Chapter 179 - Celeste Wounded, the Green Pool
In a verdant grassland that was dotted with sporadic towering trees stood a giant muscular kangaroo.
It was more than 100 meters tall, and it exuded a golden metallic l.u.s.ter as it sat on the ground, slowly munching on grass.
It was a Kingboxer Kangaroo...
A rare herbivorous Class 8 Direbeast!
One should not underestimate a Kingboxer Kangaroo just because it was a herbivorous Direbeast. The Kingboxer Kangaroo was even more terrifying than many Beast Kings on the Direbeast lists.
Why?
It was because of its terrifying combat power.
The Kingboxer Kangaroo had unparalleled power and lightning-fast punching speed, as well as a terrifying leap, that allowed it to severely wound a Class 8 Direbeast with a single punch!
According to the information on the forum, there was an incident of an a.d.u.l.t Kingboxer Kangaroo smashing a Komodo dragon and a Titan Direbear's head in with its fist.
Therefore, the Kingboxer Kangaroo was ranked 54th on the Direbeast list, ranking higher than Celeste and the Three-headed Frostfire Scaled Dragon. A very terrifying Direbeast indeed that most ordinary people and Direbeasts would not dare to provoke at all.
At that moment, a person was walking slowly toward it as he measured the Kingboxer Kangaroo. He felt quite satisfied, especially when he saw the Kingboxer Kangaroo's bulging muscles.
"If the Titan Direbear is no match, the Kingboxer Kangaroo should be a little stronger, right?"
The person was Ling Jiu. With a slight tap of his feet, afterimages appeared in the air as he slapped the Kingboxer Kangaroo on its head.
"Roar!!!"
The Kingboxer Kangaroo hated it the most when someone hits its head and it was furious as it shot out its pair of fists at Ling Jiu. And like a laser rifle on full auto and a mortar barrage, its attacks was as fast as lightning and relentless.
Ling Jiu also struck with both fists as he met its attack head-on. Throughout the series of hits, the two exchanged over a hundred blows within a short moment.
One was a human who was less than two meters tall.
From their size alone, both of their combat powers were on two totally different levels.
The weird thing was, the Kingboxer Kangaroo was constantly being pushed back during the exchange. On the other hand, Ling Jiu was pressed on with every step, as he completely had the Kingboxer Kangaroo on the back foot.
Crack!!
The Kingboxer Kangaroo retreated to a big tree and its massive body knocked it down as it continued to fall back. Right then, the anger in its eyes had disappeared, and in its place were pain and anxiety.
Pain?
It was indeed in pain!
Ling Jiu's fist was just too hard, and when it hit its fist, it smashed holes on it like a target being riddled by bullets.
Blood gradually stained the surface of its fist, and the pain made the Kingboxer Kangaroo extremely miserable. It finally could no longer bear the pain and stomped its feet into the ground and leap several hundred meters away, escaping Ling Jiu's attacks.
Boom! Boom!
The Kingboxer Kangaroo leaped around like the Hulk, jumping up and down in succession. In the blink of an eye, it was already a few kilometers away.
"Quite the runner there!"
Ling Jiu did not pursue it as the purpose of testing his strength had already been achieved. Plus, he was too lazy to bother killing it.
"It's like my entire body has changed. Not only is it powerful, but its defensive power is also amazing. Even a Class 8 Direbeast's full bow can't hurt me!"
"Also the speed... My current speed completely crushes any Class 8 Direbeasts!"
"So, how strong am I actually?"
Ling Jiu's eyes lit up. "It's time to look for a Class 9 Direbeast to test myself!"
With that thought in mind, Ling Jiu turned on the Direbeast Radar, but to his disappointment, not a single Class 9 Direbeast was on it.
There was also another point, a Beast Emperor has extremely destructive powers, enough to set off a catastrophe.
So, every Beast Emperor was the object of close human surveillance. The top echelon of humanity knew where all these Beast Emperors were, and there was no need for Direbeast Radars.
"This is a little troublesome!"
Ling Jiu called the camp commandant's phone.
"Ling Jiu, need something?"
"Hello camp commandant, I want to ask you about the whereabouts of a Beast Emperor!"
Ling Jiu went straight to the point. "Just let me know. Anyone will do!"
"What are you asking about this for?"
The camp commandant was stunned.
"I've made a big breakthrough in my strength and I want to look for a Beast Emperor to test things out."
Ling Jiu spoke truthfully. "The Class 8 Direbeasts no longer meet my requirements. I found a few earlier, and they were just simply no match for me!"
...
A wave of shock hit the camp commandant. Another big breakthrough in strength and even a Class 8 Beast Lord was no match for him. How strong was Ling Jiu now?
"Ling Jiu, a Beast Lord and a Beast Emperor are two different beings!"
The camp commandant took a deep breath and said, "They are two totally different forms of life, and there's a gap in their very essence! I'm very glad that you can defeat a Class 8 Beast Lord, but I advise you against provoking a Beast Emperor because a single mistake may cost you your life!"
"Camp commandant, is it that different?"
Ling Jiu was surprised.
"Of course!"
