Free Web NovelChapter 357: Obtaining the ten-thousand-year star wood
Fang Hao was sprinting wildly ahead, feeling as if he were being chased not by a turtle, but by a moving, enraged small mountain!
Although the Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle was massive, in its own territory, those narrow passages seemed non-existent to it. It simply crashed through, and the hard rocks fell away like tofu; the entire underground space trembled and groaned under its angry footsteps.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
The heavy footsteps and the sound of collapsing rock grew closer. The fishy, earthy-smelling blast of air was almost spraying onto the back of Fang Hao’s head.
Fang Hao cursed inwardly; this beast was like a stubborn plaster, impossible to shake off!
He specifically chose the narrowest, lowest side paths, where in some places he even had to crawl to get through. But the Dragon Turtle was different—it would push with its head, squeeze with its body, and forcibly widen the passage to pursue him.
"This won’t do. At this rate, I’ll be caught sooner or later. I need a plan!" Fang Hao thought rapidly while running.
Fighting head-on was suicide; he had to use his wits. His gaze swept across the sides of the passage, noticing some hanging giant stalactites and stone walls that didn’t look very sturdy, and an idea formed in his mind.
He deliberately slowed his speed slightly. Waiting until the Dragon Turtle was closer, he suddenly turned around, rubbed his hands together, and unleashed a long-brewing Chaos Sword Qi. It wasn’t aimed at the Dragon Turtle, but at a giant stalactite the size of a water vat hanging precariously above the Dragon Turtle’s head!
"Crack!"
The Chaos Sword Qi was peerlessly sharp, cutting the base of the stalactite directly!
The giant stalactite fell with a terrifying whistling sound, smashing fiercely toward the Dragon Turtle’s head below!
The Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle had been chasing intently and hadn’t expected this ant to dare counterattack, let alone target what was above it. A trace of disdain flashed in its dark yellow vertical pupils. It didn’t dodge or evade, just tilted its head slightly, and used the edge of its incredibly hard shell to stubbornly ram into the falling stalactite!
"Boom!!"
A world-shaking explosion occurred; rocks flew everywhere, and dust filled the air. The giant stalactite shattered instantly upon hitting the shell, while the Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle only shook its head, flicked off the stone powder, and didn’t even break its skin.
However, the moment the stalactite shattered and dust filled the air, Fang Hao moved!
He didn’t take the opportunity to run; instead, his figure flashed, ghost-like, sticking close to the side of the Dragon Turtle, which had slowed down slightly due to the impact!
There, at the base of its thick, stone-pillar-like front leg, was the gap where the shell connected to the relatively soft abdomen!
"Now!"
Chaos colors exploded in Fang Hao’s eyes. All his spiritual power and Physical Body strength surged crazily into his right fist. His fist erupted with a blinding interweaving of platinum and dark gold light, with the faint roar of wind and thunder!
He pushed the "Star Shattering" technique—which he had realized while fighting the Ice Scale Profound Python—to its limit. He even disregarded his recently healed rib injury, concentrating all his strength and will into this one punch!
"Break for me—!!"
Fang Hao roared. His right fist, like a cannonball fired from its chamber, carried a desperate, unstoppable Aura as it smashed fiercely into that gap between the shell and the abdominal armor! That was the relatively weakest part of the Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle’s entire defense!
The Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle clearly hadn’t expected Fang Hao’s target to be here. By the time it reacted and wanted to retract its front leg or spit out an attack, it was too late!
"Puchi!"
A muffled sound, different from the roar of hitting the stalactite. Fang Hao’s fist, carrying invincible Chaos power and Physical Body strength, forcibly smashed through the relatively soft skin and muscle at that gap, burying itself deep inside! The dark golden fist energy surged in crazily like a drill!
"Awoo—!!!"
The Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle let out the most shrill and painful roar since the start of the battle! Although this punch failed to damage its internal organs, the overbearing Chaos power rushed into its body, crazily destroying its Meridians and flesh. Intense pain swept through its massive body instantly! Its dark yellow vertical pupils instantly became bloodshot, turning bright red!
The intense pain triggered the Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle’s most primitive ferocity! It suddenly shook its head, and its thick neck whipped toward Fang Hao, who was close at hand, like a steel whip!
At the same time, its other front leg lifted high, carrying immense force, and stomped fiercely toward Fang Hao’s position! If this landed, even with Fang Hao’s tough Physical Body, he would be turned into meat paste!
Having succeeded with one punch, Fang Hao’s old strength was spent, and new strength hadn’t yet arisen. He had no time to dodge this lethal combo at such close range! He could even smell the foul, hot air spraying from the Dragon Turtle’s mouth and see the shadow of the giant pillar-like leg stomping down!
"Risk it!"
At this life-or-death moment, a flash of madness appeared in Fang Hao’s eyes. Instead of retreating, he lunged forward, actually diving through the narrow gap underneath the Dragon Turtle’s raised front leg with extreme danger!
At the same time, without even looking, he backhanded something he had been clutching in his left palm and slapped it fiercely onto the wound on the Dragon Turtle’s injured front leg!
It was a small, inconspicuous gray mud pellet—the Earthly Fiend poison fire bomb! It was a nasty item he had obtained from some unlucky evil cultivator, mixed with dozens of potent poisons and the fire poison of the Earthly Fiend Golden Flame. Once it exploded, the poison would strike the heart, making it extremely difficult to expel!
