Chapter 563: I'm Really Not a Stone Monster

"To think I'd ultimately fall into this brat's hands!" The Demonic Heart Cave Master was filled with rage and hatred.His heart was filled with unwillingness. If he hadn't been hit by the divine ability Red Heart Quail Arrow beforehand, if he hadn't undergone a fierce battle earlier, how could Ning Zhuo have seized this opportunity?But now the facts were as solid as iron. Even though the Demonic Heart Cave Master was unwilling, he could only escape with his Nascent Soul, soaring through the air."Ning Zhuo, your enmity with me is irreconcilable. Just you wait!" Before leaving, the Demonic Heart Cave Master's Nascent Soul let out a shrill cry, extremely piercing to the ear.Ning Zhuo let out a deep sigh.He desperately wanted to capture the Demonic Heart Cave Master's Nascent Soul, but he had no way.Sun Lingtong lamented, "This person also has his means. He actually entrusted his Nascent Soul within his heart, forming a peculiar technique of substitutionary death.""Thus, it's as if he has several lives, and even after being struck by the divine ability Red Heart Quail Arrow, he still survived."The Demonic Heart Cave Master's combat strength was not as high as Elder Long's, but his life-preserving techniques were exceptionally formidable, surpassing the latter.No matter how strong Elder Long was, he only had one life.On the edge of the battlefield, Lin Bufan, who was concealing himself, had a strange look on his face: "This kid Ning Zhuo actually killed a Nascent Soul cultivator.""Though he only landed the final blow, if he hadn't acted promptly, the Demonic Heart Cave Master would have caught his breath and been able to regroup!""By then, it would have been General Mu Lan who was unable to unleash her divine ability a second time, and she would inevitably have fallen into an absolute disadvantage!""Ning Zhuo is only in the Foundation Establishment stage. With this battle record, he has ample reason to be proud."The scene of Ning Zhuo slaying the Demonic Heart Cave Master was deeply etched in Lin Bufan's heart, and it completely changed his impression of Ning Zhuo.All along, due to the difference in their cultivation levels, he had always felt a sense of superiority over Ning Zhuo.Now, having personally witnessed the Demonic Heart Cave Master's fate, Lin Bufan's attitude towards Ning Zhuo deep down had undergone a complete transformation."This kid Ning Zhuo is indeed worthy of being favored by the Southern Bean royal family," Lin Bufan sincerely exclaimed, his gaze shifting to Zhu Xuanji beside him.Zhu Xuanji nodded slightly, thinking to himself: "This is the Son of Tribulation.""He has only just begun wandering the world and is merely in the Foundation Establishment stage, yet he has already created so much commotion.""At just over a dozen years old, he already holds the life of a Nascent Soul cultivator in his hands.""Truly..."From this perspective, Zhu Xuanji also fell significantly short of Ning Zhuo."What?! The Demonic Heart Cave Master has actually died in battle!""He was killed by Ning Zhuo, despicable!""Retreat, quickly retreat!"Although the Demonic Heart Cave Master's Nascent Soul escaped, the fact of his defeat and death had a widespread impact.Many cultivators who witnessed this scene with their own eyes were already low in morale, and now they completely lost their will to fight, turning around and fleeing.If it were a qualified allied army, there would surely be supervisory teams to severely punish or even execute deserters at this moment.But firstly, the allied army of the Thousand Peaks Forest had been formed for a short time and its organization was not yet complete. Secondly, the core high-level cultivators were stuck in the quagmire of the core battlefield, unable to extricate themselves, let alone attend to other matters.One deserter appeared in the Thousand Peaks Forest, and soon it led others, resulting in a second, a third...Like a plague, the number of deserters grew.Ning Zhuo's battle record of slaying the Demonic Heart Cave Master triggered a qualitative change in morale, igniting the collapse of the Thousand Peaks Forest Alliance.Seeing the enemies fleeing in all directions, the morale of the Two Zhuo Kingdom's army soared, and they cheered repeatedly!On the side of the Thousand Peaks Forest, there were also Nascent Soul cultivators who wanted to turn the tide, shouting loudly. But in this vast battlefield, Nascent Soul cultivators also seemed relatively insignificant.He might be