“What I can do is endure until the arrival of senior sister apprentice Duanmu and Blackie. By that time, we will be strong enough to kill it.”
According to Zhang Ruochen’s estimates, Duanmu Xingling and Blackie would probably need quarter hour or so before reaching Magma Valley.
Could he manage to stall the monster in black for a quarter with his level of cultivation?
While Zhang Ruochen was wondering how to make it happen, the monster in black stretched out two 10-meter-long tentacles and swayed towards him.
He immediately displayed the power of the space warp, which hid him and made him disappear.
“Bang! Bang!”
The two tentacles of the monster in black smashed on the stone wall severely, shattering the stone wall that tiny pieces of broken stone fell off onto the ground.
When it found that Zhang Ruochen had escaped and disappeared, the monster in black let out a sharp groan. A wisp of Genuine Qi condensed around its body where a mass of vermilion appeared on his stomach. The vermilion dashed up from its stomach, through its neck, and exploded from its mouth.
A crimson flame had covered the entire space. It forced Zhang Ruochen, who had turned transparent, to leave the space warp.
He quickly shrank the Space Domain and restrained it to cover the area of 10 meters around him. By generating the power of the Space Domain, he finally blocked the fire that spat out from the monster in black.
By reaching the Final State of the Black Realm, Zhang Ruochen’s Space Domain was able to cover an area of 80 meters at most. The wider space that the Space Domain had, the weaker the power was; while when the space it covered was smaller, the power would be stronger.
“Sacred Sky-piercing Sword!”
Zhang Ruochen thrust against the ground and jumped up high. He swayed the Snow Dragon Sword towards the head of the monster in black.
When Zhang Ruochen was about to release the sword, there was a biting icy air exposed by the sword. Suddenly, snow appeared and flowed around Zhang Ruochen’s body, covering the space of 33 meters around him.
He condensed snowflakes within a 100-feet radius.
Yet, before a snowflake even dropped on the ground, the high temperature of the magma river had evaporated the snow and turned them into wisps of white smoke.
When it realized that Zhang Ruochen was swinging his sword over, the monster in black shifted all eight tentacles at the same time and attacked toward him. It had protected itself solidly.
It was challenging facing the eight tentacles at once. Even though the speed of Zhang Ruochen was exceptionally fast, he was almost caught by a tentacle every time.
“No way, this is not going to work! Its power is too strong. His one tentacle alone possesses the power of the Earth Realm. Let alone all eight tentacles attacking together, which will be forceful enough to kill a group of Martial Arts masters of the Earth Realm.”
Zhang Ruochen was frustrated about what to do. He retreated back at a high speed by utilizing Shadow of the Royal Wind Dragon after throwing a Thunder Pearl out.
The power of the Thunder Pearl was magnificent. Zhang Ruochen retreated back and stood next to the stone door. Then, he transferred his Genuine Qi and activated the inscription carved on the Ice-fire Kylin Armor.
A sound of Kylin roaring went off. The lights of vermilion and fresh blue were exposed on Zhang Ruochen’s body, where an illusory image of a massive Kylin was condensed. The Kylin had Zhang Ruochen protected under its illusory image.
“Boom!”
The Thunder Pearl exploded underneath the monster in black and released the terrifying power of a thunderbolt.
Strands of white lightning extended like a sky sword to more than 33 meters and sent out the sound of thunder.
Numerous thunderbolts then dashed out from the Thunder Pearl as if it was a tiny snake line and completely wrapped up the monster in black.
The body of the monster in black looked burnt and it emitted wisps of blue smoke. There were three bowl-sized wounds that were split open by the power of the thunderbolt. Shockingly, the wounds were burnt black without any blood dripping out.
“Awoo!”
After a short while of paralysis caused by the thunderbolt, the monster in black roared aggressively again. Its colossal eyes had turned bloody-red and it struck out toward Zhang Ruochen.
It was extremely furious!
“It surely has strong vitality. How can it still be alive after being hit by the Thunder Pearl?”
Since the monster in black had already been hit by the Thunder Pearl, it would be more cautious. Even if Zhang Ruochen threw another Thunder Pearl out, it would be impossible to hurt it now.
Moreover, if Zhang Ruochen threw the Thunder Pearl out within such a close distance, he would get himself killed before killing the monster in black.
When the eight tentacles of the monster in black were swayed down, Zhang Ruochen quickly opened the internal space of the Time and Space Spinel and hid inside.
Zhang Ruochen once again disappeared right in front of the monster and left a date-sized crystal on the ground.
“Boom!”
The monster in black was annoyed. Its eight tentacles smashed on the stone door of the Purgatory of the Red River. A loud noise broke out and the stone wall slightly trembled.
The monster in black stopped and fell into deep thought. He was trying to look for a trace of Zhang Ruochen, staring at the crystal that was dropped on the ground. It used one of its tentacles and picked up the Time and Space Spinel. It looked around and swallowed the Spinel down its throat.
Then, it stared deeply at the stone wall before heading to the depths of Chikong Secret Mansion.
An hour later—
A sexy woman with a tiny figure, who was wearing a light blue dress with long hair and slender legs, rushed towards Magma Valley where Zhang Ruochen had just fought.
The pretty woman frowned her umber-black eyebrows and exclaimed, “The fight is over.”
Beside her was a giant cat with wings expanded and, rolling its eyes around, it said, “Don’t tell me Zhang Ruochen was killed by Lang Xin…”
Undoubtedly, the beautiful woman with the scandalous figure was Duanmu Xingling, who rushed towards Magma Valley with Blackie in order to help Zhang Ruochen.
