Chapter 126 – Finally Killing Old Dog Zong, A Magical Treasure Drop! (First Update)

Chapter 125 – Finally Killing Old Dog Zong, A Magical Treasure Drop! (First Update)

【Old Dog Zong had no desire to get tangled up in a prolonged fight with you. He knew that while a portable blessed land was precious, one needed to be alive to use it.】

【As far as he was concerned, he had already obtained dozens of Spirit-Gathering Flowers. That many Spirit-Gathering Flowers were more than enough for him to break through to the Void Return stage within a few decades.】

【Therefore, all he wanted now was to leave as quickly as possible and flee from that terrifying aura rapidly closing in.】

【But how could you let him have his way? You risked sustaining severe injuries, desperately channeling your spiritual energy, using your own body to hold Old Dog Zong in place.】

【In a mere few dozen seconds, your body suffered devastating damage once more.】

【But at that very moment, Luo Shuying finally arrived!】

【Luo Shuying appeared suddenly from a patch of shadow, then without a word launched her attack at Old Dog Zong.】

【Old Dog Zong had actually felt a flash of joy when he first saw Luo Shuying, and was just about to say something, but then saw her attacking him. He hurriedly raised his bone sword to parry.】

【Clearly, Old Dog Zong had never expected that you had already allied with Luo Shuying, with the sole purpose of taking his life.】

【After all, in his view, Luo Shuying was a veteran Protector who had been part of the Advent Cult for over a decade, while you had only joined three years ago. How could she possibly have been turned by you?】

【But what was done was done. Old Dog Zong couldn’t afford to think too much and could only fight back with everything he had.】

【The two clashed in a flurry of blades and swords, battling for dozens of rounds high in the sky.】

【But compared to you, the Legendary-stage Luo Shuying was clearly stronger by an immeasurable margin, dominating Old Dog Zong throughout the entire fight!】

【And Old Dog Zong had to play every last card he had just to barely hold off Luo Shuying’s offensive.】

Seeing this, Su Xing let out a long sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness I held out until Luo Shuying arrived… This Old Dog Zong’s strength truly cannot be underestimated. I’m already at the Divine Power Realm, yet there’s still such a massive gap between us…”

“In fact, this old dog can actually last dozens of exchanges against a Legendary-stage powerhouse. Clearly his strength is already approaching the Legendary level…”

Su Xing wasn’t particularly worried about whether Luo Shuying could defeat Old Dog Zong.

After all, Luo Shuying had already been able to dominate Old Dog Zong when she was at peak Martial Emperor-stage.

Now that she had broken through to Legendary-stage, she was obviously under even less pressure.

But what Su Xing was somewhat worried about was that this old dog had an abundance of tricks up his sleeve and was extremely skilled at staying alive. Could he possibly escape from Luo Shuying’s assault?

“Hiss~ It’s really hard to say… Before this, Luo Shuying chased him for days and nights without being able to kill him. This old dog truly has too many hidden cards. We absolutely cannot let our guard down!”

Su Xing silently reminded himself, then turned his gaze back to the simulation panel.

【While Luo Shuying and Old Dog Zong were locked in combat, you hurriedly channeled the spiritual energy in your body, trying to expel the black miasma that Old Dog Zong had previously forced into you.】

【But this black miasma clung to you like maggots burrowing into bone. The moment your spiritual energy touched it, the miasma quickly devoured it, actually growing stronger in the process.】

【You grew even more alarmed. This black miasma was viciously insidious — an absolute bane for Qi Refinement cultivators. If you hadn’t also practiced Body Tempering, you would have long since fallen at Old Dog Zong’s feet.】

【You tried using the Separation Fire Technique to drive out the black miasma. Sure enough, the Separation Fire Technique, derived from the ancient Vermilion Bird’s flames, was highly effective at suppressing the black miasma.】

