37: Earthfire molten crystals!
At the border of Qingzhou, the Black Wind Mountain Range lay like a crouching primordial behemoth, filled with poisonous miasma and soaring demonic Aura.
This area served as a buffer zone between the Human Race and the Demon Domain, and was also a lawless land, mixing exiles, adventurers, Evil Cultivators, and the Yao Race, where slaughter and Opportunity coexisted.
A sturdy figure was rapidly running along a steep mountain ridge.
He wore slightly tattered leather armor, his bronze skin covered in fine scars. His black hair was tied casually behind his head, and his gaze was as sharp as an eagle's. This was Ye Chen, who was out gaining experience.
Half a year had passed since he left the Lin Family. He had not gone directly to the dangerous locations marked on his Old Ancestor's Jade Slip that might contain the Opportunity for the “Extreme State of Strength,” choosing instead to come to the Black Wind Mountain Range first.
In his words: "You eat rice one bite at a time, and you fight battles one after another! I need to loosen up this Physical Body first!"
In the past half-year, he had experienced countless bloody battles deep within this mountain range.
Against fierce Yao Beasts, greedy bandits, and sinister Evil Cultivators... his Ancient Desolate Sacred Body grew stronger with every near-death experience, his strength increasing daily. His cultivation was also thoroughly stabilized at the Ninth Level Peak of the Tongtian Realm, needing only one catalyst to condense his Life Soul and achieve a qualitative leap.
On this day, he was pursuing a "Mountain Splitting Ape" that had injured his arm but possessed a trace of ancient Bloodline, when he suddenly heard the sound of fierce fighting and Yao Beast roars coming from the valley ahead.
Ye Chen raised an eyebrow, retracted his Aura, and silently crept closer like a civet cat, peering down from the edge of a cliff.
In the valley, a mercenary squad of about a dozen people was being besieged by three massive "Black Scale Rhinos," which were covered in black scales and had a single horn on their heads!
Four or five corpses already lay on the ground. The remaining survivors were all injured, forming a crude defensive circle and desperately holding on, seemingly on the brink of total annihilation.
The mercenary squad leader was a burly man with a full beard, whose cultivation was around the Seventh Level of the Tongtian Realm. Wielding a giant saber the size of a door panel, he hacked desperately, but could only leave shallow white marks on the Black Scale Rhino's armor, his own hand splitting open from the shock.
Beside him, a young girl in a pale green dress, holding a staff and appearing to be a healer, was continuously casting weak healing spells, her face as pale as paper.
"Commander! We can't hold on! Abandon the mission, let's retreat!" a tall, thin man shouted anxiously while shooting the Black Scale Rhino's eyes with a small crossbow.
"Bullshit! Old Zhang and Little Wu died here! This beast injured so many of my brothers, I'll fight it to the death!" The bearded Commander's eyes were bloodshot, looking utterly insane.
"Roar!" One Black Scale Rhino suddenly reared up, its massive hoof slamming toward the green-dressed girl with a foul wind! The girl was moments away from certain death!
The bearded Commander was too late to rescue her, letting out a roar of despair: "Xiao Ya!"
Just at this critical moment—
"Evil beast! You seek death!"
An enraged roar, like a clap of thunder, came from the cliff top!
The next moment, a black shadow descended like a meteorite, carrying an unparalleled terrifying Aura, and smashed heavily onto the head of the rearing Black Scale Rhino!
Boom—!!!
A dull, massive sound that set teeth on edge erupted!
That tough-skinned, thick-fleshed Black Scale Rhino, whose defense was comparable to the Spirit Sea Realm, couldn't even let out a scream. Its massive head exploded like an overripe watermelon!
Red and white matter splattered everywhere!
The headless corpse crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
As the dust settled slightly, a tall, straight figure was revealed. Ye Chen shook the blood from his fist, grinned, and looked at the remaining two Black Scale Rhinos, which were stunned by the sudden turn of events, his eyes flashing with excited Battle Intent.
Silence!
The valley was utterly silent!
All the surviving mercenaries stared dumbfounded at the young figure standing on the headless rhino corpse, as if they had seen a ghost!
One punch! He blew up the Black Scale Rhino's head?! What kind of monstrous strength was this?!
The bearded Commander's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. That behemoth that he couldn't even scratch after fighting desperately was instantly killed by a single punch?!
"Roar!" "Roar!"
The remaining two Black Scale Rhinos snapped out of their shock, letting out furious roars. With bloodshot eyes, they lowered their heads, aimed their horns—strong enough to shatter mountains—at Ye Chen, and charged violently! The ground trembled fiercely!
"Good timing!"
Ye Chen neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, he laughed loudly, bent his legs slightly, and the ground beneath his feet exploded as he shot forward like a cannonball, meeting the charge head-on!
