Chapter 212

Monster.

A monster through and through, impossible to gauge with common sense.

Only this thought remained in Wantiande's mind, like a poisonous snake gnawing at the last shred of dignity and reason he had left as a Golden Core Elder.

He watched the newly grown scales on Wang Shan's claws, thicker and darker than before, flashing with a chilling light that made his heart pound. The mocking smile was like an invisible slap, striking hard at his soul.

Run! I must run!

This damned place, every extra breath is torture!

Wantiande no longer cared about the dignity of an Elder or the decorum of a Golden Core; now he only wanted to survive.

He slapped his storage bag, and several streams of light shot out—not treasures, but his last-resort lifesaving talismans kept at the bottom of the box.

"Departing Fire Burns Heaven Talisman!"

"Profound Ice Freezes Soul Talisman!"

"Geng Metal Rends Void Talisman!"

Three Fourth Tier talismans, each worth a fortune, he now unleashed all at once without hesitation.

Boom!

The violent fire dragon roared as it surged forth, its scorching heat causing the surrounding rock walls to begin melting.

Piercing cold followed closely, condensing into countless sharp ice cones; wherever they passed, even the air seemed to freeze.

Finally, dozens of golden wind blades, solid as substance, flashed with a blade that could tear anything, crisscrossing to slash at Wang Shan.

This was a saturation attack enough to make any early Golden Core cultivator panic and even suffer serious injury.

However, Wang Shan simply stood there, not even changing his stance.

He opened his mouth and let out a low, beast-like roar from deep in his throat.

"What exactly are you!" Wantiande's voice already carried a sob, filled with endless fear and bewilderment.

An invisible ripple spread outward from him as its center.

Something strange happened.

That mighty fire dragon, when it charged into the area three zhang before Wang Shan, its flames were like charcoal doused with water—quickly withering, dimming, and finally turning into a wisp of green smoke that vanished into thin air.

The sky-full of ice cones, meanwhile, encountered their nemesis, cracking "crack-crack" in midair, turning into the purest water vapor, which the hot, dry air of the cavern evaporated completely.

As for those sharp Geng Metal wind blades, their fate was even more miserable; they struck an invisible wall, emitting a series of "ding-ding-dang-dang" crisp sounds, then lost their light, becoming ordinary spiritual particles swallowed by the surrounding environment.

Wantiande's pupils shrank to the size of a pinprick.

It's over.

Talismans……also failed.

Before this monster, all attacks relying on the world's spiritual power became a joke.

"What exactly are you!" Wantiande's voice already carried a sob, filled with endless fear and bewilderment.

Wang Shan did not answer him.

He merely moved.

His massive body once again turned into a black afterimage, claws tearing the air, bringing a sharp whistle, straight for Wantiande's throat.

"Madman! You madman!"

"If you won't let me live, then let's die together!"

At the moment of life and death, a flash of resolute madness crossed Wantiande's face.

He no longer retreated; instead, he charged forward to meet Wang Shan.

"Burn my essence blood, explode my golden core!"

He spat a mouthful of essence blood onto his chest; his already pallid complexion instantly turned as pale as gold paper.

The golden core inside his body began to spin wildly in a self-destructive manner, brilliant golden light bursting from within, dyeing his whole person into a small golden sun.

A world-destroying aura erupted with a boom!

"Open up for this old man!!!"

Accompanied by his hysterical roar, a thick, unbelievable golden light pillar shot up from his body—not, but swept out, targeting Wang Shan ahead!

This was no longer a technique.

This was the final, mutual-destruction strike of a mid-Golden Core cultivator who burned his own life and cultivation!

Wherever the light pillar passed, space violently twisted and trembled. The hard rock walls, like ice under a scorching sun, silently vaporized and vanished. The madly mutated plants, upon contacting the light pillar, instantly turned to ash. The energy field of the entire cavern formation was shaken to the brink of collapse by this violent force.

This is the deathbed counterstrike of a Golden Core powerhouse—terrifying indeed!

In Wantiande's eyes burned the last madness and a sliver of hope.

He did not expect this strike to kill Wang Shan the monster; he only hoped that this explosive energy could temporarily break and shatter Wang Shan's eerie "law-breaking domain" around him, even for just an instant! With even a moment's gap, he could tear space and escape alive!

Boom——!!!

The golden light pillar slammed solidly into Wang Shan's chest.

At that moment, the entire cavern blazed like daylight; a terrifying energy storm swept outward in all directions, flattening everything in the cave entrance area.

Far away, Wang Zhize and Wang Zhitao, protected by the Beast-Suppressing Source Pearl, were also shaken by the shockwave, their qi and blood surging.

"Grandfather!" Wang Zhitao cried out.

At the center of the energy storm, Wang Shan's massive body was blasted away like a cannonball, slamming into the rear mountain wall and leaving a deep, bottomless human-shaped hole.

Done?

Wantiande stared fixedly at that big hole, his eyes bursting with delight.

He had no time to check whether Wang Shan lived or died, nor to attend to his own body, weakened to the extreme after burning his essence blood; he immediately formed seals with both hands, preparing to tear open a spatial rift.

However, as soon as his spiritual power began to circulate, it felt as if mired in a swamp, becoming extremely sluggish.

The suppressive force around him, merely weakened for a moment, then closed in again.

How could it be?

Why hasn't the array been broken yet?

Just as he was doubtful and uncertain, a burst of kakab, kakab bone-friction sound came from that pitch-black cave entrance.

Thud.

A foot covered in dark, heavy scale armor stepped out of the cave.

Thud.

Wang Shan's figure reappeared in Wan Tian De's sight.

He looked somewhat disheveled.

At his chest, the indestructible scale armor showed large-area cracks, and in several places deep enough to see bone, dark red blood slowly seeped from the wounds.

But he wasn't dead.

He endured a Golden Core cultivator's self-destruct attack, and yet he only suffered minor injuries?

Wan Tian De's elation froze instantly, replaced by dead ash.

Even more terrifying, his soul trembled as the cracked wounds on Wang Shan's body were writhing and healing at an unnatural speed; broken scale fragments fell away, and new, more ferocious bone spurs and scale armor erupted from his flesh, and in the blink of an eye he was whole again.

No, he was even stronger than before!

Wang Shan lowered his head, glanced at his brand-new chest armor, then lifted his head; his icy vertical pupils locked onto Wan Tian De.

"……"

He didn't speak, but his gaze said everything.

Like a cat toying with a mouse under its paw.

"No…… no…… impossible……"

Wan Tian De completely collapsed.

He could neither understand nor accept it.

As a dignified Elder of the Wan Beast Sect at Golden Core, hunting down a Foundation Establishment ant should have been an easy task.

How did it come to this?

Trapped, his magic treasure ruined, his talisman failed—even his desperate strike burning his essence blood only gave the opponent… a mere tickle?

"Ahhhhh——!"

In the depths of despair, Wan Tian De let out a resentful, shrill howl, his voice filled with humiliation and madness.

"I, Wan Tian De, a Golden Core Elder! How could I lose to a monster like you?! I refuse to believe it! I refuse to believe it!!"