Chapter 1321: Qingling in Danger

His gaze was fixed on the purple sea of flowers, which surely harbored a demonic creature; otherwise, the Black Gold Grass couldn't have grown for a thousand years.

Just as the Wood Demon approached the flower sea, the buds of two giant purple flowers suddenly bloomed, revealing two gaping, tooth-filled maws. The two colossal flowers lunged at the Wood Demon.

The Wood Demon reacted swiftly, its body shaking violently as countless sharp thorns shot out, striking the two giant purple flowers. The thorns couldn't pierce the flowers but temporarily held them back.

With a whoosh, the Wood Demon burrowed into the ground and vanished. The next moment, dozens of thick green thorns erupted from beneath the swamp, coiling around the stems of the two giant purple flowers.

The two giant purple flowers thrashed violently, their gaping maws emitting strange roars.

Vein-like structures appeared on the surface of the green thorns as the purple flowers rapidly withered, completely encased by the thorns.

Ten breaths later, the green thorns loosened their grip. The giant purple flowers had vanished, leaving no trace behind.

The Wood Demon repeated the process, and more giant purple flowers fell, though the remaining ones showed no unusual signs.

After a while, the Wood Demon successfully harvested the Black Gold Grass, pulling it out root and all, still covered in soil.

Wang Changsheng looked satisfied. The Wood Demon, proficient in both wood and earth magic, could help collect spiritual herbs, making encounters with demonic beasts less daunting.

A large expanse of fine mist surged from his hand, forming a giant blue water sphere that cleansed away the sludge before he put away the Black Gold Grass.

Just then, a deafening tiger's roar echoed in his ears. Hearing it, Wang Changsheng felt his head spin, dizzy and disoriented, his body swaying slightly.

The sky abruptly turned dark red, and an astonishing heatwave descended. Dozens of massive, water-vat-sized fireballs rained down from above, plummeting towards Wang Changsheng.

Wang Changsheng looked up to see a massive red fire cloud, over a thousand feet wide, suddenly appearing high above. The fire cloud resembled a colossal flame, emitting a low rumble and boiling violently like agitated water.

He moved his arms, and countless blue fist shadows shot forth to meet the attack.

Boom! A series of thunderous roars erupted as the giant fireballs were shattered by the blue fist shadows, their flames scattering everywhere and landing on the swamp.

Giant fireballs continued to plummet from high above, but before they could get within a hundred feet of Wang Changsheng, they all disintegrated, and the area within a hundred-zhang radius was engulfed by a vast sea of red flames.

A particular mass of flame glowed intensely, revealing a house-sized red demonic bird. The creature had the head of an ape, the body of an eagle, a pair of gleaming red talons beneath its belly, and a slender neck.

This was a mid-grade Fourth-Tier Ape Eagle Beast, whose strength surpassed even that of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator.

The Ape Eagle Beast performed a fire escape technique, suddenly appearing behind Wang Changsheng. It flapped its wings, creating a whooshing sound as countless red feathers shot out, transforming into crimson rockets that struck Wang Changsheng one after another.

A thunderous roar, as if splitting stone, erupted, and raging flames engulfed Wang Changsheng's body.

The Ape Eagle Beast plunged its talons into the sea of fire, and Wang Changsheng was sent flying backward. Several long bloody gashes appeared on his left shoulder; an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator would have died instantly.

"A mid-grade Fourth-Tier demonic bird!" Wang Changsheng was startled. His luck was truly terrible to encounter a mid-grade Fourth-Tier demonic bird.

Not daring to be careless, his body blazed with blue light, splitting into ten figures that fled in different directions. Each Wang Changsheng clone had an identical aura—this was the Nine Yuan Shadow Split Technique.

The Ape Eagle Beast's eyes glowed red, and it pounced towards one of the Wang Changsheng figures.

A wave of hot wind swept past, and the Ape Eagle Beast suddenly appeared before one of the Wang Changsheng figures.

Wang Changsheng's heart jolted, his expression changing. Before he could react, the Ape Eagle Beast emitted a strange roar, instantly freezing Wang Changsheng in place. The beast then lunged its talons towards him.

With a muffled squelch, Wang Changsheng's body dissolved into a large pool of clear water, clearly a decoy.

