Battle of the Colossal Beasts

Chapter 37: Battle of the Giant Beasts

The Xuanji Primordial Spirit had taken form, and his entire body's demonic aura had already transmuted into magic power; he could be considered to have stepped through the gates of cultivation. Especially since his previous life was human, his current transformation was perfect—in some aspects, even superior to the Primordial World's great gods like the Golden Crow or Kunpeng.

He rode a cloud out of the canyon and continued on foot. His three-colored auspicious cloud was far too eye-catching; from a great distance, it would attract the attention of giant beasts. At this moment, Xuanji's cultivation was only at the mid-stage of the Primordial Spirit realm. Although his Primordial Avatar had reached the peak of the late-stage Loose Immortal realm, even with the added power of the Ancient Wild World, he feared he was still far from matching an Earth Immortal.

Loose Immortal and Earth Immortal were two entirely different levels; the difference between these realms was as vast as the distance between heaven and earth.

The wild mountains and ridges were forested with pitch-black giant trees, stretching out boundlessly. From time to time, strange, jet-black flowers grew among them. In this Great Beast Calamity, no living creature in the Primordial World could escape unscathed, not even the plants and trees. Now, at the dawn of the Era of Giant Beasts, it was impossible for Xuanji to find even a single strand of heaven-and-earth essence.

The mountain paths were rugged and difficult to traverse. There were no roads, and while he hadn't felt it while flying on clouds, now that he was walking on foot in human form, Xuanji felt that every step was a struggle.

Whoosh!

A nearby pitch-black strange flower suddenly lunged at Xuanji. The flower was covered in sharp thorns and bit down like a giant maw. A fierce gust of wind rose, its speed no less than a strike from the peak of the late-stage Golden Core realm.

Boom! Bang!

Although the strange flower was very close and its attack was swift, it was still far inferior to Xuanji. With a wave of his hand, a mass of three-colored flame erupted instantly, wrapping around the flower and scorching it. Within a few breaths, the flower was incinerated and reduced to a faint wisp of black smoke that dissipated into the air.

"To think that even a common wild flower, once seen everywhere, now possesses strength no less than the late-stage Golden Core realm. The aura of Gods and Devils is truly terrifying!" It was fortunate that Xuanji had been cautious and kept his distance from the giant trees and vegetation; otherwise, he would surely have died under such an attack.

"My current cultivation is too dangerous. It seems I must forge a few magic treasures to protect myself and defend against enemies." He pondered inwardly. At this time, the Primordial World was filled with countless high-grade forging materials, and he possessed the forging techniques derived by the Heavenly Dao of the Ancient Wild World. He believed the grade of the treasures he forged would not be low.

With his mind made up, Xuanji immediately sought out a desolate valley to enter. This valley was narrow; while his human form could enter easily, those giant beasts could not.

Inside the narrow, desolate valley, not a blade of grass grew, and there was no sign of life. Before his eyes, the four walls rose a hundred feet high. Xuanji released his divine sense to probe the earth within the walls. After a long while, a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes, and a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. He quickly arrived before the left wall and extended his right arm. A brilliant three-colored radiance flashed; when the light faded, his right arm had transformed into a ferocious giant pincer. The cyan pincer was densely covered in golden talismanic seals, and rows of pitch-black, extremely sharp thorns glinted with a chilling, intimidating light.

Semi-demonic transformation!

After a demon transformed into human form, although achieving the Innate Dao Body was helpful for cultivation, in terms of raw power, the demonic form was still three parts more formidable.

Bang! Boom! Crack!

The giant pincer plunged into the mountain wall at high speed. The hard rock seemed no different from paper or tofu, unable to offer the slightest resistance. Xuanji's entire pincer sank into the wall, and as he slowly withdrew it, the massive wall trembled violently. The hole created by the pincer was riddled with spreading cracks, and fine debris fell continuously.

Bang!

As the pincer emerged, gravel scattered. A lump of iron ore, twice the size of Xuanji himself, was pulled out. The ore was entirely silver-white, with light flowing across its surface and faint golden threads flickering within.

