Chapter 361: Forbidden Curse Blast [Master‑Level Giant Scorpion]

More than two hours later.

In a peculiar chaotic gray‑mist desert deep, the battle drew its curtain.

The desert wolf corpses, the size of a rhinoceros, were haphazardly piled crosswise across the hill valleys and on the dunes.

Their number reached five or six thousand.

Each desert wolf was pierced and scorched to death by Ta Ke's Light Feather Blade.

Although these fifth‑ and sixth‑rank desert wolf packs had seventh‑rank leaders and even eighth‑rank lords, and their scale was astonishing.

Against other eighth‑rank Chao Shen Da Shi, they enjoyed a massive numerical advantage.

But for casters, especially Ta Ke, who sustains spells extremely powerfully,

this slight numerical edge counted for nothing.

With a little time, they could be wiped out completely.

As the battle concluded,

the Shadow Demon Spider Lord was released by Ta Ke.

The Shadow Demon Spider Lord swiftly summoned a multitude of small Shadow Demon Spiders, undertaking large‑scale crystal core harvesting and corpse transport.

Ta Ke's Steam Steam·Wonder Cottage, nurtured continuously over the years by Ta Ke,

has grown to roughly the size of a hundred‑meter‑tall residential building.

The Blood Pool Area… hmm… now better called the Blood Sea Area, also possesses considerable scale.

These corpses are the source of the Blood Sea ecology, and also the ever‑increasing food for the Wonder Cottage.

"Wuwuwu..."

The desolate wind‑blown sand whistled past, gravel clinking against the Rune Earth Shell.

Ta Ke removed the slightly damaged Rune Earth Shell from the earlier battle and fitted a new Earth Shell onto himself.

He stroked the crystal cores, infused with chaotic origin, that the Shadow Demon Spider Lord had brought back.

Ta Ke lifted his head and looked.

Above the heavens, countless birds circled at high altitude.

Among them were three Chao Shen Da Shi-level eagle‑falcon creatures.

Flying to scout in the sky was certainly out of the question.

If these master supernal beings above level 100 fixated on you, it becomes extremely troublesome.

But walking beneath the ground‑level gray mist,

you encounter a great variety of creatures.

Before entering the desert region, Ta Ke was ambushed by three kinds of creatures.

One type was the arm‑thick 'Tree‑wing Insect', which would spring up suddenly, pierce with sharp nasal spines and inject venom, at astonishing speed.

Another type was blood‑colored demonic bat‑like creatures, numerous, with a bizarre soul‑draining method, but they ceased pursuit once Ta Ke left their area.

The last type was the astonishingly leaping Siphon Insect; when Ta Ke passed, they swarmed out of the pond, clinging densely to his Earth Shield, crazily siphoning the source energy within the shield.

Ta Ke gave them a blast of dragon breath flame, then hurried away from that area.

These supernal beings hide within the ecosystem, very concealed.

More importantly, thanks to the dense chaotic gray mist here, the density of supernal creatures in this supernal ecology is extremely high.

When the front foot leaves one supernal creature zone, the rear foot steps into another.

Ta Ke isn't truly afraid of these supernal beings.

He mainly fears that powerful tactics might disturb the hidden Chao Shen Da Shi-level formidable supernal creatures here.

Once those master‑level supernal beings are startled,

the advantage of early exploration is completely lost.

After clearing the many demon wolves in this dune area, Ta Ke set out again.

The benefit of 'Shadow Form' in the desert region gradually became evident.

Moving silently without touching the ground lets Ta Ke easily avoid the sand worms, desert poisonous scorpions, sand bees, etc., beneath the sand, averting many unnecessary fights.

Heading deeper into the desert, Ta Ke marched onward.

Occasionally, Ta Ke would observe the massive slanted stone tower above.

Ta Ke's path lay beneath the shattered slanted tower, the desert's core region.

If anything fell from above, it would certainly land in the desert core.

…

After a half‑day's time,

On a desolate massive dune where chaotic gray mist churned,

Ta Ke stood quietly here, carefully scrutinizing the funnel‑shaped base of the dune.

A cave stone gate about five meters high and three meters wide appeared silently at the bottom of the dune valley.

An extremely heavy aura of chaotic origin surged explosively from within.

Even Ta Ke, standing several hundred meters away, could still sniff the abundant chaotic origin inside.

Undoubtedly, the underground area beyond this cave stone gate must nurture some kind of chaotic treasure.

However, the entrance, rich with chaotic ecological aura, was occupied by a Chao Shen Da Shi-level desert giant scorpion.

This desert giant scorpion, entirely golden‑yellow, lay there like a small villa.

