Chapter 42: Shocking the Qinling Mountains!

"Bang!"

Deep in the Qinling Mountains, Xiaoqing was intending to search for Strange Fruit for Lu Chuan, when suddenly, a seven or eight-meter-long Black Tiger sprang out from the side, now staring at it with predatory intent.

Upon sensing the Awakening Realm Mid-Stage aura the opponent was revealing, Xiaoqing hesitated and stopped in its tracks.

It was only at the Awakening Realm Early Stage, a full minor realm lower than the opponent, making it quite difficult to deal with.

A moment later, Xiaoqing let out a hissing sound, which to the Black Tiger's ears carried a clear meaning: "What do you want by blocking the way?"

"Roar—"

The Black Tiger let out a series of low growls, answering Xiaoqing's question: "I should be asking you that!"

It lowered its body extremely close to the ground, eyes fixed firmly on Xiaoqing, circling around it as if it could launch an attack at any moment.

Rustle, rustle, rustle—

Not long after, a series of messy footsteps sounded.

Xiaoqing turned its head to look, and was immediately overjoyed: "Hurry over here!"

Within its line of sight, Jingang pushed aside the trees blocking the path and looked toward Xiaoqing with some confusion, but upon seeing the Black Tiger opposite Xiaoqing, it instantly understood what had happened and immediately roared repeatedly: "Want to block our path?"

"Get lost!"

Jingang was already on par with the Black Tiger in terms of realm, and with the addition of Xiaoqing, the latter was clearly no match, so the pressure on Xiaoqing suddenly decreased.

However, the Black Tiger only retreated a few steps and had no intention of leaving.

It stared at Jingang and Xiaoqing for a few moments, then growled incessantly: "You are outsiders, aren't you?"

"Hmph!"

"Daring to run wild here, aren't you afraid of our Great King getting angry?"

The Black Tiger seemed to have great confidence, not taking Jingang seriously from the start: "You outsiders definitely don't know how formidable our Great King is."

"Heh, your Great King?"

Jingang and Xiaoqing exchanged a glance, not feeling the slightest bit intimidated; Jingang even let out several sounds of disdain: "What a joke, in front of our boss, no one is of any use!"

"If you don't move aside, then let's fight!"

After expressing this meaning, Jingang stood up and began to gather its strength, preparing to strike.

But just at this moment, the Black Tiger suddenly emitted a series of extremely peculiar sounds; it didn't sound like a roar, but more like the chirping of some kind of insect.

Rumble—

Just as Jingang and Xiaoqing were feeling puzzled, a strange vibration suddenly came from the mountains not far away, causing the birds in the forest to flee rapidly, and even an evil wind blew up out of nowhere in the woods, causing the leaves to rustle loudly.

Jingang raised its head, following the source of the sound, and immediately saw a massive bear head that towered far above the giant trees.

You must know, there was still a very long distance between the two sides.

"So big!"

Jingang and Xiaoqing were both stunned, then watched as that massive bear head rose higher and higher, revealing a portion of its body.

This was a brownish-yellow giant bear, and just looking at its size and the aura it radiated, it was very likely at the Awakening Realm Late Stage! After Jingang came to its senses, it immediately let out a low growl: "Hurry and report to the boss!"

"Mm!"

Neither of them dared to delay for a moment, immediately communicating with Lu Chuan through their souls to tell him the news.

Opposite them, the Black Tiger saw them dazed and assumed they were intimidated by its boss, immediately feeling smug.

"Still refusing to leave now?"

"If you don't leave, our boss will come to deal with you!"

Hearing its roar, Jingang and Xiaoqing suddenly laughed.

They had just received a response; Lu Chuan had set off immediately upon learning the news and would arrive before long, so they were not afraid of the Black Tiger's threats at all.

Sure enough, Lu Chuan not only rushed over, but was also using the boost of 【Spirit Snake Swift Step】 to increase his speed along the way.

Before long, Lu Chuan arrived beside Jingang and Xiaoqing, and under their guidance, looked toward that brownish-yellow giant bear.

I saw that brown giant bear was a full ten-plus meters tall, its massive body looking like a mountain pile, and its entire frame was filled with a sense of power.

