Starting as a stray dog, I embarked on a journey of cultivation.

"Just a heads-up!" Gou An forced a calm expression and said, "I only used less than a fraction of my strength just now."

"If I had used my full strength, you would already be dead! So, you now owe me two lives!"

Upon hearing this, Lord Crimson Flame Mountain hurriedly nodded and smiled apologetically, "I'll leave right away, right away!"

After apologizing, Lord Chiyan Mountain turned around again.

Gou An could only watch him leave, since he didn't have the strength to kill him now.

But just as Lord Crimson Flame Mountain was about to fly away, it suddenly stopped.

Then he slowly turned around and looked at Gou An with a suspicious gaze.

"What? Is there something else?" Gou An asked.

"I was wondering if you were out of energy?" Crimson Flame Mountain Lord frowned, speaking slowly, "Otherwise, why would you let me go?"

These words startled Gou An.

"That's because I have a virtue of cherishing life!" Gou An explained.

"Oh?" Lord Crimson Flame Mountain asked again, "I didn't see that first hammer blow!"

As he finished speaking, the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord's tone became increasingly resentful, revealing that Gou An was now at his wit's end.

"That blow you used up when you broke my arm must have taken all your strength, right?"

As he spoke, he moved closer to Gou An.

Finally, he came to the knife he had stuck in the ground and slowly pulled it out with his left hand.

"You just swore that if I let you go, you wouldn't cause me any trouble!" Gou An said.

But Lord Crimson Flame only smiled coldly: "Let me go? You just don't have the strength to kill me, so you're just bluffing."

"If that's the case, then what you just said doesn't count!"

At this point, Lord Chiyan turned to look at his severed arm, and with a forceful pull, the wound quickly and automatically healed and stopped bleeding.

Gou An could only take up the divine iron hammer again and prepare for battle.

"I'll spare your life, but if you refuse and insist on dying, then I won't be polite." Gou An could only recharge his iron hammer.

The pill he had just swallowed had already begun to take effect, replenishing his depleted strength and giving Gou An an extra fighting power.

As the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord approached step by step with his sword in hand, Gou An retreated step by step.

This further boosted the confidence of the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord.

"What disciple of an immortal? I think the treasure you obtained in the ancient tower isn't that armor at all! It's this hammer in your hand, isn't it?" Crimson Flame Mountain Lord sneered.

"What do you mean it can only withstand five attacks from beings below the level of a sage?"

"It was probably a lie to fool me; I almost believed it!"

As the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord spoke, he grew increasingly angry, and his demonic aura once again spread out.

Although it doesn't have the same imposing presence as in its heyday, it is still terrifying beyond measure.

"Just now, I only fell for your trick because I was careless. Now that I'm on guard, what can you do to me?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Crimson Flame Mountain Lord drew his sword and slashed.

A powerful, heavy flaming blade came crashing down on Gou An.

Seeing this, Gou An leaped aside and barely managed to avoid it.

However, the aftershock of the fire blade striking the ground still sent Gou An flying quite a distance before he landed on the snow.

Having failed in his first attack, Crimson Flame Mountain Lord followed up with another slash, his offensive relentless.

Gou An has no choice but to dodge again.

Now, Lord Chiyan Mountain is wary and cautious of the iron hammer in Gou An's hand, and there will never be another opportunity to succeed as easily as before.

If this powerful strike misses, it will be troublesome, so we must find the right moment.

Just as Gou An was hiding, the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord slashed at him twice in succession.

Gou An dodged the first blow, but not the second.

Clang!

A crisp sound.

The protective magic weapon flashed with golden light once more, blocking yet another fatal attack.

Thus, three layers of defense have already been depleted.

"Once I strip away all your protective magic treasures, layer by layer, let's see how you escape then!" Crimson Flame Mountain Lord roared and pounced on Gou An once again.

Gou An could only push his speed to the limit, constantly dodging and buying himself time.

However, focusing on dodging also consumes a lot of demonic power, which greatly affects the charging of the Divine Iron Hammer.

But Gou An dared not loosen his grip on the hammer, for it was his only means of turning defeat into victory.

Clang!

Suddenly, there was another sound.

The protective magic item has been activated once more.

The powerful counter-force briefly forced the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord back, giving Gou An a moment to catch his breath. He could only swallow a few more Qi-replenishing pills.

Seeing Gou An swallow the pills, Lord Chiyan planted his knife in the ground and took out a medicine bottle from his pocket, pouring a few pills into his mouth.

"You can eat, so can I!"

Lord Chiyan swallowed the pill in his mouth, and his aura became even stronger.

He then drew his sword again and lunged at Gou An, much faster than before.

Gou An wanted to hide, but due to the difference in their cultivation levels, he was unable to completely avoid it.

Clang!

Five layers of the protective magic item have been consumed!

Gou An took the opportunity to pretend to fall to the ground, landing on the snowfield, and gasped for breath.

After landing and regaining his footing, Lord Chiyan saw Gou An's current appearance and couldn't help but sneer.

"One, two, three, four..." he counted as he walked. "It seems your protective magic weapon has been used up. No wonder you couldn't completely block it this time."

"Without this treasure's blessing, what can you use to block my attack?"

