Chapter 181: Horned Giant

Yan Buji had no idea how much trouble his stone ball had caused, nor did he realize that just because of a single stone ball, he had landed himself in a deadly situation.

At present, Yan Buji didn't know where he was, but at a glance he felt that heavy pressure and realized he was still in the Youming Jie.

"I need to get out of the Youming Jie quickly!" Yan Buji's face turned pale.

He also didn't know whether his luck was good or bad; ordinary cultivators would hardly ever come to the Youming Jie alive, yet he had come twice;

Coming twice would have been bad enough, but each time he was discovered by ghost officials and chased, scrambling with his head in his hands.

If it weren't for the stone ball suddenly glowing and taking him who-knows-where, he would have been caught long ago.

Yan Buji examined the stone ball as it gradually dimmed, though it seemed still to be absorbing some power from the Youming Jie; he guessed that the extreme escape speed just now required storing up energy.

Is it an escape speed?

Yan Buji found it strange that the stone ball and the Youming Scripture interacting could bring his whole body into the Youming Jie; just what was going on with that situation?

Don't blame Yan Buji for being clueless; after all, he is only a Lianqi Phase cultivator, his understanding of cultivation is half-baked and self-taught, and he certainly wouldn't comprehend what kind of power the stone ball called the Cleft Void Stone holds.

Yan Buji hid in the undergrowth, not daring to run about.

His danger had not been lifted; whenever he encountered ghost officials, he had only a dead end. And who knows what strange things lurk in the Youming Jie?

Shasha~

A gust of yin wind blew over; Yan Buji hurriedly circulated his True Essence to shield himself, the acquired Gang Qi wrapping around his body, canceling the bone-chilling cold the yin wind brought.

"For an ordinary cultivator to survive in this environment is extremely difficult; not to mention that the Youming Jie is fundamentally unsuitable for living beings, even just a random gust of wind—if it weren't for these four-sided stone blocks and my own formidable Martial Dao Profound Skill, I could hardly go on."

Yan Buji's eyes lit up; the Jail-Suppressing Force carried by the Blood Heaven Ascension Degree's Ming Wang Degree seemed able to effectively resist the pressure of the Youming Jie!

Exactly, it wasn't that the four-sided stone blocks were so powerful; rather, he himself also possessed the power to restrain evil spirits.

Yan Buji put away the stone ball, discovering that it could still accumulate power inside his storage ring, and he felt relieved.

To leave the Youming Jie, he would definitely need the help of that stone ball.

As he was thinking, Yan Buji suddenly sensed something and turned his head toward the other side.

"Sounds of battle?!"

What does that mean—ghost officials have come chasing after us?!

Yan Buji's expression changed, but he sensed that the commotion from the fight seemed to be at the Lianqi Phase level, not like the ghost officials hunting him.

Those ghost officials are at least Foundation Establishment Stage each; if they really clashed with someone, the power they'd unleash couldn't be this small.

Yan Buji pondered for a moment, but still decided to go up and take a look.

After all, he was nearby; if he got caught up in it, it would be wise to know the situation beforehand.

Yan Buji slowly moved forward, pushed aside the undergrowth, and saw the scene ahead.

"Asura?! No... I remember Asuras don't look like this. Those ahead, though humanoid, are two or three meters tall and even have horns on their heads?" Yan Buji regarded them doubtfully.

This group, which we can tentatively call giants, was dealing with a pitch-black leopard that had three tentacles on its head.

From the aura it exuded, that black leopard should be at the peak of minor demons, corresponding to the tenth layer of the Lianqi Phase for cultivators.

But these horned giants were no pushovers either; each possessed immense strength, and the clubs in their hands were not mundane objects— a single strike sent dust flying!

「￥%&……￥……%！」

「**&*……&&*……%##@！」

Yan Buji frowned, stunned for a moment.

"Sanskrit?"

The Ancient Ming Wang Scripture Yan Buji had previously obtained was written in Sanskrit; although few people in the secular world master Sanskrit, in the cultivation world it is not an unlearnable subject, since the ancient Buddhist sect used Sanskrit to record Buddhist scriptures, and because the Dharma spread widely, there are dedicated methods for learning to read and write Sanskrit, so Yan Buji had already learned Sanskrit before cultivating the Ming Wang Degree.

The male giant said: "This black shadow leopard is our prey today; don't let it escape!"

The several female giants beside him shouted: "Husband, you stop it, I'll beat it to death!"

Yan Buji wondered, could these giants also be from the Buddhist sect?

Looking at their clubs, they weren't completely without method; there was indeed some semblance of the Buddhist sect's demon-subduing staff technique, but compared to what he knew of Buddhist martial arts, it was overly crude and primitive, lacking any refinement.

But given their size and strength, they truly had no need for finesse.

Technique merely assists strength, like four taels moving a thousand catties: first you must have the strength to shift a thousand catties, then you can use four taels of skill to easily shift it.

The principle is simple, but few can actually do it.

Mortal strength has its limits, so they focus on developing technique.

But who wouldn't want to overwhelm others with sheer power?

Isn't strength just about who has the higher realm?

Cross-level combat is still quite difficult.

The tentacled black leopard in the arena was very agile; those few tentacles could not only rely on their toughness to block incoming clubs, but also use the ground to spring, dodging encirclement and lethal strikes.

Yan Buji watched the giants fight the black leopard; clearly their strength was not low, yet they knew no spellcraft—are all beings in the Youming Jie, aside from ghost officials, like this?

As he was thinking, the giants on the field, frustrated at failing to catch the leopard, wailed loudly; at the same time, the leopard's three tentacles instantly fused into a single meat spur resembling a spear!

The meat spur shot violently toward the tallest male giant, who widened his eyes and reached out to block it.

Crack!

Boom!

"Husband!!!" the female giant cried out, watching the male giant pierced through by the meat spur, its force undiminished, and even more so being carried by the spur to a nearby tree, piercing both him and the tree, pinning him to the trunk.

Yan Buji's heart jolted; the meat spur that the black leopard had suddenly transformed into actually had such tremendous power?!

"Even my honeycomb shield plus the Blood Heaven Ascension Degree fully activated might not be able to block it...."

While observing the battle, Yan Buji also simultaneously projected himself onto the battlefield.

He found that although he could match the leopard's speed, he might not be able to kill it.

Just as several giants could team up against it, but if they exposed an opening, having it seize a chance to counter-grab would likewise reduce their numbers.

Yan Buji watched as three more tentacles sprouted from the black leopard's head, realizing that the tactic it had just used could likely be employed again.

The widowed female giants picked up their clubs again and charged at the black panther.

The black panther was clearly overexerting itself, its speed far slower than before, and several times it was struck on the waist with a club, nearly unable to get up.

"Roar roar!!!"

The black panther let out a furious roar, and suddenly emitted a terrifying aura!

That bright, lantern‑like aura burst from the black panther, and the surrounding forces seemed attracted, swarming toward its body!

Yan Buji raised an eyebrow, and suddenly, as he saw the black panther's size enlarge, it also turned its gaze toward him.

"Oh no, it's about to evolve?!"

Yan Buji's complexion changed; he didn't know how his concealment was seen through by the black panther, but if it successfully evolves now, not only the female giants will die, he will also have to die here!

At that moment, Yan Buji abandoned concealment, and True Essence burst from his whole body!