txolops Chapter 304 The Frost Dragon and the Separated Tortoise
Chapter 304 The Frost Dragon and the Separated Tortoise
His gaze swept quickly over Han Li, Xuan Gu, and Wu Chou beside him. Han Li was enveloped in a milky-white light, clearly the effect of the ancient treasure, the Spirit Rhinoceros Pendant. Xuan Gu seemed quite at ease, a string of shimmering red beads now adorning his neck.
Wu Chou, on the other hand, had a strange-looking snake-patterned arm ring on his arm, which emitted a pink light shield that protected him.
As for the three Nascent Soul stage cultivators, they simply relied on their protective spiritual light and walked inside as if nothing had happened, which shows the huge gap between Core Formation stage cultivators and Nascent Soul stage cultivators.
Finally, the view ahead opened up, and everyone climbed to the very top platform of Hanli Terrace!
The sight before them startled everyone!
At the center of the platform was not flat ground, but a circular altar several feet above the ground, cast entirely from some kind of dark silver metal and covered with ancient sacrificial runes! The altar was about ten feet in diameter, exuding an aura of vicissitude, majesty, and inviolability.
The most eye-catching feature is the enormous blue opening at the very center of the altar, several meters in diameter and bottomless, constantly spewing out terrifying flames and chilling air that seem capable of freezing the space around it! That is the source of the Azure Ice Flame, and also the place where the Void Heaven Cauldron is stored!
Centered on the blue cave entrance, eight different areas were filled with a cluster of golden, sun-like orbs, each about the size of a human head! Upon closer inspection, inside each orb were strange silkworms, several feet long and entirely green, constantly spitting out golden threads—these were the Golden Silkworms that Wan Tianming had painstakingly cultivated!
These eight golden silkworms were clearly enduring immense pressure and pain, their bodies trembling slightly in the golden light. Yet, the golden silk threads they spit out—thick as a thumb, incredibly refined, and radiating a faint warmth—were exceptionally resilient.
Extending straight downwards, it penetrated deep into the blue cave entrance that spewed forth dry blue ice flames! Eight golden threads, like eight golden chains, firmly connected to the unknown below.
The series of muffled, rumbling sounds emanating from the blue opening, resembling the movement of earth veins, along with the increasingly violent bursts of cold air, indicated that the eight golden silkworms had clearly succeeded in using their golden silk to entangle the Void Heaven Cauldron at the deepest part of the cave, and were pulling it upwards together! They had truly shaken the legendary number one treasure of the Chaotic Star Sea!
"Golden Silkworm! Wan Tianming actually succeeded!" The Extreme Yin Ancestor's face turned ashen, his eyes blazing with killing intent. He hadn't expected Wan Tianming to be so well-prepared; the Golden Silkworm's resistance to the Dry Blue Ice Flame far exceeded his expectations!
"Heh heh, so what if you shook it? I'll cripple your reliance!" A fierce glint flashed in the bearded man's eyes. He didn't care about the treasure-hunting process or the cooperation agreement. Seeing Wan Tianming's golden silkworms working hard to retrieve the treasure, his first reaction was—to sabotage! He absolutely couldn't let the other party succeed smoothly!
Without saying a word, or even bothering to greet him, he raised his hand and unleashed two incredibly condensed, lightning-fast golden beams, like two golden snakes emerging from their caves, shooting fiercely towards the two golden lights closest to him, located to the left of the altar, accompanied by a piercing sound of air being torn apart!
His idea was simple and brutal—first, cripple the two Golden Silkworms to weaken Wan Tianming's treasure-hunting power and disrupt his progress! As for whether this would lead to the failure of the treasure-hunting, the fall of the Void Heaven Cauldron, or even trigger a raging storm of the Azure Ice Flame? That was not within his consideration! He only needed to ensure that the treasure did not fall into Wan Tianming's hands!
"You bearded man! You dare?!"
The sudden intrusion of Manhuzi and his group, and their audacious sneak attack without a word, caused Wan Tianming, Tian Wuzi, and Mu Tengzi, who were originally focused on controlling the Golden Silkworm and guiding the Void Heaven Cauldron, to show expressions of shock and anger.
Wan Tianming's eyes widened in fury as he roared! Seeing that the two condensed golden rays from the barbarian were already shooting towards the two golden silkworms like lightning, how could he sit idly by and watch the key to obtaining the treasure, which he had painstakingly cultivated, be destroyed?
At this critical moment!
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Two beams of light, each a different color but both radiating an astonishing chill and immense demonic power, suddenly shot out from beside Wan Tianming and Tian Wuzi! One blue and one cyan, their speed was unbelievable, arriving before the other, like two bolts of icy lightning, instantly blocking the two golden beams and the two golden silkworms!
"Ding! Clang!"
Two crisp, piercing sounds, like the clash of metal, rang out! The two streaks of blue and green light collided fiercely with the two streaks of pale gold light, entangled in a fierce battle. The spiritual light exploded, and the cold air spread, temporarily blocking the barbarian's sneak attack!
A hint of surprise flashed in the bearded man's eyes. He could feel that the golden light transformed from his two special flying knives was firmly entangled by the blue and white escape light and could not advance an inch! With a thought, he summoned back the two golden lights, which transformed into two small golden knives about an inch long, with an ancient shape and covered with fine scales, which floated in his palm.
Golden light flashed in his eyes, like burning flames, clearly indicating that he had used some kind of pupil technique or divine sense secret method to carefully look at the blue-green escape light.
