After walking for a bit, Rocky saw two spirit-manipulated beasts at the fifth grade of the five-star level
approaching him. They seemed to be a couple, with their necks intertwined and their temples rubbing
against each other's.
Of course, Rocky didn't want to disturb the loving couple, so he and Ken quietly moved to the side.
However, just as they evaded the two, another spirit-manipulated beast appeared out of nowhere and
came charging towards them. It darted all the way like mad, leaving a cloud of dust in its trail.
Fortunately, Rocky reacted on time, and just narrowly dodged the angry beast. Rocky hated to think of
what would've happened if they had collided. Shaking his head slightly, Rocky motioned for Ken to
keep moving forward.
Both of them determinedly trudged forward, keeping an eye out for other spirit-manipulated beasts.
Carefully, they made their way around stealthily, until they finally reached the edge of the flame
mountain.
As they got closer, Rocky felt something strange. It seemed as though the mountain was emitting a
strong spiritual power, but that something simultaneously was blocking it.
'The beauty didn't lie to me, ' Rocky thought to himself. 'The flame mountain should be the place where
the spiritual treasure is hidden away, but I don't think things will be that simple.'
He immediately surveyed the side of the mountain, looking for an entrance. But after a long search, he
found none.
As he scratched his chin, Rocky's gaze shifted from the foot of the mountain to its top. He saw that
there were some sparse gashes in the air a hundred meters above the ground, like ventilation
openings.
'It looks like I'm going to have to fly there, ' he thought to himself. However, if he wanted to fly at all, he
would need to untie the state of invisibility first. It was incredibly risky, considering they were
surrounded by spirit-manipulated beasts. They would be in immediate danger the second they let go of
the invisibility.
Gritting his teeth in frustration, Rocky decided to circle the mountain once more. Finally, they reached a
clearing where not many beasts roamed. Untying the state of invisibility, he rode on Ken and they
soared into the air quickly, rushing to the nearest opening.
Just as they felt like they were going to make it, a huge shadow blotted out the sky. Rocky looked up to
see a huge bird the size of a dragon. The bird flapped its massive wings fiercely, causing a strong wind
to send Ken tumbling through the air.
"A Wind Shadow Roc at the six-star level!" Rocky cried. "Damn my luck today!" He didn't expect that he
would be caught by such a strong beast.
The Wind Shadow Roc squawked menacingly and shot towards them. Its sheer size made it look as
though it didn't give a damn about heaven or earth. As though that wasn't scary enough, it had a six
star aura and an aggressive momentum. Ordinary spirit manipulators would've been scared out of their
wits.
Rocky, on the other hand, was no ordinary spirit manipulator. Even under such life-threatening
circumstances, he remained calm. Grabbing Ken by the head, he raced towards the opening on the
side of the mountain, just narrowly dodging the giant bird's attack.
Once it realized it missed its target, the Wind Shadow Roc immediately circled in the air to chase after
Rocky and Ken. For such a large creature, it was incredibly agile and caught up to them in an instant.
Thankfully, Ken was also quite fast. If it weren't for it, Rocky would've been caught by now.
The bird flapped its wings violently, causing a wind so fierce, it almost knocked Ken out of the air. It
simultaneously flew directly above their heads, its sharp claws slicing through the air as though it was
going to rip its targets into shreds.
Rocky knew that the only way out of this was to forcefully activate the Spirit Possession, even with Ken
in the air. But it was incredibly risky, since if he entered the state of Spirit Possession correctly, he
would immediately plummet to the ground. He hated to think about the consequences if that were to
happen.
However, time was of the essence right now, and there was no time for him to think. Closing his eyes,
he activated the Spirit Possession. Upon opening his eyes, he saw Ken's body transform into a
dazzling cloud of colorful lights, while they simultaneously plummeted to their deaths.
Right in the nick of time, too, the Wind Shadow Roc's sharp talons had almost sliced off Rocky's head.
Just as the giant bird was to catch him, suddenly, he, who had just integrated with the seven-colored
light transformed by Ken, disappeared out of thin air. The next moment, Rocky showed up again and
quickly pressed close to the roc's lower abdomen. From an angle that was hard to be attacked by the
roc, he dashed to the opening which was only dozens of meters away.
However, due to the strong winds from the flapping wings, Rocky rolled through the air and was almost
smashed into the mountainside. Twisting his body slightly, he narrowly made it into the opening,
scratching against the wall of rock as he fell. Once he tumbled into the opening, a column of flame
suddenly rose at his feet and tried to engulf him.
Rocky winced in pain as he felt the flames licking him. Sensing the danger he was in, the Dragon Spirit
Mark on his left arm suddenly roared to life and expanded across Rocky's skin. Then, as he raised his
right palm, a purple vortex appeared, which sucked part of the flame quickly.
Because of everything that just happened, Rocky had a bitter taste in his mouth. "Bleh!" He spat out a
mouthful of blood.
As though that wasn't enough misfortune, he tripped over something and fell deeper into the hole,
tumbling against the rough stone floor.
When he finally reached a stop, he couldn't help but curse out loud. "It's so fucking exciting!" Picking
himself up awkwardly, he brushed the dust off his clothes. Looking around him suspiciously, Rocky felt
as though he'd fallen into the depths of hell.
The mountain interior was filled with tower-shaped buildings of various sizes, which made him feel like
he just entered a Buddhist sacred place. However, the serene scene was constantly disrupted by
columns of flames violently bursting out of nowhere on random areas on the ground. It seemed hot and
powerful enough to melt all the buildings.
Moreover, the temperature inside the mountain was shockingly high. Even the spiritual power that was
protecting his body could not defend him from such high temperature. It seemed Rocky was stuck in an
endless cycle of sweating profusely, then being completely dry, as his sweat was immediately
evaporated.
62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda