Chapter 228: For Vengeance

Having obtained the Great Witch Essence Blood and cultivated the Formless Bone Devil Scripture, Shandun's cultivation surged; after months of arduous training, he now possesses the strength of the twenty-sixth layer of the Chonglou Realm.

Blocks of magma stone steles, each several dozen zhang high, several zhang wide, and about one zhang thick, their bodies entwined with blazing flames, shot up from the ground, layer upon layer shielding Wu Tie and his companions.

Countless arrows, pellets, and giant crossbow bolts whistled down.

Dozens of magma stone steles instantly shattered; Shandun's burly frame shuddered violently, sweat drenched his whole body, countless blood threads appeared in his eyes, and within him came the sound of a tidal surge of qi and blood.

A tremendous boom rang out; under the immense external pressure, the Great Witch Essence Blood within Shandun that had not yet been fully absorbed raged like a sentient creature, a massive force surging through his body.

In that instant, Shandun was forced by the vast essence-blood energy to break through three heavenly layers.

Shandun's skin burst open, countless fine blood threads spraying over a dozen zhang away, drenching Wu Tie and the others from head to toe in blood.

Amidst the "ao ao" howls, Shandun's body forcibly swelled to seven or eight meters tall, his skin suddenly covered with a deep metallic cold light, and he again slammed both fists into the ground.

Blocks of metal obelisks, their bodies entwined with fiery light, rose from the ground.

Each a hundred zhang tall with bases seven or eight zhang on a side, the metal obelisks spewed scorching flames, encircling Wu Tie and his companions in a ring.

A storm-like assault howled in; sparks flew from the metal obelisks, layers of metal were stripped away, yet a writhing metal layer continually welled up from within the obelisks, promptly repairing the damage.

"Shield!" Shandun growled low: "Impregnable!"

Mozhang Wang abruptly lifted his head; multicolored tiny rings beneath his skin flashed rapidly, he opened his mouth wide and spewed a black‑red intertwined strand of poisonous mist, within which drifted rolling wisps of purple, green, and blue hazy qi.

This stone cavern spans several li in width and height of a dozen li, exactly within the range of Mozhang Wang's full‑force poisonous mist spray.

The entire cavern was quickly infiltrated by the poisonous mist; thick mist roiled swiftly, enveloping everything, wrapping everything.

The "dong dong" sound rang incessantly; from the large and small openings, those dwarves, little people, rat folk, lizard folk and the like—small‑bodied, weak‑bodied groups—kept falling down.

The instant they touched Mozhang Wang's poisonous mist, these weak‑bodied, low‑cultivation warriors were slain outright by the deadly toxin; within a single breath, at least three or four thousand corpses plummeted from the air.

Wu Tie, Shi Fei, Yan Hanlu, Tie Da Jian and the others simultaneously glanced in shock at Mozhang Wang.

This guy's killing efficiency… is simply too terrifying.

Before Wu Tie and the others could recover from their shock at Mozhang Wang's strike, Lu Ji gleefully hurled three water‑tank‑sized specially made Mountain‑Splitting Thunders.

Having obtained the Great Witch Essence Blood, Lu Ji's cultivation also reached the level of the twentieth layer of the Chonglou Realm.

But Lu Ji apparently had no affinity for body‑refining arts; though he also cultivated the Formless Bone Devil Scripture, his body grew only slightly tougher, while his soul power became stronger than Shi Fei's and the others', his intellect sharper, his body more agile and nimble.

The three specially made Mountain‑Splitting Thunders…

Lu Ji, feeling embarrassed, threw them only about thirty zhang away.

Hearing the dull thud of the Mountain‑Splitting Thunder striking and rolling on the ground, Lu Ji shouted, instantly darting between Tie Da Jian and Shandun, using their burly bodies to shield himself.

The next moment, the entire cavern shook violently.

The three water‑tank‑sized Mountain‑Splitting Thunders exploded, scorching flames sweeping across several li, countless steel needles quenched with toxic bone‑marrow poison howled in all directions, denser than a storm by a hundredfold, filling the whole cavern.

Who knows what Lu Ji added to those three Mountain‑Splitting Thunders; their flames actually vaporized a layer of rock over three meters thick on the ground, the terrifying heat instantly incinerating the thousands of freshly fallen corpses into a wisp of blue smoke.

Moreover, a terrifying strong light flooded the cavern.

It was a blazing light more intense than a hundred or a thousand False Suns lit at once—white, cruel, seeming able to pierce anything, mixed with scorching heat that enveloped everything in the cavern.

