From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 446 The First Appearance of the Ancient Ferocious Beast

The low growl was like a poisoned thread, drilling into the sea of ​​consciousness through the ear canal.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and my fingertips unconsciously dug into the cracks in the stone wall—the rubble from the fight earlier was painfully digging into my palms, but it did help me steady my trembling knees.

“Here it comes.” Wen Chen’s voice was like a sword tempered with ice. His back was taut like a bowstring. The Canglan Sword hummed in his palm, and the star patterns flowed so fast that they almost formed a silver mist.

I followed his gaze and saw the darkness deep within the ruins suddenly surge, like a lump of thick ink dissolving in water.

When the first whiff of fishy smell swept over, I almost threw up.

The smell, a mixture of the sour stench of rotting flesh and the rusty odor, wafted straight into my nostrils.

Zi Ling, who was half-squatting and pressing the acupoint between Qing Feng's thumb and index finger, suddenly covered her mouth and gagged. Her handkerchief fell to the ground with a "thud"—her fingertips were so white they were almost transparent. Only then did I notice that her lips had long since lost all color. She must have exhausted her last bit of strength just now by stopping the bleeding for the elder.

"boom!"

A duller, more muffled thud than before exploded, and the ground cracked open with spiderweb-like fissures.

I stumbled into Wen Chen's arms and looked up to see the thing's claws.

Bronze-colored scales covered the feet, which were half a person tall, and each nail was like a poisoned spear, scraping against the stone wall with a piercing sound.

"It's...it's a remnant of the Taotie!" Xue Sha suddenly screamed, his wrist, which had been restrained by Wen Chen, twisting violently—only then did I notice that he had bitten his fingertip and drawn a dark red talisman on the ground. "Legend has it that what's suppressed here is the cub of an ancient ferocious beast, but this aura...this is a fully-fledged beast!" Snot mixed with cold sweat streamed down his face, and his wrist, which had been burned by the golden light, was still bleeding, yet he desperately crawled towards Mo Yu.

Mo Yu's Adam's apple bobbed, and his withered fingers gripped the crack in the stone tightly.

He stared at the gradually emerging outline of the ferocious beast, then suddenly grabbed some broken bones from beside his feet and threw them toward us.

The piece of bone had barely flown half a foot when it was incinerated by the black flames spewed by the ferocious beast. "Lure it to bite them!" his voice boomed like a crow being strangled. "They possess spiritual energy; they're far more palatable than us crippled blood!"

It was only then that I realized—Blood Fiend drew a spirit-summoning talisman, while Ink Feather threw a bewitching bone.

These two bastards, having been beaten to a pulp and unable to fight back, are trying to draw the beast's attention to us!

"Watch out!" Wen Chen suddenly pulled me to his side, the Canglan Sword drawing a silver arc.

But the beast moved much faster than I had imagined—its body, which was as wide as three houses, swayed to the side, and the sword blade only grazed a few bronze scales.

The scales fell to the ground with a clanging sound like metal striking metal, and the sparks they sent flying stung my cheeks.

“Yao girl!” Master Huixin’s voice trembled.

I turned my head and saw that her hands were forming the Acala Mudra, and nine glass lamps were floating around her.

But just as the lamp rose into the air, it was engulfed by the black flames spewed out by the ferocious beast, and shattered into stardust with a few crackling sounds.

Blood foam spilled from the corner of the nun's mouth, yet she continued to move forward, as if trying to shield the unconscious Zi Ling with her body—Zi Ling had somehow slumped into Elder Qingfeng's arms, the elder's hand still in the position of touching her head, but both of their breaths were as light as cotton wool floating in the wind.

“Ah—”

The ferocious beast finally revealed its full form.

It had a single horn on its forehead and two dancing blood flames in its eyes. Every time it blinked, I felt as if my mind was being hit by a heavy hammer.

The most horrifying part was its abdomen—covered in jagged cracks, revealing churning black fluid inside, as if it had been forcibly sealed by some powerful force and was now disintegrating.

