Chapter 708: Savage Beasts of the Barren Marsh!
pt his invitation" Xie Yujia asked.Her brother, Xie Wanjun, had invited me to his house Hao Ren’s mind was still trying to catch up."It's not out of malice; it's just an opportunity to get acquainted....Chapter 708: Savage Beasts of the Wasteland!
In the deep night within the Nine Dragon Palace, darkness surrounded from all directions. Accompanied by various non-lethal ferocious beasts' howls, this place was filled with unease and danger.
"I have a blanket in my Sumeru Ring," Su Han put her head on Hao Ren's chest and suddenly said.
She raised her delicate fingers and placed them before Hao Ren.
"Oh..." Hao Ren supported her smooth palm with his left hand, and used his right hand to operate the chaotic spiritual energy, opening Su Han's Sumeru Ring and pulling out a thin woven blanket from it.
Hao Ren's mustard seed space was vast but could only contain things imbued with靈氣 (spiritual energy). Meanwhile, Su Han’s spatial treasure, the Sumeru Ring, had limited storage capacity but could hold ordinary items.
In the past, Zhao Ranzi brought her favorite belongings one by one to the ethereal Peak of the Fifth Heaven to decorate her cave dwelling, utilizing her Sumeru Ring for multiple moves.
When pulling out the blanket, Hao Ren’s divine sense casually sensed it and found various medicinal pills, first-aid medicines, even common drugs like cold medicine in Su Han's ring.
This time coming to the Nine Dragon Palace, she was well-prepared.
The reason for storing some ordinary people's medications was that Su Han could not use spiritual energy within the Nine Dragon Palace. If she got chilled or sick, she might need to take medicine.
Thinking of the usually cold and icy Su Han, now weak like an ordinary girl, especially with her Dry Stage Upper Rank realm where disease had never been a concern for her body, having to prepare some cold medicine made Hao Ren feel more sympathetic towards her.
"Hand," Su Han raised her eyelids and said in a light tone.
Hao Ren's thoughts were briefly melancholic before he suddenly realized that while he had pulled out the blanket from Su Han’s Sumeru Ring, he was still holding her delicate hand.
The silver-white ring on Su Han’s finger of green sprout-like hue, Hao Ren supporting her palm in one hand and gripping her ring with another hand; it looked as if he were putting a wedding band onto Su Han's finger.
"Ah! Ah!" Hao Ren cleared his throat and awkwardly withdrew his hand.
He wasn’t deliberately holding Su Han’s hand, just checking what else was inside her Sumeru Ring while his thoughts had wandered in this hazy environment.
To be honest, if he didn't release Su Han's hand immediately outside the Nine Dragon Palace, she would have already pressed the jade sword against Hao Ren's neck. However, here, Su Han’s attitude towards him was a bit accommodating.
Hao Ren picked up the blanket by his feet, shook it and covered it over Su Han's body.
As half of her body leaned on Hao Ren’s chest, this blanket actually covered both of them.
Su Han remained silent, with half her body curled up in Hao Ren's embrace.
She wasn't deliberately showing weakness but just entering the Nine Dragon Palace and if she were too strong-willed and fell ill immediately, it would be counterproductive.
The darkness persisted as time slowly passed.
Hao Ren operated the Sword Light Shadow Technique to continuously enhance the chaotic energy within his body. With the unique primordial chaos energy of this place, if not for ferocious beasts running rampant here and there, it would be an excellent location for Hao Ren’s cultivation.
Su Han, leaning against him, seemed already asleep.
The parts she touched on Hao Ren’s back and shoulders were warm.
Hao Ren held his hands outside the blanket, pressing down on Su Han's abdomen. In this cold night, he remained highly alert, never thinking for a moment that he was truly holding a weak woman in his arms.
Once they left the Nine Dragon Palace, Su Han would still be an expert at the Dry Stage, looking down upon all others; Hao Ren could only look up to her existence.
Su Han's chest rose and fell gently as she breathed deeply with peace.
Hao Ren filled his meridians with the power of chaos and attempted to break through. He cultivated the Five Elements Sword Technique and used lightning to create the power of chaos.
The last time Hao Ren came here, the Nine Dragons Palace was very calm; probably because after the barrier opened, those fierce beasts hid themselves.
That time, Hao Ren could only simply throw out a chaos thunderbolt but still managed to gain an advantage in that trial.
Xiao Bai, as a妖獸(demon beast), can actually move around freely within the Nine Dragons Palace. With its fifth-stage strength, it is formidable within the territory of cultivation sects above the Fifth Heaven Layer. But to enter the Nine Dragons Palace or Demon Beast Sea, a fifth-stage demon beast isn't enough for those tenth-stage demon beasts.
