Chapter 210: Fuse

The fifth heavenly thunder was brewing, and the weak Land Mountain Turtle was also accumulating all of its energy.

Meanwhile, Yunhe, who was silently absorbing the scattered heavenly thunder's power, felt that some tiger-eyed fellows had arrived nearby.

It was obvious that such a huge commotion, plus the duration of the heavenly tribulation for transformation, naturally attracted some beasts confident in their strength, who harbored designs on the Land Mountain Turtle about to face the fifth heavenly thunder.

The Land Mountain Turtle's aura was so feeble that even if it barely managed to survive the tribulation, it would likely become extremely weak.

And an extraordinarily weak fourth-tier beast would obviously be attractive to third-tier beasts including Yunhe.

"'No matter when, whenever a breakthrough causes a commotion, it inevitably draws some reckless adventurers.'"

Back when he struck for the third tier and brought forth the Black Tortoise celestial phenomenon, he attracted three third-tier beasts and a large number of second-tier beasts.

However.

Fourth-tier beasts' territories are usually tens of thousands of li apart, and this Land Mountain Turtle obviously also deliberately chose a suitable spot to break through to the fourth tier; although its tribulation cloud covered a considerable area, it failed to attract any fourth-tier beasts.

At least no fourth-tier beast could arrive that quickly.

But third-tier beasts were inevitable.

Yunhe's cat sat in a corner, silently absorbing the heavenly thunder's power, with no intention whatsoever of taking action.

He did not consider the weak fourth-tier beast a good target, especially since he was merely an early-stage third-tier beast himself.

Boom!!

Just as he was observing the surroundings and watching some tiger-eyed late-stage third-tier beasts, the fifth heavenly thunder crashed down, countless heavenly thunder gold snakes flying wildly, the largest of them striking straight at the Land Mountain Turtle's body.

Roar!!

With such overbearing heavenly thunder falling, the Land Mountain Turtle's seemingly solid carapace actually burst open!

Accompanied by a large amount of flying turtle shell fragments and scalding demonic blood, the Land Mountain Turtle's thick, pillar-like limbs seemed unable to support it any longer; after a slight tremor, its heavy body crashed heavily to the ground.

It kicked up vast clouds of dust, mingling with a strong bloody smell and the aroma of well-roasted meat, spreading everywhere.

For the vast majority of late-stage third-tier beasts, when breaking through to the fourth tier and facing the heavenly tribulation for transformation, they could only rely on their bodies to withstand it, unlike cultivators who could use various treasures to aid them when facing tribulation.

But as the fifth heavenly thunder fell, the thunder-attribute energy in this space instantly became extremely rich; a large amount of heavenly thunder power, after flashing, quietly dissipated and returned to the firmament.

But a large portion was silently absorbed by Yunhe, hiding in the darkness, and transformed into the purest lightning power, stored in the newly born Thunder Bag.

At the same time.

The heavy thunderclouds hovering above this place seemed to have lost their support, and after a surge of swelling, they quietly dispersed.

The heavenly tribulation for transformation, ended!

But for some of the tiger-eyed beasts around, this was truly the signal that things were beginning.

At this moment, the Land Mountain Turtle lay like a dead, silent hill, quietly lying there; only the occasional lightning arcs jumping on its body, its blackened half-body and the bloody, fuzzy hole on its back, indicated what it had previously endured.

For a moment.

This stretch of forest fell into an eerie silence.

Even Yunhe could not be certain whether the Land Mountain Turtle had survived the tribulation or perished beneath it.

The surrounding beasts, in fact, also could not be certain.

Hum—

Suddenly.

The Land Mountain Turtle's body gave a slight tremor, and an aura completely different from before burst forth, causing the surrounding beasts, including Yunhe, to involuntarily shudder.

The aura of a fourth-tier beast!

The Land Mountain Turtle successfully survived the heavenly tribulation for transformation and metamorphosed into a fourth-tier beast!

"'Do those fellows really dare to make a move?'"

Yunhe couldn't help but think.

He had no intention of acting, but he did not deny that deep down he still harbored some anticipation.

He hoped these beasts would rush forward and clash with the extremely weak Land Mountain Turtle, resulting in mutual loss.

Only then would he have a slim chance to profit as the fisherman and become the biggest winner.

Of course, he also knew this possibility was not generally small.

Roar!!

Suddenly.

A long howl rose up.

Throughout the forest, waves of sound rose and fell in response, as many third-tier beasts had already gathered here.