"These are... the injuries I sustained when I was sealed away." I heard my own voice trembling.

Fragments I'd previously gleaned from ancient texts suddenly flooded back: Ancient immortals, to subdue ferocious beasts, would seal their vital points with their own essence; if the seal loosened… My fingernails dug into my palm, “It’s in excruciating pain now, tearing apart anything living it sees!”

Wen Chen's swordplay became even more urgent.

His usually steady breathing became heavy, and the sweat on his forehead dripped onto the sword, where it was quickly absorbed by the star pattern.

But the moment the Canglan Sword pierced the beast's scales, it felt like it had pierced rubber—the wound only opened a thin crack, which was instantly filled with black paste, without even a drop of blood flowing out.

"Back off!" Wen Chen shouted in a low voice, pulling me to the side.

The beast's tail swept across, turning the stone walls into dust wherever it passed.

My back pressed against the cold rock wall as I watched Zi Ling's handkerchief being swept into the air by the blast wave. The bloodstains on it looked like a withered red plum blossom in the firelight.

Master Huixin knelt beside Ziling, trembling as she took out a string of sandalwood prayer beads. "Great Compassionate Guanyin..." Her voice grew softer and softer, the fragrance on the beads being torn to shreds by the fishy wind.

Elder Qingfeng's Adam's apple bobbed, as if he wanted to say something but only coughed up blood. His hand slowly drooped toward the storage bag at his waist—there should still be the last life-saving talisman there, but his fingertips were still three inches away from the bag when he could no longer move it.

Blood Fiend and Ink Feather had already taken the opportunity to climb to the entrance of the ruins.

Xue Sha glanced back at us, a twisted smile spreading across his face; Mo Yu stared at the crack in the beast's belly, greed gleaming in his eyes—probably planning to plunder the beast when it was exhausted.

But their figures were quickly swallowed by the dust, and I didn't even have the strength to curse them.

“Ah Yao.” Wen Chen suddenly grabbed my hand.

His palms were sweaty, yet hotter than usual. "You mentioned the gold chain you got in the secret chamber of the ruins..."

I snapped back to reality.

The golden chain in my sea of ​​consciousness had come to life at some point and was now spinning wildly around my spiritual sea. With each rotation, a warm current flowed into my limbs and bones.

The dantian, which had been aching from the ferocious beast's aura, now felt a cool sensation—it was the resonance of my newly comprehended immortal technique.

The ferocious beast opened its blood-red maw again, and black flames, accompanied by a foul stench, rushed towards us.

Master Huixin's prayer beads broke, Elder Qingfeng's storage bag fell to the ground, and Ziling's eyelashes twitched but she did not wake up.

Wen Chen raised his sword even higher, but I knew that his spiritual power was almost depleted.

I looked at my companions' pale faces and felt the golden chain in my sea of ​​consciousness vibrating stronger and stronger.

A fire was burning in my throat, something stronger than fear—I remembered the night I was thrown into a mass grave when I first transmigrated, the gentleness of Master Huixin when she first taught me hand seals, and the first wisp of spiritual energy that Wenchen gave me when I was on the verge of death.

“Don’t be afraid,” I heard myself say. The voice was as soft as a sigh, yet clearer than ever.

The gold chain exploded into a burst of golden light in his sea of ​​consciousness.

I let go of Wen Chen's hand and walked forward step by step.

The beast's black flames were only three steps away from me, but I suddenly saw the patterns in the crack on its belly—they were remnants of an ancient seal, exactly the same as the runes on the gold chain.

A warm golden light shimmered at my fingertips. I knew it was my turn to act.

As the black flames, carrying a putrid stench, rushed towards me, the golden light in my palm suddenly shone three inches brighter.

That was the heat that the golden chain had generated deep within my consciousness, rushing along my meridians to my fingertips, where it condensed into a shield of light with ancient patterns flowing around it in front of me.

