Chapter 243: The Giant Nether Beast Ox

"Boom~ boom~ boom~"

Layer upon layer of black faults continuously slammed into the Divine Pattern Battle Technique Wind Barrier, causing the entire world to shake violently. A radius of several dozen miles was completely shattered into dust by this powerful impact, and a large crater was smashed into the traces of the city remaining below.

The Old Witch Lord's body swayed violently, and he staggered back to Xu Chen's side before steadying himself. His expression changed drastically as he said, "What immense strength!"

"Hahahaha, how much strength can it have? It still falls short if it wants to compare strength with us of the Earth Clan!"

Amidst the heaven-shaking and earth-shattering tremors, Tu Jiu, who was blocking in front of the giant beast, laughed heartily. His body suddenly released a brilliant golden light, and a golden-armored giant phantom over a hundred zhang tall appeared, then clenched its fists and swung them forward repeatedly like giant hammers.

"Boom boom boom~"

Following another series of heaven-collapsing and earth-splitting explosions, golden light continuously burst forth. The space that had solidified like a fault was forcibly smashed by the giant, turning into black mist that rolled in all directions.

In one breath, Tu Jiu completely shattered the pressure released by the giant ox, then lunged forward. He grabbed the horns on the giant ox's head with one hand and wrapped an arm around its neck. With a roar, he actually forcibly flung the giant ox away, causing it to smash into the ground like a massive meteorite.

"Boom~"

With another mountain-shaking and earth-quaking tremor, a giant crater with a diameter of over a hundred zhang appeared on the ground. The man and the ox began to roar and fight, rolling about within the abandoned Ancient City.

Xu Chen watched, dumbfounded.

The fighting styles of this Earth Clan and the Wind Clan were completely different.

He also knew this Divine Pattern Battle Technique called Wrath of the Earth God; he had learned it while treating Tu Jiu. However, the golden-armored giant phantom he condensed was only a zhang or so tall, and its strength and intensity were at most that of a Third-Rank Demonic Beast. Yet, the one Tu Jiu released was actually a hundred zhang tall, and this giant beast capable of driving the rules of space could not even resist his brute force.

Right now, the way the man and the ox were fighting looked just like two brutes from the Mortal World brawling, completely devoid of the demeanor of experts.

But after watching for a moment longer, Xu Chen's expression slowly turned grave.

This kind of fighting seemed savage, but in reality, it was entirely based on the level of rules. Amidst the savage confrontation, clusters of light continuously exploded. Clearly, every clash and contest of strength had already risen to the level of rules; every punch and kick was on par with a fourth or fifth-grade Magic Spell.

The only difference was that Magic Spells could strike from afar and be controlled at a distance, but this kind of fighting was close-quarters combat, depending on who could push the aura of the rules more powerfully.

The Old Witch Lord was the same; he had started off somewhat disdainful and indifferent, but soon his expression also became very serious.

Tu Jiu's strength was actually on par with his own.

However, the Ancient Nine Clans had long-standing bloodline inheritances, and each had its own pride. Especially after the birth of clan patterns and the awakening of Divine Pattern Battle Techniques, they always believed that the power of their own tribe's battle techniques was the most formidable.

This was a kind of mysterious confidence stemming from the bloodline, unrelated to realm or strength.

It was entirely a form of arrogance on a spiritual level.

But clearly, this seemingly unadorned, savage fight of Tu Jiu's fully embodied the most powerful aspect of the Earth Clan's Divine Pattern Battle Technique: immense strength that was almost indestructible.

Just moments ago, the space rules released by the Nether Beast giant ox were incredibly tyrannical. Under the collision, the Old Witch Lord's strongest defensive battle technique, the Wind Barrier, had almost failed to resist, yet Tu Jiu was able to completely break it with a few punches, showing just how powerful the Wrath of the Earth God was.

At least in Xu Chen's view, every punch could have beaten him into slag.

