The Red-Scaled Beast instantly recognized the human as the one creature it desired to kill above all others! In the past twenty-odd days, it was not as if warriors hadn't ventured into the depths to search.
Every warrior who came underground, especially those who entered the tunnels to explore and encountered this Red-Scaled Beast, had ended up as its meal! It had just completed its transformation; its scales were now entirely crimson.
Its strength had increased substantially. It possessed absolute certainty that it could slay the human before it!
Die! The Red-Scaled Beast padded silently out of its lair, its pair of red eyes, larger than bronze bells, brimming with undisguised killing intent!
"Hmm? It sees me?" Seeing the Red-Scaled Beast approaching, especially the murderous look in its eyes, Teng Qingshan started slightly, then gave a cold laugh.
"However... this Red-Scaled Beast probably doesn't realize that I've seen it too." Teng Qingshan glanced at the beast once, then looked away.
Pretending not to see the Red-Scaled Beast, he secretly gathered his power! The Red-Scaled Beast crept closer silently.
When it reached a distance of ten zhang from Teng Qingshan—its pupils contracted instantly— "Closer, closer!" Teng Qingshan relaxed his entire body to the extreme. Whoosh!
Teng Qingshan felt the Red-Scaled Beast suddenly transform into a colossal red streak of light and pounce— "Hah!" Teng Qingshan roared suddenly, his eyes flying wide open. His body, previously maximally relaxed, exploded with terrifying power like a drawn bowstring.
The rock floor beneath his feet ground down into dust with a deep rumble, and astonishing force surged instantly from his feet to his core. The fabric of his trousers strained violently.
As Teng Qingshan spun around— The force transferred instantly to his arms; the muscles coiled tightly, ripping through his sleeves and revealing powerful, strong arms faintly tinged with a dark red hue! "Swoosh!" A silver lightning bolt stabbed toward the massive red light!
The physical might of two hundred and ten thousand jin! The Ninth Layer of the Savage Ox Great Strength Manual!
Fully unleashed! The Shadow-Following Spear Technique!
An explosive force of two hundred and seventy thousand jin! "Clang!" A piercing sound of metal striking metal!
"Boom!" Teng Qingshan's Reincarnation Spear clashed against the beast's red claws. The air, compressed to its limit, exploded outward like invisible blades slicing in all directions.
A continuous booming sound echoed, sending shards of rock flying. Deep gouges appeared on the surrounding tunnel walls, covered in dust.
"Roar~~" The entire body of the Red-Scaled Beast was shaken back over a zhang, tumbling on the ground before scrambling back up swiftly. The beast's eyes turned blood-red as it roared in fury, seemingly maddened, and charged at Teng Qingshan again!
It had already transformed! The might of a demonic beast could not be violated!
That powerful impact also forced Teng Qingshan back three quick steps: "What a fierce demonic beast. Its claws are huge, like four razor-sharp divine weapons!
It actually dared to meet my Reincarnation Spear head-on." In that instantaneous exchange, Teng Qingshan realized the beast's weapon was its sharp claws! Moreover, the fact that the Red-Scaled Beast could momentarily withstand the Reincarnation Spear meant its reaction speed was also incredibly fast!
Great strength. Quick reactions.
Strong defense! This was the Red-Scaled Beast!
Facing the beast's frantic charge— "Vile creature!" Teng Qingshan roared, moving like lightning, charging forward with the Reincarnation Spear pointed directly at the Red-Scaled Beast! "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...
The Reincarnation Spear struck again and again. Swift as lightning, every thrust carried immense weight and terrifying power!
Furthermore, every spear thrust contained an astonishing vortex of force. As the ceaseless flow of the spear technique connected, even a formidable opponent like the Red-Scaled Beast felt its huge body trapped within an invisible, enormous whirlpool!
"Bang!" Teng Qingshan’s body slammed into the adjacent stone wall, cracking it open, sending powder showering down. Yet, Teng Qingshan acted as if unharmed and swiftly rushed back toward the Red-Scaled Beast!
"Bang!" The beast's massive body also slammed repeatedly against the tunnel walls beside it—it couldn't help it. The tunnel width was limited.
