bookbashuk Chapter 6 Iron-Bone King
Chapter 6 Iron-Bone King
As soon as Lu Changgeng spoke, Chixiao and Luluo suddenly raised their heads and looked around, their eight legs trembling slightly.
The two of them, being the most powerful, immediately sensed that the person who spoke was far more powerful than them, and became alert.
"Don't be impatient."
As soon as he finished speaking, a jet of water shot into the sky from the Cleansing Spring. The mist transformed into a crimson, semi-transparent human figure, about eight feet tall, with indistinct features but complete limbs, its entire body formed from the condensed spring water.
This was the first time Lu Changgeng had appeared in human form after focusing his mind; this was his water-form incarnation.
Although it cannot be maintained for long and cannot form a clear human shape, it is enough to leave the spring and travel far away.
"I am the Taoist of Yangquan, and I have been dwelling here for a long time. I am your senior brother. Your cultivation techniques and names were all bestowed upon you by me, so there is no need to panic."
Lu Changgeng uttered the excuse he had prepared beforehand, while simultaneously guiding the spring water to release a trace of magical energy.
The six spiders had never left the Cleansing Spring since birth. Although the voice was unfamiliar, the aura was all too familiar. The True Fire Spirit Spring Qi that had enveloped them day and night for fifty years was exactly the same.
Green Ivy and Red Silk exchanged a glance, as if exchanging a message, and then their hostility and wariness lessened considerably.
Green Ivy waved its eight spider legs forward and let out a sharp, high-pitched screech.
Lu Changgeng understood and waved his hand in his water form.
"It's alright, I'll bring it back myself. Wait for me here!"
He didn't offer any further explanation, but simply took a step forward under the watchful eyes of the six spiders, transforming into a streak of rainbow light and heading straight west.
At the peak of the Concentration Realm, one can already walk on air, which is not a difficult task for Lu Changgeng.
However, the speed is generally not fast. Traveling twenty miles in an hour is considered fast, and it also requires a lot of magic power.
Fortunately, Lu Changgeng learned the supernatural skill "Scattering Flower Steps" from the Seven Fairies.
This footwork is a superior, ethereal footwork technique of celestial beings. Although it is named "Scattering Flowers," it is an exclusive supernatural power of the Nine Heavens Scattering Flowers Celestial Maiden.
When one reaches the peak of skill, one can walk on the void, without relying on clouds or strong winds, and float in the air with a light touch of the toes.
Rising and falling gracefully like a celestial maiden riding the wind, it can move slowly through the highest clouds and deepest valleys, or swiftly traverse thousands of miles of sky, its form ethereal and untraceable.
At present, Lu Changgeng is only at the peak of the Condensation Realm and cannot exert even one ten-thousandth of the power of this supernatural ability, but he is still several times faster than ordinary monsters of the same cultivation level.
In less than a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the twenty-mile journey.
When Lu Changgeng arrived, the scene before him ignited his anger.
Deep in the dense forest, there was a huge blue stone. On top of the stone grew a strangely shaped dwarf tree with a trunk as black as iron and branches and leaves as red as blood. Three fruits hung on the treetop.
The fruit was the size of a fist, its entire body shimmering with a pale golden light, and it emitted a faint, exotic fragrance.
Zi Ying was lying on that short tree, her eight legs tightly hugging one of the fruits, her whole body trembling, and she was making soft whimpering sounds.
And standing beneath the bluestone was something.
To call it human is too much of a stretch.
This creature was nearly ten feet tall, covered in iron-gray mane, with limbs as thick as pillars. It had a face somewhere between a wild boar and a bear, with two tusks protruding from its lower jaw, gleaming with a chilling white light.
It trailed a thick, long tail behind it, the end of which was a hammer-shaped mass of densely packed bone spurs.
It stood with one foot on the edge of the bluestone, looking down at Ziying from above, and spewed out two streams of scorching white breath from its nostrils, scorching the surrounding ferns.
"Little thing," the monster spoke, its voice like a rusty iron saw cutting through wood, "that fruit is something I've guarded for three hundred years, and you, a mere spider, dare to lay a finger on it?"