The moment the black flames struck the light shield, my eardrums rang.

The surface of the light shield cracked with fine, spiderweb-like lines, but it didn't shatter into stardust like Master Huixin's glass lamp.

The beast's pupils contracted—it probably hadn't expected that this seemingly weak golden light could block the first attack.

I staggered back half a step, my lower back slamming heavily against Wen Chen's sword-wielding arm. Only then did I realize that he had somehow appeared beside me, the tip of the Canglan Sword pressed against the edge of the light shield, slowly channeling the last bit of spiritual energy into my meridians.

“Ah Yao, the gold chain is leading you to find a point of resonance.” His voice was like shards of ice soaked in blood. “Look at the crack in its belly.”

I looked up abruptly.

Sure enough, several dark gold patterns emerged from the churning black liquid in the beast's belly—exactly the same as the runes on the gold chain.

The light shield didn't break just now because the runes were resonating!

Before I could think it through, a shrill laugh suddenly came from beside me.

"You little piece of trash, you still dare to put up a fight?" Blood Fiend's voice drifted over from the entrance of the ruins. He had picked up a sharp-edged pebble at some point and was throwing it at the beast's feet. "Your broken light shield is not even as good as my fart!" The pebble hit the bronze scale, sending up a few sparks.

The beast's blood-red eyes suddenly turned to him, and a deeper growl rolled from its throat.

"Fool!" Mo Yu grabbed Xue Sha by the back of his collar and dragged him into the crevice. "What good will it do you to provoke it?"

Once it tears these apart, we'll be the first to be eaten! His withered fingers dug into Blood Fiend's shoulder, blood seeping from under his nails, but Blood Fiend was still struggling, his smile like that of a puppet being pulled on strings: "Eat it if you want!"

It's better than being skinned alive by that Wen guy—"

The beast's tail suddenly swept across.

Wen Chen and I lunged to the side at the same time, and the light shield shattered instantly.

Its tail brushed past my hair, creating a blade of wind that cut a deep, half-person-high gash in the stone wall.

The screams of Xue Sha and Mo Yu were suppressed into a broken whimper. When I looked up, they were huddled behind the stalactites at the entrance. Xue Sha's face was covered in scratches, and Mo Yu's Taoist robe was torn open, revealing his bluish-gray skin underneath.

"Yao girl, answer this!"

Master Huixin's voice carried the sweet, metallic scent of blood.

I turned and saw her kneeling beside Ziling, holding up half a string of unbroken prayer beads—the remaining three sandalwood beads floating in her palm, gleaming with a pale golden light. "These are my soul-stabilizing beads, nurtured with thirty years of Zen meditation; they can protect your heart for half an incense stick's time." Her wrist trembled violently, the beads nearly falling to the ground. "Go...go and mend its seal!"

The moment I caught the bead, the fragrance of sandalwood flooded my mind.

The golden chain suddenly sprang up, stirring up a golden vortex in the spiritual sea.

The vortex, carrying the warmth of the Soul-Stabilizing Pearl, seeped into his fingertips along his meridians.

I then realized that the light shield I had just used was only the shallowest power of the golden chain—and now, in the golden light dancing at my fingertips, there were runes that were exactly the same as the cracks in the belly of the ferocious beast!

"Wen Lang, protect them." I grabbed Wen Chen's wrist and pulled the Canglan Sword in his palm closer to me.

The bloodstains from gripping the sword still lingered on his hand, but his fingers subtly curled, enveloping my hand in his palm. "Okay," he said softly, yet it felt like a burning piece of jade striking my heart. "I'm here."

The ferocious beast opened its blood-red maw once more.

This time I didn't dodge.

I looked at the black flames churning in its throat, at the faintly visible dark gold runes in the cracks in its abdomen, at the blood-stained sleeves of Wen Chen and the pale face of Abbess Huixin, and suddenly I laughed.

“I see.” I murmured, raising my hand.

