Beast Taming: My spirit beast bloodline is overloaded

Chapter 448 The Terrifying Shadow
Li Zhen's guess made everyone's hearts skip a beat.

The Dragon Palace, the legendary land of the ancestral dragon, is a place that no one can resist.

Lin Chen did not draw a conclusion immediately. He continued to flip through the notebook, while Shi Zuo also spread out several yellowed fragments of ancient sea charts that he had found in the camp.

These nautical charts are exquisitely drawn, with routes, ocean currents, and island markings that are quite different from those on currently used nautical charts, exuding a sense of vast antiquity.

One of the fragments perfectly depicts the outline of this island, its shape...

"Look here."

Lin Chen pointed his finger to a spot on the island in the nautical chart, where some peculiar patterns were outlined with extremely fine brushstrokes. These patterns were not mountains or rivers, but rather resembled a kind of...

Natural patterns on the carapace of organisms?

"Lin Chen, look here,"

Li Zhen also pointed to a page in the notebook:
"The Night People have repeatedly recorded that a regular low-frequency energy fluctuation can be detected deep in the 'Sleeping Ridge' mountain range on the northwest side of the island. They call it 'Earth's Hum.' The frequency is fixed and it is not a natural geological activity."

Lin Chen took the notebook and compared it with the ancient sea charts.

On the nautical chart, in the area corresponding to the "Sleeping Spine," a vague and complex symbol is faintly outlined, along with several ancient dragon runes that are almost impossible to decipher.

“And here,” Shi Zuo also found a Night Elf exploration report, “their reconnaissance team discovered a kind of… pulsating sensation that seemed to come from the deepest depths at the entrance of a specific cave in the ‘Sleeping Spine’.”

The clues are fragmented, making it difficult to uncover the true truth.

"Do you know where this Sleeping Spine is?" Lin Chen asked.

“It should be the second peak of Longling,” Shi Zuo immediately said.

Lin Chen became interested and pondered for a moment:

"The Night People must have a reason for attaching such importance to this place. Let's go and take a look at this cave called 'Sleeping Spine'."

With no objections from the group, Shi Zuo and Aya led the way, heading northwest.

The "Sleeping Spine" mountain range undulates, and following the guidance of the notes and sea charts, they quickly found the cave entrance that was half-hidden by vines.

The cave entrance was deep and dark, and an aura carrying damp earth and a faint sense of oppression emanated from it.

Lighting up the fluorite for illumination, the group cautiously ventured deeper into the cave.

The passage was narrow at first, but it widened as you went deeper.

Strange patterns began to appear on the cave walls. These patterns were huge and continuous, vaguely forming some kind of incomprehensible design.

"These patterns... don't look like they were carved by hand, but rather like... the natural texture of some kind of carapace?"

Aya reached out and touched the cold stone wall, asking in confusion.

Continuing on, they came to a huge underground cavern.

In the center of the cave, several enormous "stone pillars" stand out, but these "stone pillars" have a very special shape. Their surfaces are covered with weathered, engraved patterns, and their bases are seamlessly integrated with the ground.

Li Zhen suddenly squatted down, carefully examined the ground, and then tapped the "stone pillar" with his hand, the sound was dull and heavy.

"This stone pillar is so hard."

Lin Chen had already placed his hand on the base of the "stone pillar" where it connected to the ground. There, he could feel an extremely faint but real earth pulsation!

“According to the records of the Night People, they brought the Ancestral Dragon Stone to this place before, but nothing unusual happened,” Shi Zuo said.

The group searched everywhere but found nothing.

As everyone prepared to return, someone suddenly discovered another hole inside.

"A cave within a cave?"

Everyone was overjoyed, especially the treasure hunters like Shi Zuo, who found it hard to resist crawling into the cave.

They quickly arrived at the cave entrance, and Shi Zuo said, "I'll go in first."

Shi Zuo took a deep breath and bent down to crawl into the "cave within a cave" that could only accommodate one person at a time, followed closely by Lin Chen, Li Zhen, and the others.

The space inside the cave was more spacious than expected, but still quite limited.

Most strikingly, in the center of the cave, a strange stone emitting a faint golden light is suspended in mid-air, and the vast dragon aura it exudes is undoubtedly the legendary Ancestral Dragon Stone!

Beneath the Ancestral Dragon Stone, a blurry black figure sat cross-legged.

The shadowy figure seemed to be shrouded in a layer of distorted light, making it impossible to discern its exact appearance; only a somewhat hunched and stooped outline could be vaguely discerned.

His hands formed a strange hand seal, from which rays of ghostly light surged, entangling the Ancestral Dragon Stone and refining it.

The dark figure showed no reaction to Lin Chen and the others' intrusion, not even raising its head, as if they were nothing more than insignificant dust.

Shi Zuo composed himself, suppressing his desire for the Ancestral Dragon Stone, and clasped his hands in a deep voice, saying:

"My friend, is that the Ancestral Dragon Stone you hold?"

The shadowy figure ignored him, remaining focused on refining the Ancestral Dragon Stone.

