207: Humanoid monster, cave dwelling "cultivator"
At this moment,
A hurricane, carrying an aura of destruction, stirred up an overwhelming sandstorm that blotted out the sky, surging towards the crowd like a tidal wave!
Within the murky wind screen, shadowy figures appeared—countlessslate gray, ferociousWild Beasts!
Roar—!
A deafening beast roar, as if tearing through the sky, instantly drowned out the howling wind and sand!
"Everyone, prepare for battle!" A sharp shout pierced through the sandstorm!
In an instant, multicolored Spell torrents and sharp Divine Abilities that ripped through the air poured down like a torrential rain upon the surroundingWild Beasts!
Zhang Sheng's mind raced, and Spiritual Qi surged within his body!
Several gigantic earthen-yellow palms, each a hundred meters tall and condensed from pure earth-elemental Spiritual Qi, suddenly materialized from the Void Realm!
The massive palms, carrying the force of ten thousand tons, slammed down like the hands of a deity!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Dull thuds accompanied the crisp sound of shattering bones and flesh, as a large number ofWild Beasts were directly crushed into pulp, deeply embedded in the scorched earth,
Leaving behind giant, cracked palm print craters!
Whether True Fetus Realm or Divine Breath RealmWild Beasts, under this absolute crushing power, all turned into dust!
"Damn human invaders, today you will come but not return!"
A Divine Sense message, filled with brutality and killing intent, instantly swept across the entire scene like a cold tide!
"Everyone be careful, it's a Peak Divine Power RealmWild Beasts!" Xiao Buyu's clear, cold voice, tinged with gravity, clearly reached everyone's ears.
Before he finished speaking!
From deep within the distant sandstorm, the massive shadow of a four-winged Dragon, like a phantom tearing through space, instantly approached!
The Dragon furiously flapped its four huge fleshy wings, and the space beneath them violently twisted, causing dozens of purple fireballs, each the size of a human head and emitting terrifying high temperatures and destructive fluctuations, to condense out of thin air!
The fireballs, trailing hot tails of flame, streaked down like a meteor shower, instantly locking onto Xiao Buyu and smashing towards him!
However, this was just the beginning!
Other Dragons hidden within the raging hurricane tornado revealed themselves, their wings blotting out the sky!
There were sixteen of them!
Their ferocious Dragon heads flickered in and out of sight in the sandstorm, exuding a suffocating pressure!
Xiao Buyu's expression remained unchanged, a cold glint flashing in his eyes!
He flipped his palm, and a small sword, only a foot long and translucent like crystal, appeared out of thin air!
The transparent small sword hummed, instantly splitting into two, then four, then eight... In the blink of an eye,
It divided into thousands of solid, transparent sword shadows!
Xiao Buyu's lips parted slightly, and he let out a low shout:
"Divine Ability—Sword Rain!!!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
Thousands of rain swords, emitting piercing screeches as they tore through the air, transformed into a destructive silver torrent, fiercely meeting the blazing purple sea of fire!
Rumble—!!!
The two terrifying forces violently collided and annihilated each other in mid-air!
Dazzling light and violent shockwaves instantly erupted, clearing a large area of the surrounding sand and dust!
Ultimately, Xiao Buyu was superior!
The remaining rain swords, like precise death rays, instantly pierced through the aftermath of the explosion, accurately severing the ferocious head of the Dragon leader and simultaneously penetrating its massive heart!
A palm-sized, glowing blue orb flew out from the Dragon's shattered corpse and landed in Xiao Buyu's palm.
Zhang Sheng's heart was filled with awe:
"As expected of the chief expert of the Qinglan Guards of Qinglan Academy! Although I am confident I could kill the Dragon, this is probably just the tip of the iceberg of Xiao Buyu's strength."
Although I am confident I could kill the Dragon, this is probably just the tip of the iceberg of Xiao Buyu's strength.
The remaining Dragons were like chickens and dogs before the powerful Qinglan Guards elites, and were quickly swept away!
This seemingly dangerous battle ended as soon as it began!
The Qinglan Guards, who had participated in many relic explorations, were already accustomed to such sights and quickly composed themselves.
While taking out Spirit Crystals to absorb Spiritual Qi and recover, they focused even more on searching for the exact location of the relic.
