In the pitch-black depths of the Heavenly Flood Palace, Teng Qingshan moved as if strolling through his own courtyard, navigating successive alleyways until he was incredibly close to the source of the roaring.
"Roar~~"
"Roar~~"
One frantic, furious roar followed another. These thick, heavy bellows thundered through the labyrinthine Heavenly Flood Palace, a structure only thirty feet high yet dense with intersecting paths, causing the sound to ripple and echo endlessly. A little farther away, the sheer density of the echoes would have made pinpointing the source impossible.
Around the corner.
Teng Qingshan paused, gazing thirty feet down the passage at a fierce battle unfolding. Among the combatants was Elder Hu, clad in a green robe! This Elder Hu had once led the Golden Scale Guards of Green Lake Island in their raid on Yanjiang City, only to have his efforts thwarted by the timely arrival of Teng Qingshan and Yan Motian.
"Impressive, he's actually engaging a White-Horned Water Rhino," Teng Qingshan's eyes gleamed.
The beast battling Elder Hu stood nearly twenty feet tall (five meters) and stretched almost forty feet long (ten meters). This colossal creature was covered in white hide resembling stone, crisscrossed by thick, tough sinews that wound over its massive body like great serpents.
Its head, resembling that of a water buffalo, sported a thick, sharp white horn, and its eyes glowed with a vivid emerald light.
White-Horned Water Rhino: An extremely formidable and rare demon beast, spending most of its time in water but capable of surviving on land. At its peak, it can pose a threat to a master of the Innate Golden Core realm. It is renowned for its inexhaustible strength and its ability to expel a white mist from its mouth.
"Vicious beast!"
Elder Hu darted and weaved like a butterfly, his four-foot longsword transforming into a blur of phantom strikes. The White-Horned Water Rhino, meanwhile, stomped wildly with its four hooves, lowering its hard skull to charge headlong. Occasionally, it spat a cloud of white mist—an attack almost impossible to anticipate.
"Hm?" Teng Qingshan clearly saw Elder Hu plunge his sword into the rhino’s flesh, but it penetrated only about a foot deep before meeting insurmountable resistance. Elder Hu instantly retracted the blade and sprang back. The rhino immediately whipped its head around and blasted a jet of white mist toward him.
"This White-Horned Water Rhino's muscles are so tightly knotted; not only is it immensely strong, but its defense is also terrifying," Teng Qingshan marveled.
This rhino didn't possess the hard, scaly armor of the Red-Scaled Beasts. The White-Horned Water Rhino relied solely on terrifying musculature.
It was the same principle as common oxen: beef is tough because of its dense muscle fibers, making raw steak difficult to chew through.
The White-Horned Water Rhino’s body structure was similar to that of an ox, but its sinews were thicker and far more concentrated. Its entire muscle mass was harder and denser! Though the surface could be pierced, the underlying muscle was too tough. Even a master of the Innate Golden Core realm, exerting full force, might only manage a foot of penetration before exhausting their power.
"Demon beasts truly possess innate gifts," Teng Qingshan silently praised.
"Roar~~" The White-Horned Water Rhino roared and charged. Elder Hu, having just narrowly dodged the white mist, was a fraction too slow in his evasion. A sweeping back-kick from the rhino grazed him.
Thump! Elder Hu, enveloped in his Innate True Essence shield, was flung backward, crashing heavily against the stone wall.
The rhino, bleeding from several spots, roared again and charged.
"Such devastating power." Elder Hu clutched his head. "This White-Horned Water Rhino seems determined to keep me pinned; it won't let me escape." Elder Hu had no desire for a life-or-death struggle with the rhino, but in this absolute darkness, the beast, long accustomed to the environment, could see clearly for a great distance.
With speed comparable to an Innate Golden Core expert, coupled with its superior dark vision, the White-Horned Water Rhino easily kept pace with Elder Hu. He couldn't flee; he had to fight!
...
"A prime opportunity." Two throwing knives materialized in Teng Qingshan's hands as he fixed his gaze on the man and the beast in the distance.
Normally, killing an Innate Golden Core expert from Green Lake Island was far beyond Teng Qingshan's current capabilities! But right now... the intense struggle between Elder Hu and the White-Horned Water Rhino presented the perfect chance.
"Elder Hu, farewell," Teng Qingshan narrowed his eyes, sweeping both hands simultaneously—
Two slivers of cold light sliced through the inky darkness!
...
"To kill this White-Horned Water Rhino... given its tough flesh, I must strike a vital point!" Elder Hu's clothes were tattered. After dozens of exchanges, while not critically injured, being repeatedly battered had left his internal organs aching. "But this rhino guards its weak spots fiercely."
Elder Hu knew the rhino’s vital areas were primarily its eyes and neck.
