Rocky walked with quick steps around the tower-shaped buildings, going deeper with no hesitation. His
movements were fast and determined because he didn't want to spend more time here than was
needed. The temperature was too high. He needed to find the spiritual treasure as soon as possible.
After walking for a while, he came upon a wide stone path with stone doors that were almost ten
meters high. At the end of this path were huge stone steps, and a circular altar with a diameter of a
hundred meters stood at the end.
This altar was surrounded by blazing flames that reached dozens of feet high, and it was emitting a
strong spiritual power.
"It seems like the flames around the altar is an enchanted barrier. If so, then the spiritual treasure
should be inside it," Rocky murmured thoughtfully.
As he approached the altar, a powerful aura fell from the sky, stopping him on his tracks. In the next
moment, the ground shook up and down as if an earthquake had struck.
Rocky looked around wildly and saw a figure that was even bigger than a spirit-manipulated beast at
the six-star level on the right side of the altar. It landed somewhere amid the tower-shaped buildings.
Based on what it looked like from a distance, it could be an eagle or a phoenix, as it had feathers that
glinted and shone like they were on fire. It also had three heads that resembled an eagle's, while its
eyes were as sharp as a hawk's. Three thick, long tails helped it steer mid-flight, and like its feathers,
its tail was brightly shining as if it was alight with flames. The creature's flaming visage left burn marks
wherever they passed.
Of course, the most amazing thing was the aura it released. Its aura was above the seven-star level,
and it was a guardian beast.
It was said that the strength of a spirit-manipulated beast at the seven-star level was equivalent to that
of a spirit manipulator at the Immortal Stage, let alone a guardian beast. Therefore, the strength of this
guardian beast must be off the charts.
"No wonder that beauty said that no one could get close to the spiritual treasure. With a guardian beast
like this guarding the spiritual treasure, even a spirit manipulator at the Immortal Stage would fail to
approach it, let alone the ordinary spirit manipulator," Rocky said seriously. His eyes were narrowed
and trained on the fierce beast.
At that moment, the Fire Phoenix Eagle had approached the flame altar, as if it was doing a routine
inspection. It circled the altar once, and when it saw nothing unusual, it turned around and spiraled
upwards. More and more burning feathers fell on the ground in its wake, as it rose higher and higher
above the ground.
Rocky followed its ascent with his eyes, as the Fire Phoenix Eagle flew to the top of the mountain, and
there, on top, was a vast lair. The eagle flew straight inside, to what seemed to be its home. And at
once, the whole place fell silent once again.
After seeing the Fire Phoenix Eagle flying up, Rocky breathed a sigh of relief and sneaked toward the
flame altar. Although it seemed challenging to enter the flame altar because of the protection of the
enchanted barrier, he owed it to himself to try. If he didn't, then he would have wasted his time going
there.
However, just as he was about to approach the flame altar, a stream of wood-green spiritual current,
which resembled floating petals, suddenly shot towards the enchanted barrier around the flame altar.
With a loud bang, the wood-green spiritual current and the enchanted barrier collided and burst into
vibrant, blinding light. The aftermath of the spiritual power spread around like a strong wave, and even
Rocky could feel the sharp shock from where he stood.
He was surprised that someone had managed to find the flame mountain where the spiritual treasure
was hidden. His posture turned wary and guarded, for he had sensed that the earlier blow was at least
above the Divine Stage. 'Who on earth can find this mysterious place? Surely it should be a master at
the Divine Stage, ' he wondered.
While he was wondering, Rocky suddenly heard a roar coming from above his head. When he looked
up, he saw that the Fire Phoenix Eagle was swooping down again, and the flames all over its body
flared a deeper red. It looked furious. Its round eyes studied the landscape warily.
As it swooped down toward the ground, a hulking beast, which appeared to have already ambushed,
flew toward the Fire Phoenix Eagle and collided with it in the sky. Although this ferocious beast was
smaller than the Fire Phoenix Eagle, the strong impact knocked the Fire Phoenix Eagle aside, and it hit
the rock wall with a bang.
The two beasts continued tussling with each other and kept sliding down the stone wall. "Isn't this
Alyssa's spirit-manipulated beast?" Rocky was stunned by the beast that appeared out of nowhere,
especially since it resembled Alyssa's spiritual beast at the six-star level.
As soon as he saw it, he realized that Alyssa must be somewhere near them, and she was the one
who commanded her beast. Still, he was confused. If she had found the location of the spiritual
treasure, she should have informed the princes first and let them gather here to compete. Why was she
acting alone?
While Rocky was lost in thought, Alyssa finally flew out from a building and rushed directly to the flame
altar. As her spiritual beast was keeping the Fire Phoenix Eagle busy, she was also attacking the
enchanted barrier.
"Wooden spirit skill, wood soldiers, and divine generals..." Alyssa spun in the air, as her hands quickly
formed a seal on her chest. The cyan spiritual power surged like blooming wood flowers. At the same
time, numerous human-shaped plants that looked like small spirit-manipulated beasts emerged from
the ground around the enchanted barrier, and they began to rush toward the enchanted barrier one
after another.
As each human-shaped plant collided with the enchanted barrier, it exploded, and the explosion twisted
the flames of the enchanted barrier.
Some time passed, and it felt like more than a hundred had exploded. But still, the enchanted barrier
that surrounded the flame altar remained intact.
Seeing this, Alyssa frowned. Even though she had expected that the enchanted barrier would be tough
to break, she was dismayed that her wooden spirit skill didn't damage it a little.
However, Alyssa didn't give up and continued attacking.
Meanwhile, Alyssa's spiritual beast at the six-star level was at a disadvantage in its fight against the
Fire Phoenix Eagle. After all, its enemy was a guardian beast at the seven-star level which was far
stronger than a spirit-manipulated beast at the seven-star level. Therefore, its enemy could easily deal
with a spirit-manipulated beast at the six-star level.
It wasn't long before Alyssa's spiritual beast was too exhausted to fight, and it began to retreat from the
Fire Phoenix Eagle's powerful flame attack.
Suddenly, the Fire Phoenix Eagle shot out an intense flame and forced back Alyssa's spiritual beast. It
flapped its wings of fire, and its force threw back the spiritual beast. The latter crashed into a tower-
shaped building, raising dust dozens of feet.
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