Chapter 399: Strange Fire: The Undying Fire (Three-in-One Chapter, requesting all)

The hydra was approximately twenty meters long; because it had nine heads, its midsection was quite bloated, while the nine heads were relatively small, though each was still as thick as a water bucket.

From the very beginning, Ning Bizhen went all out, several hexagrams appearing as she summoned the Three-Legged Fire Crow, Seven-Evening Wind Speed Cat, Dark Night Marten, Green-Eyed Golden-Eyed Beast, and the young Red Dragon.

Counting the Cold Jade Rabbit, there were a total of four Leader-rank Demon Pets and two Leader-rank Demon Pets; as for the Six-Armed Naga that Li Changsheng had gifted her, it was still very weak at the moment.

The hydra, which had originally intended to attack Ning Bizhen, abruptly halted its advance, its nine snake pupils contracting as it stared at Ning Bizhen's six Demon Pets with fearful eyes.

The hydra's gaze was primarily focused on the Three-Legged Fire Crow; it did not fear the Cold Jade Rabbit, but it sensed a strong threat from the Three-Legged Fire Crow, and if it counted the other Demon Pets as well, it faintly caught the scent of mortal danger.

A fatal crisis!

The hydra began to tremble, subconsciously wanting to burrow back into the mud pond to use the large accumulation of silt to protect its life.

Unfortunately, although its reaction was fast, the initiative had already been lost; how could it be faster than Ning Bizhen's six Demon Pets?

Under Ning Bizhen's command, the six Demon Pets launched their offensive against the hydra in unison.

In the sky, the Three-Legged Fire Crow dove down, its body spinning rapidly as if it had transformed into a small tornado, its sharp Bird Beak shimmering with a cold glint as it pecked toward one of the hydra's heads.

The Cold Jade Rabbit leaped up, its speed and jumping ability excellent; it likewise jumped in front of one of the hydra's heads and threw a punch, and though its fist was small, a powerful sonic boom rang out.

Meow~

The Seven-Evening Wind Speed Cat flapped its azure wings and suddenly charged forward, the cyan mark on its forehead flickering; a layer of cyan light screen emerged on its body surface, attached with countless vibrating Wind Blades, as it also collided with one of the hydra's heads.

On the ground, the Dark Night Marten radiated rich black energy from its entire body, and countless black light spots rapidly converged, transforming into a giant sword of dark flame several zhang long, which slashed through the air toward one of the hydra's heads.

As for the Green-Eyed Golden-Eyed Beast and the young Red Dragon, their strength was slightly weaker, so they could only jointly attack one of the hydra's heads.

In the blink of an eye, five of the hydra's heads were attacked.

Hiss-la~ Hiss-la~ Whoosh~ Bang~ Boom~

Amidst the hydra's exceptionally terrified shrieks, its five heads were blasted apart by Ning Bizhen's six Demon Pets as if they were made of tofu, either falling to the ground or exploding into a mass of minced meat or blood mist.

In an instant, the hydra was left with only four heads.

Roar~

The hydra let out a painful roar, its remaining four heads filled with a thick look of terror; never before had there been a moment where it faced such an intense crisis.

After the five heads were severed, the hydra's Limb Regeneration trait began to take effect, and fine granulation tissue grew from the stumps of the five heads; in just a few minutes, these five heads would be able to complete their regeneration.

If it were normal times, it would be fine, but for the current hydra, the recovery speed was still too slow.

Without any hesitation, the hydra dove directly into the mud pond, wanting to use the murky pond to avoid the confrontation with Ning Bizhen.

Boom~

The next moment, six pillars of light of different colors landed on the mud pond, suddenly causing an explosion; as for whether it hit the hydra, that was unclear.

This mud pond was too large, measuring a full hundred mu in size, and its depth was unknown; wanting to use methods like drainage or evaporation would require a massive amount of time.

Yet Ning Bizhen only had the Water-Crystal Beast as a Water Attribute Demon Pet, and it was only Leader-rank, so for a time, she had no way to deal with the hydra cowering in the mud pond.

Ning Bizhen looked at Li Changsheng and asked, "Changsheng, is the Danwang Biefu in the mud pond?"