It was precisely because of this that Hao Ren didn't bring Xiao Bai in this time. From the roars of the fierce beasts around him, he knew these were not something Xiao Bai could handle.
The night fog at the Nine Dragons Palace even blocked sound; for these fierce beast's roars to reach Hao Ren's ears proved they were thunderous.
This time when Hao Ren came to the Nine Dragons Palace, he was a top-tier Exchange Rank cultivator and could unleash the Chaos Sword Formation with the Five Elements Combined Lightning. His strength had increased by dozens or even hundreds of times compared to his first entry into the palace.
The Nine Dragons Palace opened by the Four Seas Dragon Palaces seemed to only allow low-stage cultivators inside. Now that Hao Ren had reached the Exchange Rank, entering with Su Han posed dangers many tens of times greater than before.
Woo… woo…
A large group of fierce beasts suddenly roared in a low tone.
Su Han, leaning against Hao Ren's chest, was startled awake by these ominous sounds, raised her ears and sat up guardedly to listen carefully around them.
Whoosh!
As if a sudden gust of wind blew over; even Hao Ren couldn't withstand this strong wind and fell backward onto the ground.
Su Han, without spiritual energy, was completely flattened on top of Hao Ren's body with her black hair all disheveled.
In the darkness, it was impossible to see how this gust arose, but Hao Ren could feel that a massive fierce beast had flown overhead!
The wind strong enough to knock someone down was caused by the wings of the flying fierce beast passing over them!
"It's okay…" Su Han said proactively as she leaned back against Hao Ren's chest.
Those roaring fierce beasts nearby also finally quietened down.
Hao Ren ignored recalling the romantic scene earlier and immediately went on high alert, spreading beams of Light Dividing Sword Shadows all around him and Su Han in a hundred-meter radius.
Hao Ren suddenly realized that at first light, they might find themselves surrounded by dozens of fierce beasts!
The darkness hindered their movement but was also a form of protection. In the dark, these fierce beasts wouldn't move on their own accord.
His Light Dividing Sword Shadows technique allowed each sword beam to carry Hao Ren's divine awareness, so they could serve as a warning within the hundred-meter radius.
But further out, Hao Ren didn't dare send out more beams for fear of waking up some sleeping fierce beasts.
"You rest; I'll keep watch," Hao Ren turned to look at Su Han and said.
"Okay." Su Han was not being polite and covered herself again before leaning against Hao Ren's chest once more.
Hao Ren moved his hands gently onto her shoulders, letting out a quiet breath.
Su Han rested in his arms for warmth with no additional thoughts, but Hao Ren felt somewhat restless.
In the darkness, there would occasionally be synchronized roars of a large group of fierce beasts, seemingly disturbed by flying creatures disturbing their rest.
Hao Ren hugged Su Han, not letting her out of his sight for a moment. His mind was linked with the faint sword lights inserted into the ground, and he didn’t dare to relax.
Just as Hao Ren's limbs were starting to feel numb, an intense light suddenly appeared from the east.
Immediately, all the beasts roared together.
Hao Ren felt that "the sky" was about to brighten. He hurriedly lifted Su Han and rolled up the woven blanket, stowing it away in her Sumeru Ring.
The hundreds of sword lights distributed around them returned to Hao Ren's palm at his beckoning.
Nine Dragon Palace was a closed space without sun or stars. This blinding light should be the automatically operating barrier within Nine Dragon Palace.
Sensing that the dormant ferocious beasts were about to wake up, Hao Ren threw out the Purple Gold Hairpin, intending to step on it and leave, but suddenly found that he couldn’t activate it.
Hao Ren, accustomed to the high-speed flight of the Purple Gold Hairpin, was momentarily stunned before realizing the reason behind this.
Within Nine Dragon Palace, the five elements were isolated. Individual metal and water element spiritual energy could not operate independently, meaning he couldn’t drive the Purple Gold Hairpin inside Nine Dragon Palace!
The white light seemed to illuminate every corner of Nine Dragon Palace in an instant.
Hao Ren saw vast plains where various giant beasts roamed. In distant valleys and forests were also numerous ferocious beasts, big and small.
In the hazy skies, large birds with wings spanning thousands of meters soared, spouting flames from their sharp beaks!
The continuous mountain ranges stretched endlessly.
Unknown fierce beasts trampling on the peaks would bite through tree trunks several meters thick and munch them with a snap!
These were all ancient savage beasts!
If he hadn’t seen it himself, Hao Ren would never have imagined such a magnificent sight existed!
