Fierce Battle in the Cave

"My name is Chu Liang, a disciple of Silver Sword Peak..."

After some thought, Chu Liang decided to introduce himself first.

"My name is Jiang... Jiang Xiaobai." The woman replied, then glared at the Bai Ze cub again, puffing up in irritation. "I occasionally come here to stay for a while. It originally agreed to guard this place for me. Who knew why it brought you here today... I was in the middle of eating..."

And then he had seen her wolfing down noodles with all her might.

Looking at the Jiang Fairy before him, who clearly did not wish to reveal her name, Chu Liang found it rather amusing.

At least make up a name that wasn't so similar.

The Bai Ze cub seemed to realize it had done something wrong. It looked left and right, then simply kicked up its hooves, turned around, and ran back the way it had come.

It slipped away.

"Hey?" Chu Liang raised a hand and called out.

You sure ran fast. At least take me out with you...

"Since the Bai Ze divine beast recognizes you, I believe you must be kindhearted as well. Could you promise not to tell anyone about what you saw here today?" Jiang Xiaobai asked again.

"Of course." Chu Liang hurriedly agreed.

If word got out that one could encounter Jiang Fairy here, her admirers would probably fill the Water Curtain Cave to the brim at once.

Seeing that he had a pleasant face and refined manners, Jiang Xiaobai formed a favorable impression of him. She smiled slightly. "Then thank you."

Just as Chu Liang was about to exchange a few polite words and take his leave, an explosion suddenly sounded from outside.

Boom—

"Hm?" Jiang Xiaobai's gaze shifted, suddenly turning sharp. "Hide first. Protect yourself."

Before her words had even faded, she had already soared into the air. Her robes fluttered, and her entire person was like a sword leaving its sheath, her momentum sharp and unstoppable.

The eruption of aura in that instant was already close to the peak of the Golden Core Realm. Her exact cultivation could not be judged. But Chu Liang estimated that she could probably kill that Soul-Detaining Envoy who had given him some trouble within three moves!

Watching her back, Chu Liang suddenly felt that this woman... was strangely reassuring.

Rumble—

Immediately afterward, the roaring reached the cave entrance. An explosion sent shattered stones flying, and amid the smoke and dust, the silver figure of the Bai Ze cub was hurled backward and slammed to the ground.

Bang!

"Roar!" It flipped up onto its feet, its face full of fury. As the divine beast raged, flowing light spilled all around its body, and its cry became a deep growl, completely unlike its earlier cutesy calls.

Only then did Chu Liang's expression turn solemn.

The Bai Ze divine beast cub possessed strength at least equivalent to the fifth realm. Although it could not compare with cultivators in divine abilities and magical artifacts, it was certainly stronger in speed and power—not to mention its formidable bloodline and innate divine abilities.

Generally speaking, ordinary demonic beasts of the same realm were often weaker than cultivators of that realm, while divine beasts of the same realm were often stronger.

That was only a broad generalization. The actual circumstances were far more complicated; even luck could influence a great deal.

But no matter what, compared to a third-realm cultivator like Chu Liang, the Bai Ze cub's strength was unquestionably overwhelmingly powerful.

Yet now, this fifth-realm divine beast was being beaten until it rolled all over the ground.

Boom!

The cave shook violently once more.

At last, an enormous black head squeezed through the cave entrance. It was the head of a giant lizard, crowned with grotesquely twisted flesh horns!

This creature was simply too huge. After entering the Water Curtain Cave, it had charged about recklessly, forcibly widening the entrance by nearly half before it could barely get through.

Now that it had entered the cavern and the space suddenly opened up, it immediately unleashed its savagery.

Especially when it saw Jiang Xiaobai hovering in the air ahead, red-gold flames instantly ignited in the giant lizard's eyes. Its enormous pupils brimmed with greed and madness!

"Roar—" The giant lizard let out a thunderous bellow. Along with the spreading soundwave came black flowing flames erupting from its mouth.

Heaven-swallowing black fire filled the cavern, sweeping toward Jiang Xiaobai like a tidal wave.

The Bai Ze cub sprang up, transforming into a streak of white light as it rammed headfirst into the giant lizard. But the lizard's scales were thick and tough; its lightning-fast charge only produced a dull bang!