【However, the Separation Fire Technique consumed an enormous amount of energy, and the process of expelling the miasma was excruciating. You burned through a considerable number of spirit stones before barely managing to purge about seventy to eighty percent of the black miasma from your body. The remaining miasma had penetrated too deep to be eliminated in a short time.】

【But by now you had recovered your combat ability. After swallowing several Healing Pills, you prepared to join the battle as well.】

【Old Dog Zong was already struggling immensely just trying to hold his own against Luo Shuying alone. Now seeing you regain your fighting strength, he was simultaneously shocked and terrified, knowing that if he didn’t run, today might truly be the day he met his end here.】

【Old Dog Zong was indeed a veteran of countless battles. Your entry into the fight did not cause him to lose his composure. He knew that to break free of the encirclement, he could only look for an opening — and that meant severely wounding you first. At that point, Luo Shuying would surely be too preoccupied to give chase, and that would be his golden opportunity to escape.】

【But you knew this too. So you didn’t directly join the melee at all, instead staying at a distance and controlling the Separation Fire Technique to harass Old Dog Zong from afar.】

【Sure enough, having to fend off Luo Shuying on one side while guarding against your Separation Fire Technique ambushes on the other, Old Dog Zong quickly found himself overwhelmed. He took several direct hits from Luo Shuying and was scorched in agony by your Separation Fire Technique.】

【Seeing that you refused to take the bait, Old Dog Zong hatched a cunning plan and began taunting Luo Shuying. He openly called you Luo Shuying’s kept boy toy, and declared that the Advent Cult had treated her generously — that if she remained loyal, she might one day have the chance to join the Master Race. He kept trying to unsettle Luo Shuying’s emotions, hoping to find an opening.】

【But Luo Shuying was completely unfazed by Old Dog Zong’s words. She had never held any loyalty toward the alien race to begin with, nor did she care about the gossip of others. She simply intensified her attacks against Old Dog Zong by several degrees.】

【Seeing himself cornered repeatedly, Old Dog Zong gritted his teeth and activated a forbidden technique. Countless streams of dark miasma surged into his body. Both his eyes turned pitch black, as if he had become possessed by a demon.】

【In this demonic possession state, Old Dog Zong was clearly stronger by more than just a notch — he was actually able to gradually withstand the combined assault from both of you. But you could sense the instability of his aura and knew he couldn’t maintain this state for long.】

【Sure enough, after barely a minute, Old Dog Zong turned to flee, bolting toward the distance.】

【But you and Luo Shuying followed in hot pursuit. Old Dog Zong quickly dropped out of his demonic possession state, coughing up a mouthful of blood laced with black toxins, his eyes filled with bitter hatred.】

Seeing this, Su Xing was momentarily stunned, murmuring:

“This Old Dog Zong has even more tricks than I imagined! He was actually holding back this demonic possession technique. If he had used it right from the start, I definitely wouldn’t have been able to withstand it…”

“But the fact that he didn’t use it then means the cost of this sinister forbidden technique must be enormous!”

“Spirit Transformation stage cultivators are truly unfathomable, especially an old monster who’s lived for a thousand years… Defeating them is easy, but killing them is incredibly difficult!”

Su Xing took a deep breath, a look of resolve flashing in his eyes.

“But precisely because of that, I must kill you! The path of cultivation is a battle against the heavens and against other men… Besides, Old Dog Zong is ruthless by nature. If I don’t kill him, sooner or later he’ll come to kill me… Better to strike first!”

Su Xing looked at the simulation panel once more.

