng was usually very thoughtful, and his storage ring contained many emergency items, of which this cloak was one.
He handed the cloak to Lan Ji and said gently, "You can use mine." Lan Ji was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting Mu Zhusheng to react so quickly.
She took the cloak, her smile softening, a hint of gratitude flashing in her eyes: "Thank you, Brother Mu."
Mu Zhusheng nodded slightly, a faint smile appearing on her lips: "No need to be polite. You are my junior sister's friend, so it's only right that we take care of each other."
As he spoke, he turned to look at Jiang Jingzhi, his eyes filled with understanding and tacit agreement. Jiang Jingzhi returned a grateful look, secretly rejoicing to have such a reliable junior brother.
At this moment, the temperature in the palace gradually dropped, and the high temperature generated by the fierce battle slowly dissipated. After a short rest, everyone gradually recovered some of their strength.
Xu Xiaoxiao and Lan Ji also stood up and straightened their cloaks. Although Xu Xiaoxiao was still a little embarrassed, she forced herself to be cheerful and said, "I'm fine, I just have some scrapes. I'll be fine after a rest."
Lan Ji chimed in, "I'm alright, but my robe is quite badly damaged. I'll have to repair it properly when I get back."
Mu Zhusheng checked her talismans to make sure nothing was missing, and then said, "If everyone can still hold on, let's continue. The Star Stone is still waiting for us, and there will probably be more trials in this palace."