Chapter 51: The Abyss Gazes Back
The Dark Demonic Evil God Tiger was a masterpiece of terror. It was born from forbidden research. It carried the blood of the Star Luo line. Pure evil energy from the Slaughter City flowed in its veins. It possessed six lethal attributes. Evil, Space, and Time were its weapons. Lightning, Power, and Wind made it a god of war. It was the undisputed king of the gray mist. No one ever entered its domain and returned.
Qiangu Zhangting stood at the edge of the fog. He looked like a peaceful scholar. His skin was like fine jade. But a golden tide roared beneath his surface. His 206 Golden Runes were in perfect harmony. His blood was heavy and thick like liquid gold. He had reached the Major Achievement realm. He did not fear the beast. He saw the tiger as a final step. It was the key to his evolution.
The tiger roared with fury. The sound shook the virtual forest. It sensed the human's hidden power. It did not charge blindly. It was wise and tactical. It unleashed its Talent Domain immediately. A thick gray fog swallowed the world. The forest became silent. Inside this mist, the tiger was supreme. It could strike from the past or the future. It circled Zhangting like a phantom. It waited for a single moment of doubt.
Zhangting played a dangerous game. He acted like a struggling prey. He parried blows from the shadows. He used his Wood Element to create a wall of vines. To the tiger, he looked like a cockroach. He was hard to kill but clearly losing. The tiger grew impatient. Its bestial hunger began to grow. It saw a gap in the plant matrix. It saw the human's movements slow down.
The tiger struck like a thunderbolt. It used its most lethal weapon. The Evil God Tail Hook hissed through the air. Zhangting saw it coming. His Spirit Abyss mind saw the world in slow motion. He could have stepped away. Instead, he twisted his body. He let the hook bury itself in his shoulder. The pain was white-hot and sharp. But Zhangting did not flinch.
Gold-thick blood sprayed across the gray mist. It shimmered with a divine light. The scent was like a drug. To the tiger, this blood was the ultimate prize. It felt the power in the golden Qi-blood. Its caution vanished instantly. It lunged forward with open jaws. It wanted to swallow Zhangting whole. It believed it had finally won.
"You have entered the abyss," Zhangting whispered.
The wound on his shoulder did not bleed. It began to glow with golden light. His golden runes accelerated his healing. The flesh knit together around the hook. The tiger was trapped. It tried to pull away. It was anchored to a mountain of muscle. Zhangting's aura exploded. He was no longer a youth. He was a volcano.
He cast multiple spirit abilities at once. This was a feat of absolute mastery. The Coiling Dragon Rod became a blur. High-pressure water columns pierced the fog. Stacking fire marks burned the tiger's hide. He hit the beast from impossible angles. He flicked the rod with ghostly grace. He swung it with the weight of a titan.
The tiger screamed in terror. It triggered its Evil God Protection. This was an invincible shield. It was meant to be as hard as the Paragon Golden Body. The rod met the shield in mid-air. The forest went silent as energy compressed. Then, the sound of shattering glass filled the sky. The shield was pulverized. The tiger's wings were shredded.
It was broken and exposed. The tiger's wisdom turned into pure fear. It needed to escape. It saw Iks floating in the gap. Iks had hidden ten of his tentacles. He looked like a weak ten-thousand-year spirit. To the tiger, he was a soft exit. It ignored the human and charged at the eye. It tried to warp through space.
It was jumping into a black hole.
Iks did not move. He did not blink. He smiled with his mental intent. The deception was over. His central eye erupted with light. The Light of Nine Elements filled the forest. This was a storm of ten attributes. It combined elemental power with Spirit Abyss force. The storm erased the tiger. Its soul was shredded. Its body turned into atoms.
The tiger saw the truth as it died. Iks unfurled his hidden tentacles. Twelve black vipers stretched into the mist. The aura of a 100,000-year king emerged. The tiger died with its eyes open. It had tried to hunt a boy. It had found an abyss instead. The gray fog vanished. The forest became green again.
Zhangting sat in the center of the clearing. Pure spiritual energy surrounded him. His four black spirit rings appeared. They began to vibrate. They began to bleed. The dark ink turned into pulsing red. One ring turned red. Then the second. Then the third. Then the fourth. The bottleneck of two years was gone.
His spirit power surged forward. He crossed Level 51. He hit Level 55. His gold-thick blood roared in his head. A fifth ring began to form. It was a brilliant, blood-red crown. He was sixteen years old. He was a Major Achievement refiner. He was a Spirit King with five red rings. Iks floated down. His twelve tentacles swayed like a dark god.
"The harvest is done, my Lord," Iks said.
Zhangting opened his eyes. They held the depth of the deep sea. They held the flash of golden lightning. The shortcut was finished. The 100,000-year soul spirit was his. Three months remained until Aolai City. The butterfly had grown its wings. It was time to find the Dragon. He closed his eyes. The abyss had finished gazing. Now, the abyss was ready to move.