Free Web NovelChapter 356: Profound Rock Dragon Turtle
Just as he squeezed into the fissure, Fang Hao felt something was wrong. It felt like being thrown into a giant, high-speed tumble dryer. All around, there were chaotic, tearing forces. At one moment, it was an extreme cold that could freeze a person into an icicle; the next, it was a scorching heat that seemed to melt the bone marrow. In between, there were countless invisible, incredibly sharp space fragments, scraping "swish, swish" against his protective spiritual light and Chaos Spiritual Power, emitting a teeth-aching friction sound.
"Damn it, is this a space fissure, or a teleportation array to the Earth’s core furnace?" Fang Hao’s vision was a kaleidoscope of bizarre colors, and he couldn’t see anything clearly. He could only desperately urge his Chaos Spiritual Power and the Ink Cloud Banner to tightly protect his body. That Mysterious Turtle Spiritual Armor was already emitting an unbearable "creaking" sound, its spiritual light rapidly dimming.
This passage was extremely unstable and seemed very long. Fang Hao felt himself being wrapped by that chaotic force, rushing forward helplessly, not knowing where he was going to end up. He could only grit his teeth and curl his body up to minimize the surface area exposed to the force.
Just as he felt his internal Spiritual Qi was about to be squeezed dry and the spiritual light of the Ink Cloud Banner was teetering on the edge of collapse, a huge suction force suddenly came from ahead!
"Whoosh—!" The next moment, the dizzying sensation suddenly vanished. With his feet hitting solid ground, he had rolled out from a twisted light gate and fallen heavily to the ground.
"Cough, cough..." Fang Hao scrambled up in a sorry state, feeling dizzy and as if his internal organs had shifted. He hurriedly checked himself; fortunately, although his protective spiritual light was shattered, the Ink Cloud Banner’s light was dim, and there were a few deep cracks on the Mysterious Turtle Spiritual Armor, he hadn’t suffered any serious injuries. He was just exhausted from the massive consumption of Spiritual Qi.
He quickly swallowed a few Medicinal Pills to restore his Spiritual Qi and took a moment to regulate his breathing before he had the energy to look around at the environment.
At this look, he couldn’t help but gasp.
This was no longer that ice cave. Before him was a huge underground space, so vast that he couldn’t see the end. Above his head was a grey, Chaos-like rocky dome; he couldn’t see the sun, moon, or stars, only some moss and strange crystals that emitted their own faint light, providing a weak glimmer. The air was filled with a rich, sulfurous, earthy smell, and... a kind of extremely pure, thick, yet complex Spiritual Qi.
This Spiritual Qi contained a rich Earthly Power and was incredibly thick. But what surprised Fang Hao was that amidst this rich Earthly Spiritual Qi, there was actually a trace of the Power of the Stars he was familiar with! Although it was very weak, it was definitely there!
"Could this... be the deep underground? But how could there be the Power of the Stars?" Fang Hao felt suspicious and uncertain. He remembered the ice wall at the entrance of True Man Tianzhu’s Immortal Cave, which was engraved with patterns of mountains, rivers, the sun, moon, and stars. Could it be that this Immortal Cave was not just built within the ice layer of the mountain belly, but went deep into the underground, even connecting to some special earth vein that could channel the Power of the Stars?
He steadied himself and began to observe carefully. The ground was hard, dark brown rock, making a dull sound when stepped on. All around were craggy rocks, with some strange ferns and moss that didn’t need sunlight. In the distance, there seemed to be the faint sound of water, and some flickering fluorescence drifting in the darkness, like some kind of glowing insects.
He didn’t rashly walk around, but instead found a large rock and regulated his breathing behind it to recover. The situation here was unknown and filled with danger; he had to maintain his best state.
After a full two hours of regulating his breath, Fang Hao felt his Spiritual Qi had recovered by 70-80%, so he stood up and cautiously explored in the direction where the Power of the Stars was slightly thicker.
This underground space was unimaginably large, and the terrain was complex, with forks and karst caves everywhere. Fang Hao released his Divine Sense, but the rocks here seemed to hinder it, and he could only explore a range of a hundred zhang around him. He could only grope forward through the maze-like passages based on a faint connection to the stars.
