218: Chapter 218 The Sword Draws from the Dragon's Lair

The surroundings were silent.

And at this moment, accompanying Li Taiping's breathing, a very faint power settled into his body.

A warm current swept through; it was his body itself growing stronger.

Muscles, bones, blood, perception—everything was slowly improving.

Although the extent of the improvement was not large, its advantage lay in being extremely stable.

Li Taiping breathed again.

His strength continued to grow.

His eyes brightened.

"Breathing makes me stronger..."

"This name is a bit too straightforward, isn't it?"

"But I like it."

Previously, he had eaten over a dozen spiritual fruits containing faint spiritual power, but his life level had been stuck at the peak of a mortal, unable to break through no matter what.

Now, just by standing there and taking a few breaths.

That membrane that had been obstructing him loosened.

Pop~

A very light sound.

The Qi and blood within Li Taiping suddenly surged, and his perception expanded outward.

He heard insects crawling within the bone crevices at the bottom of the river.

He heard a black bird cracking a fruit pit on a distant branch.

He also heard the young girl's steady heartbeat.

He had officially stepped into the good grade life form.

Although it was only the early stage of good grade, the significance was different.

The transition from mortal to transcendent is a threshold.

Once past this door, there would be much more he could mobilize.

Ding——.

[Life level promotion detected for host.]

[Unlock Talent sequence selection.]

[Currently available Talent unlocks: Sequence 1 treasure basin, Sequence 3 Immunity to All Poisons, Sequence 5 Mecha War God, Sequence 6 Bestialization... Sequence 8 Space Control, Sequence 9 Ingenious Craftsmanship, Sequence 11 Replication, Sequence 15 Exquisite Pagoda.]

Li Taiping looked at the prompt, his lips slowly curling upward.

It's here, it's finally here!!!

This is what you call a dungeon, this is what you call pacing.

What was that before? Everything sealed, how stifling was that?

Li Taiping did not rush to choose.

He scanned the River Beach.

Old God remains, black tide residue, the unconscious young girl, and something that was about to approach.

Right!

Something is coming!

A rustling sound echoed in the forest.

The muddy water churned as polluted beasts crawled out from behind the trees.

Their eyes were pitch black, bone spurs turned outward, and black liquid flowed from their mouths.

At the very front was a three-meter-tall black-scaled giant ape.

On its shoulder grew half a human face, and that human face was smiling.

"Outsider... leave her behind..."

The surrounding polluted beasts growled lowly, slowly tightening the encirclement.

If it were a minute ago, Li Taiping might have weighed the stamina consumption.

But now.

He didn't even raise his eyelids.

Without any surprises, Li Taiping didn't waste any words, twisting the branch in his hand into a sword flourish.

The Qi and blood of a good grade life form surged within his body; that invisible shackle had already been broken.

Strength, speed, perception—all elevated in every aspect.

Xia Zhi's Swordsmanship Mastery now had room to be displayed and unleashed.

Swish!

Li Taiping took a step, and the black mud beneath his feet exploded.

His entire body turned into an afterimage, crashing directly into the herd of beasts.

The branch swept horizontally.

There were no flashy moves, only extreme speed and absolute strikes.

Sword Qi like a dragon!

A white arc of light suddenly lit up on the dim River Beach, tearing through the pervasive black mist.

The few bone wolves at the very front didn't even manage to scream before their bodies were severed in two mid-air.

Black blood sprayed, and before it even hit the ground, Li Taiping had already reached the giant ape.

The smile on the human face on the giant ape's shoulder froze, and it let out a terrified shriek.

It raised its thick, sturdy arm, attempting to block.

Too late!

The branch flicked upward from below.

Sword Qi erupted from the tip of the branch, directly slicing open the giant ape's chest and taking advantage of the momentum to split that human face in two.

Boom!

The massive three-meter-tall body collapsed with a crash, smashing into the muddy water and splashing up a large amount of spray.

Seeing this, the remaining polluted beasts flashed a trace of instinctive fear in their eyes and wanted to retreat.

Li Taiping did not stop.

His figure spun continuously, his sword light weaving into a net.

Ten seconds.

Only ten seconds.

The River Beach returned to deathly silence.

The ground was covered with incomplete corpses, black liquid flowed everywhere, and a pungent, fishy stench permeated the air.