Mine Cave Beast

"Young Master, you're going down?"

Lin De was startled and hurriedly tried to dissuade 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, this servant will go first for Young Master. 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. An ordinary Postnatal Martial Artist might not have been able to defeat him.

In Yang City, he might have counted as somebody, but in Xinhe Commandery, he had been nothing remarkable.

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

Even in Xinhe Commandery, he now counted as somebody.

Oh, you asked why he had broken through so quickly?

What about the bottleneck?

A bottleneck?

What was that?

With the experience of bringing multiple Cultivation Methods to completion, the limits of innate martial arts, and the cleansing of the Marrow Cleansing Flower, he had become a martial arts genius.

Bottlenecks simply did not exist.

Everything had fallen into place naturally, as water flowed where the channel had been carved.

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 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 had absolute confidence in that.

Bang—

His five fingers clenched, detonating the air. Ten thousand jin of force gathered between them, while Vital Energy surged through his body like a tidal wave. The exquisitely subtle moves of Martial Skills in his mind gave Zhang Ming immense confidence.

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

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

And so.

After only a short while.

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

"My lord."

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

When Old Fang, the captain of the Armored Soldiers, heard his Boss call to him, excitement filled his heart.

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

Zhang Ming smiled lightly and nodded.

"Good. With those words, I can rest easy. Prepare to set out."

"Yes, my lord. We're setting out."

Taking a Refined Iron Ring-Pommel Great Saber from Lin De, the group numbered twelve including Lin De.

Zhang Ming stood in the middle of the formation. Holding the hemp rope, they descended into the mine once more.

Qingmang Mountain Mine.

The mine had only been established for 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 depth and excavation range alone, Mine Cave No. 13 was the deepest mine cave in the entire Mine.

With that.

Zhang Ming's group hurried several kilometers onward, quickly descending several hundred meters underground.

More than ten minutes passed.

That was precisely how long it had taken for the five Armored Soldiers to vanish without a trace, and for the bloodstained hemp rope to return.

"Be careful. The danger should be nearby."

Lin De spoke up to warn them.

"Yes, rest assured, my lord."

Of the ten Armored Soldiers, some had already drawn their shields, some had fully cocked their Strong Crossbows, and others gripped their Great Sabers, standing ready for battle.

After another stretch of rugged cave path.

"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 flesh and blood scattered across the ground came into view.

"This armor's craftsmanship matches the armor those five wore. So they really did suffer some kind of attack?"

The shattered armor and the scraps of blood and flesh upon it confirmed everyone's suspicions.

"Be careful. There might really be something nasty here."

For a moment, everyone became even more alert and held their breath.

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

They slowly moved forward. Dozens of meters later, the cramped mine cave suddenly opened up, and an enormous karst cave space appeared before them.

The space was vast, stretching beyond sight, filled with countless naturally formed stone pillars as far as the eye could see.

"Careful."

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

Bang

A Blood-Red Tongue covered in dense nodules suddenly lashed out from the shadows.

"Careful!"

Zhang Ming shouted, and the two Armored Soldiers at the front instinctively gripped their massive shields tightly.

Bang

The Blood-Red Tongue was terrifying. With a single impact, it sent the two Armored Soldiers flying several meters away.

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

It was simply terrifying.

A trace of gravity entered Zhang Ming's eyes. He swept his gaze over the darkness around them, gripping his Great Saber tightly before his chest.

"Demon Beasts!"

Whether in relief or delight, Zhang Ming spoke.

Demon Beasts were great tonics, treasures from head to toe.

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 be immensely beneficial to martial arts cultivation.

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

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

Towering ambition blazed in his eyes as all kinds of information about Demon Beasts being great tonics and greatly benefiting martial arts flowed through his mind.

Those thoughts took only an instant.

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

The torchlight illuminated the outline of the Demon Beast.

It was a lizard-like Demon Beast, roughly three meters long.

Its body was colored much like the stones in the mine cave, primarily gray and brown, making it seem nearly invisible within the cave.

Its sturdy limbs, powerful jaws, sharp teeth, and enormous tongue that could shoot dozens of meters like a cannonball were enough to inspire fear.

"Sure enough, a Demon Beast!"

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

"Fall back. Retreat."

He decisively chose to withdraw, not because Zhang Ming sensed that the Demon Beast was particularly strong.

Rather, countless rustling sounds suddenly echoed through the mine cave, drawing closer from afar.

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 Blood-Red Tongues shot across more than ten meters with several whooshes, charging straight at them.

Thud! Thud!

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

"Strong Crossbows, fire!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

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

Clang! Clang!

The bolts of the Strong Crossbows were not lacking in power. At such close range, they could pierce straight through even a soldier clad in armor.

Yet when they struck the Mine Cave Beasts, they merely shattered a few 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 slightly into their bodies all fell out.

"This terrifying defense..."

Zhang Ming and everyone around him sucked in a breath of cold air.

"Damn it."

With a furious curse, even if Zhang Ming had been a fool, he would have known that relying solely on the Armored Soldiers and Lin De beside him, none of them would be able to leave the mine cave.

Zhang Ming raised a hand, pushed aside the Armored Soldiers before him, and shouted.

"You retreat. I'll bring up the rear."

"Young Master! Young Master!"

"Cut the nonsense. Retreat."

With the Ring-Pommel Great Saber in hand, his Vital Energy surged madly as tens of thousands of jin of force ran rampant through his body.

Zhang Ming raised one hand and 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 arts techniques flowed through his heart, its battle memories abundant and clear.

As though his body reacted on instinct, Zhang Ming turned slightly sideways, rooted his feet to the ground, and raised his hand.

Black Tiger Descends Mountain!

Roar—

The phantom of a Black Tiger abruptly appeared. Its roar shook the soul as it charged straight toward the leading Mine Cave Beast.

The Black Tiger roared like a living creature, 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 fragile as thin paper beneath Zhang Ming's martial strike.

Without pausing to consider after killing it in a single blow, Zhang Ming bent down and dragged the Demon Beast's corpse, then turned to see everyone staring blankly.