On the way, he encountered quite a lot of trouble. There were "Shadow Snakes" that suddenly darted out from rock crevices with lightning speed, "Corpse Bone Flowers" lurking in the dark and spraying toxic mist, and even a group of fist-sized, pitch-black "Gold-Devouring Ants" with sharp mouthparts that almost surrounded him. Most of these underground creatures were strange and difficult to deal with, and many were highly poisonous. Fang Hao spent a great deal of effort to solve them, and he also added a few shallow wounds on his body.
"This damned place is even more dangerous than the ice cave above." Fang Hao spat and kicked away the corpse of a Demon Beast that looked like an enlarged centipede that had ambushed him. This Demon Beast had a hard carapace, and its mouthparts could spray corrosive venom, wasting a lot of his effort.
The further he went, the thicker that thick Earthly Spiritual Qi became, and the Power of the Stars mixed within it also seemed to become increasingly clear. Fang Hao felt expectant, and his pace unconsciously quickened.
Turning past a narrow fork, the view ahead suddenly opened up; it was actually a huge, naturally formed underground cavern. In the center of the cavern, there was a small pool of water, the water as black as ink, bottomless. And beside the pool, Fang Hao saw a scene that made his heart beat wildly!
It was a... it would be better to call it a piece of dead wood than a tree. Its whole body presented a strange dark gold color, and the wood grain was clearly visible, but it wasn’t growth rings, but a kind of profound pattern like the trajectory of stars, faintly flowing with starlight-like luster in the dim light. It was only as tall as a person, as thick as a bowl, without branches or leaves, as if it had been dead for countless years, yet it emitted an ancient, vast, and incomparably pure aura of the stars! This aura was ten times, a hundred times thicker and purer than any star-related spiritual object he had ever seen, including that thousand-year nine-leaf star grass!
"Ten-thousand-year... star wood!" Fang Hao’s throat felt a bit dry, and his eyes were glued to that piece of dead wood, barely able to believe his luck. After searching for so long, experiencing the life-and-death battle with the Ice Scale Profound Python, and risking crossing an unstable space fissure, he had actually found it! And looking at it, the age was definitely far beyond ten thousand years! This Power of the Stars, condensed but not scattered, gathered but not released, was definitely a top-tier treasure for Artifact Refining and array formation! Using it to repair and strengthen the golden puppet would likely have unexpectedly good results!
However, just as Fang Hao was ecstatic and preparing to step forward to collect this peerless treasure, a sudden change occurred!
"Roar—!" A low, tyrannical roar, as if from the ancient wilderness, suddenly came from the depths of the cavern! Accompanied by the roar, a pressure as heavy as a mountain surged over like a tide, instantly covering the entire cavern!
Fang Hao’s face changed drastically. This pressure... was far beyond the previous Ice Scale Profound Python, and even a notch stronger than Tiger Zhao! It had definitely reached the Peak of the fourth rank, or even the half-step fifth rank!
"Crash!" In the depths of the cavern, that pitch-black pool of water suddenly exploded! A huge figure slowly stood up from the water!
That was actually... a giant turtle! But this turtle was different from any kind of turtle Fang Hao knew. Its shell was not the common round or oval shape, but presented a strange, irregular octagon, pitch-black, covered with rough, rock-like protrusions and profound patterns, and within the patterns, earthy yellow light faintly flowed. From the edge of the shell extended eight thick, stone-pillar-like legs, supporting its huge body. And its head looked exactly like the legendary dragon head, with two slight bulges on top, and a pair of copper-bell-sized eyes, presenting a dark yellow color, full of coldness, tyranny, and greed.
The most peculiar thing was that on the very center of this giant turtle’s back shell, on the side close to the ten-thousand-year star wood, a small patch of... dark gold moss was actually growing? The shape of that moss was somewhat similar to the star patterns on the surface of the ten-thousand-year star wood, and it was also emitting a faint aura of the stars.