What left Yunhe speechless was that these third-tier beasts shouted with great vigor, yet none had the intention to charge forward and attack.

It was obvious that although these beasts were reckless, they also understood that the first beast to charge forward would inevitably become the Land Mountain Turtle's most hated target and certainly the worst off.

But if they kept waiting like this, once the Land Mountain Turtle caught its breath, the beasts would lose their chance.

In fact, many beasts, upon sensing the genuine fourth-tier aura of the Land Mountain Turtle, had already begun to retreat.

After all, challenging across a major tier, the suppression among beasts could be even more pronounced than among human cultivators.

Suddenly.

Yunhe's thoughts stirred slightly, and his expression became a bit strange.

He lightly patted his storage bag.

A puppet comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator appeared before him.

Having him act himself, he definitely would not dare.

But lighting that fuse, he might be able to try.

Of course, it was merely an attempt, a trial made while ensuring his own safety.

Yunhe controlled the puppet, directing it to approach the Land Mountain Turtle's position as quickly as possible.

At this moment, all the beasts present held their breath and focused on the Land Mountain Turtle, failing to notice the puppet's existence.

Actually, even if noticed, the puppet's aura is far weaker than any third-level demon beast present, and it would not attract any attention.

As for saying, one would want to lock onto Yunhe through the puppet.

That would be even more impossible.

Because.

When the puppet approached to a certain distance, Yunhe's eyes flickered slightly, and he silently shouted in his heart:

Boom!

Boom!!

That puppet exploded with a boom, causing Yunhe to lose a wisp of Demon Sense, but also completely erased his trace.

The disturbance from the puppet's self-destruction was not great, its destructive power was indeed lackluster, and Yunhe deliberately controlled the puppet so it did not approach any demon beast, nor the Land Mountain Turtle, so it caused no harm to any demon beast present.

At most it could only be considered to have produced some noise.

But in the originally extremely quiet environment, this explosion and roar stood out extremely conspicuously.

Not only did the third-level demon beasts fail to react, but the Land Mountain Turtle, eyes tightly shut while striving to recover its state, was also somewhat taken aback.

Hum—

An extremely overbearing Demon Sense suddenly swept out.

Having undergone the Human-form Tribulation, the Land Mountain Turtle's Demon Sense also completed its transformation; although it might not match some veteran fourth-level demon beasts, its Demon Sense at this moment is truly that of a fourth-level demon beast.

While Yunhe hid somewhere, holding his breath, he appeared as a hesitant third-level demon beast, feeling that Demon Sense sweep over him without giving it any heed.

This let him let out a long breath.

It seems the Profound Demon Phantom Form can indeed let him evade the Demon Sense scrutiny of fourth-level demon beasts.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the Land Mountain Turtle just broke through to the fourth level, and its Demon Sense is not yet strong enough.

However, Yunhe believes that once his Cultivation Base breaks through again to reach mid third level, it should then be foolproof.

This put his mind at ease, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly:

'Indeed worthy of being a top demon clan technique.'

And as the Land Mountain Turtle's Demon Sense swept over, the previously hesitating third-level demon beasts could no longer restrain themselves.

At this moment, each of them was highly tense mentally, not only needing to consider whether to launch an attack at this opportunity, but also to be wary of the Land Mountain Turtle's sudden eruption.

The Demon Sense swept by the Land Mountain Turtle was almost equivalent to a signal.

Boom!!!

A demon beast with a relatively violent temperament could no longer restrain itself and launched an attack.

Yunhe, noticing this scene, shrank his neck and hid himself more carefully.

He was just trying it out; he never really thought he could actually ignite this battle.

If one were to speak truly.

Actually, it was still the Land Mountain Turtle's subconscious sweep of Demon Sense that became the most important factor stimulating those demon beasts.

Roar!!

Since knowing disguise is impossible, the Land Mountain Turtle, having already advanced to a fourth-level demon beast, naturally would not easily let pass this group of third-level demon beasts eyeing it; this is a bold 'usurpation'!

For a moment.

Compared to before, a more terrifying and overbearing earth-yellow Qi rose and swirled, rampaging like flying earth dragons.

However.

Even Yunhe could see that the greater the commotion caused by this Land Mountain Turtle, the more it revealed its weakness and its bluster.

But even so, the gap between third-level and fourth-level demon beasts is like a huge natural moat, not easily crossed.

'Tsk, these demon beasts really have big guts.'

But upon careful thought, this seems also to be one of the survival laws of demon beasts.

The weak are prey to the strong.

