Chapter 1291: Battling a Class 10 Xuanhuang Beast
Jian Chen hesitated over whether he should just charge up regardless of the consequences and take the Yin Hellstone or not. The stone was just far too important to him. It was one of the crucial materials he needed to forge the Azulet swords, so its value had already exceeded the Amethyst Spiritual Bamboo and Mortal Energy Fruit.
As he was hesitating, the ground began to shake rhythmically. Soon followed the appearance of a powerful presence. Just the presence was enough to make Jian Chen almost suffocate.
Shocked inside, Jian Chen carefully erased his presence and silently retreated, only stopping after he had reached a distance he believed to be safe. He was covered by foliage, so he could not see the Xuanhuang beast’s appearance, but he knew that it was definitely the beast that guarded the Mortal Energy Fruit and Amethyst Spiritual Bamboo.
Jian Chen did not retreat too far away. He was only around twenty kilometers from the Yin Hellstone. At such a distance, it would have been impossible to hide from an Origin realm expert, but it was a Xuanhuang beast who lacked any special abilities or intelligence. This was why Jian Chen was bold enough to hide at such a close distance.
Jian Chen silently climbed up a large tree like a snake and cast his gaze out. He saw an elephant-like Xuanhuang beast walking over from afar, traveling toward the Mortal Energy Fruit and Amethyst Spiritual Bamboo. It was extremely large, over thirty meters tall. It possessed two horns but no tusks or a trunk. Its mouth was triangular, revealing three sets of sharp teeth while its eyes glinted with a cold light.
“This should be the Class 10 Xuanhuang beast that guards this place. Its strength has already reached late or even peak Heavenly Immortal, which is far more powerful than the python I came across a few days ago,” Jian Chen silently observed the Xuanhuang beast from the tree. Although it was very far away, he stood at a higher altitude, so he could see past many obstructions and observe everything going on around the Xuanhuang beast.
Jian Chen discovered that Xuanhuang beast was crouching beside the Human Energy Fruit and was sucking in. A visible strand of surging energy was siphoned away from the tree and into its mouth. Meanwhile, the beast was covered with countless wounds of different sizes. Every single one of them was terrifying and extremely deep. There were even quite a few large wounds on its head.
“This Xuanhuang beast has just revently experienced a battle and is heavily injured!” Jian Chen’s eyes immediately lit up when he saw this. If the Xuanhuang beast was heavily injured, it was impossible for its strength to be at its peak condition. The Xuanhuang beast was a late or even peak Heavenly Immortal, but it was not in tip-top shape. Coupled with the many vicious wounds on its body, he could use them as entry point to damage its insides.
Other than the fact that its strength was on par with Origin realm experts, Class 10 Xuanhuang beasts also possessed the advantage of a tough body. Under ordinary circumstances, only experts at the same level as them could get through their defenses and, hence, inflict damage. However, once this advantage was gone, even existences weaker than it could deal damage.
The flames of hope were ignited within Jian Chen after seeing how injured the Xuanhuang beast was. At that moment, an extremely bold idea filled his head: he would slay the Xuanhuang beast.
“With my current strength, killing this Xuanhuang beast will possess a certain amount of difficulty,” Jian Chen estimated his strength against the Xuanhuang beast. He frowned again. He had already reached a conclusion that even if it was heavily injured, killing the Xuanhuang beast with his current strength would be extremely difficult or even impossible.
At this moment, Jian Chen’s face jerked before his expression was replaced by serendipity. He immediately got off the tree and retreated another several dozen kilometers, only stopping after he had arrived at the foot of the elemental mountains. With a thought, the saint artifact flew out from the center of his eyebrows and radiated a dazzling light. With a flash, Tie Ta appeared beside him as a three-meter-tall giant.
Not only was Tie Ta’s presence even more powerful than before, even his skin had become resplendent. He shone with endless amounts of golden light and seemed extremely similar to a golden giant.
“Jian Chen, I should be able to deal with Class 9 Xuanhuang beasts now, which is why I’ve come out. I’ll kill Class 9 Xuanhuang beasts with you, so we can obtain even more Class 9 Monster Cores,” Tie Ta said with his deep voice, directly referring the energy crystals within Xuanhuang beasts as monster cores.
Jian Chen celebrated inside as well when he sensed how confident Tie Ta was. He was about to lay his hands on an injured Class 10 Xuanhuang beast and was worried that he was not strong enough. He did not think that Tie Ta would emerge from seclusion right now and make up for his lack of power.
Although Tie Ta still had not become a Saint Emperor, he had increased his strength to the Eighth Heavenly Layer of Saint King after this period of cultivation. Coupled with his Mysteries of War, he could easily kill Class 9 Xuanhuang beasts, and he would even be able to battle a heavily-injured Class 10 Xuanhuang beast.
