The slaughter in the middle layer lasted for a whole day. The purple poisonous mist was torn and churned by the violent energy, only to be refilled by new mist. The three members of the Stone Squad were like tireless meat grinders, and wherever they passed, the remains of Iron Claw Dogs and the shattered carapaces of Stinger Scorpion Beasts littered the forest floor. Wáng Hào's Dark Gold Heavy Fist could split stone, Sū Mùxuě's Ice Fire Flowing Light could cut through everything, and Lín Fēng's Sword Qi Pointing Wind pierced the void. Their strength was rapidly refined and rounded in actual combat.
The setting sun looked like a giant, molten copper nail being forcefully driven into the churning poisonous clouds in the west, struggling to cast a few last rays of dark red afterglow that stained the entire Tianyu Mountain Range with an ominous ochre. The three were in high spirits from the fight and, without realizing it, the slippery purple moss underfoot had turned into harder, black rock ground littered with strange metallic debris. The fishy, sweet poisonous gas in the air had thinned, but a sharp sensation that made the hairs on their necks stand on end, like countless tiny blades scraping their skin, had emerged.
The central area!
Just as a wisp of Shang Yang Sword Qi from Lín Fēng's fingertip silently pierced the eye of the last Stinger Scorpion Beast, splattering its putrid blood, an unprecedented, bone-chilling killing intent, like a solid ice cone, pierced his senses! The total-skill of Dugu Nine Swords frantically warned him! To the front left!
Almost simultaneously, Sū Mùxuě and Wáng Hào also stopped abruptly, their expressions changing drastically!
About a hundred meters ahead, on a pile of jagged rocks dyed dark red by the setting sun, a colossal creature slowly turned its triangular, ferocious head! Its physique was more slender and powerful than a Stinger Scorpion Beast, nearly three meters tall! Its body was covered in dark green, almost black, streamlined bone armor that gleamed with a cold metallic luster, like the most precise killing weapon. Most chilling were the pair of enormous bone blades at the ends of its forelimbs, their edges flashing with a serrated cold glint—the Blade Mantis! The most crucial hunting target in the assessment mission!
At this moment, the terrifying predator had evidently just finished feasting on the remains of an Iron Claw Dog, and thick, putrid blood still dripped from its massive bone blades. The countless tiny compound eyes that formed its pupils, like molten obsidian, instantly locked onto the uninvited guests who had trespassed into its territory! A light mingled with greed and brutality flickered madly in its compound eyes! Viscous, foul-smelling saliva dripped rhythmably from its serrated mouthparts.
The pupils of the three Stone Squad members contracted simultaneously! Their hearts felt as if squeezed by an invisible hand! But in the next moment, an even stronger, almost boiling fighting spirit erupted from their chests like a volcano! In their exchanged glances, there was no fear, only an extreme excitement at facing the ultimate challenge!
The Blade Mantis moved! The spring-loaded muscles of its hind legs instantly released! It didn't run, but rather sprang up from its spot like a phantom! Its massive body tore through the air, emitting a piercing shriek, and instantly covered dozens of meters! The two giant bone blades, like the scythes of death, with a tearing metallic howl, slashed downwards in a cross pattern towards Lín Fēng at the front! The speed was extreme!
"Scatter!" Lín Fēng roared! Lingbo Weibu was activated to its limit, his body like wisps of smoke scattered by a strong wind, rapidly retreating backward!
*Swish!*
Two fierce blade winds grazed his chest and face, silently slicing a half-person-tall black rock behind him into three pieces! The cuts were as smooth as a mirror!
The Blade Mantis missed its attack, a flicker of human-like surprise in its compound eyes, but its killing instinct made it instantly target the retreating Lín Fēng! Its massive bone wings suddenly spread, emitting high-frequency buzzing. Its colossal body used the force to take to the air, like a dive-bombing fighter jet, with the force of Mount Tai pressing down, the two bone blades tore through the air and hacked down! Before the blades even arrived, the terrifying sharpness of the airflow made Lín Fēng's breathing stagnate!
"Abomination! Watch my sword!" Lín Fēng's eyes were as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice. He advanced instead of retreating! His right hand pointed like a sword, and the formidable Nine Yin True Qi within him instantly compressed and erupted!
"Whoosh—!"
A solidified, greyish-white sword qi with an all-conquering sharpness capability shot out through the air! Six Pulse Divine Sword's Shao Shang Sword! The sword intent was powerful, grand, and open, directly aiming for the joint connecting the bone blades of the Blade Mantis as they crossed!
*Clang! Clang!*
Two deafening metallic clangs exploded almost simultaneously! Sparks flew!
The charging Blade Mantis's body suddenly froze! The terrifying impact of the Shao Shang Sword Qi made its massive body pause in mid-air for a moment. The sharp pain and numbness from its bone blades caused it to let out an angry roar! It was forcibly repelled by several meters!
