The air in the Lava Tunnel deep within Mount Fuji was thick with the stench of sulfur. Two one-hundred-foot-tall Saint Tier Exotic Beasts lay prostrate at Li Xiang's feet. To his left, the Blazing Earth Core Python's scales shimmered with a molten gold luster; as it flicked its tongue, magma dripped to the ground. To his right, the Profound Ice Crystal Soul Beast's body looked as if it were carved from Ice Crystal, its hexagonal pupils refracting a bone-chilling, spectral light. The tens of thousands of Exotic Beasts below Saint Tier under their command shrieked outside the base, shaking the mountain walls so violently that cherry blossoms showered down.
These were two Saint Tier Exotic Beasts that Li Xiang had hand-picked and newly subdued for Chiba Yuki. He had used Beast Taming: Azure Qilin Guide to forge a Soul Contract with them, ordering them to guard Mount Fuji and protect Chiba Yuki and her daughters.
