Chapter 152: Fire Element Sprite

Chapter 152: The Fire Elemental Sprite

An orange-red fireball coalesced within Li Wei's palm.

The firelight was blindingly radiant.

It felt as if a miniature sun were being held in the grasp of his hand.

The Shadow Servant rushed forward, plunging into the fray.

"Shadow Claw!"

The Shadow Servant launched a sneak attack on the lava snake from behind, drawing its attention away.

The lava snake, which had initially been transfixed by the fireball in Li Wei's palm, was struck and immediately diverted its focus to the Shadow Servant.

Twisting its body, it unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks upon the shadow creature.

Fwoosh!

The lava snake spat a torrent of flame, engulfing the Shadow Servant in fire.

The Shadow Servant fled in a desperate retreat.

Suddenly, a tail whipped out from the midst of the flames.

The lava snake's tail ensnared the fleeing Shadow Servant, dragging it before the serpent's face.

The lava snake constricted its entire body, wrapping tightly around the Shadow Servant to crush it.

Crack, crack, crack! Crunch!

The invisible armor shielding the Shadow Servant was shattered by a colossal force.

Poof!

In an instant, the Shadow Servant dissipated into a cloud of black mist, slipping through the gaps to escape far from the lava snake.

Fwoosh!

A dazzling fireball plummeted from the heavens, hurtling toward the lava snake.

Sensing the imminent danger, the lava snake hastily coiled into a tight ball, shielding its head in the center.

Boom-crash!

The fireball struck the lava snake, triggering a violent explosion.

Instantly, the entire volcano shuddered under the impact.

Rumble! Bubble, bubble!

The volcanic activity grew distinctly more volatile.

With just a single Fireball spell, Li Wei had hastened the timing of the volcano's eruption.

If he threw a few more, it would likely erupt right then and there.

As the fiery light dispersed, it revealed the lava snake below, battered and bruised all over.

The lava snake's vaunted fire resistance proved as fragile as paper before the overwhelming power of the Fireball spell.

Had Li Wei not intentionally spared its life, a slight increase in the spell's potency would have blown it to smithereens.

The lava snake, which had looked so proud and aloof moments ago, now lay on the ground like a dead serpent, clinging to its final breath.

Li Wei descended, and the lava snake stirred, attempting to flee.

The Shadow Servant, having just escaped, charged back at the first opportunity and burrowed into the lava snake's body.

Li Wei heard the cries of the Shadow Servant.

It seemed to be scalded by the intense heat of the lava snake's flesh.

The lava snake writhed ceaselessly, rolling left and right across the ground in an attempt to expel the Shadow Servant from its body.

Eventually, its struggles grew weaker and weaker, until it stopped moving altogether.

A flash of dark light gleamed within its burning, fiery eyes.

The Shadow Servant had successfully gained control over the lava snake.

Li Wei looked up, seemingly spotting the invisible surveillance eye that was monitoring this location.

The preceding scene had unfolded entirely within the thick smoke, so the spectators outside had noticed nothing amiss.

When the dust finally cleared, the lava snake was revealed.

The lava snake bowed its head in submission to Li Wei, appearing as though it had been beaten into compliance.

The audience outside all showed expressions of astonishment, never expecting the armored man to possess such skill.

Defeating or killing a magical beast was easy, but taming one was exceedingly difficult.

Magical beasts were fiercely feral by nature and refused discipline; even if defeated, a beast would merely flee.

It would never willingly submit.

Unless, of course, it was defeated by an even more powerful magical beast.

Magical beasts rarely ever submitted to humans.

This involved the concept of bloodline suppression among magical beasts.

Magical beasts naturally submitted to those with more potent bloodlines.

Humans did not possess a magical beast bloodline, so they could not earn a beast's recognition or submission.

The crowd began to speculate whether the armored man possessed some sort of special bloodline.

