Mine Cave Beast

"Young Master, you're going down?"

Lin De was startled and hurriedly tried to stop him.

"You mustn't, Young Master. How can someone as precious as you enter such a dangerous, unknown place?"

"If someone has to go down, let this lowly one go first. Young Master cannot go."

Zhang Ming smiled faintly and patted Lin De on the shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'm not the same person I was two months ago."

Two months ago, Zhang Ming had not been weak. He might not have been unable to fight an ordinary Postnatal Martial Artist.

In Yang City, he might have counted as someone important, but in Xinhe Commandery, he was merely so-so.

But now, after consuming the Marrow Cleansing Flower, Zhang Ming had achieved the completion of Vital Energy in just over two months, and his cultivation had naturally broken through to the Postnatal Martial Artist realm.

Even in Xinhe Commandery, he now counted as someone important.

Oh, you were asking why he had broken through so quickly?

What about the bottleneck?

A bottleneck?

What was that?

With experience of completing cultivation techniques many times, Martial Dao experience at the Innate Realm's limit, and the Marrow Cleansing Flower's cleansing, he had become a Martial Dao genius.

Bottlenecks simply did not exist.

Everything had fallen into place as naturally as water flowed into a channel.

Thus.

Now that Zhang Ming had become a Postnatal Martial Artist, his strength was terrifying beyond measure.

So terrifying that even Zhang Ming himself could not determine exactly what level of combat power he possessed.

Though he had only broken through recently, he did not dare claim he could rival the Innate Realm.

But if he called himself nearly invincible among Postnatal Martial Artists, Zhang Ming absolutely had that confidence.

Boom—

His five fingers clenched, and the air exploded. The force of ten thousand jin gathered between his fingers, while Vital Energy surged through his body like tidal waves. The exquisitely profound Martial Skill techniques in his mind gave Zhang Ming immense confidence.

"Go carry out your orders. Don't ask what you shouldn't."

Lin De wanted to speak but stopped himself. Meeting Zhang Ming's unwavering gaze, he ultimately chose to remain silent.

And so.

Only a short while later.

Ten tall, powerfully built Armored Soldiers appeared, clad in heavy Fish Scale Armor, carrying Great Sabers, with Strong Crossbows nearly half a man tall on their backs and Refined Iron Shields in hand.

"My lord."

"Mm. Old Fang, I'll be relying on you this time."

Hearing Boss address him, Old Fang, the captain of the Armored Soldiers, was filled with excitement.

He promised, "Rest assured, my lord. No matter what lies in the mine cave, if it wants to harm you, it will first have to step over my, Old Fang's, corpse."

Zhang Ming nodded with a faint smile.

"Good. With those words, I'm relieved. Prepare to depart."

"Yes, my lord. We depart."

Taking a Refined Iron Ring-Pommel Great Saber from Lin De, Zhang Ming's party numbered twelve with Lin De included.

Zhang Ming stood in the middle of the formation, leading the group down into the mine again with the hemp rope in hand.

Qingmang Mountain Mine.

The mine had not been established for long, only a few years.

But Mine Cave No. 13 differed from the other mine caves. During excavation, it had connected to certain underground karst caves.

Thus, in terms of both depth and excavation breadth, Mine Cave No. 13 was the deepest mine cave in the entire mine.

With that, Zhang Ming and his group hurried several kilometers onward, descending hundreds of meters underground.

And more than ten minutes passed.

This was precisely the time when the five Armored Soldiers had vanished without a trace, and the bloodstained hemp rope had returned.

"Be careful. The danger should be nearby."

Lin De spoke up in warning.

"Mm. Rest assured, my lord."

Among the ten Armored Soldiers, some had already drawn their shields, some had pulled their Strong Crossbows taut, and others gripped their Great Sabers as they waited in stern formation.

After another stretch of rugged cave passage.

"Look! What's that ahead?"

Everyone heightened their vigilance and slowly advanced.

As they drew closer, several pieces of shattered iron armor and scraps of blood and flesh on the ground came into view.

"This armor's construction is the same as the armor those five wore. Did they truly encounter some kind of attack?"

The shattered armor and the bloody scraps clinging to it confirmed everyone's suspicions.

"Be careful. There may truly be some ghostly thing here."

For a time, everyone raised their guard and held their breath.

Under the oppressive silence, even Zhang Ming could not help growing tense.

The group moved forward slowly. After several dozen meters, the cramped mine cave suddenly opened up, and an enormous karst cave space appeared before them.

The space was massive, stretching beyond sight. Naturally formed stone pillars filled its interior in endless dense rows.

"Careful."

Sensing something abruptly, Zhang Ming immediately called out a warning.

