Chapter 357: Chapter 342: Golden Core Phenomenon [3 more, subscribe now!]
The "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" is an extremely ferocious and bloodthirsty barbaric beast that reaches Tier Four strength upon reaching adulthood.
This Tier Four "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" is over a hundred zhang long and more than ten zhang tall, and even a single tuft of its mane is as thick as an adult’s finger.
Attracted by the Core Formation Celestial Phenomenon and the scent of blood around the valley basin, this barbaric beast did not attack the grand array at first, but instead rushed directly to the corpses of the two recently deceased Tier Four Demon Beasts. With its bloody maw wide open, it bit one of the Lizard Demon Beast corpses in half in one gulp, then savagely tore and devoured the demon beast’s flesh and blood.
Seeing this scene, Zhouyang couldn’t help but feel fortunate that after he killed the two Tier Four Demon Beasts, he immediately used the Sword Light of his Flying Sword to wrap up and collect the two Demon Pills; otherwise, they would have been taken by this "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion".
Intimidated by the fierce presence of the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion," the low-to-middle tier Demon Beasts scattered in terror upon its approach. Only a few low-to-middle tier barbaric beasts, similarly drawn by the multitude of demon beast corpses, stayed to gorge themselves.
Only after nearly half an hour of feasting did the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" swallow both Tier Four Demon Beasts’ corpses, hide and bones included, into its stomach. Then, the fierce beast widened its water tank-sized blood-red eyes towards the valley basin.
Roar~
The lion’s roar blasted towards the sky, and the terrifying sonic wave spread out in concentric circles with the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" at the center, instantly shattering the flowers, grass, and trees within hundreds of zhang around it into dust.
At the same time, the barbaric beasts several thousand zhang away from the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" howled in agony, vomiting blood and falling to the ground, heavily injured or dead.
Being inside the array, Zhouyang was protected and unaffected.
However, seeing the power of the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion’s" roar, his expression grew graver than ever.
Although to High-Tier Cultivators, barbaric beasts that only cultivate their bodies and not Divine Power Techniques are considered rejected by the Heavenly Dao and outdated relics,
no one dares to underestimate the immense power that barbaric beasts possess.
For Zhouyang, if he didn’t have to guard the valley basin, encountering this "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" in the wild, he would have many ways to slowly exhaust this barbaric beast to death.
However, in the immobile defense of the valley basin, the threat posed by the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" was much greater than the two Tier Four Demon Beasts before.
Sure enough, after a provocative roar, the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" moved.
Its mountain-like massive body surged, instantly charging into the array.
Within the Realm formed by the array, facing the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" with its thick hide and strong defense, neither the Frost Giant Wolves nor the continually falling Ice Cones from the sky could inflict any noteworthy damage.
Normally, as a Tier Five Middle Grade Array, the power of the valley basin’s array shouldn’t be so weak.
However, now that Zhouyang was presiding over the array, his cultivation was too low to unleash even half of the array’s power.
Moreover, because Jiang Fengxian’s Core Formation extracted a substantial portion of the Spirit Vein’s Spiritual Qi, the array relying on the Spirit Vein’s Qi had insufficient Spiritual Qi to activate its potent killing moves.
Under normal circumstances, if the array operated properly, all Frost Giant Wolves could reach Tier Four Demon Beast strength, and the descending attacks would be Ice Spears, comparable to Tier Four Magic, not mere Ice Cones.
At that time, even Golden Core Stage Cultivators entering the array would be continuously attacked by its power until their Magical Power was exhausted, leading to their demise!
"Ice Chilong, arise!"
Within the array, seeing that the first change of the array could not harm the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" at all, Zhouyang immediately activated the second transformation of the array.
With a dragon’s roar, an Ice Dragon took form, transformed from the "Ice Chi Dragon Sword," and quickly flew at the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion."
This Ice Dragon, also over a hundred zhang long, with glimmering crystalline dragon scales, radiated an aura no weaker than Lin Ruihua, a "Fake Golden Core" cultivator.
Its dragon mouth opened, spewing Frost Sword Qi instead of the usual ice-sealing light, which shredded through everything.
The Sword Qi howled out, instantly tearing savage wounds on the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion’s" body, and the flesh around the wounds froze into ice blocks by the frosty power contained within the Sword Qi before any blood could flow.
This thoroughly enraged the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion."
It let out an enraged howl, and two scarlet beams shot from its eyes, landing on the Ice Dragon.
This scarlet light, a Talent Divine Technique of the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion," could reverse blood flow and burst blood vessels of other creatures upon contact.
However, the Ice Dragon was not flesh and blood but formed from the Spiritual Power of the array, unaffected by this divine technique.
Thus, this was the flaw of the barbaric beast’s limited intelligence; a Tier Four Demon Beast would never use such an ineffective technique on an Ice Dragon.
