Chapter 633: The Burrowing Earth Dragon; The Four's True Strength (I)

The Spotted Snow Owl was a low-tier flying demonic beast. They often lived in flocks across tundras and exposed icy slopes. Of course, they built nests as well, and these nests happened to be among the favorite targets of demonic beast hunters. Having been refined for years by the Spotted Snow Owls, the nests were perfect materials for artifact creation. The down they were made of was soft, resilient, and highly versatile. As a result, large flocks of Spotted Snow Owls had long disappeared from human cultivation lands. Once discovered, they were inevitably wiped out by hunters eager to harvest their nests.

Naturally, the ones blocking Luo Chen's group were a flock that had survived in isolation from the outside world. A sweep of spirit consciousness revealed that there were a bit over a thousand of them. It was considered a mid-sized flock. Within such a flock, a second-tier snow owl king often emerged.

These beasts possessed extremely sharp spirit sense, and their eyesight was particularly keen. No matter how perfectly a cultivator concealed their aura, it was impossible to pass through such territory unnoticed. Therefore, if they wished to continue forward, they would have to kill their way through.

"Attack!" Fu Jiusheng commanded, sweeping his sleeve.

With that signal, the other three moved instantly. As the quartet surged ahead, Luo Chen remained still at the rear, showing no intention of joining the fray. This was not betrayal, but something agreed upon beforehand; to ensure that Luo Chen would maintain his peak condition for alchemy, he was to refrain from fighting unless absolutely necessary.

Conveniently, that also granted him a perfect opportunity to observe the others' combat methods.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Under Luo Chen's calm gaze, the four struck at once. Yousha wielded an amber-and-crimson silk ribbon that unfurled into a crimson veil, covering the sky above them. In an instant, the hundred-zhang radius turned into a blazing cage.

The startled Spotted Snow Owls beat their wings and tried to take flight, but as soon as they struck the crimson veil, their speckled white feathers were charred black in an instant.

A water-element enchanted treasure? But why does it leave scorch marks? Could it be made with fiend qi?

Luo Chen thought.

His Spirit Eyes glimmered faintly as he observed in silence. Yousha and her former Dao companion had once been known as the Twin Fiends of the Netherworld. That Dao title was not one they had chosen for themselves, but one bestowed by others out of fear. The "Twin Fiends" referred both to their ruthless methods and their mastery of fiend qi methods.

Mingsha had used fiend qi to temper his body, forging a brutal physique capable of taking a direct punch from Luo Chen's third-tier archaic physique without collapsing. Yousha, by contrast, fought with this unique silk ribbon refined from condensed fiend qi. Judging from what he was seeing, she was far from displaying her full might.

Still, Luo Chen could easily imagine that any cultivator struck by it would see their spirit light[1] tremble and dim, and their spirit power greatly eroded.

Good thing Mingsha is dead. If the two were still together, with that perfect balance of softness and force, their combined power would sweep through all opponents of the same realm.

Luo Chen thought.

But among the four, only Yousha had revealed a glimpse of her true power. The others fought differently. He Lianyun commanded a supreme-grade flying sword that flashed through the flock like lightning, leaving a trail of blood and feathers as it slaughtered every owl it touched. Fu Jiusheng didn't draw a weapon at all; he simply hurled one Fireball after another, incinerating the flock with fierce precision.

In just moments, their combined assault left the Spotted Snow Owls completely trapped, with nowhere to flee. Amid a chorus of shrieks, the flock was nearly annihilated. It was

nearly

annihilated because a single Snow Owl King suddenly burst from its colossal nest, screeching as it soared toward the heavens.

"Trying to flee?" Yousha's eyes flashed coldly as she shouted, "Die!"

With a simple twitch of her hand, her silk ribbon flashed out like a whip and then tightened its coils, binding the struggling Owl King. As she clenched her fist, the ribbon tightened even further.

Crack... crack... crack...

The grating sound of bones grinding filled the air. When the ribbon finally loosened and returned to Yousha's hand, only a heap of bones and feathers remained on the ground. All traces of blood and flesh had vanished without a mark.

Luo Chen arched an eyebrow at the sight.

A blood path technique? Or a water one?

The others looked equally stunned. That Owl King had clearly reached the second tier and was therefore comparable to an Initiate, yet it had been slain with such ease.