Black Horn's subordinates, those powerful cultivators—whether ox‑folk, wolf‑people, or the elite of other clans, whether of the Chonglou Realm or the Life Pool Realm—all let out mournful, blood‑curdling howls.

Their eyeballs melted directly in that terrible white light, leaving only two black holes in their sockets that spewed green smoke.

Furthermore, the scorching heat baked their bodies, causing large blisters to erupt on their skin; when the blisters burst, their skin scorched and split, revealing half‑cooked flesh beneath.

Mozhang Wang's poisonous mist rushed into their bloodstreams through their wounds, then spread throughout their bodies via the blood flow.

One after another, Chonglou Realm cultivators fell from the high openings; before they could hit the ground, the deadly poison killed them.

Several mighty Life Pool Realm masters had their eyes melt; faint strong light flickered at their brows; they released soul undulations that blanketed the cavern, shouting hoarsely as they unleashed their greatest divine abilities at Wu Tie and the others.

Ordinarily, in such a cramped cavern, massive‑power divine techniques are forbidden.

Overly powerful divine attacks would likely shatter the cavern, dooming everyone to mutual destruction.

But in this situation, those Life Pool Realm masters could no longer afford such concerns.

The enemy turned out unexpectedly formidable, simply describable as "terrifying".

They had previously used the same method to ambush untold numbers of foes, even mighty beings above the Life Pool Realm being tricked into traps by this shameless tactic.

First, they were gravely wounded in flesh and soul by the spatial turbulence of the teleportation array; then, under the combined assault of tens of thousands of elites, even those above the Life Pool Realm could only resist for two or three breaths before being smashed to pieces.

But Wu Tie and his companions…

They simply did not play by common sense.

The ambush on the teleportation array was triggered—why were they unharmed?

That damned black pyramid—what treasure is it? Why, when faced with chaotic spatial energy, did they emerge unscathed?

The cavern shook violently; a bull‑folk cultivator over five meters tall howled madly, his flesh and blood burning rapidly, his body swelling swiftly; in the snap of a finger he swelled to a hundred meters or so, then he swung both hands down hard.

The surrounding rock walls frantically trembled; thick stone spears shot out from the walls with howls, hundred‑meter‑long spears carrying terrifying booms pierced the walls and crashed down upon Wu Tie and his group.

A wolf‑person engulfed in blazing flames raised his head to howl; a blood moon hovered faintly above his head; he opened his mouth wide… a wolf‑person's mouth, astonishingly, split open a full 180 degrees like a venomous snake…

From the wolf‑person's throat gushed a water‑tank‑thick column of blood‑colored fire, like a poisonous dragon charging straight at Wu Tie and the others.

A serpent‑person whose body was covered in bronze‑scale armor wailed miserably, his body convulsing violently; from his mouth he spat a head‑sized bead emitting a piercing bronze glow, gulping blood as he hurled the bead down upon Wu Tie and his companions.

Moreover, several other Life Pool Realm masters, heedless of danger, unleashed their most desperate attacks.

Wu Tie gave a cold snort.

He rumbled: "Old Tie, let me handle this… perfect, I've just acquired a new means I haven't tried yet."

With a great shout, Wu Tie stomped his foot hard and bellowed: "Freeze!"

The violently shaking cavern instantly fell silent; despite several Life Pool Realm masters pouring all their power into divine techniques, and despite the aftershocks of the three Mountain‑Splitting Thunders still ravaging the cavern, the whole place became utterly still—not a grain of sand trembled.

Immediately afterward, Wu Tie's body flickered; he shot up to a height of a hundred zhang, and with a wave of his hands, five phantom small mountains appeared beside him.

"Five Peaks Body Protection"—this, too, is a minor divine secret art that Wu Tie comprehended after breaking the shackles of heaven and earth.

Stone spears struck; the spears shattered, while the mountain phantoms remained utterly unmoving.

Blood‑red fire pillars struck the mountain phantoms, causing faint ripples on them, yet they remained completely still.

The bronze-colored treasure pearl struck the small hill, accompanied by a deafening boom, the pearl exploded with a bang, a mass of bronze-colored firelight filled the entire stone cavern.

The stone cavern remained still, not a single grain of sand moved.

The five small hills trembled slightly, yet stubbornly withstood this frenzied blow.

On the contrary, the surviving underlings of the Black Horn inside the cavern were each shattered to pieces by the shock of the bronze treasure pearl's self-detonation.

Following that, several Divine Pool Realm experts' divine abilities attacked in succession; the illusory forms of the five small hills remained utterly unmoved, Wu Tie stood tall and chest out beneath the enveloping of the five small hills, suddenly reached out, seized the White Tiger Split in one hand, and thrust his spear forward casually.

