Chapter 111: You Are Truly Revolting and Hideous

The appearance of the white bone tower left Fan Ning instantly stunned.

The golden lotus platform manifested by his Thousand-Flower Sword Array was now thrashing like a wild bull, spiraling rapidly out of his control. The spiritual energy within his body was draining at an alarming rate, and his internal aura showed signs of chaotic collapse.

He coughed up a mouthful of essence blood, spraying it onto the Thousand-Flower Sword he had obtained from the Sword Tomb. Immediately, the area around the golden lotus platform erupted into a turbulent storm with a thunderous roar. Small golden flowers bloomed in the center of the lotus, rapidly weaving into chains that extended toward Fan Ning, as if attempting to tether themselves to the sword to anchor the platform firmly in place.

Unfortunately, this maneuver was thwarted by Lin Zhan. Wherever his ink-colored blade struck, the golden floral chains were severed and stripped away, layer by layer. No matter what he tried, the chains could not be reformed.

Lin Zhan shouted, "Retrieve!"

The bone tower began to hum, vibrating with a rhythmic cadence. The golden lotus platform finally lost its hold and plunged headlong into the ancient tower, leaving only a long tail trailing behind, still swaying helplessly.

Lin Zhan brandished his ink-colored sword, its edge shimmering with silver light and golden flames. With a fierce strike, he severed the lotus platform's trailing tail. The platform went silent, instantly losing its connection to Fan Ning, with only the residual energy from the tail returning to the sword's hilt.

Not only that, but even the Thousand-Flower Sword in his hand was becoming difficult to control, as if it, too, were on the verge of being swallowed by the tower.

"No! You piece of scum!"

The loss of the sword energy and spiritual essence from the lotus platform felt to Fan Ning as if a large piece of his own heart had been carved out—which was, in truth, not far from the reality. Unable to sustain his defense, he was struck by a powerful backlash. His aura withered, and he collapsed to the ground, the Thousand-Flower Sword thrust into the rocky earth, its hilt still trembling uncontrollably.

Lin Zhan landed gracefully a short distance in front of Fan Ning, watching him with an amused expression as the bone tower stood silently beside its master.

"Fan Ning, is your sword still holding up?"

Fan Ning spat out a mouthful of black blood, clutching his chest. He glared at Lin Zhan with venomous eyes. To think that a direct disciple of the esteemed Burial Sword Peak master would have even the edge of his blade devoured—it was simply...

"Do you think this is the end?" Fan Ning’s Spirit-Beast Taming Pearl, nourished by the essence blood he had just sprayed, began to stir with a strange power.

The Spirit-Beast Taming Pearl was originally the core of a powerful spirit beast from the post-primordial era, soaked in the essence blood of countless beasts and inscribed with special formations. It was because of this that Fan Ning had been able to easily command the various wild beasts throughout the first area of the qualifying trials.

Now, Fan Ning decided to cast aside all consequences and invoke a forbidden art, summoning the King of Wild Beasts in this region to deal a devastating blow to Lin Zhan, even if it meant his own demise.

The power of the Beast King was far beyond what Fan Ning, at his current cultivation level, could fully control while using the Spirit-Beast Taming Pearl.

*Moo-oo!*

A series of beast roars echoed from the distance, accompanied by terrifying tremors that shook the ground as if a giant hammer were pounding it. It was deeply unsettling. A pungent, foul odor drifted over, and the air was suddenly thick with the suffocating scent of wild beasts.

Lin Zhan covered his nose, finally realizing the situation. Fan Ning was grinning with a sense of schadenfreude, though he soon coughed up more blood and slumped into unconsciousness. From his limp hand, the Spirit-Beast Taming Pearl rolled away.

"Damn it, don't tell me some terrifying prehistoric monster is coming," Lin Zhan thought, quickly scanning the area with his divine sense. He shrank the white bone tower and gripped it in his hand. Before preparing to flee, he cast a glance at Fan Ning, and then—

The Spirit-Beast Taming Pearl!

And that Thousand-Flower Sword!

It would be a waste not to take them. Lin Zhan moved with lightning speed, flashing forward to snatch both items before darting away.

His divine sense had already clearly detected a black beast, mountain-sized, charging toward their location. Its overbearing, arrogant, and unstoppable aura told Lin Zhan that even with his breath-concealing pill, he could not hide from such a creature.

"Human! You dare disturb my slumber? Your crime warrants death!"

"Big Brother Black, I wasn't the one who disturbed you!" Lin Zhan felt his soul nearly leave his body. This black behemoth could actually speak human language, and far more articulately than that Nine-Nether Savage Bull King, Mu Tu-Lei, had back then.

The more standard the human speech, the more powerful the wild beast must be! For some reason, Lin Zhan reached this conclusion.

However, he realized he could not escape. He felt as though the surrounding air had been locked down by a powerful restraint, and his spiritual energy had become dead weight—he couldn't draw upon a single scrap of it.

In the next moment, a black shadow blotted out the sky, shrouding the entire area in darkness.

"Turn around, you lowly human. I haven't tasted fresh human meat in decades."

The stench was now unbearable. Restrained by the unseen force, Lin Zhan was forced to turn and face the mountain-sized black beast.

"Wow, you really are both smelly and ugly!"

Even Lin Zhan, who was usually reserved, couldn't help but shout.

It was a giant frog!

A massive frog! No, it was a massive black toad!

But this toad had only one enormous eye, glaring with a wicked, sinister expression. Inside its cavernous, blood-red maw, besides a long, drooping, waterfall-like red tongue, were two rows of jagged, uneven fangs!

"It is true that I am not handsome, but in my eyes, are you humans not equally hideous?"

As it spoke, the giant black toad’s tongue flicked about, and fountains of foul-smelling saliva sprayed from beside its fangs.

Lin Zhan was stunned. The black toad actually made a fair point. Humans viewed themselves as the masters of the world and the pinnacle of all races, arrogant and proud, dismissing other species as mere animals or demonic monsters—that was simply viewing the world from a human perspective.

If one were to look at humans through the aesthetic standards of this giant black toad, they would likely appear just as hideous as it claimed. Watching the creature speak, Lin Zhan couldn't help but cover his own mouth, fearing his own drool might start flowing just like the toad's.

"What was the thing that attracted me just now?" the giant black toad asked. It seemed to know that Lin Zhan couldn't escape, so it didn't resort to violence. Lin Zhan didn't want to think about what "violence" would look like from this thing.

Lin Zhan checked his divine sense; the Spirit-Beast Taming Pearl was still rolling around in his Nine-Star space.

"Honestly, I really don't know. How am I supposed to answer that?"

"Eh..." The black toad’s waterfall-like red tongue suddenly moved. It whipped out with terrifying speed, like a streak of red silk, stopping right in front of Lin Zhan and writhing in the air around him.

"Oh, no, please don't..." Lin Zhan had to close his eyes. That tongue—oh, no, no...

"Human boy, there is a certain aura on you..." The tongue brushed against him, sticky and searing hot with viscous fluid.

Lin Zhan wished he could simply vanish on the spot. "No, nothing, absolutely nothing! Big Brother Black, you must have seen wrong. There is absolutely no aura on me, none at all!"