The other treasure hunters' eyes turned red with envy as they looked at the treasure that was so close at hand.

Putting aside their greed for money, the thought that they almost lost everything because of this stone is truly heartbreaking.

The person in front of him was enjoying the fruits of others' labor and was so arrogant, which made him furious.

"Friends, we don't want to steal the treasure, we just need an explanation! Why is the Ancestral Dragon Stone here?" Shi Zuo suppressed his anger and spoke again.

His response was still silence and the continuous, refining glow.

"Damn it, they're just playing tricks!"

A hot-tempered treasure hunter finally couldn't hold back any longer. He let out a low growl, and the wolf-shaped spirit beast beside him opened its mouth and spat out a sharp energy shock that shot straight at the dark figure!

However, the energy impact that was powerful enough to split rocks and shatter monuments vanished without a trace when it came within three feet of the dark figure, disappearing without even a ripple.

The treasure hunter's pupils contracted, and he wanted to urge the spirit beast to attack again.

"stop!"

Lin Chen gave a low shout and grabbed his shoulder.

His expression was more solemn than ever before. From the moment he entered the cave, his intuition had been frantically warning him that the dark figure in front of him was unfathomable, like facing a bottomless abyss!

"Senior," Lin Chen stepped forward, adopting a humble posture and speaking respectfully, "We had no intention of disturbing your cultivation. It's just that we almost lost our lives because of this Ancestral Dragon Stone, so we came to investigate."

"If there is anything offensive, I hope you will forgive me, senior."

As he spoke, he observed carefully, only to find that the distorted light surrounding the other person seemed to block all detection; he couldn't even sense the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy or life force.

The shadowy figure remained unresponsive, completely ignoring them.

Li Zhen frowned. The other party's complete disregard made him feel a little displeased, but more than that, he felt a sense of awe.

The methods they used were too bizarre.

That treasure hunter's attack was quite powerful.

Alarm bells rang in Lin Chen's mind. Without further hesitation, he decisively whispered, "Let's go."

"Leave?" Everyone was taken aback.

The Ancestral Dragon Stone is right in front of us, are we just going to give up like this?
Shi Zuo instantly understood Lin Chen's apprehension. For Lin Chen to retreat so decisively, the opponent must be an invincible force. He immediately echoed, "Listen to Brother Lin, let's go!"

Seeing that Lin Chen and Shi Zuo were both like this, even if the others were unwilling, they could only suppress their greed and quickly and quietly leave the "cave within a cave".

Back in the outer cave, Li Zhen couldn't help but ask, "Do you feel like we can't win?"

Lin Chen shook his head with a wry smile, still feeling lingering fear:
"You don't even have a chance to see through it, yet you dare to make a move?"

"Although the Ancestral Dragon Stone is precious, one must be alive to use it."

Upon hearing Lin Chen's high praise, everyone gasped in shock and felt a wave of lingering fear.

Recalling the situation just now, Li Zhen realized that the person was indeed like looking at flowers through fog, and even his presence was sometimes visible and sometimes not. He had only experienced this absolute difference in realm with a very few top experts.

This was just like when he, in his weakness, first met Qin Shaoshao; he couldn't even make out Qin Shaoshao's appearance. "Who exactly is that person? Why have I never heard of them before?"

The crowd was abuzz with discussion, filled with doubt.

Lin Chen asked Shi Zuo and the others if they had noticed anything unusual or seen similar people during their previous exploration.

Everyone shook their heads.

Li Zhen then raised a key question:
"Since we discovered this 'cave within a cave' so easily, why did the Night People find nothing during their numerous previous investigations?"

No one could answer this question; the only explanation was that the mysterious figure's methods were beyond imagination.

Lin Chen solemnly warned Shi Zuo and the others not to try to enter that cave again, and even more so not to try to take the Ancestral Dragon Stone, otherwise they would anger that being and no one could save them.

After Shi Zuo and the others repeatedly assured them, Lin Chen and Li Zhen returned to the cave where the Xuanbing Dragon Saliva Grass was located.

Li Zhen continued meditating and regulating his breathing to recover his depleted vital energy.

As usual, Lin Chen found a clean place to sit down, took out a book from his storage bag, and quietly began to read it by the light of the fluorite.

Time passed quietly, and the cave was silent except for Li Zhen's even breathing and the occasional soft sound of turning pages.

Lin Chen was engrossed in reading, his mind completely absorbed in the book.

After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly felt an indescribable chill creep up his spine, as if a cold gaze was fixed on his back!

He was suddenly jolted awake from the world of the book and abruptly turned around.

The next second, his blood almost instantly froze!
Right behind him, less than three feet away, a blurry black figure stood silently, seemingly out of nowhere.

It was still that hunched silhouette, still that distorted and indistinct face.

But this time, Lin Chen clearly saw that in that blurry scene, there was a pair of clear, amber-like yellow eyes, cold and devoid of any emotion, quietly watching him!
These are not human eyes.
Before them stood the mysterious being who had refined the Ancestral Dragon Stone within the "cave within a cave"!

He... he appeared here silently, without even Li Zhen noticing.

