Translator: AnubisTL
The three strange beasts, each grotesque in its own way, slowly advanced toward Fan Tong, their movements eerily unnatural.
The central creature, a massive lizard covered in dark red fur, bore a pair of lightning-shaped horns on either side of its head.
Roar!
The red-furred lizard took the lead. When it was still several hundred meters away from Fan Tong, it seemed to catch the scent of his thick, bloody aura and suddenly surged forward with a burst of speed.
Whoosh!
The other two beasts followed closely like shadows, their bizarre forms and the armored tentacles protruding from their bodies adding to their unsettling appearance.
Yet they shared a common trait: a frenzied, almost mindless ferocity.
Seeing this, Fan Tong immediately assumed a battle stance, his tiger-like body coiled and ready to strike.
He sensed that all three beasts possessed formidable power, at least mid-Tier 1 combat strength. The red-furred, horned lizard radiated an especially sinister aura, its power faintly approaching late-Tier 1 levels.
Bang!
Fan Tong lunged forward, targeting the Tentacle Monster formed from a mass of writhing appendages.
Just as the other two beasts prepared to join the assault, a vast, crystal-blue net descended from the sky, bathing the area in a soft blue glow. The spirit patterns woven into the net shimmered brilliantly.
Whoosh!
The crimson-eyed beast moved with astonishing agility, narrowly evading the Water Entangling Net's grasp. It had almost been caught.
The other strange beast wasn't so lucky. It was a black ape-like creature covered in centipede-like antennae, with no head at all—just an empty space where its neck should have been.
The Water Entangling Net tightened abruptly, its yin-yang water attribute spiritual energy relentlessly invading the creature's body. The net's coils tightened so fiercely that escape was impossible.
From behind, Li Qing leaped forward, his figure soaring through the air like a golden roc.
The crimson-eyed beast whirled around, its maw gaping wide as it shot its tongue—dripping with bizarre, viscous fluid—at Li Qing.
As Li Qing soared through the air, he slapped his storage pouch. Instantly, a mechanical iron umbrella materialized in his hand.
Clang!
The crisp metallic clangor echoed through the air, accompanied by a shower of sparks. The Crimson Shadow Umbrella snapped open and began to spin rapidly.
The iron spikes at the umbrella's tips blurred into crimson afterimages as they whirled through the air.
In mere moments, the viscous tongue hurtling toward Li Qing was sliced clean in two.
Roar!
The crimson-eyed beast swiftly retracted its tongue, its pain-filled roar shaking the surrounding ten kilometers.
The severed tongue continued to twitch on the ground, an unsettling sight.
Seeing this, Li Qing sheathed the Crimson Shadow Umbrella and drew a flying sword.
Spiritual energy surged through his body as he unleashed several sword beams.
The crimson lizard couldn't evade in time, and multiple wounds appeared on its body in an instant, while deep sword marks slashed across the ground.
After severely injuring the Giant Lizard, Li Qing sheathed the flying sword again and retrieved the Peerless Hammer.
This time, however, he didn't channel spiritual energy into the hammer. Instead, he planned to rely solely on his physical strength.
After all, this was the World of Eternal Night. Once spiritual energy was depleted, it could only be replenished with Spirit Recovery Pills, not through absorbing heaven and earth spiritual energy.
Conserving energy was crucial. If his mana ran out and he encountered even more dangerous strange beasts, he'd be doomed.
He needed to reserve enough spiritual energy for escape.
"Kill!"
Li Qing roared, his Vital Energy erupting like a surging river.
Don't underestimate physical strength. Having cultivated the first layer of the Precious Wood Body Refinement Manual, his physique had become even more formidable, his inner strength now seemingly inexhaustible.
After being forged into a Magic Artifact, the Peerless Hammer became even heavier due to its Earth Attribute Spirit Pattern. Yet Li Qing wielded it effortlessly, finding it surprisingly easy to handle.
Bang!
A thunderous strike landed with devastating force, shattering one of the Red-Horned Boar's horns into dust. The hammer followed through, crashing into the ground.
Another deafening boom erupted as the ground split open, leaving a massive crater. The earth trembled violently.
There were no flashy techniques, only raw, unadulterated brute force.
"Roar!" The Red-Horned Boar, driven mad, lunged at Li Qing, completely losing its senses.
But Li Qing moved with the agility of a Lightness Technique from the Limitless Art, his movements swift and graceful.