Even a high-level demon beast, when extremely weak, is no longer merely an object of awe in the eyes of other demon beasts; it is likewise an opportunity for them to advance.

Therefore, in such a broad environment, one must absolutely not appear overly weak.

Thus, after some demon beasts break through to the fourth level, they will try to recruit and subjugate subordinates, precisely to prepare for such situations.

And those third-level demon beasts capable of realizing this are undoubtedly far fewer.

As one of the chief culprits behind this commotion, Yunhe secretly crept to a spot, cautiously observing the battlefield.

Overall, the Land Mountain Turtle is still somewhat stronger; it seems to have held back a trick from the start, not appearing as strained as its outward movements suggest.

But this group of third-level demon beasts is indeed quite ruthless.

For them, taking a bite of flesh from the Land Mountain Turtle is of great benefit.

This battle.

Yunhe does not know how long this battle lasted.

Because during the battle's most intense phase, he avoided all demon beasts' gazes, sneaked to the vicinity where the battle erupted, and picked up the inner core of a late-stage third-level demon beast, as well as two large pieces of the Land Mountain Turtle's shell connected with flesh and fascia.

Thereafter he affixed a Cloud Escape Talisman to himself and fled at the utmost speed.

Undoubtedly, it is impossible to completely avoid the attention of the Land Mountain Turtle and some third‑rank demon beasts.

Especially, those two pieces of turtle shell necessarily have a close connection with the Land Mountain Turtle.

However, because of the Land Mountain Turtle's current state, it temporarily cannot free itself to pursue Yunhe, but as long as it is given a little respite, it will follow the breath and connection to lock onto Yunhe's position.

This is also why many demon beasts would rather bite off flesh and flee than choose the turtle shell.

Because flesh is easy to digest, hiding the turtle shell is not easy.

From this situation, it seems Yunhe's actions appear extremely unwise.

But what Yunhe actually needs is precisely the respite during which the Land Mountain Turtle cannot pursue in a short time.

He ran far away, then immediately found a secluded spot.

He immediately "transmitted" those two pieces of turtle shell to the Cultivator Body!

Thereafter he immediately dispelled the "Mysterious Demon Illusory Form".

He employed the "Turtle Breath Body Forging Technique" to continue his escape.

On the other side.

He pressed a third-rank demon beast to the ground with a claw, fiercely bit off its head, dug out its inner core and swallowed it into his belly—the Land Mountain Turtle suddenly staggered.

This battle, for it, was not entirely a bad thing.

Although some third-rank demon beasts bit off flesh from it and then fled immediately, making it, already sorry-looking, appear even more drenched in blood and miserable, yet many third-rank demon beasts became its food, their inner cores turning into nourishment for its recovery.

The loss of some flesh and blood was not important for its huge body, but those two pieces of turtle shell were different.

After all, flesh and blood grow easily, but turtle shell growth and transformation require vast amounts of time, demonic power, and resources to accumulate.

But just at that moment.

Yet it could no longer feel the presence of its turtle shell.

This caused the Land Mountain Turtle, disbelieving, to continue sensing—still to no avail—making the anger already rising in its heart even harder to suppress.

Having swallowed many third-rank demon beasts' inner cores, its condition improved considerably, and it burst forth with stronger demonic power.

As a result, those third-rank demon beasts that hadn't had time to retreat suffered heavily.

No one knows how long passed.

Only then did the commotion in this place gradually calm down.

Although the Land Mountain Turtle's anger had not diminished, just as Yunhe had anticipated, for it the most important thing now was not to seek something back, but to find a place to solidly consolidate its cultivation base, properly rest and recuperate, and get a good sleep.

Having just broken through, it then erupted into a major battle; if not handled well, its cultivation base could possibly regress, even fall!

Thus this sleep must at least be a hundred years long.

In fact, even if it now wanted to go find the turtle shell, it couldn't, because Yunhe had already run beyond the range it could sense, and left not a trace, clearly having mastered this path with ease.

The turtle shell and it have also completely severed connection; trying to find it that way is impossible.

The Land Mountain Turtle could only suppress its anger and head toward a place.

Its aura flickered, making it involuntarily grow calmer; unable to wait for the originally intended place, it hurriedly burrowed into a soil layer, then shrank into its now-broken turtle shell, and began to cultivate.

Sorry, the past two days I've been really busy and exhausted due to a family member's hospitalization, so updates have been a bit unstable. But now things are mostly resolved, updates have resumed, and I'll see if I can find a chance to make up for the missing ones.

(End of chapter)