29: Behemoth Deathmatch

Putting the blood-stained secret order into his Storage Pouch, Lu Yuan did not linger.

His figure merged into the deep darkness of the night.

Like a drop of ink quietly falling into a black river, he quickly disappeared at the edge of Danyang City.

He had to leave immediately.

The Blood Fiend Sect's strange movements, the sudden appearance of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, and the early arrival of Ye Chen, the "Heavenly Dao's Favored One," had made the waters of Danyang City unprecedentedly murky.

The emergence of the nine revolutions soul returning grass was twisting this place into a massive storm's eye.

And he had to complete his most crucial transformation before the storm was at its fiercest... Black Water Marsh.

A dead land covered in gray mist year-round, located a hundred miles outside Danyang City.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of plants decaying for thousands of years, mixed with a faint, sweet, cloying scent—the deadly allure of highly toxic substances.

The mud beneath his feet occasionally bubbled up with turbid, head-sized air bubbles.

"Gurgle."

As a bubble burst, a thicker miasma rose, and an ordinary Qi Refining cultivator inhaling even a breath would suffer organ rot.

Lu Yuan's figure appeared behind a dead giant tree at the edge of the marsh.

He didn't rush in but opened the Exchange's map, meticulously comparing the current terrain with the markings on the light screen, precise down to every oddly shaped rock.

Half an hour later, he finally found the perfect observation point marked by the Exchange.

It was a rock crevice halfway up the mountain, with an entrance so narrow that only one person could squeeze through sideways, but inside was a dry, natural stone cave.

This position offered a panoramic view of a large, open black water area below.

That was precisely where the Ink Jade Profound Serpent's lair was located.

He skillfully took out a High Grade Concealment Formation Plate he had acquired from Chen Changqing, and upon activation, an invisible wave enveloped the stone cave, completely isolating all his Aura from the outside world.

Having completed all this, Lu Yuan sat down cross-legged.

Eyes gazing at his nose, nose at his heart.

His entire being became like a lifeless rock, falling into extreme silence, merging with the surrounding environment.

He was waiting.

Waiting for a bloody performance he had already bought, one that was bound to happen.

Time flowed in the dead silence.

One day.

Two days.

At dusk on the third day, an anomaly suddenly occurred.

The Black Water Marsh, which had been calm all along, began to shake violently without warning.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Heavy impacts, like ancient war drums, approached from afar; each one made the stone cave where Lu Yuan was hiding rattle, and gravel slid down.

Lu Yuan's eyes snapped open, clearly reflecting the scene of the water area below.

In the dense forest on the west side of the marsh, a giant toad, its size comparable to a three-story building, was advancing with thunderous leaps.

The toad was dark gold all over, its skin covered with fist-sized pustules; with each leap, dark green venom splattered from the pustules, corroding the ground into smoking pits.

In the center of its forehead, a scarlet vertical eye opened and closed, exuding pure savagery and greed.

Three-Eyed Golden Toad.

A High Grade second-tier Yao Beast, naturally fond of water, it most enjoyed devouring the inner cores and essences of water-attributed Yao Beasts.

"Croak--!"

An earth-shattering croak, its sound waves transforming into tangible ripples, caused countless splashes to erupt across the entire water area below.

The Three-Eyed Golden Toad's target was clear: the center of the black water area.

The next moment, from beneath the water, a bone-chilling will of anger surged skyward.

Splash!

The calm black water surface suddenly burst open, and a hideous, giant serpent's head broke through the water.

The serpent's head was entirely covered in ink-jade-like black scales, reflecting a cold, hard metallic sheen under the dim twilight. Its two lantern-sized serpent eyes were pure amber, devoid of emotion, holding only absolute killing intent for intruders.

The overlord of this place, the Ink Jade Profound Serpent.

"Hiss--"

Amidst a sharp hiss, the Ink Jade Profound Serpent's massive body, nearly a hundred zhang long, fully emerged from the water, stirring up colossal waves.

A predetermined death match erupted!

The Three-Eyed Golden Toad attacked first; the vertical eye on its forehead glowed intensely, and a crimson beam of light, solid as blood crystal, tore through the air and shot out.

The Ink Jade Profound Serpent twisted its body, its massive form avoiding the beam with incredible agility. The beam struck a distant mountain wall, directly melting half a mountain peak into scorching lava.

While avoiding the attack, the Profound Serpent opened its mouth and spewed out a thick black poisonous mist.

The poisonous mist did not scatter but condensed into a giant black spear, carrying a terrifying Aura that corroded all things, piercing through the Void Realm and striking directly at the Golden Toad.

