Chapter 56 Lizard Companions If Zhong Jiuli were to transform into a lizard, then…
When his vision cleared again, Bai found himself standing on a desolate battlefield.
The sky hung low, and the dark red setting sun hung between the gray clouds, looking less like the sun and more like the eye of some giant beast, hidden in the shadows, coldly watching over this desolate land.
Bai looked around but couldn't see a single person. All he could see was cracked earth, dried-up riverbeds, and collapsed mountains. As far as the eye could see, everything was a dim, yellowish hue, like the end of the world.
This is a desolate place, devoid of any life, only endless barrenness.
Bai called out softly, "Zhong Daya?"
No one responded!
She looked down and touched her clothes, but Jiaojiao, who should have been obediently staying in her arms, was nowhere to be found.
"Sister Green?"
"Xiao Wang?"
There was no response. Everyone had disappeared, and she was all alone in the world. A strange sense of loneliness overwhelmed Bai Ye.
"What's going on? I don't like places like this that look like they could be haunted at any moment," Bai muttered under his breath as he ran towards the collapsed mountain peak.
She couldn't stay still; the sun looked like it was about to set, so she needed to find a place to spend the night.
Although she was already a Golden Core cultivator, Bai didn't want to spend the night alone in such a drafty place. Who knew if a ghostly hand would suddenly appear, grab her ankle, and drag her to the ground?
Also, she needs to go to a high place and observe the world carefully in order to find clues to leave.
Before I had run very far, my ankle suddenly tightened.
A claw covered in blue scales burst from the ground, its five sharp claws gripping her ankle like iron pincers.
"Aaaaaah!" Bai Ye's exclamation turned into a tiger's roar, and the hair on his entire body stood on end in that instant.
Almost instinctively, she swung her heavy sword and stabbed it fiercely at the ghostly hand below.
With a clang, the sound of metal clashing rang out as the greatsword collided with the scales, sparks flying everywhere.
The ghostly hand wasn't severed; instead, it yanked violently, nearly causing Bai to lose his balance.
"Trying to outmuscle me? Do you think I'm a pushover?" Bai twisted his waist, his leg muscles tensing instantly, and golden flames lit up on the soles of his boots.
"Boom!" The kick, with the force of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, was delivered with tremendous force. The already cracked ground immediately developed even more fissures. The ghostly hand, along with the body hidden underground, was forcibly pulled out, tracing an arc through the billowing dust.
"Smack!"
The monster crashed heavily onto the cracked ground, its claws that had been gripping Bai Ye's ankle now hanging limply at its sides.
As the smoke cleared, Bai was able to see its appearance clearly. Its body, somewhat humanoid, was covered with blue scales, and sharp bone spikes had evolved on the joints of its limbs. A long tail covered with bone spikes extended from its tailbone.
The only thing that still resembles a human is probably the face with human features, but it can only be described as similar, since humans don't grow green vertical pupils, and their tongues don't fork out of their mouths and hiss and dance in the air like snakes.
"Good heavens..." Bai frowned in disgust, "Have you been poisoned and turned into a lizard?"
Whether it was Bai Ye's words that angered it or not, the monster suddenly crawled rapidly on all threes. Its speed was astonishing, and it reached Bai Ye in an instant.
At the same time, the cracked earth around them began to rise one after another, and dozens of similar monsters burst out of the ground, emitting low, hoarse hisses, and surrounded them at an extremely fast speed.
Bai slowly exhaled, a relaxed smile spreading across his face. The heavy sword in his hand emitted a dazzling golden light, the pure, yang fire of the sun flowing across its blade.
"Boom!" The sword light swept out, and the crescent-shaped sword energy with golden flames cut through the air. The monster with a missing claw had just rushed close when it was split in two by the sword energy. Its broken body slid forward several feet under the force of inertia before crashing to the ground.
"That's more like it! Since you're a monster, just do your job properly. Pretending to be a ghost and scaring people is what monsters do," Bai muttered under his breath.
Compared to these monsters crawling all over the place, Bai was more terrified of the deathly silence that made it seem as if he was the only person left in the world.
That would make her feel like she's been abandoned by the world.
After the jet-black sword was stained with golden flames, it struck the monsters with unstoppable force.
