Chapter 93: The Core of Element

"Although I'm sorry, I am here to kill you."

Hearing such arrogant words, the fire spirit element from Dwarf Furnace Mountain couldn't help but let out a deep, mocking laugh, "Overestimating your abilities! Just you?"

"And me!"

The fire spirit element from Sola flashed out from behind Rayan, saying imposingly, "I need your core of element!"

The core of element is the most fundamental root of the element race. Once the core of element is lost, the spectral monster state ceases to exist. Similarly, possessing the core of element of one's own kind means acquiring all the abilities of that kind.

The fire spirit element from Dwarf Furnace Mountain paused, seemingly unable to believe the scene before it, "Are you from the Elemental Throne?"

"Correct!"

Sola's fire spirit proudly said, "I possess the purest core of element from the origin of creation; you must obey me!"

The fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain scoffed heavily, "Although pure, you are just a low-level fire spirit after all, and given your current state, on what basis do you demand that I surrender my core of element? I advise you to take this delusional Mortal and leave quickly. Considering we are of the same kind, I will not hold you accountable."

Rayan first made sure Sola was safe, then turned back to the fire spirit element from Dwarf Furnace Mountain and said, "Since we can't agree, let's fight then."

"Fine! If you wish to die, how could I not fulfill your wish!?"

The fire spirit element from Dwarf Furnace Mountain swung a fireball directly at Rayan's head.

Blessed by the four ancient elements, a splendid barrier formed around Rayan, who didn't even dodge but stood firm, raising his Crow Sword and cleaving the fireball in two.

The Crow Sword, unaffected by external temperatures and temporarily immune to all elements, cut the giant fireball in half. The fireball's power lost control, turning back into harmless magma.

"Hmm..."

The fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain then realized the gravity of the situation, "The blessing of the four ancient elements... Mortal, how did you manage that?"

"He's no ordinary Mortal!"

Sola's fire spirit roared solemnly, "With his capabilities, he is likely to become the ninth shamanic!"

The ninth shamanic? Rayan raised an eyebrow, remembering the legend told by Duke—that nine elemental shamanics summoned the elemental lord.

Rayan thought Sola's fire spirit was merely trying to intimidate the fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain, since after all, the importance of the ninth shamanic far exceeded the other eight leaders of the barbarian tribes, and him, a Mortal with no element faith and even extorting fire spirits, could not possibly be the ninth shamanic.

"The ninth shamanic?"

The fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain burst into laughter, "If I remember correctly, it's been three thousand years since the ninth shamanic appeared. The ninth shamanic is not just any spokesperson for the fire spirit, nor for the other three ancient elements, but for the elemental lord! Him? He's not qualified!"

Although understanding that what the fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain said was correct, Rayan still clenched his teeth at the phrase "not qualified."

"Even if your elemental lord himself sought me out, I'm not interested in agreeing. The grudges between the barbarian tribes and Auroria Continent—I don't want to get involved at all. And now, you only have two choices: either surrender and hand over your core of element, or be killed by me."

"Mortal, the core of element to us is like your human heart—"

The fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain's figure began to swell again, "Would you hand over your heart to your enemy without a fight?"

"Well said!"

Rayan's fighting spirit surged to unprecedented heights, "Then let's see if this Mortal is qualified to defeat you!"

Saying so, he suddenly accelerated, Ninth Tier Battle Qi instantly enhancing his pitch-black Crow Sword, unleashing a skillful 'Crescent Strike'. The Battle Qi's massive fluctuation made the magma tremble again.

The fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain, not to be outdone, decided to engage personally, meeting Rayan with a pair of fiery fists. "Mortal, I am an indestructible body; your mundane iron sword, even if it penetrates my form, what can it do to me?"

"Crow Sword is not mundane iron!"

After a brief exchange, Rayan became even more certain of this, "It is a weapon forged by a legendary swordsmith who spent thirty years and millions of dragon steel!"

"Damn it!"

The fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain cursed angrily, increasing its attack frequency.

The Crow Sword's unique properties played an unparalleled advantage in this battle, tearing through the orange-red flames and leaving deep black gashes across the fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain, causing it to bleed streams of inactive magma.

Despite also landing several punches on Rayan, the fire punches, stripped of their flame damage, were powerless against Rayan's Ninth Tier Battle Qi defense.

Rayan's battle excitement grew. His past enemies were either too weak or overwhelmingly strong, and few could match him in a head-to-head fight for over a hundred moves. This time, he finally got his fill of combat, putting to the test the moves he had practiced before.

