As golden light radiated from the right arm's soul bone armor, that small wisp of Sun Fire instantly flared into a blazing inferno. In the blink of an eye, a sea of golden flames engulfed the entirety of the Path of Hell, bathing the surroundings in daylight-like brilliance.
Hundreds upon hundreds of blood-red bats were instantly caught in the Sun Fire. In mere moments, they were reduced to ash and vanished into the fiery storm of the Path of Hell.
Seeing this, the Dark Golden Three-Headed Bat King was filled with terror. It didn't even hesitate—abandoning everything, it turned and fled deeper into the abyss, desperate to avoid being marked as the next target and consumed by that golden flame.
Xu Yang didn't pursue it. He understood the logic of not chasing cornered prey. He needed to conserve his best condition for what came next. After all, this Dark Golden Three-Headed Bat King only had a cultivation of about thirty thousand years—it posed no real threat.
Xu Yang expected that it wouldn't dare return. It was probably already hiding somewhere, trying to recover and regenerate the two heads it had just lost.
The temperature around him continued to rise, and the red mist in the air grew thicker. The heat warped the very air, and even the blood pool deep below, previously hidden in the darkness, now came clearly into view.
Under such high temperatures, an ordinary Spirit Master would rapidly burn through stamina. Their breathing would quicken, and combined with the dense toxins in the air, they'd absorb a significant amount of poison in a short time—leading to hallucinations and a descent into uncontrollable slaughter.
But Xu Yang was different. As a Spirit Master of Ultimate Fire and Light attributes, this environment didn't hinder his combat ability at all. On the contrary—it enhanced it.
However, his next opponent—the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent—was no easy foe. It wielded near-Ultimate Fire energy and had a natural resistance to Sunfire. Xu Yang surmised that even his Sunfire might not be able to burn it to death.
Of course, he wouldn't use Sunfire unless absolutely necessary. If he lost control and accidentally destroyed the inner core of the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, he'd be the one crying.
After advancing some distance, a faint rustling sound came from up ahead. Xu Yang, with his Sun Gold Eyes still active, immediately spotted the source: exactly what he had been anticipating.
The Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent was blood-red from head to tail, its body blending into the hue of the surrounding blood pool. Its eyes were smaller than a typical snake's, and nine mushroom-shaped protrusions bulged from its head and spine, as if blood flowed visibly beneath their skin. The serpent's massive body stretched over thirty meters, coiled across the narrow path, completely blocking the way forward.
The narrow path was made from ordinary stone and lacked durability. If they fought here, the path would certainly collapse, cutting off all escape.
But Xu Yang wasn't worried. Though his spirit abilities were sealed and he couldn't summon wings through his third ring, he still had a trump card—his upgraded Grade Four Soul Tool, the Windchime Wings. Combined with Cloud-Treading Steps, which allowed him to maneuver mid-air, flight was no issue.
As the serpent stirred, Xu Yang acted. With an explosive burst of spirit power beneath his feet, he launched skyward like a great roc spreading its wings. Bounding midair with several precise steps, he soared to over ten meters in the air, quickly equipping the Windchime Wings. With both hands gripping twin soul tool pistols, he opened fire on the serpent below.
His combat strategy was simple: take advantage of his ability to fly, maintain distance from the Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, and use his pistols to shatter the nine protrusions on its back—forcing it to expose its inner core.
"Raaahhhh—!"
A guttural, frog-like croak echoed through the cavern as the serpent's blood-red scales shimmered. Its body emitted a scarlet glow, deflecting all bullets. Then, it coiled its tail around the narrow path and launched itself at Xu Yang like a spring-loaded arrow. At the same time, the nine tumor-like lumps on its back began to glow with intense golden-red light.
"Fssshhh!"
The serpent's jaws stretched wide. With a powerful hiss, it released a massive fire tongue—laden with a heavy stench—forming a giant flaming net that surged toward Xu Yang.
"I'm not afraid of your fire poison—and right now, your straightened posture gives me the perfect opening!"
Xu Yang's Sun Martial Soul flew from behind him, shielding him from the blazing net. Then, he vanished from his previous position—using Cloud-Treading Steps to sharply change direction in midair, compensating for the Windchime Wings' limitation in tight maneuvers.
This wasn't a flaw of the wings alone—it was a common drawback among all Spirit Masters who relied on winged flight: their wings simply couldn't allow rapid changes in direction. But Xu Yang's original movement technique allowed him to generate bursts of force from his legs even in midair, enabling him to change trajectory at a 120-degree angle.
The serpent's flame net couldn't harm the Sun Martial Soul. After all, "near-Ultimate Fire" was not the same as true ulti mate fire. Against the Sun Martial Soul, not only did the fire have no effect—it actually served to strengthen it.
Xu Yang vanished in a flurry of aerial dashes and reappeared behind the serpent's massive body. With fresh magazines preloaded, he unleashed all thirty-six rounds from his twin pistols. With the support of his spirit power, powerful wrist strength, and the dynamic vision granted by the Sun Gold Eyes, the thirty-six bullets split into nine groups—four bullets per group—all targeting the same nine locations.
Each group was made of one armor-piercing bullet followed by three specialized explosive acceleration rounds. These weren't meant to detonate on impact—but to increase the speed of the lead bullet through sequential detonation.
This setup had been meticulously planned before Xu Yang ever entered the Slaughter Arena. The bullets had been loaded in order, four to each clip, with the express purpose of shattering all nine tumors in a single salvo.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each trailing round exploded sequentially, propelling the leading armor-piercing round faster and faster. By the third detonation, their speed had reached an incredible limit—even Xu Yang's enhanced eyes could barely track the nine golden streaks.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The Ten-Headed Fierce Yang Serpent was too large to evade. In that split second, all nine tumors on its back shattered, along with part of its head. Crimson-golden liquid burst from the wounds.
Strangely, the liquid didn't drip down with gravity. Instead, it floated in place, still hovering where the tumors once were.