With each sweeping sword strike, a monster was disemboweled, the scene of which was so gruesome that it was hard to describe.
Even amidst such a bloody scene, these monsters seemed utterly unaware of fear. They charged forward, trampling over the mangled bodies of their companions, their sharp claws whistling through the air.
Bai Ye flicked her wrist, and the heavy sword spun in her palm, creating dazzling sword flowers.
She stomped her foot on the ground, leaping into the air. The true fire of the sun flowing on the sword drew a perfect golden sword aura circle with her movement.
Wherever the sword energy passed, seven or eight monsters that rushed forward were cut in half at the waist.
The monsters on the ground were temporarily cleared, and no new monsters appeared. Bai looked at the corpses scattered on the ground and used his greatsword to clear away a relatively intact monster corpse.
In her view, these monsters must have been human in their previous lives, but for some reason, they turned into mindless monsters in this place.
She recalled Zhong Jiuli's earlier guess that perhaps the Hidden Dragon Abyss had already devoured countless cultivators.
These monsters are very likely treasure hunters who ventured into the Hidden Dragon Abyss over the ages, and have been corrupted into their current form by some force over the long years.
This guess sent chills down Bai's spine. She quickly covered her mouth and nose. If the air here was poisonous, and she had unknowingly turned into this strange state, that would be terrible.
Bai shouldered her heavy sword, focused her mind, and ran quickly toward the collapsed mountain in the distance. It was a pity that she couldn't fly here, otherwise she wouldn't have to run on two legs. Fortunately, she was in good physical condition and could run for several days and nights without any problem.
I'm a little worried about Liu Xianyue and Jiaojiao. If Jiaojiao also encounters these monsters, she'll be terrified.
"If Zhong Jiuli turned into a lizard, she would probably be the most beautiful lizard ever," Bai thought with a wry smile. She could even picture a cold, expressionless lizard digging a hole in the ground.
She and Zhong Jiuli would become a pair of lizard lovers, digging holes in the ground every day and climbing to the mountain peaks to sunbathe whenever they had free time. That seemed pretty good.
Achoo!
Above the clouds, Zhong Jiuli suddenly sneezed. She dodged the incoming lightning ball, her black hair flying in the raging air.
Before her, a black dragon, its length unknown and stretching for tens of thousands of miles, coiled amidst the sea of clouds, its body impossible to discern clearly.
Even a single scale of its is larger than an ordinary pavilion. Its eyes, like two blazing suns, flicker with golden flames. Ordinary cultivators, let alone confront it, would likely have their minds shattered just by a glance.
But Zhong Jiuli had been confronting it for who knows how long.
“Young man,” the black dragon spoke, his voice like thunder shaking the clouds, “you are quite good, able to persist under my command for so long. It’s a pity I don’t like your Zhulong lineage, otherwise I could have passed on my legacy to you.”
“I have no interest in your legacy,” Zhong Jiuli said coldly. “Please let me leave.”
"Heh~" Black Dragon chuckled sullenly, "What's the rush? It's rare to meet a few interesting little guys, can't I have some fun with them?"
As it spoke, it turned its head to look in some empty direction, grinned, and revealed a delighted smile. "You're worried about that little tiger? She's quite interesting; she's planning to become a pair of lizard lovers with you in my trial space."
Upon hearing this, Zhong Jiuli's temples twitched slightly. There was no doubt that such outrageous words could only have come from that heartless, stinking tiger.
"Stay here in peace. I won't let you leave until the trial is complete. If you're bored, go watch the little tiger's trial." After saying that, the black dragon swayed its body and disappeared into the sea of clouds.
The entire world fell silent. Zhong Jiuli stood atop a cloud, a hint of annoyance flashing in her eyes. In this trial space, her cultivation was severely suppressed.
I just fought with the Black Dragon, and he probably didn't even use one-tenth of his power. I wonder how Bai Ye is doing.
As she was thinking, the sky slowly became transparent, and Bai Ye's figure appeared.
After Bai climbed to a high point, he discovered that on the other side of the mountain was an even higher and more thoroughly destroyed peak.
After descending the mountain, she encountered a group of lizardmen again, just like before. However, this time the lizardmen she met were much stronger than before, and some of them were even able to use the True Fire of the Sun to attack her.
