Chapter 178: The Giant Octopus Beast

"Hee~~"

Accompanied by a cry, Xu Chen rode the Spirit Sparrow and plunged straight into the black mist.

Although his Divine Sense was formidable, under the weakening effect of the black mist, he could not see the very center of the array clearly; he could only vaguely see a massive black shadow, dozens of zhang high, resembling an octopus, waving its enormous tentacles as it churned and roared within the black mist.

"Look quickly, it's our Spirit Sparrow! Who is that going in?" A cultivator from Yuqing Hall recognized the Spirit Sparrow and could not help but exclaim.

"It's Xu Chen of the Taiyuan Sect!" replied a young cultivator wearing blue Daoist robes; it was Xu Wen, who had nearly had his Soul scattered by a giant spider in the array back then.

Yiyun Zhenren's face was deathly pale, almost devoid of blood, and he lay on a disciple's back, saying, "Quickly go stop him! This Soul Beast is invincible; it cannot be slain unless one is a Spirit Realm Great Cultivator!"

"It's too late, the Spirit Sparrow is too fast!" a disciple said nervously.

Xu Wen also shook his head and said, "Uncle-Master, there is no need to be nervous. This Xu Chen is somewhat strange; perhaps he really can deal with this Soul Beast."

Yiyun Zhenren said angrily, "Are you taking those legends seriously? The last incident was merely an accident."

Xu Wen was silent for a moment and said, "It was not an accident; Xu Chen is indeed strange. Besides, he is riding a Third-Tier Spirit Sparrow; even if he is not a match, he should be able to escape."

Having said this, Xu Wen said to a group of Yuqing Hall disciples, "You all protect Elder Yiyun and go to the base to receive treatment first; I will stay here and observe for a while."

"Then Seventh Senior Brother, be careful!" a group of Yuqing Hall disciples reminded him, then continued to flee outward while protecting Yiyun Zhenren.

At this moment, Xu Chen stood on the back of the Spirit Sparrow, rushing like lightning through the Black Wind straight toward the place in the center of the array where the tremors were most violent.

And as he got closer, he slowly saw the appearance of this Soul Beast clearly.

This was a giant beast resembling an octopus, with more than ten tentacles like giant pythons thrashing about, desperately pounding at the seal near the breach. Accompanied by bursts of spirit light exploding, the entire array was shaking violently.

And with every strike, the seal at the breach loosened a fraction. The mountain rocks and soil, which were as hard as iron and stone under the restraint of the seal, kept exploding with *bang-bang* sounds, turning into rubble and being swept into dust by the gushing Black Wind.

Xu Chen watched with trepidation; this giant beast was more than twice the size of the giant spider from last time, and its strength appeared even more formidable. It was completely like a small mountain crashing about in the center of the array, and even the Fifth-Grade Five Elements array seemed unable to withstand it.

However, the situation this time seemed a tiny bit better than last time.

At least the Array Eye of the array had not been attacked this time, and the location of the breach had been specially reinforced. But if this giant beast were allowed to continue destroying it like this, the seal at the breach would completely collapse in at most half a day, and at that time, the entire array would have its Spirit Qi lose control and explode.

While still two or three li away, Xu Chen's Divine Sense had already locked onto the giant beast.

The Spirit Sparrow let out a piercing shriek, as if it had encountered a natural enemy; its feathers stood on end, and its sharp, giant claws began to flicker with brilliant radiance.

No sooner said than done, the distance of two or three li was covered in the blink of an eye for the lightning-fast speed of the Spirit Sparrow.

A hundred or so zhang away, a Bronze Ancient Mirror appeared flickering above Xu Chen's head, spraying out a stream of cyan radiance that enveloped both him and the Spirit Sparrow.

Almost simultaneously, a beam of cyan light left his hand, transforming into a thunder pillar a zhang thick that headed toward the Soul Beast.

Qinglan Light-Splitting Mirror, Xuanqing Thunder Fire Pestle.

