After leaving the Medicine Valley, Austin kept on running. A few miles away from the battleground, he
reached a quiet place in the middle of a forest. Alas, he was at a safe place for now. He decided to take
a quick rest to recover his strength.
He was exhausted from the fierce battle a while ago. He could quickly recover the vital energy he had
lost from the battle using the vital energy stone. However, he needed time to recover from his mental
exhaustion.
After resting for almost an hour, Austin felt completely refreshed. He was in his peak condition again
and ready for a new fight.
As he continued to rest a little longer, he reflected on his battle with the cultivators from different sects.
The Red-winged Wolf he had faced was only a demonic spirit, however, its strength was beyond
Austin's power to defeat it. From his encounter with Wilson, Austin learned that the Blood Wolf Team
had a great inheritance which enabled them to rise quickly in the Violet Orchid Empire.
The demonic spirit of the Red-winged Wolf was a level-nine demonic beast equivalent to a powerful
cultivator at the Sky Realm!
Austin felt that the odds were in his favor when Abbott hadn't taken the woodcarving of a wolf with him.
If it had been the case, it would have been impossible for Austin to defeat and kill him.
After his reflection, he turned to his two companions: Iris and Anna. He had managed to save the girls
from the group of cultivators for now, but he knew that they were still in danger.
Austin knew that his friendship with Anna and Iris had caused them to be enemies with Wilson and his
group.
If the two girls were to separate from him, their lives would be in grave danger. Austin believed Wilson's
group would not stop looking for Anna and Iris. If they found the girls, Austin was certain that Wilson
and his group would do any cruel things to the girls to pacify the grudge they had on him.
With these in mind, Austin decided to keep the girls in his company. Although they would become a
distraction to him, he was left with no other choice.
"You will have to stick with me for the next couple of days. I know it's not what you planned, but I have
no other choice. I don't want you to be caught by those cultivators again," Austin said to the two girls.
As she heard these words, Iris beamed with pleasure. She had witnessed Austin's fight with over thirty
cultivators including famous young talents like Leo.
Despite being outnumbered, Austin had still managed to defeat his enemies and killed most of them.
With this, Iris was reassured that they would be safe in Austin's company. He would be the perfect
shield for them against all their enemies.
However, she was worried that they wouldn't be of any help to Austin. If they were caught in a fight,
they would surely become a liability to him.
Iris was inclined to come with Austin, but the thought of becoming a burden to him weighed more.
Thus, with a heavy heart, she refused, "Austin, we appreciate the offer, but we have to decline. We
have already caused you enough trouble when you offered to save us from those cultivators. If we stay
with you longer, I'm afraid that we'll become a burden–"
But before she could finish her words, Austin interrupted and said, "I don't mind. You were captured by
the members of the Blood Wolf Team because you are my friends. It's me who caused you this trouble.
Besides, I know my strength. So, you wouldn't be of any trouble to me even in fights. That's it!
We must go now. I want to return to the Fire Valley and get something useful."
Austin clearly understood what was going on in Iris' mind. But he assured them that he was willing to
take them under his wings for the time being until they were in a safe place.
"We don't have the luxury of time. Let's move right now!"
He stepped out first and led the way towards the Fire Valley.
"Austin, we will be forever in your debt!"
Iris and Anna were beaming with joy and gratitude as they followed Austin's lead to the Fire Valley.
Admittedly, Austin's company made them feel secure. They now had the courage to move on. They
thought that it must be Austin's strength and power that gave them a sense of security and made them
want to rely on him.
About an hour later, they reached the outskirt of the Fire Valley for the second time.
Like from their first visit, they found the valley filled with blazing flames. Luckily, the flames were at
normal temperature.
The ordinary flames could not pose a threat to cultivators with a cultivation base of vital energy above
the Earth Realm.
It was because the cultivators of that level were able to release their vital energy around their body to
form a shield and defend themselves.
Nonetheless, they knew that the real danger in this valley was not the flames but the numerous fire
beasts.
"Iris, Anna, please find a place nearby where you can hide and be safe. I'm going deep into the valley
alone," Austin said to the two girls.
Austin gazed into the deepest part of the valley. He knew that the Scorching Evil Fire which ranked
third of the Earth Fires was at the bottom of the valley. If he was lucky enough to get that valuable
natural treasure, it would be of great use to him.
Iris nodded and said, "Okay. Good luck! We'll wait for you here."
Iris and Anna weren't as potent as Austin was, and it would be unreasonable for them to accompany
Austin into the deep part of the valley.
Thus, even before they had reached the foot of the valley, she had decided to stay out of the valley and
just wait for Austin somewhere safe.
As Austin instructed, Iris and Anna managed to find a hidden cave behind a dense bush that was a few
hundred meters from the valley.
After knowing that his companions were safely hidden, Austin started his journey into the Fire Valley.
As soon as he entered the valley, a dozen fire beasts immediately transformed into different beasts and
ganged up on him.
But these level-one and level-two fire beasts were not matched to Austin, thus, he didn't bother to
counter their attacks. Instead, he rampaged through his way like a violent beast.
With only the aura coming from his physical strength, the fire beasts which got in his way were
shattered into fragments and instantly vanished into thin air.
No matter how many level-one to level-three fire beasts got in his way as he moved deeper into the
valley, Austin just kept rampaging without even fighting back.
He only stopped when he met a hundred of level-four fire beasts. Austin then took out his sacred sword
and employed the Illusory Swordsmanship.
Austin's spiritual sense was now at a surprisingly high level. Even if there were hundreds or even
thousands of fire beasts attacking him at the same moment, Austin could precisely sense every motion
of each beast. He avoided all the attacks using the Wind-commanding Skill and retaliated with the
Illusory Swordsmanship. His sharp sword hacked his enemies like cutting papers and wiped out a
bunch of beasts with every slash.
At the same time, he summoned the light ball from his elixir field and instructed it to absorb the energy
of the fire spirit stones from each of the dead fire beasts.
The fire spirit stones contained strong and pure masculine energy that was valuable to any cultivator.
Austin didn't want to waste any of this precious resource.
As the light ball absorbed the masculine energy, it kept on growing. Seeing this, Austin's face lit up with
pleasure.
Aside from the energy that he would need, Austin also stored some fire spirit stones in his Space Ring
for his two companions, Iris and Anna. Now that they were his companions, he decided to do them a
favor and bring them some fire spirit stones for their benefit.
Austin had gone 2, 500 meters into the valley during his previous visit. Although he hadn't reached the
bottom of the valley, he had scanned the way ahead and learned that it was 4, 000 meters away from
its entrance.
This time, he had reached 2, 500 meters into the valley once more when he decided to take a rest.
He was in the same situation as he was during his first visit. Upon his arrival at that place, hundreds of
level-six fire beasts suddenly appeared. They transformed their blazing bodies into beasts of all types
such as fire tigers, fire wolves, fire lions, fire snakes, fire birds, etc.
Each beast radiated a sense of danger as they focused their burning eyes at Austin. It seemed as if
they would all jump on him at any moment.
A level-six fire beast had the power equaled to a cultivator at the preliminary stage of the Mysterious
Realm. Though it would be difficult, Austin was confident that he could defeat a level-six fire beast.
However, in the face of the large crowds of level-six fire beasts, Austin had hesitated for a bit.
He wondered whether it was worth putting his life in danger and fighting the level-six fire beasts or it
would be wiser to avoid them and move on to the bottom of the valley.
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