Chapter 283: Devouring Skill

"Woo—"

A cold wind blew past, and the leaves rustled.

In the swampy land radiating a fluorescent glow, the shadows of trees swayed, their branches and leaves shaking as if they were eerie, clawing ghost shadows.

A cold and decaying scent floated in the air.

The low trees were as thick as vats, their gnarled branches twisting, and thick, pitch-black vines either coiled around their trunks or stretched along the ground, resembling writhing giant pythons.

The light in the forest was dim, the yin energy was dense, and there was a deathly silence.

Luo Zijun slowed his pace, stepping on the mud covered in thick fallen leaves, and walked into this swamp.

He was cautious every step of the way.

One careless step, and beneath his feet would be a bottomless mud pit.

Soon, he arrived at the place where he had been ambushed by the Demon Crocodile that night.

Taking a look at the deep mud pit ahead, which was covered in fallen leaves and well-camouflaged, he deliberately walked around it, making light footsteps.

But for a long time, there was no movement from within the mud pit.

Had it already left this place?

Luo Zijun felt a bit disappointed in his heart; he kicked a few more dead branches into it and prepared to continue walking forward to search for other Demon Crocodiles.

But just at this moment, with a "splash," mud splattered from the swamp behind him, and a blood-red maw filled with fangs lunged at him with the speed of lightning!

It had finally appeared!

Luo Zijun could clearly sense its aura; it was the very Demon Crocodile that had ambushed him that night.

Most of the sharp spikes on this Demon Crocodile's body had disappeared.

Those spikes that had been used as hidden weapons to severely wound him that night had not grown back.

Enemies meeting face to face, their eyes are especially red with hatred!

Luo Zijun's figure flashed, and he had already leaped forward, dodging the attack from its bloody maw.

At the same time, a cold glint flew out from his sleeve.

"Swish!"

Taking advantage of the moment the Demon Crocodile opened its mouth wide, the Flying Sword instantly flew into its mouth and disappeared into its throat.

"Bang!"

The Demon Crocodile bit into empty air, and its heavy body, covered in mud, landed heavily on the ground.

It did not hesitate at all, immediately shaking its head and wagging its tail, wanting to retreat back into the swamp behind it, its speed extremely fast!

However, it was too late.

Just as its tail and hind limbs entered the swamp, a spurt of black blood suddenly shot out from its entire spine, and the next second, that massive body was abruptly split in two.

At this moment, it had not even realized it yet, still desperately shaking its body, wanting to retreat back into the swamp.

Not until its entire head and its entire body were completely separated and its internal organs spilled all over the ground did it suddenly freeze in place, its vision went black, and it breathed its last!

"Swish!"

The Flying Sword flew out from within its body.

The Demon Crocodile's body immediately shrank rapidly, and soon it turned into a ball of black mist and disappeared.

At the same time, a strange power quickly surged into Luo Zijun's body.

At this moment, Luo Zijun suddenly felt that he knew this swamp like the back of his hand, and his perception of this place became increasingly sharp.

He could even clearly sense the situation in the mud pit before him!

The power he had absorbed from this Demon Crocodile seemed to have also absorbed some of the opponent's memories!

"Splash!"

Just at this moment, in a mud pit on the right, mud suddenly splattered, and a black shadow leaped out.

Luo Zijun, however, did not turn around, but continued to look at the mud pit in front of him.

"Boom!"

From the mud pit in front of him, a larger black shadow suddenly leaped out, lunging at him with even greater speed.

Luo Zijun had been prepared; the moment it lunged over, he had already leaped high into the air, and at the same time, with a movement of his Divine Sense, the Flying Sword, which had already accumulated power, flew into its mouth with a "swish" and disappeared.

When the black shadow on the right lunged over fiercely, the Demon Crocodile nearby, just like the previous one, had not yet reacted before it was split in two by the Flying Sword and died on the spot.

Blood and internal organs spilled out.

The Demon Crocodile on the right was startled and immediately froze in place; before it could react, that elusive Flying Sword was already skimming along the ground, shooting toward it.

"Swish!"

A cold glint flashed, and its head, covered in armor and spikes, fell off directly.

Seeing this scene, Luo Zijun's confidence greatly increased.

The sharpness and power of this Flying Sword far exceeded his expectations!

One must know that that night, he had used all his might, yet not only failed to kill a single Demon Crocodile, but was almost torn apart in soul by those two Demon Crocodiles and suffered heavy injuries; yet tonight, his soul strength had not improved much, but relying solely on the Flying Sword, he had killed three Demon Crocodiles in the blink of an eye, and all were instant kills.

From this, one can see the power of this Flying Sword.

With this Flying Sword, his current soul strength was likely more than doubled.

The corpses of the two Demon Crocodiles quickly disappeared, and then, two strands of strange power surged into his body again.

He became even more familiar with this swamp.

At the same time, he could clearly detect the Demon Crocodiles hiding in the nearby mud pits.

Some Demon Crocodiles were still sleeping, some Demon Crocodiles had already sensed the human aura here and were already beginning to stir, and there were also Demon Crocodiles that had smelled the death aura of their own kind and began to tremble, burrowing into the deeper parts of the mud pits.

Luo Zijun, of course, would not pity them.

He took the lead in walking toward those stirring Demon Crocodiles, deliberately wandering around the mud pits to give them a chance to ambush him.

"Whoosh!"

Before long, two Demon Crocodiles indeed appeared, one after the other, pouncing toward him.

