The coldstar stone was worthy of being an item of extreme cold. The instant it was taken out, the temperature around Xiang Shaoyun instantly dropped to an ice-cold temperature. An ordinary person would suffer frostbite just by holding the coldstar stone. Even freezing to death was a possibility.
But here in this environment with such intense heat, the coldstar stone was extremely useful. Xiang Shaoyun sensed a wave of chill expanding from the stone, and suddenly, he felt much more comfortable than before.
"Good thing I had prepared myself in advance," Xiang Shaoyun muttered as he resumed his climb.
But it was at this moment that he sensed someone rushing toward him at an extremely high speed. He turned around and saw two middle-aged men approaching him quickly. From the aura they were emanating, it was obvious they were about eighth- or ninth-stage Transformation Realm cultivators.
Xiang Shaoyun did not wait in place for them to arrive. Instead, he increased the speed of his climb.
"Kid, stop right there!" shouted the middle-aged man in a black robe.
The other person also howled, "Stop there or we will kill you after we catch you!"
Without a doubt, these two were here for Xiang Shaoyun's coldstar stone. Both of them were cultivators of the power of fire. Even so, the temperature here had exceeded their resistance, and it was nearly impossible for them to actually get near the volcanic crater. The coldstar stone brought by Xiang Shaoyun had given them hope.
Xiang Shaoyun was fast, but due to the flame beasts getting in his way, his speed was only half of his usual speed. Fortunately, his pursuers were also obstructed by the flame beasts and were forced to slow down as well.
Xiang Shaoyun turned around and shouted provocatively, "Old dogs, if you keep this up, I will slaughter you!"
"You dare speak like that to us? Stay there and wait for us if you have the balls!" shouted the man in the black robe.
Xiang Shaoyun only gave them the middle finger before further increasing his speed. He exhausted a large amount of energy doing so, but he was able to ultimately break free of a large number of the flame beasts around him. Even so, the higher he got, the stronger the flame beasts he encountered. The world of flame up here was quite a terrifying sight.
Xiang Shaoyun took out a gold serpentine crocodile skin and used it as a cloak while he braved the flame all around him. Inwardly, he started grumbling, If I had known this, I would've bought a shield. I would suffer less with a shield.
The gold serpentine crocodile skin he had was a king-grade leather that he had yet to get someone to forge into armor. Now, he was forced to use the raw material. But staying only on the defense was not a solution. A flame beast had already appeared noiselessly behind him and bit down at him.
Xiang Shaoyun had been focused on his front. Thus, he was unable to avoid the bite and was bitten. The flame spitting out of its mouth broke through his energy barrier and landed on his king-grade armor.
"Scram!" Xiang Shaoyun yelled and swung his saber at the flame beast.
The slash managed to injure the flame beast, but Xiang Shaoyun also suffered due to the flame beast's explosion. He was sent rolling on the ground, coughing blood.
"Damn it! These beasts will all explode upon death. Damn it!" Xiang Shaoyun cursed gloomily.
The other flame beasts were still attacking without stop, forcing him to flee in a sorry manner.
At this time, Xiang Shaoyun caught a glimpse of the two pursuers not far away. He sneered and muttered, "Well, let's play a game then."
He charged toward the two while dissolving some low-grade spirit crystals in his astral cosmos sea to quickly replenish his exhaustion. This was the benefit of having an astral cosmos sea. He was able to devour the energy within spirit crystals to replenish his energy at a much faster speed than others.
After dissolving a large number of spirit crystals, Xiang Shaoyun once again had a sensation that he was about to break through. His energy supply became extremely plentiful, seemingly able to break through at any time he wanted.
"Good boy. You are coming back to your death?" shouted the man in the black robe when he saw Xiang Shaoyun returning.
At the same time, the man broke away from the flame beast he was fighting and swung the chain in his hand at Xiang Shaoyun. The other middle-aged man in a gray robe took on the flame beast for him, allowing him to focus on Xiang Shaoyun.
These two were unaffiliated cultivators that were rather well-known in Cloud Margin City, known as the Double Crimson Tyrants. The man in the black robe was called Wei Chixiong, while the man in the gray robe was called Wei Shaxiong. The two cultivated the power of flame, and they also cultivated a team battle technique that was extremely powerful when they worked together.
The one attacking Xiang Shaoyun was Chixiong, who was good at flaming-chain attacks. The flaming chain in his hand shot out like it was alive, trying to wrap itself around Xiang Shaoyun. Xiang Shaoyun chose to not face the incoming attack head on. He quickly moved to the side, causing the chain to hit the flame beast behind him instead.
Bang!
The flame beast immediately exploded when hit.
Chixiong was already on guard, so he quickly pulled his chain back and formed a shield of chain in front of him, blocking the impact of the explosion. Unfortunately for him, Xiang Shaoyun took this opportunity to sneak an attack. From the side, the saber slashed straight toward Chixiong.
"Die, old dog!" Xiang Shaoyun shouted with an intense killing intent.
"Don't dream of hurting my elder brother!" Shaxiong shouted and stabbed his flaming fork toward Xiang Shaoyun.
The flaming fork split into three sharp energy spikes that stabbed straight at Xiang Shaoyun's vitals. Xiang Shaoyun was forced to shift the trajectory of his saber to face the incoming attack. Chixiong finally had the time to react, and his chain shot out again and formed a pincer attack with his brother.
The Double Crimson Tyrants were both late eighth-stage Transformation Realm cultivators. And with their teamwork, they were able to unleash a combat prowess no weaker than that of ninth-stage Transformation Realm experts. In fact, in their current form, they could even kill some ninth-stage Transformation Realm experts.
Xiang Shaoyun was instantly pushed into a crisis. Chixiong's attack whipped his shoulder, leaving a burning pain as blood started seeping out. If it wasn't for the flame beasts disturbing them at the side, he would have been captured then and there.
"Damned flame beasts!" Chixiong cursed in rage.
They wanted to capture Xiang Shaoyun but were also forced to deal with the flame beasts as well. The disturbances of the flame beasts made things much more difficult for them. Xiang Shaoyun wasn't any better off either. He was also suffering the attacks of two different parties—the beasts and the brothers. He was forced to use anything he knew just to stay alive.
But then again, this predicament was something he had intentionally put himself in. He was trying to use pressure to force more of his potential out. Once again, he dissolved over 1,000 low-grade spirit crystals in his astral cosmos sea. A boundless energy filled his body while his nine stars erupted in power. The energy coursed through his meridians while his acupoints shone brightly as his entire body absorbed the energy to grow stronger.
The pincer attack neared while a flame beast was spitting flame at him from behind. Attacked from all directions, escape was now impossible.
"Break!" Xiang Shaoyun unleashed all his power and howled, causing a terrifying power to emanate from him and ripple outward.