The Flaming Horn tribe possessed powerful healing abilities, and Shao Xuan was even stronger. This time, however, he controlled his body to not heal the wound on his thumb too soon.
He pressed his thumb against the sharp edge, letting more blood escape the slit.
The red droplets did not hit the ground as Shao Xuan’s wounded thumb dragged the blood all over the blade towards the tip, not once lifting it off the knife.
Sizzle sizzle—–
As Shao Xuan’s thumb moved along the edge, the blade began letting out weird noises that didn’t quite sound like something to be expected from the action. It sounded more like something was sizzling atop a burning metal.
Something was amiss. What exactly was going on? Gongjia Ren was confused, but the weirdest was this- Eyes following Shao Xuan’s finger, he noticed that there was a trail of blood stuck onto the surface. The blade surface was considerably smooth. The trail of red actually seemed deliberate but there was no way blood could adhere so tightly to metal. But it indeed was blood, blood that had oozed out of Shao Xuan’s finger!
Gongjia Ren just couldn’t understand.
Shao Xuan paid no mind to Gongjia Ren’s internal turmoil. After the blood trail neared the tip, he lifted his palm off and opened it wide.
The totemic pattern in his body grew stronger. At the same time, another surge of energy followed. It felt like a switch was flipped. The energy moved around like a white thread in the totemic pattern. It travelled along the length of his arm towards his opened palm.
Shao Xuan felt something hot throbbing violently in his arms. The sensation gathered at his palm.
Poof!
Flames appeared on Shao Xuan’s raised palm. This sight made the staring Gongjia members jolt in surprise.
What?! Why was his palm burning?!
Su Le, who had been staring at Shao Xuan all along, felt his heart sink. What on earth was this Flaming Horn trying to pull?! Also, what was that metalware in Shao Xuan’s grip? Why hadn’t he seen it before? Though it wasn’t green, it certainly wasn’t any regular metalware!
The shock of the hooded figure behind Su Le went unnoticed by the young master. The hooded figure was jolted at the surprising sight of flames in Shao Xuan’s palm, almost as if they had seen something far from their expectations.
Under the crowd’s attention, Shao Xuan raised his flaming palm and slapped on the tip where the blood trail had stopped.
At contact, the blood trail along the blade acted as a fuse. Immediately, the knife was ignited by the flames in Shao Xuan’s hand!
The roaring blaze spread across the blade, flames almost covering up the entirety of the knife. It looked almost like the knife had just burst into flames out of the blue.
At the moment the flames spread along the red trail to envelop the blade, an invisible heatwave felt present as it clawed towards its surroundings to reveal a majestic aura that could shake hearts! The widespread sandstorm created by the battle between giant beasts seemed to be chased away by an invisible ball.
Beneath their soles was a sandy ground scorched by the hot sun. At this hour, the sun’s heat was at its peak. If this were the past, Shao Xuan and the others would’ve found a spot to rest first. However, they were under the burning sun while stepping on hot sand. The heat was so excruciating that it could be felt through their straw shoes.
However, the temperature of this heatwave seemed to be much higher than the desert sun rays and scalding sand!
Despite that, not only was the Flaming Horn tribe members not irritated by the heatwave but it also helped calm their frustrations.
The aura of a fire seed!
It was subtle but the Flaming Horn tribe members could tell that it was different.
Was Shao Xuan using the power of the fire seed?
But even fire seeds were unable to set metalwares ablaze!
The Flaming Horn tribe members weren’t the only ones affected by the heatwave. Even the linen-wrapped monsters too had paused momentarily under the onslaught of heat.
The hooded figure behind Su Le began to incline their body forward, eager to find out more about the situation. However, their reaction remained unknown to Su Le once again. The young master stared at the knife in Shao Xuan’s grip with a dark expression. The Second Young Master scoffed coldly, “Though I don’t understand what he’s trying to do, his efforts will still be futile. Does he really think that a blazing knife will take care of those monsters?”
Following that, Su Le tilted his chin upwards. He lowered his voice. “Kill him and bring that knife to me.”
A dangerous glint flashed through the hooded figure’s eyes. They made the monsters move towards Shao Xuan, ignoring the other Flaming Horn tribesmen in the process. However, this wasn’t done out of obedience. The hooded figure hadn’t even registered Su Le’s words. Eyes trained on Shao Xuan, the only thought that crossed their mind was to kill Shao Xuan!
The monsters that were in the middle of a fierce fight gave up on their opponents and began dashing towards Shao Xuan.
“Move aside!” Shao Xuan shouted at his comrades ahead.
Like a sound of giant beasts stomping, sand geysers were thundered high. Those without context would expect the emergence of a giant beast. In reality, Sapphire and Su Le’s giant golden beast had moved their battle underground. The beasts were nowhere to be seen.
Shao Xuan wasn’t at his earlier spot either. The only thing left behind there was a giant crater.