This current battle was the very first time Tu Jiu was truly fighting a powerful Nether Beast of the same rank after recovering his clan patterns and activating his Divine Pattern Battle Technique. Thus, he possessed a joy bordering on madness, fighting as if he had gone insane, with the giant phantom constantly launching frantic attacks, punching and kicking the giant ox Nether Beast.

Under his violent attacks, after about a quarter of an hour, the giant ox began to struggle to hold on. It roared and retreated repeatedly, its body beaten until black mist rolled off it, and large patches of its iron-hard flesh and skin were shattered, with black smoke beginning to rise from its entire body.

"Roar~ roar~"

The giant ox was stimulated into a state of manic agitation. It had already sensed a threat of death. Amidst its wild roars, its horns released a powerful aura once more, compressing space layer upon layer as it squeezed toward Tu Jiu. Tu Jiu laughed heartily and hammered away with his fists. Just as the space was about to be shattered again, suddenly, a vertical eye on the giant ox's forehead flashed with a pale golden light.

"Crack~"

Tu Jiu, who was in the middle of throwing a punch, suddenly paused and stopped. The space that was shattering all around instantly mended, and it looked as if he had been frozen within the layers of black faults.

"This is bad!"

Xu Chen's expression couldn't help but turn stern. The Old Witch Lord also sensed that something was wrong; he pushed his hands forward violently, and the phantom of a massive mountain range spanning before him crashed into it with a boom.

"Boom~"

The mountain range crumbled, black mist sprayed, and the golden phantom outside Tu Jiu's body flickered and vanished. He screamed as he was sent flying, smashing heavily into the ground hundreds of zhang away.

As for Xu Chen and the Old Witch Lord, they instantly felt as if they had fallen into a thick mire. Immediately after, this aura collapsed with a boom, and both of them were sent tumbling and flying away.

"Roar~"

Having repelled three opponents in one blow, the Nether Beast giant ox did not continue to pursue. Instead, its four hooves rose into the air, and the space around its body began to twist; it was about to tear through the Void and teleport away.

"Trying to run!"

Xu Chen's body flickered like flowing clouds in the air and he quickly steadied himself. The Thunder Fire Pestle in his hand transformed into a massive bolt of cyan lightning and headed straight for the giant ox.

The giant ox's incredibly bizarre strike just now had made him feel a complex aura he had never encountered before. It seemed as if the entire world had been twisted by some power, leaving him unable to muster the slightest strength to resist, and the Old Witch Lord was the same.

However, this aura came and went quickly, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

And this strike should also have been the Nether Beast giant ox's trump card, and it was that middle eye that released this aura.

If he could get his hands on this eye, it might be another rare treasure. Furthermore, the horn on its head was also very powerful. If he could combine these two things to refine a Magic Treasure, he would likely be able to kill gods and Buddhas in the Mortal World.

"Boom~"

Just as the giant ox was about to vanish, a bolt of cyan lightning struck its body.

The world shook violently, and the giant ox's teleportation was forcibly interrupted.

This blow also bought Tu Jiu and the Old Witch Lord a moment of time. Thus, the instant the lightning dissipated, two figures lunged forward one after another. Several massive, earth-yellow boulder phantoms smashed onto the Nether Beast's back like meteorites, and at the same time, a cyan whirlwind several hundred zhang in size enveloped the Nether Beast.

The two powerful Divine Pattern Warriors felt as if they had been humiliated, so they used every ounce of their strength.

For a time, cyan and yellow light sprayed across the sky. Boulders, stone spikes, Wind Blades, and wind spears flooded the Nether Beast giant ox like a torrential rain, completely submerging it.

"Roar~ roar~"

Under their frantic attacks, the Nether Beast giant ox roared in agitation, charging wildly amidst the flashing tornadoes and boulders. The area within a hundred-mile radius of the Ancient City center was instantly stirred into dust by the aura of the battle, leaving no traces of any man-made structures at all.

