Chapter 38 Mirage Beast

Although his Realm had only increased by one level, his strength had increased by much more than just ten or twenty percent.

With the Golden Light Incantation upgraded, this Divine Ability would normally require cultivation to reach the Xuanguang Realm before it could be raised to level three.

Furthermore, the Golden Light Divine Incantation itself is a top-tier Divine Ability, capable of killing enemies across higher Realms.

Now that Jiang Chen had upgraded it early, his strength was nearly comparable to the mid-to-Late Stages of the Xuanguang Realm.

Coupled with the Shangqing Image-Aspect Sword, a sword art and Divine Ability renowned purely for its killing power, Jiang Chen's strength was stronger, not weaker, than the average mid-to-Late Stage Xuanguang Realm cultivator.

Moreover, through this Golden Light Incantation, Jiang Chen had found that glimmer of spiritual light within himself; advancing to the Xuanguang Realm was now just a matter of accumulation.

Jiang Chen gripped the Dharma sword in his hand, feeling even more confident.

The further in he went, the more Jiang Chen felt a hint of dampness.

In these deep mountains, a little dampness was normal, but Jiang Chen now felt that this dampness was excessively heavy.

Until Jiang Chen saw a lake shimmering with rippling light appear not far away.

The gray fog here had almost dissipated, with only a few wisps lingering on the lake's surface.

And at this moment, Jiang Chen could feel that beneath this seemingly calm lake surface, a powerful Demonic Qi was hidden.

This Demonic Qi ebbed and flowed; clearly, it had reached a critical moment of Breakthrough.

It was constantly absorbing the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence and the essence of the sun and moon.

Furthermore, it was attempting to break through from the Mystic Light into the Life Wheel Realm. If it succeeded, even with his Dharma sword for protection, Jiang Chen might not be able to do anything about it.

Jiang Chen slowly drew his Dharma sword. The hilt was a brownish-red color. As the sword left its scabbard, a surge of crimson-gold Sword Qi immediately filled the air.

The Dharma sword hummed; clearly, having been used by several generations of high-ranking masters of Maoshan, it had already developed spirituality.

Although this was Jiang Chen's first time using a sword, he wielded it as if he had practiced thousands of times, easily controlling the Sword Qi.

The lake surface rippled slightly, as if the monster at the bottom had sensed some danger and began to stir uneasily.

Jiang Chen ignored it and swung his sword horizontally at the lake. A crimson-gold streak, like a crimson-gold waterfall, swept across the lake surface.

A three-zhang high giant wave was raised by the Sword Qi, and the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence and the essence of the sun and moon were directly cut off from the lake surface by this sword strike.

And as the lake water was churned up, Jiang Chen finally saw the true face of this monster.

It was actually a Dragon with imposing horns, a long, winding body five or six zhang long, covered in cyan scales, and possessing four claws!

A terrifying pressure, following the appearance of the dragon form, pressed down on Jiang Chen in wave after wave.

Jiang Chen's expression did not change. If it were truly a Dragon, he would likely be dead by now.

Any monster that carries the name "Dragon" rarely has a cultivation level below the Fourth Realm.

Although Jiang Chen felt a strong Demonic Qi from it, and this pressure was also very intense, it did not make him feel a mortal crisis.

This indicated that this "Dragon" was merely fierce in appearance but weak in reality, bluffing.

Combined with the previous illusions, Jiang Chen even boldly guessed that this was not a Dragon at all!

And indeed, that was the case. The "Dragon" spat dragon breath toward Jiang Chen.

Flames capable of burning everything emerged from the "Dragon's" throat and then rushed toward Jiang Chen at an extremely fast speed.

Jiang Chen held the sword in one hand and formed a seal with the other. He unleashed the Shangqing Image-Aspect Sword and the Golden Light Divine Incantation simultaneously; a golden light and a cyan streak flew out together.

They collided with the dragon breath, but unexpectedly, the dragon breath was shockingly fragile.

Even a single Golden Light Divine Incantation could contend with it, and combined with the extremely lethal Shangqing Image-Aspect Sword, the flame-like dragon breath was instantly forced back by the cyan and gold lights.

"Dragon" vertical pupils showed astonishment; clearly, it had not expected this human in front of it to be so strong.

Seeing the Golden Light Divine Incantation, wrapped in Sword Qi, rushing toward it, it could not dodge in time and had to dive headfirst into the water.

"Awoo!"

But it was still struck on the body by the Golden Light Incantation, emitting a shrill scream.

It did not sound like a dragon's roar, but rather like a beast's howl.

The lake surface surged with huge waves, and Jiang Chen caught a glimpse of the "Dragon's" true appearance.

He saw a monster shaped like a lizard, with bumps of various sizes on its head, and on each bump grew a pair of vertical pupils, constantly wagging its tail, trying to swim to the bottom of the lake.

"Mirage Beast!"

Jiang Chen understood at this moment; no wonder illusions were produced in the fog. It turned out that the master of this fog was actually a Mirage Beast skilled at creating illusions.

Presumably, those mountain goblins were also acting under the instructions of the Mirage Beast, constantly devouring human souls on its behalf.

It was just a pity that this time, it had encountered a tough nut to crack.

Seeing the Mirage Beast trying to escape, Jiang Chen held up his Dharma sword, forced a drop of essence blood from his index finger, and gently wiped it onto the Dharma sword.

This was a lethal move from the Shangqing Image-Aspect Sword; using one's own essence blood to trigger Karma and unleash power beyond the limit, to achieve the goal of killing the enemy in one blow.

Suddenly, the Dharma sword shone with intense crimson-gold, and an overwhelming pressure permeated the area, causing the gray fog within a hundred zhang radius to dissipate.

The Mirage Beast, which had been frantically fleeing toward the bottom of the lake, suddenly sensed something. An irresistible aura, like the might of Heaven, had locked onto it, and it seemed that no matter where it fled, it could not escape the lock of this power.

This made it even more terrified, and it couldn't help but blurt out:

"Daoist, this little monster is also a mountain-guarding monster of the Daoist sect; we are all Fellow Daoists! Please, Daoist, show mercy!"

Its voice was as hoarse as an old, broken bellows.

This monster's cultivation had reached the Late Stage of the Xuanguang Realm, only one step away from the Life Wheel Realm, so it had naturally long ago refined the transverse bone in its throat and could speak human language.

Jiang Chen sneered: "This Daoist will not be 'Fellow Daoist' with a monster that commits evil!"

"What Daoist sect dares to raise a Prodigy like you? If I find out, I will never let them off in the future!"

The Mirage Beast's eyes revealed despair, feeling that it could not escape its fate today.

Clearly, its cultivation was higher than that young Daoist on the shore, but its strength was inferior by more than just a little.

Especially its most adept illusion technique, which had been easily broken by that young Daoist.

However, with its life hanging by a thread and death imminent, the Mirage Beast did not forget what Jiang Chen had just said.

So, full of resentment, it roared hatefully: "The one who raised me is the Jingming Sect of Wanshou Palace; go entangle yourself with them!"

As its words fell, the Mirage Beast felt the pressure of the lake water behind it suddenly vanish, followed immediately by a blinding crimson-gold light piercing its eyelids.

"Chih!"

A sound like the sharpest blade tearing through leather rang out. The Mirage Beast's entire body was cleanly sliced in half by the crimson-gold Sword Qi, yet the power did not leak out much, only causing the surrounding water to ripple.

After killing the Mirage Beast, Jiang Chen suddenly narrowed his eyes and reached out, making a gesture.

A glowing green orb flew out from the Mirage Beast's brain and landed in Jiang Chen's hand.