Duanmu Xingling shook her head and said, “If Lang Xin had killed Zhang Ruochen, the stone door of the Purgatory of the Red River would have been opened and the heretics of the Black Market would already have been released. Moreover, even though Lang Xin has already broken into the Earth Realm, he is not able to display such destructive power. I guess Zhang Ruochen has encountered an absolutely terrifying underground savage beast. If that is the case, I doubt if he is still alive…”
Blackie ground his teeth as if an idea had entered into his mind. He laughed. “Well, he seems to be one of those who possesses a long life. I think he’s escaped from the beast instead of being killed.”
If Zhang Ruochen was indeed dead, the power of the Yin Yang Wooden Graph would definitely pull Blackie back into the graphical world.
Since he was still standing next to Duanmu Xingling, he was confident that Zhang Ruochen was still alive.
Duanmu Xingling rubbed her titling jaw slightly. She stretched out her tiny soft hand and tapped on Blackie’s fluffy head. She said, “Don’t worry, Blackie! If Zhang Ruochen is dead in Chikong Secret Mansion, I’ll still take care of you for him and won’t let you become a homeless street cat.”
Blackie’s eyes widened. The black hair on his body flared up and he exclaimed, “I’m the King of Slaughter! How dare you compare me with an ordinary cat? When I shocked the world, your ancestors were not even born. I specialize in 3,000 martial techniques… Hey, stop! I haven’t finished yet…”
Duanmu Xingling ignored Blackie. She stretched herself with a yawn, exposing her snow-white flat stomach and tiny waist. Additionally, she grabbed an ancient sword, and walking back and forth, responded, “Ahem… Slaughter… King, keep up with me. If you get lost, you’ll surely be a street cat!”
Blackie’s claws scratched fiercely on the ground. His round ears erected and rushed towards Duanmu Xingling. He walked side by side with Duanmu Xingling and continued, “I specialize in 3,000 martial techniques so I’m able to absorb the essence of the sun and moon, and induce the light of stars. I once conquered the entire Kunlun’s Field and no one was capable of beating me.”
Duanmu Xingling lifted her eyelids and poked gently on Blackie’s head. She responded, “Not bad! Being a savage beast, you’re able to speak our language as well as talk trash. Zhang Ruochen is indeed a good teacher!”
Blackie jiggled his head, stared coldly at Duanmu Xingling, and said, “How could Zhang Ruochen, such a petty little doll, be able to teach me? Despite my exceedingly high ability of martial cultivation, I’m proficient in array formations, pill and weapon refining, beast training, summoning wind and calling for rain, divination…”
Duanmu Xingling put up a smile on her rosy cheeks with her red lips slightly aroused. She felt like Zhang Ruochen’s giant cat was indeed very interesting and he was even funnier than a human, especially when it spoke.
…
Standing inside the internal space of the Time and Space Spinel, Zhang Ruochen was able to sense what was happening outside.
“I can’t believe the monster in black has swallowed the crystal down its throat.”
Before Zhang Ruochen had been taken down into the monster’s stomach, he was thinking of how to kill the monster in black. Yet, it was going to be extremely easy now. Zhang Ruochen would only need to throw a Thunder Pearl out and let it explode inside the monster in black’s stomach. By that time, the monster in black would have no other way to survive.
However, Zhang Ruochen was not eager to kill the monster in black right away. Since Chikong Secret Mansion was exceptionally dangerous, staying inside the monster in black’s body would be a lot safer than walking outside. Therefore, he decided to withhold killing the monster for now.
It would be amazing if he could enter the depths of Chikong Secret Mansion through the body of the monster in black.
In fact, Zhang Ruochen was interested in where the monster in black wanted to go.
He released the Space Domain, which covered the space of 80 meters around, blended the Martial Soul into the Space Domain, and observed the situation outside.
The monster in black crawled in between the stone breaches at a high speed and reached the bottom of the massive underground mountain.
The underground mountain might not seem massive on the ground. Yet, it looked exceptionally magnificent below the surface. Who could have anticipated that there was a mountain here below the ground?
The entire mountain was covered by colorful miasma in which a toxic gas was suffusing in the air. Yet, a jade-white clover grass was growing in the crevice.
Every plant of the clover grass displayed a faint white light, permeating a rich fragrance. Compared to the surrounding miasma, a sharp contrast was formed.
The monster in black straightened out its tentacle, pulled out one of the plants of clover grass from the stone breach, and swallowed it down.
“Boom!”
The potency of the clover grass was relatively vigorous. When it was swallowed down into the monster in black’s stomach, it turned into a jade-white liquid immediately and assimilated with its body.
“Three Leaf Holy Clover!”
Although Zhang Ruochen was standing in the internal space of the Time and Space Spinel, he could sense the flavor of the Three Leaf Holy Clover, which made him wildly excited. None of the sparse Three Leaf Holy Clover could be found in Yunwu Commandery and yet, there was plenty of it here.
If he could collect 10 Three Leaf Holy Clover plants, breaking through to the Completion of the Black Realm would be an easy task.
If he did collect enough Three Leaf Holy Clover, not only could he break through to the Completion of the Black Realm, there was a chance for him to refine to the Ultimate Realm of the Black Realm.
Thinking of how significant the Three Leaf Holy Clover was, Zhang Ruochen could not wait to take out a Thunder Pearl. He opened a tiny breach of the Time and Space Spinel and injected Genuine Qi into the Thunder Pearl.
With the surge of Genuine Qi, the inscription carved on the Thunder Pearl had been activated. Zhang Ruochen flicked his finger and threw the Thunder Pearl out from the internal space of the Time and Space Spinel.
“Phew!”
The Thunder Pearl was rolling in the monster in black’s stomach. A wisp of the power of thunderbolt had been displayed.