"Good opportunity!" A sharp glint flashed in Lín Fēng's eyes. His left hand spread his five fingers and pointed again! This time it was the Six Pulse Divine Sword's Guan Chong Sword! The sword qi was ancient and heavy, with immense power, like an invisible giant pestle, it whistled through the air and fiercely struck the vulnerable connection point of the Blade Mantis's chest and abdomen armor, which had been exposed by the previous injury!
*Thwack!*
The Guan Chong Sword qi hit its mark precisely! The hard dark green bone armor on the Blade Mantis's chest and abdomen let out a teeth-grinding groan, instantly caving in over a large area. Fine cracks spread like a spiderweb! Dark green blood spurted from the cracks!
"Hiss-ga—!" The Blade Mantis let out an extremely pained and furious shriek! Its massive body was sent tumbling through the air by the heavy blow, crashing heavily to the ground, creating a shallow pit in the hard black rock! Dust billowed!
However, the Star Eater Beast's vitality was terrifyingly strong! This Guan Chong Sword strike, which was enough to heavily injure or even instantly kill a Stinger Scorpion Beast, had merely caused it moderate injuries! It struggled to get up, the brutality and killing intent in its compound eyes almost solidifying!
"Die!" Lín Fēng wouldn't give it a chance to breathe! He stomped his foot, his body lunging forward like an arrow loosed from a bow! Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms' Soaring Dragon Regrets! The most rigid and yang palm force was condensed in his right palm, the air around his palm was already distorted by the highly compressed internal energy! A faint phantom of a golden dragon roared within the palm wind!
"Roar—!"
Palm strikes, dragon's cry! With the domineering will to crush everything, it fiercely imprinted onto the Blade Mantis's skull, which was just raising!
"BOOM!!!"
Like a meteor hitting the earth! The terrifying roar shook the entire rocky ground! The shockwave spread out in a ring, kicking up dust and debris!
Lín Fēng felt an immense, irresistible counter-shock force, his entire right arm instantly went numb! He grunted, his body uncontrollably flying backward like a kite with a broken string, his back smashing hard against the trunk of a massive black tree that required two people to embrace!
*Crack! Boom!*
The sturdy giant tree was broken in half! Wood chips flew everywhere! Lín Fēng felt a sweetness in his throat, a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, his internal organs ached as if displaced! But his eyes remained sharp as knives, fixed intently on the center of the dust cloud.
In the dust, the Blade Mantis's head was deeply embedded in the ground by this palm strike! Its hard skull armor was covered in a spiderweb of cracks, and dark green blood gushed out from its mouthparts and cracks like a fountain! It let out a scream of extreme pain, its massive body writhing and struggling madly!
Just then, two figures cut into the battlefield like ghosts!
"Burn Gold Sever Jade!" Sū Mùxuě gave a clear shout! She circulated the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra to its extreme, her ethereal and subtle internal energy instantly injected into her dual-elemental core! Her left palm ignited with white-hot, orange-gold flames, and her right palm was covered in a condensed, solid, and extremely sharp greyish-white metallic luster! Under Left and Right Mutual Combat, the bizarre power of ice and fire in perfect fusion erupted! Her posture was like a fleeting swan, instantly appearing at the vulnerable joint of the Blade Mantis's neck, exposed by the injury to its head, and pressing down with both palms carrying the terrifying power to melt gold and sever all things!
*Hiss—! Sizzle—!*
Simultaneous, ear-piercing sounds of fire burning and metal cutting erupted! The hard bone armor under Sū Mùxuě's palms was like ice crystals dropped into a furnace, instantly melting and softening, then violently torn and penetrated by the incomparably sharp metallic force! The Yin and soft penetrating force unique to the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra surged into its body like an attached maggot, burning nerves and destroying organs!
"Aoo—!" The Blade Mantis's shriek instantly changed tone, filled with indescribable pain! Its massive body convulsed violently as if electrocuted. The part hit by Sū Mùxuě's palms had its bone armor completely shattered, revealing a charred and bloody wound inside, mixed with torn flesh. Dark green blood mixed with tissue fluid gushed out! The immense force sent its entire body flying backward, hurtling towards where Wáng Hào had ambushed!
"Get down, damn it!" Wáng Hào had been waiting for a long time! His eyes were bloodshot, Nine Yang Divine Skill roaring within his body, pushing his metal ability to its extreme! His entire right arm had turned dark gold, as if molten gold flowed beneath his skin, emitting terrifying high temperatures! He roared, like a giant spirit god leaping from magma, meeting the charging Blade Mantis, unleashing his accumulated power to the peak without reservation! The Nine Yang True Qi and metal abilities perfectly merged at the fist, transforming into a burning dark gold meteor!
"Nine Yang Molten Gold Break!"
*BOOM!!!*
The burning dark gold heavy fist fiercely smashed into the unprotected waist and abdomen joint of the Blade Mantis! That was the weak point previously torn by Sū Mùxuě and shaken by Lín Fēng's palm strike!
*Crack! Squish!*
A chilling sound of cracking bone and exploding internal organs simultaneously rang out! The Blade Mantis's massive body was hit like a press exerting ten thousand tons of water pressure, flying back even faster, crashing heavily back into the shallow pit where its head was embedded! The pit walls instantly expanded and deepened! Dust mixed with bloody chunks of dark green flesh shot into the sky! A shocking large hole appeared in its waist and abdomen, the edges charred and carbonized, with broken internal organs clearly visible inside!
