Chapter 217: Fall of the Golden Core

Boom!

A deep, muffled roar sounded, not like an explosion but more like something heavy being completely crushed.

"Wan Tiande"'s rotting body, under the continual erosion of several black beams, finally could no longer hold, shuddered violently, then, as if all its bones had been pulled out, sagged limp. The Golden Core that had once shone brilliantly, bearing a hundred years of cultivation, now dimmed and covered with spider‑web‑like cracks.

Crack…

The crisp cracking sound rang especially harshly in the deathly silent Cave.

The Golden Core is shattered.

With that crack, the last breath of "life" on Wan Tiande completely vanished. A Golden Core cultivator thus fell in a humiliating and bizarre way into this sunless underground Cave.

Wang Shan's blood‑red vertical pupils stared coldly at everything. He felt no joy of victory, only a hunger born of instinct.

He stepped toward the corpse still exhaling black smoke, the massive beast‑shaped body casting twisted shadows on the ground. His movements were stiff, each step feeling like a struggle against some invisible force.

Hiss… Ha…

A heavy breathing rumbled from deep within his throat, carrying scorching airflow. He could feel his rationality being torn by a raging beastly frenzy, the world before his eyes blurring, leaving only a primal craving for flesh and energy.

He reached the corpse, and his half‑foot long claws, without hesitation, slipped out and easily tore open Wan Tiande's already rotted chest. No blood, only pools of foul pus.

Wang Shan groped inside, and soon his claw tip brushed a cold, hard object.

It was a storage ring.

He ripped the ring off, not even glancing at it, and with his last sliver of clarity hurled it toward a distant corner.

"Hu Zi… catch it!"

The voice was hoarse, like two pieces of metal grinding.

In the corner, Li Hu and Zhang Mei, who had been tensely watching the battlefield, flinched; Li Hu instinctively reached out and steadily caught the ring. The ring still exuded a nauseating rotten odor and a faint chill.

"Lord…" Li Hu's voice trembled.

He saw—he saw everything. He saw how the Lord had literally "swallowed" that arrogant Golden Core cultivator, and he saw the Lord's current… a terrifying visage that was no longer human at all.

It was no longer half‑human, half‑beast, but a complete ferocious beast.

Over a zhang tall, its whole body cloaked in dark, dense scales, with snarling bone spikes at the joints, a mouth full of exposed sharp fangs, and eyes devoid of any human feeling, leaving only cold, brutal murderous intent.

Wang Shan didn't pause. He reached out again and picked up two items beside the corpse.

A palm‑sized, antiquated flying boat, and a compass etched with intricate star patterns.

Barrier‑breaking Boat, Star‑setting Compass.

Wan Tiande's core artifact that he relied on to rampage and hunt them.

Wang Shan clasped the two items in his claws, feeling the lingering Spiritual Energy Fluctuation, and an urge to crush and devour them surged in his mind.

"Roar—!"

He looked to the sky and let out an uncontrollable low roar; his body shuddered violently, the scale plates on his surface bristling and producing a "clack" friction sound.

No… I'm about to lose control…

【Warning! Warning! Zhuren's mutation level has reached 95%! Spiritual soul contamination intensifies, on the brink of collapse! Counter-Devouring beast nature is about to completely drown reason!】

【Suggestion: Immediately sever the connection with the aberrant energy and perform emergency spiritual soul stabilization!】

The system's warning sounded so sharp it seemed ready to pierce his mind, yet Wang Shan perceived it as if muffled behind a thick veil of water, distant and unreal.

His consciousness was sinking, plunging into a blood‑red sea filled with slaughter and destruction.

"Lord!" Zhang Mei's voice trembled with sobs; she clamped her mouth shut to keep from crying, yet tears kept streaming down.

She wasn't afraid of the monster‑like figure; she feared that the person inside that figure would never return.

Li Hu clenched the storage ring tightly, his knuckles whitening. He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay calm. The Lord had given him the item, which meant trust. He must not panic, absolutely must not panic!

"Count… the loot… protect… them…"

Wang Shan strained to turn his head, his fully beast‑transformed eyes gazing at Li Hu and Zhang Mei, forcing out a few halting words. This was the last command he could issue as "Wang Shan".

Having spoken, he seemed to have exhausted his final ounce of strength.

"Roar!!!"

A deafening roar echoed through the entire Cave; this time there was no suppression. The raging wave turned into a tangible shockwave, shaking the loose stones on the ground into the air.

Wang Shan's massive body jolted, the last sliver of clarity in his eyes completely replaced by a deep crimson.

He was fully beastified.

