Chapter 294: Chapter 294: Pride of Blazing Lions

SPLASH!

The sound of splashing water grew closer and louder.

The monster in the Hot Spring Lake was approaching.

Li Wei’s expression turned grim.

He knew that using the Spirit Gathering Ceremony would attract Fire Element Magical Beasts, but he hadn’t expected them to arrive so quickly.

The Spirit Gathering Ceremony had only just begun.

"Shadow Attendant, stop it."

Li Wei commanded. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The Shadow Attendant dove into the Hot Spring Lake.

It was unaffected by underwater combat.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A moment later, a great splash erupted in the lake, followed by a large amount of blood blooming on the surface.

The Shadow Attendant emerged from the water and returned to the shore.

"A Tier Two Magical Beast," the Shadow Attendant said.

Li Wei nodded.

For now, it was only attracting Tier Two Magical Beasts. The more the Fire Spirit coalesced, the stronger the beasts it would attract.

According to the Ritual Scroll, the ceremony could attract Fire Element Magical Beasts up to Tier Six at most.

Anything higher would be Tier Seven Magical Beasts—Legendary Level beasts.

If a beast of that level was attracted, Li Wei wouldn’t even have time to escape.

Li Wei continued to fuel the Spirit Gathering Ceremony.

The Magic Crystal grew brighter and brighter, and the Fire Element within looked as if it was about to ignite.

This was why a Magic Crystal with an extremely high purity of Fire Element was necessary.

If there was even the slightest impurity,

it would have truly burst into flames.

The result would be the failure of the ceremony.

’Thank goodness the Magic Crystal is fine,’ Li Wei thought with relief. ’Otherwise, this would have been a disaster.’

He had gone to the Zui Wan Commerce Association to buy a high-purity Fire Element Magic Crystal.

But when he simulated it in a dream, it had failed.

Later, Li Wei had to go through Valen, who contacted a friend, to purchase a Fire Element Magic Crystal of near-perfect purity.

After that, the simulations in his dreams never failed again.

But this was the first time in reality, so Li Wei was still a little nervous.

Seeing the Spirit Gathering Ceremony stabilize, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The next step was to see how far the Spirit Gathering Ceremony could go.

On one hand, it depended on the concentration of the surrounding Fire Spirit.

Once the Fire Spirit was exhausted, the Spirit Gathering Ceremony would end.

On the other hand, it depended on Li Wei’s own strength.

The longer the Spirit Gathering Ceremony lasted, the more numerous and powerful the attracted Magical Beasts would become.

If Li Wei couldn’t fend them off, the painstakingly gathered Fire Spirit would be snatched away by the beasts.

「An hour later.」

Li Wei noticed that the speed at which the Spirit Gathering Ceremony gathered the Fire Spirit had slowed considerably.

Compared to the beginning, the speed had already slowed to half.

Fire Element Magical Beasts at Tier Three Peak had already been drawn over.

ROAR!

An earth-shattering roar echoed from nearby.

A lion wreathed in flames appeared not far away, its eyes fixed on the Magic Crystal beside Li Wei.

Li Wei turned to look, his expression growing serious.

It was a Tier Four Fire Element Magical Beast—a Flame Lion.

But that wasn’t the reason for his concern.

A mere Tier Four Magical Beast was nothing to him.

The main issue was that Flame Lions moved in prides.

A pride of Flame Lions would invariably have a Flame Lion King, whose Level could reach Tier Five.

A Tier Five Fire Element Magical Beast was not to be underestimated.

Li Wei watched the Flame Lion, thinking, ’I have to kill it in one blow. I can’t let it escape.’

If the Flame Lion escaped, it might lead the rest of its pride here.

That would not be good news.

Li Wei might be able to defeat the Flame Lion King, but it would be difficult to maintain the Spirit Gathering Ceremony and protect the Spirit Gathering Crystal while under siege by an entire pride.

To Li Wei’s surprise, after observing from a distance for a moment, the Flame Lion turned and left.

It showed no intention of approaching.

Li Wei cursed inwardly. ’This is bad.’

’I should have taken the initiative and attacked.’

He had been waiting for the Flame Lion to attack him.

