Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

"Tell me your secret, or I'll turn you into a cripple!" Bola demanded coldly.

He gradually tightened his grip on Mo Fan's throat.

The Black Snake Armor protecting Mo Fan's neck failed to resist the vampire's strength. The armor started to crack open.

Bola vaguely sensed an abnormal heat rising under his feet. The vampire was extremely sensitive to danger, and was quite startled. He immediately let go of Mo Fan and floated back.

Scorching lava erupted from the ground and sprang up like a giant, burning pillar.

A fiery dragon circled around Mo Fan. The brown, blazing-red fire attached to Mo Fan, turning him into a ruler of the flames, with an imperious aura!

Flame Belle had Possessed Mo Fan, granting him control over the fierce flames. Bola was quick to react in time. If he were any slower, the fire would have burned his hand to ashes!

Seeing the flames circling Mo Fan, Bola squinted and said, "Interesting! Blood Bat Impulse!"

Bola waved his hands, turning into a lump of viscous blood. It started expanding, and gradually turned into a giant bat with long wings.

The bat lunged at Mo Fan. The drops of blood that fell to the ground as it was flying corroded the stones below instantly!

"Rocket Wings!" Mo Fan turned the flames into feathers and launched himself higher. He stood on a mountain wall, but before he could stabilize himself, the giant bat rammed into the wall...

The thick wall started melting, leaving a shocking hole behind. Luckily, Mo Fan had propelled himself far away from it. Otherwise, the Black Snake Armor would have turned into a cloud of bubbles!

Mo Fan flew in a circle and saw Bola standing inside the hole. He threw a fist right at the vampire!

"Rain of Burning Fists!"

Burning fists began to pour down like a meteor shower, landing on the mountain wall. Bola sprinted across the wall, trying to find a safe spot from the Meteorite Fists. Despite the rapid blasts, he did not panic at all.

The fists left shocking craters across the wall. It was full of holes, like a bee hive, but apart from a slight burn, Bola was basically unharmed.

"Blood Whip!" Bola flung his sleeves, and a long blood whip swept in Mo Fan's direction.

"Lightning Strike!" Mo Fan drew Star Orbits continuously, summoning thousands of Lightning Strikes. They combined into a lightning whip and collided with the blood whip.

"Thousand Piercing Fire Bursts!" The duration of the Rocket Wings would soon come to an end. Mo Fan immediately scattered the feathers in the air. The feathers flew toward Bola and filled up the space around him!

"Explode!" Mo Fan clenched his fist as a trigger, detonating the fiery feathers. The mountain path trembled as the light from the explosions lit up the place.

Bola stayed in the air. He had no chance of dodging such rapid explosions. However, he covered most of his body with his coat and dug his head under it. The special coat ended up blocking most of the energy from the explosions!

Mo Fan frowned. He was unable to inflict any damage on the vampire so far. Was his Lightning Element the only way he could deal damage to the vampire? If he continued to rely on the Lightning Element, he would waste too much of his energy. He had only reached the third statue, and there was another stronger statue waiting for him. How could he possibly make it to the end?

"Screw it, I'll worry about it later!" Mo Fan clenched his teeth and stopped overthinking it.

If he could not defeat the third statue, it was meaningless for him to think about protecting Xinxia. That was pretty much the situation he was currently in. Worrying or overthinking would not make any difference. All he could do was to fight his opponent with everything he had!

"Lightning Tyrant Domain!"Lightning Strikes descended rapidly, blasting the mountain into pieces. Lightning arcs surged across the sky and formed a Lightning Domain looming over Mo Fan. Lightning Magic rapidly accumulated in the area.

"Calamity Fire Domain!" Mo Fan yelled. The Calamity Fire on him spread wildly, turning the mountain path into an ocean of flames!

"Sky Lightning Claw!" Mo Fan summoned the wild lightning. A lightning, demonic claw burst out from the clouds and hung right above Bola.

Bola turned into a bat and wove through the lightning claw. He managed to dodge most of the lightning claw's power!

The lightning claw closed, limiting the space that Bola could move in...

"Sky-Flame Funeral: Hellish Flames!"

Mo Fan cast two spells simultaneously. Two Star Constellations intertwined and crashed into one another.

Amid the Lightning Strikes, a meteorite engulfed in flames fell from the sky. It was falling right toward the middle of the Sky Lightning Claw.

Bola did not expect someone would dare to use the two most dangerous Elements at the same time. As soon as he dodged the Sky Lightning Claw, he immediately noticed the giant meteorite falling down on him. He could not dodge it in time!

