Chapter 152: Pulling Chestnuts from the Fire

As soon as the three-eyed fire lion appeared, the nearby Earth-realm experts hurriedly and fearfully began to retreat.

They could all see that a fierce battle was about to erupt.

Even without the presence of the three-eyed fire lion, the urge to leave this place quickly had already grown within them; after all, who knew if the madman Crimson Fiend would slaughter them along with everyone else in his way.

The arrival of the three-eyed fire lion caused a stir in Yi Tian's heart.

Perhaps this was an opportunity!

The thought that had previously been extinguished in Yi Tian's mind reignited.

With Crimson Fiend and the three-eyed fire lion locked in a fierce struggle between two mighty forces, he might just be able to snatch chestnuts from the fire and seize the Earth Fire Bead.

He had a premonition that the Earth Fire Bead would be of immense help to his Great Sun Heavenly Technique, and might even drastically shorten the time required for him to break through to the Origin Dan realm.

For an Earth-realm expert, wanting to break through to the Origin Dan realm required a considerable amount of time and a vast consumption of resources in order to condense true essence into liquid and gather the liquid into a dan.

Therefore, as the others gradually evacuated the area, Yi Tian had no intention of leaving.

Besides Yi Tian, a few others also chose to stay.

Meanwhile, high above the ancient volcano.

Gazing at the three-eyed fire lion flying in from afar, Crimson Fiend’s eyes narrowed instantly. The sheer might of the beast made him solemn and cautious, unable to treat it lightly.

Earlier, if he hadn't dodged that blow in the nick of time, he probably would have suffered severe injuries.

"Crimson Heaven Palm!"

A violent surge of battle intent erupted from Crimson Fiend as he unleashed a middle-grade Earth-tier martial technique, the Crimson Heaven Palm.

"Roar..."

The three-eyed fire lion glared at the giant palm hurtling toward it, and with a single sweep of its claw, instantly tore through the air.

Boom!

The fiery red claw of the three-eyed fire lion collided with the Crimson Heaven Palm. The terrifying claw shredded the giant hand, but the remaining force of the palm also left the beast's claw tingling with numbness.

Rumble! Rumble!

Like a streak of raging fire, the three-eyed fire lion charged straight at Crimson Fiend. As its paws pounded against the void, the entire heaven and earth trembled.

Bathed completely in flames, Crimson Fiend immediately met the charge head-on.

The two adversaries clashed fiercely in mid-air.

Crimson Fiend unleashed various martial techniques, unleashing terrifying attacks that repeatedly pounded against the three-eyed fire lion, slicing off patches of its fiery mane and charring its fur.

Roar...

The attacks of the three-eyed fire lion were immensely powerful. A single descending swipe of its paw could carve faint fissures into the void, tearing apart volcanic peaks and fracturing the earth below. Even Crimson Fiend dared not face it directly, placing him at an absolute disadvantage.

Though Crimson Fiend’s offensive was formidable, the three-eyed fire lion, as a high-tier fierce beast possessing royal-grade bloodline, relied on its immensely tyrannical physical body to fight Crimson Fiend to a standstill, and even gain the upper hand.

Suddenly, a crimson longsword appeared in Crimson Fiend’s hand.

"Crimson Light Sword!"

With a furious roar, Crimson Fiend slashed toward the three-eyed fire lion with a single sword stroke.

Clang...

The claws of the three-eyed fire lion blocked the sword strike.

However, the blow left a deep, bleeding gash across its claw.

With the Crimson Light Sword in hand, Crimson Fiend’s combat prowess surged abruptly.

Rays of sword light rained down, leaving a trail of scorched, blackened cuts across the body of the three-eyed fire lion.

Roar!

The three-eyed fire lion was forced to retreat at last.

Wielding a transcendent-grade middle-tier magical treasure like the Crimson Light Sword, Crimson Fiend possessed a terrifying offensive power that finally began to inflict wounds upon the beast.

Yet, these injuries were not nearly as severe as one might imagine for the three-eyed fire lion.

As a high-tier fierce beast with a royal-grade bloodline, its physical body was incomparably robust. It was exceedingly difficult for Crimson Fiend's attacks to truly damage it; even if Crimson Fiend exhausted every ounce of true essence within his body, he likely still couldn't heavily injure it.

Suddenly, a beam of scorching fire shot out from the third eye of the three-eyed fire lion, instantly materializing right before Crimson Fiend's eyes.

"Slash!"

Crimson Fiend swung his sword in a fierce downward cut.

Rumble!

It seemed as though Crimson Fiend's sword had struck the fiery beam directly, triggering a deafening explosion and a wave of pure devastation.

Before Crimson Fiend even had time to evade, he was instantly engulfed by the residual shockwave.

When Crimson Fiend finally burst out from the blast radius, he had already activated his defensive martial technique. Even so, he was heavily buffeted by the shockwave and suffered internal injuries.

Had he not deployed his defenses in time, he likely would have been blasted to death by that single move.

Immediately afterward, blinding radiances erupted from the third eye of the three-eyed fire lion one after another.

