Chapter 160: Chapter 160

But the heat here blended into every corner of the nearby void, emerging constantly. It brought about an external burning sensation, as if stepping into a "furnace".

Owen Bertram opened his eyes and could directly see the peak of the mountain and the dark-red boulder on top—more than two zhangs and very irregular in shape. Different substances seemed to have melted together on its pitted surface.

"Extraterrestrial meteorite?" Owen Bertram guessed.

As he lifted his foot to start climbing the slope, the ground in front of him suddenly began to ripple. The surrounding rocks rolled and a horrifying aura awakened from beneath the mountain. Owen Bertram quickly retreated on alert!

From beneath the ground, a muffled, thunderous sound echoed. A massive crevasse cracked open in front of Owen Bertram, revealing a pitch-black abyss. Suddenly, a giant claw stretched out from the crevasse, grabbing its edge tightly.

With a forceful movement, the crevasse grew wider, and a weird-looking, dark gray giant beast crawled out.

Its body was covered in scales, upon which an assortment of mineral ores and broken magical instruments were attached. There were fissures all over the beast, as if it had been broken into pieces and then, somehow, pieced back together.

The giant creature had crawled out from the base of the mountain and was a hundred zhangs tall, with a pointed head and tail, stretching over a length of two hundred zhangs! Apart from its four stout limbs supporting its body, there were dozens of various claws on its back: tiger, eagle, mantis, toad...

Even its neck was covered in meat whiskers. However, upon closer inspection, Owen Bertram realized that these were not meat whiskers at all, but snake tails!

This peculiar giant creature seemed to be a giant pangolin originally but had somehow transformed into this patchwork appearance.

As soon as it appeared, it exuded the aura of a Tire-3 Demonic Beast, seeming to be in a half-asleep state. Its energy was still growing, and it was bound to become a Tire-4 creature!

The pangolin shook its head, and the snake tail meat whiskers around its neck twisted furiously. The dark red radiance in its small eyes grew stronger, soon locking onto Owen Bertram. Then it opened its mouth:

A stream of gray-blue ripple shot out, surrounded by circles of dark red spiritual light.

Owen Bertram activated all his power, dodging at the fastest speed possible.

The ripple landed on the spot where he had just stood, rapidly breaking the ground into pieces, and the hard rock disintegrated into fragments the size of fingertips!

Owen Bertram thought to himself: Brother, is this what you called "just a tiny bit stronger"?

This power was defying the heavens!

Little Loach displeasedly hit the Wooden Bottle with its tail: How can you, Elder Brother, inflate someone else’s ambition and undermine your own prestige? What about your Immortal Binding Rope, your Five-toothed Flying Sword? Use them, and this fellow will be nothing more than a common creature!

The massive head turned and shot another ripple toward Owen Bertram.

Owen Bertram dodged it desperately while complaining about his brother, "You make it sound easy! This fellow’s power is even stronger than the Mountain Master. If I use the Immortal Binding Rope and the Five-toothed Flying Sword at the same time, putting all my strength into the attack, I will be completely drained afterward, even more so than the last time. If I can’t finish it off or if there are other hidden Demon Beasts, I would be left helpless and easy prey. What should I do then? Pray that others deem me not worth eating due to my lack of meat?"

Little Loach cried angrily: How could that be? It will surely be unable to withstand your might, Elder Brother! And besides, there’s me! I’ll take care of any unexpected mishaps!

Owen Bertram did trust his brother, but still felt uneasy.

Waves of energy repeatedly shot over, making Owen Bertram dodge awkwardly. Little Loach saw that his elder brother wasn’t buying what he was selling, so he had to reluctantly make a deal: Eh bro, look at this fellow’s armored scales. If I eat it, I’ll craft a defensive magic treasure for you, how about that?

Ever since your Turtle Shell Shield broke, you haven’t had any defensive magic treasures. I’ve been concerned about it and have searched far and wide to find something specifically for you!

Owen Bertram wanted to curse: You learned this crafty skill from me, didn’t you? How did you turn it against me so quickly?

But when it came to defensive magic treasures, Owen Bertram was indeed tempted.

It’s not like he could always rely on Verna to shield him from danger in the future, right?

Owen Bertram continued to dodge energetically while simultaneously launching his Flying Sword to strike the pangolin with full force.

The Flying Sword surprisingly slid off, leaving only a shallow mark and sparking a shower of sparks!

"Truly tough." Owen Bertram secretly praised. If the younger brother managed to reinforce it, turning it into a magic treasure, its defensive power would be even stronger!

"Deal!" Owen Bertram made up his mind and reminded his brother: "After killing this thing, don’t be in a hurry to eat it. Wait for me to recover; you protect me and I’ll protect you."

Little Loach, being the foolish fellow, hadn’t thought of this and quickly nodded in agreement.

Owen Bertram felt a shiver of fear in hindsight: Good thing I reminded him. Otherwise, after I killed the giant beast, I’d be completely exhausted, and then my brother would eat it and become incapacitated. Together, we’d be sitting ducks for any threat.

Owen Bertram let out a long howl, leaped into the air, and dropped the Immortal Binding Rope. The rope extended infinitely, creating a layer of surging waves of a dark yellow vast ocean of ropes, attacking the pangolin.

The pangolin seemed to sense the danger, roaring as it tried to escape but unable to break free. Much like a drowning man in the ocean, it struggled weakly and surfaced for air, only to be immediately submerged by the next wave. After a few more attempts, it lost all strength to struggle.

Yellow spiritual light brightly shimmered and, with a whoosh, the immense beast was tightly bound from head to tail, leaving not even a single snake tail hair free.

With a thunderous crash, the heavy body fell to the ground.

Owen Bertram felt as if more than half of his spiritual energy had been drained out in an instant! Had his cultivation not continuously improved recently, he wouldn’t have had the strength to wield his sword.

He gritted his teeth, and the Five-toothed Flying Sword roared out. The array lines on its surface lit up with golden radiance, while various internal mechanisms, levers, and gears started turning. An abundance of spiritual energy spewed forth like flames, propelling the giant warship-like Flying Sword towards the pangolin.

The Five-toothed Flying Sword and Immortal Binding Rope coordinated perfectly, and as the rope withdrew, the Giant Pangolin’s head was severed from its body!

The mighty sword energy of the Five-toothed Flying Sword penetrated the entire Giant Pangolin in the blink of an eye, extinguishing all its vitality. The claws growing on its back and the snake tail-like tendrils on its neck sagged in an instant, no longer able to move.

Owen Bertram didn’t even have any extra spiritual energy left to retrieve the Immortal Binding Rope and Five-toothed Flying Sword. He collapsed limply on the ground.

Then, the elder brother used the last of his strength to hum at the younger brother, not even having the energy to speak.