But upon sensing the brown bear's aura, Lu Chuan immediately snorted in disdain: "Anyone who hasn't reached the Shackle Realm is a weakling!"

"Roar—" The brown bear seemed to sense this mockery, roaring as it charged over, immediately causing the earth to shake! It casually pulled a towering tree up by the roots and smashed it toward Lu Chuan with the root ball covered in a large amount of mud.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a mass of pitch-black mist sprayed out, and the moment it touched the tree, it corroded it.

The brown bear was startled, hurriedly dropping the giant tree in its hands and turning to dodge the poisonous mist, but suddenly a powerful snake tail swept over from the side.

Rumble—

It was instantly flipped over by the immense force, rolling and knocking down quite a few trees.

Before the brown bear could get up, Lu Chuan slithered rapidly and pounced over.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Amidst the violent collision sounds, Lu Chuan wrapped himself tightly around the brown bear, and no matter how the opponent struggled, it could not escape.

"Crack!"

"Crack, crack, crack—"

Accompanied by the sounds of bones breaking, the brown bear screamed miserably, its vitality growing weaker and weaker, until it finally breathed its last.

Lu Chuan did not hesitate, opening his giant mouth to swallow it whole.

With the help of 【Rapid Digestion】, this brown bear was soon swallowed until not even its bones remained.

"Ding!"

"Congratulations to the host for a successful consumption, gaining 200 points of Evolution Value!"

Amidst the system's notification sound, Lu Chuan was thinking about another question: "Since arriving in the Qinling Mountains, with my strength, I am still in a top-tier position."

"I haven't seen another exotic beast that has broken through to the Shackle Realm even now."

"Could it be that this is normal?"

Lu Chuan saw he could not figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it and couldn't help but glance at his attribute panel at this moment.

Name: Lu Chuan

【Age: 2 and a half years old】

【Race: Silver Ring Snake】

【Level: Shackle Realm Stage One (Total nine stages) (3000/0)】

【Skills:...】

【Innate Abilities: Corrosive Poison Mist (Intermediate), Soul-Seizing Pupil (Intermediate), Dark Night Ghost (Primary), Spirit Snake Swift Step (Primary), Diamond Transformation (Primary), Invisibility (Primary), Transformation Art (Primary), Water Spirit (Primary), Gravity Control (Primary), Swallowing Origin Space (Primary), Blood Hunting (Primary). Consuming 100 Evolution Value can upgrade a Primary innate ability, and consuming 500 Evolution Value can upgrade an Intermediate innate ability.】

【Evolution Value: 1200】

Looking at this information, he couldn't help but sigh, "Breaking through to Shackle Realm Second Stage requires 3000 Evolution Value; it seems I have to save up and not upgrade those abilities for now."

"Otherwise, who knows how long it would take to accumulate enough."

After digesting this harvest, he instructed Jingang and Xiaoqing, "Let's go, continue searching!"

In the time that followed, Lu Chuan led his subordinates to hunt in the Qinling for a full day and night without stopping once, and because of this, he established a formidable reputation within a hundred miles of the area.

Of course, he was not just blindly slaughtering; if other exotic beasts came to offer their allegiance voluntarily, or if their strength was decent and they were willing to submit, Lu Chuan would take them under his command.

Unknowingly, they had acquired a new base!

"Enough!"

Looking at the Evolution Value that had just reached 3000 points, Lu Chuan did not hesitate for a moment and poured all of these points into upgrading.

In an instant, a surge of massive energy descended; not to mention how that energy transformed his body, Lu Chuan could clearly feel a shackle inside his body snap.

That crisp, incomparable sound of breaking was very pleasant to the ear.

After this shackle broke, the nearly full power within his body poured out like a dam opening its gates, rapidly sweeping through his entire body.

Boom—

As a powerful aura dispersed, Lu Chuan officially broke through to Shackle Realm Second Stage. At this time, he looked at the attribute panel again and discovered that breaking through to Shackle Realm Stage Three would require 4000 Evolution Value.

He immediately sighed in his heart, "I must continue to work hard!"

(End of this chapter)