Chapter 132 - 129: Black Lotus Array! Treasure Plunder

Chapter 132: Chapter 129: Black Lotus Array! Treasure Plunder

In his Ten Thousand Beasts Armor form, Jiang Zuo stared at the red, crystal-like gem, an irrepressible craving naturally welling up within him.

He had a strong feeling that if he could fuse with even a tiny bit of this red crystal’s power, it would allow him to make a leap in his very level of existence.

However, next to the red crystal was an even taller Half-Beastman.

Simply by standing there, it radiated an indescribably intense pressure.

The King of Half-Beastmen! A Fierce Beast that surpassed the Innate Level!

The thought surfaced in Jiang Zuo’s mind uncontrollably.

Not only that, but this King of Half-Beastmen also possessed an extraordinary bloodline. The pressure it exuded was a form of bloodline suppression.

Facing this King of Half-Beastmen, Jiang Zuo felt deep down that it was an unbeatable foe and that he could not compete with it for the red crystal gem.

’Is this bloodline suppression?’

Jiang Zuo was secretly alarmed.

His Ten Thousand Beasts Armor form couldn’t compare to a true Fierce Beast; it only granted him some beast-like characteristics.

It was like the fruits from the Mysterious Island—the effect they had on Jiang Zuo was nothing compared to their effect on the Seated Mountain Eagle and the others.

Jiang Zuo’s own Spiritual Power wasn’t low, and he had recently come into contact with the Divine Body Freedom Technique. Logically, he should have had a fair amount of resistance to this so-called bloodline suppression.

But if even he was affected this much, it went without saying what it must be like for a true Fierce Beast.

No wonder this King of Half-Beastmen just stood beside the red crystal without even deigning to look at the surrounding Innate Fierce Beasts.

Here, it was an invincible existence. No Fierce Beast dared to oppose it.

Therefore, the surrounding Fierce Beasts could only focus their attention on the lotus pods.

The Fierce Beasts all knew that the King of Half-Beastmen would not leave the red crystal, and the ordinary Half-Beastmen couldn’t possibly guard all the lotus pods and their seeds.

’The power of that red crystal is extremely pure. It must be a power crystal formed from the purified and condensed energy of all these Black Lotuses.’

Suppressed by its bloodline, these Fierce Beasts didn’t dare to have any designs on the red crystal, but Jiang Zuo was different.

The benefits of this blood-red crystal for humans were still unclear, but for a Pet Beast, it was likely one of the rarest treasures in the world.

If he could obtain it, even a small piece would be enough to trigger a leap in a being’s level of existence.

If one could fuse with all of it, who knew how powerful they would become.

’Strange, why is the King of Half-Beastmen just leaving this power crystal alone, completely unmoved?’

’Even if its power is already above the Innate Level, it can’t be indifferent to a treasure like this, can it?’

’Could it be that the quality of this power crystal can be further improved?’

Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but wonder.

Regardless, Jiang Zuo couldn’t just wait forever.

By landing on the ground instead of flying, he could further reduce the energy consumption of the Catalogue, but that would only buy him two more days of waiting time.

Waiting for the power crystal to undergo another change was highly unlikely.

The power emanating from the crystal before him was already more than alluring enough for Jiang Zuo.

As long as an opportunity presented itself, Jiang Zuo would definitely seize it.

And Jiang Zuo knew that an opportunity was bound to appear.

With so many Innate Fierce Beasts around, this certainly wasn’t their first time here. They, too, were waiting for an opportunity to arrive.

It was just that some of the birds in the sky couldn’t hold back and had decided to make a move first.

But after the Half-Beastmen killed several of the enormous birds in succession, the ones in the sky finally calmed down, no longer daring to rashly descend and fight for the spoils.

Having tamed a large number of Pet Beasts, Jiang Zuo now had a fairly deep understanding of how these Fierce Beasts thought.

The fact that these birds couldn’t hold back meant that the time to act was fast approaching.

If there was any opportunity to make a move, it would appear very soon.

Sure enough.

「One day later.」

Above this place where countless Innate Fierce Beasts had gathered, dark clouds materialized out of thin air, filling the sky.

The sky looked as if a funnel had appeared, with roiling black clouds pouring out from it.

’The power and negative emotions expelled by the Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array?’

Jiang Zuo looked up, gazing at the scene in shock.

He had known about the Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array’s existence for over a hundred years, but this was the first time he had witnessed its presence so directly.

The sky full of dark clouds was just the beginning. The Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array was unimaginably vast; a single discharge of its power couldn’t possibly be this simple.

After a few breaths, the sky was already a sheet of oppressive blackness.

These endless dark clouds then began to rotate wildly, forming a colossal black hurricane that swept down toward the ground below.

It was as if night had fallen in an instant, a black hurricane about to engulf the ground below.

At that moment, however, the Black Lotuses on the ground suddenly began to emit dazzling beams of white light, like bright lamps in the dark night.

Jiang Zuo couldn’t help but fly into the air, his eyes narrowing.

It was unnoticeable from the ground, but from the air, he could see that the white light from the Black Lotuses formed an enormous circular pattern.

Jiang Zuo didn’t know what kind of pattern it was, but it looked like an Array!

A natural Purification Array, one not powered by Spirit Stones, but by these living Black Lotuses!

At the very center of the Array were the King of Half-Beastmen and the red power crystal!

The black hurricane of clouds expelled by the Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array had now reached the ground.

The black hurricane had seemed massive from a distance, and when it hit the ground, it instantly enveloped all the Innate Fierce Beasts present.

