"Hu Zi, what are you doing here?" Liu Jinglan suddenly patted Jiang Hu’s shoulder silently.

"Damn, who is it?"

Jiang Hu was startled, shivering as he turned around, clenching his fists, ready to throw a punch.

Fortunately, Liu Jinglan, noticing his movement, quickly jumped back and shouted, "Hey, it’s me!"

"Why is it you guys?" Jiang Hu paused and withdrew his fist.

After a brief explanation, Jiang Hu moved aside and pointed straight ahead, "Look over there."

They were on a slope, and from there, they could see a vast barren area where countless Wandering Fire Ash Spirits floated in a circular formation.

At the center of the barren area, two Pet Beasts were confronting each other.

One was Chen Yuan’s familiar Water-type Pet Beast, the Furious Wave Crocodile, its back covered in spikes, and its long tail swaying, staring coldly ahead while its massive body lay on the scorching sand and stones.

The other was an unusually large Wandering Fire Ash Spirit, seemingly an enhanced and enlarged version of ordinary ones, several times bigger, facing the Furious Wave Crocodile without any fear, its whole body engulfed in expanding flames.

Chen Yuan felt that this Furious Wave Crocodile looked very familiar.

Jiang Hu’s voice suddenly rang out, "Advisor Chen, this Wandering Fire Ash Spirit is the strongest in this area. It rules over hundreds of Wandering Fire Ash Spirits and has integrated multiple groups, blocking the path to the mountain peak."

"To proceed further and absorb the mountain fire of this area, we must first defeat this Wandering Fire Ash Spirit."

"But Wandering Fire Ash Spirits are strange creatures. They have low intelligence and are completely controlled by their leader."

"Once the leader is down, they will scatter and be unable to organize any effective resistance."

"It may seem like there are hundreds of them, but if the leader is defeated, we can take them down one by one."

Chen Yuan nodded thoughtfully.

It was just as he thought; with multiple groups living together, there must be an extremely powerful Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leading them all.

"So, whoever can defeat this Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader first will earn a lot of points and gain a significant lead on the leaderboard."

Jiang Hu glared at Chen Yuan with a smile, "Advisor Chen, several teams have already challenged it before you arrived, but the result was obvious."

Liu Jinglan glanced at Jiang Hu and asked bluntly, "Did you challenge it?"

Jiang Hu scratched his head and didn’t deny it, "It was a disastrous defeat. This Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader has Tier Three strength. Only Mulate and his team could possibly match it; all other challenger Beastmasters were defeated at lightning speed."

Liu Jingyi couldn’t help but grumble, "This leader is really honorable, not ordering all of the Wandering Fire Ash Spirits to swarm."

If it were her, she wouldn’t give these Beastmasters a chance for one-on-one battles. She would definitely summon all her subjects to swarm them and then capture all the Beastmasters, whipping them mercilessly with a flaming whip.

Yet Jiang Hu looked at Chen Yuan, throwing a small compliment, "Of course, if Advisor Chen makes a move, he can surely defeat it easily."

Chen Yuan neither agreed nor disagreed, just smiled subtly, as he had just spotted a familiar figure.

Xia Heng stood behind the Furious Wave Crocodile, wearing a confident smile, as if everything was under control.

Coincidentally, Jiang Hu pointed at Xia Heng, explaining to everyone, "I heard this Beastmaster was specially invited by Mulate from another region as external support. Apparently, he’s a runner-up in some A-level event, very powerful."

"I saw him in action yesterday. The Furious Wave Crocodile has Tier Three strength. I wonder if it can compete with the Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader?"

Seeing Xia Heng from afar, Liu Jinglan and the other two fell silent.

They had all watched the Da Feng Cup finals and were not unfamiliar with Xia Heng.

Why is he here?

Liu Jinglan murmured, "So Mulate’s external support is him. They didn’t pick the wrong person."

Being able to battle Advisor Chen in the finals, Xia Heng’s strength speaks for itself.

As everyone’s thoughts drifted, the Furious Wave Crocodile and the Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader had already begun their second round of fierce fighting.

"Roar!!!"

With a furious roar, the Furious Wave Crocodile charged forward, and as it neared the Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader, it suddenly swung its massive long tail, water splashing everywhere with tremendous force!

The Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader floated back with incredible speed, trailing a fire trail and unleashing [Flowing Fire Chain] to bind the Furious Wave Crocodile at lightning speed!