Luo Zijun leaped up, jumping onto a large tree nearby to avoid being attacked from the front and back; the Flying Sword in his sleeve had already shot out, piercing toward the Demon Crocodile in front.

That Demon Crocodile actually relied on its tough armor, using its head to meet it head-on.

The result was as one would expect.

The Flying Sword instantly pierced through its head, passed through its mouth, flew out from its lower jaw, and then circled its short, thick neck once; its head immediately fell off.

Seeing this scene, the other Demon Crocodile did not hesitate at all; it whipped its iron tail and turned to flee back into the mud pool.

How could Luo Zijun give it this chance? His figure flashed, and he had already swept over, grabbed its iron tail, and with a forceful swing, sent it flying into the air.

The Demon Crocodile was in mid-air, twisting in terror.

At this moment, the Flying Sword flew over like a sharp blade, piercing through its body.

Before it even hit the ground, the Demon Crocodile's massive body had been split in two.

"Whoosh!"

The two Demon Crocodiles turned into two clouds of black smoke and vanished.

At the same time, two powerful forces surged rapidly into Luo Zijun's body, merging into his Soul Sea and transforming into a strand of pure Soul Power.

He did not stop, continuing to walk forward.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

An hour later, in a certain swamp, arrows suddenly flew everywhere like rain.

It turned out that when Luo Zijun was fighting three Demon Crocodiles, two of them, in their terror and rage, had all the sharp spikes on their bodies detach and shoot toward him like sharp swords.

Last time, it was because he had carelessly been pierced by these spikes that he had been severely injured.

This time, he naturally dared not take them head-on again.

He immediately grabbed the iron tail of one of the Demon Crocodiles, swung it with force, and sent the Demon Crocodile's body flying in front of himself, turning it into a sturdy shield to meet the incoming spikes.

Then, he recalled his Flying Sword, let the Flying Sword expand to its maximum size, and spin rapidly in front of him, becoming a second sturdy shield.

In fact, he had been too cautious.

Those sharp spikes all landed on the body of the Demon Crocodile in front of him and were actually blocked by the Demon Crocodile's body, not penetrating through as they had that night.

However, the body of this Demon Crocodile was instantly riddled with holes and died immediately.

Luo Zijun flashed out, his Divine Sense moved, and the Flying Sword had already shot toward one of the Demon Crocodiles in front that was firing spikes.

After that Demon Crocodile had exhausted all the spikes on its body, it seemed somewhat weak and sluggish; before it could react, its body was pierced by the Flying Sword.

Then, the Flying Sword did not stop at all; after passing through its body, it flew toward another Demon Crocodile not far away.

That Demon Crocodile turned to flee back into the mud pool, but just as its head entered, its entire body was immediately sliced open, and blood and internal organs were instantly splashed into the mud pool.

Having finished off these three Demon Crocodiles, Luo Zijun gained even stronger power.

After a brief pause, he continued to search for other Demon Crocodiles.

The night passed quickly.

When he left the swamp and headed back the way he came, his entire soul was much stronger than before, and in his Soul Sea, powerful forces were surging.

Those meridians and acupoints leading to the Fen Shen Realm had become clearer and thicker.

At the same time, the barrier blocking the path to the Fen Shen Realm was already clearly visible.

Only by making the meridians and acupoints along this path thicker and tougher could they withstand the impact of the fierce, tide-like power when the time came.

If they could not withstand it, he would naturally be unable to break through that barrier leading to the Fen Shen Realm.

But looking at the situation, it should be soon.

Luo Zijun was still savoring the power he had gained tonight as he soon arrived at the tunnel entrance.

At this moment, he suddenly felt a force within his body, restless and uncontrollable, moving up and down as if it wanted to come out.

Had the power of those Demon Crocodiles not been fully refined?

It did not look like it.

Luo Zijun channeled his Soul Power, trying to force that power into his Soul Sea, but it seemed useless.

Strange?

His meridians and acupoints were aching from the turmoil of this power.

Daring not to hesitate any longer, he immediately used his own Soul Power to guide them, surging toward his right arm.

This time, that power did not resist and obediently came to his right arm.

Luo Zijun immediately felt his right arm extremely swollen, an explosive power gathering in the acupoints within, and at the same time, the color of his arm rapidly turned black.

He was startled and hurriedly used all his strength to throw a punch.

"Boom!"

A loud explosion!

Then, a cloud of black mist shot out from his right fist, and "swish, swish, swish" sounds suddenly appeared.

Looking closely, it was actually dense, swarming Demon Crocodile spikes!

A black rock the height of a person in front was instantly pierced through by these spikes, which were like a rain of arrows; amidst the flying stone chips, the entire rock was directly reduced to debris!

Luo Zijun was startled by this scene.

He hurriedly looked at his right fist; his entire arm had returned to normal, and his right fist was also unharmed, appearing no different from before.

The violent power in his arm had also completely vanished.

But in his Soul Sea, there was suddenly an extra seed the size of a mung bean.

That seed was entwined with black mist, with a faint fluorescent glow flickering.

Just as he was filled with doubt and uncertainty, a familiar voice rang in his ears: "I didn't expect you to be able to devour the flying spike skill of those Demon Crocodiles and use it for yourself."

Luo Zijun turned his head to look; the Fairy of the Moon Palace had appeared at his side at some unknown moment, her gaze fixed on the cluster of rock dust ahead, her expression unreadable, though her tone sounded somewhat... envious, or perhaps jealous.

Luo Zijun was stunned and said, "A devouring skill? To be used for one's own purposes?"

(End of chapter)