The ancient cultivators faced exactly these ferocious beasts. How could today’s cultivators’ cultivation of the five elements cause fundamental damage to these ferocious beasts
Howl howl howl...
A black-skinned fierce beast by the lake raised its head and roared wildly, making dozens of gray jackals with black flames on their paws hurriedly retreat from the grass.
The black-skinned fierce beast’s thick forelegs struck out, and in a sudden burst of black light,十幾隻灰狼被拍成了肉泥。
Hao Ren watched in horror. He pulled Su Han along, released Chaotic Sword Qi underfoot, and flew towards the nearby forest.
At this moment, the light had not yet spread across the land; all the plains, valleys, and forests were just emerging from darkness, enveloped in a layer of dark red glow.
Hiss hiss hiss...
In the forest Hao Ren went to, several strange birds suddenly flew out.
These strange birds had ferocious expressions, with colorful feathers all over their bodies. However, they did not look beautiful at all; on the contrary, they were quite dangerous—like highly venomous snakes that were often brightly colored!
Bang bang bang bang!
Hao Ren's Chaotic Sword Qi was instantly spread out.
These dozen strange birds had not even managed to reach Hao Ren with their sharp claws before being pierced through the neck and falling dead to the ground.
They suddenly released waves of colorful gas, a deadly poison that could paralyze and kill even hundred-meter tall beasts!
Hao Ren guessed how lethal these gases were and hurriedly escaped the area, landing in a dense forest.
The hundreds of meters where the strange birds fell saw all trees rapidly wither and rot!
If Hao Ren had been even slightly slower, he could only imagine the outcome!
Whish…
Hao Ren's sword beams were not aimed at any beasts but a test to see if they were hiding inside.
Each beam carried Hao Ren’s divine thoughts and instantly confirmed that no beast was hiding there. Thus, he brought Su Han down with him.
From waving his hand to launch sword beams to kill over ten strange birds, to the sword beams entering the forest and bringing Su Han down, all actions were seamless without any delay!
However, Hao Ren was not so calm. As soon as he stood on the soft earth of the forest, cold sweat soaked through his clothes.
The dozen strange birds suddenly charging at him—if he had reacted half a beat slower or lacked vigilance—he would have been poisoned to death!
Life and death were but an instant apart, yet this was just the beginning!
Looking at the countless beasts all over the mountain range, the number of ferocious beasts in Long Nine Palace far exceeded Hao Ren's expectations!
In Demon Sea, demon beasts hid beneath the surface. In Long Nine Palace, however, they roamed everywhere, even flying!
It was hard to judge their realms but there were likely some seventh and eighth-level beasts—levels that Hao Ren couldn't handle easily!
"There is no concept of direction in Long Nine Palace. However, we should be at the edge," Su Han supported herself on a towering tree trunk as she surveyed the valley’s terrain and lighting before calmly saying.
"At least we have to cross this plain and mountains to see if there's any way out," said Su Han after observing her surroundings.
The situation in Long Nine Palace was top-secret. However, from piecing together bits of information she had gleaned from the Dragon Deity Temple’s records, she managed to get a rough idea—meaning that even on her first visit to Long Nine Palace, she still felt relatively assured.
Just as she spoke, she suddenly noticed Hao Ren approaching behind her.
Su Han looked up slightly and saw Hao Ren inserting the purple-gold hairpin into her hair strands.
"This is Consort Zhen's treasure. It carries her aura and likely has a deterrent effect on demon beasts. You'll be safer with it," said Hao Ren to her.
Su Han was slightly stunned before nodding in acknowledgment.
She knew the purple-gold hairpin belonged to Heavenly Demon Consort Zhen, who would certainly deter these demon beasts. However, she hadn't expected Hao Ren to place it on her head for protection while not taking this useful treasure himself.
The purple-gold hairpin was a symbol of Consort Zhen, and high-level demon beasts in Demon Sea would run far away at the sight of it.
Long Nine Palace's demon beasts might not know about the hairpin’s reputation. However, as a personal treasure with the aura of Eternity Demon King, even slightly lower level demon beasts wouldn't dare approach carelessly.
"Let’s go!" After confirming the distribution of demon beasts in the valley and plain, Hao Ren activated his Primordial Chaos Sword Qi to lift Su Han up and flew towards the mountains ahead.
Boom boom...
The moment he rose high above, Hao Ren suddenly saw a pitch-black Ancestor Dragon Deity Temple rapidly moving through midair on the other side of the mountain range!.Dragging its tail once produces a small flame; twice for medium and three times for large. It’s like turning on different settings of a gas stove. Hao Ren thought to himself."I was just mentioning it...