Chapter 326 - 186: Breakthrough to Outer Saint! Thrashing the Northern Barbarian Goddess

Chapter 326: Chapter 186: Breakthrough to Outer Saint! Thrashing the Northern Barbarian Goddess

The forest was dense, sprawling across rolling hills.

An invisible, oppressive aura hung between heaven and earth, making it difficult to breathe.

Collapsed tombs dotted the landscape, a shocking sight.

Chen Xuan stood on a hillside, his brow furrowed as he scanned his surroundings.

He had the feeling that he had wandered into a massive graveyard.

The graveyard seemed endless, and there was no telling how many were buried within.

As for anything else...

’Hmm, not a single heavenly treasure in sight.’

He had, however, sensed plenty of demon beasts.

’And the strange fragrance Liu Tingquan mentioned?’

Chen Xuan had yet to catch a whiff of it.

Even if a Dao Fruit were hidden in a corpse, it should still emit its unique fragrance.

’Maybe it’s not in this direction.’

Chen Xuan sprang into action.

’Even if I just hunt some demon beasts, I should be able to rack up a decent number of retribution points.’

’In any case, I have to get moving.’

SWOOSH!

Chen Xuan shot forward, his speed astonishing. He was like a golden chisel, piercing through everything in his path—all demon beasts, all obstacles.

His speed was simply unbelievable.

Meanwhile, his sharp eyes, like two bolts of golden lightning, scanned the vast landscape.

Vast swaths of the region flew into his view.

In what felt like the blink of an eye, over an hour had passed.

The sheer vastness of this place truly exceeded Chen Xuan’s expectations.

Finally!

He stopped again, a look of surprise on his face. He had finally caught a strange fragrance on the air. It enveloped him, creating an indescribable sensation. He immediately started moving again.

As he moved, demon beasts from every direction fled in droves.

Every demon beast fled in terror, its tail tucked between its legs.

Though Chen Xuan had only been rampaging for an hour, the psychological trauma he’d inflicted on these demon beasts was unimaginable.

A few moments later.

Chen Xuan came to a halt once more, his eyes fixed on a towering cliff face dead ahead.

The entire cliff was a deep crimson, as if dyed with fresh blood.

It felt solid and oppressive, its aura suffocating.

At the very peak of the cliff sat a burly figure, built like a Demon God. It was seated cross-legged, with jet-black hair and skin like cast bronze.

There was no telling how long it had sat there, motionless, exposed to the wind and rain.

Years of exposure had weathered its clothes almost completely to dust.

If it weren’t for the lack of any life force emanating from its body...

...Chen Xuan might have mistaken it for a living person.

And now, that bizarre fragrance was wafting continuously from the corpse...

Something seemed to be hidden in the corpse’s abdomen. It was pulsing and shifting about, emitting a searing red glow. With each pulse, the corpse’s stomach stretched taut.

’Found it!’

Amazed, Chen Xuan’s body flickered, and he appeared before the ancient corpse.

Up close, the bulging in its abdomen was even more pronounced.

It looked like a strange, red balloon.

’Dao Fruits like to hide in corpses. This has to be it!’

His eyes gleamed. A golden light materialized on his palm as he sliced toward the ancient corpse’s abdomen.

The moment he struck, something stirred in the shadow behind the ancient corpse. Countless black tentacles, dense and writhing, shot out from it. They carried a filthy, bizarre, and nauseatingly foul aura as they lunged to envelop Chen Xuan.

It was like a world of blackness closing in.

Chen Xuan was startled, and the aura around him exploded outward.

He instantly activated all his buffs.

"WAAAH!!"

A bloodcurdling shriek rang out.

It sounded like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

The countless black tentacles that had lunged for Chen Xuan abruptly retracted, vanishing back into the shadow behind the ancient corpse in the blink of an eye.

’What was that?’

Chen Xuan was stunned.

He had thought it was an ambush.

But he seemed completely unaffected.

Aside from a brief, intense wave of nausea that had already faded.

He looked at the shadow again and struck out with his palm.

BOOM!

The cliff face exploded.

But there was no other reaction.

Chen Xuan’s mind raced.

But on the principle that it was best not to linger, he wasted no more time. With a single chop of his hand, he split open the ancient corpse’s abdomen and reached for the Dao Fruit skittering within.

Unexpectedly, however, the Dao Fruit seemed to have a will of its own.

The instant his palm closed in, it burst from the ancient corpse’s body and shot toward the heavens.

In an instant, more than half the sky turned scarlet, as if dyed with blood.

Its rich, sweet fragrance instantly filled the air.

Every person, every living creature, was startled. They saw it clearly, and they smelled it distinctly.

"Where do you think you’re going!"

Chen Xuan’s figure blurred as his fingers shot out to grab it.

BOOM!

The space before him seemed to become an iron wall, collapsing inward to trap the escaping object. He then snatched it from the air, clutching it tightly in his palm.

The sky, which had been stained dark red, quickly began to return to normal.

But there was no blocking its rich, strange fragrance, which continued to pour out ceaselessly.

Finally, Chen Xuan got a clear look at the Dao Fruit’s shape.

It was the size of a fist and dark red.

It resembled a sixteen-sided Crystal Stone.

A single glance was searing to the eyes, and it produced an inherent mental illusion.

But clearly, any spiritual influence was utterly useless against Chen Xuan.

The thing was not content to be held, however.

Even though Chen Xuan had it in a firm grip...

...it continued to struggle violently, simultaneously launching an even stronger spiritual attack at Chen Xuan’s mind.

And the thick fragrance it released grew even more pungent.

It was several times stronger than before!

"Trying to attract others? Fine! I’ll just refine you right now! Only what’s in my stomach is truly mine!"