A Crocodile with Scaled Armor

A Crocodile with Scaled Armor

The Dragon Clan Grand Hall.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

The floating Kunpeng Bone Wings sliced through the flesh on Jin Ming's back like blades, exposing the brilliant golden lion bones, tinged faintly with blood-red. The pain of having his flesh cut and bones scraped made Jin Ming roar in agony again and again.

The Kunpeng Bone Wings pressed against the faintly blood-gold spine. A powerful Fusion Power forcefully joined them to the Blood Gold Lion Bone Spine like a mixer grinding ingredients together.

Jin Ming's massive body trembled slightly. It was hard to imagine the agony he was enduring.

As the fusion began, the Spatial Power within the Kunpeng Bone Wings—only just sealed by Yuan Gan—began to seep out under the strange Fusion Power.

Yuan Gan was slightly startled, but the fusion had already begun, and he didn't dare interfere recklessly. Jin Ming would have to rely on himself. Fortunately, the Spatial Power being released was still within what he could withstand.

The Spatial Power within the Kunpeng Bone Wings struggled harder and harder against the Fusion Power. Looking closely, the wings had already connected firmly to the Blood Gold Spine.

"Phew!" Yuan Gan let out a breath, but his attention didn't waver for a moment. If anything, it grew more focused.

Time passed, second by second. The Golden Sun Nether Lion's phantom had long since drawn back inside Jin Ming, but the Kunpeng Bone Wings remained unchanged. There had been no further progress.

Yuan Gan frowned at the sight, but there was nothing he could do. The secret of Bone Fusion was an innate inheritance of the Golden Sun Nether Lion Clan. It had never been recorded in any ancient book or text.

In the blink of an eye, seven days passed. The fusion had made no more progress than it had on the first day.

Yuan Gan, seated on the dais, clenched his hands slightly. Faint purple-gold Yuan Power gathered around them. He wanted to forcibly stop the Bone Fusion; with the Dragon Clan's resources, he might still be able to preserve Jin Ming's cultivation path.

Yuan Gan had just pressed a hand against Jin Ming's brow when the light of fusion suddenly blazed. The force knocked his hand away.

Spatial Power erupted at the same time, suppressing the Fusion Power in turn. Space around Jin Ming rumbled, and at last, everything in the grand hall shattered like glass.

"Hmph!"

Yuan Gan gave a cold snort, and everything broken in the grand hall returned to its original state. No matter how widely the Spatial Power scattered, it could no longer damage anything inside.

Jin Ming opened his tightly shut beast eyes, and the weakened Fusion Power surged once more, suppressing the Spatial Power again. This time, however, the Fusion Power slowly formed a thick layer of energy and blood that wrapped around the Kunpeng Bone Wings.

Enclosed by the blood film, the Kunpeng Bone Wings gradually shrank until they clung to the Blood Gold Spine like intricate secret markings. The flesh torn open by the wings also healed under the Fusion Power.

But the Bone Fusion wasn't over. In fact, the process of assimilating the Kunpeng Bone Wings into his own bones was only just beginning.

The dense Fusion Power flowed like silk, wrapping around Jin Ming and forming a Golden Cocoon several meters across.

When the Golden Cocoon formed, the strange Fusion Power drew completely inside it.

Yuan Gan saw this and swept his hand like a blade. A spatial passage appeared before him. With a wave of his hand, he wrapped the Golden Cocoon in vast Yuan Power, then stepped into the passage, the cocoon following close behind.

They emerged in a small world. Yuan Gan levitated the Golden Cocoon and gently brushed its surface with a finger. The endless Yuan Power within the small world slowly gathered over it.

Yuan Gan estimated that it would take at least twelve or thirteen years for Jin Ming to complete the Bone Fusion and fully assimilate the Kunpeng Bone Wings—which had survived the Triple Reincarnation Tribulation—into his own bones.

Once he had taken care of everything, Yuan Gan left the small world.

Nearly half a month had passed since Mountain Survival began. Everyone in the Rock Mist Mountain Range had hunted several demonic beasts. Liu Qing's group had naturally hunted the most, with a full twenty demonic beasts. Even the group with the fewest had collected Demon Crystals from thirteen.

Long Jiuyyao's group had collected exactly fourteen Demon Crystals, meaning they had hunted fourteen demonic beasts. One of them was a Half-step Creation Realm Blade Tail Flood Dragon, with a third of a Flood Dragon Bloodline in its body. Two distinct bulges had begun to rise on its head, proof that it was on the verge of transforming into a flood dragon. But the three of them had put an end to that possibility.

The fight had left all three injured to varying degrees. Both of Long Jiuyyao's arms were nearly useless, and he had many wounds across his body. Lan Xinhuang's arms were covered in cuts from its blade-like tail, while several deep gashes on her back exposed bone. Yuan Xin, by comparison, had come off relatively well.