【Old Dog Zong fixed you with his cold, sinister gaze, then let out a furious roar as if to lunge at you for a suicidal mutual kill. Seeing his desperate appearance, you immediately grew wary and hastily channeled your energy to defend.】

【But Old Dog Zong, halfway through his charge, took a single step and vanished — as if teleporting through space, he leaped several hundred zhang in an instant, escaping your and Luo Shuying’s encirclement in the blink of an eye.】

【You hurriedly channeled your spiritual energy and gave chase, but Luo Shuying was faster than you, staying right on Old Dog Zong’s heels.】

【Old Dog Zong continuously poured energy into his techniques, his feet tracing mysterious steps. With each light step, he appeared several hundred zhang away in the next instant. This escape speed was so fast that even Luo Shuying could barely keep up.】

【But you knew that this kind of escape technique must consume an enormous amount of energy and couldn’t possibly be sustained for long. So you quickly informed Luo Shuying, urging her not to give up the pursuit.】

【Luo Shuying nodded solemnly and stayed on Old Dog Zong’s tail, the distance between them hovering at several hundred meters.】

【Old Dog Zong glanced back at the two of you. Seeing that you still refused to give up, he cursed under his breath and accelerated further.】

【He could be seen pulling out one or two spirit stones from his storage artifact from time to time, replenishing his stamina, his face twisted with the pain of spending such resources.】

【But this escape technique couldn’t be maintained indefinitely. After you had chased him for several hundred kilometers, Old Dog Zong finally came to a stop.】

【He turned his gaze toward you, eyes carrying a hint of pleading. He said that cultivators killing each other for treasure was nothing unusual, and offered to hand over the Snow Bone Jade Ginseng in exchange for his life.】

【But you gave a cold snort and agreed on the surface, while exchanging a glance with Luo Shuying. She understood you instantly.】

【Old Dog Zong tossed out a storage pouch that arced through the air and landed far away on the ground. Then, without missing a beat, he continued his flight.】

【Neither you nor Luo Shuying bothered to look at the storage pouch. You simply memorized the location in secret and continued your pursuit of Old Dog Zong.】

【And so the chase continued for an entire day and night, until finally Old Dog Zong had been worn down to the very last drop of his reserves.】

【By this point, Old Dog Zong’s spiritual energy had become extremely unstable. Even you were gasping for breath, your entire body wracked with exhaustion.】

【Only the Legendary-stage Luo Shuying still appeared relatively composed, breathing only slightly harder than usual.】

【Seeing that Old Dog Zong had stopped running, Luo Shuying didn’t hesitate. She immediately attacked him once more.】

【Old Dog Zong let out a cold laugh. Before dying, he took one long, deep look at you, then pulled out his storage pouch, seemingly intent on destroying it on the spot.】

【You wanted to stop him, but it was already too late. You could only watch helplessly as the storage pouch exploded where it was, its contents scattering and plummeting to the ground below.】

【At the same moment, Luo Shuying landed a devastating strike that obliterated Old Dog Zong’s skull, sending blood and flesh spraying in all directions.】

【A streak of black light flew out from Old Dog Zong’s body, shooting off into the distance.】

【You recognized it as Old Dog Zong’s nascent soul. There was no way you would just watch him escape. You drove the Separation Fire Technique at his fleeing nascent soul.】

【Scorched by the searing heat of the Separation Fire Technique, Old Dog Zong let out an agonized scream. He begged you to show mercy, to not drive him to complete annihilation.】

【You merely watched him coldly and demanded to know the whereabouts of the Snow Bone Jade Ginseng. Old Dog Zong said that the storage pouch he had thrown earlier contained the seeds of the Snow Bone Jade Ginseng. He begged you to spare his life.】

【You naturally wouldn’t trust him so easily, but you lacked any technique for imprisoning a nascent soul and could only use the threat of the Separation Fire to keep Old Dog Zong in check.】

【You first extended your spiritual sense, locating each and every fragment of the storage pouch that Old Dog Zong had shattered before his death.】

【Old Dog Zong truly lived up to his ruthless reputation. Even in death, he refused to leave you any treasures. The vast majority of the magical artifacts inside the storage pouch had been ground to pieces, leaving behind only a handful of damaged artifacts and jade slips.】

【You picked up one of the jade slips and probed it with your spiritual sense. Your heart shook — it was a cultivator’s secret technique!】

【Its name: the Eight Trigrams Divination Art!】