“Tie Ta, there’s an extremely heavily-injured Class 10 Xuanhuang beast up ahead, and it’s guarding two extremely valuable heavenly resources as well as a material extremely important to me. I need to obtain it no matter what. Do you think you can slay it with me?” Jian Chen said to Tie Ta as battle intent burned within his eyes.
Tie Ta’s eyes lit up as he stared at Jian Chen in interest. He said with a burning desire, “A Class 10 Xuanhuang beast? Isn’t that an existence that has surpassed Saint Emperor? If we kill it, doesn’t that mean a Class 10 Monster Core?” Although Tie Ta’s strength was rather extraordinary now, his knowledge was still very limited. Let alone a Class 10 Monster Core, even Class 9 Monster Cores were something that only appeared in legends to him. Only when he came to the Xuanhuang Microcosm did he actually see a Class 9 Monster Core, and it was not even a true monster core but the energy crystal formed within a Class 9 Xuanhuang beast.
“Correct,” Jian Chen firmly nodded.
“Jian Chen, I’ll listen to you. If you think we can defeat it together, then let’s fight this Class 10 Xuanhuang beast. If we can kill it, then let’s kill it,” Tie Ta replied immediately. He knew that he was not as good at coming up with plans as Jian Chen, so he gave all the authority to Jian Chen. Afterward, he excitedly rubbed his hands together and murmured, “A Class 10 Monster Core. I’ve never heard of one on the Tian Yuan Continent. I wonder how much it’s worth.”
Jian Chen shook his head inside and bitterly smiled when he heard what Tie Ta had mumbled. Only an extremely limited number of Class 7 Monster Cores would appear in some large auctions. Class 8 and 9 Monster Cores would never surface on the market, let alone a Class 10 one.
“Tie Ta, this Xuanhuang beast is already heavily injured. It’s strength has been greatly reduced, so we need to move as soon as possible. Otherwise, it’ll recover a little if we give it some time, and it’ll become even more difficult to deal with. Let’s discuss the plan to deal with it,” Jian Chen quickly explained a method to kill the Xuanhuang beast to Tie Ta. Facing a Class 10 Xuanhuang beast head-on would not work.
The elephant-like Xuanhuang beast weakly lay on the ground beside the Mortal Energy Fruit Tree and constantly absorbed the energy from the tree. It was dispirited and seemed sick, clearly its injures were very bad.
Suddenly, it snapped its eyes open. Even though its gaze was filled with exhaustion, it was still extremely sharp. It glared around before producing a deafening roar. It struggled to stand, finding enough strength was difficult.
With a flash of dazzling, golden light, Tie Ta used his Celestial Movement to appear before the Class 10 Xuanhuang beast as if he had teleported. He shone brightly as supreme battle intent radiated from him. Most of it had condensed within the giant axe above his head.
“Mysteries of War, Destruction!” Tie Ta bellowed as the axe above him began to shine with a dazzling glow. He swung it at the deepest wound on the Xuanhuang beast’s head with lightning-like speed.
Spurt! Blood was thrown into the air. Tie Ta’s blow had caused the vicious wound on the Xuanhuang beast’s head to become even larger. It was so painful that the Xuanhuang beast wailed out loud.
At this moment, the Xuanhuang beast had finally managed to stand up. It immediately raised one of its thick legs to stomp Tie Ta. The bottom of its foot flickered with an earthen-yellow light. It encased a region that was three meters wide, which Tie Ta just happened to be in.
Tie Ta immediately felt his body grow heavy as his feet sank into the ground. He felt like the weight of his body had suddenly increased countless times. Just lifting an arm would require over a dozen times more energy than usual, making his movements extraordinarily slow.
“Mysteries of War, Celestial Movement!” Tie Ta yelled as he used his technique to break free from the encased region. His body immediately lightened up once he made it away because the pressure that the Xuanhuang beast had created vanished.
Boom! At the same time, the Xuanhuang beast’s leg landed heavily on the ground. The leg that seemed to way several tons fail to create a deep pit and even failed to leave a single mark on the ground. However, the entire mountain violently shook violently with a loud noise.
Tie Ta became extremely stern. He knew that the stomp from the Xuanhuang beast was not as simple as it had seemed. It possessed its own secrets. If he had been hit by the foot, he would have been smashed to a pulp even his war god body.
Hiss! Hiss! Suddenly, the Xuanhuang beast’s horns produced a streak of electric-blue light. The two streams of light criss-crossed and suddenly shot toward Tie Ta, moving extremely quick.