The Black Market and the School of the Martial Market had long been enemies. If Lang Xin released the heretics of the Black Market who were currently being locked up in Chikong Secret Mansion, it would be a disaster for the students who had entered the Mansion.
It was also unfavorable for Zhang Ruochen.
“I have to kill Lang Xin. If he releases the warriors of the Black Market into the Mansion, I’ll be unable to stand upright in Chikong Secret Mansion.”
Zhang Ruochen walked out from the internal space of the Time and Space Spinel and summoned for Blackie.
Blackie’s body was as big as a lion with a huge waist and legs. His stomach was plump, and his eyes were as massive as bowls. The pair of black wings on his back could extend to eight meters long if he expanded them.
“Blackie, I’ll follow behind Lang Xin while you stay here and wait for senior sister apprentice Duanmu. If she enters Chikong Secret Mansion, tell her to meet me at Magma Valley and help me out,” said Zhang Ruochen.
Blackie responded, “Wait… he is a master at the Initial Stage of the Earth Realm. If you chase after him, isn’t that seeking death?”
“If he sets the heretics of the Black Market free, it will be a catastrophe.” Zhang Ruochen looked determined. Once he made a decision, he would not change his mind.
Blackie nodded and said, “Okay, but please be very careful! This place is strange. I can sense the breathing of powerful savage beasts. Don’t you dare die and drag me down in such a mysterious place! I don’t want to die here!”
Zhang Ruochen released the Space Domain and immediately disappeared from where he stood.
Yet, Zhang Ruochen did not actually disappear. Instead, he generated the power of the Space Domain and distorted the space surrounding his body, thus forming a blind spot of vision.
Since Zhang Ruochen had mastered the Space Domain, he was confident and brave enough to follow behind Lang Xin. Even though he was not yet a strong opponent for Lang Xin, at least he was certain that he could escape from him if he got caught.
Following the trace that Lang Xin had left, Zhang Ruochen walked toward the depths of Chikong Secret Mansion carefully step by step.
Chikong Secret Mansion was located deep underground in the nest of the Four-winged Earth Dragon. It occupied a relatively large amount of space below the surface.
On the way to the underground, Zhang Ruochen had noticed that there were both human and beast bones along the way and that some remnants had been thrust into the bones.
After chasing for 5 kilometres, Zhang Ruochen finally found the figure of Lang Xin.
Lang Xin was walking down the stone stairs carefully as there was turbulent magma beside him.
Suddenly, the sound of a hurricane broke out just as Zhang Ruochen was about to reach him.
“Phfff!”
A strong, gusting, crimson heat wave blew from the depth of the Mansion.
Zhang Ruochen quickly stuck the Snow Dragon Sword into the ground in order to stabilize his body. He utilized the power of the Space Domain to reduce the wind power of the heat wave.
The forceful wind power caused the stone wall near Zhang Ruochen to crack a finger-sized breach.
“Crack! Crack!”
The breach continued to expand to one meter wide in the end.
“Awoo!”
The deafening sound of a howling beast came from the crevice.
A tentacle more than 10 meters long covered with dark carapaces darted out from the crevice. It wrapped Zhang Ruochen’s body tightly and dragged him over.
Zhang Ruochen’s arm was completely bound. He could only grab and swing the sword upward with his fingers.
“Boom!”
He pierced through the black tentacle with the Snow Dragon Sword, a seventh-class Genuine Martial Arm. It sparked but did not break the carapace.
Then, the tentacle generated a forceful power and dragged Zhang Ruochen to the edge of the crevice. He thrust one leg into the stone wall, stabilized his body, and supported himself from being pulled over.
“What kind of savage beast is this? Just one of its tentacles displays such forceful power. If it drags me to the crevice, I’ll be a dead man!”
Hearing footsteps, Zhang Ruochen turned and saw Lang Xin walking towards him.
Lang Xin stared sternly at Zhang Ruochen, who was bound tightly by the black tentacle and could not move an inch. He sneered. “Zhang Ruochen, there’s a way to reach heaven and yet, you decide to break into the underworld. Time to go to hell!”
He pulled out his blade and swung towards Zhang Ruochen’s neck.
Zhang Ruochen then generated the power of the space warp and switched the direction of the blade. The flying green blade glided right next to Zhang Ruochen’s face and hit the black tentacle.
“Clash!” The blade pierced three inches deep and became embedded in the tentacle.
The reason Zhang Ruochen’s Snow Dragon Sword had failed to pierce through the tentacle was that his arms had been restrained and he was unable to utilize the power of his body, and could only use the power of five his five fingers.
Without sufficient power, the force was not enough to penetrate the carapace.
Not only had the flying green blade obtained a powerful force but it also had a high speed. He had only harmed its antenna.
The monster hiding in between the crevice let out a loud screaming noise after suffering from great pain. The thick stone wall had been shattered hard and the breach was even wider.
“Waaa!”
A second tentacle appeared from the crevice and whipped Lang Xin. Its powerful force knocked him far away out. Fortunately, his arms warded off the tentacle. He used a sixth-class Genuine Martial Arm arm-shield to hold off most of its power.
Otherwise, the attack could have battered him brutally and caused serious injury.
“What kind of monster is this?” Lang Xin looked at his arms where the blood was flooding out and stared at the widened stone wall in shock.
