Free Web NovelChapter 324: Crossing the Sunset Cloud Mountain Range
The campfire burned quietly in the night, its orange-red glow illuminating Fang Hao’s calm face.
The brief battle just now had not stirred up much of a ripple in his heart.
The path of immortality cultivation was inherently one of the strong preying on the weak; killing people and seizing treasures was a common occurrence, and since the other party had actively sought death, he naturally would not show mercy.
He put away the several Storage Pouches without checking them immediately, instead continuing to close his eyes and regulate his breath, while his Divine Sense remained shrouded over the surrounding range of several hundred zhang, vigilant against other potential dangers.
Deep within the Sunset Cloud Mountain Range, there were faint traces of a few powerful Demon Beast auras, but they did not seem to have been disturbed by the battle just now and remained asleep in their respective territories.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, at the first light of dawn, Fang Hao dismantled the Formation and summoned the silver light shuttle again, transforming into a streak of silver light as he continued to fly deeper into the Sunset Cloud Mountain Range.
As he went deeper, the vegetation in the mountains became increasingly dense; towering ancient trees blocked the sky, vines hung down like curtains, and the air was filled with rich plant Spiritual Qi and a faint scent of Demon Beast Demonic Qi.
Fang Hao controlled the flying shuttle, carefully avoiding areas with powerful auras and trying his best to choose relatively safe routes to move forward.
After flying for about an hour, a relatively open valley appeared ahead.
The valley was filled with swirling Spiritual Qi, and a few Spiritual Plants emitting faint spiritual light were vaguely visible, clearly of a high age.
Fang Hao swept his Divine Sense over it, and not finding the aura of any guarding Demon Beast, he controlled the silver light shuttle to land slowly.
"Purple Veined Ginseng, jade marrow ganoderma... these are all good Spiritual Plants."
Fang Hao’s gaze swept over those few Spiritual Plants; their quality had all reached the third rank, and they were quite valuable.
He did not pick them immediately, but instead carefully investigated the surroundings first, and only after confirming there was no danger did he carefully dig the Spiritual Plants out by the roots and place them in jade boxes for preservation.
Just as he was preparing to leave, suddenly, his Divine Sense jolted; he captured an extremely obscure yet heart-palpitating aura of pressure from deep within the valley, which was slowly awakening!
"A Fourth-Rank Demonic Beast?!"
Fang Hao’s expression changed slightly, and he immediately realized something was wrong.
This valley looked calm, but it was actually the lair of a powerful Demon Beast!
His picking just now had likely disturbed this sleeping Demon Beast!
He did not dare to delay and immediately controlled the silver light shuttle, preparing to ascend and escape.
But just at this moment—
Roar—!!!
A heaven-shaking roar came from deep within the valley!
Immediately following that, a violent, ferocious, and intense earth-attribute Demonic Qi pressure swept through the entire valley like a volcanic eruption!
The ground trembled violently, gravel flew everywhere, and a massive figure like a small mountain slowly stood up from deep within the valley!
It was a giant beast over ten zhang long, its entire body covered in dark yellow scales, with a single horn on its head!
The giant beast’s eyes were crimson, emitting a heart-palpitating, ferocious light, and its massive body radiated terrifying pressure; it was clearly a Fourth-Rank Middle Stage "Earth Dragon Beast"!
The Earth Dragon Beast possessed a faint Bloodline of the ancient Dragon Clan, had infinite strength, astonishing defense, was skilled in earth-attribute Spells, and had an extremely strong sense of territory; once an external enemy intruded, it would fight to the death!
Fang Hao’s expression was grave; the strength of this Earth Dragon Beast was likely a notch stronger than the Green-Winged Wind Eagle he had encountered before!
Moreover, this place was its lair; occupying the geographical advantage, escaping would be no easy feat.
"Roar!"
The Earth Dragon Beast was clearly angered by Fang Hao and let out an angry roar, its massive body slamming into the ground!
Rumble—!!!
The entire valley trembled violently, the ground undulating like waves, and countless huge earth spikes shot out from the ground like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, stabbing viciously toward Fang Hao and the silver light shuttle!
Fang Hao did not dare to delay and immediately controlled the silver light shuttle to rapidly ascend, while the golden puppet instantly appeared below the flying shuttle, its dark golden iron fists, accompanied by a sharp whistle that tore through the air, fiercely slamming into the incoming earth spikes!
