Three Hundred Years Secured

After several consecutive charges, the Underworld Blood Beast King still failed to break through the Ghost Rakshasa Banner's obstruction. Instead, several savage wounds had been added to its body, and the agony and frustration drove it completely berserk.

Roar!

A moment later, the Underworld Blood Beast King suddenly let out a heaven-shaking bellow, and its pitch-black body abruptly turned blood-red. Streaks of bloody light flowed ceaselessly over its surface, and its aura surged wildly along with them.

As its sharp claws swept out, streams of black smoke collapsed and were ground away one after another.

In the end, it lunged fiercely and actually forced its way through the Ghost Rakshasa Banner's blockade, its eyes incomparably vicious as it pounced straight at the two great Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"Not good! This beast has awakened a bloodline demonic art! Junior Sister Chu, if you still don't strike with everything you have now, what are you waiting for?"

Elder Lin's expression changed drastically as he shouted urgently.

Elder Chu's expression shifted several times before she finally gritted her pearly teeth. "After this, Senior Brother had better compensate this little sister double for her losses!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she slapped her storage pouch, and a round pearl the size of a dragon's eye spun out, hovering above the two of them.

Elder Chu's hands formed seals at high speed, and the spiritual power within her body poured madly into the pearl like a flood through an opened sluice.

Crackle!

Countless wandering currents suddenly appeared on the pearl's surface, like one violent electric serpent after another. In the next instant, the pearl exploded with a boom, and a pitch-black bolt of lightning as thick as an arm tore through the sky, cleaving straight toward the Underworld Blood Beast King's skull at a speed difficult for the naked eye to catch!

The lightning was too fast. The Underworld Blood Beast King had no time to dodge at all and was struck squarely!

Boom!

The Underworld Blood Beast King's enormous body was actually blasted backward. A terrifying wound appeared on its skull, flesh and blood melting away, and even its skull had cracked open with a thin fissure.

How could Elder Lin miss such a perfect opportunity?

He immediately controlled the Ghost Rakshasa Banner with all his strength, carrying monstrous ferocious might as it swept toward the wounded Underworld Blood Beast King.

However, under the enhancement of its bloodline demonic art, the Underworld Blood Beast King was tyrannical beyond imagination. Even after suffering a heavy injury, its strength had not diminished much. Every swipe of its claws brought up terrifying claw-light several meters long.

For a time, it actually fell into a stalemate with the Ghost Rakshasa Banner!

The two great Foundation Establishment cultivators had joined forces, yet they still could not take down this wounded beast king.

Elder Lin grew more and more agitated.

With such a huge commotion, if others spied on them and took the chance to pluck the peach, all their previous efforts would be wasted.

"The Underworld Blood Beast King has already been held back by us! All of you, enter the mountain immediately, find its lair, and bring me the Skull Underworld Flower! Whoever succeeds will be richly rewarded!"

Elder Lin's sharp shout clearly entered the ears of every Qi Refining cultivator below, his tone brooking no doubt.

"Yes!"

No one dared defy the command of a great Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Dozens of Qi Refining cultivators all brought out their artifacts, rode streaks of light, and were about to rush toward the depths of Four Underworld Mountain.

Roar!!

Although the Underworld Blood Beast King had been entangled, it still had strength to spare. Its massive body gave a violent shudder, and countless drops of venom shot downward like a sudden storm.

Every drop of venom was faster than a bullet!

The cultivators hurriedly dodged, but two of them were still too slow and were hit by the venom.

Their bodies immediately gave off billowing black smoke, their flesh and blood corroding and melting at a speed visible to the naked eye. Even the magical robes on their bodies were powerless to protect them.

"Elder! Save me! Save me—!"

The two let out screams of utmost misery, but soon completely melted, turning into withered bones that fell to the earth.

All the other Qi Refining cultivators went deathly pale, their hearts and guts turning cold.

"A bunch of fools! Don't go through the air. Enter the forest and spread out!" Elder Lin's furious curse came again.

The surviving cultivators woke as if from a dream and immediately rushed into the forest below. They put away their artifacts, used the trees as cover, and scattered as they charged toward the depths of the mountain range.

With that, the Underworld Blood Beast King truly found it difficult to lock onto any targets. Though it furiously poured venom downward, it could no longer hit a single person.

Very soon, the dozens of cultivators narrowly passed through the area beneath the high-altitude battlefield and broke into the depths of the mountain range.

But just then, the ground shook violently, and large numbers of Underworld Blood Beasts swarmed out from underground, pouncing toward these Qi Refining cultivators. The two sides instantly began slaughtering each other!

Deep within Four Underworld Mountain.

