Following the tracks of the demonic beast, Zhang Ling searched for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. He spotted a strange, deep green mist in the mountainside. This mist covered a large area but wasn't a restriction placed there; instead, it emitted a thick, pungent odor, like a demonic fog released by a demonic beast.
Zhang Ling released a wisp of his divine sense to sense it slightly. He discovered a massive cave entrance beneath a cliff within the mist-covered area, with the mist emanating from the cave.
Beside the cave entrance was a ground of messy rocks and patches of withered weeds. Occasionally, he could see weathered stone pillars and remnants of ancient buildings like half a stone gate.
Next to the cave entrance, there was also a black boulder about ten zhang tall, covered with claw marks of varying depths, looking dilapidated. Upon closer inspection, he could make out some vague red characters carved into it, identifying two of them as '...Light Cave'.
So, this stone cave might have originally been a cave dwelling of ancient cultivators, now occupied by a demonic beast. Zhang Ling was delighted. This was exactly the kind of place he was looking for. Judging by the cave's scale, there might be a medicine garden left by ancient cultivators inside.
He didn't immediately enter. Instead, he investigated the demonic mist, finding only some footprints of varying depths on the ground, and nothing else.
Seeing no other discoveries, Zhang Ling didn't delay further. He released over a dozen earth spirit bees directly into the cave. This time, he controlled them to fly in pairs at intervals to scout the situation inside.
Even if they alerted the demonic beast inside, the buffer of multiple intervals would give him a good idea of what kind of demonic beast it was.
With his current strength, he didn't need to go to such lengths. Releasing an attack directly would easily lure the demonic beast out. However, his divine sense was greatly suppressed in these mountains, and without knowing exactly what kind of demonic beast it was, he had to be cautious.
At the same time, Zhang Ling clapped his hands together and cast the Two-Worlds Gourd incantation, causing the gourd to spin and release a large cloud of Heavenly Star Sand, covering a wide area.
Zhang Ling then opened his mouth and spat out several balls of yellow essence, which transformed into yellow light and sprinkled onto the Heavenly Star Sand. Instantly, the entire cloud of Heavenly Star Sand fell to the ground, merging into the earth and stones, disappearing without a trace.
Subsequently, he shook the storage bracelet on his right wrist. As light and shadows flickered, six tall figures appeared beside him. After the light and shadows dissipated, the six figures transformed into six tall puppets.
Three giant tortoise puppets and three iron lion puppets. These puppets were identical, the two types of high-level puppets he had crafted.
Each giant tortoise puppet was ten zhang tall, with a massive body covered in blue-black scales, emitting a chilling aura.
Each iron lion puppet was only two zhang tall, but their bodies were slender. Only their huge lion heads were crimson red, engraved with blue and red spirit patterns, giving them an imposing and extraordinary presence.
The giant tortoise puppets were ice and water attribute puppets, while the iron lion puppets were mostly made of fire attribute materials, proficient in fire attribute attacks, making their attack power even stronger.
Especially these iron lion puppets, Zhang Ling had slightly modified them, adding the wind-fire stones he had obtained from the Ye family's wind-fire eye.
Although the attack power didn't increase much, the attack speed increased significantly, allowing them to continuously unleash several kinds of decent fire attribute attacks.
He had crafted more than ten of each type of these high-level puppets. The entire thirty-plus high-level puppets had basically exhausted all the spirit ore materials he had accumulated. If released together, they could cause considerable trouble even for Nascent Soul cultivators.
After these high-level puppets were crafted, they hadn't truly engaged in battle. Now was a good opportunity to release six of them to test their power.
As Zhang Ling's fingers flicked, he split six strands of divine sense into the puppets, immediately commanding them to spread out and position themselves around the cave entrance.
At the same time, a yellow light flashed beneath his feet. He lightly tapped the ground with one foot, and a layer of pale yellow whirlwind rose from the ground, turning into a cloud of dust, instantly concealing the six puppets.
This was the earth attribute Dust Light Technique, a high-level earth attribute spell he had recently mastered. This technique had no attack power or defense power; it was a spell leaning towards illusion and deception.
In addition to cultivation, Zhang Ling had mastered many simple, high-level earth attribute spells like this over the years. Combined with some auxiliary spells, they could often produce miraculous effects in battle.
Once everything was prepared, Zhang Ling himself swayed a few times, turning into a faint phantom and disappearing.
Subsequently, the area returned to silence, as if no one had ever been there.
A moment later, a strange squeaking sound came from the cave. The sound was extremely penetrating and carried a hint of anger.
Following the sound, another large cloud of dark green demonic mist emerged from the cave. An even stronger stench continued to spread outward.
Within the mist, two firefly-like specks of light quickly flew out, heading towards the back of a large tree not far away. They were the two earth spirit bees.
"Oh, it seems to be an ancient beast," Zhang Ling thought as he hid behind the large tree. With a thought, he recalled the two earth spirit bees, gaining information about the demonic beast in the cave. The demonic beast inside had a strong aura, an ancient beast comparable to an eighth-order demonic beast. Its form seemed to be a black hedgehog.
