Black Feather Woodford Tanner, despite losing some control over his body, had not completely lost his fighting ability.
He struggled fiercely, flailing his arms in counterattack.
Onlookers were astonished to see him react peculiarly as Grey Wolf ferociously bit his shoulder, and Woodford Tanner rolled, kicking in the air.
When Grey Wolf bit his legs, Woodford Tanner raised his arms, swinging them wildly. It seemed like he had reversed control over his limbs.
Yet, his power was still formidable.
A casual swipe of his claw could deeply crack the hard stone surface.
Woodford Tanner's wings flapped, propelling him into the sky.
But he was utterly disoriented, flying erratically like a blind fly, sometimes flying upside down, crashing into walls, and then diving headfirst towards the ground.
The more Woodford Tanner tried to control his body, the more bizarre his movements became.
All eyes turned to Eddie.
Everyone knew this was his doing, although they were puzzled by his earlier mention of 'planting some spores.'
"That was foolish!" A mysterious figure in a cloak emerged from the shadows, his green eyes glowing like fireflies. Under his cloak, his face, marked with phosphorescent, eerie patterns, loomed.
With a sweep of his sleeve, he knocked Woodford Tanner to the ground and pressed a hand on his head. The once formidable and rampaging Woodford Tanner was now as helpless as a bug in his grasp.
A fierce flame burst from the mysterious man's palm.
Everyone felt a wave of heat rushing towards them, followed by the smell of burning flesh, and heard Woodford Tanner's agonizing screams.
Woodford Tanner collapsed, his body blackened like charcoal.
The soldiers gasped at this unexpected show of force.
Even Yehken and Hessian shuddered with fear.
Just moments ago, Eddie had thoroughly beaten Woodford Tanner without causing severe damage. Now, this cloaked man had easily finished him with a single move.
Such power suggested that this cloaked man was even stronger than Eddie.
Yehken and the others' hearts pounded with apprehension.
Eddie, watching this mysterious cloaked man, slightly furrowed his brows.
He realized the man had used a special type of fire energy to burn Woodford Tanner inside and out, destroying the spores Eddie had planted in him.
Originally, the spores, combined with the enhanced battle beast, had merged into Woodford Tanner's body and could not be removed unless the beast was dismissed.
Yet, this mysterious cloaked man managed to burn the spores with precise fire energy control, avoiding killing Woodford Tanner but still eradicating the spores. His control was masterful.
This man, skilled in fire, was a formidable adversary, combining battle beast, battle skills, and his own nature to harness fire energy.
After the Purple Gold Marquis, Eddie recognized him as the second most powerful enemy he had encountered, potentially dangerous if underestimated.
Facing such a formidable foe, Eddie felt no fear but rather a rising eagerness for battle.
His blood boiled with excitement.
Such an enemy was the perfect challenge for him to face.
Black Feather Woodford Tanner, although losing some control over his body, hadn't entirely lost his combat ability. He struggled, trying to counterattack.
As Grey Wolf viciously bit his shoulder, Woodford Tanner rolled and kicked aimlessly in the air, and when Grey Wolf attacked his legs, Woodford Tanner flailed his arms randomly. It seemed as if he had reversed control over his limbs.
Yet, his strength remained.
A mere swipe of his claw would create deep cracks in the hard stone ground.
Woodford Tanner's wings flapped, and he soared into the sky, but without any sense of direction, crashing erratically like a blind fly, sometimes flying upside down into walls and diving headfirst towards the ground.
The more he tried to control his body, the weirder his movements became.
All eyes turned to Eddie.
Everyone knew he was responsible for this, although they didn't understand his earlier comment about 'planting some spores.'
"That was foolish!" A mysterious man in a cloak emerged from the shadows.
His green eyes glowed beneath his cloak, which hid his face marked with eerie phosphorescent patterns.
With a wave of his sleeve, he swept Woodford Tanner to the ground, pressing his hand on Woodford Tanner's head. The once-powerful Woodford Tanner seemed like a mere bug under his control.
A fierce flame erupted from the mysterious man's palm.
Everyone felt a wave of heat and smelled burning flesh, followed by Woodford Tanner's agonizing screams.
Woodford Tanner fell to the ground, his body blackened like charcoal.