Seeing the leader’s success, the surrounding Wandering Fire Ash Spirits’ bodies brightened, their flames blazing.

Unfazed, Xia Heng watched with steady eyes, thinking, "Once more, Wave Tail."

This level of attack cannot trap the Furious Wave Crocodile.

"Roar!!"

The Furious Wave Crocodile looked down arrogantly. Despite the Flowing Fire Chain binding its body and the scorching flames causing it pain, it didn’t care at all. With a crack of its Wave Tail, it shattered the chain.

"So strong," remarked Jiang Hu upon seeing this.

"Indeed," Liu Jinglan nodded in agreement.

In his eyes, the Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader was already quite strong, far stronger than the Red Flame Ox.

However, such a strong Wandering Fire Ash Spirit couldn’t handle the Furious Wave Crocodile. The effective [Flowing Fire Chain] was easily broken.

Facing the inherent disadvantage of attributes, the Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader was likely hard-pressed to resist.

Thinking of this, Liu Jinglan felt a sinking feeling: "Doesn’t that mean the Wild Wolf Roar Team will lock in the first place early?"

Although Liu Jinglan understood the principle that it was hard to compete for first place with a strong lineup like the [Wild Wolf Roar Team] when they had a weak link, he still held a sliver of hope.

Yet looking at the current situation, that sliver of hope was shattered by harsh reality.

This Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader was no match for the Furious Wave Crocodile.

Sure enough, as Liu Jinglan’s thoughts flickered, the Furious Wave Crocodile launched a fierce attack again, forcing the Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader to retreat repeatedly, its flaming body flickering and dodging.

"Water Surge!"

Liu Jinglan’s eyes narrowed, sharply catching the Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader’s flaw, and the thought emerged.

"Roar!"

The Furious Wave Crocodile raised its head and roared, its presence overwhelming, and a surging pillar of water burst forth from its mouth, accurately hitting the Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader.

Bam!

The water impact sent the Wandering Fire Ash Spirit leader flying several meters away, finally collapsing on the ground like a kite with a broken string, its flaming body suddenly dimming.

Xia Heng smiled slightly: "Your strength is not bad, but it’s still lacking slightly in front of us."

"Roar!"

The Furious Wave Crocodile raised its head, its roar deafening, its giant tail swinging, stirring up sand and stones.

Loud applause erupted from behind, as Xia Heng’s three teammates walked up quickly, Mulate smiling and speaking first: "Impressive, impressive, what a spectacular battle."

The two "fill-in" teammates also offered a stream of praise.

Xia Heng, however, shook his head, his tone slightly regretful: "It’s a pity its strength wasn’t enough to push the Furious Wave Crocodile to its limits; we couldn’t make more progress."

After a brief pause, he gazed toward the east, his tone deep: "With just this bit of progress, we can’t beat Chen Yuan."

Chen Yuan, once again Chen Yuan.

Mulate had grown tired of hearing this name over the past few days, his ears practically calloused, but his smile didn’t waver as he spoke to reassure: "Don’t worry, after this training, you’ll definitely be able to defeat that Chen Yuan when you return to Qin Province."

"Yeah, yeah," the two teammates echoed in agreement.

Xia Heng smiled slightly, not explaining further.

They hadn’t faced Chen Yuan directly, relying solely on his description couldn’t truly convey the overwhelming pressure brought by the latter.

Even though the Furious Wave Crocodile had improved somewhat since the finals, it was definitely not a match for the Flame Cloud Falcon.

He was clear on this, clearer than anyone.

"But... if the Furious Wave Crocodile could face an even stronger Fire-type Pet Beast, perhaps it could break through its limits in dire situations."

"When we challenge Advisor Chen next time, he’ll know how much we’ve progressed during this time." Xia Heng crouched down, reaching out to stroke the cold back of the Furious Wave Crocodile, chuckling gently.

"Roar~"

The Furious Wave Crocodile lifted its head, its eyes burning with fighting spirit.

As a Water-type Pet Beast, it was bound to crush all Fire-type Pet Beasts!

Suddenly, Xia Heng noticed out of the corner of his eye that the Wandering Fire Ash Spirits originally surrounding the area were continuously floating towards their fallen leader, gradually overlapping it.

In no time, hundreds of Wandering Fire Ash Spirits overlapped together, densely packed, their flames connecting into a massive blaze, with billowing heatwaves rushing to the sky, creating a magnificent scene.

At that moment, a Wandering Fire Ash Spirit floated over with a blooming fiery red flower.