chsdbacks Chapter 73: Fiery Beast Pattern, Tiger Demon City
Chapter 73: Fiery Beast Pattern, Tiger Demon City
In the endless darkness paved with bluestone bricks, two identical figures stood facing each other, swords drawn.
Zhang Ping stared at the replica of himself, his voice filled with surprise and doubt: "Is this Shi Fang's ability? To suck people in and create a clone?"
The clone grinned, its gray face displaying an expression of complete ease.
"Kill you, and I'll become Zhang Ping!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the fluctuations of its blood and qi suddenly surged, even surpassing Zhang Ping's level, reaching the late stage of flesh refining!
"I know everything you do. I know all your techniques and moves inside and out, and I'm stronger than you!"
He drew his sword and unleashed Zhang Ping's Swimming Dragon Sword Technique. The sword energy hissed and crackled, reaching the level of external projection!
Upon seeing this, Zhang Ping raised an eyebrow, drew his sword with lightning speed, and unleashed a strange blade of light!
"Radiance!"
The blinding black light instantly devoured the last glimmer of light in the space. As the light faded, the clone froze in place, staring in disbelief at the long sword broken in two in its hand and its own body, now only half its original size.
"Impossible... This... What kind of power is this? You shouldn't have this kind of power!"
The moment Zhang Ping stepped into the mirror stone, it perfectly replicated everything about him. His early-stage Flesh Refining Realm cultivation, even the level of his external sword aura and the Soaring Dragon Sword Technique were replicated.
But where did this terrifying power that suddenly appeared come from?
Shi Fang was isolated from the outside world, and the clone was just something he temporarily created. Of course, he didn't know the power that Zhang Ping had used when he was dealing with the Turtle Prime Minister and the Flaming Bird outside.
Everything it knew was given to it by Shi Fang. And this Shi Fang could replicate martial arts cultivation and demon-controlling abilities, yet it was ineffective against Zhang Ping.
Zhang Ping's eyes flashed, and he immediately understood.
Most of his power comes from beast patterns, which do not belong to the martial arts system or the demon-controlling system, so Shi Fang naturally cannot replicate it.
Although it had no effect on him, Zhang Ping still felt a pang of anxiety after understanding the function of the stone.
"No wonder Lieyun Mountain dares not easily step into the Ghost Heaven River."
Once others are sucked in, they will have to face an imposter with the exact same methods but higher cultivation. Who can withstand that?
It's an unsolvable dead end!
Having figured this out, Zhang Ping was worried that the two demons outside might escape, so he dared not delay any longer.
He raised his hand and waved it, sending a jet-black surge of blood energy far surpassing the level of the Flesh Refining Realm crashing into the clone.
Before the replica shattered, its face was frozen with deep confusion and bewilderment.
Ghost Riverbank.
The Flaming Bird stood on the riverbank, using its demonic energy to expel the strange power within its body. The Turtle Prime Minister, meanwhile, stared intently at the floating mirror stone.
"It should be about time." Seeing the stone start to sway, he forced a human-like smile.
The shaking of the stone signifies the start of a battle inside, but also its impending end—a lesson learned from its previous experiences of annihilating human martial artists.
Suddenly, the Turtle Prime Minister's expression changed: "What's going on?" He noticed a crack on the surface of the stone!
The next moment, a loud bang!
To the astonishment of Prime Minister Turtle, the stone shattered into pieces! A figure appeared out of thin air and landed steadily on the river below.
The figure was unharmed, and its cold gaze swept over.
"Still haven't run away? Perfect..."
Before he finished speaking, Zhang Ping had already attacked with all his might!
The Turtle Prime Minister and the Flaming Bird never expected Zhang Ping to survive. Caught off guard, they were brutally torn apart by the sharp blade energy.
Zhang Ping had a clear objective and went straight for the Flame Bird, giving it no chance to take off!
"Cry—! Human! Killing me, Lord Demon Lord, will not forgive you!" Sensing the deadly killing intent, the Flame Bird cried out in terror, desperately flapping its wings to try to escape the ground.
"Radiance!"
The blade flashed even faster, severing one of its wings with a whoosh!
Having lost its ability to fly, the flamingo became a ground-dwelling chicken, only able to hastily spit fireballs and attack haphazardly with its claws.
Zhang Ping calmly responded, drawing water from the river to extinguish the fireball, while his long sword transformed into streaks of cold light, continuously slashing at its body.
"Damn turtle! Help me!" The Flaming Bird cried out to the Turtle Prime Minister for help, facing imminent danger.
Turning around, he found the Turtle Prime Minister already carrying his little pink turtle, fleeing frantically, only managing to toss out a few words from afar: "Dead bird! I'll beg the Demon Lord to avenge you—!"
"Screech—!" The Flame Bird let out a desperate cry.
Zhang Ping seized the opportunity, unleashed his full power, and severed its neck with a single stroke!
