Chapter 616 - 88: Trial, Gusu! Gusu

"Earth Dragon Emperor!" Song Changsheng’s expression turned grave. The Earth Dragon Emperor was fundamentally different from the Earth Dragons he had slain before. Not only did it possess immense power, but it also had what could only be described as an unnatural regenerative ability. To sum it up: its vitality was monstrous.

What brought Song Changsheng a small measure of comfort was that while the aura emanating from the Earth Dragon Emperor before him was powerful, it hadn’t reached a level he couldn’t overcome.

"ROAR—"

The Earth Dragon Emperor twisted its massive, hundred-zhang-long body and was the first to attack, opening its great, jagged-toothed maw.

Its body was extremely bloated, and in Song Changsheng’s eyes, its attack was as slow as a snail. He easily dodged its massive mouth with his own agility, then stamped his foot forcefully. He shot into the air like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, landing on the Earth Dragon Emperor’s back.

He formed his hand into a blade and chopped down with all his might.

Song Changsheng’s strength was considerable. This hand-blade strike directly broke through the Earth Dragon Emperor’s tough hide, tearing open a massive, foot-long wound.

But such a small wound was nothing to the Earth Dragon Emperor. It rolled violently, throwing Song Changsheng off, and immediately followed up with a tail sweep worthy of a Divine Dragon.

Song Changsheng dodged it just in the nick of time, but the few small hills behind him weren’t so lucky. They were directly flattened, sending rubble flying everywhere.

’If that had hit me, I’d be severely injured, if not dead.’ Seeing this, Song Changsheng’s expression turned solemn.

And so, in the battle that followed, he fully capitalized on his advantage in speed, continuously bombarding the Earth Dragon Emperor.

But to Song Changsheng’s despair, the Earth Dragon Emperor’s regenerative ability was simply heaven-defying. Any injury he inflicted would heal completely in no time at all.

Faced with this situation, there were generally only two methods: either overwhelm it with powerful attacks until it died, or simply wear it down to death.

But both methods were quite difficult for Song Changsheng. After all, he couldn’t use Mana, nor did he have any Magical Treasures available.

’I really did underestimate the difficulty of this trial. I’m already at a loss against just a single Earth Dragon Emperor.’ A bitter smile appeared on Song Changsheng’s face as he watched the wounds he had inflicted heal once again.

Just then, an idea flashed through his mind—a way to break the stalemate.

The Earth Dragon Emperor’s power came from its unique spine. As long as he could rip out its spine, the beast would be like a fish on the chopping block, his to slaughter.

No sooner said than done. With a few quick flashes, Song Changsheng was back on the Earth Dragon Emperor’s back. He locked himself in place with his legs, then plunged his hands deep into its flesh and began to brutally tear it apart.

At first, the Earth Dragon Emperor paid him no mind, merely continuing its "death rolls," trying to crush Song Changsheng into a meat paste or fling him off.

Who would have thought that Song Changsheng would cling to it as tightly as a maggot on a rotting bone, completely unmoved? Instead, he violently ripped chunks of flesh from its back, soon carving out a deep groove.

Faced with such an injury, even the Earth Dragon Emperor’s vaunted regenerative ability was powerless in the short term.

Soon, the Earth Dragon Emperor’s sparkling, bone-white spine appeared before Song Changsheng’s eyes.

Trying to pull out such a long spine in one go was clearly unrealistic. So, Song Changsheng channeled all his strength into his right arm and brought it crashing down on the spine.

CRACK!

The spine snapped in two.

"ROAR—"

The agony of its broken spine made the Earth Dragon Emperor let out a painful wail. It contracted its muscles with all its might, trying to crush Song Changsheng to death.

But it was all in vain. With only its Physical Body’s strength, it had no way of dealing with Song Changsheng in this situation.

The shattering of its spine sealed the Earth Dragon Emperor’s fate. In the end, Song Changsheng slowly wore it down until it died.

The moment the Earth Dragon Emperor died, its massive body dissolved into motes of light that flowed into Song Changsheng’s body.

The wounds Song Changsheng had sustained during the battle began to heal at a visible rate, far faster than ever before.

’Did I just... obtain the Earth Dragon Emperor’s regenerative ability?’ A flash of joy lit up Song Changsheng’s eyes as he looked at the now-vanished wound on his hand. He finally understood the connection between this trial and the War Body.

The purpose of a War Body was to make a Body Refiner stronger, faster, and more durable.

Regenerative speed was a key part of that durability. If he wasn’t mistaken, he should be able to gain other enhancements by defeating the other Fierce Beasts.