Upon seeing clearly what was contained within those two streaks of light, the astonishment on the bearded man's face instantly turned into shock, even disbelief, and he blurted out:
"Frost Dragon?! Departing Turtle?! You...you actually borrowed these two beasts from those two! No wonder you were so confident, daring to rush in and take the treasure!"
Upon hearing the names "Frosty Dragon" and "Separated Turtle," the expressions of the Extreme Yin Ancestor, Qingyi Hermit, and others beside them all changed, and they looked solemnly at the blue-green escape light.
From a distance, Luo Ming also used the Qianyang Fire Eye to see the true nature of the two streaks of light.
Within that blue light was a small dragon, its entire body ice-blue, about three zhang long, with a single horn on its head, four claws on its belly, and covered in fine, crystalline white scales, radiating extreme cold and a chilling dragon's might! It was the Frost Dragon!
Its aura had clearly reached the peak of the Core Formation stage, and due to its dragon bloodline and ice attribute talent, in this environment filled with the cold aura of the Azure Ice Flame, its supernatural power was probably comparable to that of a Nascent Soul cultivator in the early stage!
The azure light was actually a translucent, strange beast with a tortoise shell covered in mysterious ice patterns, a head resembling a dragon but not quite, a tail like a snake, and four legs like pillars—the Li Turtle! Its aura had also reached the peak of the Core Formation stage. Although it lacked the power of a dragon, its tortoise shell defense and control over the power of ice and cold were probably equally astonishing. In this environment, its combat power should not be underestimated.
These two spirit beasts, in terms of size, may not be as large as Luo Ming's Xuan Turtle and Azure Dragon, but in terms of the refinement of their aura, the purity of their bloodline, and the powerful pressure they exude, they are clearly much stronger.
Luo Ming was extremely wary of these two strange beasts, because these two top-level ice-attribute spirit beasts were like fish in water on the frigid Hanli Platform, where their strength could be displayed beyond normal!
If they fight desperately, they could probably really entangle and even threaten a Nascent Soul cultivator! Coupled with their powerful physiques, they are indeed difficult to deal with. With these two spirit beasts protecting him, Wan Tianming is essentially gaining two more Nascent Soul stage combatants.
Just as everyone was shocked and confronted by the two suddenly appearing powerful spirit beasts, the Extreme Yin Ancestor's cold gaze suddenly swept over Luo Ming, a malicious smile curling at the corner of his mouth, and he suddenly spoke:
"Young Luo! I remember you also keep two decent spirit beasts, a firebird and a giant tortoise. Although their cultivation levels are slightly lower than these Cold Flood Dragon and the Separating Tortoise, they should be able to keep these two beasts occupied for a while, right?"
He paused, his tone carrying a hint of command and seduction: "Send out your spirit beasts and entangle the Cold Flood Dragon and the Separating Turtle! Just buy us enough time so we can focus on dealing with those old bastards, Wan Tianming! Once we've dealt with them and taken the Void Heaven Cauldron, you'll naturally reap the rewards!"
Upon hearing this, Luo Ming was instantly enraged! This old devil clearly wanted to use his spirit beast as cannon fodder and send it to its death!
Although the Zhiyang Bird is a fire-attribute spirit beast and is not afraid of the cold, its strength is severely suppressed in this extremely frigid environment. It's already quite capable of performing at six or seven tenths of its full potential. Let it try to entangle that Frost Dragon, whose strength is comparable to a Nascent Soul cultivator and who also has the advantage of terrain? It'll probably only be able to flee!
The Xuanwu (Black Tortoise) possesses formidable defense and water/earth attributes, giving it some resistance to cold, but its speed is a weakness. Sending it to fight the Li Tortoise, which also excels in defense and cold, but is potentially faster? It probably couldn't even outrun it, forced to passively take hits and rely on its shell to withstand the attacks. In the long run, even with its strong defense, the Xuanwu would inevitably be injured, or even worn down to death!
This is clearly a vicious scheme to harm others for personal gain and make his spirit beast fill the hole!
However, upon hearing the words of the Yin Ancestor, the barbarian's eyes lit up, finding the plan brilliant. He glanced at Luo Ming, then at the two menacing Cold Dragons and the Separating Turtle, and said in a gruff voice:
"Good! Luo boy, release your spirit beasts! Don't worry, my mutated three-eyed leopard and Qingyi's thornbird will also assist us! Add to that the extremely Yin Heavenly Corpse, and with our spirit beasts and refined corpses all out, we have the numerical advantage, enough to handle these two beasts!"
His tone carried an unquestionable command, as if Luo Ming was obligated to obey. He had even arranged for "assistant" helpers.
Just as Luo Ming's mind raced, weighing the pros and cons, preparing to grit his teeth and "obey," symbolically releasing the spirit beasts and then letting them do their job for self-preservation—
"puff--!"
A sudden change occurred in the direction of the altar!
Among the eight golden orbs that were struggling to pull the golden threads and draw the Void Heaven Cauldron, the one located in the front left position suddenly dimmed! The aura of the golden silkworm inside it weakened rapidly, as if all its essence had been drained in an instant!
Even more noticeable was that the golden thread in its mouth, which was originally gleaming and incredibly refined, lost its golden luster at a visible speed, becoming dull and brittle!
"laugh--!"
"laugh--!"
Almost at the very moment the golden thread dimmed, a wisp of exceptionally condensed, dry blue icy flames erupted from the blue opening and swept across the thread that had lost its golden protection!