Yousha glanced at them with evident satisfaction as the silk ribbon coiled around her once more, slithering up her body like a living creature before settling into place as an elegant ornament upon her robes. "The beasts blocking our way are dead. Let's—"

"Watch out!" someone shouted.

At the sudden warning, Yousha's expression shifted. She moved sharply to the side, without hesitation. At almost the same instant, a brown-yellow shadow burst out from the ground, grazing past her shoulder.

Boom!

The creature crashed down to the ground, sending snow and gravel flying everywhere. Through the swirling haze, the group finally caught sight of it.

"A Burrowing Earth Dragon!" Fu Jiusheng blurted, his brow furrowing.

He Lianyun, ever the knowledgeable one, quickly elaborated, "This beast is a pure earth-element demonic beast. It likes to live alongside weaker bird-type beasts, letting them pick parasites off its body, then devouring them when food runs scarce. I never expected it to coexist with Spotted Snow Owls."

Fu Jiusheng frowned deeply. "These beasts are notoriously vengeful and skilled in Earth Escape. Since we've killed its companion owls, it will surely hold a grudge. If we don't deal with it properly, it may chase us for thousands of li."

Their conversation was quick and snappy, but by the time they exchanged a few sentences, the Burrowing Earth Dragon had fully revealed itself. It was two zhang long and looked to be somewhere between a dragon and a serpent, with its body covered in thick, brown-yellow scales. Even from a distance, its formidable defense was obvious

The creature glared up at the cultivators in the sky, its nostrils flaring rhythmically as if it was memorizing the scent of each one of them. Judging by the vigorous pulse of its life force, it was likely close to the third tier. A demonic beast of this tier, fighting within its own domain, would not be easy to kill. Yet if they left it alive, even if it posed little direct threat, its relentless pursuit was bound to become a grave problem for their pursuit.

"Earth Escape..." Luo Chen murmured softly from the rear.

At that very moment, the Burrowing Earth Dragon seemed to sense that the four standing before it were not easy prey. Each of their auras rivaled its own, if not surpassed it. Its beastly instincts told it to retreat for now. A hazy yellow glow began to shimmer around its body and was preparing to dive back beneath the snow.

Hermit Xiao, who had first warned Yousha, suddenly spoke up. "I'll restrain the beast. Strike it down with full force!"

Before anyone could respond, he lifted his jade flute horizontally. But the next thing was not blowing into it; rather, he just flicked the flute lightly with his finger.

Ding dong!

A crisp tone rang out. The brown-yellow creature trembled violently and froze for an instant.

That single instant was all they needed.

Fu Jiusheng dropped to the ground and pressed his palm against it. A surge of yellow light rippled outward, and the already hard, frozen soil instantly solidified into something like steel.

Luo Chen gave a silent nod of approval.

What a fine spell!

He noted that Fu Jiusheng actually resembled him in a way—he was deeply versed in spellcraft, particularly in fire and earth. This move was clearly meant to cut off the earth dragon's escape route.

As he acted, the other two did not remain idle. He Lianyun abandoned any thought of restraint and flicked his finger. A streak of black light shot forth, piercing through the air and, in the blink of an eye, also through the earth dragon's body. The thick brown scales, famed for their resilience, did not offer it any more protection than a thin sheet of paper. The black light drilled straight into its skull.

The strike rattled the beast's soul, snapping it out of its daze.

"

Roar

!"

With a furious bellow, the Burrowing Earth Dragon swung its massive tail, striking Fu Jiusheng's flying sword and sending it spinning through the air. Then it lunged downward, attempting to burrow back into the snow. Yet the moment its head plunged downward—

Clang!

It failed!

Something like this had never once happened in its life! As it froze in shock, Yousha's silk ribbon shot forth once more, winding around it layer by layer. It tightened, constricted, and burned.

Blood sprayed visibly from the earth dragon's body, only to be absorbed instantly by the crimson ribbon. The ribbon blazed bright red with light. Overwhelmed by pain, the Burrowing Earth Dragon thrashed wildly, rolling across the ground in rage.

1. Spirit light here refers to the visible radiance of one's vital essence or divine soul, often used to depict the state of a cultivator's spiritual condition. ☜