But Song Changsheng was not given much time to think. A Bi Fang Bird, its entire body wreathed in fierce flames, appeared in his vision.

The Bi Fang resembled a white crane, with blue feathers tinged with red, and had only one leg. Wildfires erupted wherever it passed, and in a short while, Song Changsheng was surrounded by a sea of fire.

The Bi Fang Bird flapped its wings, looking down on him from above, its gaze filled with icy coldness.

’The Divine Beast Bi Fang, is it? Let me see what kind of power you have.’ Song Changsheng stomped his foot and shot forward...

While Song Changsheng was dealing with his trial, far away in the Gusu Cultivation Realm, Zhuang Yuechan was facing the greatest crisis of her life.

It all started several years ago.

Before Song Changsheng had entered seclusion to break through to the Purple Mansion realm, Zhuang Yuechan had traveled to the Gusu Cultivation Realm to gain experience under the Great City Lord’s arrangement.

Setting out from the Daqi Border Province, Zhuang Yuechan traveled through Ling Province, Qing Province, Xi Province, and Meng Province, taking a year to reach the Gusu Cultivation Realm.

Initially, Zhuang Yuechan settled in a cultivation city. She took on commissions for Subduing Demons as a Loose Cultivator, and at first, everything went smoothly. The constant real-world battles enriched Zhuang Yuechan’s Magical Combat experience, and her Cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. In just over two years, she had reached the threshold of the Foundation Establishment Great Perfection stage.

When she received news of Song Changsheng’s successful breakthrough to the Purple Mansion realm, Zhuang Yuechan was overjoyed. She decided to take on a few more commissions to break through to Foundation Establishment Great Perfection sooner, and then return to Luoxia City.

Then, three months ago, she accepted a private commission from a small Cultivation Family. They claimed that an Evil Demon at the Foundation Establishment Stage was causing chaos and had killed many of their Cultivators, and they hoped Zhuang Yuechan could step in to subdue the demon.

Zhuang Yuechan didn’t think much of it and accepted the commission. But when she arrived, she was ambushed by Blood Demon Sect Members. Zhuang Yuechan never expected to encounter Blood Demons there, much less that they would be so well-prepared. She had walked right into their meticulously designed trap.

Fortunately, she had many life-saving items on her. After a bitter struggle, Zhuang Yuechan managed to fight her way out of the encirclement.

But the Blood Demons refused to let her go, pursuing her relentlessly. Zhuang Yuechan fought a running battle, retreating for thousands of miles before finally escaping into a city controlled by a Purple Mansion Influence within the Gusu Cultivation Realm.

Worried that the tenacious Blood Demons hadn’t given up, Zhuang Yuechan chose to stay within the city, healing her wounds while she cultivated.

Because of this bloody battle, Zhuang Yuechan had a near-death experience that awakened her latent potential. Not long after, she successfully broke through to Foundation Establishment Great Perfection.

By this point, she had already been in the city for two months and had also completed the training mission assigned by Muu Guibai.

Zhuang Yuechan was eager to return home and immediately planned to head back to the Daqi Cultivation World. However, by a stroke of luck, she obtained an extremely rare Gold Attribute Celestial and Earthly Spiritual Object.

Originally, this was a great stroke of fortune. The problem was, there were many witnesses at the time.

This was a treasure needed to break through to the Golden Core realm! The moment the news spread, Zhuang Yuechan found herself endlessly pursued.

Not only were there many Foundation Establishment Cultivators, but even Purple Mansion Cultivators who heard the news joined the chase.

No matter how strong she was, Zhuang Yuechan was still just a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. She was completely powerless against so many experts. Her only choice was to hide carefully and look for an opportunity to board a Cross-Domain Flying Ship back to the Daqi Cultivation World.

But fate was not on her side. Zhuang Yuechan’s whereabouts were exposed, and she was once again cornered and ambushed. In desperation, after sending out a call for help, she retreated to the place where she had found the Celestial and Earthly Spiritual Object, and all contact was lost...

Completely unaware of all this, Song Changsheng, far away in Ling Province, was nearing the end of his trial for the Five Beasts Body Forging Technique after a full day and night of fierce battle.

He only needed to defeat the vicious Unihorned Flood Dragon before him to obtain the Cultivation Method for the [Five Beasts War Body].

’Since I can’t break through your Scale Armor, I’ll just destroy you from the inside!’

Having made up his mind, Song Changsheng fearlessly charged toward the Unihorned Flood Dragon’s massive, blood-red maw...