A blinding white light flashed before everyone's eyes.

Except for Old Iron, everyone felt as if their eyeballs had been slit, a sharp pain surged, forcing them to shut their eyes.

Wu Tie has now cultivated the 'Great Strength Divine Ability', his power immeasurable; driving Old Iron's inherited fierce spear technique with the Great Strength Divine Ability, an absolutely straight spear-light pierced the void, and a thrust struck the bovine Divine Pool Realm expert.

'Bang!'

The bovine Divine Pool Realm expert, over a hundred meters tall, vanished into smoke, not a speck of ash remained.

Wu Tie, holding his long spear, casually swept; the incomparably sharp White Tiger Split traced an arc, cutting through the necks of all the Divine Pool Realm experts.

The cave mouths where these Divine Pool Realm experts stood were at different heights, and their statures varied as well; Wu Tie merely swept casually, his spear following a perfect, flawless trajectory, passing over their necks.

Blood spurted, skulls flew, and the intense light and flames instantly turned those Divine Pool Realm experts into flying ash.

Wu Tie then lowered his head and roared at Lu Ji: 'Lu Ji, what did you add in here? Moreover, from now on, you are only allowed to make things, not to throw them around…'

Yan Hanlu, Shi Fei, and Lao Bai all had a layer of cold sweat on their foreheads.

Lu Ji's fellow's produced Opening Mountain Thunder grows ever more powerful, yet his own stamina is extremely weak……

With such tremendous power in the Opening Mountain Thunder, he can only toss it thirty-odd zhang away… Are you trying to blow up the enemy, or blow yourself up first?

"Lu Ji… you aren't trying to go down with them, are you?" Lao Bai stumbled out from between the legs of the Iron Great Sword, trembling, shouting angrily: 'Lao Bai I haven't lived enough yet… I'm enjoying life right now… you, you, you next time, don't toss things around!'

Lu Ji's little face turned deathly pale, he gave Lao Bai an extremely embarrassed, grimacing smile.

Wu Tie's figure rapidly shrank, returning to his original height.

The Demon Chapter King drew a deep breath, sucking back most of the poisonous mist he had exhaled, then he burst into coughing, coughing so hard he couldn't catch his breath, his face turning black.

He glared at Lu Ji, coughing while shouting hoarsely: 'The smoke… there's poison… Lu Ji, what did you put in it?'

Soon, the Demon Chapter King's nose ran and tears streamed simultaneously, his eye sockets stung red, and his body trembled involuntarily.

"Just a bit, something spicy…" Lu Ji looked innocently at the Demon Chapter King: 'As Wu Tie said, any deadly poison might have an antidote, but only spicy stuff that stings the nose and eyes basically has no antidote… one can only wait for time to slowly get past it.'

Lu Ji squeezed out a gleeful smile on his little face: 'Look, the effect is not bad… Demon Chapter King, you're basically immune to all poisons, yet you still got hit, right?'

Wu Tie felt a bit embarrassed……

Had he ever taught Lu Ji such shameless tactics? Perhaps, he had?

But did Lu Ji really just learn and apply this thing on the spot? Hehe, truly a promising young fellow with limitless future.

However, that statement really does make sense.

No matter how toxic the poison, as long as you find the antidote, detoxifying isn't that troublesome.

Only some bodily instinctive reactions, such as spiciness… if you pour purified chili water into the nostrils, no antidote will work, it will definitely have a huge impact on combat power……

Hehe, Lu Ji actually used it?

"Well, these petty little matters, don't dwell on them… hurry up and leave this place." Wu Tie complained with a belly full of fire: 'Dark Guild, heh heh, what a Dark Guild… good, good, good, indeed they cannot be trusted.'

"Alright, all our agreements with Lord Sa are null and void. From now on, the Dark Guild is our enemy." Wu Tie, furious to the extreme, slammed the White Tiger-like spear hard into the ground, forcibly tearing open a huge crack in the floor.

The group hastily left the stone cavern.

They passed the stone chamber where the Black Horn and the Dark Spider were entwined.

The three Opening Mountain Thunderbolts that Lu Ji had just thrown exploded, and the flames and heat also surged into this stone chamber.

In the stone chamber, the Black Horn's corpses had been burned to a charred mess, leaving only a small fragment of remains; all other luxurious furnishings had been burned to ashes. Wu Tie and the others also failed to notice this stone chamber, and so they hastily departed.

Following the passage outside the cavern, they hurried onward for hundreds of li, gradually encountering branching passages.

Old Bai summoned a group of rock mice to gather intel; under Old Bai's lead, they found the correct route and arrived at a passage marked with abundant traces of human and beast traffic.