Chapter 116: The Underground River (3)

The stone giant, upon hearing these words, emitted a radiant golden glow before transforming midair into a colossal golden boulder that crashed down with immense force.

Du Xuetao saw the golden, radiant stone hurtling toward him and turned to confront it.

“I’ve been dodging you all along, thinking I feared you? Stupid rock, falling into the cesspool and thinking you’re tough now,” Du Xuetao sneered.

Suddenly, the gourd in Du Xuetao’s hand burst with dazzling green light. A dark green liquid sprayed out, splattering across the golden boulder.

The once swiftly flying golden stone slowed immediately, its radiant glow dimming. The dark green poison oozed over the stone’s surface, causing it to halt midair before crashing down.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...” The stone emitted strange sounds. The poison spread across it, seeping inward until, unexpectedly, a pair of eyes opened in its center. The eyes gleamed dark green. The massive stone hand vigorously wiped at the poison on its surface, screeching as it scraped.

The stone grew redder and redder, eventually turning a deep crimson. It leapt into the air again. Before it could act, Du Xuetao mocked, “What’s so great about turning red, you blasted rock? When you were golden, I still doused you with my green poison. Even now, though you’re red, your crown’s still green! Ha!”

The crimson stone seemed to go mad, charging wildly at Du Xuetao. In response, Du Xuetao sprayed the dark green poison from his gourd. But before it could touch the stone giant, a sizzling sound rang out as the poison evaporated instantly upon contact.

The stone giant was nearly upon Du Xuetao when he finally reacted, turning and retreating. But it was too late. The stone giant accelerated with a fierce charge, sending Du Xuetao flying.

Most cultivators fought by channeling spiritual energy through their meridians, while only a few spiritual beasts relied on brute force. But now, there was no time to care. Du Xuetao crashed into the cavern wall, sending stones tumbling into the dark river below.

The stone giant did not pursue but turned to gaze at Dao Sansheng, who lay in the water nearby, his flesh already stripped clean by fish. Its eyes fixed unwaveringly on the spirit crystal embedded in Dao Sansheng’s chest, firmly pressed and held in place by Dao Sansheng himself.

Suddenly, beneath the eye on the stone giant’s belly, a mouth opened, exhaling a stream of red-hot breath toward Dao Sansheng. It then leapt, aiming to land on Dao Sansheng’s body.

Du Xuetao, clutching his abdomen in pain from the impact against the cavern wall, twisted in the crater he had made. Hearing the stone giant’s strange cry, he looked up.

“Don’t come near my master.”

Though still wincing from pain, Du Xuetao sprang to his feet, drawing a seemingly ordinary axe. Once he infused it with spiritual energy, it trembled violently, transforming into a colossal axe that roared with the fury of a spiritual beast.

The stone giant heard the roar and turned to face Du Xuetao just as he leapt up, wielding the gigantic axe, which now bore the image of a lion-headed humanoid spirit beast.

The stone giant forced a turn in midair, smashing its fists together in front of its chest, charging forward. Its red hue intensified, glowing like molten lava. Du Xuetao, undaunted, cursed through gritted teeth.

“I’ll split you, you stinking rock! Shatter!”

The massive axe swung down. The stone giant met the blow with both hands, fingers spread wide, clutching the axe tightly. Suddenly, the lion-headed spirit beast on the axe roared fiercely, forcing the stone giant’s grip to loosen. Its hands slid, and the axe struck one of the eyes embedded in its chest.

The crimson color began to fade from the stone giant’s body. One eye now impaled by the axe, which was driven deeper as the lion-headed spirit beast grew larger, gray fluid oozing from the wound.

The stone giant’s form gradually reverted to its original color and size. Du Xuetao, utterly drained, swayed unsteadily before collapsing, his hands still twitching. The lion-headed spirit beast on the axe had vanished, leaving only an ordinary axe embedded in the stone.

The stone giant struggled, raising one hand to pull the axe free. With a flick of its wrist, the axe fell, striking Dao Sansheng’s body.

The stone giant flipped over several times, and Du Xuetao, anxious, struggled back to his feet. After several failed attempts, the stone giant finally stood, only to slip and fall again.

Only then did Du Xuetao relax, pulling out a prepared pill and swallowing it.

“Faster, recover faster. I must heal before the stone giant does,” he prayed silently, swallowing yet another pill with gritted teeth.

The cavern lay in ruins from the battle between Du Xuetao and the stone giant. During the fight, the nearby fish in the dark river silently swam away, seeking hiding places without looking back.

The local fish knew of the massive stone giant, which often fought with other spiritual beasts invading the cavern, bringing disaster upon many fish.

Dao Sansheng still lay in the river, his arms and legs stripped bare of flesh by the fish, leaving only white bones submerged in water. Though many fish had left, a few still darted around Dao Sansheng’s chest.

The flesh on his chest was nearly gone when a fish swam beneath the spirit crystal. Suddenly, the stone giant, lying among the rubble, stirred and shot a red beam at the fish, which instantly turned to ash.

Another fish swam over, but the stone giant remained motionless. The fish greedily fed on Dao Sansheng’s flesh until it was completely consumed. The fish then swarmed his hands that gripped the stone, revealing the bones beneath.

At some point, fish had also surrounded Dao Sansheng’s head. The once tightly bound hairpiece now lay quietly on the riverbed, hair floating atop the water.

Little flesh remained on Dao Sansheng’s body. The remaining hungry fish circled him, nibbling at the white threads binding his bones together—his meridians—which remained intact despite their gnawing.

The fish prepared to retreat, but it was slightly too late. The spirit crystal, once lodged between Dao Sansheng’s bones, slipped free and fell directly into the riverbed. Fortunately, Dao Sansheng’s dantian remained unharmed.