The still-burning bird's head slammed heavily onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"succeed!"
Zhang Ping sheathed his sword, confirmed that the Flaming Bird was completely dead, then walked to the burning head, squatted down, and placed his right hand on it.
"Mark, fire ability."
【Demon - Flaming Bird】【Fire】
【Fire Flame: The innate ability awakened in adult Flamebirds, transforming their internal energy into fire-attribute energy, inflicting a strong burning effect】
[Required Materials: Flame Bird Skull Fire Crystal, Volcanic Ash, Red Blood Grass, Rooster's Comb]
"Not fire control?" Zhang Ping asked, slightly surprised.
On second thought, it makes sense. Controlling fire and creating fire out of thin air are two different things. Just like he can control water now, but he can't create water out of thin air; he's very dependent on the battlefield environment.
I wonder if maxing out the Water God's Power proficiency will solve this problem.
His attention returned to the panel, and the words "Qi and Blood transformed into Fire attribute" made him stroke his chin in thought.
"Blood essence has different attributes?" Having cultivated for so long, he only knew that blood essence had varying degrees of purity and was always red; he had never heard of it being divided into attributes. It seemed the Flame Bird's ability to breathe fire was entirely due to its fire-attribute blood essence.
"The materials aren't hard to find." Zhang Ping used a knife to cut open the bird's head and dug out a fist-sized red crystal. After confirming with the panel that it was a fire crystal, he carefully put it away.
He looked up at the Turtle Prime Minister, who was frantically fleeing downstream, hesitated for a moment, but decided to give chase.
Downstream from the Ghost River lies the border of Lanjiang Prefecture. The river then flows westward, leading to the territory of the Western Poison Forest. That area is a lair of strange beasts, teeming with poisonous creatures, and extremely dangerous.
On the wide Ghost River, a giant tortoise, a hundred meters long, is fleeing for its life, with a small pink tortoise clinging tightly to its neck on its back.
"Don't be afraid, my beloved! We're almost at Tiger Demon City! If Zhang Ping dares to chase us, we'll make sure he dies a horrible death!" Prime Minister Turtle encouraged his beloved as they fled.
No sooner had he finished speaking than a figure in black rode a wave tens of meters high, breaking through the water and giving chase! Zhang Ping, standing atop the wave, locked his gaze on the enormous tortoise-like shadow ahead and unleashed a slash without hesitation!
The blade flashed like lightning!
Sensing the commotion behind him, the Turtle Prime Minister's face changed drastically: "My beloved, quickly lie still!"
It tried to roll over to protect the little pink turtle on its back, but its body was too heavy and the river water was too resistant.
The blade flashed too fast! Just as the Turtle Prime Minister turned slightly to the side, the blade had already slashed fiercely at the little pink turtle's shell!
"Prime Minister Brother—!" The little pink turtle only had the cultivation level of Refining Dirty, how could it withstand Zhang Ping's powerful slash?
Crack! The tortoise shell shattered instantly, splitting open most of the flesh inside, leaving it a bloody mess!
"My beloved princess—!" Prime Minister Turtle roared anxiously, grabbing the heavily injured little pink turtle in front of him and rushing forward without regard for anything else.
Zhang Ping remained expressionless, slashing with his sword one strike after another. At the same time, he manipulated the water flow, sweeping away the shattered fragments of the little pink turtle's shell.
To his dismay, the Turtle Prime Minister used some secret technique, and his speed suddenly increased, becoming comparable to his speed in pursuing him by water.
It's really not something we can catch up with in a short time.
In a chase, they quickly followed the Ghost River into the area of the Western Poison Forest.
A faint poisonous miasma filled the air. Zhang Ping hesitated whether to continue the chase, but then he noticed that the Turtle Prime Minister ahead had slowed down.
Looking out, at the horizon, the outline of a majestic city emerges, its height exceeding that of the adjacent mountain peaks, probably no less than a thousand meters!
"Lord Black Tiger, save me—!" Prime Minister Turtle screamed at the top of his lungs.
The moment Zhang Ping saw the colossal city, his heart tightened. He had never heard of such a magnificent city to the west while in Lanjiang Prefecture!
Upon hearing the Turtle Prime Minister's plea for help again, a chill ran down his spine.
This is a city of demons built after the chaos of war!
roar--!!!
A deafening tiger's roar suddenly erupted from the city, its sound waves rolling and causing all living things within a hundred miles to tremble.
The terrifying pressure of the king of beasts descended!
"A demon at the Essence Blood Realm?!" Zhang Ping's pupils suddenly contracted.
This pressure far surpasses the Bone Forging Realm, and is even stronger than the five Blood Essence Realm warriors in the Martial Alliance! Although it hasn't reached the level of Lie Yunshan, it is definitely among the top in the Blood Essence Realm!
Out of the corner of his eye, Zhang Ping caught sight of a huge black shadow rushing out of the city, accompanied by a foul stench. Without a word, he turned and ran!