The soldiers gasped at this display of power.
Even Yehken and Hessian swallowed hard in fear. Moments ago, Eddie had thoroughly beaten Woodford Tanner without causing severe harm. Now, this cloaked man had effortlessly finished him with a single move.
Such power suggested that the cloaked man's strength was far greater than Eddie's.
Yehken and the others' hearts pounded with apprehension.
Sophia and Inan looked anxiously at Eddie, worried for him.
Facing the fire flames of Phosphor Demon Ding Mao, Eddie felt a bit troubled but not afraid. This opponent, although formidable, was still not at the level of the Purple Gold Marquis. After battling the Marquis and going through two extreme outbursts in the valley, Eddie had depleted much of his true energy.
That was Eddie's real concern...
However, it was precisely such dire challenges that could hone and improve him, leading to breakthroughs.
Eddie's lips curled into a smile, reassuring Sophia and Inan with a wave, indicating they needn't worry. He then unsheathed his Ashen Magic Blade and boldly approached Ding Mao.
"This is my Hell Flame, and it's impossible for you to withstand," Ding Mao confidently stated.
His elemental class battle beast was the Hell Flame, which could only be countered by specific types of beasts. Otherwise, anyone facing him would be at a disadvantage.
Most importantly, the Hell Flame Beast was a life-protecting battle beast, immortal and unyielding, belonging to the hellfire category, making it one of the best battle beasts in the world. With a Golden Level 6 Hell Flame Beast, Ding Mao believed no one below a high-level Level 6 Patriarch could withstand his attack, and even high-level Patriarchs would struggle without a counter elemental beast.
The 36th-ranked 'Ghost Face' was slightly stronger than him.
Yet, he too perished under Ding Mao's Hell Flame.
The Hell Flame was nearly invincible!
Ding Mao was confident, believing that the young man before him couldn't withstand a single strike from him. Regardless of enhanced or battle beasts, facing his elemental Hell Flame meant only one outcome: incineration!
Eddie stepped forward, equally confident in achieving the final victory… the breakthrough he was seeking.
Phosphor Demon Ding Mao swung his sleeve, unleashing a surge of hellfire. The flames, as if alive, roared towards Eddie with scorching winds.
Many soldiers couldn't bear to watch, fearing that Eddie would end up like General Old Horse, defeated by a single blow under those scorching flames.
"May the heavens protect him!" Sophia and Inan closed their eyes, praying for Eddie.
"Ah..." Hessian let out a cry of alarm.
"My God!" Yehken and the Ly brothers shouted in shock, terrifying Sophia and Inan, who nearly collapsed, tears streaming down their faces. They opened their eyes to find Eddie forced back ten meters by the fire, just like General Old Horse, and screamed in fear. They worried Eddie would fall like General Old Horse, unable to rise.
But then, a miracle happened.
Eddie lowered the blade he had used to protect himself, not falling like General Old Horse, and continued to step towards Ding Mao.
Ding Mao couldn't believe his eyes. The kid was clearly hit; why hadn't he fallen?
Furious, Ding Mao unleashed an even larger blaze, forming a sun-like fireball in his hand, and hurled it angrily at Eddie...
Boom!
Before everyone's eyes, Eddie faced the attack head-on, meeting it with his Ashen Magic Blade.
The air exploded, knocking everyone to the ground. Roofs were ripped off houses by the hot winds, and walls cracked and collapsed.
Yehken and the others, struggling in the heatwave, desperately looked for Eddie. Sophia and Inan, crying inconsolably, were deeply worried about his safety, unaware of his true strength.
Thirty meters from Ding Mao, a solitary figure stood.
It was Eddie.
He remained standing, holding his blade, motionless.
Just as everyone worried he would fall like General Old Horse, suddenly, Eddie moved, taking another step towards Phosphor Demon Ding Mao.
"This is impossible!" Ding Mao was astonished. How could this young man withstand his Hell Flame, five times stronger than the one used against General Old Horse?
"Are you okay?" Yehken couldn't help but shout out, but he cautiously omitted Eddie's name before blurting it out, not wanting to reveal it to the enemy. The outcome of this battle aside, the Demonic Temple's strength was terrifying.
