Chapter 235: Desperate Counterattack

Four black soul‑suppressing stakes did not pierce the flesh of the giant beast Wang Shan.

They plunged into the void around Wang Shan at a strange angle.

"Humm—"

There was no sound, yet it was louder than any sound.

Li Hu felt as if an invisible giant hand had gripped his brain, and the world began to peel away before his eyes.

It was not a visual distortion, but a more fundamental rejection coming from the level of 'definition'.

It was as if this space had suddenly gained its own will, and it was exerting all its strength to vomit out Wang Shan, this foreign object that did not belong to it.

Around the massive body of the giant beast Wang Shan, light, energy, and even the chaotic laws began to retreat three paces, forming an absolute 'vacuum'. He stood isolated at the world's center, like a piece cut out of a painting, abrupt and strange.

"Success." The Shadow Guard Captain's voice was calm, as if stating an established fact: "The coordinates of the 'Key' have been severed, ready for sacrifice."

The thickest soul‑suppressing stake in his hand began to glow with a dim blood‑red light.

But just then, the giant beast isolated in the 'Nothing' moved.

It merely lifted its head slowly, the pair of beast eyes burning with black‑gold flames sweeping over the five Shadow Guards before it.

"Roar..."

A deeply suppressed low growl rolled out from the depths of its throat.

The next second, the vacuum that had been rejecting it shuddered violently, then, as if injected with an opposing concept, began to collapse and contract wildly inward!

The space that had originally sought to expel Wang Shan now became like its most fervent devotee, adopting an almost fawning posture to draw him back into its embrace, and even venerating him as the sole 'truth'!

"What?!" a Shadow Guard cried out, "Our 'Concept Lock'… has been overridden?!"

"Pfft!"

The Shadow Guard Captain staggered, a trickle of black blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. The blood‑red light on the soul‑suppressing stake in his hand dimmed, obviously suffering a backlash.

"His domain… has completely assimilated with the twisted laws of this trap zone! He isn't resisting; he is… establishing new rules!"

Before his words faded, an indescribably terrifying shock erupted, centered on the giant beast Wang Shan!

It was neither energy nor an air wave, but a pure 'mistake'!

The black‑gold shockwave swept over them; the four Shadow Guards were like tiny boats struck by a giant wave, instantly flung away, their black armor emitting agonized creaks as countless fine cracks appeared on its surface.

They steadied themselves, looked at each other, and saw shock reflected in each other's eyes.

"Captain, my magical power flow… has slowed by thirty percent!"

"My spiritual sense is contaminated! It's as if countless people are babbling nonsense in my head!"

"What the hell is this thing… what kind of monster is it?!"

They were the Holy Lord's most elite Shadow Guards, late‑stage Golden Core cultivators who had carried out countless extermination missions, their hands stained with the blood of geniuses and powerhouses. They thought their hearts were already as hard as iron, but now a long‑absent emotion named 'fear' was uncontrollably welling up from the depths of their souls.

"What's there to panic about!" the Shadow Guard Captain barked, forcibly suppressing his surging qi and blood, "He's burning himself out; he won't last long! Form the Binding God Array and drain him to death!"

However, Wang Shan gave them no chance to form the array.

His massive body surged forward—not a high‑speed movement, but more like a 'spatial leap'. One moment he was at the vortex's center; the next, his huge shadow already covered the head of a Shadow Guard.

That Shadow Guard reacted extremely quickly, instantly forming hand seals; a heavy light shield made of countless runes appeared before him.

"Guard!"

This is his innate divine ability, capable of blocking a full‑powered strike from a Nascent Soul cultivator.

But when Wang Shan's claw came down, it made no earth‑shattering collision sound.

The claw seemed illusory, passing straight through the light shield and also through the Shadow Guard's body.

The Shadow Guard froze.

He lowered his gaze to see his chest unharmed, then looked at the light shield, also unscathed, and for a moment felt bewildered.

Did it block it?

No, that's wrong!

An indescribable panic seized his heart.

He felt as if something inside his body… had vanished.

"My… my Golden Core…" he muttered, his voice trembling with disbelief, "My Golden Core… why can't I feel it anymore?"

He could still sense his dantian and his magical power circulating, but the Golden Core he had refined for hundreds of years, the one bound to his life force, seemed to have evaporated into thin air, no longer perceptible.

It was clearly still there, but he had 'forgotten' how to perceive it.

"Number Three, what nonsense are you spouting! Focus!" the captain roared.

But the Shadow Guard called Number Three merely stood there blankly, the two red lights beneath his helmet flashing wildly, like a computer about to crash.

"Golden Core… what is a Golden Core?"

That question made everyone present, including Li Hu far away, feel a chill shoot up from the tailbone to the crown of the head.

"Damn it…" Li Hu's teeth chattered, "Old Zhang, did you see that? He isn't killing people; he's… erasing! He wiped out that cultivator's concept of the 'Golden Core'!"

Zhang Mei could no longer speak, only clapping her hands tightly over her mouth to keep from screaming.

"Watch out!"

Another Shadow Guard bellowed, shooting a black chain from his sleeve in an attempt to entangle Wang Shan's other foot.

Wang Shan didn't even glance at the chain, simply backhanding it away with a slap.

Just as silently, it penetrated.

That Shadow Guard's body stiffened abruptly, the motion of firing the chain grinding to a halt.

He stared blankly at his own hands, then tried to reform the hand seals, but found his fingers had become unbearably stiff and alien, unable to form the seal he had practiced millions of times no matter what.

He… had forgotten how to cast spells.

"Monster! This is a monster!"

The Shadow Guard squad's formation fell into complete chaos.

Their prideful cultivation, exquisite techniques, and powerful treasures all became a joke before this giant beast.

No matter how strong your power, if even the concept of 'how to use it' is taken away, what difference is there between you and a mortal?

Retreat! Open distance! Attack with long-range talismans! Don't let his domain touch you!

The Shadow Guard Captain finally felt fear, letting out a hoarse, exhausted roar, and was the first to violently retreat backward.

But Wang Shan's mountain-range-like body, in a completely unreasonable way, instantly appeared before him.

Those beast eyes, burning with black-gold flames, coldly stared at him.

There was no anger, no killing intent, only… an icy coldness toward 'material'.

The Shadow Guard Captain felt his soul freezing.

He wanted to flee, but discovered that the thought of 'escaping' had become blurred in his mind.

He wanted to counterattack, but discovered that his earth-shaking cultivation, at this moment, he didn't know where to draw from.

He was like an unparalleled martial artist who had suddenly lost his memory, possessing immense internal strength but having forgotten all his techniques.

This feeling of helplessness was ten thousand times more terrifying than death itself!

No… Holy Lord… save me…

He let out a desperate wail.

The giant beast Wang Shan slowly opened his massive mouth, inside not fangs but a deep, seemingly all-devouring chaos.