Bai also used the Taixu Xuan Lei and the Taiyang Zhen Huo to barely wipe out all the lizardmen.
After crossing one mountain, she encountered an even higher one. This time, the lizardman she met knew almost all of her moves.
Bai also spent a lot of effort to break through the siege of the lizardmen. Only then did she realize that this place might be some kind of trial space.
It's specifically designed to hone cultivators. Those who succeed can leave, while those who fail remain in the secret realm as lizardman NPCs.
No wonder all her cheat codes were taken away; it's clear they're forcing her to rely on her own abilities to get through this.
After traversing several mountains, Bai, covered in wounds, finally slayed the last wave of lizardmen. She knelt on one knee, leaning on her heavy sword, her bright red blood dripping onto the ground.
There wasn't a single good spot on her body. Her shoulders and back were covered in deep claw marks that revealed the bone, a broken bone spur was stuck in her waist, and her skin was charred black by the sun's heat. In short, she was practically a crippled tiger.
Seeing the terrible state of Bai Ye's side, Zhong Jiuli's eyes were filled with heartache. This little tiger had never suffered such serious injuries since it came out with her.
She was furious that he had been injured so badly after only a short separation. She was angry, but also helpless. In this trial space, Bai could only rely on himself.
"Cough cough... Sigh." Bai gasped in pain, his blood-stained fingers gripping the bone spur in his waist tightly. He gritted his teeth and pulled it out forcefully.
With a "plop," the moment the bone spur was pulled out, blood gushed out like a fountain, splashing onto the cracked ground in a shocking manner.
"Hey, hey, don't let so much blood flow!" Bai frantically tried to cover the penetrating wound on his waist, warm blood seeping out from between his fingers and quickly forming a pool of blood beneath him.
"Damn it, I should have known better than to pull it out." His vision blurred, and before he could even find a dry spot, he collapsed to the ground.
"Stupid tiger!" Zhong Jiuli was both anxious and worried.
"Hehe~" A muffled laugh came from the sky, but unfortunately Bai couldn't hear it.
In the hazy light, cool raindrops fell on my face.
Bai struggled to open his heavy eyelids and found a palm-sized dark cloud hovering above his head, with a light drizzle falling.
The rain was extremely precise, covering only the area where Bai was lying. She was soaked to the bone, while the ground less than half a meter from her toes remained dry and cracked.
"......"
Bai stared at the dark cloud overhead that seemed intent on showering him for a long time, then suddenly grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it into the sky, yelling, "Are you crazy? If you're going to rain down, can't you go somewhere further down?"
The dark cloud deftly shifted a few feet, perfectly avoiding her attack. After mischievously spraying a few water jets at her, it drifted upwards and gradually disappeared into the sky.
Bai was so angry she gritted her teeth. She wiped the rain off her face, stood up angrily, and ran after the direction where the dark clouds had dissipated.
She had only run a few steps when she stopped again.
The pain seems to have subsided! Bai raised his hand to touch the penetrating wound on his waist. The previously clear wound had now healed. The new skin was still pinkish, but it was no longer a problem.
She stretched her limbs and found that the injuries on her shoulders and back had healed, and even her dantian, which had been completely depleted, was now full of spiritual energy.
"Oh, so it's for healing? Who designed this trial ground? It seems to be afflicted with some serious illness, even a cloud is quite ill." Bai also angrily pulled out the heavy sword stuck in the ground.
Muttering curses, I continued walking forward. After crossing the mountain in front of me, the next mountain was finally different.
The mountain peak before us stands perfectly intact between heaven and earth, with five ferocious claw marks running across its dark rock face.
Even from a great distance, the dragon's might contained in those claw marks still made one's heart tremble.
Bai also stared intently, as if countless dragon roars were echoing in his ears.
"This trial isn't going to... make me learn this thing, is it?" Bai Ye grinned, somewhat disgusted, and said, "Our White Tiger Clan's Sky-Splitting Claw is enough, thank you. Can you let me out now?"
The surroundings were completely silent; there were no beams of light, and no mysterious person suddenly appeared to take her away.
"Alright, alright, I'll learn it then." Bai complained as he sat down cross-legged and carefully observed the claw mark.
Upon closer inspection, she immediately discovered the profound mystery within. The seemingly simple claw marks actually contained the dragon race's ultimate control over the laws of heaven and earth.