"Senior...senior..."

Lin Chen felt his throat tighten, his heart pounding, and an unprecedented tension and fear gripped him, making his voice unsteady.

At that moment, he fully understood that the other party wanted to kill him, as insignificant as an ant.

"What's wrong?!"

Li Zhen was startled awake and jumped up.

The moment he saw the shadowy figure, he immediately prepared to unleash the Phoenix Arm.

"President."

Lin Chen immediately stopped him.

If the other party had wanted my life, it would have been over just now.

Clearly, the other party wasn't there to kill them.

Li Zhen was startled awake by Lin Chen's low shout. He instantly became alert and when he saw the blurry black figure so close to him, all the muscles in his body tensed up, and his Phoenix Arm was ready to strike!
"President, don't do it!"

Lin Chen hurriedly shouted again, his voice more urgent than ever before.

Li Zhen paused for a moment, then reacted instantly.

If the other party had truly harbored malicious intent, they would probably already be two corpses if they could appear behind them so silently.

He forcibly suppressed the urge to attack, but his gaze remained fixed on the dark figure, his right arm holding back its spiritual power, maintaining the highest level of alertness.

In the suffocating silence, an aged and hoarse voice resounded directly in the hearts of Lin Chen and Li Zhen. They did not see the dark figure speak:
"That cow... is on you, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, both Lin Chen and Li Zhen were shocked, their eyes filled with disbelief and astonishment!

This method of communicating directly through thought without speaking is somewhat similar to that of the Tree Ancestor.

Could it be that the other party is not human?
A spirit beast in human form?

"You mean... Little White?"

Lin Chen responded subconsciously, trying to confirm, but his heart was already in turmoil.

Since arriving on the island, Xiao Bai has been sleeping in the Beast Taming Space and has never shown itself to anyone!

This person... could he even see through his beast-taming space at a glance?
Thinking of this, Lin Chen felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head!
"I am a bovine spirit beast..."

Lin Chen suppressed his shock and spoke cautiously, not daring to hide anything.

He understood that it would be foolish to try anything in the face of such an existence.

"I want to see it."

That aged voice resounded in their minds once more, carrying an undeniable authority.

Lin Chen's mind raced with thoughts.

The other party couldn't possibly be looking for Xiaobai, so it can only be looking for Mo Niu?
The Demon Bull was a creature from the ancient era of gods and demons, and it has long since perished…

Those who can recognize the true form of the Demon Bull...

The identity of this dark figure before us...

An absurd and terrifying conjecture uncontrollably surfaced in Lin Chen's mind, making his heart almost skip a beat!
Can't? !

Could this dark figure... be an ancient being from antiquity, perhaps even contemporaneous with the Demon Bull?!

Although he was terrified, Lin Chen dared not be negligent.

With a thought, and in a flash of light, Little White, who had fallen into a deep sleep, appeared on the ground.

The shadowy figure's amber-yellow eyes swept over Little White, letting out a cold, enigmatic laugh that echoed directly in Lin Chen and Li Zhen's minds:

"I never imagined... things would turn out like this."

Before he finished speaking, and without making any move, a faint, almost imperceptible light emanated from his hunched figure, gently brushing against Little White.

The next second, a sudden change occurred!

"Moo-!"

A powerful roar, seemingly from the ancient wilderness, suddenly erupted from Xiaobai's body!

Although it was only for a moment, Lin Chen and Li Zhen both clearly saw that above Xiao Bai, a huge phantom of a demonic bull with overwhelming demonic energy flashed by!
That terrifying pressure, though it only lasted for a moment, made the entire cave seem to tremble.

It's the Demon Bull!

The phantom of the demonic bull vanished in just a moment, and the dark figure seemed to be deep in thought, with the distorted light around it pulsating slightly.

After several breaths, he slowly raised his head, his cold yellow eyes focusing on Lin Chen once again.

“Young man,” the aged voice rang out, “refining the divine and demonic power of the ancestral phoenix is ​​not so simple.”

"Find some skeletons of ancestral oxen and boil them into a foundation-building medicinal soup. This will help it stabilize its foundation and accelerate the fusion. Otherwise... with your spirit beast's bloodline and foundation, it will be extremely difficult to fully digest it, and there is even a risk of being backfired."

The skeleton of a cow that has been atavistic?

Lin Chen felt a chill run down his spine.

The Atavistic Ox is a rare beast with an extremely thin lineage of ancient divine ox blood, which is no easy feat.

But the other party was clearly giving him pointers, and directly addressing the key issues Xiaobai was currently facing.

Lin Chen dared not be negligent and quickly bowed, saying, "Thank you for your guidance, senior!"

The shadowy figure did not respond, just as abruptly as it had appeared. The blurry, hunched figure seemed to blend into the shadows, swayed slightly, and then completely disappeared from the spot without leaving a trace, as if it had never existed.

Inside the cave, only Lin Chen, Li Zhen, and Xiao Bai, who was still fast asleep, remained.

The two looked at each other, both seeing the lingering shock and disbelief in each other's eyes.

(End of this chapter)