Only after realizing that its previously unfailing Talent Divine Technique was ineffective did the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" hurriedly switch tactics.
The creature’s body surged with a blood-red light, and its originally hundred-zhang long body instantly expanded by nearly half within the blood light. All the wounds inflicted by the Frost Sword Qi immediately healed.
Bloodline Divine Technique: Berserk!
"Berserk" is a bloodline divine technique possessed by almost all barbaric beasts. Upon activation, this technique can make a barbaric beast’s body larger, its strength more powerful, and its recovery ability enhanced.
However, the cost of using such a bloodline divine technique is significant. Each activation results in a considerable depletion of primordial qi, requiring a long recovery period.
Zhouyang’s Golden-winged Thunder Eagle gained this divine technique after consuming a Tier Three Top Grade Barbaric Beast Heart and awakening the barbaric bird bloodline within it, so he was well aware of both the advantages and drawbacks of this divine technique.
Seeing the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" directly activating the "Berserk" divine technique, he swiftly changed his battle tactics.
With a flick of his spell-clad hand, a violent snowstorm abruptly descended within the array.
This snowstorm was not ordinary; the wind was sharp, like Gang Wind, and the snow was transformed by the extreme Ice Power. A single snowflake could freeze a pond.
As the snowflakes settled on the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion," its speed drastically decreased, and the icy wind, instead of blowing away the ice and snow on its body, intensified the cold, penetrating deeper towards its core.
Though lacking wisdom, the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" sensed something was amiss, and it began to charge madly within the array, intent on breaking through the Realm’s lock with brute force.
This is why barbaric beasts are most suited for breaking arrays!
As long as these beasts aren’t killed at once, their massive bodies and strength exert far more pressure on arrays than cultivators and demon beasts with their divine power techniques.
After all, cultivators need time to prepare when casting divine power techniques, which also consumes a significant amount of magical power.
Yet, the pure physical power of barbaric beasts can be unleashed continuously, repeatedly impacting without any recuperation time for the array.
Take the current "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion," for example; even though Zhouyang raised the Ice Dragon’s power to nearly Tier Five Demon Beast level, it could at best wound it, but couldn’t instantly kill it.
And each impact it made on the Realm cost at least ten middle-grade spirit stones worth of spiritual power; in the long run, which array could withstand such depletion?
"Looks like it’s time to use that move!"
With a grim expression, Zhouyang watched the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" rampaging inside the array, his eyes flashed with determination.
With a wave of his sleeve, he threw in hundreds more middle-grade spirit stones into the array, then cast a spell with both hands to initiate the array’s fourth transformation.
Suddenly, a dragon’s roar, shaking the heavens, echoed within the array.
The Ice Dragon that had been attacking the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" abruptly dissolved into a vast swathe of ice light, freezing its four limbs and the ground in place.
Simultaneously, a transparent white sword light suddenly descended from the sky, striking right at the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion’s" head.
Under this white sword light, on the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion’s" head, which was harder than Taiyi Essence Gold, suddenly appeared a white ice sword surrounded by frosty mist.
The sword blade penetrated over a foot into the lion’s head, threads of cold air emanating from the blade and crystallizing the surrounding mane into patches of white frost.
If a normal Tier Four Demon Beast suffered such a blow, it would not survive.
But the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" proved different, showcasing the strength of a barbaric beast’s life force to the fullest.
With a tragic howl, it continued to charge madly with the ice sword still embedded in its head.
At this point, due to the recent activation of the "Ice Chi Dragon Sword," the array had expended most of its energy. With this impact, the Snowfield Icefield Realm that confined it began to truly tremble and collapse.
Terrified, Zhouyang hurriedly threw in another hundred middle-grade spirit stones to stabilize the array.
If the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion" really broke into the valley basin, it would either disrupt Jiang Fengxian’s Core Formation or severely damage the valley basin. Either outcome was absolutely undesirable for him.
Fortunately, the recent desperate ram was the "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion’s" final struggle before its vitality waned. After that, its power diminished due to its injuries until the Ice Chi Dragon Sword’s strength froze all the blood and brain matter within its head, finally ending its life.
Without the interference of this "Blood-Eyed Mad Lion," the remaining demon beasts and barbaric beasts could no longer stir any trouble.
Moreover, as the spiritual energy vortex completely sank into the underground cultivation chamber to be absorbed and refined by Jiang Fengxian, the Core Formation Celestial Phenomenon’s impact quickly dissipated, preventing the arrival of any formidable demon beasts.
Thus, after Zhouyang diligently guarded for nearly a month, the valley basin finally witnessed the emergence of the Golden Core Phenomenon, symbolizing Jiang Fengxian’s successful Core Formation.