Chapter 699 The Battlefield in Ruins
It turned out that all 20 silver b.u.mpers on the front of Black Lightning were long, extremely high-grade Qi swords.
Ding Hao held the long sword in his hand, activated his Qi, and made a backhand slash.
The ma.s.sive body of the giant Golden Baboon instantly cleaved into two like a piece of paper. Black Lightning streaked through the gap, and a powerful gale separated the two gigantic halves. Blood splattered like pouring red seawater, dyeing the boundless sea of trees and land red.
Only after Black Lightning turned into a streak of flowing light, disappearing into the distant horizon, did the Golden Baboon, whose strength was comparable to a half-Martial Emperor’s, hit to the ground after being severed into two. Soon, it was devoured by insects, ants, and ferocious beasts of the dark forest, only leaving behind white bones.
One could see such a phenomenon everywhere in the Bone-burying Forest.
Under its lovely green canopy of tree crowns, countless strange white bones were piled up like mounds, above and below heaps of fallen leaves and humus. It looked as horrifying as a sea of white bones.
“This is…”
Ding Hao suddenly felt a strong aggressive aura a.s.sailing his face from the front. There were also hundreds of powerful aura fluctuations.
Before him, there was a fire that was not yet completely extinguished, with thick black smoke billowing like smoke signals. Large tracts of the forest had burned into ashes, with mountain rocks shattered and a fissure opening up in the earth. Liquid red lava kept gus.h.i.+ng out of this fissure.
In the distance, a huge sinkhole had appeared, with many coral stones at the bottom. This hole must have been a former lake, its water completely evaporated by some terrible magic power. The skeletons of many several-hundred-meter-long monstrous fish could be seen here everywhere.
This must have been a former battlefield.
“Powerful Divines once fought a fierce battle here.” After observing for a while, Uncle Tianshu came to this conclusion.
Ding Hao released his Divine Senses, probing carefully.
Indeed, in this hole, one could detect more than a dozen extremely distinct power imprints. Among them, seven belonged to the Human Clan, with strength at least above a medium-grade Martial Emperor’s. There were also many Martial Grand Emperors. Of the 11 auras belonging to the Demon Clan, there were those of Demon Royals, Demon Emperors, and even Demon Saints.
“Did the experts of the Human Clan and the Demon Clan start a war here?”
This was Ding Hao’s guess.
The forest in front of them was in a great mess, just like a scene after doomsday. Those truly Powerful Divines must have fought a desperate, life-and-death battle here.
“Hmmm… something’s wrong! There’s an aura here. It doesn’t belong to the Human Clan, nor does it belong to the Demon Clan… This aura… is so frightening. Could it be the aura left behind by some Great Kings of the Untainted Land’s Surviving Species?”
Ding Hao suddenly detected something.
Uncle Tianshu examined their surroundings carefully once through, and finally came back. He said with a solemn face, “A kingly beast of the Untainted Land’s Surviving Species has died here. Its strength was not inferior to a Bi Fang’s, that Divine Big Dipper Beast. It was slain by masters of the Human Clan and the Demon Clan who besieged it…”
This conclusion coincided with Ding Hao’s discovery.
“But why is there no trace of a giant beast around? What kind of presence was it?” Ding Hao was puzzled. Not inferior to the strength of a Bi Fang? This sounded absolutely shocking.
Uncle Tianshu shook his head. He did not seem sure himself.
“The body of an exotic beast at this level must be full of treasures. Since it died under siege, its remains must have been carved up immediately, without leaving any trace. I think its body must have been divided by the masters of the Human Clan and the Demon Clan.” After he said this, Uncle Tianshu looked aggrievedly at Ding Hao. “It’s all your fault. If I hadn’t waited for you, I would have caught up with this and grabbed some treasures for myself. Remember, lad, you owe me one.”
“This counts as well?”
Ding Hao found himself somewhat speechless about this greedy old man.
“But it’s kinda strange. The odor of this aura…” Uncle Tianshu twitched his nose as if he had detected something, then he said, “It shouldn’t have turned out this way. What happened?”
“What do you mean?” Ding Hao asked.
“I always feel that the lingering aura of this Surviving Species King is extremely powerful and majestic, at least at the level of a Great Saint. Logically speaking, those experts couldn’t have killed it. Even if it couldn’t defeat them, it could still escape. I didn’t detect the aura of any great formation around. How did those masters of the two clans kill this creature so easily?”
Tianshu was a little confused.
At this moment, something unexpected happened—
“Boohoo… boohoo… woof…” A black beam of light broke free from the arms of the Demon King, Evil Moon, rus.h.i.+ng into the pit below. It let out a sobbing howl, mourning hoa.r.s.ely around a black boulder.
It was that black puppy.
Ding Hao, Tianshu, and Evil Moon were all stunned.
“This little fella… how did it break free from my grasp? And it can… fly?” Evil Moon was a little flabbergasted.
It was clutching the black puppy tightly in its arms. How did this little fella, who had no energy fluctuation in its entire body, break free from its grasp, flying thousands of meters instantly across the sky?