"Profound Rock Dragon Turtle?!" A name instantly flashed through Fang Hao’s mind. It was a terrifying Demon Beast marked on Tiger Zhao’s map that entrenched itself on certain special earth vein nodes deep in the Ancient Elephant Mountain Range, known for its astonishing defense, immense strength, and ability to manipulate earth and stone. A mature one could reach the fifth rank, equivalent to a Late Nascent Soul Stage or even Soul Transformation Stage great demon! The one in front of him, although not yet at the fifth rank, judging by this pressure and size, was definitely at the Peak of the fourth rank, only one step away from the fifth rank! Moreover, looking at that strange moss on its back and its guarding posture towards the ten-thousand-year star wood, this Profound Rock Dragon Turtle had likely been absorbing the faint Power of the Stars emitted by the star wood for many years, undergoing some kind of mutation, and its strength was likely even more powerful than an ordinary Profound Rock Dragon Turtle of the same rank!
"Roar!" The Profound Rock Dragon Turtle was obviously extremely dissatisfied with Fang Hao, the intruder. Its dark yellow vertical pupils locked onto him, and it opened its huge mouth, emitting a deafening roar. A foul-smelling gust of wind rushed towards him, carrying a strange smell mixed with rich Earthly soil and the Power of the Stars.
Trouble! Fang Hao’s heart sank to the bottom. Even at his Peak, facing this kind of fourth-rank Peak Demon Beast with abnormal defense, terrifying strength, and suspected mutation, his chance of winning was less than 30%. Not to mention that his injuries hadn’t healed, his Spiritual Qi hadn’t fully recovered, and he was in this narrow cavern where the terrain was entirely in the opponent’s favor!
"Calm down, calm down..." Fang Hao forced himself to stay calm, his brain running at high speed. This Dragon Turtle was guarding the ten-thousand-year star wood, obviously treating it as its forbidden property. Trying to take the star wood from under its nose by force was almost impossible. He had to think of other ways...
His eyes quickly scanned the cavern. The cavern was not particularly large, but the terrain was complex, with many huge stalactites and stalagmites. The Profound Rock Dragon Turtle had a huge body, so its movements certainly wouldn’t be as flexible as his. Perhaps...
Just as Fang Hao was thinking of a strategy, the Profound Rock Dragon Turtle had lost its patience. A fierce light flashed in its dark yellow vertical pupils, and its thick, stone-pillar-like front leg was abruptly lifted and then stepped down heavily!
"Boom!" The entire cavern shook violently! The hard ground under Fang Hao’s feet rolled and bulged like waves! Sharp stone spikes pierced out from the ground around him without warning, each as thick as a child’s arm and incredibly sharp, instantly sealing off all space for him to dodge!
Earth Spike Technique! And it was an instant-cast, wide-range Earth Spike Technique!
Fang Hao’s scalp went numb. Without thinking, he stepped on his Divine Spirit Steps, his body moving and shifting between the densely emerging stone spikes as if it had no weight, narrowly avoiding them! The stone spikes grazed his clothes and pant legs, the wind they brought causing his skin to ache.
"No, I can’t waste time with it here!" Fang Hao made a judgment instantly. This cavern was its home field, and it could manipulate earth and stone at any time. If he kept dragging it out, he would surely die.
A ruthless look flashed in his eyes. Without further hesitation, taking advantage of the gap after dodging a wave of earth spikes, his figure suddenly retreated violently towards the entrance of the cavern! At the same time, his right hand lifted, and a dozen high-rank Fireball Talismans, Ice Spike Talismans, and Wind Blade Talismans were scattered as if they cost nothing, smashing head-on towards the Profound Rock Dragon Turtle’s head! He didn’t seek to injure the enemy, only to block it for a moment!
"Roar!" The Profound Rock Dragon Turtle was angered by this sudden attack. It tilted its head and avoided most of them, but a few Talismans still hit its heavy shell and neck, exploding into clusters of fire and ice chips, but they didn’t even leave a white mark, only making it more furious.
Under the cover of the Talisman explosions, Fang Hao had already rushed to the entrance of the cavern. He didn’t hesitate, turned around, and ran, pushing his speed to the limit, rushing towards the complex passage he came from!
"Roar—!" Behind him came the furious roar of the Profound Rock Dragon Turtle, along with the sound of the earth shaking violently and giant rocks rolling down. Obviously, this giant turtle was completely enraged and was chasing after him!
Fang Hao didn’t look back, running for his life in the maze-like passage. He had to lure this big guy away, as far from the ten-thousand-year star wood as possible, and then... think of a way to circle back!