"Child's play. When it comes to playing with fire, I'm an expert too!" Eddie suddenly revealed a radiant smile, waving reassuringly at Sophia and Inan.
"Ten times the Hell Flame!" Phosphor Demon Ding Mao, raging, ignited his entire body in flames, his cloak turning to ash, his body like a man of fire. A black and red column of fire rose to the sky, tens of meters high, slowly condensing into a massive fire dragon with head, body, wings, and tail. The terrifying firestorm dragon, tearing through the sky, lunged at Eddie.
At that moment, Hessian and Sophia summoned their treasures, raising protective shields.
Only they, protected by shields, remained unscathed, as all the soldiers were blown away by the firestorm, houses collapsed, wood caught fire, and the whole town of Hope was engulfed in chaos and darkness. Only in the center could one see a fire dragon wildly devouring a single black dot.
Yehken and the others internally screamed, fearing the worst.
They no longer expected Eddie to withstand the attack, hoping he would either raise a protective shield or escape using his agility.
"Please don't face it head-on; that Hell Flame is beyond human resistance!"
Yet Eddie's actions remained stubbornly resolute.
He raised the Ashen Magic Blade in his hand, drawing a gentle, flowing light, like a rainbow or a ribbon of water. The fire dragon, devouring heaven and earth, met Eddie's soft, water-like blade. Ding Mao thought the kid was doomed; how could such a weak blade light extinguish his tenfold Hell Flame?
Ding Mao's lips curled into a cold smirk.
"Foolish, ignorant boy!"
In the next second, under the tense watch of Sophia and Inan, nearly fainting with worry, Eddie did not let the fire dragon devour him. Instead, he slowly rotated, gradually drawing the fire dragon, a hundred times larger than his body, into a spinning motion... With each rotation, the fire dragon shrank, and mysterious fire rings formed in the sky. After nine rotations, nine fire rings encircled Eddie, magically spinning around him, obediently under his control, without any explosive temperament.
"Wow!" Yehken and Hessian jumped with excitement.
"This is impossible..." Ding Mao watched in terror, unable to believe his eyes.
Although the gentle blade light couldn't extinguish the Hell Flame, Eddie easily dispersed the fire dragon into stable fire rings. Through his previous failures, Eddie finally mastered the control of the Yang aspect of fire energy on his third attempt.
Mastering the Yin-Yang dual energy was always Eddie's breakthrough goal.
Now, having complete control over the Yang aspect of fire energy, Eddie felt immensely empowered, as if he held the heavens and the earth in his palm. In that instant, he glimpsed the threshold of the fourth level of the Innate Realm. Another breakthrough opportunity, and he would ascend to the fourth level of the Innate Realm.
Once he breaks through to the fourth level of the Innate Realm, not only will Phosphor Demon Ding Mao be no challenge, but even facing the Purple Gold Marquis again, Eddie believes, would be within reach.
The sensation of truly controlling energy thrilled Eddie immensely!
From the beginning of his Round Slash to now fully mastering fire energy, it had taken him less than a month.
Eddie reflected that the path of the strong was just beginning for him, with many more mysteries awaiting discovery... The kind of devastating power wielded by the Sword Spirit Empress was not impossible.
It was only that his practice time was short, and his skills still shallow.
One day, he too could reach such heights, as long as he kept progressing and understanding.
"..." Ding Mao looked at Eddie with a complex gaze and suddenly pulled out a teleportation scroll. Despite the risk of inaccurate teleportation due to spatial distortion, he fled.
"What a coward," Eddie thought, witnessing someone so keen on saving their own life that they would abandon their comrades mid-battle.
The fallen warriors on the mountaintop were in disarray, but the chaos was quickly suppressed by another leader.
They still held their ground, indicating the siege would continue.
General Old Horse, previously severely injured, struggled to his feet, nodding deeply at Eddie, "Ding Mao seems to have fled to report back to the Demonic Temple. Can you break through the siege and seek help from Tianluo's capital? Ask the Emperor to send at least one Protector God of the Nation. Only then can we be safe. Otherwise, once the Demonic Temple's stronger forces arrive to support, we are all in grave danger."
Eddie frowned, "I'm just a student from the Great Xia. Will your Emperor believe what I say?"