Yet a strange scene unfolded.

The completely irrational Wang Shan did not attack as expected; instead he slowly lowered his head, his massive body standing quietly in the center of the Cave.

He seemed to be… breathing?

Yes, he was breathing. With each inhalation, the surrounding gray, polluted chaotic energy found an outlet, turning into visible gray currents that he drew into his body. With each exhalation, he expelled purer, more ferocious black energy, merging into the space.

He entered a bizarre symbiosis with the Whirlwind Trap Zone.

He became the core of this domain, and the domain became an extension of his body. He could feel his control over this twisted energy reaching an unprecedented height.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei held their breath, daring not to move.

They could sense that the "Lord" at this moment was more dangerous and terrifying than when he had just slain Wan Tiande.

"Hu Ge, what do we… do?" Zhang Mei's voice trembled uncontrollably.

Li Hu stared fixedly at Wang Shan's silhouette, his mind racing.

The Lord's earlier command was… count the loot, protect the young masters.

Right! The young masters!

He abruptly turned his head, looking toward the opposite corner where Wang Zhize and Wang Zhitao were shielded by an energy barrier. The two children were unconscious but breathing steadily.

"Mei, guard the young masters; I'll go check." Li Hu lowered his voice, making a decision.

"You're crazy! Going there will get you killed!" Zhang Mei grabbed him.

"The Lord gave me the item so I could act! He's not in the right state now; I have to find a way!" Li Hu brushed her hand away, his gaze filled with reckless resolve, "Wan Tiande is dead, but his sect won't let this go. Before losing his mind, the Lord surely thought of this. He's using his last moments to pave a path for us!"

Li Hu isn't a smart person, but he understands Wang Shan.

Since escaping from Wang Family Village, everything the Lord has done has been to keep his family alive. Now, having turned himself into this ghostly form, he must also be doing it for that purpose.

He must figure out what the Lord wants him to do.

Li Hu inhaled deeply, moving cautiously, step by step, toward the terrifying giant beast.

With each step closer, the suffocating pressure grew stronger. Li Hu felt his legs trembling, his heart about to leap out of his throat.

Finally, he reached a spot less than five zhang from Wang Shan.

"Lord?" he called tentatively.

The giant beast slowly turned its head, its pair of blood‑red vertical pupils, devoid of any emotion, locking onto him.

In that instant, Li Hu felt all the blood in his body freeze. He seemed to see a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, and hear countless souls wailing.

But the giant beast did not attack him.

It simply stared at him silently, emitting an incomprehensible "gulu" sound from its throat.

Summoning his courage, Li Hu lifted the storage ring in his hand: "Lord, the item is here. Do you… do you have any other orders?"

The giant beast's gaze shifted from Li Hu's face to that storage ring.

It seemed… to recognize the object.

"Hoo…"

A deep roar sounded, this time lacking the previous frenzy, instead carrying a hint of… sorrow?

The giant beast slowly raised a sharp claw, pointing toward the deeper part of the Cave. There, the cave wall that Wan Tiande's uncontrolled attack had blasted open, also the place where higher‑grade "mutated energy" leaked out.

Then it pointed at Li Hu, and at the two unconscious grandchildren.

Li Hu was stunned.

What does this mean?

Are we… to go in?

To that more dangerous place?

He was puzzling over it, when the giant beast made another move.

Its massive body, unbelievably, slowly, step by step, walked to the blasted Cave Entrance, and then… used its own body to block the opening!

It resembled a statue—a black statue forged from scales, bone spines and muscle, full of tragic grandeur and despair, shielding all danger behind it.

Li Hu understood instantly.

The Lord was telling him that Wan Tiande's death was only a beginning. Outside—or rather, Wan Tiande's sect—would soon locate this place. This Cave was no longer safe.

And that deeper, contaminated area, while a dead zone for others, might—for Wang Family members who have already adapted to this energy—be the only way to survive.

The Lord, using his last remaining instinct, pointed them toward the direction, and decided to use his now irretrievable body to guard the final checkpoint for them, buying them the last of time.

He could not return.

So, he chose to become a mountain—a black mountain that guards his family.

Li Hu's eyes instantly reddened.

He knelt heavily before that black statue.

"Lord… I, Li Hu, understand!"

He gave a sharp kowtow, then sprang to his feet, turned, and ran toward Zhang Mei and the two children.

"Mei Zi, quick! Take the young masters, let's go! Enter through that Cave Entrance!"

There was no time for sorrow, no time to hesitate.

They must survive, carrying the Lord's hopes, bearing the Wang Family bloodline, surviving.

That is the best response to that black statue.