Volume 1, Chapter 421 – Black Flood Dragon

Against a whole host of Heaven Demons, and even powerful Heaven-Man Realm experts, her current strength was still somewhat lacking.

This was a realm that drew ever closer to the Emperor level step by step. Each time one passed through a lightning tribulation, it was a qualitative transformation, truly a realm of ascending to the heavens.

“It’s right here.”

Molen came to a stop. Before them lay a secluded valley, from which bursts of savage roars rang out from time to time.

Standing outside the valley, Shi Lan could already sense wave after wave of blazing blood qi fluctuations.

“This vicious beast nest has occupied this place for more than a hundred years. In recent years, for some unknown reason, the beasts inside have been growing stronger and stronger.”

Molen’s face was full of worry:

“My clan has suffered grievous casualties. If not for the rune cannon still remaining in the Rune Tower, I’m afraid we wouldn’t even have been able to hold the city.”

Most low-level vicious beasts in the Qiongluo Realm lacked intelligence, possessing only an instinctive desire to kill. There was simply no way to communicate with them.

As for high-level vicious beasts, although they possessed intelligence not inferior to that of the Hundred Races, they were completely unwilling to coexist with them. If they were not causing trouble, they were on their way to cause trouble.

Shi Lan extended her divine sense and swept it across the entire nest, gaining a rough idea of the situation.

“You can wait here.”

Tossing out those words, Shi Lan stepped into the secluded valley in a single stride. Behind her came Molen’s urgent call:

“Vicious beasts are violent by nature. Please be careful.”

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…

This vicious beast nest did not occupy a small area, but based on her earlier sweep with divine sense, Shi Lan had not discovered any beast within it that could threaten her.

But she did not lower her guard. Before the power of their runes was activated, it was difficult to judge just how strong these vicious beasts really were.

Outside, the blazing sun hung high in the sky, yet not a single ray of sunlight penetrated the valley. It was as dark as night.

Woo—

A low whimper came from a corner. A gray wolf nearly a zhang tall slowly emerged from the darkness, and all around, pairs of emerald-green beast eyes lit up.

Shi Lan stopped walking and looked toward the gray wolf that had appeared first. Its eyes were a ghastly green, its fangs sharp as blades, its muscles taut and packed with violent strength, and its savage aura locked firmly onto her.

“Awo—”

Crack—

Half a wolf howl was choked off in its throat. The lead gray wolf, along with more than a dozen giant wolves hidden all around in the shadows, collapsed to the ground, their necks twisted off in an instant by an invisible force.

The power now possessed by Shi Lan’s golden body of the Nascent Soul had already granted the invisible force of her soul an unimaginable might, enough to interfere with reality itself.

She stepped forward. The fallen gray wolf’s body warped, and in an instant flesh separated from bone, revealing a skeleton wrapped in a faint white glow, with profound runes flowing across it.

Shi Lan reached out and seized a strand of rune, infused it with power, and several ice blades nearly a zhang long instantly shot out. Only after slicing through more than a dozen ancient trees as thick as an adult’s waist did they finally shatter.

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After digesting that segment of rune, Shi Lan directly opened up a space within the void, refined the essence blood from those giant wolves, sealed it within that space, and then stored their bones and corpses in her storage bracelet.

The essence blood of these vicious beasts also contained extremely violent power, which was of great benefit to martial artists tempering their bodies. There was no need to waste it.

More importantly, Shi Lan could hardly be called wealthy at present. Wherever she could save, she still had to pay attention.

Shi Lan set off inward once more. There were many vicious beast remains scattered along the way, clearly showing that within this nest, the beasts also slaughtered one another.

After traveling less than a thousand zhang, Shi Lan ran head-on into a giant bear standing nearly four zhang tall. It possessed an incomparably powerful physique and boundless brute force. The instant it saw Shi Lan, it came crashing at her with mountain-uprooting, tree-toppling ferocity.

