Black Pool Black Flood Dragon, the King of the Forest Chose to Run!

Er Ming's aura was chaotic and violent. He was injured!

"What happened?"

With Er Ming's peak strength as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, along with his fiery temper, who in the Star Dou Great Forest—where Fierce Beasts rarely appeared—could have injured him so badly?

Who could have forced him to flee back in such a miserable state?

Could a Fierce Beast have emerged?

Lin Qing's heart immediately tightened.

His two precious daughters were absorbing Soul Bones and had entered a critical stage. They could not be disturbed.

Rou Rou was somewhat frightened as well and instinctively moved closer to Lin Qing.

The Sky Azure Bull Python in the lake gathered its strength, and its aura suddenly became dangerous.

The situation seemed to have become rather troublesome.

A moment later.

"Rumble!"

Accompanied by one final earth-shaking heavy step and the wails of several unfortunate ancient trees.

A massive figure, like a small mountain and radiating brutality and pain, crashed through the last barrier of trees and appeared on the open ground beside the lake.

It was none other than Er Ming, the Titan Giant Ape.

But he looked quite bedraggled at the moment—no, it would be more accurate to call him miserable.

His originally sleek black fur, which possessed astonishing defensive power, was now covered in crisscrossing wounds.

The deepest ones were on his chest and shoulders, where flesh had split open and curled back, exposing bone beneath.

Although they were no longer bleeding, the wounds had taken on an unnatural dark color.

Strands of eerie black mist still coiled around their edges, hindering his powerful self-healing ability.

His thick arms and legs also bore numerous abrasions and signs of impact.

He had clearly gone through an exceptionally fierce battle.

Flames of fury burned in Er Ming's huge eyes, yet there was also a faint, hard-to-detect trace of lingering fear and grievance.

"Roar! Roar roar—!"

The moment Er Ming saw Da Ming and Lin Qing, he immediately let out a series of hurried, furious growls.

He clumsily gestured with palms larger than millstones, pointing first at the wounds on his body and then toward the northwest forest.

With his huge body and angry expression, his frantic gestures somehow looked both simple-minded and aggrieved.

The Sky Azure Bull Python lowered his enormous head toward Er Ming.

"Er Ming, what did you encounter? Who injured you like this?"

He suppressed his anger while carefully examining his younger brother's wounds.

The gravity and fury in his azure eyes grew stronger and stronger.

Lin Qing stepped forward as well.

He did not rashly touch the wounds.

Instead, he carefully observed their condition and the black mist lingering around them.

Like the most precise scanner, his Spiritual Power carefully sensed the residual energy attributes within them.

"Er Ming, don't panic. Take your time and 'talk.'"

"Tell us what happened. What did you encounter?"

With the comfort of his older brother Da Ming and Lin Qing's guidance, Er Ming finally calmed down somewhat.

Using clearer body language and intermittent roars, along with the eye contact of Da Ming, who seemed able to understand everything, he began to "describe" his adventure.

Based on Er Ming's vivid "account."

Lin Qing and the Sky Azure Bull Python gradually pieced together the outline of what had happened.

Following Da Ming's instructions, Er Ming had explored deep into the extreme northwest of the Star Dou Great Forest.

He crossed mountains and rivers.

He passed through many Soul Beast territories.

In the end, he found an eerie pool that Da Ming had described as "black as ink and silent as death."

Just hearing about that place was enough to make one's scalp tingle.

Before he had even truly approached the pool's edge, Er Ming had felt an invisible, crushing pressure descend upon him.

It felt as though several mountains had suddenly been placed on his shoulders.

It was gravity!

A technique Er Ming possessed as well.

The vegetation around the Black Pool had changed completely.

There were no longer any tall, straight trees.

Everything was a strange plant with leaves black as ink and branches twisted like ghost claws.

They stood silently amid grayish-white fog, like a group of mute spectators filled with malice.

The ground was covered in a thick, soft layer of humus that had accumulated for who knew how many years.

Stepping on it felt like stepping into a rotting swamp, producing unsettling squelching sounds.

At the same time, it gave off a cold, damp, moldy odor tinged with a faint fishy smell.

Most eerie of all was the omnipresent black fog, which seemed almost alive.

It severely limited visibility; everything beyond a few steps was blurred.

Moreover, the fog seemed capable of absorbing even sound.

Once he entered that area, even the wind and insect calls vanished.

Only a deathly silence remained, enough to make one's heart panic.

The Black Pool itself was the central source of that dead region.

Its waters were black as ink and bottomless.

Any light that fell upon it seemed swallowed by that profound darkness, unable to reflect even the slightest gleam.

A layer of almost tangible black mist floated across the water's surface, slowly swirling.

Not a blade of grass grew around the pool.

There were only black rocks, smooth and cold from erosion by some unknown force.

Though Er Ming was reckless by nature, he was not entirely without caution.

He carefully approached the pool's edge.

He wanted to investigate whether some powerful existence or unusual energy fluctuation lay deep within the water.

He was trying to find the Black Dragon the Sky Azure Bull Python had mentioned.

However, just as he reached the pool's edge, lowered his body, and peered into the dark surface—

"Splash—boom!!!"

The originally terrifyingly silent black water suddenly exploded without warning!

A massive black pillar of water shot into the sky.

A huge Black Shadow, thick and long and as swift as black lightning, burst from the water carrying piercing Killing Intent and crushing pressure. Like a life-stealing spear fired from the depths of hell, it lunged straight at Er Ming on the shore!

"Roar?!"