As Zhang Ling's thoughts raced, an ear-piercing roar entered his ears. The ground in front of him trembled a few times, and a giant black ball with a diameter of over twenty zhang rushed out of the cave.
The black ball was covered in thick, dark green demonic mist, which rippled outward in circles. The black ball shook a few times and then unfolded, landing on the ground and transforming into a black hedgehog covered in dense spikes.
Seeing the form of this beast, Zhang Ling was stunned for a moment and recalled an ancient beast called the Spiked Ball Beast.
The form of this ancient beast was that of a giant hedgehog. It was said to enjoy eating various spirit ores. Although its body was not as large as most ancient beasts, its defense was astonishing.
However, the Spiked Ball Beast in legends was said to be reddish-white, and at the eighth-order level, its body would glow with golden light.
Although the spiritual pressure of the one in front of him reached the eighth-order, it was pitch black. He wondered if it was a mutation or another type of ancient beast.
While Zhang Ling was pondering, the pitch-black Spiked Ball Beast squeaked a few times and turned into a black light, rushing in one direction.
With a loud bang, the Spiked Ball Beast instantly crashed into a giant tortoise puppet hidden not far away.
The giant tortoise puppet hadn't even received Zhang Ling's command before it was overturned and sent flying, crashing into a spot thirty to forty zhang away, breaking over a dozen giant trees.
Seeing this scene, Zhang Ling gathered his thoughts and stopped thinking too much, deciding to deal with the Spiked Ball Beast first. With a thought, he immediately controlled the remaining five high-level puppets to launch an attack.
The three iron lion puppets swayed and leaped into the air, their mouths opening wide. The spirit patterns on their bodies instantly turned crimson red, and they spat out giant fireballs.
Each fireball was five to six zhang in size, and in the blink of an eye, sixty to seventy giant fireballs were launched, slamming towards the Spiked Ball Beast.
The three iron lions were positioned in three directions, forming a small circle, with countless fireballs blocking all directions, up, down, left, and right.
Although ancient beasts generally had low intelligence, this Spiked Ball Beast had reached the eighth-order level after all. Its instinctive reaction and spiritual sense were not weak. It instinctively sensed danger, its body swaying quickly a few times before curling into a black spiked ball, spinning rapidly in place.
The fireballs caused no threat to it at all. Instead, they enraged the Spiked Ball Beast.
With a flash of black light, the Spiked Ball Beast shuttled across the ground at an extremely fast speed, turning into a black blur. In the blink of an eye, it sent three iron lion puppets flying.
Subsequently, the black ball soared into the air. A strange green light appeared on its pitch-black body, and countless zhang-long black-green thorns shot out, like giant spears, mercilessly striking the three iron lion puppets.
Instantly, the three puppets were covered in black barbs, creating a series of loud bangs. Seeing this scene, the corners of Zhang Ling's mouth twitched a few times.
The hedgehog beast had at least ten thousand barbs on its back, and they were extremely sharp. If it were allowed to continue attacking, the three high-level puppets wouldn't last more than two or three rounds before being scrapped.
This was even with the puppets' bodies being sturdy. If it were an ordinary high-level demonic beast, it would be killed in one round of attacks.
Naturally, he wouldn't just stand by and watch. The materials consumed to craft these three high-level puppets alone were considerable, and he couldn't let the Spiked Ball Beast destroy them so easily.
Zhang Ling swayed and appeared, scattering a yellow light from his hand, turning into a cloud of light that descended from the sky, instantly covering the forty to fifty zhang area where the Spiked Ball Beast was located.
The Spiked Ball Beast, transformed into a black ball, was instantly pressed to the ground by the yellow light, smashing out a large pit.
This was the Heavy Yuan Profound Light. As he entered the Nascent Soul stage, the power of this divine ability had also increased significantly. The area covered by it would be subjected to a strange force. Whether it was magical treasures, various spiritual lights, or demonic beasts, their movements would be restricted to some extent.
Although it wasn't very effective against an ancient beast of this strength, it could still restrict it slightly.
Temporarily suppressing the Spiked Ball Beast on the ground with the Profound Light, the three damaged iron lion puppets immediately shot out giant fireballs, turning into a sea of fire that slammed onto the Spiked Ball Beast.
At the same time, the three giant tortoise puppets also released a large cloud of ice mist, forming three giant ice storms that swept towards the Spiked Ball Beast.
The Spiked Ball Beast also shook its body and regained its senses. It had only been caught off guard and pressed to the ground. Now, the force pressing on its body didn't affect it much. After a yellow-green shield appeared on its body, it negated the force.
The numerous fireballs and ice storms that swept over it were also blocked by the shield. For a time, they didn't break through the beast's defense.
Zhang Ling naturally knew that simple attacks couldn't deal with this ancient beast. While commanding the puppets to attack, he activated a spell with his hand seals, and the ground within fifty to sixty zhang radius rose with a large yellow wind, as if an earthquake had occurred.