The huge, bottomless pit Zhang Sheng dug had scorched walls, but it was still empty, with no trace of the relic!
He flew out of the deep pit, soared a hundred miles, selected another location, and with surging Spiritual Qi, began his tedious and persistent excavation again.
However, at this very moment!
The profound insights he had gained into the Earth-Binding Quicksand Spell surged within him like a breached dam!
A flash of inspiration appeared deep within his Sea of Consciousness!
"Spell: Earth-Binding Quicksand, First Tier (True Intent First Layer: 0.001%)"
The Spell's power surged!
Zhang Sheng clearly perceived that, with just a thought, wherever his Divine Sense covered, the scorched, hard ground beneath his feet could instantly transform into deadly quicksand that swallowed everything!
But he showed no abnormality, maintaining his original rhythm and speed of excavation.
Suddenly!
"I found the relic!" A Divine Sense message, filled with ecstasy and excitement, exploded in everyone's minds like Startling Thunder!
However, this ecstasy lasted only a moment!
Zhang Sheng acutely sensed that the Life Qi of the person who sent the message instantly vanished completely, like a snuffed-out candle!
"Save~ me...!"
A faint, distorted, and infinitely terrified trailing sound, as if from the depths of Hell, came, and then completely ceased!
Boom—!
The earth, like a sleeping giant awakened, began to tremble violently!
Terrifying cracks, bottomless and winding like black giant pythons, savagely ripped open the ground!
Zhang Sheng's pupils contracted slightly, recognizing the person who had just discovered the relic as the Cultivator whose hands could transform into mysterious vines to drill underground.
Unfortunately, at this moment, he was utterly annihilated, turned to dust!
Everyone's Divine Sense surged like a tide into the depths of the cracks!
At the bottom of the enormous fissure, a hundred miles deep, stood a colossal stone gate, a hundred meters tall!
The stone gate was heavy, ancient, and exuded an aura of desolate antiquity!
From the stone gate to the surface, clear traces of twisted holes left by thick vine drills were visible.
Song Xuan Sha's eyes gleamed with excitement he couldn't hide:
"Finally, the relic has been found!"
But remembering the mysterious and tragic death of that Cultivator just now, a chill enveloped their hearts, and no one dared to act rashly!
Zhang Sheng, while spreading his Divine Sense like a spiderweb to meticulously investigate every inch of the surrounding space, quietly retreated to the back of the crowd without a change in expression.
He silently activated his Spirit Eye, a barely perceptible faint glow appearing in his eyes, tightly locking onto the giant stone gate!
Because in the special vision of his Spirit Eye, the surface of the stone gate was not empty; rather, seven strangely shaped humanoid monsters, invisible to ordinary people, were clinging to it!
They had no facial features, no hair, no clothes, and their entire bodies were shrouded in a constantly swirling grey mist, their stature slightly shorter than normal humans.
Their movements were twisted and exaggerated, twitching and dancing silently like marionettes!
Was the tragic death of that Cultivator related to these seven grey-mist humanoids?
Not everyone was unaware.
Zhang Sheng's gaze swept over, and he noticed that Song Xuan Sha, Xiao Buyu, and Li Meier's eyes were all focused on those monsters with grave expressions.
Even more surprisingly, Qian Che—in his small eyes, almost squeezed shut by fat—a sharp glint flashed, similarly locking onto those monsters!
"Two months ago, he was just a two-star Qinglan Guard..." Zhang Sheng's heart tightened,
"This person's strength needs to be re-evaluated!"
Xiao Buyu stepped forward, blocking the crowd.
Seven solidified rain swords, carrying bone-chilling killing intent, shot out with extreme precision towards the seven grey-mist humanoids!
However, a chilling scene unfolded!
The rain swords, like phantoms passing through air, penetrated the monsters' bodies without hindrance, striking the stone gate and sending fragments flying!
This act completely enraged the monsters!
They let out silent shrieks, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, transforming into seven twisted grey shadows, furiously pouncing on Xiao Buyu!
Xiao Buyu's eyes narrowed, showing no panic.
He formed hand seals, chanting softly, and streams of pure, blazing white light erupted from his palms, instantly enveloping the pouncing monsters!
Sizzle—!