Li Changsheng did not answer immediately; Illusion Wings extended from his back, and while sensing the traction force on the map, he flew toward the mud pond.

Ning Bizhen hurriedly had the Three-Legged Fire Crow provide escort.

When Li Changsheng stopped, he was in the sky above the central area of the mud pond; the direction of the traction from the map in his hand had changed, wanting to pull him to fly downward.

"Yes, it's right below the mud pond!"

Li Changsheng nodded and immediately flew back to Ning Bizhen's side.

"This is tricky!"

Ning Bizhen's delicate brows furrowed slightly, unable to think of a good solution for the moment.

The Silent Forest was too dangerous, and this place was near the territory of Hei Long Ha Li Ku Qi, so they naturally hoped to open the Danwang Biefu as quickly as possible.

"Catch!"

Suddenly, Li Changsheng tossed two things to Ning Bizhen.

Ning Bizhen caught them and took a look, discovering they were two pearls, one blue and one yellow, faintly radiating corresponding light.

These were naturally the Cangxuan Water-Stabilizing Pearl and the Cangxuan Earth-Fixing Pearl, which could weaken the power of an enemy Spirit Beast's Water Element and Earth Element skills, and could also control water currents and soil, depending mainly on the Monster Tamer's realm.

With Li Changsheng's realm, controlling both pearls at the same time would only allow him to control a range of several dozen meters, but Ning Bizhen was different; she was a Fifth-tier Beastmaster, so her control range would definitely far exceed Li Changsheng's.

"I didn't expect you to have such good things!"

After Li Changsheng explained the effects of the two pearls to Ning Bizhen, Ning Bizhen sighed and couldn't wait to start testing them.

Whoosh~

Ning Bizhen immediately channeled a surge of Mental Power into the two pearls, and both pearls simultaneously radiated a misty light, automatically hovering in front of her.

The next moment, countless mud and water surged up from the mud pond, and under Ning Bizhen's control, they transformed into dozens of water dragons and earth dragons.

Whoosh~

The water dragons rushed directly into a nearby river, and for a time, the river water surged, rushing downstream violently.

The earth dragons landed on the ground a hundred meters away, and in the span of a few breaths, they piled up into an earthen mountain, which was still growing rapidly.

The mud pond, which was a full hundred mu in size, began to drain away at a speed visible to the naked eye, and a hole that grew larger and larger appeared in its place.

While controlling the two pearls, Ning Bizhen said, "I can control a range of two or three hundred meters; it won't take more than a few minutes to drain the mud and water here!"

As the two pearls drew away the mud and water, the hydra under the mud pond was clearly startled; its temper flared, and it already sensed a serious mortal crisis.

Once the mud pond dried up completely, it would be its death day.

Before that, it had to prepare for self-rescue.

Under the mud pond, the hydra immediately took action, arriving at the edge of the mud pond, and its remaining four heads began to frantically dig into the hard soil at the edge of the pond.

Soon, the hydra dug out a pit large enough to accommodate itself.

It immediately crawled inside and continued to dig forward, preparing to tunnel away to escape.

This was the only escape method the hydra could think of.

In the face of life, the hydra was willing to abandon its territory.

However, the Hydra is not as skilled at Digging as the Treasure-Hunting Mouse, and its body is quite massive, requiring a major engineering effort to excavate a tunnel large enough for it to pass through.

Furthermore, with only four heads remaining, the Hydra's digging speed is vastly different from its peak period.

Whoosh—

Accompanied by Ning Bizhen's continuous input of Mental Power, the two pearls began to spin rapidly, and a certain connection formed between them, which increased their efficiency.

In just two or three minutes, the mud pond finally hit bottom, and the entire pond was also rapidly drying up.

After all the muddy water was drained, a large pit measuring a hundred mu appeared on the spot, with the deepest point reaching several tens of meters.

In this large pit, the traces of the Hydra had already been lost.

Because the odor in the large pit was too pungent, it was difficult to use the sense of smell to detect the Hydra's whereabouts.

However, this did not mean that Ning Bizhen had no way to track it.

"Little Marten, Dark Night Tracking!"

Ning Bizhen pointed at the Hydra's severed head and commanded the Dark Night Marten to execute the Bloodline Inheritance Skill inherited from the Nine-Eyed Marten.