“It can fly?”
And not slower than the angelic wings of Evil Moon!
Tianshu and Ding Hao slowly exchanged glances, and saw the surprise in each other’s eyes, as if they had just seen a ghost.
The two had carefully examined the black puppy earlier, and did not sense any energy fluctuations in its body. From its appearance and the power of its blood and Qi, they were certain that it was no more than a common puppy, weak and pitiful, without the slightest bloodline power in its body… Then how could they explain this scene before their eyes?
Their bodies flashed, and they descended to the bottom of the evaporated lake.
“Boohoo… boohoo… woof…” The black puppy seemed crazy, scampering unsteadily and madly around the black boulder. Its body was so puny that it kept stumbling, as black onyx-like tears fell to the ground, one by one.
Ding Hao observed his surroundings carefully.
The bottom of the pit where those experts had evaporated all the lake water was mostly covered with colorful coral crystals. These coral trees contained abundant elemental water power, and could also be regarded as a cultivation resource.
However, after experiencing that earth-shattering battle, the water elements in these coral trees had totally evaporated. Although they looked beautiful on the outside, they had lost their cultivation value. Experts above the Primordial Realm would not care for such coral trees, even if they could exchange them for gold.
Surrounded by these beautiful, colorful coral trees, the black boulder was oval like a big egg. It looked totally inconspicuous, even somewhat ugly, with a rough surface. As Ding Hao caressed it with his palm, it felt slightly hot, having been exposed to the sun.
This black boulder did not seem to be from underwater, and yet it had appeared in this cl.u.s.ter of coral trees. Was something strange going on here?
Ding Hao and Tianshu were thinking the same thought.
However, from the looks of it, it seemed to be quite ordinary.
The black puppy wailed sorrowfully. Large drops of tears fell to the ground. It scampered around the boulder madly, like there was something trapped inside.
Tianshu put one hand on the black boulder, closing his eyes to probe carefully.
After a while, he shook his head, apparently unable to detect anything.
“It’s just an ordinary rock…” Uncle Tianshu was very disappointed.
Ding Hao went over and picked up the black puppy. He put one hand on the black boulder, and his rippling Divine Senses slowly invaded its interior. He could “see” its extremely delicate rock textures, primitive and simple in every aspect, like a rock that had been weathered for tens of millions of years. There seemed nothing strange about it.
He scanned the interior of the rock with his Divine Senses more than 10 times, but did not find anything unusual.
“Give up, little fella. Stop pretending to be a master. How can you find anything if I can’t?” Uncle Tianshu said disdainfully, “This is no more than an ordinary rock. If there was something magical in it, would it still be lying around, waiting for us?”
This did sound logical.
The experts who had fought here just now were all heroes of their own land. There was no lack of peerless Saint-level experts. If there really was something special about this black boulder, even just a little, they would have taken it away long ago. It would not be abandoned here.
But…
Ding Hao’s intuition could not help sensing something strange about this boulder.
Ever since he started practicing the Mind Essential of the Invincible Fighting Method, he had not only intensified his Divine Senses, but also his intuition. He could faintly detect many extremely strange things, even those that were almost imperceptible. This intuition had helped Ding Hao many times, and he was certain it was right.
Moreover, this black puppy’s reaction was also quite strange.
After observing for a while, Ding Hao still detected nothing.
The black puppy was still struggling, wanting to pounce on the black boulder…
Ding Hao pondered for a while and opened his palm. Icing Qi pervaded the air, and an ice-crystal long sword engraved with inscriptions appeared in his hand. He slashed at the black boulder with a backhand.
Clang!
The strange sound of metal clas.h.i.+ng could be heard.
The ice-crystal long sword with inscriptions fractured into many fragments.
Ding Hao took a deep breath, totally shocked. This long inscription sword condensed by his h.e.l.l Ice Qi was as hard as fortified diamond, and its power as powerful as a high-grade magical weapon. Yet it could not shatter this ordinary rock?
Uncle Tianshu was stunned and gasped in surprise. His face beamed with joy, like he had just discovered a new continent. He threw the big black pot on the black boulder with a crash. Sparks flew everywhere, rumbling like thunder.
“Oh my, it’s so hard.” Uncle Tianshu showed his mouthful of yellow teeth. The big black pot almost flew out of his hand. The spot between his thumb and index finger was ruptured, oozing blood.
Tianshu had unfathomable strength, and the big black pot was even more mysterious. Even the Bi Fang, a Divine Big Dipper Beast, had been quickly refined in it. Yet it too could not break this rock!
“Wow, why is it so hard? This rock is extraordinary. Is there some valuable treasure in it? Hahaha, are we going to be rich?” Uncle Tianshu was not furious but elated. He walked around the black boulder, drooling. After examining it carefully, he was now certain that the boulder was absolutely extraordinary.
“Strike it with the rusted sword.” The Sword Master’s voice resounded in Ding Hao’s mind.
Ding Hao nodded, summoned the rusted sword, and injected a little Qi into it, slas.h.i.+ng down with a backhand.