Previously, when entering other gourd-shaped caverns and encountering more troublesome situations, Jun Changxiao would always give it careful consideration, even making plans to retreat.
The Fire Dragon Beast was related to completing the epic quest—he had to eliminate it!
Judging from the scorching heat waves emanating from within, this high fifth-rank fierce beast possessed extraordinary strength. He couldn’t carelessly bring his disciples inside, or lives might be lost.
“Qianqian.”
Jun Changxiao asked, “How big is that thing?”
“Sect Master, an adult Fire Dragon Beast is at least four zhang tall,” Li Qingyang said.
One zhang in the Xingyun Continent equaled about three meters, so four zhang meant twelve meters—from the height alone, one could imagine the Fire Dragon Beast stood as tall as a four-story building!
The larger the body, the greater the strength!
“This is rather troublesome,” Jun Changxiao furrowed his brow tightly.
The System said, “Calculating based on fifth-rank Wuzong strength, the Fire Dragon Beast’s power starts at a minimum of five hundred thousand jin.”
Five hundred thousand jin, and that’s just the starting point!
The corners of Jun Changxiao’s mouth twitched violently.
The System continued, “This is a preliminary estimate without accounting for the fire attribute enhancement, so if the host takes disciples to hunt it, the probability of total annihilation is as high as ninety-nine percent.”
“There’s still a one percent chance of victory,” Jun Changxiao muttered.
System: “…”
Could the host not hear that what I meant was—go in and you’ll be wiped out?
Of course Jun Changxiao could hear it. He rubbed his temples, his brain working frantically to figure out how to eliminate the Fire Dragon Beast.
“Zhou Hong, are you confident you can kill it?”
“No confidence,” Zhou Hong said bluntly.
If it were a high second or third-rank beast, he’d be confident, but against a high fifth-rank Fire Dragon Beast, he could only flee.
In the face of absolute power, when the strength gap was large, one could only be crushed.
Zhou Hong said, “Sect Master, if you give me some time to comprehend the One-Character Sword Formula, I might be able to kill it.”
“How long?”
“At least a month.”
“…”
Sect Master Jun felt like slapping himself in the mouth.
Why the hell did you talk about sect contribution? You should have just given him the Lingjian Divine Formula early on and been done with it!
“It seems…”
Jun Changxiao thought to himself, “I’ll have to use the Azure Dragon Crescent Blade.”
The System said, “Since returning from Haoqi Sect, the host’s cultivation hasn’t substantially improved. Even if you forcibly wield the Azure Dragon Crescent Blade with the Strength Amplification Talisman, you may not be able to get close enough to wound the enemy.”
“Damn!”
Jun Changxiao said, “Then I’ll use the Unsheathed Blade!”
This was his final trump card.
Moreover, he’d already saved two Seal-Breaking Talismans.
To complete the epic quest and prevent his realm from remaining stuck, he wouldn’t feel bad using them all!
The System agreed, “That works.”
“Sect Master.”
Lu Qianqian said, “Give me one day to cultivate, and I might be able to use the Nine-Fold Ice Sealing Palm to seal the Fire Dragon Beast.”
Jun Changxiao’s eyes widened.
Cultivate for one day, and she could use a divine-grade martial technique to seal a high fifth-rank fierce beast?
Was she… joking?
From the expression on Lu Qianqian’s face, Jun Changxiao realized she wasn’t joking—she was completely serious!
“Sect Master.”
Zhou Hong said, “If the Fire Dragon Beast remains motionless, this disciple is confident he can severely wound it.”
The ever-silent Ye Xingchen spoke up, “The Fire Dragon Beast is a fire-type fierce beast. If we use ice to freeze it, the attribute clash will reduce its physical strength—that would be the optimal moment to strike.”
A Wudi was still a Wudi after all—his martial arts knowledge was incredibly extensive.
Jun Changxiao thought to himself, “There are still two days until the training ends. We can try this approach, and if it doesn’t work, I’ll resort to the Unsheathed Blade.”
Seal-Breaking Talismans were precious. If he could save them, he naturally should.
“Good!”
Jun Changxiao decided, “Tomorrow at this time, we’ll go in and kill that Fire Dragon Beast!”