The Dark Night Marten stared at the Hydra's severed head, and its six eyes flashed with strange, brilliant light.

In an instant, the Dark Night Marten's forehead slowly split open, revealing a pitch-black eyeball the size of a fist, which shot out a black ray of light that landed on the Hydra's severed head in the blink of an eye.

The next moment, a mass of dark aura emerged from this head, twisted in the air, and then landed in the large pit, flying toward the tunnel entrance that the Hydra had concealed.

The dark aura ignored the obstruction of the soil and vanished directly into the entrance.

"It's there, go!"

Ning Bizhen immediately mounted the Green-Eyed Golden-Eyed Beast and pulled away the soil covering the entrance, revealing a pitch-black tunnel where the sound of digging could faintly be heard.

The Hydra had not yet finished digging the tunnel!

This unfinished tunnel was less than a hundred meters long; at the end of the tunnel, the Hydra was still digging through the soil, and when a mass of dark aura appeared before it, it was clearly startled and immediately realized it had been exposed.

While moving forward, Ning Bizhen controlled the Cangxuan Earth-Fixing Pearl to rapidly expand the tunnel.

The tunnel the Hydra was digging was already relatively spacious, and once expanded by Ning Bizhen, even a young Red Dragon's physique could pass through easily.

"Finish it off!"

As Ning Bizhen's voice rang out, her six Demon Pets rushed into the tunnel and appeared behind the Hydra.

The Hydra naturally did not sit and wait for death; under the effect of its Limb Regeneration trait, the five lost heads had already begun to take shape, and it had recovered some of its strength to varying degrees.

The next moment, the Hydra's four complete heads erupted, spraying out a four-colored beam of light, while the five heads that had taken shape continued to dig the tunnel toward the location of the river.

Only by escaping into the river would there be a possibility of surviving.

The Cold Jade Rabbit sprayed an Ice Breath, which collided with the four-colored beam of light in the blink of an eye.

The Hydra was clearly not in its prime, so the four-colored beam was naturally no match for the Ice Breath; after a brief pause, the Ice Breath began to suppress the four-colored breath and continued to rush toward the Hydra.

The Hydra's eyes revealed a fierce glint, and it immediately detonated the four-colored beam, blasting a large crater directly in the tunnel, forcing the biting wind pressure and energy tide to disperse to the sides.

Just at this moment, the Three-Legged Fire Crow sprayed a red-and-gold Flame Pillar, which directly scattered the energy tide and landed straight on the Hydra.

Roar—

The Hydra let out a painful roar, but its five unformed heads still struggled to dig through the ground; it had already heard the sound of flowing water.

Ning Bizhen naturally guessed the Hydra's intention, and she immediately controlled the Cangxuan Earth-Fixing Pearl, causing the ground in front of the Hydra to rapidly solidify.

Bang—

The Hydra's unformed heads slammed into the earth, discovering that the ground ahead had become as hard as iron, with digging efficiency far inferior to before.

Despair appeared in its eyes; knowing it had lost any chance of escape, the Hydra collapsed to the ground like a falling mountain, hurriedly prostrating itself to show submission.

Ning Bizhen naturally could not see the sinister look in the eyes of the Hydra as it lay on the ground.

The Hydra was very intelligent and extremely cunning; if she only signed a Temporary Contract, it would likely wait for an opportunity to betray its master, or even launch a backlash at a critical moment.

"Kill it!"

Ning Bizhen was very clear about the Hydra's habits; even though the Hydra possessed great value, she had no intention of planting a bomb by her side, not to mention that a dead Hydra was also of considerable value.

It was better dead; once and for all!

The Hydra raised its head in sheer terror, and the last image it saw was a multicolored energy light that directly engulfed it.

Roar— Roar—

Ning Bizhen's Demon Pets launched two consecutive long-range attacks, and from within the multicolored energy tide, the Hydra's increasingly weak sounds could be heard.

Boom—

The tunnel shook violently, but under the effect of the Cangxuan Earth-Fixing Pearl, it did not collapse; the Hydra's nine heads had all been severed, and its massive snake body went limp on the ground, breathing its last.

After the Hydra died, Li Changsheng and Ning Bizhen began to dismantle the Hydra's corpse.