"High-grade Xuan Iron? It contains the Geng Metal Qi?" Xuanji was slightly surprised upon seeing the ore. Xuan Iron was a top-tier forging material, only slightly inferior to Taiyi Gold Essence. This piece of Xuan Iron could be called the best of its kind, and with the Geng Metal Qi contained within, it was in no way inferior to Taiyi Gold Essence. If this were in a later age, it would surely trigger a war in the cultivation world.

Having obtained the material, Xuanji immediately began to forge. The Xuanji True Fire emerged once more. This fire was no ordinary flame; one could possess Golden Core fire at the Golden Core realm, and thereafter, one could utilize True Fire at the Primordial Spirit realm. True Fire was divided into three levels. The Xuanji True Fire was formed by fusing the first level of True Fire with the Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend energies and the power of the Primordial. Its power was comparable to a second-level True Fire—extremely formidable. One must know that second-level True Fire could only be utilized at the Hexu realm, while third-level True Fire required the Loose Immortal realm.

The Xuanji True Fire enveloped the Xuan Iron, beginning to scorch and melt it, refining away impurities and elevating the grade of the material.

It was, after all, a piece of Xuan Iron comparable to Taiyi Gold Essence; even under the Xuanji True Fire, it melted slowly. However, Xuanji was not in a hurry. Possessing twenty-five Primordial Spirits, his magic power was almost infinitely cyclical. Furthermore, with the aid of the Ancient Wild World, maintaining the Xuanji True Fire for a year or half a year was not a problem at all. Moreover, having achieved the Primordial Spirit realm, he had already reached the state of bigu—abstaining from grain—and could survive on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth alone.

Time passed slowly. Suddenly, the power of the stars surged. Although it was still daytime, Xuanji knew night had fallen. Half a day had passed, and the Xuan Iron was now half-melted. The remaining half melted more slowly as the density of the iron increased, making the difficulty of melting it double.

"To think that forging is not simple at all! It's nothing like the ease described in the novels of my past life!" He thought with frustration. Xuanji felt the urge to increase the power of his Xuanji True Fire. If melting a single piece of high-grade Xuan Iron was this difficult, he feared that even if he had the materials in the future, he wouldn't be able to melt them to forge Post-Heaven Spirit Treasures.

As he continued to melt the ore, the power of the sun surged. After a night of painstaking effort, the Xuan Iron was basically completely melted, with only a tiny core remaining difficult to liquefy. It wasn't until the sun's power was at its strongest at high noon that the iron finally melted completely. Now, within the three-colored brilliant divine fire, a large mass of golden-silver liquid floated, the essence of the Xuan Iron and the Geng Metal Qi perfectly fused within.

His divine sense surged into the golden-silver liquid. Following Xuanji's intent, the liquid gradually solidified into an archaic, large cauldron and a three-foot-three-inch precious sword. The cauldron had three legs and two handles; the lid was divided into eight apertures and nine palaces, containing the Yin Yang and Eight Trigrams within. The body of the cauldron was engraved with the four holy beasts: the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermillion Bird, and Black Tortoise, with golden and silver light flowing across it. The sword was archaic and natural, faintly emitting a sharp, piercing edge.

Once the cauldron and sword solidified, Xuanji immediately began to weave hand seals. They were extremely clumsy, yet he made no mistakes. As the seals were woven, streams of three-colored spiritual light poured into the cauldron and sword. After the light entered, both items vibrated incessantly until Xuanji stopped.

His divine sense entered both items, leaving a mark in each, and Xuanji withdrew the Xuanji True Fire. The two items had been successfully forged; one could see the three-colored precious light swirling around them, suffused with a misty aura.

"A low-grade Spirit Treasure? The grade is a bit low, but for a first attempt at forging, this is acceptable. The Primordial Sword is only a low-grade Immortal Treasure, after all. The Mount Sumeru Earth Array and the Geng Metal Sharpness Array have also been imbued." Xuanji was satisfied with the two spirit treasures he had forged. Forging a low-grade Spirit Treasure on his first attempt wasn't too bad, considering his cultivation was only at the Primordial Spirit realm.