He hadn’t expected the Flame Lion to be such a coward and just turn and leave.

Li Wei looked at the Spirit Gathering Crystal, which was still absorbing the Fire Spirit, and felt unwilling to just pack up and leave with it.

Although the gathering speed had been halved, at this rate,

it would still take at least another two or three hours before the surrounding Fire Spirit was depleted.

Ending the Spirit Gathering Ceremony now would be a waste of the Spirit Gathering Crystal.

He currently only had five Magic Crystals.

The Magic Crystals could not be reused.

Each one used was one less he had.

"Shadow Attendant, go and see what’s happening."

Li Wei ordered the Shadow Attendant to pursue the departing Flame Lion.

The Shadow Attendant quickly set off in the direction the Flame Lion had gone.

More than ten minutes later, the Shadow Attendant returned.

"The Flame Lion returned to its pride to find the Flame Lion King. The Flame Lion King didn’t believe the Flame Lion and isn’t coming."

Li Wei’s eyes lit up. "Good news."

The Shadow Attendant continued, "The bad news is, that Flame Lion is on its way back with three other male Flame Lions who believe it."

Li Wei frowned, calculating in his mind.

’Four Tier Four Flame Lions...’

’They pose a certain threat, but not enough to snatch the Spirit Gathering Crystal from my hands.’

His mind made up, Li Wei came to a decision.

"Shadow Attendant, go lie in ambush. Injure those Flame Lions as much as you can."

"As you command."

「Twenty minutes later.」After dealing with a few more waves of attacking Magical Beasts, Li Wei finally saw the four Flame Lions arrive.

They were in a miserable state; each Flame Lion was covered in wounds.

All were from the Shadow Attendant’s attack.

The Shadow Attendant had also paid a price for it.

Three minutes ago, it had returned to the Nightmare Core.

This meant the Shadow Attendant had been killed by the Flame Lions.

The Shadow Attendant’s Return caused the three Magical Beasts it had been controlling via Shadow Clones to go berserk.

Li Wei had to personally put down the companions who had fought alongside him for some time.

After losing a few of his helpers, his situation had become somewhat difficult.

The four Flame Lions felt the pull of the Fire Spirit, all of them staring greedily at the Spirit Gathering Crystal behind Li Wei.

They split up, approaching Li Wei from four different directions.

Li Wei glanced at them and thought, ’Tricky.’

If the four Flame Lions had charged at him all at once, Li Wei could have killed them all in a single move.

But now, they were attacking separately.

Li Wei didn’t have three heads and six arms; it was difficult to handle attacks from all directions.

"ROAR!"

The Flame Lions drew closer, letting out low growls.

They were trying to intimidate Li Wei into abandoning the Spirit Gathering Crystal.

Tier Four Magical Beasts were as intelligent as humans.

Seeing the corpses of the other Magical Beasts scattered around, they knew Li Wei would not be an easy opponent.

Thus, they wanted to use intimidation to get the treasure without being harmed.

Li Wei’s eyes narrowed. He rubbed his hands together.

Two cyan serpents shot out from his palms.

The Fire Serpents, formed from cyan flame, flew toward the Flame Lions on the left and right.

The Flame Lions spewed crimson flames from their mouths, trying to block them.

The cyan Fire Serpents burned through the barrier of crimson flames, landed on the Flame Lions, and coiled around them.

The smell of scorched flesh emanated from the Flame Lions.

Even a Tier Four Flame Lion could not withstand the thirty-thousand-degree heat of the cyan flames.

Their incredibly high Fire Resistance only served to prolong their agony.

The Tier Four Flame Lions were not instantly burned to ash by the Cyan Flame.

Instead, they howled in torment as the Cyan Flame burned them.

The two Flame Lions in the middle seized the opportunity, pouncing on Li Wei without hesitation.

The two cyan Fire Serpents were still coiled around the Flame Lions on the left and right.

At this moment, Li Wei’s defenses were wide open.

In the eyes of the Flame Lions, it was no different from him offering up his back and neck for the taking.

An opportunity too good to pass up.

But Li Wei smiled. They had fallen right into his trap.