But if he attacked those spots, the rhino would surely unleash its white mist. Once frozen, even if he survived, he would be grievously wounded and utterly at the mercy of the enraged beast’s powerful jaws, which could tear him to shreds.
Therefore, Elder Hu avoided the rhino’s front every time, as the beast possessed another crucial weakness—
"Attack its underside, pierce deep into its viscera, and then use my Innate True Essence to detonate its internal organs!" This was Elder Hu's desperate strategy.
It felt shameful, perhaps, but on the razor's edge of death, honor was irrelevant.
"Roar~~" The White-Horned Water Rhino, possessing intelligence comparable to a human, was not so easily tricked by Elder Hu.
"Whoosh!"
A terrifying, massive hoof swept over like a stone pillar, the sheer force of its impact compressing the air into visible shockwaves.
"It has taken thirty-two of my sword strikes. Though not vital areas, its speed is slowly diminishing." Elder Hu nimbly attempted to retreat, but suddenly his ears twitched, and his expression shifted dramatically.
Two piercing, sharp whistles, trailing violent air disturbances, rushed toward him rapidly!
"An ambush!" Elder Hu cried out in alarm.
The rhino’s hoof was in front; two throwing knives were closing in from behind.
"Who dares!" Elder Hu roared, forcing his body to twist violently. The thick, iron-like hoof grazed past his chest, and simultaneously, his four-foot sword flashed.
Clang!
Thwack!
One throwing knife was deflected, but the other buried itself in Elder Hu's thigh!
"Impressive!" Teng Qingshan, watching from the distant shadows, secretly praised, "To dodge a hoof and block one of my knives in such a split second, relying on the control over space afforded by the Innate Golden Core realm—and only taking one non-vital hit. Such skill is terrifying." Teng Qingshan also noticed something—
Once the knives were thrown, especially as they neared Elder Hu, he lost all ability to guide their trajectory!
The mental link seemed to be severed.
"The Innate Golden Core realm utilizes powerful mental energy to control the surrounding space, eliminating air resistance. Such a potent 'Spirit' would certainly be capable of isolating my mental connection with the knives," Teng Qingshan understood this well. The reason Innate Golden Core attacks faced no air resistance was precisely due to that formidable mental power—the 'Spirit' component of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
...
"Qin Lang, why did you betray me!!!" Elder Hu roared in fury.
Wounded in the leg, Elder Hu's agility plummeted.
Thud! The injured Elder Hu dodged too slowly, and the massive hoof slammed directly onto his sword, bending the blade and driving it into his chest. Elder Hu was sent flying like a sandbag, crashing violently against the distant wall.
The alley wall shuddered.
Boom! The White-Horned Water Rhino charged like lightning.
Elder Hu sprang up, narrowly avoiding the follow-up strike.
"Qin Lang!!!" Elder Hu bellowed his rage.
...
"The old man actually guessed it was me," Teng Qingshan mused from the distant corner where he watched. "He can only blame me for using my throwing knife skills when I first joined that group of Innate experts! He must have learned of it afterward." When the Innate experts first descended into the abyss, the people from Green Lake Island knew most of the entrants. 'Qin Lang' was unknown to them, so they inquired, and others from different sects revealed that Teng Qingshan possessed a supreme throwing knife technique.
"Elder Hu, you should blame yourselves for wantonly slaughtering the hunters of Great Yan Mountain..." Teng Qingshan murmured internally, unleashing two more throwing knives.
Swish! Swish!
The high-ranking officials of Green Lake Island had ordered the execution of nearly two hundred captured hunters. For them, it was merely a matter of secrecy! As for killing so many hunters... they felt nothing. In the eyes of these elders, killing so many was no different than crushing ants.
But now, retribution had arrived!
...
When Elder Hu's 'Spirit' detected the spatial ripples again and recognized the telltale sign of two incoming knives, his face twisted in horror. His leg injury had already led to repeated crises; two more knives would surely mean his death. Elder Hu’s face contorted in a savage snarl, and he roared, "Qin Lang! My Green Lake Island will certainly avenge me!!!"
As his roar echoed, he thrust his sword toward the White-Horned Water Rhino's throat. Since he was dying anyway, he intended to drag one down with him.
"Roar~~" The White-Horned Water Rhino was not foolish. It roared, spewed its white mist, and simultaneously retreated violently!
Sssshhh! A sword plunged into the area beside the rhino's neck.
Chik!
Chik!
As Elder Hu lunged with his sword, the two throwing knives also pierced his body—one in the waist, the other in the back, sinking into his chest cavity. His eyes burned with bloodlust.
"Hoo~~~" The white mist engulfed Elder Hu instantly.