Bang bang bang—!!!
The earth spikes were shattered one by one under the golden puppet’s iron fists, but the Earth Dragon Beast’s attacks did not stop.
It opened its bloody maw, and a thick, earth-yellow Demonic Qi gushed out, condensing in the air into a huge rock that, like a meteorite, carried terrifying power as it smashed viciously toward the silver light shuttle!
"Damn it!"
Fang Hao cursed inwardly; this Earth Dragon Beast’s attack was too violent and had a huge range; the silver light shuttle simply could not avoid it completely!
His thoughts raced, and he immediately controlled the golden puppet to strike with both fists; the dark golden fist radiance surged, like two small suns, fiercely meeting the incoming rock!
Boom—!!!
A deafening roar echoed through the valley!
The golden puppet’s body trembled violently, and it was actually knocked back several zhang by that terrifying force!
And the rock was also smashed to pieces, turning into countless gravel that poured down like a rainstorm!
Seeing that its attack was ineffective, the Earth Dragon Beast became even more furious; its massive body suddenly dove into the ground, and the next moment, the ground of the entire valley seemed to boil, countless huge cracks spread out, and beams of earth-yellow light shot out from the cracks, sweeping toward Fang Hao and the golden puppet!
"This beast is indeed troublesome!"
Fang Hao frowned tightly.
The Earth Dragon Beast was skilled at utilizing the geographical advantage; in this valley, its strength could be brought to the extreme, and if this continued, both he and the golden puppet would be exhausted to death!
"Must escape as soon as possible!"
A look of determination flashed in Fang Hao’s eyes.
He took a deep breath, formed seals with his hands, and the Earthly Fiend Golden Flame erupted, transforming into a sea of dark golden fire that swept toward the valley below!
At the same time, with a thought, the golden puppet struck out with a fierce punch, shattering the incoming earth-yellow light, and then its figure flashed, returning to Fang Hao’s side.
The dark golden sea of fire collided violently with the Earth Dragon Beast’s earth-attribute Spell, emitting a hissing sound.
The Earthly Fiend Golden Flame was indeed an exotic fire of heaven and earth, having a very strong restraining effect on earth-attribute Spells; wherever the sea of fire passed, the earth-yellow light dissolved one after another, and even the ground was burned pitch black!
The Earth Dragon Beast seemed quite wary of the exotic fire and let out an angry hiss; its massive body shot out from the ground again, but this time, it did not attack directly, instead opening its mouth to spew out an even thicker earth-yellow Demonic Qi, attempting to block the spread of the sea of fire.
Fang Hao took the opportunity to control the silver light shuttle, pushing its speed to the limit, transforming into a streak of silver light as he fled desperately toward the outside of the valley!
Seeing this, the Earth Dragon Beast let out an unwilling roar and was about to pursue.
But Fang Hao’s Earthly Fiend Golden Flame held it tightly, preventing it from escaping immediately.
After a few breaths, the silver light shuttle finally rushed out of the valley’s range.
Fang Hao did not dare to stop, continuing to control the flying shuttle to speed away, and only after flying out several tens of li and confirming that the Earth Dragon Beast was not pursuing, did he let out a slight sigh of relief.
"This Sunset Cloud Mountain Range is indeed not simple."
Fang Hao felt lingering fear.
A Fourth-Rank Middle Stage Earth Dragon Beast had made him this disheveled; if he encountered an even more powerful existence, the consequences would be unimaginable.
He did not dare to be careless, continuing to control the silver light shuttle to fly at a low altitude, while his Divine Sense was on high alert, vigilant against other potential dangers that might appear around him.
After flying for about half a day more, the edge of the Sunset Cloud Mountain Range finally appeared ahead.
Fang Hao felt a joy in his heart, controlled the silver light shuttle to accelerate, and soon rushed out of the mountain range’s range.
Ahead was a vast, boundless plain, and at the end of the plain, a golden river could be vaguely seen, shimmering with dazzling light under the sun.
"Golden Sand River... finally arrived."
Fang Hao let out a long sigh of relief.
As long as he crossed the Golden Sand River, he could enter the hinterland of the Western Regions, and it would not be far from the Myriad Laws Immortal City.
The silver light shuttle cut through the sky, speeding toward the direction of the Golden Sand River.
