Ten years of bitter cultivation upon the mysterious stone carving had transformed Xiao Chen beyond measure. His constitution had changed unceasingly, and he felt, dimly, as though he had shed his mortal bones and been reborn. Yet it was a fierce battle in the Kunlun Mountains that had finally planted confidence in that Qi-Refining Diagram.
He had wished only to witness Lan Nuo's Breaking the Void, but on the road he was humiliated by the Royal Celestial Maiden's escorts. That had been the bloodiest fight of his life. He cleaved through thirteen royal iron guards to break free, and in the chaos, he slew Zhao Lin'er's personal maidservant.
There could be no doubt now—the mysterious stone carving was no mortal method. Ten years of bitter cultivation had brought his skill into the hall of mastery.
Yet as he trained day after day, Xiao Chen's understanding of the Heaven-Gifted Qi-Refining Diagram deepened, and so did his suspicion: this technique seemed incomplete, as though more chapters should follow. Legend said the stele that Ever-Pacifies the Yellow River had fallen from the Nine Heavens. Perhaps similar divine steles existed, but the chance of obtaining the missing inscriptions was vanishingly small.
Sun's radiance, moon's essence, the primal breath of grass and tree—the natural world brimmed with boundless vitality and manifold energies. In the coconut grove, Xiao Chen circulated his refining method, drawing in heaven and earth's essence to nourish his wounded body. Nebulous colored light surrounded him.
Two hours later he emerged from stillness. The injury was not as severe as he had feared; he estimated full recovery within ten days.
The red sun sank westward, its dying rays spilling across the sea in a wash of crimson. Sea and sky blended into one expanse of water, haze, and fading red.
Then—
*Boom. Boom. Boom.*
Tremors ran through the beach. A dull, heavy sound reached Xiao Chen's ears. He turned to look, and his face changed instantly.
A colossal silver shape emerged from the sea and crawled onto the shore. Its body stretched a full fifty meters long. At a glance it resembled a mountainous silver crocodile, but closer inspection revealed clear differences.
Its spine, like a silver mountain ridge, bore over a hundred gleaming bone spikes, each two meters long, standing like sharp lances guarding its rear.
It was monstrous beyond measure, its entire body covered in cold-shining silver scales, each scale more than a meter long and half a meter wide. From a distance, the silver behemoth, glittering with icy light, was a picture of absolute ferocity.
Eight thick, powerful limbs hung from its torso, each ending in a hook of cold, dark light. A single horn, seven or eight meters long, jutted from its head, radiating a chilling silver radiance. It was a terrible beast beyond all imagining.
Its ghastly green eyes, each the size of a millstone, swept the coast with a torch-like glare before it lumbered onto the sand.
It opened its blood-red maw to the setting sun, revealing a row of meter-long fangs like broadswords, and let out a roar of such terror that the nearby sea churned violently. Seabirds in the sky fled in panic, and those close by plummeted straight into the waves.
Such might shook heaven and earth!
Xiao Chen had covered his ears at once, yet the deafening howl still rang like thunder exploding beside him.
After roaring at the sunset, the fifty-meter-long ferocious beast lay prone on the beach, closed its great eyes, and seemed to rest there.
Xiao Chen was shaken to his core. The World of Immortality was indeed no ordinary place!
Gazing at the silver titan that stretched like a mountain range, he recalled the ancient legends of the coast—the primordial savage beast called the Eight-Armed Malignant Dragon!
The hideous behemoth matched every detail of that legend.
It was said that this ancient beast could overturn rivers and seas, command clouds and rain. Any ship that encountered it faced only one fate: destruction. It was the most ferocious predator of the great sea, and even the Sea God gave it a wide berth.
"A primordial beast that can contend with gods... truly exists in this world." Xiao Chen's face was etched with shock. He had never imagined that in the World of Immortality he would witness such a legendary creature with his own eyes.
Though far away, he could already feel the thick, ghastly aura of slaughter. How many sea creatures had this ancient monster torn apart?
Xiao Chen remained fully rational. He rose to his feet and moved softly, retreating deeper into the coconut grove. Only when he was certain the ancient beast could not detect him did he stop and watch from a distance.
The Eight-Armed Malignant Dragon lay still like a silver mountain, unmoving, as if turned to stone. Xiao Chen guessed this beach might be its resting place, and it would likely sleep here through the night.
Ever since the primordial beast had crawled onto the shore and roared at the dying sun, a dead silence had fallen over the nearby primeval forest. Only from deep within the island did the cries of savage beasts occasionally echo.
The sea breeze blew gently. The sunset colors were fading. Xiao Chen startled countless birds from the coastal forest. The ground was thick with eggs—dinner was secured.
Moonlight flowed like water. Starlight scattered like dust. The waves lapped softly at the sand. The faintly salty wind stirred in the darkness. Xiao Chen slowly slipped into dreams within the coconut grove.
At dawn, the red sun rose. Golden light spread across the horizon.
A soul-shaking, ear-splitting roar pierced the sky!
The legendary primordial beast, the Eight-Armed Malignant Dragon, had opened its blood-red maw to the newborn sun and was bellowing at heaven. The calm, emerald morning sea surged violently from the sonic force. Seabirds that had been soaring along the sky vanished without a trace.
The massive silver dragon moved all eight limbs. With a series of booming thuds on the sand, it slowly stepped into the sea. The placid waters instantly boiled, as if a tsunami had struck, and the silver silhouette churned amidst towering waves.
It was only when the beast grew distant that the sea gradually calmed.
Tide came and tide went. The seawater washed away the traces the Malignant Dragon had left on the shore.
No comments:
Post a Comment