Even with the massive Peerless Hammer in hand, he darted erratically, effortlessly evading the Red-Horned Boar's storm-like assault.
The moment the beast paused, Li Qing's eyes turned cold as he unleashed Transformed Strength, a technique unique to Grandmasters of the Martial Dao.
Another hammer strike, this time from below, exploited a gap in the boar's defenses, sending it flying into the air.
Retracting the hammer, Li Qing leaped upward again, his body exploding with terrifying power. His fists and feet rained down like a tempest upon the Red-Horned Boar's body.
When he finally landed, the Giant Lizard lay gasping for breath, on the verge of death.
"Huff!"
"This isn't even a late-stage First-Tier strange beast, yet it's so troublesome. It's more difficult to deal with than many Demon beasts of the same rank."
Li Qing sighed in admiration, then retrieved the spirit beast pouch from his waist and directly stored the heavily wounded, near-death crimson lizard inside.
"First, I'll release a strange beast into a world rich in spiritual energy to observe the changes. Once their numbers grow and other cultivators discover their presence, I can consider capturing them for the Beast Fighting Arena to earn spirit stones."
He wasn't worried about these strange beasts revealing his secret of traveling between worlds. Li Qing had repeatedly confirmed that they possessed no intelligence.
Their Seas of Consciousness were filled with madness and chaos, driven solely by slaughter and consumption. They were incapable of communication or interaction, starkly different from the Demon beasts of the cultivation world.
Take Fan Tong, for example. Though its rank was low and its bloodline mixed, it possessed a degree of spirituality, clearly aware of its own experiences.
These frenzied strange beasts, however, lacked even a trace of spirituality, driven solely by primal madness.
After storing the crimson lizard, Li Qing casually collected the Headless Black Ape, still restrained by the Water Entangling Net.
Meanwhile, Fan Tong's battle was also nearing its end. Since advancing to the mid-stage of the first tier, its strength had improved significantly, and its Tiger Claws had become terrifyingly sharp and durable.
In just a few swift strikes, the Tentacle Monster's scales cascaded off, revealing its gruesome flesh beneath.
Li Qing could no longer identify the species of this strange beast. It seemed to be a grotesque amalgamation of various creatures, its body twisted beyond recognition.
"ROAR!"
Fan Tong roared furiously, tearing the Tentacle Monster apart. Its Tiger Claws, imbued with immense force, slammed down, shattering the creature into pieces.
At that moment, it stood as majestic and formidable as a true tiger king.
Buzz!
A crimson light flashed briefly within the gore, and a red crystal, about the size of a dragon's eye, fell from the Tentacle Monster's remains.
Seeing this, Li Qing hurried forward and retrieved the Crystal Core, which pulsed with concentrated Red Moon Secret Power.
"Another one of these Crystal Cores," he murmured. "This one's much larger than the peanut-sized one I found before."
"What exactly are these things for? They're not Demon beast Crystal Cores, so they can't be used as the primary ingredient for refining Foundation Establishment Pills."
Suddenly, Li Qing noticed Fan Tong staring intently at the crimson crystal in his hand, radiating an intense longing.
"You want to eat this?" Li Qing asked, surprised.
Fan Tong howled, its mouth gaping wide.
"Awoo! Awoo!"
Li Qing frowned, hesitating. He didn't want to feed the crimson Crystal Core to Fan Tong.
He feared that consuming it might trigger a dangerous mutation, affecting not only Fan Tong's physical form but also its consciousness.
"No, I can't be so reckless. Once we return to the cultivation world, I'll experiment on some demon beasts to see what happens when they consume these Crystal Cores."
Li Qing couldn't risk anything happening to Fan Tong. The safest approach was to test the effects on wild demon beasts first.
Hearing this, Fan Tong let out a slightly disappointed whine but quickly recovered, seemingly eager to continue battling other strange beasts.
Li Qing chuckled. "You used to hate coming here, but now you've grown fond of it."
He knew this was due to Fan Tong's primal instincts. As a demon beast, it naturally craved battle and bloodshed.
Still, Li Qing refused its suggestion and prepared to leave the World of Eternal Night with Fan Tong.
He needed to replenish his depleted spiritual energy and quietly await nightfall.
If he arrived too late, and Ye Feng lost his life, the consequences would be disastrous.
(End of the Chapter)
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