"How can there be so many!"
As they pressed forward, the corpses of dark beasts were already piled high like mountains. Zhang Fan had slain over a hundred dark beasts, which was more than enough for the Beast Suppressing Cauldron’s beast souls. Yet, the dark beasts seemed endless, with no sign of stopping.
"I don't know either. I didn't see so many when I came last time. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to escape!" Fairy Zi Ling also panicked. The sheer number of dark beasts far exceeded her understanding.
"This can't go on!" Zhang Fan activated his Candle Dragon's Eye. Divine light flickered in his eyes, piercing the darkness before him, and revealing a colossal dark beast at the deepest part of the valley.
"Don't resist. I'll take you into the immortal mansion!" Zhang Fan said, staring at Fairy Zi Ling.
Being absorbed into an immortal mansion meant her life was no longer her own. However, at this moment, Fairy Zi Ling showed no hesitation. In such a situation, if Zhang Fan wanted to harm her, he had a thousand and one ways to keep her, even bound by the oath not to harm teammates. Thus, she could only trust him.
After Zhang Fan waved his hand and took Fairy Zi Ling into the immortal mansion, he unleashed his Thunder Sword Dao Domain, repelling countless swooping dark beasts. Then, he transformed into a stream of light and charged directly towards the depths!
"Human!"
The dark beast at the peak of the Great Dao realm actually spoke human language. Its body stretched for a thousand zhang, and its sweeping tail slammed towards Zhang Fan, its immense power forcing Zhang Fan's Thunder Sword Dao Domain to evade.
"Breaking technique with force?" Zhang Fan was somewhat surprised. Generally, only cultivators who reached the Opening Realm could break techniques with force. After opening up their inner world, under the projection of their own world, even the Great Dao had to yield.
However, this dark beast had not reached the Opening Realm, yet it could break techniques with force. This was enough to illustrate the terrifying nature of its power.
Although Zhang Fan was surprised, he was not afraid at all. He put away his long sword, his entire body shining with divine light, and unleashed the Myriad Dao Fist to meet the attack.
Myriad Daos converged at his fist. When the two collided, the immense force generated a fierce shockwave that spread outwards. Within a radius of ten thousand li, a vacuum was formed. The surrounding dark beasts no longer pounced forward; instead, they formed a circle, encircling Zhang Fan and emitting chilling roars.
After the blow, Zhang Fan felt his arm go numb. Although his cultivation realm had improved, he had unfortunately cultivated for too short a time, and his divine body was still one step away from reaching perfection.
However, the dark beast leader did not gain much advantage. Its pitch-black, hardened scales were dented by Zhang Fan's strike. Its eyes, like abysses, stared intently at Zhang Fan and it spoke, "Human, you dare intrude upon my territory. You will not leave today!"
With that, its entire body soared into the air, and it lunged at Zhang Fan with its giant maw open.
Zhang Fan let out a cold laugh and threw out the Myriad Beast Cauldron, which was suspended above his head. The cauldron transformed into a colossal cauldron of ten thousand zhang and crashed down towards the dark beast leader.
Facing the bombardment of this half-step Immortal King Saintly Soldier, even with the dark beast leader's strength, it was difficult to resist. Its massive body was directly sent flying. Its eyes flashed with terrifying ferocity, and it stared intently at the ten-thousand-zhang cauldron, saying, "Do you think you are the only one with a treasure?"
The dark beast leader opened its mouth and spat out a bronze ancient bell. A dark power emerged from its body, guiding the bronze bell to spin.
"Dong!"
As the dark beast's tail swept, a crisp, loud sound rang out, followed by a visible, terrifying wave emanating from the bronze bell, spreading in all directions.
"Break!"
Zhang Fan took out his Blood Refinement Divine Weapon, channeling endless rules into his sword before converging them to a single point. He thrust it forward. The wave's power, layer upon layer, like surging tides, forced Zhang Fan to retreat step by step. If his Dao body had not reached perfection and provided resistance, this wave alone would have been enough to turn him into blood mist.
As the bell's chime ceased, Zhang Fan's body was covered in dense cracks. He had blocked this attack, but the countless dark beasts around him were directly reduced to nothingness, not even their primordial spirits leaving a trace. The dark beast leader, however, paid no mind to this. Its eyes held a mocking glint as it looked down at Zhang Fan contemptuously.
Zhang Fan looked at the bronze ancient bell and felt a pang of alarm in his heart. He hadn't expected this dark beast to possess such a terrifying Great Dao Secret Treasure. With this bronze ancient bell, coupled with its peak Great Dao realm strength, it could even exchange blows with a cultivator in the Opening Realm.
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Fan's Dao body had already recovered to its original state. With a beckoning motion, the Myriad Beast Cauldron spun towards him and fell into his hand. Upon sensing that the number of beast souls within the cauldron was sufficient, Zhang Fan was already urging the Myriad Beast Cauldron to refine them. However, this process required some time. As the carvings of beasts emerged on the body of the cauldron, Zhang Fan sensed that the Myriad Beast Cauldron was drawing closer to perfection.
"Human, your strength is not bad. You can survive my attack without even crossing into the Void Return realm. However, you will still die today!" the beast soul leader said.
"I wanted to say the same to you. Your strength is not bad, but I wonder if you can withstand an Immortal King Saintly Soldier!" As Zhang Fan's voice fell, a stream of beast souls emerged from the body of the cauldron. A total of ten thousand beast souls, refined by the Myriad Beast Cauldron, had become the cauldron's artifact spirits.
"Immortal King Saintly Soldier?" The dark beast leader's eyes narrowed. It truly felt a threat from this black giant cauldron. However, it was not afraid; instead, greed flickered in its eyes. If it could obtain this cauldron, its strength would increase significantly.
"Myriad Beast Formation, rise!" With Zhang Fan's cold shout, the ten thousand beast souls instantly merged their auras, forming a massive battle formation. With the Myriad Beast Cauldron as the center, it suppressed the dark beast leader.
After refining dozens of beast souls, the Myriad Beast Cauldron had completely transformed into an Immortal King Saintly Soldier. Its terrifying aura caused the space within the dark forest to tremble, startling a large number of dark beasts into fleeing.
"Break it for me!"
The dark beast leader struck the bronze ancient bell once more. Waves of terrifying sound propagated outwards. These waves, capable of destroying peak Nascent Soul realm cultivators, could not shake the Myriad Beast Cauldron in the slightest.
"Suppress!"
Under Zhang Fan's control, the Myriad Beast Cauldron transformed into a world and suppressed the dark beast leader. The combined might of over ten thousand beast souls was overwhelming. No matter how the dark beast leader struggled, it was in vain. It was suppressed within the Myriad Beast Cauldron without any power to resist.
Zhang Fan reached out and grabbed the bronze ancient bell from the air. After carefully examining it, he couldn't help but smile. He hadn't expected even a dark beast to possess a Great Dao Secret Treasure. This treasure was likely obtained from a human cultivator it had killed.