Encounter

After some more time passed, the two discovered that no matter what they did, they could not leave this storm of wind and sand. They immediately stopped.

"What's going on? Is this sandstorm moving toward us?"

"That's possible." Tao Yan's voice carried a trace of gravity.

"What is this situation? Could it be that those Earthshell Beasts are all fleeing in the direction we were heading?"

Dong Lin looked behind them, but the wind and sand still filled the air there, and he could sense nothing.

"This direction doesn't seem to be where that wasteland is, does it? Don't tell me we just lost our bearings.

"It's dark as night right now, so we really can't distinguish the exact direction. We might have happened to run into it.

"Let's try changing directions and walking for a while. Don't keep going that way."

"We were heading west. How could we have ended up east? Forget it, let's give it a try. We can't go on like this forever.

"If we really stumbled into that desert while following the sandstorm, who knows how many Earthshell Beasts might be waiting there this time."

After discussing it, the two decided to go against the current and head deeper into the sandstorm. As long as they avoided the path they had taken to get here, it would be fine.

Just as they were about to set off, Dong Lin noticed that the ground beneath his feet was unusually soft and curiously stamped on it twice.

Those two steps were like the final straw that broke the camel's back. The ground beneath them suddenly caved in.

The ground within dozens of meters instantly sank, forming an enormous hollow.

With nowhere to gain leverage, the two fell into the hollow along with the earth.

The collapse covered a vast area, and neither Tao Yan nor Dong Lin could find anywhere to brace themselves and leap back up.

They could only use their movement techniques to slow their falling bodies, preventing themselves from being injured upon hitting the ground.

This hollow was quite deep. The two fell several hundred meters before they sensed the ground below.

Relying on her now-proficient Moon-Embracing Step, Dong Lin landed firmly on the ground.

Tao Yan also used continuously forming ice points as footholds, stepping down bit by bit.

"This is..."

Dong Lin summoned the Thunder Fang Beastfire he had successfully refined, illuminating the space.

This underground world was incomparably vast, and the two could not see its full extent.

Fortunately, it was not very high. They could climb back up along the earthen wall of that hollow.

"This place underground is rather creepy. We should get back up first," Tao Yan said.

"Underground is clearly no good place. Let's hurry up and get out."

The two each used their movement techniques, leaped onto the hollow's wall, and slowly began climbing upward.

At that moment, the earth began to tremble. It was that Stone Statue Giant Monster!

The clumps of earth they were gripping with their hands immediately loosened as well, and great swathes of soil fell with the shaking.

Having lost their points of support, the two could only helplessly jump back down into the underground space.

Sure enough, after only a few breaths, that half-crippled Stone Statue Giant Monster appeared in this underground space.

Beside it were four Earth-Element Armored Beasts at Peak First Rank.

The five strange beasts moved swiftly through the underground world. The Stone Statue Giant Monster was far too enormous, so it could only move forward with its waist half-bent and legs crouched.

The sight was exceedingly comical.

Yet Dong Lin and Tao Yan were facing a formidable enemy. The five strange beasts sensed the two ahead and also halted.

"Two humans." The Stone Statue Giant Monster stared at them and made a buzzing sound.

"This strange beast can speak?" Dong Lin looked at it in surprise.

"It is called a Stone Statue Giant Monster. After reaching Second Rank, it awakens intelligence and can be considered a minor demon."

Tao Yan frowned slightly. The five strange beasts before them were entirely beyond what she and Dong Lin could handle.

Hearing the word demon, Dong Lin stared at the massive Stone Statue Giant Monster with some interest, carefully examining it from top to bottom.

The Stone Statue Giant Monster stopped moving after encountering the two, but the other four Earth-Element Armored Beasts, which seemed to be escorting it as it fled, moved swiftly.

The four armored beasts circled around them, slowly surrounding them in a ring before pouncing from all four directions.

At the same time, Tao Yan acted decisively. She directly crushed a Spirit Crystal meant to save her life and unleashed the ultimate immortal art of her cultivation technique.

After casting the spell beyond her limits, Tao Yan's spiritual energy was instantly drained. Fortunately, the abundant power within the Spirit Crystal slowly replenished it.

This kept Tao Yan from collapsing after releasing the spell.

This profound immortal art, Nine Heavens Profound Ice, was an exceptionally powerful killing move.

Ordinarily, one could only cast it after comprehending the relevant True Intent.

Yet Tao Yan forcibly cast it now by relying on the advantages of her Profound Yin Dharma Body.

Ice spikes filling the sky instantly produced sonic booms, tearing through the air as they shot toward the four armored beasts.

The charging Earth-Element Armored Beasts hastily stopped and used the shells on their backs to block the attack of Nine Heavens Profound Ice.

The beasts' incomparably hard shells seemed as thin and brittle as paper at that moment. They were pierced through in an instant, and blood blossomed into the air.

The four armored beasts immediately lost their ability to move, while Tao Yan could no longer hold herself up from the immense expenditure and fell to one knee.

"Junior Brother, please hold off this great demon for a while. Let me rest for a moment."

Such a powerful trump card made Dong Lin see Tao Yan in a new light.

This Second Rank demonic beast before them was indeed somewhat threatening.

However, with a Second Rank lightning talisman as his safeguard, Dong Lin was not too flustered.

At the very least, this was not a dead end.

Dong Lin looked with considerable interest at the Second Rank Stone Statue Giant Monster before him, which moved sluggishly and had nearly exhausted its strength.

Seeing that the human with profound cultivation was nearly unable to hold on.

Although the four helpers sent by the king were also at death's door.

There was only one human left, one who was clearly weaker than itself. It should be easy to deal with.

After making a simple assessment of the situation, the Stone Statue Giant Monster took a step and slowly walked toward Dong Lin.

Every step made the ground tremble.

"I wonder whether you really count as a demon?"

Dong Lin watched the colossal creature approach without changing expression, forming a hand seal.

"Heavenly Stellar Earth-Thunder: Thunderclap Sword Fiend."

This was a lightning arts killing move Dong Lin had created based on his understanding of the Heavenly Stellar Earth-Thunder within Command the Five Thunders, combined with the Thunder Summoning Art.

It condensed Heavenly Stellar Earth-Thunder into a sharp sword of lightning element, which detonated at a fixed point with extreme speed to injure the enemy.

The instant that powerful lightning arts killing move touched the Stone Statue Giant Monster.

Lightning exploded across its stone armor. The Stone Statue Giant Monster's stone body was scorched black, but it seemed that its defenses had not been breached.

"Has the power not improved at all?"

Dong Lin looked at the seemingly unharmed Stone Statue Giant Monster before him and shook his head in disappointment.

But at that moment, the Stone Statue Giant Monster stopped walking and stood motionless, as though it had been stunned senseless by lightning.

"Hm? You... what did you do? My demon power... how could it..."

The Stone Statue Giant Monster, whose intelligence had only just awakened, struggled to speak a few words.

Under the unreasonable destruction of the Heavenly Stellar Earth-Thunder, the meager demon power mastered by the Stone Statue Giant Monster, which had only recently broken through to Second Rank, directly crumbled like tiles and scattered like smoke.

As its demon power dispersed, the beast's stone armor seemed to age rapidly, turning into fine fragments that continuously flaked away.

The thick layer of demonic stone armor it had condensed with demon power after advancing to Second Rank gradually drifted down.