As Luo Chuan's voice fell, a gigantic demon beast a hundred zhang tall suddenly appeared within the hurricane.
The Hurricane Beast King before them was enormous, with huge, heavily patterned batlike wings that unfurled with astonishing force.
Several twisted, curling horns sprouted from its head, each sharp and marked with unique patterns. Its face resembled a skull, and its red eye sockets and gaping maw gave off a sinister air.
Its hide was rough, its muscles sharply defined, and its talons keen as blades. Its entire form radiated menace, steeped in evil and terror.
"A Beast King at the Great Perfection of the Spirit Severing Realm? My heavens, I never imagined there would be a demon beast of such a realm here. Meng the Hunchback is going to pay for this."
Luo Chuan glanced at Xu Liguo inside the Black Tower, then let his gaze settle on the Hurricane Beast King before him. He gave a cold, indifferent smile.
"Late Spirit Severing Realm, Great Perfection. Heh. Let's see how you can withstand this, Meng the Hunchback."
The Hurricane Beast King glared toward Meng the Hunchback with eyes as large as copper bells, then launched its attack. A deafening sonic wave swept toward him, sending ripples across the void.
"Damn you, human! You've slaughtered countless members of my clan. Today, this king will kill you here and offer you up to appease the Life Souls of my people!"
Meng the Hunchback's pupils shrank abruptly. He stumbled two steps backward and cried out in terror, "Great... Great Perfection of the Spirit Severing Realm? How is that possible?!"
Fear filled Meng the Hunchback's heart. He couldn't believe that his inhumane slaughter had drawn the Beast King out.
Meng the Hunchback clenched his teeth and immediately searched for a way out. Then he spotted Luo Chuan in the distance, and his eyes lit up.
"Fellow Daoist, save me!"
As if he'd seized a lifeline, Meng the Hunchback charged straight toward Luo Chuan, his eyes brimming with excitement.
But before he could get close, countless falling peach blossoms transformed into blades and blocked his way, refusing to let him approach.
Meng the Hunchback stopped and roared in indignation, "Fellow Daoist, what do you mean by this?!"
With one hand behind his back, Luo Chuan gave a cold snort. "This is your business. It has nothing to do with me. Get lost at once, or die!"
When he saw that Luo Chuan refused to help, Meng the Hunchback glared at him in fury. He was just about to shift the danger onto him when the Hurricane Beast King kicked him in the stomach.
The tremendous impact sent Meng the Hunchback flying like a cannonball into the ground. He spat out a mouthful of crimson blood, and his aura immediately weakened.
Meng the Hunchback clenched his teeth and hurriedly carried Li Tian into the Black Tower, hoping only that it could hold the beast off for a while.
But when he saw that all his magical treasures had been shattered, Meng the Hunchback went completely berserk and began howling like a madman:
"Damn beast! Damn little Luo Chuan!"
"If this old hunchback makes it out of here alive, I'll make you pay dearly! I'll see to it that not a trace of you remains!"
Outside the Black Tower, the Hurricane Beast King gave a contemptuous snort. It slowly raised its right hand and slapped the barrier before it.
"The Black Tower can't stop this king! Human, you slaughtered countless members of my clan. You're not leaving here alive!"
Seeing the Black Tower on the verge of breaking, Meng the Hunchback went completely berserk and roared, "No! This old hunchback can't die here! I can't die here!"
Meng the Hunchback looked at Li Tian, who was coughing up blood. He clenched his teeth and walked over with trembling steps, his voice cold.
"There's nothing else I can do now... Li Tian, you've been with me for a thousand years, haven't you?"
"I've treated you well. But now we're facing certain death. If I don't do this, we'll both die here."
Li Tian the Toad had been at his side for thousands of years, never once abandoning him. He had watched it rise from a low-grade spirit beast all the way to a peak high-grade spirit beast, reaching the sub-Desolate level. Given a few more thousand years and the aid of some spirit herbs, it might even become a Desolate-level beast!
Now that the outcome was all but decided, without Li Tian's help, he was certain to die at the hands of this Beast King at the Great Perfection of the Spirit Severing Realm.
Meng the Hunchback seized Li Tian's body and said with a savage grin, "Li Tian, forgive me! This old hunchback wants to live a few more years!"
Before Li Tian's eyes, Meng the Hunchback's hand passed effortlessly through its body and ripped out its completely jade-green core.
Looking at the core in his hand, Meng the Hunchback felt just as reluctant to part with it, but he had no choice. "Li Tian, this is your fate. Blame that little Luo Chuan and this Beast King!"
Without hesitation, Meng the Hunchback swallowed the core. A vast surge of energy spread out in all directions like a raging sea, and the void on either side exploded inch by inch in its wake.
The instant he swallowed the core, Meng the Hunchback's entire body convulsed. His meridians felt as if they were being pierced by ten thousand steel needles. His features twisted in agony, and he let out a bestial howl.
The immense energy rampaged through his body, crashing into every inch of flesh and reshaping it.
Meng the Hunchback's body began to swell. His hunched figure was forcibly straightened, his clothes burst apart, and the veins and tendons beneath his skin bulged like writhing earthworms.
The toadlike pustules on his face swelled even larger. When they burst, what oozed out was no ordinary pus.
It was a viscous, jade-green liquid brimming with poison. It dripped onto the ground with a sizzling hiss, instantly corroding the stone slabs into deep, bottomless pits.
His hair grew at a visible speed, whipping wildly around him. Each strand seemed to hold immense power, slicing through the air with a sharp whistle.
Meng the Hunchback's eyes turned an eerie jade green. Madness and savagery flickered in his pupils as spiritual power surged around him, forming a colossal vortex.
The air was sucked into the vortex. Gravel and dust rose from the ground, whirling at high speed before being ground to pieces.
Under the shroud of this powerful, uncanny force, the already sinister Earth-Element Land grew even more terrifying.
"This body can't go to waste, either!"
Meng the Hunchback licked the slime still clinging to the corner of his mouth. Li Tian's mangled corpse was reflected in his jade-green pupils, and a string of strange laughter suddenly rose from his throat.
His clawlike fingers plunged deep into the toad's swollen belly and ripped out its still-twitching organs.
A foul mist of blood splattered across the wall, where it formed twisted runes. As he wolfed down the flesh, the runes began to wriggle.
"A thousand years together... still not as useful as becoming nourishment for my flesh and blood!"
The skin on Meng the Hunchback's neck suddenly split open. Countless tiny buds of flesh sprouted wildly, instantly wrapping around the torn-off chunks of flesh and devouring them.