"For now, I can only try to stall it as much as possible and wait for Duanmu Shijie and Xiao Hei to arrive. Together, we should be able to take it down."

  According to Zhang Ruochen's estimate, Duanmu Xingling and Xiao Hei would have to wait at least a quarter of an hour before they could arrive at the Lava River Valley.

  With his cultivation, can he hold off the black monster for a minute?

  At this moment, a black monster stretched out two dozen-meter-long hard tentacles and attacked Zhang Ruochen.

  Zhang Ruochen immediately exerted his power of spatial distortion, concealing his figure and disappearing on the spot.

  "Hong Hong"

  The two tentacles of the black monster struck the stone wall, shattering it and causing fragments of rock to fall off.

  When Zhang Ruochen disappeared, a sharp cry came from the mouth of the black monster. A strand of true energy condensed on his body, and a dark red mass appeared in his abdomen. The dark red mass surged up from his abdomen, through his neck, and sprayed out of his mouth.

  A scarlet flame engulfed the entire space, forcing Zhang Ruochen, who had been hiding his figure, to reappear.

  Zhang Ruochen immediately shrank the spatial domain, causing it to only cover a distance of ten meters. Through the power of the spatial domain, he finally managed to block the flames spat out by the black monster.

  Upon reaching the Profound Extreme Realm's Great Extreme Stage, Zhang Ruochen's spatial domain could cover up to eighty meters away. The broader the spatial domain covered, the weaker the power; the smaller the space covered, the stronger the power.

  "Heartbroken in the Sky"

  Zhang Ruochen's feet pushed off the ground, and with a leap into the air, he swung his Snow Dragon Sword at the black creature's skull.

  Just as Zhang Ruochen drew his sword, a chilling aura burst out from the blade, and snowflakes danced around him, covering an area of about ten zhang in diameter.

  Ten zhang flying snow.

  The snowflakes hadn't even fallen to the ground before they were evaporated by the high temperature of the lava river, turning into wisps of white smoke.

  Seeing Zhang Ruochen swing his war sword, the black monster simultaneously mobilized eight tentacles to attack Zhang Ruochen, guarding itself tightly.

  Facing eight tentacles at the same time, even if Zhang Ruochen's body speed was very fast, it still seemed precarious, and every time he almost got entangled by the tentacles.

  "No way, its power is too strong. Even just one tentacle has the ability to kill a top-notch martial artist in the Earthly Realm. Eight tentacles attacking at the same time can kill a group of top-notch martial artists in the Earthly Realm."

  Zhang Ruochen threw out a thunder bead and then cast the Wind Dragon Shadow, quickly retreating back.

  Leizhu's power was extremely strong, and Zhang Ruochen immediately retreated to the side of the stone gate, turning his true energy to activate the inscription on the Ice Fire Qilin armor.

  A loud roar of the Qilin sounded, and Zhang Ruochen's body burst forth with two colors of light: crimson red and dark blue. The two lights coalesced into a massive Qilin illusion that enveloped and protected Zhang Ruochen within its shadow.

  Boom

  The thunder bead exploded under the black monster's body, releasing a terrifying power of lightning.

  A bolt of white lightning, like a heavenly sword, extended tens of meters outwards, emitting a thunderous sound.

  Innumerable lightning bolts burst forth, like fine serpentine patterns, completely enveloping the black monster.

  The black monster's body turned extremely charred, emitting strands of cyan smoke, and its body was also struck by the power of lightning, splitting open three bowl-sized blood cavities. The blood cavities also turned charred, and surprisingly, no blood flowed out.

  "Roar"

  The black monster was momentarily paralyzed by the lightning, and immediately let out a deafening roar. A pair of huge eyes completely turned blood red, and charged towards Zhang Ruochen.

  It flew into a rage

  Its vitality is too strong, being hit by Lei's bead, it doesn't even die.

  The black monster had already been severely injured by the thunder bead once, so it would definitely be on guard. Even if Zhang Ruochen threw out another thunder bead, he wouldn't be able to hurt it.

  Besides, at such a close distance, if Zhang Ruochen were to throw out the Thunder Pearl, it's possible that he wouldn't be able to kill the black monster, but would instead end up killing himself.

  Just as the eight tentacles of the black monster were about to chop down, Zhang Ruochen immediately opened up the inner space of the Time and Space Crystal and hid inside.

  Zhang Ruochen's body disappeared once again, leaving behind only a crystal stone the size of a jujube pit, which fell to the ground.

  Boom

  The eight black tentacles of the monster struck the stone gate of Yanhe Refining Hell, producing a loud noise and shaking the stone gate.

  The black monster hesitated for a moment, searching everywhere for Zhang Ruochen's trail, and finally fixed its gaze on the crystal stone on the ground. It used one of its tentacles to pick up the space-time crystal stone, examined it for a moment, and then threw the space-time crystal stone into its mouth and swallowed it into its belly.

  The black monster stared deeply at that stone gate, turned around and walked away, heading towards the depths of the Red Sky Secret Mansion.

  One minute later.

  A petite and delicate-looking girl with a sensual aura, wearing light blue clothing, with long hair flowing down her back, and slender legs, rushed to the Lava River Valley, arriving at the scene of the previous battle.

  That lovely young girl, with a pair of dark eyebrows slightly furrowed, said: "The battle is over."

  Next to him, a giant fat cat with wings said with a flick of its eyes: "Zhang Ruochen won't have been killed by Lang Xing already, will he?"