With such a gigantic frame, battling Teng Qingshan in this dim tunnel meant it couldn't maneuver widely. Both were restricted to this narrow space!
"This demonic beast—its strength increased so much after just one transformation!" Teng Qingshan was equally shocked. Unless absolutely necessary, Teng Qingshan truly did not want to use the 'Poison Dragon Drill.' Because once deployed, especially against a behemoth like the 'Red-Scaled Beast,' it would likely pass through without killing it!
Then... with the beast's reaction speed, it would directly land a claw strike on Teng Qingshan!
At that point, Teng Qingshan would face immense danger. The 'Shadow-Following' spear technique, while slightly less potent than the Poison Dragon Drill, was superior in its continuity and utter lack of flaws!
"Roar~~~" The enraged Red-Scaled Beast bellowed; it was truly furious! It had transformed, yet it couldn't handle one human.
The frantic beast charged Teng Qingshan repeatedly like a moving iron fortress; its eight razor claws on its two front paws were veritable divine weapons! It intended to tear Teng Qingshan apart!
One human and one demonic beast! Locked in repeated, frantic combat, the Red-Scaled Beast now stood nearly two zhang and seven or eight cun tall, and measured five or six zhang long.
Such a colossal body contained astonishing power. Teng Qingshan, standing seven chi and six cun tall (1.9 meters), appeared weak, yet he contained power no less than the beast's!
Both the man and the beast were supreme in physical might! Boom!
Boom! Boom!
Boom! Wherever their battle raged, thin sections of the wall collapsed suddenly, and thick stone slabs were shattered.
Debris flew wildly, and the intense air pressure manifested as savage gusts of pressurized air. From their initial fighting ground, Teng Qingshan’s continuous 'Shadow-Following' spear technique formed an invisible, massive vortex, completely suppressing the demonic beast.
With every collision, Teng Qingshan advanced, while the beast was forced to retreat. At this point, the Red-Scaled Beast had backed all the way to the entrance of its lair!
"Now is the time!" Teng Qingshan's eyes flashed. This was the Red-Scaled Beast's lair; the space was much larger!
Teng Qingshan could evade its claws and unleash his ultimate move. "Whoosh!" He circulated the Tianya Xing internal art, pushing his physical strength to the absolute limit.
Teng Qingshan zipped to the beast’s flank, then mercilessly channeled power into his right arm. His Reincarnation Spear instantly became a drill, stabbing rapidly toward the back of the beast’s head.
At the moment of impact— Boom! The Reincarnation Spear violently generated an intense outward rotational force, rising from within.
The force of the spear was so great that Teng Qingshan could barely maintain his grip! Swish!
The spear was like a silver lightning bolt! "Roar~~" The Red-Scaled Beast had sensed the danger the moment Teng Qingshan flashed to its side and roared in fury.
Simultaneously, its massive body struggled to evade. Furthermore, its tail, which had been useless in the narrow tunnel to reach Teng Qingshan, now transformed into a blur, whipping toward Teng Qingshan like a long lash!
"Chii—" The tip of the Reincarnation Spear, forged from Purple Light Cold Iron, was incomparably sharp! It painstakingly pierced the surface scales, then sank into the dense muscle beneath.
Blood immediately seeped out from the surface of the shattered crimson scales! "Not good." The instant Teng Qingshan stabbed, the Red-Scaled Beast’s tail arrived before him.
No time to withdraw the spear to defend! Teng Qingshan only managed to grip the Reincarnation Spear with his left hand, while his right arm transformed like a swimming dragon, attempting a clumsy defense using the Dragon Form from the Twelve Forms of Xing Yi.
His strong, powerful right arm instantly became like a slippery python. His fist and arm slammed hard into the dragon-like tail!
"Bang!" Teng Qingshan was hurled like a cannonball into the rock within the lair, striking with a loud crash that blasted a large hole in that section of the stone wall. "My body has long achieved a balance of hardness and softness, yet I am still injured.