"Fierce Ox Horn Thrust!"
He imitated the Black Scale Rhino's charging posture, leading with his right shoulder. His entire body's Qi and blood boiled, and dark golden Sacred Body Runes faintly emerged beneath his skin!
Bang!!!!
It was like two massive mountains colliding violently!
A terrifying shockwave exploded outwards in a ring, sending all the surrounding mercenaries flying!
Crackle crackle—!
A dense series of scalp-numbing bone-cracking sounds rang out!
The horn of one Black Scale Rhino was actually broken off by Ye Chen's impact and impaled itself backward, piercing through its own skull!
Its massive body crashed to the ground like a collapsing golden mountain and jade pillar, convulsing a few times before falling silent!
The collision between Ye Chen and the other Black Scale Rhino, however, was a contest of pure strength!
He firmly resisted the thick rhino horn, his feet plowing two deep furrows in the ground, his arm muscles bulging like Dragons!
The Black Scale Rhino exerted frantic force, yet couldn't make him retreat even half a step!
"Get up... for me!"
Ye Chen roared, suddenly exerting force with both arms. He actually managed to lift the Black Scale Rhino, which weighed tens of thousands of jin, swinging it in an arc and smashing it violently against the nearby mountain wall!
Rumble!!!
The mountain wall shook violently, and rubble tumbled down! The Black Scale Rhino was smashed until its tendons snapped and bones broke, embedding it in the wall—clearly no longer alive.
In the blink of an eye, the three ferocious Black Scale Rhinos were completely wiped out!
Ye Chen clapped his hands, his breathing steady, as if he had only done a trivial little thing.
The group of mercenaries was completely petrified, looking at Ye Chen as if they were gazing upon a god or a demon.
The bearded Commander was the first to react. He quickly led the surviving team members forward and immediately knelt down with a thud:
"Thank you, Senior, for saving our lives! Balu, Commander of the Mad Wolf Mercenary Group, thanks Senior on behalf of all our members!"
Ye Chen was startled by the display and quickly waved his hands: "Hey, hey, get up, get up. It was just a minor thing. Don't kneel, don't kneel, it makes me feel awkward."
His unpretentious attitude slightly calmed Balu and the others, but their awe remained undiminished.
"Senior's strength reaches the heavens; Balu is truly impressed! May I ask Senior's esteemed name? And where are you from?" Balu asked respectfully.
"My name is Ye Chen. I'm from Qingzhou, just passing through."
Ye Chen said casually, glancing at the corpses on the ground and frowning, "How did you guys provoke these three behemoths?"
A look of grief and indignation appeared on Balu's face: "To be honest, Senior, we accepted a mission to investigate an Ancient Cultivator's Immortal Cave deep within the Black Wind Mountain Range. We didn't expect to be targeted by these three beasts on the way back... We lost several brothers..." As he spoke, his tiger-like eyes reddened.
At this moment, the green-dressed girl named Xiao Ya timidly stepped forward and bowed gracefully to Ye Chen:
"Xiao Ya thanks Senior Ye for saving her life."
She raised her head, revealing a delicate and lovely but tired face, her gaze toward Ye Chen filled with gratitude and curiosity.
Ye Chen waved his hand, just about to say something, when his nose twitched. His gaze fell upon the bulging, blood-stained satchel on Balu's back.
"What did you find inside that Immortal Cave?" Ye Chen narrowed his eyes.
From the satchel, he sensed an extremely hidden, yet unusually hot and surging energy fluctuation, which actually caused the Sacred Blood within his body to heat up slightly.
Balu's expression shifted slightly, and he subconsciously protected the satchel, but then realizing that if the other party truly intended to seize it, they wouldn't stand a chance, he gave a bitter smile and admitted:
"Senior is wise. We did find an item—a strange red crystal containing extremely terrifying fire attribute energy, but we don't know exactly what it is."
As he spoke, he carefully opened the satchel and took out a Jade Box covered with Talismans of Seal.
He peeled off the Talismans and opened the lid, and immediately a wave of scorching heat rushed out!
Inside the Jade Box, there lay a crystal the size of a pigeon's egg, entirely crimson, crystal clear, and appearing to have magma flowing within! The surface of the crystal was naturally inscribed with profound flame patterns.
"This is... earth fire molten crystal?" Ye Chen's pupils contracted slightly, recognizing the item.
It was recorded in the Jade Slip given by his Old Ancestor that this was an extremely rare Heaven And Earth Treasure, born deep within the Core Fire Veins of the earth, containing the purest fire-element Origin power. It was an invaluable treasure for fire-attribute Cultivators, capable of even tempering the Physical Body and stimulating the Bloodline!
No wonder it could activate his Sacred Blood.