Chapter Forty-Five: Wicked and Ruthless

  The place where Ning Cheng cultivated was extremely quiet, and apart from the red-eyed demon beast that had initially chased Ning Cheng, he hadn't encountered any other demon beasts.

  Another month passed, Ning Cheng had already combined the Xuan Ice Thirty-six Guns and the Qi Yao Ice Needle Technique. He first launched the Xuan Ice Sword Tip, then used another curved knife as the Qi Yao Ice Needle, hiding it in the Xuan Ice Sword Tip to launch a sneak attack.

  Unfortunately, he didn't have a real Seven-day Ice Needle. If he had one, even if it was just a Qi Gathering Great Circle, he would dare to fight. The curved knife was snatched from the hand of a cultivator and used as a substitute for the Seven-day Ice Needle, which is really far-fetched.

  Even so, Ning Cheng believed that with his current strength, using the Xuan Ice Thirty-six Swords and the Seven Yao Ice Needles in combination, ordinary Qi Refining cultivators should not be able to withstand it.

  At that time, Ning City was still thinking about whether to melt the curved knife in his hand and refine it into a thin needle when a faint voice came over with the wind.

  "Is someone there?" Ning Cheng immediately confirmed that he hadn't misheard, and was certain that someone had indeed arrived. This place was deep within the Da'an Forest, where ordinary people would never venture; even a Yuan Foundation cultivator wouldn't dare to walk alone through the Da'an Forest like this - what kind of person dared to come here? He was hiding here because his strength was too low, and he didn't dare to run around recklessly.

  Ning Cheng immediately hid in the tree hole. Before he could determine whether the approaching person was friend or foe, he didn't want others to know that he was in this place.

  Ning City didn't hide for long, a faint and steady footsteps sound came, making Ning City even more cautious. Although there were footstep sounds, these footsteps were extremely steady, with a heavy atmosphere, it was clear that the person who came had a high cultivation level, at least higher than his own.

  After a dozen breaths or so, two men and one woman cautiously approached, appearing at the edge of this lake.

  "Qí Shuǐ, is the lake you mentioned here?" The speaker was the man walking at the back, his head was extremely small, but it grew very thick and sturdy, making people look at it not very harmonious.

  The man with the goat-like whiskers at the front stopped and pointed to the lake not far away, "That's right, Fei Chen, this is the Yongqing Lake of Da'an Forest. Not many people know about this place, I knew it because I have the ability to cross Da'an Forest. I only found out by chance when I passed by here last time."

  Ning Cheng was shocked upon hearing this, he knew the dangers of the Da An Forest and even Ji Luo's aunt wouldn't dare say she could cross it. This goat-bearded man actually had such skills? Cross the Da An Forest? Ning Cheng could now vaguely see that this guy's cultivation should also be a Condensing Reality Cultivator. It was likely that the male and female cultivators with him were also Condensing Reality Cultivators.

  A cultivator of the Congzhen sect, although his cultivation is not bad, but what makes him say he can cross the Da'an Forest? Unless he has a safe route map of the Da'an Forest. It's necessary to know that crossing the Da'an Forest is like entering a land of no return, and only those who have a safe route map can cross the Da'an Forest to reach the land of Yan Zhou. Otherwise, in the Da'an Forest, it will definitely be a dead end being killed by demonic beasts.

  "If that's true, and what Qí Shuǐ said is real, then we'll have to get it together and head through the Dà ān forest to Yuán Zhōu." The short-haired man said with certainty.

  "I agree too." The nun in the middle also expressed her opinion.

  The three of them have been talking until now, and Ning Cheng only knows that these three people are here for something in the lake. However, he doesn't know what exactly it is. At this moment, Ning Cheng dares not make any noise, as any one of these three people can kill him instantly. If he were to be discovered at this time, it would be nothing but seeking death.

  "I've told you all before, the poisonous mist it sprays out is extremely toxic. Later, we'll first take the antidote pills and then provoke it to come up. Once it's provoked and sticks its head out, Flying Senior and I will attack from the front. Fan Hong will hide behind and wait until we lure it out of Qing Shui Lake, then the three of us will strike together. As long as we don't let it return to the lake, the three of us can definitely take it down." After saying this, the man with the goat-like beard took out three pure white pills.

  He took one of them himself and handed the remaining two to the other two Jinyan monks, while his eyes stared at the center of the lake.

  The other two cultivators of the Condensing Truth Sect each grabbed a dan pill and swallowed it, after which the female cultivator retreated several steps back and hid behind a giant tree.

  "Fly down, I'm going to stir it up from the lake surface. You hide by the lake and when it chases me, just block its way." After saying that, Ji Shui, the mountain goat-like creature, directly took out a fist-sized black bead and with a flick of his wrist, the bead was thrown into the lake like a cannonball.

  After counting breaths, a loud muffled explosion sounded from the bottom of the lake, and the huge lake surface was directly blown open by this explosion. In an instant, even a whirlpool-shaped large hole could be seen in the center of the lake.

  "Ahhh..." A loud roar, almost simultaneously, a dark red beast about 50-60 feet long burst out of the whirlpool.

