Chapter 496: Chapter 365: Two Half-Saints on the First Floor; Thunder Flood Dragon’s Contempt—Su Mu Is No Longer a Threat!

The leaves fell to the ground. Su Mu reached out a meter away and soon sensed an invisible membrane.

His palm passed through the membrane, and inside and outside of it, he could feel the flow speed of the wind and snow was completely different, as if there were two worlds.

"According to the Book of Destiny, the catastrophe will arrive in thirteen years..."

"Now I have mastered the method to enter the Endless Black Mist World. I am not lacking in cultivation resources, but what I lack the most is... time."

"With ten times the flow speed, cultivating here for ten days only equates to one day outside."

Thinking of this, Su Mu slightly raised his eyes toward the direction of the Great River. For all the Fierce Beasts on this layer, perhaps that Great River was a Life Forbidden Land.

But for him, Su Mu, it was an excellent cultivation room, a Supreme Cultivation Room guarded by a Half-Step Saint Realm, unmatched by any cultivation room in the Southern War Zone!

Moreover, the opponent in this Half-Step Saint Realm would not show any mercy, truly fighting to the death, and only between life and death can there be great fortune!

"Besides time, what I lack is a powerful opponent, one who can give me pressure and the crisis of life and death."

"A Titled Grandmaster is too weak to provide effective cultivation, and a Saint Realm is too strong, so a Half-Step Saint Realm is just right..."

"Moreover, it just happens to have mastered the Rule of Thunder..."

"That big guy is the best opponent for me!"

Su Mu’s eyes shone brightly. With ten times the time flow speed, after each battle, he could absorb the black mist for recovery and cultivation. After each cultivation, he could then find the big guy for special training.

After breaking through to the level of Martial Arts Grandmaster, Su Mu has always been unclear about his own strength, and real combat is the best way to test one’s strength.

In this way, mastering the Rule of Thunder, body refining, and practical experience could all be achieved at once!

Su Mu was never a hesitant person, so he made a decision immediately.

"I’ll stay on this layer for a period of time first."

After making the decision, Su Mu did not hesitate anymore. He took a few deep breaths to clear his mind and soon entered the cultivation state. In introspection state, with a thought, his solidified spiritual power condensed into a silver giant hand, casually grabbing five or six strands of black mist from the sea of consciousness and throwing them into his body.

The black mist was unsealed inside his body and began to struggle wildly, only to be met by Su Mu’s every inch of flesh and blood, which was like a black hole.

Four immortal cells glowed with flowing light, and amidst several piercing howls, the evil aura within the black mist was completely eradicated, transformed into pure energy masses, each comparable to tens of thousands of catties of spirit marrow.

Then, the four immortal cells each took a mass, directly dividing four, while the remaining masses were distributed by Su Mu to other flesh and blood and ordinary cells.

The immortal cells ate the meat, and the other flesh and blood had to drink a little soup.

With every breath, Su Mu felt the nearly exhausted qi and blood inside his body starting to restore at an astonishing speed.

"As expected of the Master of Black Fog’s flesh, truly extraordinary!"

In just a moment,

the four immortal cells devoured the four strands of black mist completely, then continued to express a desire for energy.

"Immortal cells are truly energy black holes, let’s continue then."

Su Mu smiled and shook his head, casually grabbing a few more strands of black mist from the sea of consciousness to feed them.

Time passed by like this, and after twenty strands of black mist were completely devoured, Su Mu reopened the channel to the Endless Black Mist, continuing to bring in more black mist.

Once the qi and blood inside his body were fully replenished, Su Mu’s whole body trembled slightly, the qi and blood surged, and he felt a new breakthrough in the total amount of qi and blood.

"A martial artist’s flesh is like a container, and every time the qi and blood is exhausted, it’s an opportunity to break through the container’s limit."

Su Mu realized this deep inside.

After the qi and blood were fully replenished, Su Mu began to channel energy into the Fixed Star Body Refining Technique and the transformation of immortal cells. With every minute and every second, Su Mu would be slightly stronger than the previous second.

This feeling of becoming stronger at every moment made Su Mu feel extremely reassured, and he quickly became completely immersed in cultivation.

A peculiar scene emerged.

In the center of a large pit, a human was openly cultivating in the depths of the Giant Beast Cave, yet no Fierce Beast dared to approach.

It was as if it had become another Forbidden Land.

...

On one side, someone was absorbing in cultivation, oblivious to the outside world.

On the other side.

Rewinding time a bit.

Ye Wuhen and Qin Heng each leaped onto a giant tree, climbing high to gaze into the distance. In such low-visibility snowy nights, the two could not see the sides in battle clearly.

But the fierce battle’s sounds resonated so vividly as if they were right in front of them.

Every booming sound was extremely clear, accompanied by tremors like an earthquake.

Thud, thud, thud!

The two sides seemed to use the earth as a war drum, composing an intensely exhilarating battle song.

"This second force is not as strong as the first, but it’s not something a Titled Grandmaster could unleash. It can’t be Su Mu and Ximen Gu..." Qin Heng mused, speaking quietly.

"Indeed, the Giant Beast Cave is perilous, and two Half-Step Saint Realm Fierce Beasts exist on this layer simultaneously!"

"This suggests there’s truly a possibility of Saint Realm Fierce Beasts deeper inside."

Ye Wuhen’s face showed seriousness and yearning, nodding in agreement.

He thoroughly concurred with Qin Heng’s view. Although Ximen Gu’s strength was formidable, it was merely on par with his own, far from reaching such a level.

As for Su Mu, despite having the talent to induce the Tianyun Mountain phenomena, before entering the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pool, he was still a Sixth Level Martial Artist who had not yet become a grandmaster, making it even more impossible that it was Su Mu.

"This place is unsuitable for staying long; once the snowstorm stops tomorrow, we should leave this layer as soon as possible."

"Alright."

The distant battle ended swiftly, taking just a minute, but it left Ye Wuhen and Qin Heng deeply shocked.

...

At the Great River, the Thunder Flood Dragon watched as a blue light, now transformed into a bloodied man, flew across the sky and disappeared at the edge of its vision, a hint of doubt and disdain in its huge dragon eyes.

Golden blood was spilled all over the path of the departing human.

If it hadn’t yet completed its own transformation and was unable to leave the Great River for now, it would have chased out of the river to kill that human.

However, in the Thunder Flood Dragon’s eyes, that human was no longer a threat.

The martial arts mastered by that human were quite peculiar; although the Thunder Flood Dragon didn’t understand how Su Mu could unleash a force temporarily able to contend with it, the cost of such an outburst must be severe.

Perhaps it was a method akin to burning essence blood, similar to a Fierce Beast’s self-destructive blood core—a forbidden technique. Using such forbidden methods, compounded by severe injuries, the Thunder Flood Dragon sensed that when Su Mu left, he was already close to exhaustion.

Even if he doesn’t perish from this, recovering quickly from these injuries is out of the question.

With this thought, the Thunder Flood Dragon’s doubts dissolved; it let out a cold snort, submerging its huge body into the kilometer-long whirlpool, lying dormant once more at the heart of the Great River.

...