able to kill thousands of people, but to change the hearts of tens of thousands is extremely difficult. "The tide has turned!""The tide has turned...""Damn it, who can reverse this situation?"Like the receding tide, the steadfast core force that remained on the battlefield stood out. They all had the will to fight to the death, and at the same time, they cried out in their hearts: "Where is the Dragon King? Isn't the Ginseng Beard Dragon King taking action yet?!"In such a dire situation, only the Divine Transformation level Ginseng Beard Dragon King personally participating in the battle could overturn the situation.Deep underground.The Dragon King's Secret Shrine.A sacrifice had already reached its climax.Incense smoke curled, sacrificial offerings were piled like mountains, and several Dragon King Shrine Keepers shouted in unison."We humbly submit that the Xuanhuang was divided, and plants became sentient. Thousand Peaks nurtured beauty, and nine orifices contained essence. Giving birth to dragon beards to support the earth veins, transforming into human form to govern the mountain court. When the roots and whiskers move, rivers change course, and when the ginseng leaves sway, the stars shift positions...""Honored God Ginseng Beard Dragon King: You carry the profound virtue of Wuji, and possess the true form of Jiamu. Your roots are anchored in the nine netherworlds connecting to the yellow springs, and your crown supports the Purple Tenuity connecting to the Jade Clarity. You drink the morning dew to cleanse the miasma of the eight directions, and absorb the moonlight to suppress the demonic stars of the four seas...""Now, evil miasma covers the sun, and demonic flames burn the forest. Tiger monsters tear the earth, and snake mothers devour the clouds. The old怪 in the stone steals the high-ranking demonic heart, and the strong men outside the forest cook the mountain god for soup. The three rivers' spiritual springs are dry, and the five-colored soil becomes foul. The fox mourns the bones on the cliff, and the crane cries over the ice at the bottom of the ravine. Hundreds of beasts lose their nests, and a thousand grasses have their roots cut off...""We devoutly pray that the Dragon King extends his coiled whiskers to sweep the world, and wields his ginseng leaves to establish heaven and earth. Where the roots and whiskers rise, the demonic body of the old怪 in the stone is torn; where the ginseng fragrance passes, the foolish souls of the demons outside the cave are awakened...""May the peach trees of the eastern ridge bloom again, and the spiritual springs of the western ravine warm once more. May the cranes return to the southern abyss, and the cloud roots be stationed on the northern cliff...""We respectfully offer millennium-old He Shou Wu as candles, and ten-thousand-year-old Poria frost as fine wine. We dedicate three pairs of tiger eyes to forge divine eyes like lightning; we present nine eagle feathers to transform into sharp blades for slaying demons. Furthermore, we take the heart's blood of innocents to write the sacrificial text for mountains and rivers!""May the honored god display the might of creation and exhale the essence of ginseng. Return to us the lush greenery of the Thousand Peaks Forest Sea, and renew this heaven and earth, sun and moon!""We bow a hundred times, striking our heads, and weep with this plea."Blood Sacrifice!A large number of fresh offerings were harvested simultaneously with the recitation of the sacrificial text.Surging life force, and a massive amount of divine power provided by various deities, mixed together to form an extremely vast torrent, flowing downwards, deeper into the earth, reaching the earth veins!Since the first great battle, the Ginseng Beard Dragon King had suffered heavy injuries and had been recuperating in the earth veins.From deep within the earth veins, faint sounds of a dragon's roar could be heard, and amidst the surging earth energy, a vague dragon shape actually condensed.This was no ordinary sign!The Ginseng Beard Dragon King had painstakingly managed, using his own essence blood, dragon essence, and countless divine power, to continuously refine the earth veins, and had already refined the earth veins into a vague dragon shape.When the time truly came for spirit and form to be one, this vast earth vein beneath the Thousand Peaks Forest would also be promoted to a dragon vein!And the Ginseng Beard Dragon King, who controlled the dragon vein, would have the preliminary qualification