Chapter 47: Fire Bats
Armed with a map, Xiao Fei returned to the Undying Volcano. This time, it was just the three of us, young people, and we had to face all the dangers on our own.
Within a radius of nearly a hundred miles, there were few trees, and those that did exist were small, fire-attributed trees.
The three of them walked on the pitch-black ground. Since they were still on the outskirts of the volcano, soul beasts were few in number, so there was no need to scout.
Since the map was ten thousand years old, the ley lines near the Undying Volcano had long since shifted, making the difference between having a map and not having one practically the same.
Xiao Fei and the other two had no choice but to follow the route the dean had taken them on the previous trip. Near the volcano, the air is low in moisture, and due to the intense heat, physical strength drains more quickly than outside. Therefore, it was important to minimize strenuous exercise and the use of soul power.
At night, Xiao Fei and Huo Wushuang took turns keeping watch.
After three days, Xiao Fei and the other two arrived at the spot where they had last hunted the Ten Fierce Sky Ant Beasts. They looked up at the sky and decided to rest there.
During the day, Xiao Fei had felt something was amiss, a constant nagging feeling that some soul beast was nearby, but a closer look revealed nothing. At night, while meditating outside the tent, Xiao Fei suddenly felt a surge of soul energy around him.
Using his soul bone to sense his surroundings, he discovered numerous tiny dots of soul energy. "What's going on? How could we suddenly be surrounded by soul energy?"
Suddenly realizing something, Xiao Fei awoke the two. Huo Wu asked, puzzled, "Hey, what's going on? Why did you wake us up so suddenly?"
Xiao Fei, his expression grave, replied, "There seem to be things underground, and there are many of them. They look like soul beasts, but something feels off. I can only sense them with my soul bone."
After a while, the three of them could clearly sense the increasing fluctuations of soul energy around them.
Xiao Fei hurriedly declared, "Let's go! We have to hurry."
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the ground, and countless fire ants emerged. Then a second, a third, a fourth crack appeared... All of the cracks seemed to form a kind of encirclement, and countless fire ants emerged.
Xiao Fei quickly exclaimed, "These are fire ants. Don't underestimate their small soul power; judging by their size, they're probably century-old soul beasts."
Yes, the countless fire ants surrounding Xiaofei and others are all hundred-year-old soul beasts. Each fire ant is about the size of a fist. Suddenly, dozens of larger fire ants emerged from the ground. These dozens of fire ants were already the size of basketballs. These large fire ants are already thousand-year-old soul beasts.
Xiaofei quickly possessed his martial arts and flew into the sky. He looked around and said, "We are in trouble. Xiao Fei saw countless scarlet flashes in the sky."
Upon closer inspection, they were all fire bats, seemingly century-old soul beasts, with quite a few larger ones among them, millennium soul beasts. There were tens of thousands, if not more, of both Fire Shadows and Fire Bats.
Xiao Fei flew through the air, wielding his phoenix-like claws, slaying the fire bats relentlessly, while Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang dealt with the nearly dense swarms of fire ants on the ground. Both the fire ants and the fire bats, having lived near the volcano for so long, had developed a formidable resistance to fire. Ordinary flames could only damage them, not kill them.
Xiao Fei pondered for a moment and said, "Something's wrong! These fire ants and fire bats are draining our soul power. There must be some advanced soul beast directing the battle. We must leave here quickly."
With that, Xiao Fei extended his flaming bird-bone wings from behind him, swooped down, and said, "Hurry, you two, jump onto my shoulders!"
Hearing Xiao Fei's words, Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu leaped into the air. Xiao Fei flashed by, and the two of them were already on his shoulders. The fire bats, seemingly aware of Xiao Fei's attempt to break free, kept trying to stop him, even at the risk of being killed. Suddenly, Xiao Fei and the other two rapidly depleted their spirit power.
Huo Wushuang declared, "No! We're in danger if we continue to be surrounded like this. We must force their leader out."
Xiao Fei activated his second spirit skill, "Rain of Sparks."
Countless flaming feathers flew towards the fire bats, instantly inflicting heavy damage, even killing several thousand-year-old ones. As the fire bats were being decimated, Xiao Fei suddenly arrived in the distance. A surge of powerful fire was evident, clearly the Fire Bat King.
Xiao Fei instantly activated his spirit bone skill, "Psychic Shock," and the bat king let out a sharp cry, clearly wounded. After locating the Fire Bat King, Xiao Fei flapped his wings and quickly flew towards him. The Fire Bat King, seemingly enraged, also flew towards Xiao Fei and the others.
Suddenly, the Fire Bat King unleashed a sharp howl, sending the three of them into a state of intense mental discomfort and a feeling of shock to their heads.
This was the Fire Bat King's sonic attack, surprisingly laced with mental shock. Seeing the Fire Bat King swinging its sharp claws towards Xiao Fei and the others, Xiao Fei quickly used his spirit bone to steady himself and, seizing his opportunity, used his five steel claws to sever one of the Fire Bat King's arms.
The Fire Bat King, enraged once more, let out a long howl, sending countless fire bats charging at Xiao Fei and the others recklessly.
Facing the overwhelming swarm of fire bats, Xiao Fei carefully sensed the fluctuations in the Fire Bat King's spirit power and activated his sixth spirit ability—Phoenix Slash.
All the fire bats in a straight line, including the Fire Bat King, were cleaved in half.
With the Fire Bat King dead, the remaining fire bats attacked with even greater ferocity. Without the Fire Bat King's command and coordination, the Fire Bats' attacks became even more chaotic. After a short incense stick, nearly all the Fire Bats were dead or wounded.
Xiao Fei and the other two could fly, leaving the fire ants on the ground without a target to attack, and eventually, all of them burrowed back underground. After a while, the three finally returned to the surface.
Only corpses remained, especially the massive corpse of the Fire Bat King. The size of the Fire Bat King's corpse suggested it must be nearly 30,000 years old.
The three consumed soul-restoring herbs and then rested in place, recovering their soul and physical strength.
An hour later, their souls had largely recovered. They gathered their spoils.
Xiao Fei sensed a surge of soul power within the Fire Bat King and approached him to dissect him. He was surprised to discover that the Fire Bat King had scooped out a piece of his head soul bone.
Then, Huo Wu unleashed a massive blast of fire, instantly setting all the bodies ablaze. A shimmering flash of light appeared on the ground again.
Xiao Fei moved it over, revealing a 2,000-year-old fire ant's right arm soul bone. Unfortunately, the age was too low, and the three of them looked down on it.
The three of them quickly left the place and found a place to rest.
Xiao Fei gave the 30,000-year-old Fire Bat King head soul bone he had obtained to Huo Wushuang. Now he was the only one without a head soul bone, and Xiao Fei and Huo Wu couldn't absorb it even if they wanted to.
Huo Wushuang nodded, sat on the ground and began to absorb the head soul bone. The three of them were so familiar with each other that there was no need to say any words of thanks.
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(End of this chapter)