It was level 105, exuding an extremely dense Chao Shen Da Shi-level giant beast aura.

Master‑level giant beast!

Regardless of the type, a master‑level giant beast is extremely hard to handle.

This half‑day's span.

Ta Ke has already explored many places in this desert region.

In many areas Ta Ke found no treasure, and was discovered by a master‑level beast, forcing Ta Ke to flee.

Now, the treasure site guarded by this 105‑level Chao Shen Da Shi-level desert giant scorpion before him is, of course, not to be missed.

"This crustacean master beast has extremely strong outer‑body defense."

"If it can be slain, I will perform the 【Master·Blood Source Scale Armor】 ritual to sacrifice and absorb it. My transcendent‑state defense will increase dramatically, even reaching master level."

"Even if it cannot be slain, driving it away will still yield a treasure, making the trip worthwhile."

"It's…"

Gently rubbing his palm, Ta Ke's eyes narrowed slightly.

"I don't know if I can win."

"After all, it's a master‑level transcendent beast; although its level is 105, the master source energy will absolutely crush me."

He took a deep breath.

He lightly lifted the legendary demonic ring staff.

"Wooo…"

With the steam core's rumble, a massive surge of steam energy burst forth.

In no time, a prepared Ta Ke inhaled sharply and spat a blast of divine fire‑oil at the master golden giant scorpion beneath the dune.

The master golden giant scorpion, already aware of the movement on the dune, lightly struck toward Ta Ke's position with its right front claw.

An invisible air wall instantly coalesced.

Ta Ke's fire‑oil was blocked outside the air wall.

"It knows certain wind abilities and can create wind air walls."

"However... this wind air wall is decent, but may not stop my fire‑oil."

As Ta Ke spewed copious fire‑oil, the intense burning caused the wind air wall to collapse after about five or six breaths.

Clack clack clack…

With a "Pong!" the air wall shattered.

A torrent of fire‑oil slanted down, dousing the master golden giant scorpion.

The master golden giant scorpion, bombarded by Ta Ke's frantic fire‑oil, spun frantically in place.

"Sasha... sasha..."

A strange, angry rustling sound came from its mouth.

It seemed unwilling to abandon the entrance it guarded.

Soon, irritated by Ta Ke's burning, the master golden giant scorpion finally abandoned the guarded entrance and rapidly climbed up the dune.

Its speed was astonishing.

In two breaths, it covered over three hundred meters.

The master golden giant scorpion swung its twin golden claws and slammed them fiercely toward Ta Ke's direction.

Two visible, powerful dune wave surges, a hundred meters away, rolled toward Ta Ke.

Ta Ke phase‑shifted, entering the high air.

"Hoom... long..."

Accompanied by violent tremors of the massive dune area.

The dune wave at Ta Ke's former spot exploded with a bang, sending half a hill scattering into the sky.

For a moment, wind, sand, and rain howled across the heavens.

A multitude of magical earth spikes rose from the sand like waves, rippling outward.

At this moment, the master golden giant scorpion raised its massive claw again.

"Bang! Bang!"

The claw struck the ground, sounding like a rousing war drum.

Instantly, centered on the master golden giant scorpion,

the sand sea rippled outward like a sea surface.

With each ground‑pounding of the master golden giant scorpion, the entire dune region turned into a surging sand sea.

"Master‑level beings, whether human transcendants or these transcendent creatures, can wield their core elements to exert tremendous influence on the world, forging their own arena worlds and even dealing massive and ultra‑long‑range damage."

"Unfortunately..."

Ta Ke's eyes narrowed slightly, a fierce aura stirring.

"Your arena is not strong enough."

Ta Ke's steam·light feather blades behind him swung wildly!

"Wooo..." A fierce roar erupted quickly.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh…

Dozens of light feather blades rushed toward the master golden giant scorpion.

The master golden giant scorpion's left massive claw slammed into the air, reconvening an air wall.

But this time it faced a barrage of forbidden‑spell light feather blades, not ordinary fire‑oil.

Sss sss sss—

The forbidden‑spell light feather blades easily pierced and tore the air wall.

"Clang clang clang..."

The light feather blades all plunged into the master golden giant scorpion's mouth apparatus, some even entering its oral cavity, causing minor damage.

Ta Ke's crafty aim this time wasn't very damaging, but it successfully made Master Golden Giant Scorpion even more angry.

At the same time, the forbidden spell 【Ancient Spirit Star Dragon Breath】 was also raised by Ta Ke to about 50 rings.

He crazily sprayed toward Master Golden Giant Scorpion.

Whoosh—

The scorching dragon breath had extremely strong penetration.

The golden-yellow carapace on Master Golden Giant Scorpion's back was quickly roasted until it turned red.

