Chapter 456: Chapter 462: Awakened Red Flame

Hang Yu couldn’t handle it anymore.

They were already here; retreating was not an option.

He immediately ordered Er Gou to lock onto the target’s location and then personally scouted ahead, starting reconnaissance on this ’uniquely-scented’ monster.

"Target discovered."

"It’s right ahead!"

Hang Yu nodded, closed his eyes, and activated Eagle Eye.

A bird’s-eye view quickly swept across the land, passing the base with a large group of Red Sand Monsters, finally locking on to a moving figure.

The Red Sand Race is a hybrid elemental life form.

They possess both earth and fire attributes.

From the exterior, the Red Sand Race looks like large masses of red sand, with their bodies made of crimson sand covered in cracks, and through the cracks, one can clearly see flames and magma flowing inside, akin to organs or blood.

The Red Sand Race has relatively stable bodies and defense of earth-type elementals, yet they also possess powerful fire attribute attack power, making them a very strong race.

The entire Red Desert, the entire Red Mountain Range, and even this whole place’s Red Sand Race all share the same roots and heritage.

In ancient times.

An epic-level Red Sand Race strongman known as the "Sand Emperor" perished, and his fall completely changed the landscape of a region, leading to the appearance of countless Red Sand Monsters.

The Red Sand Demon King is merely the strongest among the Sand Emperor’s descendants.

Beyond the Red Sand Demon King, there exists another extremely powerful presence, which is the Red Sand Race member before them, who appears like a warrior, with a crimson gold armor, holding a crimson gold battle halberd, helmeted, cloak fluttering, tall and burly.

If not for the face made of crimson sand covered with fire cracks, he would not differ much from humans, except for being particularly tall and burly.

Red Sand Grand Marshal!

Among the Red Sand Race monsters.

Only second to the Red Sand Demon King!

This guy’s strength is above that of the Single-Horned Red Flood Dragon, reaching the Golden Overlord level, and if fought one-on-one, might be stronger than any Great Lord, not much inferior even compared to Governor-level powers!

The Red Sand Grand Marshal was wandering near a volcanic magma lake, with a few Red Sand Race members beside him, exuding a sense of inexplicable awkwardness.

Strange.

Why is this guy wandering here?

Hang Yu noticed some oddities.

Generally, the activity radius of subspecies monsters is limited, and their movement trajectories typically follow a pattern, even if there are occasional exceptions, deviations are not significant absent external influences.

This BOSS has no reason to leave the base!

Hang Yu observed the opponent carefully for a few more minutes, finally determining an astonishing truth from some details.

Retract observation skills.

Hang Yu returned to the others: "The situation has changed a bit; we need to adjust our plan."

Xu Tianhua asked, "What happened?"

Hang Yu replied, "This BOSS seems to have awakened!"

"Awakened?"

Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.

Hang Xiaobai, a native of the Spirit Realm, exclaimed in surprise: "Brother, do you mean this monster has experienced soul evolution, awakened self-awareness, and become a high-tier Red Sand Race?!"

Hang Yu nodded: "That should be it!"

Hang Xiaobai said: "The awakening of elemental subrace beings is very rare and difficult. Unexpectedly, an awakened one appeared here; it’s incredible!"

The others took a while to react.

It’s the BOSS they were preparing to tackle.

It turned into a high-intelligence Spirit Realm native with self-awareness!

Jiang Nan asked: "So, what should we do?"

"The plan remains unchanged, but the approach must be altered. We cannot launch a frontal assault; dealing with intelligent beings is trickier than those without brains. Luckily, he has left the base’s core area, giving us a chance."

"Our troops will stay put to avoid alarming them; a few of us will sneak in and eliminate them before they react, once and for all."

Hang Yu quickly designated several people.

They were Xu, Zhao, Jiang, Qin, and Zhang, five fixed members, plus the three leaders of the Spirit Sword Bureau, alongside Hang Yu and Xiaobai, forming a ten-member team that was more than sufficient.

......

Beside the volcanic lake.

Red Flame looked up at the continuously flowing lava river down the slope.

The Elemental Race’s vision is unique—unlike what humans see, he couldn’t distinguish colors but could differentiate between matter and energy.

He had been awakened for over ten days now.

Currently adapting to the memories in his mind.

These memories are innate, including the common language of the Spirit Realm, the language of the Elemental Race, some basic knowledge, battle skills, and instincts. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Apart from these, there’s nothing else.

Red Flame felt lost.

This feeling arises for every awakened being in the Spirit Realm, representing the inevitable transition from a life driven by instincts to one of conscious thought, self-awareness, and clear logic.

"What’s our next move?"

"Yeah, leader, are we just staying here?"

Behind Red Flame were seven or eight Red Sand Race members—the only batch among them with awakened self-awareness as high-tier beings. Given Red Flame’s dominance in power among them, he naturally became the leader under the Spirit Realm’s unspoken rule of the strongest being the leader.

Red Flame said: "I don’t know either, let me think some more."

The Red Sand Race, upon gaining intelligence, seemed perplexed.

Previously, they lacked self-awareness, operating entirely on innate instincts, and even in a daze, felt nothing amiss. Now, possessing the ability to think and inherited memories, they can’t just lead repetitive lives.

One subordinate suggested: "Leader, you can almost control the Red Sand Race here. According to the knowledge in our minds, to rise in the Spirit Realm, one must seize territory and land."

Another subordinate said: "Yes, why don’t we attack cities? With the leader’s strength, capturing a Great Lord shouldn’t be difficult!"

Everyone is born with varying amounts of memories and knowledge.

About these common understandings, several Red Sand Race members were aware, but Red Flame’s mind lacked such narratives, making him unsure how to handle his subordinate’s suggestions.

Yet.

At this moment.

Red Flame suddenly sensed danger.

For the first time since gaining consciousness!

He looked towards the direction the sense of crisis came from, and under the Elemental Race’s unique vision, he saw clearly ten or so powerful beings appearing nearby.

If Red Flame were an experienced Spirit Realm native, he would have reacted correctly upon discovering them, but he was inexperienced, failing to respond promptly.

"Four-sided Blood Prison!"

The solid black ground.

Suddenly became soft and viscous.

Bloody energy bursts into the sky, colliding and intertwining, like a giant prison descending from the sky, enveloping these Red Sand Race members.