The moment he slapped out the toxin bomb, Fang Hao pushed his Divine Spirit Steps to the limit. His body turned into a blurry afterimage as he dashed desperately toward a narrow crack he remembered from when he arrived—one so small that a person could only pass through it by turning sideways! It was a dead end he had noted while fleeing, but now, it was his only path to survival!
"Boom!"
Almost the moment Fang Hao dived into the crack, the muffled sound of the Earthly Fiend poison fire bomb and the even more violent, painful roar of the Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle came from behind!
Immediately following was a "Boom" sound—the Dragon Turtle’s angry stomp landed fiercely on the spot where Fang Hao had just been standing. The ground was crushed into a massive pit several zhang deep, and the violent shockwave shattered the surrounding rocks. Rubble rained down at the entrance of the crack, almost burying him inside.
Fang Hao didn’t dare look back. Squeezed into the narrow crack, he scrambled desperately inside. The crack was extremely narrow; in some places, he had to shrink his bones and even scrape off a layer of skin to get through.
Behind him, the Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle’s crazy roaring and crashing sounds continued to echo. The entire crack vibrated violently, and rubble and dirt rained down. Clearly, the beast had suffered a huge loss and was being tortured by the toxin, causing it to go completely insane, trying to crash open the crack to drag him out.
Fang Hao ignored everything, just scrambled forward with all his might. Fortunately, the crack was deep enough and winding enough. The Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle was too big to enter and could only roar impotently outside.
He didn’t know how long he squeezed through. The roars and crashing sounds behind him gradually weakened and finally disappeared.
Fang Hao crawled a bit further until he was sure he was completely safe, then collapsed, exhausted, into a slightly wider depression deep in the crack. He gasped for air, sweating like rain, feeling as if all his bones had fallen apart.
The series of actions just now, while seemingly brief, were extremely dangerous and consumed a massive amount of his spirit and body. The "Star Shattering" punch had aggravated his old injury, and the spot where his left arm was grazed by the Dragon Turtle’s neck burned with pain; he guessed the bone had cracked again.
"Huff... huff... This old turtle is really damn tough..." Fang Hao coughed up blood while stuffing a Medicinal Pill into his mouth. After a long while, he finally caught his breath.
He didn’t dare leave immediately, choosing to meditate and heal right there in the depths of the crack. A full day and night passed. Feeling his injuries had recovered to seven or eight tenths and that there was no movement outside, he carefully returned along the original path and crawled out from the other end of the crack.
The exit was another smaller karst cave, quite far from the cave where the big battle had taken place. Fang Hao held his breath and concentrated, suppressing his Aura to the limit as he ghost-like crept toward the cave where the ten-thousand-year star wood was located.
The road was quiet, with only the murmuring sound of an underground river. The Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle seemed to have disappeared.
Fang Hao was apprehensive and even more careful. When he arrived at the entrance of the cave again and peeked inside, his hanging heart finally dropped, followed by a surge of wild joy.
The cave was a mess, full of rubble and traces of the battle, and the black pool was murky. And that terrifying Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle was gone! Only a small pool of dark red blood, emitting a fishy and burnt smell, and a few broken scales with charred marks remained in the center of the cave.
"Ran away? Or hid back in the depths of the pool to heal?" Fang Hao didn’t have time to investigate. His gaze locked tightly onto the side of the pool, at that dark golden dead wood that still stood quietly, emitting a hazy starlight—the ten-thousand-year star wood!
The strong enemy was gone, and the treasure was right before his eyes!
Fang Hao didn’t hesitate at all. His figure flashed, and he arrived before the ten-thousand-year star wood. He didn’t touch it with his hands; who knew if this divine wood had any Restriction or self-protection mechanisms?
He carefully took out a large cold jade box he had prepared long ago and took out a jade knife crafted from ten-thousand-year warm jade.
Holding his breath, he used the jade knife to carefully cut along the base of the star wood. This star wood looked withered, but its texture was surprisingly hard. The jade knife made a "zi-zi" sound as it cut, which was extremely difficult.
Fang Hao didn’t dare use brute force, fearing he would damage the spirit wood, so he could only channel his spiritual power and grind it bit by bit.
It took a full half-hour, leaving him sweating on his forehead, to completely cut this piece of ten-thousand-year star wood, which was over a person’s height and as thick as a bowl, from its roots.
The moment the star wood left the soil, the star patterns on its surface shone brightly, and rich Power of the Stars rippled out like water waves, but it soon restrained itself, returning to that dark golden, inconspicuous, withered wood appearance.
Fang Hao hurriedly put it into the cold jade box, applied several spirit-sealing talismans, and only then put it into the deepest part of his storage ring with great care. Only then did he let out a long breath of relief, a look of relief appearing on his face.
"Finally got it!"
He didn’t leave immediately. He searched the cave carefully again, especially around the bloodstains of the Mysterious Rock Dragon Turtle and the edge of the pool. Unfortunately, except for those few broken scales, he didn’t find anything else of value. The Dragon Turtle had clearly fled with injuries, not even daring to return to its lair.
Fang Hao wasn’t greedy either. Being able to obtain the ten-thousand-year star wood was already a huge fortune. He didn’t linger, and carefully returned along the way he came.
This time, he avoided the area where the big battle had taken place, took a detour, and spent more time, finally returning to the ice cave with the "starry sky" dome without any danger.
He didn’t stop in the ice cave, directly passed through the ice path, and returned to the frozen platform outside Heavenly Pillar Peak. Outside, the wind and snow were still howling, but Fang Hao’s mood was like the clouds parting to reveal the sun.
"First, find a safe place to repair the golden puppet!" He identified the direction and sped toward his long-chosen target—the Earth Fire Cave.