Like a dragon, the Hydra was full of treasures, though its snake blood did not possess the body-tempering effect of dragon blood, and it lacked scales, making it less valuable than a dragon's corpse, but not by much.

Li Changsheng mainly collected the Hydra's blood, flesh, and bones; as long as he refined them into Spirit Essence, he believed they could be sold for a very high price, not much less than the Hydra itself.

He even had a buyer lined up, which was Shen Haofei, the fourth-ranked student on the Academy Top 100 Ranking.

He possessed a top-grade six-headed snake, so the Hydra's Spirit Essence was naturally very important to him, the kind he would go bankrupt to purchase.

Shen Haofei was a Fourth Rank student in his fourth year at Tiandu Academy and would be graduating in the first half of next year, so there was no possibility of him being an enemy.

Only by selling resources to those in urgent need could one fetch a high price.

After cleaning up, Li Changsheng released the map in his hand.

This map shimmered with radiance and floated lightly toward the center of the large pit.

The two followed the map to the center of the pit, where, besides mud and stones, there was an inconspicuous stone slab.

This stone slab was about a zhang high, gray all over, with the four large characters 'Danwang Biefu' written on it, and a barely visible groove at the bottom.

The shape and size of this groove were exactly the same as the map of Danwang Biefu.

Even if the Hydra had lived here for years and discovered this stone slab, without the token to open it, how could it possibly open Danwang Biefu?

At this moment, the map of Danwang Biefu landed lightly into the groove, fitting perfectly with the groove on the stone slab.

The next moment, the ground began to tremble slightly. This anomaly did not last long before wisps of light emerged from the map of the Danwang Biefu, subsequently permeating the entire stone slab; in particular, the four large characters "Danwang Biefu" on the slab transformed from unremarkable to shining brilliantly.

When the radiance on the stone slab condensed to its limit, a white light shot out from the slab, falling continuously into the void to the side.

The void twisted violently, ripples spreading in layers, gradually forming a spatial portal over two meters high.

Li Zhangsheng grabbed Ning Bizhen's hand and stepped directly into the spatial portal.

Suddenly, there was a sensation of the world spinning, and by the time they reacted, the environment before them had changed significantly.

The two observed their surroundings and discovered they were standing on a small piece of land, totaling only a few square kilometers, which was desolate and showed almost no signs of life.

Surrounding this land was an endless expanse of Darkness, where one could occasionally see twinkling starlight and meteors streaking through the darkness.

This is the starry sky!

Ning Bizhen looked left and right, then said in a deep voice, "This is a Semi-Plane!"

A Semi-Plane is similar to an ordinary plane, but it is an alternate space with only a measurable size and limited access. Other planes are theoretically infinitely large, while a Semi-Plane might only be a few hundred feet in size; this particular Semi-Plane is considered relatively large.

Theoretically, Semi-Planes can be artificially created, provided that humans can break through the plane space and open a path leading to another plane.

Like a Secret Realm, a Semi-Plane also attaches to the main plane; oxygen naturally exists here, allowing people to survive.

Kings among Monster Tamers possess the power to break through space; since this is the Danwang Biefu, this Semi-Plane is naturally related to the Danwang.

Standing in this Semi-Plane was an imposing courtyard, which was also the only building in this Semi-Plane.

The two arrived in front of the courtyard. This courtyard was quite spacious, with a plaque above it reading "Danwang Biefu," and on both sides of the main gate stood a lifelike gilded human statue.

Li Zhangsheng recognized this statue; it was indeed the statue of the Danwang, Chen Mohe.

Creak~

Li Zhangsheng pushed open the rusty gate, and a cloud of dust flew up; the period when the Danwang was active was hundreds of years ago.

Having not been tended to for hundreds of years, this courtyard appeared very old and dilapidated, and it even lacked any Restriction.

The two did not linger and entered the courtyard directly, beginning to examine the surrounding environment.

This courtyard had a total of five rooms: a bedroom, an Alchemy Room, a pill recipe pavilion, a kitchen, and a reception room.

The two went to the nearest Alchemy Room first, as this was also very likely the place where Alchemical Pills were stored.