Like boiling water poured on snow, the grey-mist humanoids let out mournful, silent screams under the white light, their forms violently twisting and dissipating, instantly vanishing into nothingness!
The Cultivators present all gasped, instantly raising their vigilance to the maximum.
Xiao Buyu's steady voice once again transmitted to everyone:
"Everyone, don't be afraid, the monsters have been annihilated by me!"
The capable young man beside him suddenly clapped his hands together!
A precious mirror, covered with profound patterns and exuding an ancient, vast aura, materialized before him.
The young man chanted, and the mirror surface suddenly lit up with dazzling white light, a condensed beam of light shooting straight towards the giant stone gate!
However, the stone gate remained motionless, like a dead object, showing no reaction.
The young man frowned slightly, retrieved the precious mirror, and solemnly said to Xiao Buyu:
"Chief, it seems we can only break it open by force!"
Xiao Buyu nodded slightly, his gaze turning to a Cultivator beside him who carried a huge black scythe on his back and wore a black metal mask covering half his face: "Scythe Edge, it's your turn!"
The Cultivator called "Scythe Edge" silently stepped forward. He slowly drew the giant scythe from his back.
His arm muscles bulged, and the giant scythe sliced through the air, emitting an ear-splitting shriek!
Two intersecting, deep black blade lights fiercely struck the heavy stone gate!
Crack! Boom—!
The stone gate instantly shattered, sending fragments flying, revealing a deep, dark, massive tunnel behind it!
Zhang Sheng secretly muttered to himself, unable to understand why these ancient Cultivators would bury their Immortal Cave a hundred miles deep underground.
His powerful Divine Sense immediately probed into the tunnel like a tentacle.
Near the shattered stone gate, Zhang Sheng's Divine Sense detected some cracked Formation Plate remnants, devoid of Spiritual Qi, obviously having long since failed due to the passage of time.
He also "saw" some strangely shaped and oddly posed stone statues, seemingly totems of unknown creatures, scattered at the entrance.
However, as the stone gate was violently broken open and external airflow rushed in, a gentle breeze swept through, and these stone statues, like sandcastles weathered for a thousand years, silently turned into piles of fine dust on the ground.
Zhang Sheng's Divine Sense didn't miss any corner, and other Cultivators were also meticulously investigating.
The inner walls of the tunnel had clearly been solidified by some powerful Divine Ability or Formation, exhibiting a strange, dark metallic luster that effectively blocked deep Divine Sense probing.
What was blocking everyone's Divine Sense was the second stone gate not far ahead!
This time, they weren't so lucky.
Just as Scythe Edge's black blade light, wielded once more, was about to touch the second stone gate—
Buzz!
An invisible, transparent barrier, emitting powerful energy fluctuations, instantly rose like a water curtain before the stone gate, completely enveloping it!
Rumble!!!
Almost at the same instant, a deafening roar suddenly came from behind them!
The people who had already entered the tunnel turned back in horror, only to see that the entrance they had come through, an equally heavy stone gate, had slammed down like a Dragon-Slaying Gate, completely sealing off their retreat!
The Cultivators trapped outside were furious and anxious, unleashing various attacks frantically on the fallen stone gate, yet the stone gate was like a black hole, silently devouring all attacks, remaining utterly motionless!
Just as the people inside the tunnel were deeply shaken and prepared to jointly unleash Divine Abilities to blast the stone gate that had fallen behind them—
Another abnormality occurred!
The dark metallic-lustered walls on both sides of the tunnel actually began to strangely writhe and undulate like living things!
Immediately after, an even more hair-raising scene appeared!
One by one, 'Cultivators' clad in ancient armor, holding various Spiritual Artifacts, and with expressionless faces, slowly 'walked' out from the writhing walls, as if emerging from water!
Their movements were perfectly uniform but incredibly stiff, devoid of any lively Life Qi belonging to living beings!
Zhang Sheng activated his Spirit Eye to its fullest, staring intently at these 'Cultivators'!
In his special vision, these 'Cultivators' were utterly silent internally, with no flow of Life Qi, as if they were precisely controlled empty shells.
Although he couldn't fully see through their internal structure, Zhang Sheng was absolutely certain—these guys were definitely not flesh and blood!
Ancient Cultivators could also never have lived until now!
These were unknown, cold, and murderous creations!