A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

Chapter 284 Gengjing Giant Sword

"Hmph, trying to use the same old tricks and overwhelm me with sheer numbers?" A cold glint flashed in Luo Ming's eyes. How could he give the other party another chance to form a combined attack formation?

"go!"

With a thought, the dozen or so gold-devouring insect arrows surrounding him ceased their protective role and instead, like unsheathed swords, actively met the oncoming torrent of fire lizards! They precisely entangled and separated the level six and level five peak fire lizards charging at the forefront!

The brutal devouring battle erupted once again! The Gold-Eating Insect swarm became even more ferocious and fearless, trading their lives for injuries and tearing at the six-level fire lizards even as they faced their own furious counterattacks.

Seeing its high-ranking offspring being slaughtered by those strange golden insects and unable to form an effective resistance, the Golden-Crowned Salamander King was furious! As the overlord of this lava lake, when had it ever been provoked like this?

"roar--!!!"

With a violent roar that shook the lake, its massive body, as large as a small mountain, was no longer hidden and suddenly emerged completely from the churning lava! It was over thirty feet long and covered with a thick "armor" that was dark red to black and flowed with the luster of lava.

This armor is not naturally formed scales, but rather formed over many years by the pure golden and fire power from the lava lake, condensed and tempered on its surface. It is incredibly hard, with jagged edges, resembling a mobile lava fortress! Compared to it, the defenses of those level six fire lizards are simply child's play.

It stopped charging up for a ranged attack and instead used its four massive, pillar-like legs to push off the surface of the lava lake. Its enormous body suddenly unleashed an astonishing speed that was disproportionate to its size, charging towards Luo Ming like a burning hill!

Faced with this overwhelming collision, Luo Ming was not panicked at all; instead, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

"I was worried you'd be hiding in the lava like a coward. Now that you've dared to come out, things are much easier!"

His mind raced, and a series of spiritual lights flashed before him. Twelve spinning Xuan Yuan Pearls instantly appeared, arranged according to some mysterious trajectory. Then, under the infusion of Luo Ming's immense magical power, they rapidly merged and expanded, transforming in the blink of an eye into a giant pearl with a diameter of over three zhang, its entire body flowing with azure and pale gold spiritual light, radiating a heavy, mountain-like pressure!

"go!"

Luo Ming pointed his finger, and the gigantic Xuan Yuan Pearl emitted a deep hum. Without dodging or avoiding, it fiercely smashed towards the direction from which the Fire Lizard King was charging! There were no fancy sword lights, no strange spells, just the purest and most brutal clash of power!

"Bang—!!!"

A deafening roar, as deep as a muffled thunderclap, resounded like two mountains colliding violently! The entire lava lake seemed to tremble! A blinding burst of light and scorching heat erupted from the point of impact, sweeping in all directions!

The fire lizard king's forward momentum suddenly halted, its massive head seemingly crashing into an invisible wall of bronze and iron. A violent dizziness washed over it, causing its enormous body to sway and emit a painful hiss.

This Xuan Yuan Pearl was made from Xuan Water of astonishing weight. After being fused together, it became as heavy as a mountain. When struck with full force, the impact was extraordinary. Even with its brute strength, it was hit so hard that its blood and qi surged and its mind went blank.

Luo Ming's hand seals changed instantly, and the huge Xuan Yuan Pearl disintegrated, transforming back into twelve golden-blue flying swords shimmering with spiritual light. The swords were long and narrow, full of spiritual energy, drawing graceful arcs in the air and slashing at the Fire Lizard King's body from different angles like a storm! Luo Ming wanted to test just how tough the opponent's lava armor, which was a full ten feet thick, was.

"Ding ding ding ding—!"

A series of sounds, as dense as raindrops on banana leaves yet as crisp as metal clashing, rang out! The twelve flying swords struck the Fire Lizard King's lava armor, bursting into dazzling sparks! However, the result made Luo Ming's pupils shrink, and his heart trembled.

Where the flying sword struck, it only left white marks of varying depths on the opponent's dark red and almost black thick rock armor. The deepest mark was no more than a foot deep. Compared to the Fire Lizard King's terrifying rock armor, which was more than ten feet thick, it was like scratching an itch through a boot!

"This..." Luo Ming gasped. Although the flying sword formed from his Xuan Yuan Pearl was not made of extremely hard metal, it had been nurtured by him for many years and was incomparably sharp. It could cut through ordinary defensive magic weapons, but he never expected that it could not even truly break through the rock armor of this Fire Lizard King!

"Boy, don't waste your energy." The voice of Tianjing Sanren echoed in his mind, tinged with understanding. "This beast's 'Lava Heavy Armor' is a result of its innate abilities combined with the environment of this place, forged over many years. Not only is it incredibly hard, but it also contains the power of molten lava fire, allowing it to slowly repair itself. Its defensive strength is probably comparable to some top-tier earth-attribute defensive ancient treasures, and not weaker than the carapaces of some turtle-like demonic beasts! Ordinary attacks at the Core Formation stage simply cannot penetrate it!"

Luo Ming narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp as a knife, sweeping over the Fire Lizard King's thick rock armor, which shimmered with a dark red luster and seemed to blend seamlessly into the entire lava lake. "Comparable to a top-tier defensive ancient treasure, even no weaker than the giant turtle's carapace... It seems that without some real skill, I really can't take down this beast."

With this thought in mind, Luo Ming no longer hesitated. He reached out and made a gesture in the air, and the twelve golden-blue flying swords that were futilely slashing at the Fire Lizard King's body suddenly trembled and shot back. Instead of returning to Luo Ming's side, they rapidly circled and converged above his head!