Every line, every crack, is actually an application of laws and power.
In the dim light, Bai seemed to see a giant dragon soaring into the sky. It was like a god sitting high in the clouds, casually extending its claws and waving them at the void. Wind and thunder followed, and the claw marks that were enough to pierce through the heavens and earth fell down.
“Alright, I admit, you guys do have some skills,” Bai said reluctantly. “But our White Tiger Clan’s claw attacks aren’t bad either, you know.”
Bai recalled his earlier insights and casually swung his claw at the mountain in front of him. Five golden claw beams whistled past, tearing fine cracks in the space. However, this strike, powerful enough to split mountains and cleave rivers, landed on the mountain but failed to scrape off even a single piece of rock.
"Hmm?" Bai was puzzled; there was something strange about this mountain. With a few leaps, she jumped down the mountain peak and sped towards the giant mountain with the dragon claw mark.
As they drew closer, the dragon's might grew stronger, and the true face of the mountain was finally revealed to Bai Ye.
She couldn't help but widen her eyes, staring with a fascination at the giant mountain in front of her, which was made of a single piece of dragon crystal. Through the cracks, she could vaguely see the golden dragon marrow flowing inside the mountain.
"Gulp," Bai swallowed excitedly, a greedy smile spreading across his face. "Look at the mess this has made! If you had said you were Long Jing earlier, I definitely wouldn't have chatted with you from so far away!"
You should know that this is the rarest dragon crystal in the cultivation world. It is said that when refining a weapon, adding just a tiny bit of dragon crystal the size of a fingernail can raise its quality by one grade.
At this moment, Bai completely forgot about the dragon's might and the trials.
Despite the suffocating pressure, she approached the foot of the mountain step by step, a black lightning bolt appearing in her palm, which she smashed directly at the weakest point of the mountain.
With a loud "boom," a thunderclap resounded. After the lightning dissipated, Bai leaned closer to take a closer look. The mountain was as smooth as new, without even a single white spot left.
"Tsk! You really want me to scratch you with my claws, don't you?" Bai wiped the sweat from his forehead, sat down cross-legged, closed his eyes, and the dragon claw print that ran across the mountain surfaced in his mind.
When she calmed down, the battles she had experienced along the way replayed in her mind like a revolving lantern.
From the ordinary monsters at the beginning to the elite monsters that copied all her skills, the later battles were extremely brutal.
Almost every lizardman was on par with her in strength, and those lizardmen even cooperated. It can be said that Bai fought with all her might and risked her life to barely manage to kill those lizardmen.
During the time she spent with Zhong Jiuli, whenever danger arose, before she could even make a move, that figure would always be the first to shield her.
Looking back now, she finally understood. She had always thought she was strong enough, but she didn't realize that under Zhong Jiuli's protection, she had never truly experienced such a life-or-death struggle.
Like a tiger kept in a zoo, it has sharp claws but has never truly relied on itself to tear open the throat of its prey.
Bai also focused his mind and stopped thinking wildly, immersing himself in the understanding of the dragon claw.
The setting sun hanging in the sky never moved, as if this place had been forgotten by time and space.
After an unknown amount of time, Bai opened her eyes again, this time with a fierce fighting spirit burning in them.
The golden light at her fingertips gradually condensed, no longer a simple and brutal use of power, but carrying a certain mysterious law of heaven and earth. When she made her move, the sound of wind and thunder suddenly arose.
The claw strike perfectly overlapped with the claw mark on the mountain wall.
In an instant, the entire dragon crystal mountain emitted a deep hum, and light shone from within the mountain, as if in response to her attack.
With a "crack," a fissure appeared in the majestic mountain, and the golden dragon marrow flowed out through the crack, gathering into a pool of dragon marrow at the foot of the mountain.
Bai stared at the churning dragon marrow in the pool. "So generous? Giving me dragon marrow to soak in?"
This is a legendary treasure of heaven and earth, containing the essence of a true dragon, and it has now condensed into such a large pool in front of her.
"Really giving it to me? Then I won't be polite!" Bai took a deep breath and reached into the pool of dragon marrow. Even though she was mentally prepared, she still couldn't help but gasp when the piercing pain came.