The Heavenly Star Sand that had sunk into the ground broke out of the earth, turning into five ten-zhang-long sand dragons, attacking the Spiked Ball Beast with powerful auras.
The five sand dragons roamed on the ground, with large pieces of earth and mud attached to them. In the blink of an eye, the five sand dragons turned into even larger stone dragons.
The Spiked Ball Beast, having been attacked repeatedly, was not to be trifled with. Facing danger, it also unleashed its powerful strength. The yellow-green shield on its body contracted and expanded, exploding into a large wave of energy, shattering the fireballs and ice storms that landed on it.
Its body curled into a ball again. The sound of wind being broken was constant as it shuttled across the ground at an extremely fast speed. Before the five stone dragons could attack, they were smashed to pieces by black, sharp thorns.
The Spiked Ball Beast even howled excitedly, its gaze turning to Zhang Ling.
Although it wasn't very intelligent, it could sense that the giant tortoises and iron lions that had attacked earlier were all dead objects, and only the human in front of it gave it the most dangerous feeling.
After changing its target, the Spiked Ball Beast shook the hundreds of black thorns on its back, shooting them out like arrows.
Having witnessed this attack, Zhang Ling naturally didn't want to take it head-on. As the Spiked Ball Beast changed direction, his figure turned into several phantoms, dodging these attacks ahead of time.
Seeing that its attack missed, the Spiked Ball Beast roared angrily, and crashed over with extreme speed.
Zhang Ling snorted coldly, and the Heavy Yuan Profound Light formed several yellow light screens in front of him. The Spiked Ball Beast crashed into the light screens, breaking several layers of light screens in a row, but the momentum of the impact was also negated.
He quickly flicked his arm, and a vine like a bone whip lashed out fiercely, sending the Spiked Ball Beast flying directly.
At the same time, he waved his hands together, and two yellow lights turned into two giant yellow light hands, slamming down fiercely, directly pressing the Spiked Ball Beast, which had not yet reacted, heavily on the ground, making it unable to resist for a while.
But the Spiked Ball Beast was also smart. After being pressed to the ground, it actually sank its body, sinking completely into the ground. It instantly broke free from the suppression of the spiritual light hand and shuttled through the earth and rocks.
This is Earth Evasion! Zhang Ling recognized it at a glance.
Although the Spiked Ball Beast was an ancient beast, the spiritual power on its body was quite mixed, but the earth spiritual power it emitted was the strongest. Its own strength was not weak, and it was not surprising that it could master Earth Evasion.
If it used other evasive techniques, this beast might have a chance to escape. But using Earth Evasion in front of him, Zhang Ling sneered in his heart, landed on the ground, and a yellow light hit the ground.
Instantly, a large area of the nearby ground turned gray-yellow in the yellow light, turning into a gray-yellow rock.
Immediately afterwards, the ground not far away exploded with a bang, and five stone dragons rushed out, wrapping around a black thing like ropes. It was the Spiked Ball Beast in ball form.
At this moment, the Spiked Ball Beast was firmly trapped in it, and the surface of its originally pitch-black body was also covered with a layer of rock and soil, gradually being petrified.
This was the successfully cultivated Earthly Fiend Earth Spirit. The five earth spirits that had been shattered earlier had not been completely destroyed.
If Zhang Ling used this divine power with all his strength, he could condense eight or nine earth spirits at once. With the help of earth and stone, the earth spirits could continue to condense as long as their spiritual power did not dissipate.
Moreover, this divine power was accompanied by petrification divine power. The Spiked Ball Beast burrowed into the ground, and it just happened to fall into this trick. It was really throwing itself into the net.
Rumbling sounds echoed as the spiked ball beast struggled wildly. Although it was缠住 by the stone dragon, it was, after all, not weak. A large cloud of dark green demonic mist erupted from its body, which neutralized the petrification. It quickly regained its mobility, and the thorns all over its body bristled, ready to launch another round of attacks to shatter the restraints.
However, Zhang Ling didn't give the beast another chance. With a flick of his sleeve, a green light shot out, transforming into a green ray that quickly pierced through the air, hitting the spiked ball beast and creating bloody holes.
But the beast was not killed instantly. The spiked ball beast shrunk into a sphere, making it difficult for the green spikes to hit vital areas. The vitality of this ancient beast was tenacious, and these injuries were unlikely to be fatal.
Seeing the spiked ball beast撞击 even more violently, about to break free,
Zhang Ling frowned slightly, and a black light shot out from his sleeve. It flashed and landed above the spiked ball beast, transforming into a purplish-black small bell. A 'dong' sound entered the ears.
Affected by the bell sound, the spiked ball beast trembled, and its spherical body stiffened for a moment, slightly expanding.
Seizing this opportunity, Zhang Ling controlled the green spikes to pierce through the gaps in its expanded body. After a series of hissing sounds, the spiked ball beast softly crashed to the ground. There were several holes in its head, and it twitched a few times in a pool of blood before finally dying.
"Finally solved it," Zhang Ling muttered to himself, visibly relieved.