Ziying didn't answer or loosen her legs; she just held the fruit tightly, her whole body trembling like a leaf.
The whimpering sounds from its mouth grew more urgent, as if it were calling for someone.
Lu Changgeng's heart softened. Ziying was usually timid as a mouse, so scared of thunder that she would hide at the bottom of a spring. But now, she was stubbornly enduring the pressure of the Great Demon of Concentration for the sake of a fruit and refused to let go.
What kind of fruit is that?
His divine sense swept over the three golden fruits on the low tree, and a thought struck him.
The Earthly Fruit, when consumed, can increase one's cultivation by a hundred years; it only ripens once every six hundred years.
It is a treasure for spirits below the Nascent Soul stage, but it is of little use to him who is at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.
It seems that Zi Ying found this place by relying on her spider-like innate senses. As a small spider at the initial stage of the chain, it was driven by instinct to want to devour rare and precious materials to break through its realm. It was just its nature. But why didn't I notice it before?
"You won't let go, huh?" The monster grinned, revealing a mouthful of jagged, sharp teeth. "Then I'll swallow you whole."
It suddenly raised its giant hand, a dark red demonic aura condensing in its palm, and slammed it down on Zi Ying's head.
Lu Changgeng's eyes turned cold, and his water-shaped avatar stepped out from the dense forest, raising his hand to unleash a "Rain-Making Technique".
This magical technique was originally obtained from the fairy in yellow robes. Although it is said to be used for rainmaking, it is actually an offensive spell.
Lu Changgeng had long ago discovered that the supernatural powers and spells that the fairies knew, though seemingly flashy and useless, were actually powerful immortal techniques.
This rain-making technique can transform the raindrops into countless fine water needles, specifically designed to break through the evil spirits and protective energy.
Water needles shot out from all directions, and the dark red demonic energy melted away in the blink of an eye, as if boiling water were poured onto snow.
The monster grunted, abruptly withdrew its hand, and its massive body leaped backward several feet, the ground trembling as it landed.
Those large, yellow eyes stared intently at the water-shaped avatar, their gaze sinister and fierce.
"What the hell?" it growled in a low growl. "This entire area within three hundred miles is the territory of my Iron Bone King. Who are you, the blind fool, daring to meddle in my affairs?"
Iron-Boned King?
Lu Changgeng mentally reviewed the name, but had no recollection of it.
What kind of thing dares to call itself king?
Demon kings are as numerous as hairs on a cow in Xiniu Hezhou, and there are countless others who dare to call themselves kings even when they are only at the Nascent Soul stage, so they probably don't have any real background.
"That spider is my junior sister from the same clan," the water-shaped avatar said, her voice rippling like water, revealing neither joy nor anger. "She took the fruit, so be it. If you wish to pursue this matter, you may speak to me, and I will apologize."
The Iron-Bone King narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the water-shaped avatar. After a moment, he suddenly grinned, revealing an extremely ugly smile: "So you're a fellow cultivator. May I ask which immortal mountain or cave you cultivate in?"
While exchanging polite words, its tail silently lashed out. The hammer-shaped tip of its tail whistled through the air as it struck Lu Changgeng's head. This sneak attack was swift and ruthless; an ordinary cultivator at the Concentration Realm would likely have suffered a severe blow.
Lu Changgeng's divine sense had been constantly surrounding the area, indicating that he was already on guard.
Seven celestial beings had bathed in the Cleansing Spring, so it had some understanding of the methods of demon cultivators. The more polite it was to each other, the more ruthless it was to each other.
The water-shaped avatar suddenly dispersed into a cloud of mist, and the hammer tail pierced through the mist and smashed into empty space, creating a deep crater about ten feet in diameter in the ground.
As the mist re-condensed, he appeared beside the Iron Bone King, raising his hand and pointing out—the True Fire Finger, a divine power he had obtained from the Green-Clad Fairy.
Using the embers of the true fire of the sun at the bottom of the Cleansing Spring as a catalyst, a wisp of golden flame, as thin as a hair, was generated, yet its temperature was terrifyingly high, distorting and deforming the air itself.