Elder Hu immediately turned into a white statue of ice.
"Roar~~" The White-Horned Water Rhino, bleeding from its neck, roared again and charged back. Its massive hoof stomped down fiercely, shattering the frozen white figure into pieces.
"Roar~~" The White-Horned Water Rhino raised its head and howled; the bleeding from its neck slowed. Fortunately, its hide was thick and tough, and it had retreated quickly. It was only severely wounded, not killed alongside Elder Hu.
The gravely injured White-Horned Water Rhino turned and fled down the passage.
...
A large snake, entirely crimson, only about ten feet long (two and a half meters), lay inert in a side passage. Bloodstains and small indentations—which were rapidly healing—marred the walls. Nearby, the handsome 'Zhao Danchen' sat cross-legged, regulating his breath.
"Qin Lang! My Green Lake Island will certainly avenge me!!!" That sorrowful, enraged roar continued to echo throughout the Heavenly Flood Palace. With their Innate Golden Core capabilities, a single roar could easily carry for several miles around the palace grounds.
Zhao Danchen’s expression changed drastically.
"That's Elder Hu's voice! Qin Lang killed Elder Hu?" Zhao Danchen’s face paled. "But Qin Lang is only an Innate Solid Core expert?" Though he couldn't fathom how Qin Lang managed to kill the Innate Golden Core expert Elder Hu, a chilling killing intent surged within Zhao Danchen.
"This Qin Lang revealed the entrance to the Bottomless Pit! And now he has killed Elder Hu!" Zhao Danchen's eyes blazed with murderous intent. "I will absolutely tear you to pieces!"
...
The dying roar of Elder Hu permeated the entire Heavenly Flood Palace. The experts from the Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain, the Ying Clan, Manis Temple, Hongtian City, Snow Eagle Sect, Carefree Palace, and various unaffiliated Innate experts began discussing with keen interest, "How did Qin Lang kill Elder Hu?"
None of them felt any sympathy for the dead. After all, they had previously ganged up to slaughter a large number of people.
...
Not only inside the Heavenly Flood Palace, but even outside at the main gate, the four figures of Gu Yong and his companions, who were waiting for news about the treasure competition, heard the grief-stricken shout.
"Qin Lang! My Green Lake Island will certainly avenge me!!!"
Gu Yong and the three others paled.
"It's Elder Hu's voice," Gu Yong's junior sister exclaimed, her face ashen.
"Elder Hu must be dead! Then... a massacre must have occurred inside. I wonder how many of our Green Lake Island people managed to survive," they worried. "That Qin Lang exposed the secret of the Bottomless Pit and then killed Elder Hu... That bastard must be flayed alive!"
The people of Green Lake Island already hated 'Qin Lang' to the very marrow of their bones.
Gu Yong, his face as grim as dark water, murderous intent flickering in his eyes, stated in a low voice, "This Qin Lang must die! And he must die in endless agony!"
Elder Liu, who had been traveling with Elder Hu, was merely grazed by the White-Horned Water Rhino in their initial encounter. A single blow from the white mist froze and cracked his arm, effectively rendering his right limb useless. He was merely a liability at that point, which was why Elder Hu had ordered him to flee while he engaged the rhino.
In the dark alley, when the White-Horned Water Rhino turned to pursue him, Elder Liu fled in terror, but realizing he couldn't escape, he ducked into a side path.
"I definitely can't fight this White-Horned Water Rhino," Elder Liu stared toward the fork in the road.
The rhino's terrifying eyes, glowing emerald green, glanced toward him, but astonishingly, it followed the correct main route away.
"It didn't kill me?" Elder Liu breathed a sigh of relief.
Demon beasts possess intelligence. The White-Horned Water Rhino judged that this fleeing human was weak and posed no threat. Now heavily wounded, it needed to heal and recover; it couldn't be bothered with such weak prey.
Just as Elder Liu was letting out that sigh of relief—
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"
Two throwing knives streaked through the air.
Elder Liu's ears twitched, and his face changed drastically. He cried out, "Qin Lang!" The battle saber in his left hand blurred into shadows with lightning speed.
Clang! Clang! One knife shattered into dust, while the other merely grazed his shield, piercing directly through Elder Liu’s protective True Essence barrier and sinking into his abdomen. Blood instantly soaked his robes red.
"Fighting with my left hand, I'm just not used to it," Elder Liu cursed silently. The knives were fast, and he couldn't dodge his body entirely, but his saber swings were still swift enough. If his right hand hadn't been crippled, he wouldn't have been hit so easily.
Rumble~~~ A fierce figure, like a demon god emerging from the darkness ahead, approached at impossible speed.
Elder Liu clearly saw the approaching face, grinding his teeth, "Qin Lang!"