The surrounding area of several hundred meters was filled with radiation, becoming a vast sea of fire.

"Shush—"

The urgently hissing Master Golden Giant Scorpion quickly stirred up large amounts of sand.

Those sands seemed to have come alive.

Like a stream, it quickly surged along Master Golden Giant Scorpion's arthropod limbs, instantly covering its whole body, forming a thick layer of stone skin.

This stone skin method was quite formidable; for a moment, it actually resisted Ta Ke's dragon breath spray.

At the same time, around Master Golden Giant Scorpion, under the effect of earth-system rune arcane art, more than ten "Earth Stone Towers" had already formed.

"Bang! Bang! Bang—"

Numerous stone blocks the size of heads continuously shot toward Ta Ke.

Ta Ke immediately stopped the dragon breath spray, his body repeatedly dodging to avoid those thrown stone blocks from the Earth Stone Towers.

Just as Ta Ke was about to cast a spell to destroy those stone towers.

But he discovered that in the surrounding large area, stone towers were continuously forming, their scale and number astonishing.

Ta Ke suddenly realized.

"Using the power of earth rune arcane art to radiate within the vast dunes, utilizing Master's world power to condense these stone towers, to carry out a wide-range projectile attack on distant enemies."

"This master-level Golden Giant Scorpion actually used this method to compensate for its lack of long-range means."

"The magical force of throwing these Earth Stone Towers, which contain world power and earth rune arcane art power, is not small."

"Bang bang—"

Ta Ke, after taking four hits, immediately felt that his three-star rune·Earth Turtle Shell had been cracked somewhat.

While constantly dodging in the air, Ta Ke continuously released Light Feather Blades, destroying the magical stone towers while attacking Master Golden Giant Scorpion.

Such means as Light Feather Blade are suitable for mobile combat.

With the release of many Light Feather Blades.

Ta Ke vaguely felt some suppression over the Master Golden Giant Scorpion below.

Constantly struck by Ta Ke's Light Feather Blades in the eyes, mouthparts, etc.

Master Golden Giant Scorpion became increasingly angry and violent, once again waving its golden giant pincers.

"Bang! Bang—"

He used the ground as a war drum, again thumping it.

The heavy striking sound made Ta Ke's soul tremble as well.

The opponent's series of strikes made Ta Ke's brow slightly furrow.

Just now, that series of strikes by Master Golden Giant Scorpion made the ground surge like waves.

The magical stone towers that had accumulated a large amount of long-range attacks.

Who knows what other formidable means this Master Desert Giant Scorpion still has.

Naturally, we cannot let it continue striking.

Ta Ke's heart sank slightly, his right palm clenched suddenly.

"Woo—"

The heavy Chaos Rune Arcane Art began to manifest large amounts of fire rune aura.

In an instant, the surrounding steam gray mist surged violently, even the distant hazy chaos gray mist became tumultuous and rushed.

At the same time, the heavy and vast 【World】 power burst forth with a rumble, the world began to tremble slightly.

"Shush—"

"Shush—"

Master Golden Giant Scorpion also seemed to sense danger, emitting a low hiss, its striking movements quickened a bit; obviously, it wanted to quickly launch its next attack ahead of time.

But Ta Ke acted first.

"Roar—"

A dragon breath, like a heaven-shattering dragon roar.

The mountain-heavy dragon breath, as if carrying the whole world, pressed down on Master Golden Giant Scorpion, crushing it.

Under the support of over 160 rings, the terrifying dragon breath fire forbidden spell continuously destroyed the stone skin armor on its body; after one or two breaths, its stone skin cracked and shattered bit by bit.

That pair of pincers that struck the ground was also forcibly pressed onto the ground.

Divine power, fire rune arcane art, plus the dragon breath forbidden spell, and the fierce and terrifying world power—at this moment Ta Ke fully erupted, suppressing this master-level Golden Giant Scorpion.

The Master Golden Giant Scorpion, its arthropods frantically dancing, struggled desperately to withstand Ta Ke's heavy dragon breath pressure.

But at this time, Ta Ke's world power fully burst forth, giving Master Golden Giant Scorpion no chance to catch its breath.

This dragon breath spray lasted over a minute.

It nearly roasted Master Golden Giant Scorpion to death, even its extraordinary ecology was ignited by Ta Ke.

At this very moment, the screech of the Saeles Crow in Ta Ke's pupils burst forth to the extreme.

"Gah—"

The Master Golden Giant Scorpion, burned to a crisp, hadn't even reacted before falling into a brief stupor.

Ta Ke's forbidden curse in his hand was a seamless continuation.

The moment he released the pre‑prepared forbidden curse Annihilation·Silent Starburst, the phase leapt ten thousand meters away.