The sand geysers settled, adding to the height of the crater’s edge. It made the large hole more obvious.
Rushing out from within, Shao Xuan was like a vigorous beast. His aura was explosive, filled with the tyranny associated with the Flaming Horn tribe. His blood felt like it was burning, and his muscles and bones were thundering under the stimulation from the totemic power. His being was headed in a straight line for Su Le.
Though Shao Xuan was still far away, Su Le’s chest felt suffocated, almost as if his nose and mouth were muffled by someone. This was a kind of aura suppression. Su Le’s spot was already locked on by Shao Xuan. The rushing man did not feel human at all to Su Le, he felt more like a fierce beast, like an unexpected tsunami!
Shao Xuan aimed to break past the current situation. He willed to solve the threat brought by the monsters. To achieve that, he’d first need to take care of the puppeteer involved. Following that, the solution would be an approach that was the fruition of Shao Xuan’s experimentation on the reanimated corpse’s manipulation methods.
The power used to control the monsters were similar to the fire seeds. The power was stored inside the monsters’ bones and this was the exact reason why the monsters were still able to move despite having no organs or head.
As long as the power within the monster’s bones were affected, the manipulation would be disrupted or better yet, cut off.
When a monster rushed up in front, Shao Xuan’s speed did not falter. He slammed his weight onto the monster to block off its attack. The man did not hesitate to slam directly into the enemy’s arm. It was a brutal charge like the fearsome beasts in the forest!
In terms of physical strength, the monsters were no match for the totemic warriors of the Flaming Horn tribe, let alone a high-grade totemic warrior like Shao Xuan.
Under the collision, the monster’s bones fractured crisply like exploding beans. The other monsters that tried to drown him were immediately knocked away by Shao Xuan. Regular humans would have released their weapons from the pain and impact, however, these monsters were different. It almost felt like their weapons were glued to their palm. Even with a deformed arm, their grip remained tight around their metalware. They felt no pain and they were controlled by someone else. Just like a program deeply engraved in their being, it urged them to keep their fingers on their weapons at all times. Even if the arm was chopped off, the monsters would continue to hold onto the metalware.
The shadow of a blazing knife flashed by, slashing a headless monster at its waist. Its upper body was sent flying in the air while its lower body slid against the sand for a distance before coming to a halt.
Gongjia Ren stared at that particular monster’s upper body. Different from the other monsters slashed by the Flaming Horns, there were flames where it got slashed. It looked as if the flames were burning something. Though it wasn’t intense and the burning had only lasted for a short while, the fire was indeed existent!
What was even more mind-boggling to Gongjia Ren was that the halved monster spasmed and then its raised arm slumped. It did move again like anticipated.
The knife was effective against the monsters?!
Gongjia Ren’s eyes went wide.
Behind Su Le, the hooded figure had gone lifelessly pale. All of their facial muscles were twitching.
They felt as if a scorching fire was raging in every inch of their being. It felt like someone had released a hoard of maddened fearsome beasts that collided mercilessly with every meridian, pulse, bone and blood in their system without an ounce of reservation. Everything was screaming in pain.
“Stop him! Stop him!” Su Le began to panic. The young master screamed at the top of his lungs.
The slaves were busy dealing with the black beetles. On the other end, the black beetles had already cleared out a path for Shao Xuan. The slaves could barely catch a breath, there was no way they could stop Shao Xuan in time. Their only hope was the monsters.
Ta and the others too wished to help Shao Xuan out but the man was too fast. They... They couldn’t catch up!
Ignoring the Flaming Horn tribesmen, even the monsters that were swarming over had failed to catch up. The monsters could not provide aid to Su Le and the hooded figure.
Monsters that were attacked with the flaming knife acted as if they had fallen ill. They toppled over and spasmed uncontrollably like faulty machines. Even if they remained standing, they were trembling all over as if they were cold.
The scene was awfully unsettling. Weren’t the monsters supposed to be unfazed by anything? Why did they look like they were sick?
The hooded figure was the only one with answers. They could no longer control the puppet slaves precisely. The opening created by the flaming knife on the monsters’ body had allowed a surge of energy to spread through their cavity. It disrupted their manipulation and even directly affected the other monsters around!
This was the power of the fire seed! The power of the Flaming Horn tribe’s fire seed! It was impossible for the power they channelled into the reanimated corpses to curb it! How did the Flaming Horns attain such power?!
“How... How is this possible? Aren’t these monsters supposed to be invincible?!” To Su Le’s horror, Shao Xuan was getting closer and closer. The young master’s voice wavered greatly.
The hooded figure could no longer control the tremors in their body. At this point, it was impossible to hide it from Su Le.
“What’s with you?!” Su Le asked anxiously. This person was his protective barrier. If something were to happen to the hooded figure, Su Le and his slaves were no match for the Flaming Horns at all. Worse, the Flaming Horns were associated with the insect swarm too.
