At dawn the next day, Chu Chengzhou took Xiao Wu to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, met with the pre-arranged Chenxin, and the three of them rode the fire-phoenix summon Xiaohong toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
Chenxin was the trusty old workhorse—97th-level spirit power, strength guaranteed.
Of course, Chu Chengzhou didn't need Chenxin to hunt his seventh ring beast—that part he'd handle himself. Their destination was the forest's core, where high-level spirit beasts often appeared. Since one can't move while refining a new ring, a powerhouse had to stand guard.
Xiao Wu was strong—at seven rings, plus spirit rings, spirit core, Azure Silverglow Armor, and his "absolute-control" arts, she could probably match a Titled Douluo like She Long. Still, that felt a bit shaky. A nobody like Snake Spear Douluo could be thrashed by many ordinary ninety-thousand-year beasts.
Bringing Xiao Wu was mainly to find the right target. Once she activates the spirit-bone skill Hear All Directions, everything within forty li around her becomes clear, and she can even pick up vague movement a hundred li away. With range like that, if the forest has it, they'll find it.
"You brat, how are you advancing again so soon?" Chenxin couldn't help asking mid-flight.
If he remembered right, it hadn't even been a year since Chu Chengzhou reached sixth ring. What feed was this kid on?
"Mm. Used a few treasures," Chu Chengzhou said, not elaborating.
Thanks to a very high-year sixth ring, he'd hit level 63 the moment he broke through. Later, the Star Luo royals sent him a left-arm bone, which pushed him nearly another level. In other words, across the entire sixth-ring phase he only had to grind out about six levels himself.
The Immortal Herbs had boosted his talent; their medicinal power kept releasing inside him; add Nine-Breath Inner Nourishment's amplification, and that's how he climbed six levels in under a year. With his talent, the classic bottleneck at 69 that most seventh-ring Sages hit simply didn't exist for him. If he was going to have a bottleneck at all, it'd be not before Titled Douluo—and maybe not until 94+.
He could also feel the herb power almost spent. Without that bonus, and with higher levels demanding more accumulation, future upgrades would slow. Not a big deal—once Nine-Breath Inner Nourishment upgraded again and his martial spirit evolved, his pace would spike.
Seeing Chu Chengzhou didn't want to say more, Chenxin dropped it. "So—what beast are we after this time?"
"Time or space-attribute dragon-type. Or a Dark Devilgod Tiger."
Among spirit beasts, dragons sit atop the food chain; at the same years, few can match them. It wasn't the ancient era anymore; pure-blood time/space dragons might not exist in the forest, so he'd settle for mixed-blood dragon-types with time/space traits. Bloodlines evolve with age anyway—weak like Blue Silver Grass can become Blue Silver Emperor at a hundred thousand. A mixed-blood dragon that reaches a million years can refine back to pure blood—or even a new dragon line just as high-tier.
As for the Dark Devilgod Tiger—no need to sell it. It carries multiple attributes, including the time, space, and wind Chu needed, and it's brutally strong. A prime pick for ring seven.
"Tsk. Sounds like we'll be in here a while," Chenxin smacked his lips. Time/space dragons or a Dark Devilgod Tiger were rare even if the forest had them—finding one could take a month or two.
"Don't worry. Xiao Wu has a detection-type spirit-bone skill with a big range. If the forest has it, we'll locate it fast," Chu Chengzhou said, nodding at Xiao Wu.
"Hiss… by that logic, however many hundred-thousand-year beasts the forest holds is how many hundred-thousand-year rings and bones you two can farm?" Chenxin drew a long breath.
The forest definitely had hundred-thousand-year beasts. The reason Titled Douluo with hundred-thousand-year rings were so rare wasn't that no one could kill them—it was that the place was too vast to find them. Without efficient detection, sending lots of people just meant heavy losses. With efficient detection, you send experts to hit exactly the target.
Chu Chengzhou, at six rings, could already match a fresh Titled Douluo. Once he became Titled, Chenxin had zero doubt he could hunt a hundred-thousand-year king beast with ease.
Xiao Wu: "…This crafty old man."
Elsewhere, Slaughter City—Inner City.
