Meng Xuan's battle instinct instantly reacted as he dashed for the mouth of the cave. He was only courting death if he fought the beast in its territory. But outside, he had a huge advantage—using his surroundings, he could even escape if the battle was turning otherwise.
He had heard of the Flaming Spirit Technique of the Hellhound demonic beast. "Its body becomes the embodiment of fire, untouchable until they strike."
Meng Xuan felt a crushing heat behind him as he ran frantically toward the mouth of the cave.
The beast moved at an astonishing speed. In just a few breaths, it would catch up to Meng Xuan.
Meng Xuan couldn't help but turn back, instantly sending out the dark flame ball he had formed.
The moment the dark flame met the beast's fur, its body was swallowed whole by the fire.
The beast shook frantically, pausing for several seconds before continuing its hot pursuit.
That brief delay gave Meng Xuan the chance to cover the distance to the mouth of the cave.
The beast was dejected not to see Meng Xuan when it stepped outside.
Its nostrils twitched suddenly as it dashed toward a particular direction.
Meng Xuan, hiding behind one of the giant trees, cursed silently. The beast's sharp sense of smell had already caught his scent. It was coming toward his direction.
He hurriedly dashed behind another tree.
The moment the beast reached its destination, a ball of white web covered its view.
The web wrapped around its body for a second before it was burned away.
A large white spider with eight sturdy legs stood before the Hellhound beast.
Its red eyes glared at the Hellhound as it slowly approached.
The Hellhound froze in its tracks, surprised not to see Meng Xuan but instead a white spider.
The white spider was obviously the beast fragment—the mutated master-stage Abyssal Spider Meng Xuan had encountered From the Abyssal Spider Demonic Zone, after a Fiend monk had used its will to control a hundred spiders to delay Li Feng and his accomplice, the spider's cultivation had dropped to the peak rank of the disciple stage.
Every beast fragment was a one-time use due to the special law guiding every minor soul. After summot, only a single command could be given to it. It would either lose or win—after that, it vanished without a trace. This was the unique law binding the use of beast fragments.
Meng Xuan hid behind a tree, watching the battle between the Abyssal Spider and the Hellhound Beast. He had given the single command: attack the enemy. Then he hid in the forest, waiting for the perfect chance to strike.
A fight between an initial-ranked Master stage beast and a proper-ranked disciple stage beast—the winner was obvious. But that didn't mean the spider had no fighting chance. The spider was at the upper rank of the disciple stage, just an inch closer to the Master stage.
The spider pounced on the Hellhound Beast, not afraid of the fire surrounding its body. Since it was now Meng Xuan's beast fragment, it only followed the command he gave—attack the enemy,fighting purely on instinct.
The two beasts clashed heavily. The spider fought ferociously, not fearing the flame spirit techniques. The Hellhound countered fiercely, but the spider was on the losing side as it suffered burns from the Hellhound's fire.
The spider, fighting viciously, still forced the Hellhound to suffer some attacks as it prepared its final strike. It opened its mouth and spat out two large flame balls in quick succession. The blasts tore a hole in the Hellhound's head.
The headless spider struggled as it fought the Hellhound with its last breath. A few more flame balls later, the spider was burnt into ashes, evaporating into the air.
The Hellhound Beast might have exhausted its energy killing the Abyssal Spider, as the fire on its body slowly died down. That was the perfect chance Meng Xulan was waiting for.
Two balls of dark flame shot forth toward the Hellhound Beast.
The Hellhound sensed danger, but before it could react, anything that could be called flesh and bone was burnt instantly. Only the demonic soul core remained.
Meng Xuan was dejected to see this. He had been expecting either the beast fragment or the beast technique to drop, but he knew how rare such things were.
He packed up his loot and went into a secluded compartment where he saw the Alpha of the pack. He was going to rest and use those demonic cores to increase his cultivation.
He wasn't afraid of a sudden attack. The place still carried the lingering aura of a Master stage beast, and he knew how well these Hellhounds respected territory. Only the mid-level pack could pose a threat, but now there was little chance of them attacking. He hadn't ventured too deep into the demonic zone.
....
He crushed the demonic cores, demonic energy rushing toward him. In his soul world, his soul core spun slowly, and the black mist beneath it seemed to come alive.
Around his soul core were seven lanterns ancient spirit vessels floating in the mist. They formed a circle, glowing faintly, staying silent and dormant.
The soul core pulsed, greedily absorbing the torrent of demonic energy. Then, after refining it, the energy was released through a golden tube that connected directly to one of the lanterns.
That lantern flickered as the energy poured in, its dim light slowly brightening. The sealed flame inside trembled, straining against the crimson lattern that held it shut.
The more Meng Xuan consumed the demonic cores, the more the lantern swelled with power, the flame within pressing harder and harder as though it would burst free at any moment.
When the flame finally reached the midpoint of the lattern, he slowly opened his eyes. The demonic cores had been exhausted, yet his body brimmed with strength, as though he had comprehended a fragment of the Primordial Demonic Flame.
"Your mastery over the Primordial Demonic Flame has increased. If your rank were compared to an ordinary holy cultivator, you would already stand at the mid to upper level of the disciple stage," the fiend monk's voice echoed within his mind.
Meng Xuan nodded in agreement. In just a few minutes, he had reached the mid-realm of the disciple stage,his cultivation could no longer be called ordinary.
He estimated that at least fifty more demonic cores would be needed before the golden tube feeding the awakened lantern would be filld enough to reach the next one in the circle.
He brought out a slab of steak meat from his spatial storage. With his newfound mastery over the Primordial Demonic Flame, he was able to easily create a burning fire.
He roasted the steak over the flames and ate quietly. When he was done, he finally lay down and went to sleep.