Chapter 1242: Strange Beasts

It looked like this was an artifact refining room. The previous stone chamber was merely for storing refining materials, which meant the remaining secret chamber was likely True Monarch Lieyang's cultivation cave.

Wang Changsheng frowned, expanding his divine sense and carefully scanning the entire stone room, but found no anomalies.

He felt something was off, as the function of this stone room seemed to overlap with that of the previous one.

If materials were to be stored, they could also be stored here; there was no need to create a separate room just for them. Furthermore, wouldn't it be more convenient to place refining materials directly in the refining room?

Fairy Ziyue also noticed the anomaly. The stone room must have been equipped with some kind of restriction.

Fairy Ziyue controlled the ape-like puppet beast to walk inside, but nothing unusual happened.

Wang Changsheng moved his arms, and dense blue fist shadows flew out, striking the stone walls and floor.

Fairy Ziyue took out her Fire Sparrow Fan, and with a gentle flick, surging flames shot out, hitting the ground.

Rumble!

The stone room shook violently, and flames surged.

A strong gust of wind blew past, revealing a massive yellow rhinoceros before them.

The yellow rhinoceros had a yellow horn about a foot long on its head, pale golden scales on its body, a single eye, and two wings. Judging by its aura, it was clearly a Rank 4 demonic beast.

The spirit patterns on the stone walls vanished, and the red formation disappeared, replaced by a spiritual herb garden over a hundred zhang wide. The spirit fields within it were bare, without even a single spiritual herb.

"What kind of demonic beast is this?" Fairy Ziyue wondered. "It can actually cast illusions!" She was quite knowledgeable, but couldn't identify the yellow rhinoceros.

The yellow rhinoceros let out a roar, and a yellow light pillar, as thick as an adult's arm, shot out, striking Wang Changsheng like lightning. His body petrified at a visible rate, turning into a yellow statue.

A blue light flashed, and Wang Changsheng's figure reappeared in the nearby void. His face was filled with shock. "Petrification ability!" he exclaimed. "It seems this is a mutated spirit beast."

After its attack failed, the yellow rhinoceros intended to continue attacking Wang Changsheng and Fairy Ziyue, but Fairy Ziyue had already made her move.

She gently waved her Fire Sparrow Fan, and surging flames swept out, transforming into a crimson fire sparrow over ten zhang in size. Carrying overwhelming heat waves, it lunged at the yellow rhinoceros.

The yellow rhinoceros felt the astonishing heat waves emanating from the crimson fire sparrow and dared not meet it head-on. Just as it was about to dodge, a rapid ringing sound echoed. It grimaced in pain, and before it could dodge, the crimson fire sparrow slammed into its body.

Boom!

A vast expanse of crimson flames engulfed the yellow rhinoceros's body, and the yellow rhinoceros let out a tragic shriek.

A blue light flashed, and a blue giant palm, over ten zhang in size, suddenly appeared above the crimson flames. Blue light shimmered on the giant palm's surface, which was covered with numerous blue electric arcs.

Rumble!

With an earth-shattering crash, the blue giant palm slammed down, shattering the crimson flames. The yellow rhinoceros lay on the ground, its skin torn and flesh exposed.

An angry roar sounded, and a blue giant ape clad in blue armor charged forward, holding a golden iron staff in its hand.

It was none other than the Sea-Quelling Ape. The Sea-Quelling Ape possessed the bloodline of the Mountain-Shattering Ape and immense strength, allowing it to be utilized as a Body Cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage, rather than just a Rank 4 spirit beast that could only unleash Spirit-Quelling Roar and Water-Gale Divine Thunder. Since this strange beast understood the petrification ability, Wang Changsheng dared not be careless.

The ape-like puppet beast was the first to lunge at the yellow rhinoceros, its hands glowing golden. In a single stride, it appeared before the yellow rhinoceros.

The yellow rhinoceros's horn lit up with a dazzling yellow light, and a yellow light pillar shot out, instantly striking the ape-like puppet beast. The ape-like puppet beast petrified at a visible rate, turning into a statue.

The yellow rhinoceros opened its mouth and spat out a yellow light sphere the size of a watermelon, smashing it onto the statue.