The Blade Mantis lay in the deep pit, emitting intermittent hisses like a broken bellows, its eight limbs and bone wings twitching madly. Dark green blood poured out from various wounds like a stream. It was clearly in its death throes!
"Root it out!" Lín Fēng's cold voice was like the pronouncement of death! He had already appeared in the air above the deep pit at some unknown time! The total-skill of Dugu Nine Swords was circulated to its extreme. The core weak point on the Blade Mantis's head, created by the "Soaring Dragon Regrets" and covered in cracks, was as conspicuous as a lighthouse in the dark night under the setting sun!
He took a deep breath, the remaining Nine Yin True Qi in his body and the newly comprehended Six Pulse sword intent frantically condensed onto his right index finger! A blinding greyish-white sword light erupted from his fingertip!
"Zhong Chong Sword! Break!"
*Swoosh—!*
A greyish-white sword qi, condensed to the extreme, carrying the will to pierce the void, like a spear of judgment, tore through the air and accurately shot into the core of the fatal crack on the Blade Mantis's head!
As the sword qi entered its brain, it instantly erupted! Like ten thousand invisible blades churning madly within its skull!
The twitching of the Blade Mantis's massive body suddenly stopped! The last flicker of brutal light in its compound eyes completely extinguished, becoming hollow and dead. In the deep pit, only the faint sound of dark green blood flowing could be heard.
Silence.
A deathly silence descended upon the black rocky ground, which had been ravaged beyond recognition.
*Plop! Plop! Plop!*
Three figures collapsed to the ground almost simultaneously, their strength utterly depleted. Lín Fēng leaned against the broken tree stump, his chest heaving, bloodstains on his lips not yet dry, his right arm numb and unable to lift. Sū Mùxuě's face was as pale as paper, her hands trembling slightly, residual shock from burning and cutting marks on her palms. Wáng Hào fared the worst; he knelt on the ground, his right arm, which had performed "Nine Yang Molten Gold Break," hung limply, its skin surface covered in fine cracks like cracked porcelain, the dark gold light dimmed. Every breath brought burning pain and heavy gasps.
They looked at each other, seeing exhaustion from surviving a narrow escape, the hollowness of being spent, and... an indescribable sense of camaraderie and tacit understanding forged from traversing the gates of life and death together! The corners of their mouths involuntarily pulled into tired but exhilarating smiles.
"He... damn it all..." Wáng Hào panted, his voice hoarse, "This... this thing... was really damn hard..."
"We succeeded..." Sū Mùxuě's voice trembled slightly, but with more excitement.
Lín Fēng wiped the blood from his lips, struggled to stand, and walked to the edge of the deep pit. At the bottom, the colossal remains of the Blade Mantis emitted a strong smell of blood and char. His gaze swept over its head, and with a slight exhalation of sword qi from his fingertip, he pried open the shattered bone armor, extracting a crystal core no larger than a pigeon's egg, yet flowing with a deep blue-green metallic luster and emitting an astonishing sharp aura. It felt cold and heavy in his hand, as if containing countless tiny blades.
The Blade Mantis crystal core!
"Let's go... find a place... If we don't leave soon... the smell of blood might attract... more troublesome things..." Lín Fēng put away the crystal core, his voice hoarse.
The three supported each other, dragging their near-dead bodies, and in the last wisp of afterglow of the sun sinking into the purple poisonous mist, they staggered and disappeared into the rugged mountain shadows at the edge of the central area. They needed rest, they needed healing, they needed to digest the insights and improvements gained from this life-and-death battle.
Finally, beneath a narrow crevice in a steep cliff face, sheltered from the wind, they found a small space barely large enough for a few people to hide. Wáng Hào used his still-functional left hand to move several large rocks to block the entrance. Sū Mùxuě flicked a faint flame from her fingertip, igniting some dry moss inside the cave. The dim firelight dispelled the darkness in the small space, illuminating their battered but resolute faces.
No words were spoken. Leaning against the cold rock wall, the three sat down cross-legged and began circulating their respective cultivation techniques. Lín Fēng's Nine Yin Manual repaired the internal injuries from the shock; Sū Mùxuě's Jade Maiden Heart Sutra reconciled the agitation of her ice and fire dual-elemental abilities and nourished the wounds on her palms; Wáng Hào's Nine Yang Divine Skill acted like a furnace, striving to repair his almost crippled right arm, the dark gold light struggling to circulate beneath the skin cracks.
Outside the cave, the Tianyu Mountain Range was completely swallowed by darkness and thick fog. Beside the deep pit in the central area where the Blade Mantis had fallen, the dark green blood faintly gleamed in the night, like the brand of a demon. And within the faint firelight of this small crevice, three hearts, tempered through the ultimate trial, with long and weary breaths, were, amidst exhaustion and pain, nurturing even more astonishing strength.