Chapter 26: Iron Back Bear

  "What... Brother He, go further inside..."

  A few days later, in the dense forest outside Gucang Mountain, Chen Songtai's face turned pale as he looked around at the ancient trees with their branches like sharp teeth and claws. Every tree seemed to him like a monster about to pounce on him.

  This is definitely not where he followed Pang Wenshan to that day, and he has gone deep into the unknown. The monsters that come and go at will can take his life.

  "With three of us here, what are you afraid of?"

  The speaker was a young man with a long knife on his back, one of the talented disciples in the West Wing, named Lu Qingfeng.

  These three people were the ones who led Pang Wenshan and his two companions into the mountains that day. The last one, with a long sword at his waist, was named Yang Haixing, also a disciple of the Nine Heavens Genius.

  "Don't worry, we're almost there!"

  He Kuangming cast him a sidelong glance, paused for a moment, and looked into the distance.

  Five people in a row stopped suddenly, and Li Chen carefully looked through his hair, following the direction of his gaze.

  All that can be seen is a patch of jumbled rocks standing upright under the cover of the woods, looking strange and inexplicable.

  "What is this place, Master He?"

  Chen Songtai swallowed hard, a flicker of fear flashing in his eyes.

  "Don't ask what shouldn't be asked. At this location, dig a pit one zhang square and two zhang deep. Don't make too much noise, got it?"

  He Kongming pointed to a flat area not far away, where there were many broken branches and withered grass, seemingly having been cleaned up for some time, but also with many new tender shoots growing out, clearly after a considerable period of time.

  "Right!"

  Chen Songtai didn't dare say more and, along with Li Chen, hunched his back, took down the tools from his back, and started digging vigorously.

  In the mountain forest, there were many places with soil and rocks, and from time to time, large stones would be dug out from underground. Fortunately, both of them were martial artists with strong physical strength.

  He Kuangming and the three of them began to set up hooks, locks, and hidden stabs around them. Moreover, they hung countless strong crossbows and sharp arrows on the surrounding trees, apparently preparing to deal with some fierce and formidable demon beast.

  "This is just taking a breather, you two still have work to do in a bit!"

  After digging a huge pit, He Kongming and two others exchanged a traceless glance, took out a jade bottle from their waist pouches, poured out two grains of dan medicine and threw them to Chen Songtai and Li Chen.

  "Thanks, Master He!"

  Chen Songtai and Li Chenhuan received it with great joy, normally they wouldn't have such good fortune, so they walked aside to swallow and meditate to recover.

  He Kungming and the other three people started inserting more than a dozen sharp, unmatched long guns with blue tips into the bottom of the pit. A large net was hung above, and finally some dry branches and green leaves were used to cover the entrance of the cave, which looked like a bush from a distance.

  "It's finally done!"

  Yang Haixing wiped the sweat from his forehead, and there was a hint of excitement in his eyes.

  "It is said that Zhang Chulung has a 90% chance of breaking through the Refining True Boundary, but is it really true?"

  Lu Qingfeng's face was somewhat gloomy, and he wiped away the sweat from his forehead.

  "Hmm, Zhang Chulang also didn't know where the opportunity came from, and he actually got the monkey wine, and even went to my place to take away the Polyporus umbellatus, what bad luck."

  Come on, drink some water, and after a short while, the medicine will take effect. With their Soft Tendon Dissolver and Soluble Qi Pellets, we can rest easy. By then, you, I, and he will have a good chance of entering the Refining Reality Realm!

  He Kuangming handed over a water bag with one hand, and glanced at the two who were meditating and recovering without leaving any marks.

  "Heh heh! Which one should I use as a lead?"

  Lu Qingfeng's face sank into a gloomy smile, his handsome face looking eerie and inexplicable.

  As the three of them were talking, the two people sitting cross-legged suddenly swayed a few times and fell over with a thud.

  "Throw this kid into the Stone Forest!"

  He Kuoming picked up Chen Songtai and put him on the withered branches of the pit, adding a few handfuls of tender green branches to cover him.

  Lu Qingfeng picked up Li Chen and quickly ran towards the stone forest, but only to throw him into the outer edge of the stone forest with a burst of strength before rapidly returning.