These were two Third-Tier top-grade Magic Treasures gifted by Chixia Zhenjun and Yuyang Zhenjun respectively.

Xu Chen held nothing back, unleashing them both at once to launch a thunderous strike against the Soul Beast.

This was also his first time using these two Magic Treasures in combat.

In truth, for him, exerting either of these Magic Treasures at full power was very strenuous; after all, the strength of his Divine Sense and Yuan Qi had not yet reached the Danyuan Realm.

However, this Soul Beast was too large and its strength too great; he dared not hold back in the slightest, hoping only that this strike could wound the Soul Beast, so that he would then have a chance to slowly maneuver around it, or at least force the Soul Beast to abandon its attack on the array breach.

As long as he could entangle this Soul Beast and wait for Master Xuanhe Zhenren to arrive, the two of them joining forces would have a better chance of dealing with it.

At the same time Xu Chen launched his attack, the massive Soul Beast also launched its own.

A tentacle as thick as a water barrel, carrying the momentum to shatter mountains and break cliffs, tore directly through the churning black mist and came whistling over with a shriek that pierced the Soul.

"Boom~"

Thirty zhang apart, the Xuanqing Thunder Fire Pestle collided heavily with the massive tentacle.

Amidst the violent tremors, thunder light exploded, and the black mist within a hundred-zhang radius was swept away, leaving only a mass of bursting cyan thunder light visible.

"Roar-ong~~"

The massive tentacle exploded into two sections within the thunder light.

And Xu Chen also felt as if someone had swung a club at the top of his head; his Soul became muddled for an instant, his Divine Sense shattered into pieces, the Thunder Fire Pestle lost control and went tumbling away, and the Qinglan Light-Splitting Mirror hovering above his head to protect his body also shook violently, the protective cyan light it sprayed almost collapsing.

"Not good, there is poison on this tentacle!"

Xu Chen understood instantly, his face deathly pale as he hurriedly took to the air to stabilize his position, once again releasing his Divine Sense to bring the Thunder Fire Pestle and the Spectral Mirror under control.

The Third-Tier Spirit Sparrow's giant wings flipped violently, its body slanting as it swept past the upper side of the giant beast, its sharp, spirit-light-flickering giant claws colliding fiercely with another of the Soul Beast's tentacles.

"Boom~~"

"Ong~~"

"Hee~ya~~"

Amidst the heaven-shattering, earth-splitting explosion, the giant beast let out another muffled roar; its massive tentacle was torn open by the giant claws, leaving a wound over a zhang long, and rolling black mist gushed out.

The Spirit Sparrow also seemed to have suffered a heavy blow, letting out a shrill cry, staggering forward as it plunged into the black mist, and then with a *thud*, it smashed heavily onto a cliff over a hundred zhang away.

This attack was as fast as lightning; from the moment Xu Chen struck to the end of the attack, only a few breaths of time had passed.

Xu Chen was not having an easy time, and the Spirit Sparrow also seemed injured, but the Soul Beast was not lightly wounded either; not only was one tentacle severed, but another was almost cut in half, hanging down powerlessly.

"Roar-ong~~"

Suffering two heavy blows in succession, the Soul Beast let out a roar that shattered the Soul, and the rolling black mist surged in all directions like waves, causing the entire array to shake and tremble violently.

A large number of cultivators who had already escaped the array were even more panicked by this terrifying roar and violent shaking; while watching, they fled in a flurry, taking to the air to retreat once more.

Xu Chen understood by now that this Soul Beast not only had high physical attack power, but its Soul attack power was even more formidable.

The tentacle attack was already unstoppable, but what left him even more speechless was that the tentacle, upon colliding with the Magic Treasure, actually carried a powerful Soul attack.

If his Soul had not already been fused with the Blue Light Treasure Bottle just now, he would have already suffered a heavy blow.

However, it was clear that he could still withstand this massive impact directed at the Soul, so he gritted his teeth and, without waiting for the Soul Beast to attack again, took the initiative to raise the Xuanqing Thunder Fire Pestle.

