Chapter 2220 — An Unexpected Joy

As one of the few spirit beasts in the Wulong Haote Mountains possessed of high intelligence, the Great Fire Lion naturally knew the heads of the great powers at the foot of the mountain; it had seen these men appear from afar, out in the central range.

Yet though it knew Tagan Lon was the mastermind, the Great Fire Lion could not kill him! The Tagan family, after all, was not to be trifled with—a clan that boasted Heaven-rank masters. If Tagan Lon died, the Tagan family would never let the matter rest; they would come seeking savage vengeance even at the cost of grievous injury to their own foundations.

That was not something the Great Fire Lion wished to see. It could not stay at the little Fire Lion's side day and night, and their Fire Lion clan was not the sole ruler of these Wulong Haote Mountains—there was another clan of spirit beasts, long their sworn enemy—so it had no desire to draw human cultivators into the fray as well!

If the Tagan family then went so far as to assassinate the little Fire Lion, heedless of all consequences, the loss would far outweigh the gain!

But the Great Fire Lion was determined to teach them a lesson, to make them understand that its son was not so easily plotted against, to kill any such notion in their hearts and ensure they never came to make trouble again!

And so the Great Fire Lion advanced toward Tagan Lon, step by step...

The Fifth Protector, however, knew nothing of the Great Fire Lion's intentions. Having witnessed its ferocity mere moments before, he was startled out of his wits, believing it meant to do Tagan Lon harm, and hastily threw himself in front of the young master.

"Roar!" The Great Fire Lion swatted at him with one paw, and the Fifth Protector could only steel himself and charge forward to meet it. If he failed to protect Tagan Lon at such a moment, he would not escape execution even upon returning to the family; better to risk his life and earn merit!

Yet the Great Fire Lion seemed to have no mind to kill him—it merely sent him flying with a single swat, then gathered the little Fire Lion and turned to leave that place...

"Pff—" The Fifth Protector spat out a mouthful of black blood, plainly suffering no small internal injury. But such wounds meant little to him; he hastily tossed a Small Restoration Pill into his mouth, circulated his qi to dissolve it, and swiftly began to heal.

Seeing both the great and little Fire Lions depart, Tagan Lon at last let out a breath of relief. This time it was no pretense—he had truly been frightened half to death! He would never dare come try to make the little Fire Lion his contract spirit beast again; it was far too terrifying!

In his estimation, the Great Fire Lion had not known they were the masterminds; after punishing Wei Zhao and the other three, it had merely given the onlookers a good scare and then left. So he secretly counted himself fortunate that they had not raised a hand, but had let those four unlucky wretches deal with the little Fire Lion instead.

"Aah—" Wei Zhao let out a miserable scream. He had to put on a show of being injured, though inwardly he sneered. He had more or less figured out why the Fifth and Eighth Protectors, and Lazi too, possessed the strength to act yet held back—so it was fear of the Great Fire Lion's revenge!

Likewise, Sun Jingyan chimed in with a startled cry—only hers came truly from the heart!

For she felt the ground give way beneath her, as though she had stepped into empty air. Turning to look, she was astonished to find the turf under her feet had caved in, leaving a great pit beneath her!

Wei Zhao noticed Sun Jingyan's plight as well, and with a casual tug hauled her back up.

"How did this collapse?" Sun Jingyan asked, staring at the ground beneath her feet in some bewilderment.

"I don't know." Wei Zhao shook his head. It seemed the Wulong Haote Mountains truly were fraught with peril—even the grass could give way beneath you.

That Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan had not died came as something of a surprise to the Eighth Protector, Lazi, and Tagan Lon. Those three were dead, yet Wei Zhao had escaped calamity—remarkable indeed!

Then again, perhaps the Great Fire Lion's temper had cooled after killing those three, which was why Wei Zhao and the Fifth Protector had suffered only minor injuries... or perhaps the deaths of those three had all been accidents!

The green-robed expert had been crushed by a boulder, the black-robed expert run through by a tree trunk, and the burly man in white had been the unluckiest of all—he had simply been bitten to death by a tiger...

Yet when the Eighth Protector saw the collapse beneath Wei Zhao's and Sun Jingyan's feet, his expression shifted slightly and he strode over quickly! For a matter of great importance had occurred to him!

In the Wulong Haote Mountains there lived a spirit beast called the Lesser Killer Gopher, which dwelt underground and loved to burrow out great caverns for its nests. It was not aggressive, nor did it possess any other particular attributes.

But this Lesser Killer Gopher had one peculiar habit: it delighted in collecting the essence cores and inner pellets of dead spirit beasts! It stored whatever cores and pellets it found within its burrow. They were of no use to it, but many spirit beasts have their various little hobbies.

Previously, while gathering herbs in the Wulong Haote Mountains, the Tagan family had chanced upon several Lesser Killer Gopher burrows and retrieved a number of spirit beast essence cores and inner pellets from within! And the collapse beneath Wei Zhao's feet was very likely just such a burrow!

That was why the Eighth Protector had rushed over so eagerly! Others might not know how to use a spirit beast's essence core or inner pellet, but the Tagan family's alchemists knew one use for such cores—and no small use at that!

"Step aside, you two!" the Eighth Protector said to Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan.

"What do you mean to do?" Wei Zhao asked, his suspicions stirring, though he kept his face carefully blank as he watched the Eighth Protector hurry over.

"When I say step aside, step aside—why so many foolish questions?" In the Eighth Protector's eyes, Wei Zhao was a mere Yellow-rank mid-stage expert. True, he had overcome a white-robed brute at the peak of Yellow-rank mid-stage, but to an Earth-rank mid-stage expert like himself, the man was no more than an ant.

Wei Zhao had no wish to provoke a feud with the Tagan family just yet, so he shifted slightly to one side and drew Sun Jingyan away with him.

The Eighth Protector, meanwhile, was already digging furiously with his hands at the collapsed ground where Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan had stood! By then Young Master Tagan Lon and Lazi had come over too, and at the sight of the Eighth Protector's exertions their faces lit with delight—they had guessed his intent!

The Fifth Protector was still off to one side circulating his qi to heal his wounds, and for the moment could not come over.

"This is a Lesser Killer Gopher burrow?" Tagan Lon asked, somewhat delighted. "There are spirit beast essence cores inside?"

"It should be!" The Eighth Protector nodded. "Though whether there are any cores or pellets, we can't yet say."

"Who would have thought! I took this Fire Lion hunt for a failure, a stroke of bad luck—but every cloud has its silver lining. What an unexpected joy!" Lazi said excitedly.