He quickly returned to human form and set a blood shield above him to defend himself!

The Hellish Flames smashed the blood shield to pieces. Mo Fan's Rose Flame was not particularly outstanding, but as Little Flame Belle's cultivation grew stronger, the strength of her Calamity Fire was gradually closer to the Lightning Tyrant. In addition to that, the Sky-Flame Funeral: Hellish Flames was the second-tier Advanced Fire Spell, and its damage was several times stronger than the Sky-Flame Funeral: Rain of Flames!

Bola was smashed down to the ground after the meteorite slammed into him.

A huge blast took place on the mountain path. The people could vaguely see a shocking meteorite landing on the upper section of the mountain path amid the dust that was swept into the air. The stairs were destroyed, and scorching heat was surging in all directions, setting the sacred mountain on fire.

Standing inside the pit left by the blast, Bola had not yet fallen. His body was emitting a bloody aura, which circled him like a shield and protected him.

He had a lot of burns on his body, and the lightning had also left a scorched-black wound on his back.

Mo Fan's heart sank when he noticed that the vampire was not severely injured.

Using the two Domains had cost a lot of his energy. It was also one of the strongest moves that he had. If even that had failed to inflict serious damage on the vampire, it was unlikely that he was going to meet Xinxia today.

Thick smoke drifted in the air together with the ashes. Mo Fan clenched his fists.

He had no choice but to go all out. Even if it meant using all his energy, he could not afford to lose here. Mo Fan strongly believed in his demon flesh. He might not lose to the old vampire in a brawl!

---

Bola jumped out from the pit. He slowly approached Mo Fan along the mountain path that was destroyed beyond recognition.

His face was pale as usual, and his eyes no longer had the same pride as before.

Mo Fan walked toward the vampire too. His eyes were emitting a silver light. He applied Telekinesis on himself, prepared to fight the vampire in close combat!

"Enough," Bola said.

Mo Fan frowned. He did not understand what the vampire was up to this time.

"Save some energy for the next opponent. Otherwise, you won't reach the top alive," Bola said.

"What do you mean by that? You're letting me go?" Mo Fan asked in confusion.

"I won't let you pass if you're too weak, as it's too late to regret it later. That guy is going to tear you to pieces," Bola said.

"You're trying to protect me?" Mo Fan said.

"You're the only person that has inherited the demon lineage. I hope you will leave this place, and come back again when you're stronger. There's no need to seek your death now," Bola had no intention to fight any further. His murderous aura had dissipated.

"I must go up today," Mo Fan said firmly.

"You only managed to leave me in serious injuries after using everything you had, the next statue is a lot stronger than I am… are you seriously not afraid of death?" Bola said.

"Everyone is afraid of dying, but there are things that are placed above fears in your heart," Mo Fan said.

"Oh humans, idiotic yet venerable! It was the reason your species has survived the ancient times, and now, even the demon creatures do not dare invade your cities recklessly. Unlike the merciless Blood Tribe, selfish yet lowly, treating their lives more preciously the longer they live, and now, they are on the verge of extinction. They can only struggle on while at death's door in the dark tunnels and caves," Bola sighed.

"You are a civilized vampire," Mo Fan said.

"I am different. I only serve the great demon! I am a demon servant, loyal, courageous, the passing of age doesn't alter the promise that we gave. It's been a thousand years, I thought I was going to slowly rot away and be forgotten, but to my surprise, as I, Bola, am approaching death's door, a real demon has risen. Please forgive me for testing you, and please accept my loyalty. My previous master only managed to hold the power of the demon for less than a day, and so I've sworn to protect this place and somehow forget the time that has passed. If you aren't pleased with me, you can leave me here to rot. I don't have much time left." Bola spoke like an ancient noble. He even dropped to his knee, in some sort of etiquette that would date a thousand years back in history.

Mo Fan was astounded. He did not expect the vampire to concede, and not only that, he was abandoning his post and planning to swear loyalty to him!

He was not the vampire's senior, but the same as Liu Ru, he could keep the vampire's heart beating with his demon blood.

-Is this the meaning of... where there's a will, there's a way?-

Mo Fan had complicated feelings when he looked at Bola half-kneeling in front of him.

Hopefully there was a way indeed, as the Starry Mountain Path was only the beginning. He still had to face the Hall of Knights and the Holy Judgment Court. He was only at the mountain base!

However, with the vampire's help, he believed he had a chance against the last statue!