Still, the three had found plenty of healing Spiritual Medicines in the Rock Mist Mountain Range, along with a Spirit Spring. Even so, their recovery would take time.

Lan Xinhuang wasn't worried about the cuts on her back. She only needed to soak in the Spirit Spring, and the wounds would heal naturally without leaving scars.

Fortunately, the three had mostly suffered external injuries. A few days of rest would heal most of them, and the Blade Tail Flood Dragon's carcass was more than ten meters long, enough to feed them for nearly ten days.

Long Jiuyyao wasn't worried about his injured arms. After tempering his body with Azure Crackle Violet Lightning, his physique had become incredibly strong, and the Ancient Dragon Bone already had astonishing healing power.

A few days later, Mountain Survival was already halfway over. Today, Long Jiuyyao and the two women stopped guarding their little patch of territory and set off, fully prepared, for the mountain range's depths.

Thanks to the Spirit Spring and Spiritual Medicines, their injuries had nearly healed. They hadn't been idle while recovering, either; they had learned a few things about the deeper parts of the Rock Mist Mountain Range.

They had also hunted every demonic beast in the surrounding area. There were none left to find here, so if they wanted more Demon Crystals and a chance to win, they had no choice but to venture deeper into the mountain range.

Long Jiuyyao packed the extra food into the Blade Tail Flood Dragon's shed skin. The skin of a Half-step Creation Realm flood dragon had enormous capacity and was exceptionally tough. It could shrink to the size of a washbasin without losing any of its capacity. The discovery excited Long Jiuyyao. At the very least, storing their Demon Crystals and food would now be safer and more convenient.

Long Jiuyyao carried the shed skin as the two women followed behind him into the mountain range's depths. The mist was much thicker there, faintly blocking spiritual perception. It was nothing like the outer reaches, where they could move about freely.

The two women's spiritual perception was nowhere near as strong as Long Jiuyyao's, and the dense mist deeper in the range showed no sign of clearing. To keep from getting separated, they had to stay close and hold firmly to the hem of his clothes.

That intimate gesture made Yuan Xin happy, while the usually aloof Lan Xinhuang's cheeks flushed with a hint of shyness.

It was their first time venturing deep into the mountain range, so the three didn't move quickly. Instead, they advanced with caution at every step. The ancient trees deeper in were thicker and denser.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Long Jiuyyao stopped warily, and the two women stopped with him. "It sounds like there's fighting up ahead. Let's go take a look."

A crocodile-like demonic beast, about seven meters long, had four eyes and thick limbs as wide as barrels. Black scales covered its entire body, each one about the size of a palm and seemingly incredibly tough.

But two of its four eyes had been blinded, and many of its scales had been knocked off, leaving its flesh bloody and mangled. Two of its limbs were bent at unnatural angles, seemingly broken, though they remained attached by strips of flesh.

"As expected of a Major Qi Creation Realm Scaled Fear Crocodile. Its defenses are incredible," the bald, burly man at the front said in a deep voice.

All three men had suffered injuries. Their robes were half-ruined, riddled with large tears. The green-robed man was in the worst shape: his breastbone was slightly caved in, and his breathing was weak. It seemed the Scaled Fear Crocodile had dealt him a devastating blow.

The three men formed a triangle around the badly wounded Scaled Fear Crocodile. Even though it was seriously injured, they didn't let their guard down.

"Roar!" The Scaled Fear Crocodile raised its head and roared furiously.

"Su Qing, Wang Li, be careful. That beast might make a desperate last stand," the bald man warned.

At his words, the other two circulated their Yuan Power, wary of a sudden attack from the Scaled Fear Crocodile.

By then, Long Jiuyyao and the two women had stealthily reached an ancient tree and were watching the other contestants hunt.

Long Jiuyyao saw the scales on the Scaled Fear Crocodile gleaming with dazzling black light. He knew it was preparing to fight to the death. Facing a Qi Creation Realm demonic beast that was ready to die fighting, even those three would have to pay a hefty price to kill it.

From what Long Jiuyyao could sense, the bald man was at the Major Form Creation Realm, while the other two were at the Minor Form Creation Realm.

Since Long Jiuyyao had come across them, he naturally wouldn't just stand by while they hunted the Scaled Fear Crocodile. He could hunt them afterward—like a mantis stalking a cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

The dense mist had been scattered by the fierce battle and wouldn't gather again for a while, so visibility wasn't a problem.

Long Jiuyyao took out three Bone Swords, made from bones he had taken from demonic beasts he'd hunted earlier. Each sword had been fashioned from the hardest bone in its beast's body.

Long Jiuyyao's group weren't the only ones with weapons. The three fighting the Scaled Fear Crocodile had weapons too: the bald man had a Bone Spear, the green-robed Su Qing had a Bone Blade, and the red-robed Wang Li had a Bone Sword.

Weapons were a great help in surviving and hunting demonic beasts, so every contestant fashioned a handy weapon from the bones of the beasts they hunted.