Golden light burst forth from his fingertips; it was neither a shield nor a blade, but a string of flowing runes—runes that perfectly overlapped with the golden chain and the runes within the cracks.

They were like living golden snakes, hissing as they burrowed into the wounds of the ferocious beasts.

The beast's roar suddenly rose in intensity.

Its massive body trembled violently, and its bronze scales exploded off one by one, revealing the dark red flesh beneath.

The black liquid stopped churning and instead was gradually drawn away along the trajectory of the runes—that was the golden chains repairing the ancient seal!

I could clearly feel that as each rune drilled into the crack, the golden chain in my sea of ​​consciousness shortened, as if it were burning itself to fill the wound that had existed for millions of years.

“It works!” Zi Ling suddenly exclaimed.

That's when I realized she had woken up sometime earlier and was sitting up, leaning on Elder Qingfeng's arm.

The elder's storage bag had been rummaged through at some point, and she was holding a yellowed talisman in her hand, which she was throwing towards me: "This is the elder's Dispelling Talisman; it can make the talisman brighter!"

The talisman spontaneously combusted in mid-air, and the rising white smoke enveloped the golden chain talisman seal.

The golden snakes suddenly grew larger and burrowed into the beast's wounds even faster.

I heard the sound of bones cracking—it was a ferocious beast struggling, its horn crashing against the stone wall, and rubble falling like rain.

Wen Chen's sword circled above our heads, blocking most of the falling rocks, but a piece of gravel the size of a thumb still hit my shoulder, making my knees buckle in pain.

"Ayao!" Wen Chen immediately wrapped his arms around my waist.

His spiritual energy was almost depleted, and his hands around me were trembling, yet more steady than ever before.

I pressed my face against his chest and could hear his heart pounding like a drum—not out of fear, but because, like me, he was counting how many pieces of the gold chain were left.

Three sections. Two sections. One section—

"Crack!"

The moment the last talisman pierced into the beast's belly, the entire ruins trembled.

The beast's blood-flame eyes suddenly went out, turning into two pitch-black holes.

Its massive body swayed and crashed heavily to the ground, nearly knocking us over.

Ziling cheered and rushed into Master Huixin's arms. Elder Qingfeng trembled as he took out his wine gourd and drank a mouthful of wine. Finally, light returned to his cloudy eyes.

But I didn't relax.

The moment the gold chain completely disappeared from my consciousness, I heard a faint "sizzling" sound.

Looking down, the beast's wounds were reopening—not with black slurry, but with a thicker black mist, more foul-smelling and more violent than before.

Its horn suddenly glowed red again, and its blood-flame eyes reignited in the black mist, shining ten times brighter than before.

"It...it broke the seal!" Zi Ling's cheer caught in her throat.

Master Huixin's prayer beads fell to the ground with a "clatter," and Elder Qingfeng's wine gourd rolled far away.

Wen Chen's sword clattered to the ground. He suddenly turned me around and caught me with his back—but we had nowhere to hide. The beast's claws were already slamming down in mid-air, and the resulting wind blades cut my face painfully.

"This is the last chance," I heard myself say.

The sound was torn apart by the wind, yet clearer than ever before.

Wen Chen's back was trembling, but his hand was still gently patting the back of my neck, as if he were comforting a frightened little animal.

I stared at the wound that had reopened on the ferocious beast, where half of a talisman, unrepaired by the golden chain, floated up from the black mist—the last fragment of the ancient seal, hidden in the deepest, most fatal gap.

"Ayao, no—"

Wen Chen's words were drowned out by the roar of the ferocious beast.

I broke free from his embrace and charged at the claws.

The golden light in my palm had faded to a flickering candle flame, but I knew that as long as I touched that half-finished talisman, as long as...

The beast's claws grazed my left shoulder.

The excruciating pain surged over me, but I laughed.

Because I saw that, the instant the claws were raised, the half of the talisman lay precisely in the center of the black mist, only three inches away from me.

“Got it.” I murmured, using the last of my strength to press my fingertips down.