The camp commandant continued, "I'm a Level 9 Arcanist, and I can kill Class 8 Direbeasts like they are nothing, but in the face of any Beast Emperor, I have no chance of winning at all."
"Also!
"The threat of a Beast Emperor is very huge. It's best not to provoke one, because if you do anger one and set off a Beast Tide, the consequences are unimaginable!"
"All right then!"
Ling Jiu gave up his plans of looking for the Beast Emperors.
"Train hard!"
The camp commandant continued, "Your matriculation camp application has already been sent, and the reply should come back in two days' time. Don't go running around, and wait for the news!"
"Okay!"
That night, Ling Jiu did not rush back but stayed in the Australian wilderness instead. He had not seen Celeste for a while now and missed it somewhat.
As he absorbed a steady stream of Dark Bio-energy and strengthened the Gene Core within his body, Ling Jiu had a feeling that he was approaching his limit. The distance between him and Level 7 was getting so close that he might break through at any day now.
"Meooo.."
However, it was not in a good condition, being all bruised and blood-soaked, especially with a scar running down its left shoulder all the way to its abdomen as blood continued to seep out.
"Celeste, what happened to you?"
Ling Jiu immediately carried Celeste up. "Sapling Ling! Heal Celeste!"
Sapling Ling was a little reluctant but it dared not disobey Ling Jiu's orders as a steady stream of life force was infused into Celeste's body. With the help of the powerful life force, the wounds on Celeste's body were visibly healing.
Half an hour later, Celeste's wounds were completely healed, and if it weren't for the traces of blood left on its body, who would have known that it was injured earlier?
"Bro, I'm feeling so empty!" Sapling Ling's weak voice came into Ling Jiu's ears.
"All right you, enough with the tricks. I'll allow you to consume more Dark Bio-energy this time," Ling Jiu said helplessly.
"Yay! Thanks, bro!"
Sapling Ling cheered and began to frantically draw on Ling Jiu's Dark Bio-energy. Ignoring it, Ling Jiu looked at Celeste and asked, "Celeste, what's with the wounds?"
"Meoooww..."
Celeste stuck its tongue out and licked Ling Jiu's hand. Then, it glanced at Ling Jiu before it walked away, seemingly motioning at him. 'Follow me!'
As it did that, Celeste jumped onto the ground and went through the airship wall onto the wilderness outside. Ling Jiu exited the airship and put it away as he followed Celeste into the dark night.
Celeste was extremely fast, and as if the earth itself had shrunk for it, each step it took crossed a distance of hundreds of meters.
In the past, Ling Jiu might not have been able to catch up to it, but now... Ling Jiu was pacing steadily behind it. He was in no way slow.
At that moment, Ling Jiu noticed something that made him very excited: he could see clearly in the dark as if it was day!
What did that mean?
That meant he had night vision!
However, it was normal when he thought about it again.
The Astral Flame Behemoth's Ultimate Physique was all-encompassing, be it strength, speed, defense, stamina, endurance, agility, night vision... and the likes.
After replicating the Ultimate Physique, all aspects of Ling Jiu's body had undergone dramatic changes, so having night vision was entirely reasonable.
Following Celeste's lead, they finally arrived at the cliff by the sea.
The before the cliff was the surging sea as raging waves crashed against it. Yet the cliff had stood for thousands of years, and one could see how strong it was.
Celeste stepped on the air and moved above the cliff as Ling Jiu followed. He then saw a cave in the middle of the cliff face.
The cave entrance was not big, the size of a grinding plate, yet with his Dimensional Arcana, Ling Jiu could sense that the hole was extremely deep, and the deeper it got, the more spacious it was.
As for what was in its depths, Ling Jiu could not find out. His detection range was only 500 meters, and he could not sense anything beyond that range.
"Meow!"
Celeste called out to Ling Jiu and went into the cave. Ling Jiu then followed without any hesitation.
Both of them went all the way inside.
After advancing for almost two kilometers, they have finally reached the deepest part of the cave.
What came into view was an incredibly spacious underground cavern. It was as spacious as an underground mausoleum, standing more than ten meters high. Conversely, it was hundreds of meters in length and width.
On the surface was a pool with a strange green light emanating from it. It lit the entire cavern with an eerie green hue.
"Celeste, what's inside the pool?"
Ling Jiu asked as he stared at the pool.
A normal pool would not be green in color, especially in a dark cavern like that. The pool should only be black in color. Since a green light was coming out of it, there had to be something inside the pool.
"Meooo.."
Celeste waved its little paw and tossed a large rock the size of a watermelon. The next moment, a stout tentacle blasted out of the water and smashed the rock straight into pieces.
"That tentacle..."
Ling Jiu frowned slightly. "Celeste, you were wounded by that tentacle?"
"Meooo.."
Celeste nodded its little head.
"Very well!"
Ling Jiu nodded, and went straight to the pool. Apparently sensing his approach, another tentacle shot out from the pool and slammed at him.
"Good timing!"
Ling Jiu eyes were like lightning, and the moment the tentacle struck, he stuck his right hand out, With a sudden grasping motion, he grabbed the tentacle with his hand.
The next moment, however, Ling Jiu's expression changed.
"What strength!"