The Fierce Beasts that had been waiting all rose to their feet, letting out all sorts of howls and Roars, ready to charge forward at any moment.

Some of the less experienced ones could no longer hold back and were the first to rush toward the lotus pods.

But the experienced, older Fierce Beasts continued to wait, knowing that now was not the best time to strike.

Sure enough.

The black hurricane swept down, but upon contact with the Black Lotuses radiating their pure white light, it was instantly purified.

The black essence was absorbed by the Black Lotuses, while the remaining pure power converged toward the red crystal.

Those Fierce Beasts that couldn’t resist charging in first failed to use the black hurricane as cover and were spotted by the vigilant Half-Beastmen.

What they faced were the giant bone clubs swung by the Half-Beastmen.

Jiang Zuo also continued to wait.

The power discharged by the Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array was simply too immense. Jiang Zuo had a hunch that the Black Lotus Purification Array below would not be able to purify all of it.

The Innate Fierce Beasts that had yet to move were waiting for the moment the Black Lotus Purification Array reached its limit.

Just as Jiang Zuo predicted.

The first waves of dark clouds to descend were all purified by the Black Lotuses.

But as more and more dark clouds fell with increasing speed, the purifying power of the Black Lotus Array finally reached its limit.

The majority of the unpurified dark clouds dissipated in all directions.

The desolate lands Jiang Zuo had seen on his way here were the result of these dissipating dark clouds.

Only in the oases where Black Lotuses grew could any vegetation survive.

Aside from the majority that dissipated outward, a considerable portion remained trapped within the Black Lotus Array, unable to be expelled.

As a result, the entire Black Lotus Array was plunged into darkness, no different from the dead of night.

Only the faint light emanating from the Black Lotuses could be seen in the darkness.

Knowing the time to act had arrived, the long-waiting Innate Fierce Beasts suddenly swarmed toward the lotus pods.

After absorbing the negative emotions from the Heaven and Earth Sealing Spirit Array in such a short time, the lotus pods produced by the Black Lotuses were also rapidly maturing.

By the time the Innate Fierce Beasts began to make their move, the lotus seeds were perfectly ripe for picking and consumption.

Without hesitation, Jiang Zuo followed the rampaging Fierce Beasts and charged into the Black Lotus Array.

"ROAR!!!"

The Half-Beastmen swung their giant bone clubs, furiously trying to drive off the Innate Fierce Beasts, but there were so many that they were completely overwhelmed.

Although Jiang Zuo was not at the Innate Level, his speed was in no way inferior to that of an Innate Fierce Beast—if anything, he was faster.

Before taking action, Jiang Zuo had also secretly switched to an armor form based primarily on the Cyan Feathered Seagull.

Jiang Zuo skimmed low over the Black Lotus Array, snatching several lotus pods in the blink of an eye.

Two enraged Half-Beastmen swung their bone clubs at him, but Jiang Zuo deftly dodged them both, his figure instantly vanishing into the black fog and clouds.

Of course, Jiang Zuo’s target was not these lotus pods.

The lotus seeds within the pods had to be good stuff; otherwise, these Innate Fierce Beasts wouldn’t be fighting over them.

But even if they managed to snatch and eat them, it wouldn’t cause a qualitative change. For Jiang Zuo, they weren’t worth much.

The real prize was still that red power crystal.

The King of Half-Beastmen was undoubtedly powerful. In a direct confrontation, Jiang Zuo was no match for it; he didn’t have even a sliver of a chance of winning.

But he could fly, and the King of Half-Beastmen could not. As long as he could snatch the red power crystal, escaping wouldn’t be a problem.

The King of Half-Beastmen was surrounded by glowing Black Lotuses, and the red power crystal was also radiating light.

It wasn’t as if it was completely blind in the dark.

Even with the surroundings plunged into darkness, it was impossible for Jiang Zuo to just walk up and seize the power crystal.

If it were that simple, the crystal would have been long gone before Jiang Zuo even arrived.

The hordes of Innate Fierce Beasts covering the landscape would have snatched the power crystal long ago.

But Jiang Zuo possessed a method that they absolutely did not.

"Conceal!"

While still a hundred meters from the King of Half-Beastmen, Jiang Zuo whispered, casting the "Conceal" character from his Beast Pattern upon himself.

In an instant, Jiang Zuo’s aura vanished as if it had never existed.

An ordinary Fierce Beast would be detected as soon as it got close to the King of Half-Beastmen, putting it on alert.

But by using the "Conceal" character, Jiang Zuo successfully approached the King of Half-Beastmen.

It wasn’t until Jiang Zuo was merely a dozen meters away that the King of Half-Beastmen sensed something was wrong.

Just as it was about to turn, Jiang Zuo shouted softly again, "Rage!"

Facing the King of Half-Beastmen, Jiang Zuo cast the "Rage" character on it.

Along with the "Rage" character, Jiang Zuo hurled the corpse of a Fierce Beast he had picked up along the way at the King of Half-Beastmen.

The King of Half-Beastmen’s eyes turned red as it was suddenly overcome with an inexplicable, irrational fury.

Seeing a dark shadow flying toward it, it let out a furious Roar and viciously punched the Fierce Beast’s corpse.

BOOM!

The corpse of the Innate Level Fierce Beast was obliterated by its punch, leaving not a single bone behind!

’Something’s wrong!’

The King of Half-Beastmen came to its senses in an instant.

It hastily turned to look at the red power crystal on the ground, only to find the spot was completely empty.