Two giant beasts, comparable to those in the Late Foundation Establishment Stage, engaged in the most primitive and bloody struggle in the small marsh.

Water arrows whistled.

Venom flowed freely.

Physical Body collisions.

Each clash unleashed terrifying energy aftershocks, turning an area of several miles into a purgatory.

Lu Yuan, in the rock crevice, felt the intense vibrations constantly coming from beneath his feet, and his heart constricted with them.

He saw clearly that if he were on the battlefield at this moment, any aftershock would be enough to tear him to shreds.

This was the cruelty of the cultivation world.

In the face of absolute power, any scheme seemed pale.

But what he traded for was not the process, but the outcome.

The battle lasted a full two hours.

As night completely fell, the movements of both giant beasts had become sluggish and heavy.

One of the Three-Eyed Golden Toad's hind legs was bitten off by the Profound Serpent's venomous fangs; the wound was charred black, and the flesh had already turned to pus.

And on the Ink Jade Profound Serpent's back, several blood holes, clear through and through, had been pierced by the Golden Toad's red light; large patches of ink-colored scales had fallen off, and its Aura was extremely weak.

Both suffered heavy losses.

The time had come.

Lu Yuan's eyes flashed with a sharp gleam, and his mind stirred slightly.

【Activate option: Cave entrance Restriction temporarily disabled.】

He silently slipped out of the crevice, like a true ghost, clinging to the shadows of the mountain wall, rapidly sneaking towards the Profound Serpent's cave.

The cave entrance was behind a small waterfall, originally covered by a natural water-attributed Restriction.

But at this moment, that layer of aqua-blue light had dimmed, and a gap, just wide enough for one person to pass through, appeared.

Lu Yuan did not hesitate and flashed inside.

The cave was dark and damp, but deep inside, it exuded a pure Aura that could cleanse the Divine Soul.

He followed the Aura and soon found his target in a small stone pool.

immaculate spring.

The spring water was crystal clear, without Impurities.

Wisps of white spiritual mist, visible to the naked eye, rose from the spring's eye; just inhaling a breath replenished Lu Yuan's depleted Divine Sense.

Lu Yuan suppressed his inner excitement, quickly took out a jade bottle, and began to collect the spring water.

One bottle.

Two bottles.

After filling three bottles, he paused.

According to the perfect Dao Foundation plan provided by the Exchange, three bottles were already sufficient.

But his gaze fell on the spring's eye, which was still continuously gushing water, and a thought arose irresistibly.

For such a Heaven And Earth Treasure, having an extra portion was both an investment for the future and a hedge against risk.

Risk and reward were rapidly calculated in his mind.

After just one breath, he made his decision.

He extended the jade bottle towards the spring's eye again.

Just as he was collecting the fourth bottle of spring water, the moment the bottle's mouth touched the water surface, the frequency of the spring's surging became extremely subtly chaotic.

The Aura of the spring water also fluctuated for an instant because of this.

Outside the cave, the Ink Jade Profound Serpent, lying dying in the mud, its amber serpent eyes suddenly burst open!

That was an alarm originating from Bloodline instinct, the furious rage of its lair being invaded.

Its supreme treasure had been stolen!

"Hiss—!!!"

A roar filled with endless rage and unwillingness echoed throughout the marsh.

The Ink Jade Profound Serpent abandoned its mortal enemy, frantically turned its serpent head, and dragged its heavily injured body, rushing towards its cave with unprecedented speed.

The insane Aura of mutual destruction, even from hundreds of meters away, made the hairs on Lu Yuan's back stand on end.

He put the filled jade bottles into his Storage Pouch, turned, and ran.

But it was still a step too late.

Boom!

The giant serpent's head smashed through the rock wall of the cave entrance, and with an Aura of destroying everything, it bit at Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan shook his arms, unleashing all his defensive Talismans and Magical Artifacts at once, holding nothing back.

Golden Light Shield!

Earth Wall Talisman!

Profound Water Shield!

More than a dozen rays of light lit up, forming a layered, luminous barrier behind him.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Under the Ink Jade Profound Serpent's insane strike, burning its Life Origin, those dozen rays of light shattered in response.

The Golden Light Shield lasted only one breath.

The Earth Wall Talisman turned to dust.

The Profound Water Shield directly evaporated.

The last impact slammed heavily into Lu Yuan's back.

Pfft!

Lu Yuan spat out a large mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, and the bones in his entire back emitted a grating, shattering sound.

Using this violent impact, he did not stop for a moment, pushing his last Divine Movement Talisman to its limit, and fled out of the marsh without looking back.

Behind him, the Ink Jade Profound Serpent's unwilling roar echoed in the pitch-black night.

That sound was filled with bone-deep malice.