“That person... Who exactly is he?!” The hooded figure’s voice shook, almost like they were trying their best to suppress a great deal of pain. Their otherwise emotionless face was twitching wildly, beads of sweat were sliding off their forehead.
Their state shocked Su Le. Something was going wrong with this person and it was a gigantic issue at that too!
As to who Shao Xuan was...
“He’s from the Flaming Horn tribe, the Flaming Horn headquarters’...” Su Le stammered.
The hooded figure was obviously not asking for that. Of course they knew Shao Xuan was a Flaming Horn but what status did this man hold in the tribe? Why did he possess such power? The hooded figure could feel disruptions in their bond with the puppet slaves. In between disruptions, the bonds were broken off. With every broken bond came an excruciatingly painful sensation akin to someone disconnecting all of their meridians.
The bond between the hooded figure and their puppet slaves were much tighter than that of Su Le and his slaves. After all, they had absolute control over each of the reanimated corpses’ movements. When tight bonds like this were broken, the backlash received would be more severe.
“Why... Why is this happening?! Who is he?!” The hooded figure mumbled under their breath, pale grey eyes staring ahead at the approaching figure and his vague rapid flames with visible fear.
“Go!” The hooded figure groaned lowly.
“Wh... What?” Su Le looked at the hooded figure in disbelief. Go? Was this considered a failure? Why was the puppeteer telling him to retreat?
“Quick! Leave!” The hooded figure raised their volume, using almost all of its strength to get the message across.
Seeing that the armed Shao Xuan was close, Su Le tightened his jaw and blew a whistle. He reached over and scooped the hooded figure up. He did not dare to leave this person behind and escape alone. Doing that would garner punishments from Su Lun.
With the hooded figure in his grip, Su Le dashed out of the canvas canopy and retreated.
The slaves and monsters that were left behind were, of course, regarded as lost causes. It wouldn’t be easy for the two of them to escape to safety, there was no way they could afford to bring more people with them. Though Su Le felt regretful over leaving his slaves behind, his life was way precious. Abandonment in this scenario was a given. Plus, he’d still need them to stop the Flaming Horn’s pursuit to buy them more time to escape.
Behind Su Le, a blast rang out amidst the sandy grounds. The giant golden beast emerged from under the sand. It raised its front body and contracted ten of its spread legs to form a tight space for protection. It gathered Su Le and the hooded figure inside and curled its whole body inward. It wrapped its head and the two in the very inside to form a gigantic ball. The only thing exposed outside was the hardest part of its body- the armour.
Attacks weren’t the forte of its kind. The giant golden beast was best at defence. The reason behind Su Gu and Su Le’s united decision on this giant beast species was its powerful defensive abilities. In the face of danger, it could transform into a tough protective form and shield its master inside. Even the fearsome desert beasts notorious for their sharp fangs and claws would find it difficult to tear the giant golden beast’s armour apart. This was guaranteed to save their lives.
The sphere formed by its curled body was tightly connected with hard-shelled rings. Only a handful of small gaps were exposed in some areas. The gaps were so small that smaller beetles would fail to get it. The gaps were to facilitate breathing of the people inside.
The giant golden ball began to roll on the desert grounds. The sand was brought up rapidly like muddy water brought up by car tyres driving through a mudflat.
Shao Xuan dodged the projectile sand bursts and slashed the golden ball harshly. The flaming silhouette came in contact with the giant ball!
Screech—————-
The piercing sound of metallic friction was elicited, followed by sparks of fire. A long black mark that looked like a scorch mark had been drawn along the giant golden beast’s body. The canal created was at least as deep as a palm. Following its rolling motion, the black mark expanded further across half of its length. If this were to be repeated twice, the giant golden beast’s armour would be cut open.
Though the attack did not break through its defences, it certainly brought immense fear to the beast. It increased its speed, frantic to pull a distance away from its assailant.
Shao Xuan fell to the ground. His arms around the knife’s hilt were numbed from the vibrations of the earlier attack. His purlicue was split. There was the burning urge to chase after the giant golden armoured beast and end it once and for all. Yet, the beast’s defences were just too strong. If he really wished to exterminate it, more time would be needed. However, there were still many monsters back there to take care of and Shao Xuan wasn’t about to abandon the other Flaming Horns just like that. After all, the other Flaming Horns did not possess the flaming knife. Not everyone possessed the same special abilities as Shao Xuan.
Bam!
A blue figure burst out from the sand.
Sapphire’s fight with the giant golden armoured beast had reached its climax earlier. However, the giant golden beast left the battle for the surface in all of a sudden. Sapphire scanned its surroundings as soon as it emerged onto the surface. Immediately, its paddle-like antennae swung slightly and its six legs broke out into a chase.
Watching Sapphire leave, Shao Xuan went back to take care of the monsters for the time being. Even if the monsters’ puppeteer had left, it hadn’t gotten out of its effective radius. The monster’s existence was still a threat, their movements would only become more cumbersome with the distance.