Er Ming focused his eyes!

It was a Flood Dragon!

A black Flood Dragon over twenty meters in Body Length, entirely covered in thick, hard diamond-shaped scales!

Its head was ferocious.

A spiraling black Single Horn grew from its forehead, glinting with metallic coldness.

Two pairs of powerful Sharp Claws grew beneath its belly.

Their Claw Tips were razor-sharp, surely capable of easily tearing through the hardest rock.

Most soul-stirring of all were its Dragon Pupils—cold and merciless, colored Dark Gold.

They were filled with naked Killing Intent!

The instant the Black Flood Dragon appeared.

A powerful Dragon Might mixed with a heavy, mountain-like aura firmly Locked On to Er Ming!

Er Ming had remained alert the entire time.

But he had never expected the other party's attack to be so sudden and swift!

It was a complete ambush!

No honor at all!

"Roar!!!"

He only had time to let out a roar of shock and fury.

In his haste, he swung his enormous fist, comparable to a Battering Ram, gathering all his strength as he smashed it fiercely toward the incoming Black Shadow!

"Clang!!!"

A deafening impact, like two iron mountains colliding, suddenly erupted!

Violent shockwaves spread wildly outward in rings from the point of impact, shearing a layer off the black rocks around the pool!

The instant they collided, Er Ming's heart sank.

Something was wrong!

This Black Flood Dragon's defenses were unimaginably tough!

His fist, capable of collapsing a small mountain and shattering refined steel, struck the creature's scales solidly, yet produced a piercing screech like metal striking metal!

At the same time, an incomparably powerful recoil surged back through his fist, leaving his entire arm numb and even making his bones groan.

As for the Black Flood Dragon.

It was merely knocked backward through the air for a short distance by the tremendous force.

The black diamond-shaped scales on its body had not even gained a noticeable white mark under the furious blow of the Titan Giant Ape, the King of the Forest!

It was absurd!

Its defensive power was likely even more monstrous than that of many Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts famed for their defense.

What made Er Ming feel even more troubled and aggrieved was that.

Not only was the Black Flood Dragon's defense powerful, its attack strength was also astonishing.

Furthermore, every claw strike, bite, and sweep of its Dragon Tail carried immense gravity!

That gravity actually suppressed Er Ming's own gravity and Earth Power.

It seemed to carry the weight of a thousand jun, greatly slowing and affecting his movements, making him feel as if he were trapped in a swamp and unable to move freely.

After one savage exchange.

The Black Flood Dragon seized an opening. Its Dragon Tail, as thick as a Battering Ram, suddenly lashed out, tearing through the air with a shrill howl and smashing viciously into Er Ming's hastily raised arm.

"Crack!"

The incomparably hard black rock beneath Er Ming's feet instantly split apart like brittle crackers, web-like cracks spreading dozens of meters away!

His mountain-sized body was actually sent staggering backward by that tail strike.

His feet plowed two deep furrows through the rocky ground.

But it was not over yet!

Apparently sensing that this "Intruder," Er Ming, was powerful and difficult to deal with.

The Black Flood Dragon's Dark Gold Vertical pupils abruptly narrowed into dangerous pinpoints.

"Roar!!!"

A succession of low Dragon's Roars rolled from deep within its throat like Muffled Thunder.

A horrifying transformation also rapidly took place across its body!

Strands of glaring, eerie dark-red Blood Light burst from the gaps between its thick black diamond-shaped scales!

An even more violent, chaotic, terrifying pressure descended, filled with pure desire for Destruction.

Its Body Size seemed to swell slightly within the Blood Light.

Its originally Dark Gold Vertical pupils were now completely flooded with mad crimson.

Not a trace of reason remained.

There was only the most primal instinct for Slaughter!

The Black Flood Dragon had entered an extremely dangerous Berserk State.

After entering the Berserk State, the Black Flood Dragon became a terrifying machine that knew neither pain nor exhaustion, only mad destruction and slaughter!

Its attacks came like a raging storm—without pattern, yet every strike was lethal—as it crazily poured them onto Er Ming.

Its Sharp Claws tore through the air!

Its Dragon Tail struck so hard that even space trembled!

It even intermittently spat thick, heavy black Water Arrows from its mouth, each carrying an intense gravitational effect!

Although Er Ming was thick-skinned and tough, with astonishing defenses and strength as his greatest advantage.

This was the Black Flood Dragon's home territory.

Suppressed by the omnipresent gravity and Black Water Erosion.

And facing such an irrational, life-for-life berserk assault.

The mighty King of the Forest was actually suppressed for a time and fell into a disadvantage!

The deepest wounds on his body had been torn open by the Berserk Black Flood Dragon's Sharp Claws during close combat!

Black mist still coiled around them.

The eerie black water energy carried by those claws clung to him like gangrene, greatly hindering the healing of his wounds while continuously eroding his flesh and Soul Power.

"Roar! (That damned black loach! It's completely insane! That cursed place is its nest, and it's wicked as hell! Fighting it there puts me at far too great a disadvantage!)"

Er Ming, the Titan Giant Ape, furiously pounded the ground, producing heavy thud-thud sounds that shook the earth and mountains.

Clearly, it felt utterly aggrieved and unwilling to accept such a huge loss.

But as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with extensive combat experience, it was not a blindly reckless Fool.

After realizing that the environment was unfavorable and that its enemy had gone berserk and was difficult to fight head-on,

it decisively chose the wisest course of action: a strategic retreat!

In other words—run for it, damn it!