These beams of light were like peerless swords, slicing through everything in their path. Small volcanic peaks were pierced right through or cleaved neatly in half by the dazzling rays.

Using the Crimson Light Sword, Crimson Fiend clashed with the three-eyed fire lion time and time again. Yet, continuously suppressed, his injuries gradually accumulated.

The battle between the two had reached its most intense crescendo.

A radius of a thousand miles was caught in the fallout of their clash; mountains shattered into dust in a truly tragic display.

Witnessing all this, Yi Tian was filled with awe and yearning.

This was the might of a supreme titan and a high-tier fierce beast—their terrifying offensive power was practically capable of sweeping away any existence below the Earth realm.

Just as Yi Tian's attention was almost entirely consumed by the battle between Crimson Fiend and the three-eyed fire lion, a ghostly figure silently glided across the earth, streaking at breakneck speed toward the ancient volcano.

Yi Tian finally noticed it.

The movement technique of that figure was so ghostly and silent that he had almost missed it entirely.

"Courting death!"

Crimson Fiend, locked in fierce battle with the three-eyed fire lion, naturally sensed the commotion down at the ancient volcano below. The audacity of someone attempting to take advantage of the chaos to steal his Earth Fire Bead was utterly unforgivable.

A streak of crimson sword light shot straight down from the sky, plunging directly into the mouth of the volcano.

"Ah..."

A miserable scream was cut abruptly short.

Crimson Fiend's furious counter-attack inflicted fatal damage upon the individual who dared to covet the Earth Fire Bead he had claimed.

Seeing this scene, Yi Tian could not help but feel a shiver of dread.

With a single sword strike, a top-tier Earth-realm expert was effortlessly obliterated.

While Crimson Fiend's offensive might was far superior to that of the titan from the Demon Palace, the Blood River Myriad Ghost Banner wielded by Old Fiend Blood Ghost possessed a more terrifying mystical subtlety—each had their own strengths.

The other onlookers still lingering in the shadows grew even more terrified upon witnessing this; playing the role of the opportunistic fisherman was evidently not as easy as it seemed.

Consequently, the remaining few also quietly slipped away.

Yi Tian weighed whether he should retreat as well. He had very little confidence in his ability to wrest the Earth Fire Bead away from under Crimson Fiend's nose, not to mention having to face the subsequent pursuit of both Crimson Fiend and the three-eyed fire lion.

To put it bluntly, this treasure hunt was fraught with extreme danger.

Screw it!

Clenching his teeth, Yi Tian resolved to take the risk and seize the Earth Fire Bead.

The impending danger undoubtedly carried immense risks, but it was also intertwined with opportunity.

Every opportunity was bound to be accompanied by various hazards; if one could not face the risks, opportunities would vanish in the blink of an eye, and if one failed to grasp those opportunities, their future achievements would be severely limited.

In an instant, Yi Tian executed his Flying Feather Art, shooting forward like a drifting feather toward the ancient, towering volcano ahead.

Now an Origin-law expert of the Earth realm, Yi Tian pushed the Flying Feather Art to its absolute limit, leaving behind nothing more than a blur of afterimages. His speed was astonishingly fast, carrying him to the crater within dozens of breaths.

Deep within the magma lake dozens of fathoms below the crater rim, the Earth Fire Bead floated up and down, wreathed in tendrils of fiery primordial energy.

With a mere flick of his hand, Yi Tian could pull the Earth Fire Bead into his possession.

Having just been blasted backward by the primal fire-type radiance from the third eye of the three-eyed fire lion, Crimson Fiend was already utterly exhausted.

Right at that moment, he spotted Yi Tian's movement—the boy was actually attempting to seize the Earth Fire Bead while he was locked in fierce combat with the beast!

"Die!"

Once more, Crimson Fiend slashed out with his Crimson Light Sword. An unrivaled, fiery red sword Qi instantly tore through thousands of feet of the void, plunging straight into the massive volcanic crater and hurtling toward Yi Tian at lightning speed.

A terrifying wave of lethal danger suddenly plunged Yi Tian's entire body into a bone-chilling cold.

Swish!

Just as Yi Tian executed his divine shifting technique to dodge the blow, the crimson sword Qi swept past his previous location, instantly carving a trench hundreds of miles long across the magma lake before peace momentarily settled back over the surroundings.

What?!

Even as Crimson Fiend stared in shock, Yi Tian had already teleported past that fatal strike in a flash, materializing right beside the Earth Fire Bead.

Without hesitation, Yi Tian grabbed it with one hand, causing the Earth Fire Bead to instantly dim as all its radiant energy folded inward and concealed itself.

"Die!"

Seeing Yi Tian successfully snatch the Earth Fire Bead, Crimson Fiend abruptly abandoned the three-eyed fire lion and charged furiously toward the mountain where Yi Tian stood.

Naturally, the three-eyed fire lion had no intention of letting the matter rest.

Not only did it intend to continue its battle of vengeance against Crimson Fiend, but it was also determined to claim the Earth Fire Bead for itself.