Controlled by the Shadow Servant, the lava snake went to retrieve the prey; after Li Wei claimed the monster core, the lava snake devoured the carcass to heal its wounds.

Li Wei led the lava snake up toward the summit of the mountain.

Every magical beast they encountered along the way became food in the lava snake's belly.

The lava snake's injuries were also recovering at a rapid pace.

Healing rapidly through feeding was one of the fundamental traits of a magical beast.

This was also what distinguished magical beasts from ordinary animals.

Otherwise, according to normal evolutionary laws, any creature would instinctively minimize the risks of injury that hunting might bring.

Magical beasts were exactly the opposite; they were far more enthusiastic about combat, or rather, conflict.

Animals avoided conflict because an injury could lead to their own death. Magical beasts feared no injury because they could recover from them swiftly.

Gulp, gulp!

The lava snake swallowed a flame lizard whole.

Magical beasts slain by the lava snake also counted toward his score.

In the blink of an eye, Li Wei already had 95 points in his possession.

It wasn't a lot, as he had only encountered a single Tier 2 magical beast—the lava snake—so far.

It was highly probable that this entire vicinity was the lava snake's territory.

The points gained from hunting mere first-rank magical beasts were not substantial.

“Hee hee hee…”

A child’s laughter echoed from ahead.

Li Wei lifted his head. A fire elemental sprite stood upon a rock, gazing at him.

Seeing Li Wei look its way, the sprite turned and fled.

“Quick, chase it!”

Li Wei commanded the Lava Serpent to pursue.

Ssssh ssssh ssssh!

The Lava Serpent moved far faster than Li Wei, vanishing from sight in an instant.

Li Wei hurried after, racing forward.

After running a while, suddenly, he felt the power of Shadow Servant return to his body.

“The Lava Serpent died?”

Puzzlement crossed Li Wei’s face.

“What happened?”

He asked inwardly.

Shadow Servant replied: “Trap.”

Li Wei halted.

Ssssh ssssh ssssh! Hoooo hoooo!

The Lava Serpent reappeared before him.

Now, flames wreathed its entire body, making it appear far fiercer than before.

Around it danced three fire elemental sprites.

Each stood half a man tall.

Three first-rank fire elemental sprites.

Li Wei understood now.

The sprites had sensed the Lava Serpent was under Shadow Servant’s control—deliberately lured it into a trap, then freed it from domination.

This blazing form—it must have been granted by the sprites.

As for why they would aid the beast?

The reason was simple: the Lava Serpent was their guardian.

All magical beasts on this volcano served as protectors of the fire elementals.

Guardians shielding them from intruders.

Fire-type beasts and elemental sprites coexisted in symbiosis, bound together in life.

“Roooar!”

The Lava Serpent roared furiously at Li Wei.

Hoooo hoooo!

It opened its maw, unleashing a column of flame over thirty meters long.

Twice as fierce as before.

Li Wei leapt back urgently.

The serpent advanced relentlessly.

“Telekinesis!”

With a sweeping gesture, Li Wei seized a boulder midair and hurled it straight into the serpent’s gaping mouth.

The beast snapped shut, then whipped its tail, shattering the rock aside.

Then, in one explosive motion, it launched itself toward Li Wei.

In desperation, in that split second, a small fireball formed in Li Wei’s palm.

Boom!

The explosion’s shockwave hurled Li Wei backward through the air, evading the descending serpent by meters.

Hoooo hoooo!

The elemental sprites, eager for chaos, spat glowing fireballs at Li Wei one after another.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Fireballs struck him, detonating in bursts of flame, engulfing his figure in roaring light.

Moments later, Li Wei shot skyward.

Hovering in midair, beyond the reach of both serpent and sprites.

He frowned.

He had assumed the final arena would belong to fire mages.

Never imagined the very environment would suppress them instead.

True, fire magic grew stronger here amid volcanic heat.

Yet fire beasts and elementals possessed such immense resistance—the advantage of fire mages vanished completely.

(End of Chapter)