  That slender and charming girl with a pretty face was naturally Duanmu Xingling, who had come to rescue Zhang Ruochen.

  Du Mu Xingling shook his head and said, "If Lang Xin had killed Zhang Ruochen, the stone gate of Yanhe Lianyu would have been opened by now, and those evil people in the black market would have been released. Moreover, even if Lang Xin has broken through to the Di Ji realm, it's impossible for him to cause such terrifying destructive power. Zhang Ruochen must have encountered an even more ferocious underground beast, and if that's the case, he's in grave danger."

  Xiao Hei rubbed his teeth and suddenly thought of something, laughing: "He doesn't look like he's going to die soon, he should have escaped"

  If Zhang Ruochen is really dead, then Xiao Hei will definitely be pulled back into the world of the scroll by the sealing power of the Qiankun Divine Wood Diagram.

  It's still fine here, which means Zhang Ruochen should still be alive.

  Du Mu Xingling gently stroked the pointed chin, stretched out a slender jade hand, and patted the small black furry head, saying: "Don't worry, even if Zhang Ruochen dies in Chi Kong Secret Mansion, I will continue to raise you and won't let you become a homeless stray cat."

  Xiao Hei's eyes widened, and his black fur stood on end. "I am the Emperor of Slaughter, who shakes the heavens with my power! You are just a mere cat, how dare you compare yourself to me? I have mastered 3,000 martial arts techniques and divine abilities. Don't leave, listen to what I have to say."

  Duanmu Xingling stretched out a lazy waist, revealing a snow-white flat belly and slender waist, hugging an ancient sword, walking back, saying: "That Tuhuang Emperor, hurry up, if you get lost, you'll really become a stray cat"

  Xiao Hei's paws trampled heavily on the ground, his two round ears perked up and he chased after Duanmu Xingling. Following closely beside her, he continued to say: "I am well-versed in 3,000 martial techniques and divine abilities, I can absorb the essence of the sun and moon, stir up the light of the stars, and was once invincible in the Kunlun realm."

  Du Mu Xing Ling's eyelids lifted slightly, and he patted the soft head of Xiao Hei, saying: "Not bad, as a savage beast, not only can you speak human language, but also ghost language, Zhang Ruo Chen taught you well."

  Xiao Hei shook his head, his eyes wide with anger, and said: "Zhang Ruochen is just a tiny kid, how can he possibly teach me? I am not only proficient in martial arts, but also well-versed in array techniques, alchemy, artifact refinement, beast taming, wind and rain summoning, astrology and divination."

  Duanmu Xingling's cheeks were slightly raised with a hint of a smile, her red lips curled up, and she felt that the big fat cat raised by Zhang Ruochen was actually quite interesting, even more interesting than talking to people.

  Zhang Ruochen stood in the inner space of the Time and Space Crystal, able to sense what was happening outside.

  "Was swallowed into the belly of a black monster."

  Originally, Zhang Ruochen was still thinking about how to kill the black monster, but now it has become much easier. All he needs to do is throw out a thunder bead and let it explode in the black monster's belly. If the black monster doesn't die then, that would be strange.

  However, Zhang Ruochen was not in a hurry to kill the black monster and decided to wait a little longer. After all, the Red Sky Secret Mansion was quite dangerous, and staying inside the black monster's body was much safer than being outside.

  If I could borrow the strength of the black monster and enter the depths of the Red Sky Secret Mansion, that would be for the best.

  Actually, Zhang Ruochen also wanted to know where the black monster was going.

  Zhang Ruochen released his spatial domain, covering an area of eighty meters in diameter, and infused his martial soul into the spatial domain to observe the outside situation.

  A black monster crawled quickly through the rock crevices and arrived at the bottom of a large underground mountain.

  That great mountain under the earth, may not be considered high and majestic on the surface, but in the underground layer it appears exceptionally magnificent. Who would have thought that there would also be a mountain range under the ground?

  The entire mountain range was shrouded in a multicolored mist, with highly toxic gases permeating the air, yet amidst the rocky crevices grew clusters of pure white three-leafed grass.

  Each blade of three-leafed grass emits a faint white glow, wafting thick fragrance that forms a stark contrast with the surrounding miasma.

  The black monster used its tentacles to pull a three-leaf clover out of a rock crevice and swallowed it into its belly.

  Boom

  The medicinal power of the three-leafed grass was extremely potent, and as soon as it entered the black monster's abdomen, it immediately transformed into a ball of jade-white liquid that merged with the black monster's body.

  "Trifoliate Stellaria."

  Zhang Ruochen stood in the inner space of the Time and Space Crystal, sensing the aura of the Three-Leafed Sacred Air Grass. His heart was filled with wild joy. Such a rare spiritual medicine, not one could be found in Yunwu Commandery, yet so many grew here.

  If you can collect ten stalks of Three-Leafed Sage's Breath, breaking through the Profound Extreme Realm's Great Perfection won't be a difficult task.

  If enough Three-Leaf Sage Grass can be collected, there is even a chance to cultivate to the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Profound Extreme Boundary.

  Zhang Ruochen hastily took out a Lei Pearl and opened a slit in the Time-Space Crystal, injecting true energy into the Lei Pearl.

  As the true energy surged in, the inscription on the surface of the thunder bead activated. Zhang Ruochen's fingers flicked, and he threw the thunder bead into the inner space of the Time-Space Crystal Stone.

  "Hehe"

  The thunder bead fell into the belly of the black monster, and strands of thunder power dissipated from the thunder bead.