(Magic treasure grade classification: from low to high, they are Dharma Treasure, Precious Treasure, Spirit Treasure, Immortal Treasure, Post-Heaven Spirit Treasure, Innate Spirit Treasure, Post-Heaven Supreme Treasure, Innate Supreme Treasure, Heavenly Dao Divine Artifact, and Supreme Dao Divine Artifact. Each level is divided into low, middle, and high grades.)

The Xuanji Cauldron transformed into a streak of three-colored light and sank into Xuanji's brow, entering the Ancient Wild World to be nurtured and attuned. With the help of the Primordial Avatar, he believed that upgrading it to an Immortal Treasure was only a matter of time. He held the Xuanji Sword in his hand; with the aid of a Spirit Treasure, his safety factor had doubled!

With the forging complete, Xuanji once again set out on his journey. This forging process had also been of great help to his cultivation, and his magic power had become much more profound. Of the three thousand Great Daos, forging was also a path of cultivation.

He traveled exclusively through wild mountains and ridges. In these rugged mountain paths, where vegetation and living creatures were extinct, all the myriad spirits of the Primordial World had evolved due to the aura of Gods and Devils. It was unlikely that naturally born spirits would appear within ten thousand years, and even if they did, they would only be food for giant beasts, demon trees, and strange flowers.

Whoosh!

A flash of three-colored light, and a Demon Flower that had been hiding in wait to ambush him was instantly severed by the Xuanji Sword. Pitch-black, foul-smelling, filthy blood flowed across the ground. Xuanji walked slowly, the Xuanji Sword circling his body; the art of sword control was extremely easy for him at this moment.

Awoo! Roar!

At this moment, the sound of wolf howls and giant roars erupted from far away. Xuanji was startled, quickly putting away the Xuanji Sword and restraining his aura. He then quietly approached. Since leaving the canyon, he hadn't yet seen a single giant beast, and he was quite curious. It was clearly a battle between two giant beasts, and Xuanji did not want to miss it, so he carefully hid and approached.

As he drew closer, the wolf howls and roars grew louder, and the sounds of explosive combat came incessantly. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth formed chaotic winds, the earth and mountains trembled, and waterfalls and rivers surged...

"Is this the battle of the Earth Immortal realm? It's truly terrifying!" Before he had even gotten close, the power of the battle already made Xuanji feel uncomfortable. His blood surged in reverse, and his internal organs ached faintly. He was shocked and hurriedly utilized the power of his Primordial Avatar. Only after imbuing himself with the magic power of a peak late-stage Loose Immortal did he recover. As for the power of the Ancient Wild World, he could not use it unless absolutely necessary, or it would affect the evolution of the Ancient Wild World or even cause the world to regress.

After a long while, Xuanji finally saw the two giant beasts in battle. He was currently on a mountain peak, and below him lay a vast, lush giant forest. Everything he saw was pitch-black; the trees, flowers, and giant beasts were all extremely dark.

In the giant forest, two giant beasts, each about a hundred feet tall, were fighting. They were a wolf and a leopard. Both beasts were covered in pitch-black iron armor, densely packed with ferocious thorns like broadswords. Their tails were like giant steel dragons, and as they swung them, the sound of air explosions rang out continuously. The force of the wind was so great that some of the surrounding giant trees were uprooted and sent flying.

Claws, fangs, tearing, tail strikes, collisions—there were also hundreds of broadsword-like thorns flying around, attacking as if controlled by sword arts. Xuanji watched, dumbfounded. Each broadsword thorn was definitely no less powerful than Xuanji's full-force sword control while imbued with the Primordial Avatar.

"These are only low-level giant beasts. How formidable must the high-level giant beasts be?" As he pondered, the two giant beasts below leaped into the sky to fight. Xuanji was startled and hurriedly hid, restraining his aura, holding his breath, and even controlling his body temperature to the lowest possible point.

Bang! Bang! Clang! Clang! Boom! Boom!

The two giant beasts fought from the clouds down into the giant forest, and from the giant forest back into the clouds. An area of tens of thousands of miles was affected by the battle between the two beasts.

The broadsword thorns constantly collided and shattered, and the protective iron armor was riddled with cracks under the fierce onslaught. Pitch-black blood sprayed across the heavens and earth. The intensity of the battle left Xuanji, who was watching from hiding, feeling shocked beyond measure.