"These two old Foundation Establishment monsters sacrificed eight hundred martial artists, and it was actually for that Skull Underworld Flower?"

Lu Lin had heard everything Elder Lin had said just now, his gaze flickering uncertainly.

A treasure that great Foundation Establishment cultivators were determined to obtain was absolutely precious.

He thought of that piece of Blood Flame Deer antler. Just one piece could be exchanged for sixty years of bitter cultivation.

And this Skull Underworld Flower, which required the sacrifice of eight hundred martial artists and made Foundation Establishment cultivators fight for it with all their might—just how precious must it be?

The spiritual energy contained within it was probably far beyond imagination!

Lu Lin's gaze could not help but turn toward the pitch-black mountain peak from which the Underworld Blood Beast King had rushed out.

"Should I... take the gamble?"

His thoughts raced, and he couldn't help hesitating.

What if there were other terrifying Underworld Blood Beasts in that mountain?

But after thinking it through carefully, there was definitely only one Underworld Blood Beast King.

Otherwise, with the one in the sky locked in a bitter battle, if it had others of its kind, how could they not have stepped in to help?

Besides, since the two great Foundation Establishment cultivators dared to act, they must have scouted things out beforehand.

Without a beast-king-level existence, with his movement technique and aura-concealing art, retreating shouldn't be difficult.

"I'll go over and take a look. If there's danger, I'll withdraw at once. I absolutely must not get greedy!"

Lu Lin made his decision in an instant.

Whoosh!

His figure sprang out like a nimble cat, racing silently toward that mountain peak.

Before long, he had already drawn close to the foot of the mountain.

He did not sense that previous heart-palpitating feeling of crisis, and Lu Lin felt slightly more at ease.

Looking closely, in the middle of the mountain peak made entirely of rock, there was a crack several meters wide, enough for ordinary Underworld Blood Beasts to pass through. As for the previous Underworld Blood Beast King, it had flown out from the top of the mountain, which showed that the summit should be hollow.

But he could not enter from the top. The mountain wall was steep, hard to climb, and would expose him far too easily.

Without hesitation, Lu Lin quickened his steps, and with a flash, charged into that crack.

After advancing over a hundred meters, the view before him suddenly opened up...

The inside of the mountain peak was actually a broad open space, with a huge gap above that cast down faint daylight.

At first glance, Lu Lin saw a small pool in the center of the clearing.

Growing in the pool was an extremely strange plant. Nine palm-sized leaves, pitch-black from top to bottom, together held up a... skull?

No!

Lu Lin focused and looked closely. It was clearly a fruit, yet it looked no different from a skull: two hollow eye sockets, distinct nostrils, a split-open mouth... There was even black smoke constantly spewing from that "mouth," only to be drawn back in through the eye sockets, cycling again and again. It was extraordinarily eerie.

"This is... the Skull Underworld Flower?"

Lu Lin's heart stirred, and he approached cautiously.

The Martial Dao Melting Furnace inside his body immediately began to tremble violently!

Lu Lin instantly mobilized all his vital blood, spread it densely across his palm, then slowly reached toward that bizarre plant...

Discovered a large amount of medium-grade spiritual energy. Can be exchanged for three hundred years of bitter cultivation. Exchange?

Three hundred years!

Lu Lin's heart jolted hard!

A full three hundred years of bitter cultivation!

"Exchange! Exchange it immediately!"

An unprecedentedly majestic surge of energy instantly poured along his arm into his sea of consciousness, where it was greedily absorbed by the Martial Dao Melting Furnace.

Looking again at his cultivation time, it had already become: three hundred forty-seven years and two months.

As for the Skull Underworld Flower in the pool, it quietly turned into a pinch of powder, dissolved into the water, and vanished without a trace.

"Three hundred years... in my hands!"

Lu Lin's breathing couldn't help growing a little heavy, and intense excitement battered his mind.

"I have to leave as soon as possible!"

He forcefully suppressed his excitement, let out a long breath to calm himself down, then turned and rushed toward the outside of the crack at top speed.

He had to find a safe place and completely transform this massive amount of cultivation time into his own strength!

Lu Lin quickly rushed out of the mountain peak, plunged headlong into the dense forest, and ran at full speed in the direction away from the battlefield. In moments, he had already charged several li away...

Yet right at this moment...

Lu Lin suddenly felt his scalp go numb, and a lethal sense of crisis made every hair on his body stand on end!

There was no time to think at all. He relied entirely on instinct and lunged forward into a roll.

Hiss!

A dark ray of light shot out from a great tree behind him and struck precisely where he had just been standing, cleaving a terrifying, bottomless crack into the ground!