In the northwest, everything within a radius of 50 kilometers was frozen by this sudden gust of the chilling Qi, and the void froze into mysterious ice. Everything in the void, together with the endless stretch of forests, ancient trees and living creatures on the land, were all frozen in the ice.

It was simply too bizarre a scene.

As the transparent jade-like ice froze, it was as if the time and space of this realm had suddenly frozen, with no one able to escape.

Even Ding Hao himself did not expect such a scene.

“What happened?”

The power of the rusted sword seemed to have undergone some qualitative change at that instant.

“Is it because I have now more abundant Qi after advancing to the Martial King Realm? And so, after fully activating the rusted sword, it’s now more powerful than it used to be, when I was at the Great Grandmaster Realm?”

In other words, the power of the rusted sword he had activated before was not its ultimate power?

Perhaps freezing a radius of 50 kilometers was a mere fraction of the rusted sword’s true power?

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed across Ding Hao’s mind.

The next moment, Ding Hao could only feel an intense pain which resembled an endless tide. His body seemed cut by innumerable invisible knives. At that moment, everything before him turned black, and he could no longer control his body, plummeting limply from the sky.

He did not even have the strength to put out a finger.

He spat out a savory red liquid from his throat.

“Meow…” The panic-stricken shrieks of that Demon King, Evil Moon, rang out in his ears.

It transformed itself into a colossal mountain-like body, catching the falling Ding Hao on its back. Then, it sped to the south as fast as it could.

Just before losing consciousness, Ding Hao vaguely saw a strange scene—

Uncle Tianshu had flown out like a wild dog off its leash. Less than 100 meters away from the Bi Fang, he suddenly waved the big black pot in his hand and a multicolored brilliance surged out like a tide. This Divine Big Dipper Beast, which had fought everyone and slain two Demon Saints, was now no better than an ordinary pheasant. It was engulfed by the black pot, without having any time to struggle at all.

“It’s indeed a treasure…”

Ding Hao fell completely into a coma.

The black pot was indeed horrific, able to trap even an existence like the Bi Fang instantaneously.

…

He did not know how much time had passed. That intense pain began to assail him like a tide again.

Ding Hao let out a muffled groan, and he finally regained consciousness.

There was a warm, wet, and soft feeling on his face.

Ding Hao opened his eyes without being completely aware, and saw a pink tongue licking his face cautiously. It was the tongue of that Demon King, Evil Moon. The fat cat was standing nervously by his side, licking him over and over again with its pink tongue, with a solemn, concerned look in its black onyx-like eyes.

Ding Hao was moved.

After all, he had reared this pet for a long time. Although unreliable and greedy in daily life, it still felt concerned for him when he got injured…

“Meow. You’re awake?!”

The moment Ding Hao opened his eyes, Evil Moon screamed as if its tail had been stepped on. It arched its body and jumped a few meters high, hiding by the side.

“Young fella, if you hadn’t wakened up, this fat cat would have licked up all the blood on your body!” A chuckle rang out in his ears.

Blood?

Licked all of it?

Ding Hao was a little confused. He slowly propped himself up with his hands.

His eyes were still a little blurry, but he still felt the pain intensely. He could vaguely see many bloody gashes on his body, dense and extremely horrific. His skin was cracked, much like a dried river bed after being exposed to the sun. These numerous cracks were extremely frightening. There were faint traces of blood oozing out from them.

From the back of his hands, his arms, chest, waist, neck and face…

Ding Hao found his whole body full of cracks. He would grimace in pain each time he tried to move a little.

Blood kept oozing out of the cracks in his skin.

“I must admit, you’re indeed a loyal friend! I told you to intercept our enemies in the northwest. I didn’t expect you to go all the way and be so faithful to my commands. In order to stop those pursuers, you exhausted your inner Qi and almost exploded to death!” The coarse-looking old man, Tianshu, said solemnly.

Only then did Ding Hao begin to understand.

He must have activated the rusted sword with all his strength, without remembering his own advancement in cultivation, causing it to change a second time, sucking up all the Qi in the lower dantian of his abdomen in that moment. Even the vitality in his body was nearly completely drained. His body had become like desiccated mud, cracking and almost completely shattered in an instant.

It was really too dangerous.

He did not expect such a change in the rusted sword after reaching the Martial King Realm. This was truly beyond his expectation. Although the power of the rusted sword had multiplied, the consequences were too severe and he almost lost his life.

Although the sword would drain all his strength each time he activated it, it had never been so terrible before.

Slowly, he took out a 10,000-year-old Ginseng from his Storage Ring, chewing it like it was a radish. Trendemous vitality poured into his body. Ding Hao endured the intense pain and sat cross-legged on the ground. Then, he ran his cultivation Qi around his inner meridians to heal himself.

