"Of course it won't be that easy!"
A dark light flashed in her eyes as she launched a fierce barrage of punches and kicks at Jiang Cen.
Molten lava splashed everywhere.
Jiang Cen was soon battered until her face was bruised and swollen, her bones nearly shattered.
Song Wanníng had originally planned to cripple Jiang Cen, but then reconsidered. The main goal now was to drag Jiang Cen's father into this mess. If Jiang Cen was disabled, she'd only become a victim, making the plan harder to carry out.
Besides, with Jiang Cen's experience, even if crippled, she could find opportunities to recover.
So for now, Song Wanníng decided to just teach her a lesson.
After breaking Jiang Cen's jawbone thoroughly, Song Wanníng's anger finally subsided.
Feeling satisfied, she threw Jiang Cen back into the lava pool, watching her burn with growing pleasure.
"Let's go."
With a wave of her hand, Song Wanníng dove into the flaming pool, followed by Long Ling and the Shenyou Mystic Flame.
The lava flowed and boiled violently beneath them.
Long Ling led Song Wanníng through a narrow tunnel hidden inside the lava pool.
They followed the cramped passage deep underground.
Half an hour later, they emerged—not in the lava pool, but at the base of a massive flame mountain.
Countless fire stones scattered across the mountain floor dazzled Song Wanníng's eyes. Her spiritual energy surged wildly inside her body, as if wanting to break free and rush toward the fire stones.
Song Wanníng's eyes brightened. Without hesitation, she waved her hand and gathered every fire stone she could find. Her storage ring wasn't enough, so she took out another from her internal world, barely managing to hold all the fire stones.
These stones would sustain her cultivation through the late Void Refinement stage. Fire stones were a huge boost to fire-element cultivators, even more valuable than regular spirit stones.
After collecting the fire stones, Long Ling eagerly urged Song Wanníng to fly toward the center of the flame mountain.
Breaking through layers of lava, Song Wanníng finally caught sight of the fire spirit.
The fire spirit was only palm-sized, a small flickering cluster glowing a deep red.
The moment it sensed someone nearby, it darted away slyly, giving Song Wanníng no chance to get close. Fire spirits were notoriously fast, making it difficult to capture one.
Song Wanníng's heart sank but she immediately gave chase.
Long Ling and the Shenyou Mystic Flame hurried after her, neither wanting to let the fire spirit escape.
...
"Host, you owe the system over two hundred points again. You need to complete missions quickly to repay."
The system's alert interrupted Xiao Heyun's thoughts. His gaze grew cold as he nodded indifferently.
This incident had made him realize the danger and lowered his trust in the system.
Now that he had finally recovered from his injuries, he planned not to rely on the system's missions to woo women. Instead, he would seek treasure on his own to increase his strength.
Xiao Heyun packed up and prepared to set off.
But he overlooked his contracted spirit pet, which still contained some beast-attracting powder in its body. Not long after leaving, he again provoked attacks from demonic beasts.
At first, he thought it was just bad luck, grumbling as he fought back and continued his treasure hunt. But as more and more beasts appeared, Xiao Heyun realized something was wrong.
"Damn, what exactly is the origin of these beasts?"
He inspected his spirit pet thoroughly but couldn't detect the beast-attracting powder. Because of it, he had been badly injured and exposed his identity. A flicker of suspicion crossed his mind: could this spirit pet actually have some extraordinary status?
Otherwise, why would so many beasts be attracted to it?
The more he thought, the more he believed this guess was likely. After all, in typical stories, a prodigy like him who crossed worlds wouldn't get ordinary things.
It might even be an ancient god beast with awakened bloodline!
It just hadn't shown its true power yet.
The more Xiao Heyun thought about it, the more excited he became. He wanted the system to check it out but hesitated, remembering how many points he owed. He didn't want the system to look down on him again, so he kept quiet and didn't ask for help.
Soon enough, he was chased again by the attracted demonic beasts, running around the secret realm like a madman.
But this only strengthened his belief about the spirit pet's identity. He thought that if he could awaken the god beast bloodline, he would have a powerful ally. He could quickly surpass Liu Xingzhi and become the male idol for thousands of female cultivators.
Then he wouldn't need to worry about raising favor points. He was done being a desperate sycophant, always on edge and getting punished.
Soon, chaos erupted again in the secret realm, affecting many cultivators.
"Damn it, not that bastard again!"
"This is too much! What has he done to make the beasts go crazy this time?"
"This is beyond fair! I almost had my chance, but that beast suddenly went wild, nearly costing me an arm!"
"What treasure does that guy have?"
Many cursed him bitterly. If looks could kill, Xiao Heyun would already be riddled with wounds and buried without a trace.
"Let's catch up and see. I don't believe he can escape every time!"
"Right, let's follow him!"
Since no treasure had been found, it was better to follow and see if they could pick up something.
So the same scene repeated, with many thinking they had imagined it.
Song Wanníng's clone and her group also spotted Xiao Heyun.
"Again him!"
Her eyes darkened as she stopped moving.
"Senior Sister Song, do you know who that is?"
Yue Lin asked in a low voice. Now a loyal follower, he trailed closely behind Song Wanníng.
"Yeah, Xiao Heyun from Qingyun Sect in the Eastern Domain."
Song Wanníng answered quietly, glancing at Yue Lin as a plan formed in her mind.
Since Xiao Heyun liked coming to the Southern Domain, they wouldn't let him come empty-handed.
"Let's observe first. If possible, we'll deal with him."
With that command, the group stopped rushing elsewhere. They kept their distance from the beast tide and quietly followed Xiao Heyun.
Meanwhile, after a long chase, Song Wanníng finally captured the fire spirit.
The Shenyou Mystic Flame was ecstatic. It ran over and swallowed the fire spirit whole. As soon as it swallowed the fire spirit, the Shenyou Mystic Flame instantly expanded, looking like a balloon about to burst.
Song Wanníng didn't rush away. She arranged for the Shenyou Mystic Flame to consume and evolve on the spot while carefully guarding it in the lava. At the same time, she consumed the fruit of the Moonlight Flower she had previously obtained.
A mysterious sensation rose from deep within her heart.