Not far from the gate, a blue-haired figure radiating killing intent sat on a low stool, staring up at the gloomy "sky" of Slaughter City's dome. Footsteps came from the gate. Instantly, Tang San—sitting on 37 straight wins in the Hell Killing Fields—perked up, joy flashing across his pale face like a starving hunter spotting prey. He fixed his eyes on the gate: a man and a woman.
The woman wore black gauze—the Slaughter King's messenger. The man looked fortyish, vicious-faced, reeking of blood—a bad one at a glance, likely an evil spirit master freshly arrived.
Tang San didn't care about the man's path. What mattered was: a new arrival. One more body, plus himself, plus the eight already enrolled in the Hell Killing Fields—within twenty-four hours he could notch win number thirty-eight.
"Girl, didn't you say the Inner City was dangerous? Why's it so quiet?" the middle-aged man asked his guide, looking around the dead-still streets.
She gave him a pitying look. Back in the day the Inner City, though smaller than outside cities, was "lively." Then "the Soul-Control Fiend" came. In under a month, he and the "Hell Enchantress" cut the Inner City population by two thousand.
After they left, things should have recovered—but half a year later, another monster arrived, nicknamed "Blue-Haired Skull-Crusher." Not as terrifying as the Soul-Control Fiend, but far more bloodthirsty. With the Inner City already thin on people, and zero sense of "sustainable harvesting," he turned the place into a ghost town.
Two months ago, the number of Inner City degenerates had already dropped below ten. Anyone still around got hammered into registering for the Hell Killing Fields. Every time the count of forced registrants reached nine, the Blue-Haired Skull-Crusher ran a match—and afterwards, aside from a few staff and enforcers, he was the only soul left inside.
If the rules allowed leaving the Inner City after entry—and the Outer City wasn't policed—he'd surely have gone out to grab more people and drag them in for slaughter.
"Hm? What's with that look?" The middle-aged man scowled at her pity.
He was the "Blood Fiend," a name outside, a seven-ring Sage who'd once fought four Red-clothed Bishops of Spirit Hall to a standstill. He needed no pity. If she weren't the Slaughter King's agent, he'd have already torn her apart to feed his Blood-thirsty Devilvine.
"Sir 8023, that question isn't part of my duties. I'm not obliged to answer. You'll understand soon."
Then, catching Tang San out of the corner of her eye as he stood and walked their way, she stiffened and forced herself forward. "Sir 7478, please stay calm. He's a newcomer. Every newcomer to the Inner City has a 24-hour protection period."
7478 was Tang San's number.
"I know." Tang San nodded, pointed straight at the "Blood Fiend," and said coldly, "Filthy stink-bug, reeking of blood—dare accept my challenge?"
The protection period holds only if the newcomer doesn't act. If he strikes first, it's void. Tang San wanted win thirty-eight now, not after a "long" twenty-four hours.
"Filthy stink-bug?" The Blood Fiend's face darkened. He did smell of blood—but this blue-haired brat's killing intent outstripped even his own two-thousand victims, and he dared call him filthy?
"Die!" A bad man by nature, the Blood Fiend flew into a rage, manifesting his Blood-thirsty Devilvine and lashing at Tang San. A mere five-ring King daring to mouth off before a seven-ring Sage?
The Blood Fiend: declare yourself dead, blue-hair.
Tang San grinned—this was exactly what he wanted. One sidestep, slipping past the sweeping vine; a flash of black in his hand—the Clear Sky Hammer. He charged.
Half a minute later, it was over. Untouched but splattered with blood, Tang San glanced at the black-gauze woman, then dragged the half-paralyzed Blood Fiend toward the Hell Killing Fields under her speechless stare.
Ten minutes later, win thirty-eight secured, he walked back out. But staring at the empty city, his brief joy faded into sorrow. To leave Slaughter City he had to clear Hell Road, and to enter Hell Road he needed a hundred straight wins. Thirty-eight down meant at least 558 more heads to take. When would the Inner City ever gather that many degenerates again?
Two days later, Star Dou Great Forest, core region.
On xiaohong's back, Xiao Wu's long green ears manifested as she ran Hear All Directions.
"Brother, that way—an evil-aligned beast of not-so-high age is fighting a powerful one," she pointed southwest.
"Evil-aligned beast? How far? Dark Devilgod Tiger?" Chu Chengzhou had xiaohong bank immediately.
"Roughly a hundred-twenty-plus li. It's fuzzy, but the evil one shouldn't exceed fifty thousand years; the other isn't far off a hundred thousand—uh… the fight just ended. Evil one won."