However, after over a hundred moves, the arrogant fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain gradually felt a chill in its heart. It realized that no matter what, it couldn't kill this young Mortal—let alone kill, even landing another hit on him became extremely difficult and forced.

While Sola's fire spirit did not join the fight, it kept fanning the flames on the side, disrupting the mind of the fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain.

"Nice fiery slash, Mortal, that's the seventeenth time you've hit its shoulder..."

"Great solar spear thrust, Mortal, like a black disc, continuously piercing its body—three swords hit its chest, five hit its legs, and two sliced its ribs..."

"Enough!"

The fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain could no longer endure the incessant chatter of Sola's fire spirit, and with the fight continuing this way, its form would be gradually weakened by the Crow Sword and eventually stripped of its core of element. With this thought, it immediately leaped out of Rayan's attack range, roaring, "I'm tired of this petty skirmish, let's have a real challenge!"

Saying this, it swung its fiery arms and then completely vanished into the magma.

As Rayan was caught up in the heat of battle, he saw the fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain disappear and couldn't help but wonder, "Running away?"

Sola's fire spirit quickly reminded him, "The ancient elements never flee; this is its territory, it must be..."

Before it could finish, two half-sized fire spirit elements rushed out from where the fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain had vanished, growling as they pounced towards Rayan.

"Splitting!"

Sola's fire spirit suddenly recalled the intrinsic skill of the fire spirit tribe.

"Thanks for the tip!" Rayan replied sarcastically, while brandishing the Crow Sword to meet the attackers.

"Mortal, you must kill both of these fire spirits at the same time; only then will the fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain reappear. If you only kill one, it will have time to regenerate a new one from the magma!" Sola's fire spirit twisted anxiously.

"This tip is actually useful!"

Rayan started controlling his damage, trying to distribute it evenly between the two split fire spirits.

After dozens of moves, the two split fire spirits had been significantly reduced by Rayan, each having half their forms chopped off. Seeing their situation growing increasingly dire, they hurriedly merged back into one—the fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain reappeared in front of Rayan, but this time, it had lost its initial imposing presence and was significantly shorter.

"Mortal, if not for the other fire spirit's assistance and your temporary blessings, you would have died a thousand times over." It bellowed resentfully.

Had it not been for Sola's fire spirit's warnings, Rayan might have given the fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain the chance to catch its breath, prolonging the effects of the temporary blessings. Rayan coldly retorted, "Without these, I indeed would have died a thousand times, but for you, once is enough."

"I have failed, but I will not just hand over the core of element like this."

The fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain roared deeply, "This is my territory, and I will destroy you all—feel the fury of the flames! Abhiratsya, Sodomhaya!"

"Stop it!"

Sola's fire spirit issued an urgent roar, "It's going to self-destruct, and not only will we not get the core of element, but the entire Dwarf Furnace Mountain will erupt!"

Rayan was shocked, knowing that if the volcano erupted, Shadowcrest Ridge would suffer greatly.

He immediately charged with the Crow Sword, disregarding all else and rushed towards the fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain. The instability in the fire spirit's body caused the orange-red flames to become transparent, revealing the black core of element within.

"It's too late! Shameless robbers, accompany the ashes!" The fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain laughed ferociously.

Rayan, forging ahead with the Crow Sword, swiftly tore through the fire spirit's body and plunged inside—

"Mortal, what are you doing? No..."

The fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain finally realized what Rayan intended, and immediately began to scream in terror, "No, you can't! You can't take my core of element!"

Rayan, indifferent to the fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain's distress, slashed the core of element from its body and forcefully threw it to Sola's fire spirit. "It's yours now!"

Once the core of element was thrown, Rayan could only hope that Sola's fire spirit had the power to stop the volcanic eruption…

Sola's fire spirit leaped towards the core of element, enveloping it tightly within its unstable form. Instantly, its feeble form underwent a transformation, a roaring fire replacing the unstable flames, and its body size expanded step by step until it fully took on the form of the fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain.

The tremors of the volcano immediately ceased, while the real fire spirit from Dwarf Furnace Mountain shrank into a very small cluster, its life fire seemingly about to extinguish at any moment.

"Robber... I curse you with the curse of the fire spirit—"

"XiLaWa, Rui!"

Sola's fire spirit, acting swiftly, launched a massive fireball from the sky, which smashed the Dwarf Furnace Mountain fire spirit into a torrent of magma.

"Dare to curse a pure fire spirit, I wouldn't be the descendant of the king of fire spirits if I didn't annihilate you! Now then..."

Sola's fire spirit, turning its massive body around, said with a low chuckle to Rayan, "Mortal, it's time to resolve our issues..."