In the next moment, Shi Lan shattered its heart meridians from ten zhang away. Following in the gray wolf’s footsteps, it was hacked apart, its bear paws cut off and its body dismembered into eight pieces.

The runes within this giant bear could strengthen the body’s physical power for a short time, almost equivalent to a secret art or divine ability capable of explosively increasing battle strength for a brief period.

The overwhelming majority of vicious beasts had runes within their bodies, though a small number were exceptions.

Shi Lan advanced slowly, pressing forward step by step, sweeping up every vicious beast wandering outside and reaping a bountiful harvest.

By the time Shi Lan stood at the entrance to the beast nest, she had already slain several hundred vicious beasts and obtained over a hundred kinds of runes.

All of those runes left traces within her Nascent Soul. Intertwined together, they seemed to be merging, undergoing some unimaginable transformation.

This sort of transformation was not suited to taking place in the midst of battle. Shi Lan quickened her pace, no longer absorbing and refining runes, and pushed straight ahead. The vicious beasts she killed were directly stuffed into her storage bracelet.

The entire nest was filled with savage roars. Violent beast howls mingled with shrill dying screams and spread beyond the secluded valley, leaving Molen and the others shuddering in fear.

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Shi Lan stilled her breath and focused her mind, radiant light flickering in her eyes. With the unstoppable momentum of sweeping through all opposition and driving straight for the heart of the lair, she strode forward. Countless giant beasts surged toward her, only to fall before her in wave after wave.

…

Half a day later, Shi Lan reached the deepest part of the nest. The shrill beast cries within the lair had already vanished without a trace, and the surroundings were utterly silent.

At the deepest part of the nest was an enormous cavern. Below lay a thousand-zhang icy pool, from which wisps of white mist rose.

This icy pool was rather strange. Divine sense could not penetrate it at all.

Boom!

Before Shi Lan could take a closer look, a black shadow tore through the water in an instant and shot into the air, wheeling and twisting through the clouds and mist. Its ink-dark scales flashed with a cold gleam, and its presence was fierce and powerful.

A flood dragon!

Shi Lan narrowed her eyes slightly. It was even a black flood dragon, its aura terrifying. Hidden in the icy pool earlier, it had entirely escaped the notice of her divine sense.

Roar—

A high, thunderous dragon’s cry echoed through the cavern. The black flood dragon had a single horn atop its head, its body wrapped in treasure light that surged toward the heavens, with countless profound runes circulating over it.

Its gaze fell upon Shi Lan, full of intelligence, while endless killing intent flowed from it. It had clearly already awakened sentience, and among vicious beasts, its strength belonged absolutely to the top tier.

Rumble!

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The black flood dragon’s ferocity was boundless. Turning into a streak of black lightning, it pounced down to kill. Runes flowed across its sharp claws, tearing streak after streak of marks into the void.

Light suddenly flashed at Shi Lan’s brow as a golden body of the Nascent Soul over fifty zhang tall stepped forth, like a brilliant sun illuminating the pitch-black cavern.

A great hand wrapped in dazzling golden light stretched out and drew forth a giant war halberd, black as ink, from the void.

Shi Lan did not retreat in the slightest. Raising the halberd across the sky and bringing out the strongest battle power she possessed, she directly unleashed the Heaven-Scorching Three Halberds.

Buzz—

The halberd-shadow wrapped in resplendent light pierced through the void and hacked down!

As the sharp edge closed in, the black flood dragon sensed that something was wrong, stopped its advance, and tried to retreat.

Slash—

Scales flew, flesh and blood sprayed, and the sharp claw wrapped in rune-light was severed cleanly from the root.

The black flood dragon did not hesitate in the slightest. Enduring the intense pain, it twisted its body and dove toward the icy pool.

Shi Lan stood at the shore as her golden body of the Nascent Soul suddenly strode after it, reaching out to seize the flood dragon.

Flood dragons were aligned with water. Once it entered the icy pool, it would undoubtedly add many more variables to the battle.