In a flash of light, the twelve flying swords instantly merged and transformed into a giant golden-blue sword over ten zhang long, its entire body shimmering with iridescent light, its blade thick and its edge flashing with a chilling gleam! The giant sword swept across the sky, emanating a heavy yet sharp aura, pointing towards the Fire Lizard King, who had just recovered from his dizziness, was roaring angrily, and whose golden crown had once again lit up.

However, that's not all!

Luo Ming's expression turned solemn, and he suddenly opened his mouth!

"call out--!"

A fine, condensed, hair-thin yet dazzling pale golden ray, seemingly capable of slicing through the void, shot out from his mouth with lightning speed, instantly disappearing into the tip of the golden-blue giant sword above his head!

It was that wisp of Geng essence that he painstakingly extracted from Geng metal using a secret method before the Void Heaven Palace opened, and that he kept in his dantian, nurturing it day and night with his natal fire and magical power!

"Buzz—!!!"

The moment that wisp of pale golden light disappeared into the tip of the greatsword, the entire golden-blue greatsword trembled violently, emitting an incomparably clear and melodious sword cry! The brilliance of the sword body was restrained, but only the tip of the sword suddenly burst forth with a pure golden sharpness as dazzling as the blazing sun! An indestructible and terrifyingly sharp aura that could cut through everything was released without reservation, instantly sweeping across all directions!

The Golden-Crowned Salamander King, which was the first to be affected, reacted the most violently!

The fleshy crown on its head, which was gathering blazing golden light, suddenly stopped shining! Its cold, vertical pupils stared intently at the pure golden edge of the greatsword's tip. From that golden light, it sensed an instinctive feeling for extreme sharpness that originated from the depths of its bloodline, as well as a terrifying power that could truly threaten it and even tear apart its proud lava armor!

As the giant sword carrying a terrifying sharpness came crashing down, the Golden-Crowned Fire Lizard King's vertical pupils shrank sharply, and the dazzling golden crown on its head instantly burst out with blinding light. A dark gold molten fire pillar, thicker and more condensed than any fire lizard's breath before, surged upwards like a volcanic eruption and crashed fiercely into the descending giant sword!

"BOOM—!!!"

Two supreme forces clashed violently in mid-air! Golden light exploded, and shockwaves surged, like a small sun exploding above a lava lake! The dark golden fire pillar contained the power of the Fire Lizard King's innate divine ability, and its power was indeed astonishing. It actually blocked the falling giant sword. The pure gold edge of the sword tip frantically eroded and neutralized the molten flow, emitting a piercing "hissing" sound, and exploded into a sky full of golden and red sparks.

However, Luo Ming's all-out sword strike was not so easy to withstand. The giant sword formed from the Xuan Yuan Pearl was as heavy as a mountain and had unparalleled impact force. Furthermore, it incorporated a wisp of innate Geng Jing Qi, an extremely sharp and hard substance! The dark gold molten flow only held for less than a breath.

"Snap!"

With a barely perceptible yet crystal-clear crack, the core of the dark gold molten flow was pierced and torn apart by that single point of pure gold sharpness! Immediately afterwards, the entire column of molten fire collapsed and scattered like a giant tree split in two!

The greatsword's momentum slowed slightly, but its pure golden edge shone even brighter and more dazzlingly. With a resolute determination to cut through everything, it slashed down without any further obstruction toward the ferocious head of the Fire Lizard King below! Its speed was so fast that it left only a pale golden afterimage in the air!

"hiss--!!!"

For the first time, true fear finally appeared in the Fire Lizard King's eyes! Its cold, vertical pupils reflected the approaching golden light of death, and a tremor from the depths of its bloodline towards the Geng Metal Qi almost paralyzed it. In this life-or-death moment, it unleashed unprecedented potential and primal instincts; its massive body, with agility and speed completely disproportionate to its size, twisted and turned sharply at the last second!

"Sizzle—!!!"

The ear-piercing scraping sound of a sharp blade cutting into the lava heavy armor rang out, far more muffled and penetrating than the previous flying sword strike! The indestructible sword edge slashed fiercely into the thick rock armor where the Fire Lizard King's left shoulder met its chest! The incredibly tough lava heavy armor, before the sharp edge of the Geng essence energy, was sliced ​​open like a hot knife through butter, leaving a terrifying wound several meters long! Dark red, almost black, fragments of the rock armor mixed with scorching, magma-like demonic blood spurted out!

"Awooo—!!!"

The Fire Lizard King let out a piercing, agonizing scream. Its massive body staggered backward from the intense pain and the force of the impact, nearly losing its balance! But it managed to avoid its head at the last moment. The sword strike failed to decapitate it, but instead severed one of its thick forelegs at the root! The severed limb, dripping with gushing demonic blood, fell into the lava lake below.

"What a pity!" Luo Ming sighed inwardly. This sword strike had almost drained one-tenth of his magical power, yet it hadn't been able to achieve its full effect. The Fire Lizard King's reaction and defense were indeed beyond his expectations.

The fire lizard king, in its excruciating pain, was instead driven by ferocity, but even more so by fear and a desire to flee! The golden crown on its head flashed with light, and demonic power surged from its severed limb, forcibly stopping the bleeding. The lava armor near the wound writhed like a living thing, quickly covering and solidifying, temporarily sealing the wound.

It dared not linger any longer, glaring at Luo Ming with resentment and lingering fear. Then, with a swish of its massive body, it was about to plunge headfirst into the depths of the scalding magma below at top speed!

As long as it escapes into the magma, it will have a chance to catch its breath, thanks to its home-field advantage, profound demonic power, and familiarity with the environment, and may even be able to turn the tables on its opponent!