"Firsts fifty thousand and seconds ninety-thousand?" Chu Chengzhou arched a brow. With that profile, odds were high it was exactly the Dark Devilgod Tiger he wanted—few other beasts with evil aura could crush so far above their years.
"Grandpa Sword, the Dark Devilgod Tiger has a cheat-level innate trick. Let my summons go first; if they can't handle it, please step in," Chu Chengzhou said.
He remembered its absurd tail-hook—one touch could regress a spirit master's body to their awakening state. Even a 97th-level like Chenxin would be helpless if caught—experience doesn't help if your body reverts to day one. Summons were different: if they died, he could resummon after some time—room for error. And such broken skills can't be spammed.
Also, his summon strength wasn't weak; a sub-fifty-thousand Dark Devilgod Tiger should be manageable.
"Mm," Chenxin nodded. Between us, the most unreasonable one here is you, kid.
Xiaohong was fast, but with over a hundred li to go, it still took time—and the evil beast had already left the battlefield. Fortunately, with Xiao Wu's Hear All Directions up, it couldn't slip away.
Half an hour later, Chu Chengzhou's sharp eyes caught a tiger-type beast below, reeking of evil. Over six meters long, jet-black from nose to tail, not a single stray hair color. Its tail was far longer than normal, arched upright, jointed like vertebrae, ending in a huge barbed hook that gleamed coldly. A pair of black, fallen wings sprouted from its back, rolling out thick malign aura.
As expected—a Dark Devilgod Tiger.
Judging by feel, it was just under fifty thousand years. Even so, its actual power would be scary—the likes of Chrysanthemum and Ghost at level 95 might well get buried one-on-one.
"Xiao Wu, this one's nasty. Take xiaohong and pull back. Grandpa Sword—let me go first." Golden light flared—Nine Heavens Mysterious Spirit Armor, Nine Heavens Mysterious Spirit Bow, and a quiver of Gilded Armor-Piercing Arrows appeared; a great banner floated at his back. With his six disguised rings glowing, he triggered the flying art: Golden Groundstride, and became a streak of gold above the tiger.
Yes—Golden Groundstride. Not long ago, the movement art Godlight Step had upgraded into a dedicated flying art; speed and agility soared. With the armor's flight, he was literally a beam of gold.
Sensing intruders, the tiger—fresh off swallowing a ninety-thousand-year beast—looked from Chu Chengzhou in mid-air to Chenxin farther off. A mere six-ring human wasn't worth its glance, but its sharp instincts warned it of the white-haired man.
It roared; a ring of eerie gray ripples burst from its body. At the same time, the tail's Devilgod Hook spewed a dense gray current and condensed a gray shield around itself—precaution against a hidden strike from the dangerous elder.
In a blink, light dimmed around Chu Chengzhou. The sky was still bright, but within several hundred meters centered on the tiger, everything went dusky, as if the world had been split. A cold, evil breath seeped through the gloom, gnawing at his body.
"Hmph." He blasted out a white pulse; killing intent surged as he opened the Slaughter God Domain. It couldn't break the tiger's evil domain, but it kept him unaffected.
Next, he cast the Void Illusion Realm. It, too, had recently upgraded to gold-grade; beyond control, it now carried mental offense. If he dragged an enemy's mind fully into the mirage, he could snuff out their consciousness outright, paying recoverable mental energy—the stronger the target's mind, the higher the cost.
Invisible force fell onto the tiger—
"Huh?" The gray shield around the beast only rippled violently, and Void Illusion Realm fizzled. Mental defense? Where there's spear, there's shield: the world has mental attacks and control—so it also has mental defense, though rare. And this wasn't just defense against mind attacks; it looked like an all-purpose barrier with broader coverage than his own red-grade defense art Blossoms in an Instant. That art blocks mental attacks but not control; this one shrugged off both.
A god-tier bloodline granting a god-tier—i.e., gold-grade—defensive innate skill? If so, no wonder his mirage failed.
One move thwarted, Chu Chengzhou didn't flinch. Super-genius beasts having unfair tools was normal.
He lit his fourth and sixth rings and his summons roared into being.
T/N: For up to 30 chapters ahead on most of my translations, become a p@tron at [email protected]/LordHipposApostle