to establish a cultivation kingdom!At this moment, the Ginseng Beard Dragon King received a massive amount of nourishment from the blood sacrifice, and his aura surged.He slowly opened his eyes, and a thought arose in his divine sea: "It's time to move."Demonic Technique - Earth Vein Travel!Twelve waterfalls of green vines descended one after another, and the mountain body spiraled upward. In the marshland, large patches of glowing fungal mats floated, and fireflies mingled with eerie green phosphorescence.It was the Coiled Vine Peak.The usually tranquil marshland was now extraordinarily "lively."The phosphorescence surged, forming a sea of green fire. Fireflies fluttered everywhere, countless in number.The cause of this commotion was Gao Cuo.At this moment, he was casting a spell to collect the Firefly Shroud buried in the marshy mud.At the bottom of the decaying marsh of Coiled Vine Peak, countless decaying corpses and the dead roots of myriad green vines became the soil for fireflies to breed and live. In various life activities, countless fireflies also influenced their lifebed, unconsciously transforming it.A thin veil was spread over the surface of millions of decaying corpses for the fireflies to live on.The veil was the boundary between life and death, containing the mysterious dao韵 of life and death mixed together.Large swathes of the veil covered nearly ten mu of land, almost transparent, reflecting the light of the fireflies, sometimes showing alternating changes of black and white.Gao Cuo continuously extracted the veil and collected it into his bag."Success!""Our strategy was correct. After posing as the old怪 in the stone, the Jade Vine Doctor indeed did not dare to act rashly.""We are extracting the Firefly Shroud, which is equivalent to extracting the foundation and core of Coiled Vine Peak. But this Nascent Soul cultivator can only watch helplessly,缩d inside her deep lair."Gao Cuo was very excited in his heart.This treasure was very important to him. As long as it was properly handled, he could disguise himself as a dead object, greatly broadening his survival range and significantly enhancing his combat ability."After the previous two failures, my luck has finally arrived this time, Hahaha." Gao Cuo was very happy.From the moment he started to now, everything had gone very smoothly."Let's leave this place after collecting this patch. Leave one or two patches of marshland for the Jade Vine Doctor, just in case it enrages her into taking action, which would be more loss than gain!" The reminder from Elder Sword echoed in Gao Cuo's mind.Gao Cuo nodded: "Elder Sword, you are right, I intended to do the same. There's no need to go for the kill, forcing the Jade Vine Doctor into a furious attack would be going too far..."Just as they were talking, the earth shook and the mountains swayed!"What's going on?!" Gao Cuo was shocked, "Did the Jade Vine Doctor make a move?!""No, it's not her!" Elder Sword flatly denied.The next moment, the green vine waterfall beside him trembled violently, emitting bursts of dragon roars.Powerful dragon qi eroded and filled the area, instantly transforming thousands of green vines into coiled dragons, pouncing towards the stone sphere that Gao Cuo was disguised as.Gao Cuo's heart trembled violently, and he quickly acted as the old怪 in the stone, wanting to roll into the mountain body and retreat with earth evasion."Don't! There's a big guy underground!" Elder Sword timely issued a warning.Gao Cuo's heart was startled again, maintaining the disguise spell, and hastily flew upwards.But in the next breath, surging earth energy rose from the marshland. The earth energy instantly suppressed the sea of phosphorescent fire, forming an incredibly powerful suction force.Gao Cuo had already flown into mid-air, but was forcibly sucked by this force and fell back to the ground."Who is assassinating me..." Gao Cuo's eyes widened suddenly, and his pupils shrunk to the size of a needle tip, trembling violently!"Ginseng Beard Dragon King?!" he exclaimed.He had never expected that the person ambushing him would be the strongest existence in the Thousand Peaks Forest, and also the default co-leader of the Thousand Peaks Forest Allied Army!"Ginseng Beard Dragon King!""Divine Transformation level?!""Came specifically to catch me?""Could it be that the Jade Vine Doctor is the Ginseng Beard Dragon King's mistress?!"In that instant, Gao Cuo almost cursed out loud.This was simply too absurd!The dignified Ginseng Beard Dragon