Jiang Xiaobai gave a light cry and formed a hand seal. Brilliant light suddenly flared around her, and countless sword shadows rose in a dazzling profusion, forming a lotus-platform-like wall that blocked all the surrounding black flames. Sword Qi rang out with continuous clanging cries.

Chu Liang watched from a corner. The giant lizard seemed never to have noticed him and did not regard him as a target.

From the current situation, this giant lizard was at least an adult demonic beast close to the sixth realm, while the fifth-realm divine beast cub appeared somewhat immature before it.

Jiang Xiaobai, whose late fourth-realm cultivation had not yet been fully revealed, was likely still somewhat lacking if she wished to deal with this giant lizard.

And if they added a handsome young man at the middle third realm like himself... well, it made little difference whether they added him or not.

The situation was extremely dire.

Chu Liang scanned the surroundings, searching for an opportunity to escape.

It was rare for a demonic beast to attack people on Shushan. So long as an elder of the sect discovered it, this giant lizard could naturally be dealt with easily. But this cave had only one entrance, and it was currently blocked by the giant lizard. Even sending word for help was difficult.

"Roar!"

The steaming black flames had raised the temperature within the entire cave to terrifying heights. Rubble crackled and popped as the giant lizard let out another furious roar, then rapidly darted forward with astonishing agility!

Its seemingly cumbersome body was nothing more than a deception for its enemies.

Whoosh—

The giant lizard pounced through the air, opening its huge mouth. From the look of its momentum, it could not wait to swallow Jiang Xiaobai in a single bite!

But the woman in the air showed no fear whatsoever. Her hand seals shifted, and the countless sword shadows around her abruptly merged into one, becoming a radiant image with Sword Qi soaring to the heavens. With a flick of her fingertip, the sword light flashed into the giant lizard's mouth.

Hiss—

Just as the giant lizard swallowed the sword light and was about to take Jiang Xiaobai into its maw as well, her figure suddenly flickered, appearing without warning in the air more than thirty yards behind it.

She had retreated in an instant.

Chu Liang recognized it at once.

Immortal art, Shrinking the Earth into an Inch!

Among divine abilities, the most supreme were the various immortal arts said to have descended from the Immortal Realm. They were often exceedingly difficult to master, but their power was also immense.

For immortal sects, the more immortal arts they possessed, the stronger they generally were.

Shrinking the Earth into an Inch was one such immortal art preserved by the Shushan Sect.

Yet while many sects possessed immortal arts, those who could cultivate one successfully at the Golden Core Realm were truly few and far between. The woman before him was not merely breathtakingly beautiful—she was indeed a peerless cultivation prodigy!

Limited by her low cultivation, she could not yet employ this divine ability over great distances. But even a single short-range shift was enough to let her escape with her life easily. Such was the charm of immortal arts.

Bang—

The giant lizard crashed heavily to the ground. Its pounce had completely missed, and it was clearly enraged. The blazing flames in its pupils turned thoroughly scarlet with fury.

Yet the Bai Ze cub still refused to admit defeat. With a whoosh, it became a streak of white light and charged forward, horn first.

Thud!

The giant lizard's scales were incredibly hard, and they happened to counter the Bai Ze cub's style of attack.

But it was still young and knew few innate divine abilities, leaving it helpless. It rammed into the giant lizard, which merely trembled slightly before sweeping its massive tail and sending the Bai Ze cub flying again.

Then it turned its vertical pupils toward Jiang Xiaobai.

At that moment, with her back against the stone wall, the woman's gaze was icy. She lightly raised her hand seal and murmured, "Heavenly Sword Art."

Whoosh—

A mass of white light suddenly burst from the giant lizard's mouth, and its expression abruptly twisted in pain. As it opened its jaws wider, that white light transformed into streams of rosy radiance...

It was the flying sword it had swallowed earlier, now transforming into an immensely thick beam of sword light and cleaving back out!

Mighty and vast!

Heavenly Sword Art!

This too was one of the Shushan Sect's most powerful sword arts, a supreme divine ability ranked only below immortal arts. Yet Jiang Xiaobai wielded it with effortless ease.

