Chapter 171: Guardian of the Foundation Establishment Beast

"Sir, should we… should we keep going in?" Li Hu's voice trembled with a hint of sobbing as he supported the dazed Zhang Mei, each step feeling like walking on blade tips.

That invisible pressure was like a bone‑deep maggot, clinging tightly to their souls; although protected by the jade slip, the feeling of being probed by an ancient will and possibly crushed at any moment was worse than death.

Wang Shan didn't look back, merely grunted, his eyes fixed dead ahead.

On the system interface, a glaring red dot kept flashing, marked "High Energy Reaction".

The pressure that roiled heaven and earth came from deeper still, but this red dot was the most conspicuous landmark along the way—like a lighthouse in a dark ocean; even if we didn't know whether the lighthouse marked a harbor or a reef, it was better than blindly stumbling through endless darkness.

"That old thing woke the master of the house, and now the master wants a big cleanup. We little bugs who want to survive had better find a corner to hide in," Wang Shan said in a flat tone, devoid of emotion, "that place might just be a hiding spot."

That analogy wasn't funny at all, and Li Hu's face turned even paler.

They moved forward with uneven steps. The surrounding plants grew ever stranger—vines like twisted blood vessels, covered in dense eyes that stared at them in unison, full of malice.

After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

A vast ruin lay before them—broken stone platforms, collapsed hall pillars, and patches of long‑dry fields overrun with strange weeds. The air reeked of a thick, almost tangible energy, fresh with plant fragrance yet mixed with beastly musk; a single breath made their lungs burn.

"Sir, this… looks like a medicinal garden?" Zhang Mei had come to, weakly leaning on Li Hu as she gazed at the scene before them.

"The Beast Taming Sect's medicinal garden." Wang Shan uttered a few words; the jade slip in his hand grew scorching hot, clearly resonating strongly with this place.

The red dot marked on the system lay exactly at the center of this ruin.

The three stepped cautiously into the ruin; the stone slabs beneath their feet were cracked and creaked underfoot.

"Hss—"

A faint sound, like cloth being torn, came from deep within the medicinal garden.

Wang Shan halted his step and shoved Li Hu and Zhang Mei behind him.

In the center of the ruin, where a pool should have been, a black python as thick as a water bucket slowly lifted its head. Its body was covered in black scales, yet looked corroded—pitted and pockmarked, exuding an ominous aura. Most terrifying were its eyes: not beastly pupils, but two blazing crimson orbs, filled with brutality and madness.

"Foundation Establishment… peak?" Wang Shan's heart sank.

The aura this beast exuded was more terrifying than all the mutant demonic beasts they had encountered combined!

The python obviously noticed them; its scarlet gaze locked onto Wang Shan in an instant, brimming with undisguised hostility. It opened its maw and spewed a jet of green‑black poison mist that corroded even the stones it touched, making them hiss.

"Fall back!"

Wang Shan gave a low shout, formed hand seals, and instantly a yellow‑light shield appeared before him. At the same time he flung several talismans from his bosom, which turned into fireballs and wind blades that shot toward the python.

Yet those attacks, enough to seriously injure an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, struck the python's scales and only sparked a few embers, leaving not even a white mark.

The python was utterly enraged; it lashed its tail, and the surrounding broken stones and twisted vines seemed to come alive, whistling as they hurled toward the three.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei, never having seen such a scene, could only flail in desperate dodges, hardly able to strike back.

"Damn, this freak can control the energy here!" Wang Shan realized at once.

The beast‑source energy in this medicinal garden was extremely rich; this giant python was the ruler of the place, and every move it made could bend the surrounding environment to its will.

He barely held off the attacks with talismans while quietly activating the black jade slip in his hand.

The jade slip hummed, drawing forth a weak but pure stream of earth‑vein energy that merged into Wang Shan's spiritual power. He could feel the surrounding turbulent energy weaken slightly.

It helped!

But it wasn't enough!

Seeing that prolonged assaults failed, the python let out a sharp hiss, its massive body shooting like a black lightning bolt straight at Wang Shan; the foul wind nearly blew away a person's soul.

Wang Shan's pupils contracted—hard‑blocking it was absolutely impossible!

He pushed off the ground and shot backward, but the python was even faster.

At that critical moment, Wang Shan's internal spiritual power stalled; the beastly force suppressed by the Clear Heart Pill, stimulated by the python, surged wildly again, crashing into his meridians.

Intense pain struck; Wang Shan's vision went black and he nearly collapsed.

"Sir!" Li Hu shouted, eyes bloodshot, ready to rush forward and fight to the death.

"Get back!" Wang Shan roared, forcing himself to steady his stance.

Pain! Agony deep into the marrow! It felt as if countless beasts were gnawing at his meridians.

But at that very instant, a mad thought flashed through his mind.

"I can't suppress it… if I can't hold it down, then I won't!"

A flash of ruthlessness crossed his eyes; instead of suppressing the backlash, he actively guided that violent, chaotic, destruction‑craving force into his right palm.

His palm instantly turned crimson, veins bulging as if it might explode at any moment. An aura more primal and ferocious than the python's burst from his body.

"Splitting Stone Hand!"

Wang Shan did not retreat but advanced, meeting the oncoming python with a palm strike.

This palm was no longer a mere condensation of spiritual power; it blended the backlash force of the Ten Thousand Beasts Reversal, the earth‑vein energy drawn by the black jade slip, and his own Foundation Establishment cultivation… into a monster!

"Boom—"

An utterly muffled, thunderous boom.

Wang Shan's palm landed solidly on the python's skull.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

Immediately after, the python's supposedly indestructible scales, like porcelain struck by a heavy hammer, cracked with a rapid series of splintering sounds; spider‑web fissures spread across its entire head in an instant, and black blood mixed with cerebrospinal fluid gushed from the cracks.

The two crimson glows dimmed at visible speed, the massive body crashed to the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

"Pfft—"

Wang Shan also spat out a mouthful of blood, his body swayed, and he dropped to one knee. That palm had nearly drained all his strength; the backlash surged wildly inside him, making his five viscera feel displaced.

"Sir!"

Li Hu and Zhang Mei rushed forward to support him.

"I won't die." Wang Shan waved a hand, pulled a pill from his bosom and stuffed it into his mouth, barely suppressing the rising blood, but his eyes remained fixed on the area behind the python's corpse.

There, on a stone platform in the ruin's center, guarded by the coiled python, lay several broken jade slips and an ancient stone box.

Li Hu understood at once, stepped forward, and took the items.

Wang Shan took the jade slip, his Spiritual Sense swept over it, and his spirit was instantly refreshed.

It was a pill prescription! Several incomplete ancient pill prescriptions, one of which prominently mentioned the term—"Beast Source Core"! The prescription described that this object is the fundamental power of the Ten Thousand Beasts Origin, and also the key to wielding the power of the Ten Thousand Beasts.

He then opened the stone box; inside were not pills or magical treasures, but some records made of special beast hide. The writing was blurred, but Wang Shan, relying on the Beast Taming Sect's inheritance, barely managed to discern a few fragmented sentences.

"... forbidden technique Counter-Devouring... origin... Core... same origin... can be resolved..."

Same origin can be resolved!

Wang Shan's heart leapt violently!

He suddenly raised his head, gazing toward the deepest part of the secret realm, the direction where the ancient will awakens.

Resolving his own Counter-Devouring, the grandson's strange poison, and even the key to fully mastering this power—all seem to have clues.

And all the clues point to that thing called the Beast Source Core!