Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 19

Volume 6 Chapter 19: A Thousand Miles Away (Part 3)

After Zhong Ling became very angry and used all his strength, the situation suddenly changed.

Xu Qingfan felt that in an instant, the death energy surrounding him in the Cloud of Death had sharply increased more than ten times, and the frequency of its attacks grew countless times in a moment, making Xu Qingfan feel overwhelmed.

But to Xu Qingfan’s surprise, the relic in his hand, although its light had been greatly compressed, was still holding strong and had not been shattered, which Xu Qingfan had never expected.

"Waa…"

Xu Qingfan was focused on controlling the relic to fight against the invading death energy when a sudden mournful sound startled him.

When he turned his head, Xu Qingfan found that in the place where Jin Qinghan and the others had vanished, the "Five Spirit Bell" was still transformed into a bell-shaped protective shield, quietly guarding there. However, under the pressure and corrosion of the death energy, the protective circle had shrunk to a very small size, at risk of collapsing at any moment, now only two feet wide. Inside the protective circle, Little Gold was still there, anxiously crying out as he saw the overwhelming death energy and the continually compressing and corroding shield.

Xu Qingfan was startled to realize that he had been so busy battling the death energy that he had forgotten about Little Gold. In a flash, he appeared beside Little Gold, withdrew the "Five Spirit Bell," and held Little Gold in his arms. Surrounded by the light of the relic, Little Gold finally calmed down.

On the other side, Zhong Ling saw that even after using all his power, he still could not defeat Xu Qingfan. He felt even more shocked and furious and suddenly formed a hand gesture, preparing not to use such simple tricks like the "Cloud of Death," but to use his ultimate move.

Yet, while feeling furious, Zhong Ling was also secretly puzzled about what the object was that Xu Qingfan held, which could withstand all of his strength.

As Zhong Ling moved his fingers, a huge black shadow suddenly covered him and everything around him for several feet. After the shadow took shape, it began to change and shift. A moment later, a large bird, dark as night with only two blood-red eyes glowing, slowly appeared behind Zhong Ling. It was about seven or eight yards long and three or four yards wide. At first glance, it looked oddly similar to Xu Qingfan’s spirit pet, Little Black.

Meanwhile, as Xu Qingfan fought against Zhong Ling’s overwhelming aura, Little Black was quietly helping his master. The force around Zhong Ling was too strong for Little Black to confront directly, so it flew around Xu Qingfan, absorbing the negative energy and easing Xu Qingfan’s burden.

Once the black death bird took shape, Little Black suddenly paused as if it had been stimulated. It quickly turned and dashed towards the black death bird, which was also charging towards Xu Qingfan.

The two black birds, one large and one small, were both filled with a heavy aura of death, and they were about to collide.

It seemed like a battle of fate, but this fight was destined not to happen at that moment.

Just then, a roar, like a thousand amplified insect sounds, suddenly echoed in the sky. The roar was endless; when Xu Qingfan first heard it, the sound source was far away, but in an instant, it felt as if it was right next to him.

At the same time, Xu Qingfan clearly sensed that the black-clad master suddenly stopped attacking for some unknown reason, and the negative energy around Xu Qingfan slowly began to recede.

"Little Black, come back!"

Xu Qingfan shouted.

Hearing Xu Qingfan’s call, Little Black, although reluctant, returned to Xu Qingfan’s shoulder. At the same time, the terrifying black bird of death that had rushed towards Xu Qingfan flew back to Zhong Ling, circling around him continuously.

As the black Cloud of Death faded away, Xu Qingfan’s vision became clear again, but what he saw shocked him greatly.

A giant red monster with a human head and a snake body appeared from nowhere, standing a hundred feet away from Xu Qingfan. The monster’s head was nearly ten feet wide, and its snake body stretched so far that it seemed to have no end. Although it was quietly coiling there, a chilling aura of danger made Xu Qingfan feel panic, causing him to step back over ten paces to ease his fear.

With this sudden appearance of the monster, the oppressive atmosphere of death that had filled the air, caused by Zhong Ling, was instantly swept away.

At this moment, the terrifying monster was intensely staring at Xu Qingfan, as if afraid that he might make a mistake.

Or perhaps the monster was focusing on Little Gold in Xu Qingfan’s arms.

After the appearance of this monster, Little Gold’s expression turned ten times more terrified than before when it was about to be killed by the death energy. It curled up in Xu Qingfan’s arms, trembling, and did not dare to make a sound.

As Xu Qingfan stared closely at the monster, he suddenly shivered and finally recognized what this creature was.

"The God of Zhongshan, known as Zhuyin; it sees in the day, sleeps at night, blows for winter, and calls for summer. It neither drinks nor eats, and its breath is the wind. It is a thousand miles long, located in the east of Wujian, with a human face and a snake body, red in color, dwelling beneath Zhongshan."