Gou An slowly got up from the ground, pretending that he had no power to fight back, and retreated step by step until a huge rock blocked his way.

"Mountain Lord, I'll give you all my treasures, just don't kill me!"

Gou An once again humbly begged for mercy.

"Don't kill you?" Lord Crimson Flame Mountain sighed. "It was because I was soft-hearted for a moment that I lost an arm. How could I make the same mistake again?"

"And if I kill you, the baby will still be mine, so why should I let you go?"

At this point, Lord Chiyan raised his sword with one arm, ready to deliver a fatal blow to Gou An.

Gou An could only shout loudly, using all his strength to condense dozens of black energy missiles, each of which was wrapped in Nine-Fold Demon Fire.

This was the strongest killing move that Gou An could imagine.

"die!"

Crimson Flame Mountain Lord brought down his sword.

Gou An managed to evade the attack and was no longer in a weakened state.

While dodging, it fired all the demonic fire missiles it had gathered at Crimson Flame Mountain Lord.

Although they did not cause much damage in the end, the missiles did create billowing black smoke after they exploded, covering the surrounding area.

"What a cunning scheme!" Crimson Flame Mountain Lord roared in anger, sweeping away the black mist with a single slash.

Only then did they realize that Gou An was no longer in his original position.

He turned and looked around, trying to find Gou An's true identity.

Just then, Gou An pounced from the side and smashed his hammer down on Chi Yan Shan Jun's head.

However, Lord Chiyan reacted quickly, slashing out with his sword and cutting Gou An in half at the waist.

"Um?"

But this strike caused Lord Crimson Flame Mountain to furrow his brow.

Because he only severed an afterimage!

"I'm here!"

The next second, Gou An's voice suddenly rang out from behind Chi Yan Shan Jun.

Crimson Flame Mountain Lord was shocked. He turned around and slashed out with his sword again, striking Gou An first.

Clang!

A crisp sound!

The sixth layer of the protective magic item has been activated.

"Huh?" Lord Crimson Flame Mountain was shocked on the spot, not expecting that this treasure had multiple layers.

But by then it was too late to react.

Protected by his protective magic weapon, Gou An had already gotten close. Fearing that his power was insufficient, he used the Giant Beast Body technique, which increased his size and strength, and slammed down with his hammer.

This time, Gou An struck the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord in the chest.

Bang!

A loud bang was heard.

Crimson Flame Mountain Lord coughed up blood on the spot, his entire body flew backward, and finally crashed heavily to the ground.

His chest was severely dented, leaving a large, grotesque crater.

This strike was indeed less powerful than the initial strike when the user had fully charged up their power.

It's still terrifying!

The Crimson Flame Mountain Lord, at the peak of the Golden Core stage, was severely injured by Gou An, a ninth-tier demon beast.

It's a whole new level!

It should be noted that in this world, it is common for enemies to be killed by those who are more than one or two minor realms apart.

To be able to kill an enemy who is a realm above one's own is unheard of.

For human cultivation, the three major realms are: Qi Refining, Core Formation, and Spirit Transformation.

For demons, the three major realms are: demon beast, transformed demon, and transformed god.

Even the most powerful ninth-tier demon beast is still a demon beast. Compared to a fully-formed demon beast, its strength is vastly different.

After delivering that blow, Gou An gasped for breath, feeling as if all his strength had been drained from his body.

Before confirming whether the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord was dead, they dared not fall down and could only slowly approach, intending to finish him off to eliminate any future trouble.

At this moment, Lord Chiyan Mountain lay on the snow. Although he was not killed instantly, blood was still flowing out of the corner of his mouth.

Because his chest was crushed, he was having difficulty breathing and lay on the ground unable to move, on the verge of death.

They could only watch helplessly as Gou An drew ever closer.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but no sound came out.

Gou An walked up to the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord, and without saying another word, raised his divine iron hammer with both hands and aimed it at the man's head.

One strike!

Two hammer blows!

Three hammer blows!

one after another.

Having exhausted his strength, Gou An's hammer blows now lacked much power.

It relied almost entirely on the weight of the divine hammer itself.

I don't know how many times he hit the hammer, but he stopped when Gou An was completely exhausted.

At this moment, the head of the Crimson Flame Mountain Lord had been turned into a bloody mess, with red and white matter mixed together, and blood staining a large area of ​​snow.

Gou An gasped for breath, and only after confirming that the other person was really dead did he relax.

But as the excitement faded, his nerves could no longer hold, and after taking only a few steps, he collapsed to the ground and fell into a coma.

Snow began to fall heavily, as if to bring the battle to a close, and soon covered the two demons' bodies.

The traces of the battle were gradually smoothed away by the heavy snow, as if the battle had never happened.

If we simply let the heavy snow and ice continue, we certainly won't survive.

A strong will to survive jolted Gou An awake, but he could no longer even muster demonic fire to keep warm.

So he could only spit out his little flying boat from his mouth and toss it into the air.

As the flying boat grew larger, he struggled to climb aboard and placed a handful of spirit stones at the bow of the boat as an energy source.

With his consciousness already blurred, he could only adjust the direction randomly and let the airship fly on its own.

Having done all this, Gou An had reached his physical limit and fainted again.