In terms of scale defense, I am much inferior to this Red-Scaled Beast." Teng Qingshan glanced at his right arm; a large, gaping wound appeared on it. However, with his ability to control Qi and blood, not a single drop of blood escaped; the wound sealed itself completely.
The Red-Scaled Beast's tail strike had been delivered with full force; had Teng Qingshan taken it head-on, the injury would have been far worse. After all, the beast’s defense was too strong; its entire body was weaponry!
"Roar~~" Blood poured profusely from the wound on the beast's back as it roared in furious rage, opening its cavernous maw! A mere human had managed to gravely wound it!
It must die! A streak of pure white flame erupted suddenly from the bloody mouth!
Even before the flame arrived, Teng Qingshan, startled, pushed hard off the rock wall and leaped violently toward the opposite side. "Chii chii~~" That section of the rock wall instantly turned into dust.
Teng Qingshan's face changed dramatically: "The Red-Scaled Beast breathes fire, capable of melting gold and refining iron! Melting gold and refining iron—it truly lives up to its name.
However, this Red-Scaled Beast seems extremely fatigued!" Teng Qingshan also noticed that after spitting out one gout of flame, the beast was panting heavily through its nose and mouth, appearing exhausted. "Roar~~" Seeing Teng Qingshan, it grew furious again.
"I won't fight you anymore!" Teng Qingshan glanced sideways. Beside the lair was a massive black scale.
Teng Qingshan shot over, grabbed the scale with his right arm, yanked it hard, and immediately looped it over his shoulder. He moved like a gust of wind, shooting out through the opening melted by the beast's flame, right past the lair entrance.
After escaping the lair, Teng Qingshan glanced and spotted a narrow passage to the left: "Ah, this is it!" "Roar~~" The enraged Red-Scaled Beast violently smashed through the rock barrier and followed. "Hmph." Teng Qingshan darted into the relatively narrow tunnel, instantly shooting over ten zhang away.
The furious Red-Scaled Beast roared at the entrance, slamming and tearing gashes several zhang deep, before stopping its useless efforts. This tunnel was only one zhang high; its massive body simply could not enter!
By the time it had demolished several zhang deep, Teng Qingshan was already tens of zhang away. "Roar~~~" The Red-Scaled Beast let out a few angry roars, finally forced to leave.
With its intelligence, it understood that although it had just transformed, it was still far from its peak. If it possessed enough fire-attribute energy within its body, it wouldn't be exhausted after just one breath of flame.
... Carrying the coiled mass of scales, Teng Qingshan swiftly climbed through the great fissure and soon reached the mouth of the cave.
Looking at his tattered state, Teng Qingshan observed the large coil of black scales beside him: "This bundle of scales, when coiled, is nearly as tall as a man! Fully spread out, it could probably cover a courtyard." Recalling the battle just fought, Teng Qingshan understood, "The Red-Scaled Beast must have just completed its transformation!
Its height was probably only about two zhang and seven or eight cun, not over three zhang as recorded in books. And its fire breath, only one use, seemed to leave it without reserve power." The power of that white flame was terrifying!
"In terms of destructive power, this white flame is probably comparable to the black chilling energy spat by the Flood Dragon in the Azure Cold Pool. However, that Flood Dragon could spew it continuously; when I jumped off the cliff, the Flood Dragon was still venting its cold energy.
Clearly, the Flood Dragon didn't care about that energy!" Teng Qingshan deduced. That Flood Dragon must have lived for a very, very long time, possessing immense internal energy.
Whereas the Red-Scaled Beast, having just transformed, was too young and held less energy. "In a fight with the Red-Scaled Beast, my strength was not inferior, only its scales were too strong.
The Poison Dragon Drill probably didn't hit a vital spot," Teng Qingshan knew clearly. If they had fought to the death, he had a fifty to sixty percent chance of killing the still-young Red-Scaled Beast.
But the beast also had a chance of killing him. It wasn't worth fighting to the death!
"Having obtained these scales, my mission is complete; I can return to Jiangning. This thing is heavy enough too; this large coil must weigh over ten thousand jin." Teng Qingshan looked at the coiled black scales beside him, then hugged the bundle and shot out of the cave, leaping down.