Boom.

A blood-red, long tongue covered in densely packed bumps suddenly lashed out from the shadows.

"Careful!"

Zhang Ming shouted loudly. The two Armored Soldiers at the front instinctively gripped their huge shields tightly.

Boom.

The blood-red tongue was terrifying. With a single impact that thundered like an explosion, it sent the two Armored Soldiers flying several meters away.

The tongue's impact carried at least several thousand jin of force.

It was simply terrifying.

A trace of gravity appeared in Zhang Ming's eyes. He swept his gaze over the darkness around them and held his great saber tightly before his chest.

"Demon Beasts!"

Whether in relief or surprise, Zhang Ming spoke.

Demon Beasts were great tonics. Their entire bodies were treasures.

The presence of Demon Beasts in the mine was both a good thing and a bad thing.

The good thing was that consuming these Demon Beasts would undoubtedly greatly benefit Martial Dao cultivation.

The bad thing was that if they could not consume them, these Demon Beasts would become a hidden danger to the mine.

"If I can swallow these Demon Beasts..."

Blazing ambition flared in his eyes, while all kinds of information concerning how Demon Beasts could greatly nourish the body and benefit Martial Dao flowed through his mind.

Those thoughts passed through his mind in but an instant.

Then Lin De threw the torch in his hand toward the darkness.

The torchlight illuminated the outline of the Demon Beast.

It was a huge lizard-like Demon Beast, roughly three meters in length.

Its body was colored much like the rocks inside the mine cave, primarily gray and brown, making it seem almost invisible within the mine cave.

Its thick limbs, powerful jaws, sharp teeth, and enormous tongue that could shoot dozens of meters like a cannonball made it awe-inspiring.

"Sure enough, a Demon Beast!"

Seeing the enormous lizard-like Demon Beast, Zhang Ming raised a hand.

"Fall back. Retreat."

His decisive retreat was not because Zhang Ming had sensed how powerful that Demon Beast was.

Rather, countless rustling sounds suddenly echoed through the mine cave, drawing nearer from far away.

Clearly, there was more than one Demon Beast in the mine cave, and their exact number was unknown.

"Careful. Fall back carefully."

Hearing this, everyone slowly retreated.

But...

Why would the Demon Beasts let them retreat so easily?

In the span of a breath.

Several sharp whooshes rang out as several enormous Blood-Red Tongues shot across more than ten meters toward them.

Thud, thud—

The two shield-bearing Armored Soldiers, who had only just managed to get back on their feet, staggered again. Had people not been bracing them from behind, they would likely have been sent flying once more.

"Strong Crossbows! Fire!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several Armored Soldiers fired their fully drawn Strong Crossbows at the Mine Cave Beasts.

Clang! Clang!

The bolts from the Strong Crossbows were not weak. At such close range, they could pierce straight through even a soldier wearing armor.

But when they struck the Mine Cave Beasts, they merely shattered several scales. Even the luckier shots only sank a few inches into flesh.

The Mine Cave Beasts shook their heads a few times, and the bolts that had embedded themselves slightly in their bodies fell out one after another.

"Such terrifying defensive power."

Zhang Ming and everyone beside him drew in sharp breaths.

"Damn it."

Cursing angrily, Zhang Ming knew that even if he were a fool, he could see that with only the Armored Soldiers at his side and Lin De, none of them would be able to leave the mine cave.

Thus, Zhang Ming raised a hand, shoved aside the armored soldier before him, and shouted.

"You retreat. I'll hold them back."

"Young Master! Young Master!"

"Stop talking nonsense. Retreat."

Holding the Ring-Pommel Great Saber, Vital Energy surged wildly throughout his body, and the force of tens of thousands of jin flowed unrestrained within him.

With one raised hand, Zhang Ming actually forced all ten men to retreat together.

At that moment.

The foremost Mine Cave Beast had already drawn near.

Without hesitation, the experience of "many years" of Martial Dao techniques flowed through his heart, and memories of countless life-and-death battles filled his mind.

As if his body were reacting instinctively, Zhang Ming turned slightly, planted his feet like roots, and raised his hand.

"Black Tiger Descends Mountain!"

Roar—

The phantom of a Black Tiger suddenly appeared, its roar shaking the soul as it charged directly at the leading Mine Cave Beast.

The Black Tiger roared as though alive, crossing several meters in the blink of an eye.

One slash.

The Mine Cave Beast's head exploded. Scales comparable to refined iron were as brittle as thin paper beneath Zhang Ming's Martial Dao strike.

Without pausing to consider his one-hit kill, Zhang Ming bent down and dragged the Demon Beast's corpse, then turned to see the stunned faces of the others.