  After finishing all this, the three of them exchanged a glance and without hesitation hid themselves in the forest tens of meters away.

  After a while, in the quiet and empty space, a strange fragrance wafted up, extremely sweet and intoxicating.

  Ahh!

  As the mist drifted away, a loud and violent howl came from an unknown distance, followed by a dull thud, as if some enormous creature was rushing towards them.

  In the direction of the stone forest, the trees were even more crackling and crashing, with several trunks toppling over. A massive brown shadow suddenly appeared in the midst of the chaos, revealing a giant iron-backed bear that was at least ten feet tall, its back covered in dark blue-gray fur.

  As soon as the bear appeared, its dark nose sniffed a few times, turned its head to look at Chen Songtai who was unconscious, first circled around a few times, seemingly feeling that there was no danger, before suddenly pouncing over.

  Rumble!

  Just as its sharp claws touched Chen Songtai, the massive body suddenly lost its balance and crashed into the pit below.

  Whoosh!

  Cold arrows shot around, sharp arrows flew back and forth, accurately entering the pit, a huge net fell down with a loud noise, and several suspended giant stones heavily smashed down.

  Suddenly, dust flew everywhere, and loud roars echoed one after another!

  Ahh!

  A shrill howl echoed through the mountains, startling countless birds and beasts, causing a deafening commotion.

  "Get moving!"

  A loud shout came, three blue-clad figures suddenly shot out, and in the flash of cold light, sharp blades rushed towards the Iron-backed Bear crawling out of the pit.

  At this time, his body was covered with bloodstains and sand dust, a sharp arrow inserted in his left eye, the stench of blood constantly dripping down, as if he had been poisoned severely.

  His back, forearms, and even the gradually exposed buttocks were all pierced by arrows and spears, a pitiful sight to behold.

  But its body still exuded a brutal and cruel aura, which had not diminished in the slightest. Its scarlet single eye was filled with pain and bloodthirsty intent to kill.

  Before he could escape from the trap, the three men had already arrived in front of him, each displaying their exceptional skills. Swords and knives were drawn simultaneously, fiercely slashing at his shoulders and neck.

  The ear-piercing clash of steel on steel shook the air in all directions, the razor-sharp blade of fine steel was actually blocked by Tie Bei Xiong's thick fur, sparks flying everywhere.

  He Kuangming and the other three did not panic, continuously chopping down with their swords, their inner energy circulating without restraint to maximize damage.

  Ironback bear one powerful paw grasped the edge of the trap, one paw blocked the blade, desperately struggling to escape the trap, but unfortunately three people were all nine-layer warriors, with desperate efforts, their strength was extremely strong, and they could not escape.

  After a long and intense battle, a loud muffled sound was heard, the Ironback Bear, unable to hold on any longer, tumbled down into the pit. Its massive body refused to give up, and it once again began to climb back up.

  "Don't hold back, kill this beast, our true self has hope!"

  He Kongming's eyes were full of ferocity, staring at the gap, his hand holding a sharp sword suddenly turned into a sword flower, with a "pu" sound, blood splashed out, piercing into Tie Baohu's right eye.

  Ahh!

  The iron-backed bear, having lost its radiance, went mad and swung its paws suddenly. He Kuoming, who was unable to withdraw his hand in time, was swept away instantly, spewing out a blood arrow with a "poof" sound, rolling far away with an unknown fate.

  And Tie Bei Xiong once again heavily fell into the pit, Yang and Lu didn't go to care about Gu He Ming, exerting their strength to chop and kill Tie Bei Xiong who was trying to climb out of the pit again.

  Time passed bit by bit, and after several hours, the robust Ironback Bear, in its repeated cycles of climbing up and falling down, had a huge gash cut out at the base of its neck, until it finally let out a mournful cry and fell into the pit, never to move again.

  "Haha, I'm dead, I'm dead!"

  Yang Haixin leaned on his long sword with one knee on the ground, panting heavily, and turned around with an excited face.

  Hmph!

  A faint gleam, the bright blade flashed across his neck, the head soared into the sky, blood sprayed out several meters high, the skull rolled and fell to the ground, the face still showed undiminished excitement, but a pair of eyes dimmed.