My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

Li Chen moved his feet, and the flying sword he was standing on emitted a hum. He transformed into a white light that was invisible to the naked eye, instantly crossing a hundred feet of void and appearing directly in front of the black shadow with bone horns.

His right arm muscles tensed, and he flipped his wrist.

The sword moves are as concise as a simple sketch.

No magic was used; it was purely an extreme display of strength and speed.

Swish!

The longsword sliced ​​horizontally, the sharp purple-gold sword energy encountering no resistance, easily slicing across the monster's waist, cutting it in two along with its armor.

Li Chen's hands didn't stop moving. His arm drew a circle in mid-air, and he swung three more swords in quick succession with a backhand.

puff!puff!puff!

A crisscrossing array of sword beams flashed above the dimly lit crater.

The arrogant Japanese demon who had just been spouting gibberish hadn't even managed to parry before Li Chen had shattered its massive body into countless black fragments.

The severed limbs lost their support and fell with a splash into the dark lava lake below.

Li Chen held his long sword, standing in mid-air, looking at the falling pieces of flesh below, but his eyebrows twitched slightly.

The falling fragments did not emit a burnt smell upon touching the black lava. Instead, they transformed into a dense black mist in an instant, like ink dissolving in clear water, and were completely swallowed up by the lava below.

"Hehehe..."

A sharp, piercing laugh, like the cry of an owl, suddenly came from deep within the crater without warning.

The scattered black malevolent energy around them seemed to be summoned by some powerful force amidst the laughter, and frantically converged towards the center.

The dark purple heart of the earth vein deep underground suddenly accelerated its beating speed, and an extremely vast amount of Yin and death energy poured up through the volcanic passage.

Black smoke billowed.

Black gas billowed like boiling water above the crater, and a strong, fishy stench spread with the wind.

Li Chen hovered in mid-air, coldly watching the black mist.

A sharp, teeth-grinding cracking sound, as if bones were being reassembled, echoed through the mist.

The monster, clad in tattered beast bone armor, stood unharmed in mid-air once more, its two dark red bone horns even an inch longer than before.

It lowered its head, looked at its newborn body, then suddenly raised its face and let out a wild roar at Li Chen.

The voice was laced with obscure Japanese, as if mocking Li Chen's helplessness.

Li Chen didn't speak. He raised his right hand, joined his index and middle fingers together to form a sword-like gesture, and suddenly slashed in front of him.

The air suddenly contracted.

A dozen semi-transparent wind blades materialized out of thin air, whistling sharply as they tore through fabric, and fanned out towards the monster.

The wind blades were too fast for the monster to dodge. The sharp wind blades sliced ​​through the beast bone armor without any hindrance, shattered the black scales, and instantly cut the tall body into dozens of pieces of meat of varying sizes.

Before the black blood could even splatter, the pieces of flesh transformed into wisps of malevolent energy.

The black lava in the crater below churned violently once more, and an even stronger surge of death energy from the earth's veins rose into the sky, precisely injecting into the scattered black mist, causing the black fog to suddenly recede.

The monster reappeared in the same spot for the third time.

This time, its size increased by three feet, and the murderous aura emanating from its body was so dense that it was almost dripping black water. It stretched out its ghostly claws covered with long nails, patted its chest with a muffled thud, and the mockery in its pair of yellowish vertical pupils was so intense that it was almost overflowing.

Li Chen lowered his brows slightly.

He flipped his wrist, palm facing upward, and a ball of fire leaped out of thin air.

"go."

With a casual wave of his hand, Li Chen caused the fist-sized ball of flame to swell in mid-air, transforming into a blazing sea of ​​fire that engulfed the Yin spirit.

The monster was engulfed by the sea of ​​fire and finally let out a mournful howl. The black evil energy sizzled under the scorching fire and evaporated in large swaths.

It looked like the evil spirit was about to be burned to ashes.

The earthquake trembled.

The dark purple heart of the earth vein deep within the crater seemed to sense a threat, and its beating frequency instantly increased.

A massive amount of extremely yin energy surged out from the cracks in the earth's crust, transforming into a black column of water that poured fiercely onto the flames.

The clash of yin and yang produced a burst of white vapor that obscured the view.

The moisture dissipated.

The monster was panting heavily, its body charred black, but it still stood firmly. The earth's energy continuously repaired its wounds, and in just three breaths, it was back to its peak condition.

It seemed to have figured out Li Chen's background, knowing that although the intruder in front of it was powerful, it could not kill it at all.

The monster grinned, revealing a mouth full of fangs, and swaggered a couple of steps in the void with its bowed legs. It then extended a bony finger and pointed it at Li Chen's nose.

A series of rapid, sharp Japanese bird-like words burst from its mouth.

Its tone was full of contempt and disdain, as if it were looking at a clown who overestimated himself. It even deliberately twisted its thick neck, striking an arrogant pose as if it would let Li Chen chop it up.

Li Chen remained suspended in the clouds, no longer in a hurry to make a move.

He lowered his eyes slightly, and his Golden Core stage divine sense plunged downwards without reservation, passing through monsters and lava, locking onto the dark purple ball of light deep underground.

He understood.

This monster is not an independent living thing at all; it is the embodiment of this volcano and this ley line.

As long as the Yin energy underground persists, and as long as that filthy root that has been entrenched for hundreds of years continues, it can be resurrected indefinitely. Moreover, with each rebirth, it will take the opportunity to absorb more earth vein power and become even more ferocious.

Ordinary wind blades, flames, and sword energy are like tickling it when they hit it, wasting your true energy.

The monster was still chattering incessantly, oblivious to its own mortality. Its piercing, eerie laughter echoed across the empty mountaintop, making one's head ache.

Li Chen sighed and looked away from the ground.

He looked at the snarling, grotesque dwarf, his expression turning completely cold, a chilling smirk slowly curving his lips.

"Damn it," Li Chen muttered under his breath, his voice ringing out clearly in the howling cold wind.

"If I don't unleash my power at the Golden Core stage, do you think I'm Garfield?"

He loosened his five fingers.

The fine steel longsword, infused with purple-gold true essence, lost control, spun around, and plummeted from mid-air, crashing into the black lava below and instantly being swallowed and melted.

Seeing that Li Chen had dropped his weapon, the monster assumed that he had given up resisting, and its laughter became even more rampant. The black mist behind it churned and condensed into several huge ghostly hands, poised to pounce on him.

Li Chen didn't even glance at those ghost hands.

He put his hands behind his back and took a light step out of the air with his right foot.

This step was taken without any sound, but the air beneath its feet seemed to be struck by an invisible hammer, rippling out in a circle of visible transparent waves.

Thunderous Steps.

Li Chen's body grew three zhang taller, and then his left foot took a second step.

As he stepped down, the energy of heaven and earth within a thousand-foot radius seemed to be gripped tightly by an invisible hand, and the howling mountain wind suddenly stopped completely.

The air became thick and stuffy, making it hard to breathe.