In this Alchemy Room, the first thing that caught their eyes was a Liandalu two zhang high, engraved with a statue of Zhurong, containing nine apertures, and emerald green in its entirety; it was unknown what kind of material it was refined from.

"Huh!"

Li Zhangsheng touched it and suddenly let out a sound of surprise, because he could feel the heat of the Liandalu. This was a Liandalu from hundreds of years ago; how could it still retain heat?

Ning Bizhen asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

"This Liandalu is a bit strange!"

Li Zhangsheng did not hide it and carefully opened the lid of the Liandalu, discovering a blazing, scorching flame burning inside.

This flame could be described as unremarkable, very similar to an ordinary flame, but through the feedback of his Mental Power, Li Zhangsheng could clearly feel the powerful energy contained within this flame.

"Bizhen, what is this?"

Compared to Li Zhangsheng, Ning Bizhen's knowledge was naturally better.

At this moment, Ning Bizhen pondered for a moment, then seemed to think of something and said, "This must be the Undying Fire!"

Undying Fire: A Strange Fire, containing the undying Fire Rule, known as a flame that will never be extinguished. If a Fire Element Demon Pet absorbs the Undying Fire, the probability of the Demon Pet's fire-type skills causing burns is doubled, and it can significantly increase the burning duration of the flames, forming secondary damage to enemies. Note: Non-fire-type Demon Pets must not Devour it!

"Undying Fire!" Upon learning that this was the Undying Fire, Li Zhangsheng became instantly excited.

Strange Fires are very rare and are closely related to the Fire Rule of this world, possessing all kinds of peculiar effects.

If this Undying Fire were absorbed, a Fire Element Demon Pet's strength would definitely be improved, and it could use the Strange Fire to break through its realm.

Li Zhangsheng tentatively said, "Bizhen, why don't you let your Three-Legged Fire Crow absorb this Undying..."

"I cannot accept it!"

Before Li Zhangsheng could finish, Ning Bizhen shook her head like a rattle-drum and directly chose to refuse.

"The Undying Fire is too precious; besides, you also have a Blazing Bird, letting it absorb it can also enhance your strength!"

"Alright, but if there are other things useful to you, you must not refuse!"

Seeing Ning Bizhen's resolute appearance, Li Zhangsheng had no choice but to take the entire Liandalu.

As for the Undying Fire, now was not the time; he planned to wait until he became a Fourth-rank Demon Tamer before letting the Blazing Bird consume it, hoping it would use this to become a Leader-level Demon Pet.

Besides the Liandalu, there was a large cabinet in the Alchemy Room, on which were placed a dazzling array of Jade Bottles, all covered in dust.

After hundreds of years, even if the Danwang had placed a Restriction here, it would have long since been worn away by time.

Ning Bizhen flicked her sleeve, and a gust of Wind blew past, directly sweeping up the dust on top and carrying it away to parts unknown.

Li Zhangsheng picked up a Jade Bottle at random, and after opening the stopper, he smelled a foul odor.

Just as food will spoil, Alchemical Pills also have a shelf life, though the shelf life varies according to the category.

Li Zhangsheng poured some out, only to find a mass of grayish-black substance, accompanied by an even more pungent, foul odor; clearly, this bottle of Alchemical Pills had already spoiled.

In the time that followed, Li Zhangsheng tested them one by one, but unfortunately, too much time had passed; after hundreds of years, the Alchemical Pills here had almost all spoiled, and even if there were occasionally pills that had not spoiled, Li Zhangsheng did not dare to consume them immediately and had to test them first.

After collecting a few bottles of Alchemical Pills that seemed not to have spoiled, Li Zhangsheng took Ning Bizhen and left the Alchemy Room.

The two searched, but the kitchen and reception room had nothing of value; instead, the pill recipe pavilion yielded a bountiful harvest.

As the name suggests, the pill recipe pavilion is a pavilion storing various pill recipes.

The Danwang was world-renowned for alchemy, so the pill recipes he collected were naturally numerous, many of which were rare items or even unique copies.

While checking the various pill recipes, when Li Zhangsheng saw one of them, his hand could not help but tremble, and a look of excitement appeared on his face.

Life is endless, and the writing continues!

Today's goal: Three, pigs, proof!

(End of this chapter)