The rogue cultivators in the distance widened their eyes.
The Tiegu Sect was truly formidable—they dared to provoke a high fifth-rank fierce beast with extremely strong fire attributes!
“Brother Shan, we should retreat.”
“What if the Tiegu Sect can’t handle the Fire Dragon Beast and it comes out? We’ll definitely die!”
“Once this kind of powerful fire-type fierce beast gets enraged, burning down half of Death Valley would be like child’s play!”
Many rogue cultivators began having second thoughts.
Moreover, they’d been scavenging scraps for the past few days and had gathered quite a bit—there was no need to continue taking risks following the Tiegu Sect!
“Let’s go, we’re leaving!”
One rogue cultivator team leader cupped his fists and said, “Sect Master Jun, we’ll take our leave first. We also hope your esteemed sect can successfully eliminate the Fire Dragon Beast!”
Though his words carried blessings, he knew in his heart that dealing with this kind of fire-type high fifth-rank fierce beast required at least a sixth-rank Wuzong.
“Sect Master Jun, we’ll also take our leave!”
In a short while, half of the thirty-plus rogue cultivators departed.
Looking at the dozen or so who hadn’t left, Jun Changxiao asked, “Why aren’t you leaving?”
A middle-aged man with a square face said earnestly, “If not for Sect Master Jun, this Sun would have found it difficult to enter the depths of Death Valley, so I’m willing to stay and lend a hand.”
“Right!”
A nearby Wushi said, “We’re staying to lend Sect Master Jun a hand!”
Among them, some genuinely felt grateful to Jun Changxiao, while others wanted to gamble big—if they killed the Fire Dragon Beast, they’d surely get a good share of the spoils!
“No need.”
Jun Changxiao said, “You can just observe from the sidelines.”
“…”
Everyone’s mouths twitched.
Was this Tiegu Sect Master looking down on them? Did he think they’d be a burden?
No.
Neither of those.
Jun Changxiao was worried that if they stole the killing blow, how would he complete his epic quest!
Don’t laugh.
This kind of thing wasn’t impossible.
If the Fire Dragon Beast’s HP was reduced to just one point remaining and an outsider landed the final hit, it definitely wouldn’t count as him and his disciples hunting it!
To prevent this from happening, the best solution was to make them observe from far away!
“Everyone.”
Jun Changxiao pointed to the tunnel entrance behind them and said, “Please go observe from over there. If you trespass, don’t blame this Seat for being merciless.”
They’d kindly offered to help, yet he threatened to turn against them—this was truly unreasonable!
Those with tempers immediately left in a huff, and the other martial artists also withdrew.
With that, only the Tiegu Sect remained in this gourd-shaped cavern area. The disciples sat cross-legged to rest, striving to adjust their condition to optimal state.
Lu Qianqian sat alone in a clean area, entering deep comprehension. Her entire body gradually became shrouded in cold qi.
Ye Xingchen said with surprise, “This woman has an ice-type constitution?”
One could cultivate special attributes without having them innately.
Like Jun Changxiao.
Without a fire-type constitution, but possessing the Exquisite Flame, he counted as a fire-type martial cultivator.
But compared to fire-type martial cultivators with fire-type constitutions, that was like comparing a professional player to an amateur.
Ye Xingchen thought to himself, “The martial technique the Sect Master gave her yesterday must be quite high-grade. If she can comprehend it by tomorrow and manage to ice-seal the Fire Dragon Beast, her constitution is definitely extraordinary.”
He stopped overthinking and continued comprehending the Taixuan True Scripture.
Tomorrow would be a hard battle, and he definitely couldn’t stand by and watch, so he had to prepare seriously.
Li Qingyang and the others also knew that tomorrow, facing the Fire Dragon Beast would be the greatest test of this training expedition—they had to adjust their condition to the very best!
Xiao Zuiji didn’t cultivate but took charge of keeping watch.
Because Jun Changxiao was stuck at his current realm, cultivation held little meaning, so he leaned against a spot not far from Lu Qianqian. While protecting her, he opened the Shop on the side.
He’d have to refresh it sooner or later anyway, so why not do it early?
If he happened to refresh items helpful for killing the Fire Dragon Beast, that would be ideal!