The golden liquid seemed to have a life of its own, frantically drilling into her flesh. Bai gritted her teeth, watching as golden dragon scales grew on her palms at a visible speed, only to disintegrate in an instant and turn into furry tiger claws.
Under the baptism of this dragon marrow, she even found it difficult to maintain her human form.
Bai then transformed into his true form and leaped into the Dragon Marrow Pool.
"Glug glug!" The golden pool water churned violently, and Bai swallowed the dragon marrow in large gulps. The violent energy poured into her internal organs like magma, burning every pore of her body and causing it to radiate golden light.
The fiery dragon marrow surged through his veins, reshaping flesh and bones wherever it passed. The golden core within his dantian spun wildly, greedily absorbing this violent energy. Beneath his snow-white fur, fine dragon scales gradually sprouted on Bai Ye's skin.
"Crack, crack." The sound of bones cracking came from his back, and Bai also felt a tingling sensation on his back, as if something was about to grow out.
She reached out and touched it, and surprisingly found two small, throbbing bumps.
"Roar!? Awoo?" Bai also stared wide-eyed in shock. What was this? Did it grow a tumor on its back?
"I was wrong. There's no such thing as a free lunch. You actually poisoned me!"
The next instant, with a "plop" sound and the sound of flesh tearing, a pair of small wings covered with golden scales pierced through the fur and slowly unfolded on Bai Ye's back.
Bai also clumsily flapped its wings a few times, its newly grown wings as weak and powerless as a fledgling.
But nourished by the dragon marrow, these small wings grew at a visible speed, eventually transforming into a pair of golden giant wings with a wingspan of more than ten feet.
Compared to Bai Ye's current size of just over one meter as a cub, these wings are truly enormous, enough to carry her soaring between heaven and earth.
Bai lowered his eyes, looking at his reflection in the golden pool.
The snow-white tiger cub had wings on its back, and the golden king character mark between its eyebrows shone with dazzling golden light. It was so majestic and domineering that it was almost excessive.
She tried flapping her wings, and surprisingly, she actually flew up crookedly. At first, she almost crashed into the cliff, but after several circles, she was able to master the flying skills.
Soaring upwards at breakneck speed, diving and circling, the little tiger's figure danced with incredible skill in this desolate space.
Zhong Jiuli watched her go from being seriously injured to recovering, and now to being carefree and silly. His mood was like a rollercoaster ride.
She realized that all her emotions were actually influenced by this guy. Bai was happy, and she was inexplicably happy too. Even though she was still in danger, her mood inexplicably lightened.
"Yo-ho~ Yo-ho!" Bai was as happy as a monkey who had stolen a peach, and her strange shouts echoed through the mountains.
After flying enough, Bai happily returned to the foot of Dragon Crystal Mountain. Looking at the few remaining dragon marrow at the foot of the mountain, she immediately took out a bunch of jade bottles and began to pack them up vigorously.
Her behavior of taking the leftovers home seemed to have annoyed the owner.
The ground began to tremble violently, and a deep, abyss-like fissure suddenly appeared, swallowing up all the remaining dragon marrow.
Bai also stared blankly at the jade bottle, looking at the suddenly appearing crack, his tiger ears drooping down, looking somewhat unhappy.
The next second, a glint flashed in her eyes, and she turned around and pounced on Dragon Crystal Mountain, starting to pound it all over.
As the saying goes, since we're already here, we can't just leave empty-handed.
While Bai was bent over, trying to pry open the dragon crystal, little did she know that high above, amidst the thick clouds, a pair of golden dragon eyes were watching her with great interest.
The black dragon, perched in the clouds, looked down at the busy little tiger below and chuckled softly.
"Little thing, you're really greedy. I only have so much stuff, and you insist on taking it all away, huh?"
The black dragon chuckled and waved its claws, causing the secret realm to shake once again.
"Again?" Bai Ye's tiger ears twitched, and she reacted extremely quickly. With a fierce tiger pounce, she collected all the scattered dragon crystals into her storage ring. Then, she placed her claws on the mountain of dragon crystals, intending to collect the entire mountain into her storage ring.
Unfortunately, Dragon Crystal Mountain could not be shaken.
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Author's Note: Zhong Jiuli: Thank you, you can be the lizard yourself.
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