He was even stronger than the masters at the Mid Stage of the Earth Realm with his current ability. Yet, he had been whipped by a tentacle and was seriously injured. It indicated clearly how powerful the monster hiding in the stone wall was.
Lang Xin went out of focus for a second, and the third tentacle flew out from the crevice. It wrapped him up and dragged him over the crevice.
He instantly transferred his Genuine Qi into his arm shield and activated the Inscription of Fire Series.
His arms were burning. There was a glowing red light that emitted from the shield’s surface. The tentacle started loosening up.
“Slap!”
Another tentacle appeared and lashed the top of his head. Fresh blood dripped down all over his face. His cheekbones were broken, his mouth was bleeding profusely, and his teeth were spewing out.
The tentacle smacked him again and cracked his skull, which split open, and his head was badly mutilated.
Lang Xin was struggling to get rid of the tentacle and suddenly, the splendor shining on the shield went out and turned gloomy.
When Zhang Ruochen saw how badly Lang Xin had been knocked down, he let out a long gasp. If he did not find a way to escape from the tentacle, his situation would be even worse.
The two tentacles dragged the dead body of Lang Xin into the crevice.
Then, there was a chewing sound “Baji, Baji!” from the crevice.
How pathetic it was that a Martial Arts master of the Earth Realm had become monster food in merely a moment.
Zhang Ruochen was scared. Cold sweat covered his forehead. Lang Xin was dead, and he was afraid that he would become the monster’s next meal.
“I’ve got it!” An idea suddenly flashed in Zhang Ruochen’s mind.
He quickly activated his Genuine Qi and transferred into the Time and Space Spinel in order to open up its internal space.
“Waaa!”
The white light of the Time and Space Spinel flashed and drew Zhang Ruochen into the internal space.
Outside of the Time and Space Spinel, the body of Zhang Ruochen disappeared from the hand of the black tentacle swiftly, leaving a White Spinel behind on the ground.
When the White Spinel touched the ground, Zhang Ruochen jumped out from the Spinel, picked it up, and ran towards the exit as fast as he could.
“Awoo!”
The monster in between the crevice roared loudly when it discovered that he was getting away. It quickly stretched out three tentacles and attacked towards Zhang Ruochen.
Since Zhang Ruochen had already been tied up once, he was cautious this time. As the three tentacles extended out, Zhang Ruochen turned into four shadows, appearing in four different directions. He shuffled in between the breach of the tentacle and got away.
“I’m going to chop you off!”
Zhang Ruochen thrust against the ground and jumped up high. He activated the inscription carved on the Snow Dragon Sword and swung towards the tentacles with both hands.
“Pfff!”
Zhang Ruochen cut off a two-meter-long black tentacle. It fell to the ground.
The monster was frightened. It groaned thunderously and retreated its three tentacles back into the crevice.
“Boom!”
All of a sudden, a thunderous rumble burst out from inside the crevice. Tiny crackles appeared on the stone wall.
“Oh god! If that stone wall is broken down, the monster will no doubt kill me!”Zhang Ruochen turned around and escaped at once. Suddenly, he noticed that there was a fragmentary savage beast graph on the ground.
Such a savage beast graph had likely fallen out of Lang Xin’s sleeves.
Zhang Ruochen picked it up and rushed down the stone stairs towards the magma river and fled far away.
“Boom!”
The 80-meter-high stone wall had fallen down and produced a deafening crackling sound as if the mountains were falling and the earth was splitting apart.
A massive black monster clambered out from the stone wall and began to run in the direction where Zhang Ruochen had escaped.
The monster was more than 30 meters tall and covered with a thick carapace all over its body. It had eight tentacles that were more than 50 meters long each. It crawled towards Zhang Ruochen rapidly at a shockingly high speed.
“This savage beast was probably born underground. It is at least a third-class medium-level or superior-class savage beast.”
According to Zhang Ruochen’s observations, the fighting force of this monster had reached at least the Advanced Stage of the Earth Realm, or possibly even higher.
“The Wings of Wind.”
Struggling to escape from the monster, Zhang Rouchen suddenly remembered the Wings of Wind. He instantly injected Genuine Qi into them. The wings transformed from two pieces of a palm-sized iron wing to metallic filaments. They started flowing from his arms and condensed up to his back where two splendid wings were formed.
With his Genuine Qi revolving, Zhang Ruochen sprinted out at 100 meters per second as if he had turned into a striking arrow.
The black monster was just as fast as Zhang Ruochen. It was trailing closely behind him. It roared aggressively while spewing out green bile.
The road in front of him was sealed by a colossal architectural stone door.
The beam on the door had a carved inscription: “Magma Purgatory”!
The inscription was incomplete as it was weathered due to disintegration from the ages.
“There’s no other way to go!” Zhang Ruochen’s countenance changed.
To the left of the stone door was an amber magma river flowing down while a dense stone wall stood on the right.
Zhang Ruochen stopped under the archway and thought, “Is this the prison where they locked up the assassins of the Black Market?”
Zhang Ruochen wondered whether he should release the assassins in order to be shielded from the black monster.
Unfortunately, the colossal door was sealed. He could not open the door if he did not know how to dispel the seal.
“Awoo!”
The black monster noticed in the distance that Zhang Ruochen’s pathway had been sealed off by the stone door. Adrenaline coursed through its body in excitement, granting it extra speed. It was rapidly gaining upon Zhang Ruochen. The monster was eagerly anticipating devouring its victim as Zhang Ruochen had nowhere to escape to.