Above is a description of the monster in front of us by a cultivator, who is the only one that has seen this beast and survived, paying the price of losing half of their body forever.

Zhuyin, also known as the Candle Dragon, is one of the most powerful ancient demon beasts. Its strength is probably not less than the nine-tailed demon fox that Xu Qingfan saw before, and if we talk only about strength, Zhuyin is even stronger than the nine-tailed demon fox.

After a moment, Zhuyin finally shifted its gaze from Xu Qingfan to Zhong Ling on the other side.

Zhong Ling’s face was serious, fully on guard.

Sensing the overwhelming death energy within Zhong Ling, Zhuyin confirmed that this human cultivator was the one who had attacked Xu Qingfan — or rather, Little Gold — earlier. Its large blood-red eyes flashed with anger, and it roared again, suddenly pouncing towards Zhong Ling.

When Zhong Ling saw Zhuyin charging at him without warning, he was greatly startled and hurriedly used various skills to defend himself.

Earlier, Zhong Ling had looked down on Xu Qingfan, so even though he was angry and seemed to attack with all his might, he was really just using the "Cloud of Death," a beginner Taoist spell from the Zhong family, against Xu Qingfan. Now, facing such an incredibly powerful being like Zhuyin, he naturally did not dare to be arrogant any longer. He quickly retreated, pulling back over a hundred yards to dodge Zhuyin’s attack, while simultaneously performing hand signs and casting all his powers.

The large black bird that had been guarding Zhong Ling also rushed towards Zhuyin first.

In that moment, Xu Qingfan finally witnessed the true power of Zhong Ling, a great master. Under Zhong Ling’s control, the ground began to crack, and countless towering Corpse Kings, full of death energy, suddenly appeared to guard in front of Zhong Ling. The space distorted and became dark, and then many "Death Walkers," made entirely of pure death energy, appeared out of thin air, rushing quickly towards Zhuyin.

At the same time, a strong black energy rose around Zhong Ling, quickly forming above his head into a huge black spear of death, which rushed toward Zhuyin.

Only the large black bird of death that had been summoned before remained, struggling to hold on with its agile movements.

Zhong Ling is strong, but Zhuyin is even stronger, much stronger.

Zhuyin does not possess as many magical powers as the nine-tailed demon fox; its strength relies on its powerful body. As its snake tail swayed and struck, the Corpse King and death walkers blocking its path were instantly shattered. Although the giant spear could leave wounds on Zhuyin’s body, the terrifying corrosive power within the spear could not overcome Zhuyin’s even more frightening ability to heal, and all the wounds were completely restored in just a moment.

This battle shook the heavens and earth, and even the skies changed color. Xu Qingfan hid far away, showing no desire to watch.

At that moment, Xu Qingfan was activating the "Sky Escaping Talisman" in his hand.

Zhuyin held the advantage, but with its fierce nature and the terror displayed by Little Gold when he saw it, Xu Qingfan knew falling into Zhuyin’s hands would not be much better than falling into Zhong Ling’s.

So, Xu Qingfan could only hurry away.

As the "Sky Escaping Talisman" activated, a mysterious energy began to spread from Xu Qingfan’s body.

Zhong Ling noticed the strange wave of Spirit Qi around Xu Qingfan and realized that Xu Qingfan was trying to escape like Jin Qinghan did before. But under Zhuyin’s wild attacks, he could barely protect himself, let alone stop him.

Zhuyin did not understand human spells and had no idea what this energy wave meant, so he might kill Xu Qingfan without hesitation.

After a short moment, a colorful light flashed around Xu Qingfan, and when the light faded, Xu Qingfan suddenly disappeared.

Just then, the battle between Zhuyin and Zhong Ling reached a turning point. Zhong Ling could no longer withstand Zhuyin’s fierce attacks. All his defenses were completely shattered, and with a swing of his tail, Zhuyin hit Zhong Ling hard, sending him flying through the air, blood scattering.

Zhong Ling, a master human who could unleash terrifying death energy, lasted only a brief moment against Zhuyin’s attacks, showing just how frightening Zhuyin truly was.

But after dealing a heavy blow to Zhong Ling, Zhuyin suddenly realized that Xu Qingfan and the Little Gold he was holding had vanished. In a panic, he stopped chasing Zhong Ling and began to search everywhere.

However, for some unknown reason, the clear presence of Little Gold suddenly disappeared.

※※※※

Meanwhile, in a place in the Southern Wasteland, a burst of colorful light suddenly flickered across the calm and desolate land. After the light faded, Xu Qingfan suddenly appeared.

"Where is this?"

Xu Qingfan looked around at his surroundings, unable to believe his eyes, and murmured to himself.