"Boom~"

Activated by the rolling Yuan Qi he poured into it, the Thunder Fire Pestle flew a hundred zhang into the air, releasing the momentum to shatter mountains and break cliffs. After gathering power for a few breaths, it suddenly transformed into a thunder pillar several zhang thick, descending with a crash and smashing onto the Soul Beast.

"Crack~"

A layer of pitch-black, shiny armor on the Soul Beast collapsed directly within the thunder pillar, and large swaths of it disintegrated, being ground into black mist by the churning thunder light.

The Soul Beast let out a miserable shriek, its massive body suddenly sinking low and slamming heavily onto the ground.

Although the strike was effective, Xu Chen was also struck by the backlash of the Soul aura emitted by the Soul Beast; the Blue Light Treasure Bottle in his Sea of Consciousness trembled violently, spraying out a cloud of Blue Starlight, and while this made the bottle look even more magnificent, it caused Xu Chen to turn pale from the discomfort and spit out a mouthful of blood.

"Damn it, come again!"

Xu Chen steadied his figure in the air with a pale face, and the Thunder Fire Pestle soared into the sky once more; this time, he did not charge it up, but instead flew it directly toward the Soul Beast's wounded area, carrying a streak of lightning.

However, this attack did not succeed, as the Soul Beast rolled its several tentacles in all directions, wrapping its body tightly.

"Boom~"

Amidst the splashing lightning, the massive Soul Beast was knocked rolling for several dozen zhang, and half of its body fell directly into the gap, but the power of the exhaled Black Wind was so strong that it actually blasted the Soul Beast into the air.

"Hiss..."

An angry cry emerged from the black mist, and in the blink of an eye, a giant seven-colored bird wrapped in swirling Black Wind crashed heavily into the Soul Beast once again.

Both giant beasts let out another shrill cry as they rolled and crashed down on either side; a severed tentacle fell from the Soul Beast, and at the same time, seven-colored feathers drifted down in a flurry, only to be swept away and vanish into the howling Black Wind.

Seeing the Spirit Sparrow working so hard, Xu Chen was both happy and worried; the Spirit Sparrow's strength was clearly inferior to the Soul Beast's, and he feared it would soon be killed if it kept fighting like this, so he used his Divine Sense to issue a simple command for it to stop attacking, but the Spirit Sparrow flapped its huge wings and took to the air, ignoring the order and instead pouncing at the Soul Beast again as if its feathers were bristling.

Xu Chen could not help but frown.

He was not familiar with this Spirit Sparrow, but it seemed that all Demon Beasts held great hostility toward Soul Beasts.

Ever since the Black Wind at Black Wind Ridge began to expand, a large number of wild beasts and Demon Beasts had gathered nearby, and even that Third-Tier Demon Wolf had once charged into the rift to attack Xu Chen.

As Xu Chen recalled the scenes he had seen of those mutated Soul Beasts devouring wild beasts and humans, a vague idea seemed to form in his mind, though he could not yet confirm if it was true.

The Soul Beast might enjoy devouring any flesh and blood creature to reshape its own body.

And Demon Beasts and wild beasts seemed to want to devour these Soul Beasts to advance their cultivation.

This was the same as cultivators slaying Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Beads and absorb Soul Power.

Although ordinary cultivators could not directly absorb Soul Power.

But a Spirit Realm Great Cultivator could do so without any issues.

Demon Beasts and Spirit Beasts were actually of the same kind, differing only in intelligence and their attitude toward humans, whether fierce or docile.

Those that could be tamed by humans or could communicate and coexist were classified as Spirit Beasts, while all those with fierce temperaments and strong hostility were classified as Demon Beasts.

Demon Beasts had no specific cultivation methods for advancement; they relied purely on bloodline inheritance and devoured various treasures of heaven and earth to increase their strength, and once their strength reached a certain level, they could advance just like cultivators.

(End of this chapter)