Almost at the same time.

Boom—

A huge explosion roar, accompanied by a terrifying mushroom cloud, rose slowly.

Whether it was the steam gray mist Ta Ke released earlier, or the massive chaos gray mist swept over by Ta Ke's Chaos Rune Great Art,

in this instant, both pushed aside a range of dozens of kilometers.

The crimson mushroom‑cloud fire wave rolled into the sky, bathing the whole world in a scarlet glow.

The wave of source‑energy blast vibration swiftly swept the entire world.

Annihilation·Silent Starburst itself inherits the starburst trait and is an ultimate destructive forbidden curse.

Combined with Ta Ke's powerful World power, it can amplify its original starburst trait many times.

Even seven‑star or eight‑star level forbidden curses in Ta Ke's hands may not match the astonishing destructive power of a Silent Starburst eruption.

Feeling the mushroom cloud of the starburst rising, and the massive wave sweeping in like a hurricane.

Ta Ke's eyes narrowed slightly.

"First, burn through its shell with flame, then ignite its transcendent ecology."

"Then use the Sears Crow to apply a minor control."

"A hundred percent guarantee that the forbidden curse starburst's attached shell deals damage to it."

"This strike, even if it's undead... is almost enough."

Just as Ta Ke examined the distant forbidden curse starburst,

the distant dunes seemed to come alive.

"Ho ho... ho ho..."

A strange low rumble echoed from deep within the dunes, layer after layer.

"Master Sand Worm."

After watching the distance for a moment, Ta Ke's complexion grew a bit grim.

Ta Ke dared not employ such a powerful method lightly, fearing it would attract the attention of those master transcendent beings.

Ta Ke's figure flickered slightly.

In the air, he consecutively drew several shadow afterimages.

He sped toward the exploded area.

The forbidden curse starburst violently disturbs space, making direct jumps or traversals unsuitable.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"..."

While Ta Ke flew, a barrage of black death rays fired wildly at him.

The entire desert, with shark insects hundreds of kilometers around, were probably all awakened by Ta Ke.

These astonishing numbers of ordinary sand worms had already noticed Ta Ke's presence.

The death rays were dense, like a rain curtain.

Even with Ta Ke's lightning‑fast reaction, many black death rays still struck him.

The earth rune turtle shell withstood a dozen shots before cracking and shattering.

"Tsk tsk tsk…"

Subsequent death rays that hit Ta Ke's forbidden curse Crystal Wall Realm Armor were all blocked.

At the same time.

"Cheep~ chirp~"

From the sky came the Master Giant Eagle's piercing screech.

Ta Ke just turned his attention to the sky.

"Buzz…"

A massive, heavy death ray burned fiercely toward him.

"Tsk tsk tsk…"

The Crystal Wall Realm Armor sizzled as it burned.

Yet it still blocked this wave of attack from Chao Shen Da Shi‑level.

The instant the Master Sand Worm's death ray burned, Ta Ke quickly shifted position.

"Fortunately I have many defenses; otherwise the burn of that death ray would be unbearable."

Feeling the Crystal Wall Realm Armor covering his body, repelling external attacks while not hindering his movement, Ta Ke dared not relax.

While the afterglow of the explosion still rippled,

Ta Ke had already darted to the scene of the Nuclear Explosion Master Golden Giant Scorpion.

At this moment, the "Master Golden Giant Scorpion" was extremely pitiful.

Ta Ke's forbidden curse had blown it into front and rear halves.

The front half still seemed somewhat active, its legs frantically kicking.

In contrast, its tail was completely motionless.

Ta Ke slipped a shadow to the tail, using the Steam Magic Cabin to attempt collection.

No resistance at all, it was directly taken by Ta Ke.

When Ta Ke still wanted to go and collect the upper half.

That upper half actually burst out with extremely strong vital activity.

It actually struggled and crawled out from the buried sand heap.

Seeing this, Ta Ke shook his head; a living thing definitely cannot be taken in.

Although... this upper half won't stay alive for long.

But the Master Giant Eagle in the sky and the Master Sand Worm in the distance are hurrying here.

There's no waiting for Ta Ke to pick up the corpse; other master giant beasts won't let such a feast pass.

Collecting about one-third of the Master Golden Giant Scorpion's carapace is enough.

With a flick of his form he entered shadow state, simultaneously activating the Earth Rune Secret Art, and Ta Ke swiftly sank to the desert's bottom.

The Forbidden Spell Star Burst just now blasted away this sand dune, and in the process buried the entrance to the underground cavern.

But this does not hinder Ta Ke from entering to explore.

On the contrary, the buried entrance will be safer.