King ignored the great battle at hand, and instead, at a significant cost, suddenly teleported to Coiled Vine Peak just to deal with Gao Cuo alone."What virtue and ability do I possess?!"If he had known he would receive such treatment, Gao Cuo would never have come to Coiled Vine Peak no matter what. He forced himself to calm down and comforted himself: "Fortunately, I am currently posing as the old怪 in the stone..."The next moment, the Ginseng Beard Dragon King's divine sense transmitted a message: "Old怪 in the stone, you were defeated by me in the past, and it will be the same today. Even if you ascend to the Divine Transformation stage, you have no chance of winning. Surrender quickly and join me in surrounding and killing Du Tiechuan. I can promise you the position of the second person in the Thousand Peaks Forest."Hearing such words, Gao Cuo felt completely unwell!Elder Sword was also extremely speechless.After all that, it wasn't them, nor was it the Jade Vine Doctor, but the identity of "old怪 in the stone" that had attracted the Ginseng Beard Dragon King!Gao Cuo really wanted to shout: "Lord Dragon King, you've made a mistake. The 'old怪 in the stone' in front of you is fake, it's fake!"But he only dared to shout it in his heart.Even if he were killed, he wouldn't dare to speak the truth!If he were to speak the truth, the Ginseng Beard Dragon King teleported here for him, leaving the great battle unattended. How much did he sacrifice, how much did he pay!And the result was a fake!Would the dignified Divine Transformation level Ginseng Beard Dragon King let Gao Cuo off lightly?Pure wishful thinking!Spell -蜃 Shadow Seal!The illusion of a giant clam appeared, and the coiling green vines that had transformed into蛟s were confused when they passed through the蜃 shadow, fighting among themselves, and most of their attacks were consumed internally.However, even with Gao Cuo casting the spell with all his might, it was still not enough to intercept all the green vines.Hundreds of green vines were about to pierce the "stone sphere," and Elder Sword decisively struck.Sword Technique - Thousand Sword Stacks.Sword qi erupted, condensing countless sword points, striking thousands of times in an instant. The sword points formed layers of dense barriers, using offense as defense, piercing and annihilating all the attacking green vines.The Ginseng Beard Dragon King was enraged: "You are not the old怪 in the stone!"His low growl echoed throughout the entire giant tree mountain.In just the first round of offense and defense, the Ginseng Beard Dragon King saw through the deception and realized the truth.After all, he had previously fought against the old怪 in the stone.Gao Cuo's face turned ashen in an instant.He was extremely regretful in his heart, wishing he could slap himself several times: "Why did I have to disguise myself as the old怪 in the stone? Why, why did I do it?!"Having discovered the truth, the Ginseng Beard Dragon King roared again: "A good plan! Du Tiechuan used a good stratagem. And you are bold! You dared to risk your life to carry out such a dangerous mission. Then this deity will fulfill your wish!!""No, no..." Gao Cuo was already in tears in his heart, "I was not sent by Du Tiechuan, I really wasn't."Elder Sword rebuked: "Little Gao, we must fight with our lives!"Gao Cuo was startled awake, his face solemn. The pressure of death made him abandon all illusions: "I know, Elder Sword, possess me!"The next moment, Gao Cuo lost control of his body, and his physical body was fully taken over by Elder Sword.Sword Technique - Shattering Star River Dream!Sword qi crisscrossed, drawing upon the starlight of the surrounding sky. Streams of sword qi emitted azure starlight. The sword qi crisscrossed, forming a shattered reflection of the star river.Sword Technique - Green Lotus Transformation of Tribulation!The sword qi flowed back, transforming into green lotus shapes, surrounding Gao Cuo, providing comprehensive protection.With one offensive and one defensive sword technique, Elder Sword pushed his combat power to the limit.Rumble...The rocks broke apart, and Coiled Vine Peak quickly tilted to the side.The enormous body of the Ginseng Beard Dragon King emerged from the mountain body, and its vast shadow enveloped a large area of the mountain. Gao Cuo looked up, feeling as if the entire sky was covered by the Ginseng Beard Dragon King!Even Elder Sword, at this moment, had a moment of absentmindedness, overwhelmed by the dragon king's divine might.