Evan Chu turned his head toward the source of the voice. Two young women and two middle-aged men appeared before him, and the speaker was naturally one of the men.
"Who are you? This has nothing to do with you. If you know what's good for you, leave now—otherwise, those Tiger-Elephant Beasts will be your warning." Evan said coolly, neither warm nor cold.
None of the four were particularly strong—just mid-stage Immortal Emperors. Killing them would be easy, but Evan held back his temper because he sensed the unique aura of the Dragon Clan from the two middle-aged men. As a fellow dragon, he had no wish to slaughter his own kind.
"Arrogant! How dare you act so wildly in front of us. Looks like we need to teach you a lesson before you understand real power!" one of the young women snapped.
"You must be from the Phoenix Clan. I can sense the aura of flame on you. For the sake of my own wife, I could spare your lives—otherwise, don't blame me for being merciless," Evan said.
"Your wife? What, you think she's one of the Phoenix Clan? You should know our Phoenix Clan is the noblest of all birds—we don't even bother looking at humans. Just for what you said, you deserve to die a hundred times over," the other young woman said coldly.
A flicker of anger appeared on Evan's face. If he didn't give them a taste of reality, they'd really think he was nothing. "If you've got the skills, show them. I've heard the Phoenix Clan's flames are pretty fierce—let me see just how strong your fire really is today!"
"Since you want to see it, I'll grant your wish. Hope you remember it was me who killed you after you're dead!" the Phoenix girl replied.
Immediately, a ball of flame appeared in her hand. The heat was so intense that the air around her crackled and roared, proof of its terrifying temperature.
Evan glanced at the flame and saw it was tinged with black—very similar to Heavenfire. This had to be the Phoenix Clan's natal nirvana flame, the legendary Nirvana Flame, a fire on par with Heavenfire and capable of burning anything.
With a flick of her wrist, the flame shot toward Evan, instantly spreading out and surrounding him in a blazing inferno.
"Humans really are stupid, daring to take on my natal flame. Doesn't he know the Phoenix Clan's fire is even stronger than Heavenfire? Killing him is way too easy—there's no challenge at all. I can't imagine how those Tiger-Elephant Beasts got killed by this guy," the Phoenix girl said proudly.
"Miss Flora Firewing's natal flame is truly terrifying. We've seen something remarkable today—this kid will be reduced to ashes any moment now!" one of the middle-aged men commented.
"Of course! My sister's natal flame ranks in the top three of our Phoenix Clan. If this brat can last this long without dying, I guess he has some skill, but he's still doomed to be burned to ashes," the other young woman said.
The flames crackled and roared, but inside them Evan felt almost nothing. He only noticed that this fire was a bit different from Heavenfire, though he couldn't quite put his finger on how.
After several breaths, Evan was still standing there, completely intact—not reduced to ashes as the four had expected. Their faces showed shock.
"This guy's defenses are insane! Even this can't burn him to death—no wonder he could kill Tiger-Elephant Beasts. Looks like we've run into a real powerhouse today," the other young woman said.
Evan laughed. "Hahaha! The temperature of this flame is only average. Got anything stronger? I can handle it—why not try again?"
Hearing this, the four of them turned green with anger. They hadn't expected Evan to be so strong—he could even talk back! Suddenly, Flora Firewing unleashed another blast of flame, while the other young woman produced a fiery red jade pendant.
The jade pendant flashed with fiery light and instantly vanished. One of the middle-aged men also took out a jade pendant, which disappeared in a flash of light as well. These were emergency message jades, only used in urgent situations.
Only now did they truly realize Evan's strength. All sense of contempt vanished—they looked at him as if facing a deadly enemy.
With a thought, Evan absorbed all the flames into his dantian, storing them inside his Element Core Pearl. His Fireshift had already reached the third layer—flames of the Immortal Realm couldn't threaten him anymore. Only divine fire from the God Realm could possibly hurt him, and even that would take time to burn through his defenses.
At this point, Evan had practically become fire itself. When the flames vanished from his body, the four were even more shocked. "Not bad—the flavor of this flame even has a hint of feminine fragrance. This little girl is quite pretty, but her temper's way too fierce. Might be hard for her to get married in the future; she should watch out for that."
"Go die!" Flora Firewing's face turned crimson at Evan's words. She was already frustrated that he absorbed her flame, but now he was mocking her about marriage—when countless Phoenix Clan youths dreamed of marrying her!
A fiery red longsword appeared in her hand. In a flash, she unleashed a massive wave of flaming sword-qi, the power so intense that energy storms erupted in the surrounding space.
Evan stood calmly and smiled. "Don't force me to act. If I really lose patience, I'll wipe out the Phoenix Clan. My patience has limits—and the Immortal Beasts living in this Skyflight Valley are sealed off anyway. Even if they're wiped out, it wouldn't matter."
With a quick motion, Evan dodged and caught the attacking longsword between his fingers—her sword-qi missed him completely. Just this move alone proved how terrifying Evan's strength was.
His two fingers were like giant pincers, clamping down on Flora's sword so tightly she couldn't pull it free. Furious and humiliated, Flora struck at Evan with her palm.
Evan swiftly countered, his hand forming a claw at the last moment and grabbing Flora's wrist, locking her in place.
Flora's face grew tense with anxiety, while Evan chuckled to himself. "Do you want to live or die? You only get one chance—think carefully!"
"Let go! Let go! You... scoundrel!" Flora screamed instead of answering, ignoring Evan's question.
At that moment, the air rippled violently as several figures descended from the sky. "Human, release her—perhaps then I'll let you leave this place," said a middle-aged man clad in fiery red, striding quickly toward Evan...