The Qi seed in the lower dantian of his abdomen was only the size of a rice grain. As Ding Hao urged it, it slowly released a little Qi power, coursing into his meridians and working together with 10,000-year-old Ginseng to heal his injuries both inside and on his body.

The two forces were like raindrops after a long drought, nourishing Ding Hao’s dehydrated body.

After two whole hours, the bloody cracks on Ding Hao’s body finally healed little by little, disappearing completely in the end.

However, Ding Hao still looked a little sick. His face was quite pale, as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.

When he activated the rusted sword this time, he had damaged his innate Qi. It would not be easy to recover from this. Even with divine herbs and spiritual pills, it would still take many days of cultivation to slowly heal himself.

It seemed that he must be careful from now on, each time he used the rusted sword.

He must be careful with activating the devil saber as well, he thought. On that ancient westbound road, the devil saber could rival the rusted sword. Since he had reached the Martial King Realm and there was a difference when he activated the rusted sword, there could also be some change when he activated the supreme power of the devil saber.

“Where are we now?”

Ding Hao slowly stood up and exercised his limbs. He was still surrounded by an endless stretch of green forests and ancient towering trees. The sky was dark, and the faint roars of diverse beasts could be heard.

“Of course we’re still in the Bone-burying Forest,” Uncle Tianshu said with a grin.

“Meow, it’s great that you’re alright.” Evil Moon grinned guiltily, showing its fangs. Then it said, “I was so worried.”

“If I hadn’t woken up, you would have licked away all the blood on my body, fat cat.” Ding Hao’s face was grim. He had been a little moved when he woke up just now, thinking that the fat cat was licking his face out of concern. So this wretched cat was merely drinking his blood!

“You can’t blame me,” Evil Moon said with grievance, “You have so much blood on your body. If I don’t clean you up and your whole body’s still covered with blood, it won’t fit your status as a peerless genius. Besides, you have taken so many natural treasures in the Sage Battlefield. There’s endless vitality in your body, and your blood’s a great tonic. If I left it flowing unchecked, it’d be a waste of nature’s good gifts, an unforgivable act.”

“F*ck you.” Ding Hao really had to admit defeat to this hypocritical fat cat. It was almost on a par with that other hypocrite, Wang Juefeng.

“Don’t be angry. I licked so much blood from you, so now your blood and bone essences are in my body.” Evil Moon chuckled shamelessly.

Ding Hao was speechless.

“By the way, did you catch that Bi Fang?” Ding Hao remembered the most important thing.

“Of course. Don’t you know how powerful I am?” Uncle Tianshu grinned, showing a mouthful of big golden teeth. He pointed at the big black pot in front of him and said, “It’s stewing in the pot, and will be ready soon.”

Ding Hao thought of the scene he saw just before he fainted.

The Bi Fang was a ferocious creature ranked very high among the 36 Divine Beasts of the Archean Big Dipper. It was so fierce that it could kill a Demon Saint in the blink of an eye. Yet it was caught in the pot of this coarse-looking old man. Too much of an exaggeration, wasn’t it?

“Haha, the Bi Fang was really cunning. Those powerful figures of the Demon Clan ambushed it and it was trapped their formation. Its strength was suppressed and it almost died. However, by pretending to be dead, it made the Demon Clan masters fight among themselves, and took advantage of it. But the Bi Fang was also seriously injured. The whole thing about it being reborn in the fire was simply to fool those covetous spectators. Hehe, it had to lower its cultivation to use the Innate True Fire. It can fool others, but not me! Hahaha, we’ve picked up a great bargain.”

Tianshu flashed his yellow teeth, his beaming face creased with deep wrinkles.

“So that’s how it is.”

Only then did Ding Hao understand why Tianshu could finally trap the Bi Fang so easily. He had indeed picked up a great bargain.

“Is it dead?” The more Ding Hao looked at the black pot, the more he found it extraordinary and mysterious.

Uncle Tianshu nodded and said, “Of course. Since it fell into my hands, I must kill it. Would you wait for it to regain its strength and come after me for revenge? If this creature recovers its strength, it will hunt us down like dogs. The Bi Fang is a most vengeful creature. Now, it has turned into a pot of delicious stewed meat. I’ve probably put it to the best use, hahahaha!”

“Uh, you really killed it? What about the Bi Fang’s blood essence and Precious Feather? You didn’t stew them in the pot with its meat, did you?” Ding Hao asked.

Uncle Tianshu suddenly laughed obscenely and said, “I knew you would ask this. Originally, my plan was to slip away once I caught the Bi Fang. But you froze hundreds of kilometers with your sword to intercept our pursuers, and almost lost your life. Since you’re such a loyal friend, I must be a pal to you too.”

As he spoke, Tianshu unclenched his stained fist.

A crimson spherical pill was spinning in the center of his palm, glowing like red sunset. It was about the size of a longan, clear as crystal, and incomparably round with a dreamy color, giving off a little heat.

“This is…” Ding Hao was surprised.