Without such skill, she could never have contended against a demonic beast at the peak of the fifth realm with only fourth-realm cultivation.

Watching her unleash one supreme divine ability after another, Chu Liang was not only astonished by her strength, but also felt a strange pang of envy.

She knew so many divine abilities. Why was I sad again?

Eh?

Why did I say "again"?

Rumble—hiss—

The might of the Heavenly Sword Art was unstoppable. This strike flew from within the giant lizard's belly, bringing forth a great spray of pitch-black blood. It was like lava; wherever it splashed, it made sizzling, burning sounds.

"Awooo!" The giant lizard rolled over in agony. Yet this strike, from inside outward, had somehow failed to kill it. Instead, it further stirred its vicious nature!

Blood and flames mingled. Ignoring everything, it still charged recklessly at Jiang Xiaobai...

Boom!

The giant lizard slammed its head viciously into the stone wall.

Jiang Xiaobai's figure flashed more than thirty yards away in an instant again, but when she landed this time, her steps visibly staggered.

Immortal arts consumed an enormous amount of true qi. It was already impressive that she could use it twice in succession, but this was ultimately not a solution.

But the giant lizard was enormous and fast. Without immortal arts, how could she evade it?

However...

Chu Liang, who had been observing the situation from the side, noticed that the giant lizard's wild charge had already cleared the cave entrance.

"Senior Sister Jiang, leave through the entrance!" he shouted decisively.

With that, he rose and dashed toward it as well.

With the entrance cleared, how could Jiang Xiaobai not have noticed? But she was entangled with the giant lizard. How could she break free?

As she flew upward, she replied, "You go first!"

In the time it took to say those words, the giant lizard had already turned around and charged at her again. When a demonic beast of this level erupted, the earth shook and mountains swayed. Someone more timid might not even have the courage to flee, their liver and gall splitting from fright on the spot.

That Heavenly Sword Art strike had already inflicted nearly fatal damage on it. Yet for some reason, it had become even crazier now, as if devouring Jiang Xiaobai could save its life.

But Jiang Xiaobai's expression remained calm. Apparently unable to use Shrinking the Earth into an Inch a third consecutive time, she raised her right hand. Her longsword instantly transformed into hundreds upon thousands of sword shadows again, forming a flower-like shield in the giant lizard's path.

Crack! But those countless sword shadows scattered at the first impact, and the giant lizard's charge was impossible to stop!

"Demon!" At the very moment when a thousand pounds hung by a single hair, Chu Liang gave a clear shout from nearby.

He did not abandon Jiang Xiaobai to flee alone. Instead, he flung out three bronze spheres with a backhanded throw.

They were the Dark Baleful Yin Thunder he had seized from the Soul-Detaining Envoy earlier.

Thinking it over, the only thing on him that could possibly harm a demonic beast at the peak of the fifth realm was likely the Dark Baleful Yin Thunder.

As a fourth-realm cultivator, the Soul-Detaining Envoy's life-saving items surely had enough power to affect a fifth-realm opponent. But the giant lizard's defense was too strong, and it was hard to say how effective they would be. Chu Liang simply threw all three out at once.

Over the past few days, he had come to understand one truth deeply... if you wanted to play the artifact build, you could not be stingy with money.

If you did not know how many to throw, then throw them all. You could not go wrong that way.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The giant lizard's attention was entirely fixed on Jiang Xiaobai. The Dark Baleful Yin Thunder Chu Liang threw struck directly atop its head, and then three streaks of black light exploded there at once.

The thunderous blasts were accompanied by ghostly howls that seemed to come from a netherworld of wandering souls. The giant lizard's body jerked violently upward and froze in midair, remaining motionless for a long while.

When the black light finally vanished completely, the giant lizard still held that same pose. The crimson flames in its enormous pupils had gone out, leaving behind only endless fury and terror.

Chu Liang froze for a moment, because he saw a golden phantom drift from the giant lizard into his body.

Holy crap, this thing was that powerful?

It had actually blown the giant lizard to death outright?

He had only wanted to stall for a little time and create an opportunity for Jiang Xiaobai to escape.

Who would have thought.

There was an unexpected gain too?