One of the Wang Changsheng figures suddenly accelerated its escape speed. In fact, the Ape Eagle Beast had pursued the correct target, but Wang Changsheng had evaded it by using the Nine Yuan Shadow Split Technique.

Upon reaching the Nascent Soul stage, the Nine Yuan Shadow Split Technique was enhanced. Wang Changsheng could now instantly appear in any of his clones with a mere thought, effectively teleporting.

A significant difference between Nascent Soul cultivators and Core Formation cultivators is that Nascent Soul cultivators possess the divine ability of instant teleportation, while Core Formation cultivators generally need treasures to achieve it. Furthermore, if a Core Formation cultivator's physical body is destroyed by an enemy, they are as good as dead. However, if a Nascent Soul cultivator's physical body is destroyed, their Nascent Soul or remnant soul can still escape, possess another body, and have a chance to recover their cultivation.

Having failed to land a hit, the Ape Eagle Beast prepared to attack Wang Changsheng again.

Just then, Wang Changsheng took out the Soul-Snatching Bell and gave it a gentle shake. A rapid ringing sound filled the air, causing the Ape Eagle Beast to slow its movements and halt mid-air. Above its head, the void rippled, and a giant blue hand, over a hundred feet in size, materialized out of thin air and swiftly slapped down.

The Ape Eagle Beast plummeted towards the ground like a falling meteorite.

Before it even hit the ground, a piercing whoosh tore through the air, and a barrage of white blades flew towards it.

The Ape Eagle Beast violently flapped its wings, sending out a large array of red feathers that transformed into crimson rockets, each about a foot long, to meet the incoming attack.

A series of explosions erupted, giving rise to a large cloud of white mist. When the mist dispersed, Wang Changsheng was nowhere to be seen.

The Ape Eagle Beast, somewhat annoyed, vented its frustration on the swamp before flying away and disappearing into the sky.

In a certain dark and damp black forest, Wang Qingling stood in a clearing. Her Frostwind Flood Dragon and Dark Crow were attacking a swarm of fist-sized black ants, which had golden patterns on their bodies.

There were tens of thousands of black ants, densely gathered together like a huge black cloud. The Dark Crow spewed a sheet of black flames, and any ants touched by them instantly vanished. The Frostwind Flood Dragon exhaled a vast cloud of white icy mist, and the black ants that came into contact with it rapidly fell from mid-air, their bodies frozen solid.

These demonic ants were no match for Wang Qingling, but their sheer numbers posed a challenge.

Before long, a significant portion of the black demonic ants had been killed or injured. Realizing that Wang Qingling was not to be trifled with, the ant queen led the remaining black demonic ants away.

Wang Qingling breathed a sigh of relief. It was fortunate she had the Frostwind Flood Dragon and Dark Crow, otherwise, she would have been helpless against these Ink Gold Ants. The Ink Gold Ants were invulnerable to blades and spears and impervious to water and fire. Only because the Dark Crow and Frostwind Flood Dragon were not ordinary spirit beasts could they easily repel the Ink Gold Ant swarm.

"Tsk tsk, a Third-Tier flood dragon! You've got guts! Daring to enter the Heavenly Void Grotto-heaven while only at the Core Formation stage."

A man's voice, full of sarcasm, suddenly rang out.

Wang Qingling's beautiful face changed, and she shouted, "Who's hiding there stealthily? Come out!"

"Do I need to be stealthy? What a joke! Against a mere Core Formation brat like you, I have no need to be stealthy."

A blunt male voice replied.

A chill wind swept past, and a black-robed elder with a hawk-like face and a high nose appeared before Wang Qingling.

The black-robed elder exuded a chilling aura. He carried a huge black gourd on his back, his face filled with malevolence, and his gaze burned with fervent desire as he stared at the Frostwind Flood Dragon.

"A Nascent Soul cultivator!" Wang Qingling's heart seized, but she feigned composure.

"I won't make things difficult for you. Simply remove the restrictions on these two spirit beasts and assist me in making them acknowledge me as their master. In return, I can spare your life and take you as my disciple. How does that sound?"

The black-robed elder's tone was full of enticement. Who wouldn't want to possess a Third-Tier flood dragon as a spirit beast?