Soon, nearly two quarters of an hour passed. The Nether Beast giant ox's power of resistance grew weaker and weaker, and its roars also faded. Its entire body was riddled with holes, and black mist rolled off it like spraying smoke.

Tu Jiu once again released the hundred-zhang-tall golden-armored giant phantom, roared as he charged up, grabbed the giant ox Nether Beast's head—which was several zhang in size—with both hands, and fiercely knocked it to the ground. Then, he stepped on its neck and twisted with all his might.

"Crack~"

The Nether Beast giant ox's neck was snapped. Then, accompanied by a roar, Tu Jiu used his hands and feet to pull with all his strength, and the massive ox head was forcibly twisted off.

"Roar~~"

Tu Jiu held the ox head high with both hands and let out a beast-like roar toward the pitch-black sky. The heavens and earth shook, and even the black mist rolling in the sky was scattered.

The giant ox Nether Beast's tall body collapsed with a boom, and its body began to crumble and dissipate into black mist. The ox head in Tu Jiu's hands also began to decay and disintegrate, with black mist rolling off it as well.

Soon, as the black smoke slowly dispersed, all that remained of the giant ox's massive body were a few pieces of hard hide and a huge skeleton. The skeleton carried a translucent, jade-like pale golden luster, with a large amount of meridian-like tissue still remaining on it. A giant black Soul Bead was wrapped in the meridians, suspended in the chest cavity.

The ox head was left with only a bizarre and ferocious skull, upon which grew a pitch-black single horn; a basin-sized protrusion bulged from the center of the forehead, embedded with a fist-sized pale Golden Crystal that was still emitting a pulsating aura of unsettling fluctuations.

The old Witch Master stepped forward, took the massive Soul Bead from the chest cavity of the skeleton, and handed it to Xu Chen, saying, "Benefactor, please keep this Soul Bead safe!"

Xu Chen did not stand on ceremony; he raised his hand to store the Soul Bead into his Storage Bracelet, and only then did he turn to look at the giant Nether Beast skull.

At this moment, Tu Jiu had already retracted his Divine Pattern Battle Technique, and after his body recovered, he stood before the giant beast's skull, looking like a small child, barely able to reach the forehead area of the skull with his hand.

Xu Chen was even shorter, and standing in front of the skull, he could only see the gaping, black-hole-like ferocious mouth, so he leaped onto the top of the skull; only then did he discover that the curved, pitch-black horn on top was actually longer than he was, as thick as a water bucket, and shaped like a forward-curving snake; upon touching it with his hand, he felt a heart-palpitating tremor of the Soul, and when he lightly probed it with his Divine Sense, a circle of black light waves instantly rippled out from the horn, and a tyrannical aura actually knocked him flying backward.

"Benefactor, be careful!" Amidst the exclamation, Tu Jiu and the old Witch Master supported him from the left and right.

Xu Chen waved his hand with a face full of pleasant surprise and said, "It's fine. It seems we've struck gold today; this Nether Beast is no simple creature, and this horn is likely an extraordinary treasure—if we take it back, we should be able to craft an extremely powerful weapon!"

Tu Jiu nodded and said, "Indeed, but I feel the eyeball in the center of the forehead is even more powerful; however, I tried just now and it seems it cannot be pried out, so it looks like we will have to smash the skull to get it."

As he spoke, Tu Jiu prepared to unleash the Divine Pattern Battle Technique Earth God's Fury, but Xu Chen hurriedly stopped him, saying, "No need for the trouble yet; taking it out rashly might damage it, so it is better to store it away and study it slowly later!"

The old Witch Master also nodded and said, "Indeed, it is not safe here; we should first go find the entrance to the Di Gong and help Benefactor find the clues to leave Minghuang first."

Thus, the three of them jumped down from the giant beast's skull, and Xu Chen raised his hand to store the giant beast's skull into his Storage Bracelet, only to find that his Storage Bracelet, which had a space of three zhang, was filled up instantly.

(End of this chapter)