  Ning Cheng's heart almost skipped a beat, this was actually a Jiao. On Earth, it was a legendary creature, and he had seen it today. The Jiao's entire body glowed with dark red scales, its upper and lower parts blending seamlessly together, making it look extremely beautiful. Its four massive claws looked like four iron rakes. What surprised Ning Cheng the most was that this Jiao actually only had a single horn.

  The Jiaolong's body was entirely snow-white, about one meter in length. This was a single-horned Jiaolong. As it emerged from the water, its massive tail swept across the surface, instantly stirring up a huge wave on the lake that spanned dozens of meters. A large amount of lake water surged onto the shore, knocking down all the aquatic plants along the shore to the ground.

  The powerful aura was something that even Ning Cheng could clearly feel, this was absolutely a Yuan Foundation stage beast, and one that surpassed the Yuan Foundation stage at that. A beast that surpassed the Yuan Foundation stage was a fourth-grade beast.

  At first, he had seen the momentum of Wen Qiluo at Cangqin Second Star Academy, and also saw the momentum of Ji Luofei's aunt. However, no matter which one of them, their momentum was far inferior to this single-horned python. These three trivial Condensed True Cultivation practitioners dared to challenge this single-horned python, it was simply seeking death.

  No matter how Ning City thought about it, he couldn't figure out why these three guys wanted to come here and look for death.

  "What's going on? This isn't a second-level Crimson Wyrm at all, it's a nearly fourth-level Unicorn Fire Dragon! How could you make such a huge mistake...!" The young cultivator also discovered the terror of the unicorn dragon and let out a terrified cry, immediately turning to flee.

  What a joke, those few cultivators of the Genuine Truth Sect, wanting to take down a nearly fourth-grade demonic beast, isn't this just asking for death?

  Ning Cheng was also covered in cold sweat, he hadn't expected that the place where he had been cultivating would actually have a fourth-level demonic beast. It was unclear whether this solitary horned fire dragon turtle was too proud to bother with him or if it simply hadn't discovered him. However, Ning Cheng was certain that the probability of not being discovered by the beast was zero - how could such a powerful creature possibly not detect him?

  "Really, the last time I saw it was definitely not this unicorn dragon turtle. It must have been this unicorn turtle that killed the red venomous python and occupied this spiritual place at the bottom of the lake..." said the goat beard in a panic.

  Ning Cheng, who was watching from the side, felt that the goat-like mustache didn't seem to be extremely panicked, and this feeling made him feel very eerie.

  Ning Cheng felt it, and the little-headed Cong Zhen male cultivator also seemed to have sensed it. Before he could react, the goat beard had already retreated behind him, and at the same time, one foot kicked the back of this little-headed Cong Zhen male cultivator's waist.

  The little-headed Congjin male who originally wanted to quickly retreat was kicked by this foot, and instead rushed forward, just falling into the open mouth of a single-horned crocodile.

  The unicorn didn't hesitate when faced with the food that was handed to him, and directly swallowed this young man named Fei Chen in one gulp.

  The goat whiskers retreated rapidly again, after the unicorn swallowed the man called Fei Chen. He had already arrived at another female cultivator's side. At this time, she had already realized that she and another person were deceived by the goat whiskers. As the goat whiskers approached, she had already taken out a flying sword.

  Her flying sword had just been unsheathed when it fell weakly back down.

  "Ma Chi Shui, you're so poisonous, we're like brothers and sisters, how could you poison me and Fei Chen...!" The female cultivator had just spoken these words when she was also kicked by the mountain goat whiskers and flew towards the approaching single-horned crocodile.

  The unicorn didn't hesitate at all, and swallowed the female cultivator again. It let out an even more earth-shattering roar and charged towards the goat whiskers. The next moment, several blue water spears were sprayed out by the unicorn.

  At this time, the goat-like creature suddenly took out a round shield, apparently wanting to block the giant python's water mang.

  "Boom... boom..." After several consecutive sounds, the circular shield of the mountain goat was directly shattered by the water thorn sprayed out by the single-horned crocodile.

  At the same time that the circular shield of the goat whiskers was shattered, the goat whiskers were also blown up by this powerful water mang power and directly collided with a giant tree, spouting out several mouthfuls of blood. This one move made the goat whiskers' face turn deathly pale, apparently he hadn't expected the single-horned crocodile to be so formidable.

  At this time, he still did not choose to escape, but instead took out a four-edged sword and looked like he was going to fight the giant python again.

  At this moment, the giant python suddenly let out another loud roar and threw down the mountain goat, rolling on the ground restlessly. In less than a cup of tea time, the giant python had already turned the original place into a huge pit. Some trees near the giant python were all broken by its powerful force, with cracking sounds echoing continuously.

  Ning Cheng suddenly realized, and secretly sighed that this guy Ma Qi Shui was very sinister. He brought two companions over, each giving them an antidote pill, but in fact, the antidote pill was a kind of extremely potent and terrifying poison. The two cultivators who ate the antidote pills were swallowed by the single-horned python again, and the toxicity was all transferred to the single-horned python.

  The rhinoceros also understood its situation at this time, and while rolling over, it wanted to escape to Qing Shui Hu. It seemed that it wanted to enter the lake first to detoxify.

  The goat beard also understood that this was a crucial moment, and he disregarded his own injuries, directly wielding the four-edged sword in his hand, charging towards the single-horned crocodile.

  The first update of July is here, requesting recommendation votes and collection support!

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