Boom!

The statue instantly exploded, turning into a cloud of dust.

A piercing, strange roar echoed. The yellow rhinoceros felt powerless all over, unable to use any spiritual power. A blue lightning ball the size of a house descended from the sky, landing precisely on the yellow rhinoceros. A tragic cry of agony rang out, and blue lightning engulfed the yellow rhinoceros.

A crimson fire sparrow, over twenty zhang in size, swooped in and plunged into the blue lightning.

With a thunderous roar, crimson fire and blue lightning intertwined, and powerful airwaves spread out, causing the entire stone room to shake violently.

The next moment, with a loud bang, the yellow rhinoceros shot out, charging straight towards the Sea-Quelling Ape.

The yellow rhinoceros was covered in wounds, nearly half of its scales had fallen off, and its aura was weak. Its eyes turned blood-red, as if it were fighting for its life.

The golden iron staff in the Sea-Quelling Ape's hand swung towards the yellow light. A yellow light flew from the yellow rhinoceros's horn, striking the golden iron staff. The staff petrified at a visible rate, and the Sea-Quelling Ape quickly discarded it.

Just as it was about to unleash Water-Gale Divine Thunder to attack the yellow rhinoceros, the yellow rhinoceros's single eye glowed with an eerie light. The Sea-Quelling Ape's gaze became dull, and it began to giggle foolishly.

Ring, ring, ring!

A rapid ringing sound echoed. The yellow rhinoceros felt dizzy and lightheaded, and an unbearable pain erupted in its sea of consciousness.

By the time it recovered, a crimson fire sparrow, over twenty zhang in size, lunged again, colliding with its body.

Boom!

With an earth-shattering roar, a sea of crimson flames engulfed the yellow rhinoceros.

Swooshing sounds filled the air as hundreds of blue light blades, each about a foot long, shot forth. After a blur, all the blue light blades converged, forming a single massive blue light blade emitting an aura of world-destroying power. It flashed and instantly vanished into the sea of flames.

A miserable wail echoed!

Thunder rumbled loudly as dozens of watermelon-sized blue lightning balls came crashing down, swarming into the sea of flames.

A deafening roar erupted, and dazzling blue lightning illuminated the crimson sea of flames.

Wang Changsheng gripped his Grand Clarity Spirit-Slaying Blade tightly with both hands and slashed at the blue lightning in the void. A golden light flashed, and a massive golden blade aura shot out, plunging into the blue lightning.

The blue lightning was split in half, and the yellow rhinoceros was also cut in two, meeting its demise.

If Wang Changsheng hadn't brought the Sea-Quelling Ape, dealing with the yellow rhinoceros would have required much more effort. Among other things, the yellow rhinoceros's ability to cast illusions was particularly tricky.

If it had been another Nascent Soul cultivator fighting alone, it would not have been easy to kill this yellow rhinoceros.

"The eyes of this strange beast can be used to refine an illusionary magic treasure," Fairy Ziyue said with a beaming smile. "Our effort in slaying this demon was not in vain." This strange beast had destroyed a Rank 3 puppet beast and a magic treasure, so using its eyes to refine an illusionary magic treasure was certainly not a loss.

Wang Changsheng smiled and nodded. He stepped forward and dug an egg-sized yellow demonic core from the yellow rhinoceros's abdomen. The demonic core had some golden patterns on its surface.

He suddenly sensed something, and with a flick of his sleeve, the Twin-Eyed Rat flew out from the spirit beast bead. It let out a strange squeaking sound and gazed eagerly at the demonic core in Wang Changsheng's hand.

The Twin-Eyed Rat was an earth-attribute spirit beast, and this yellow rhinoceros was clearly also an earth-attribute spirit beast. If it consumed this demonic core, it might be able to advance to Rank 4.

The Twin-Eyed Rat had followed Wang Changsheng for many years and had consumed many good things, but it had been stuck at the peak of Rank 3.

Wang Changsheng smiled and tossed the yellow demonic core to the Twin-Eyed Rat. The Twin-Eyed Rat quickly devoured it.

It swayed left and right, as if drunk, then collapsed and fell into a deep sleep.