With a gentle stomp of his right foot on the ground, Chu Ming’s body sprang up instantly, climbing the mountain peak with the agility of a monkey, bypassing the lower caves. His target was to search for lost items in the three caves at the top.
One hundred meters, two hundred meters.....
As his body ascended, the surrounding spiritual power grew increasingly dense. However, the pressure in the air also intensified, forcing him to form a layer of defense armor around himself using spiritual power to fend off the mounting pressure.
After ascending another two hundred meters, even Chu Ming’s spiritual armor began to develop tiny cracks, resembling a spider’s web.
The spiritual armor on Chu Ming’s body shattered completely, and the heavy pressure instantly weighed down on him. His speed slowed, his body wobbled slightly, but he stabilized himself by circulating the Fire Essence within his body.
With a stomp on the edge of a nearby cave, Chu Ming’s ascent speed increased noticeably. A few jumps later, he reached the leftmost of the three caves at the top.
Landing steadily, Chu Ming panted slightly. Even as a Body Refining Martial Artist, the immense pressure and the climb to such height had drained his mental energy considerably.
He looked up, his gaze sweeping the cave, taking in the scene. The cave, barely twenty meters in diameter, perhaps once lavishly furnished thousands of years ago, had now all turned to ruins.
In the cave was a meditation pad and a spiritual spring, which had long since dried up due to age. This spring was obviously different from naturally formed springs, which usually don’t deplete, unlike postnatal springs that dry up without spiritual power.
There was nothing else. Suddenly, a strong sense of danger surged in Chu Ming’s heart, making it pound violently.
A burly dark shadow crashed towards Chu Ming, accompanied by an overwhelming wave of air. First appeared a massive bone fist, menacing and exploding the surrounding air, crushing everything in its path.
Chu Ming lightly swung the Blue Red Sword in his hand, instantly generating a line of Sword Qi that formed a circular defense of Sword Qi in front of him, slicing the surrounding air into pieces.
The massive bone fist collided with the circular Sword Qi defense in front of Chu Ming. The defense emitted intense rumbling sounds, looking as if it would shatter at any moment, teetering and unsteady.
Chu Ming’s current strength was at the First Layer of True Dao. If he hadn’t broken through, this simple defense would be unable to withstand the aggressive fist.
In an instant, Chu Ming swung his sword again, slicing sharply through the air. A line of air was completely cut open, scattering in all directions. With the breakthrough in Martial Arts Realm, Chu Ming felt his mind exceptionally agile, even comprehending many previously unclear aspects of the Sword Dao.
Thus, his current Swordsmanship flowed smoothly, like the Flowing Clouds and Flowing Water, precise and artistic.
The Sword Light flashed, leaving a shallow white mark on the massive bone fist. The burly dark shadow was blown away by Chu Ming’s strike, landing on the other side of the cave, revealing its full appearance.
It was a mummy, covered in rotting flesh emitting a foul stench, numerous maggots wriggling on it. But beneath its arms were all gnarly white bones, with glowing blue eyes in its skull.
"Could it be a disciple who once cultivated in this cave?"
Chu Ming thought silently. In the brief exchange just now, he felt that the mummy was stronger than Zi Yan and Lord Hu Yan, and not just slightly. His current strength was ten times greater than before, yet the mummy matched him evenly in their brief encounter.
As Chu Ming speculated, the burly mummy attacked again, a fist hurling out. White halos formed on its fist, air exploded, waves of air rolled and spread, sweeping towards Chu Ming.
"Shadowless Night Travel!"
Chu Ming swiftly swung his sword multiple times, seemingly slow but instantly appearing. The surrounding spiritual power was absorbed instantly, forming a spiraling vortex with immense might.
Crackle...crackle...crackle.....
The layers of Sword Light overlapped, and as it approached the burly mummy, the Sword Dao aura burst out violently, resembling a volcanic eruption.
Whether a zombie or a mummy, compared to human Martial Artists, they have a disadvantage: they can’t use Martial Techniques to amplify their attacks. However, they also have advantages: their bodies are hard, and ordinary attacks can’t cause substantial harm.
But their advantage was significantly weakened in the fight with Chu Ming because his body, cultivated through the Fire Element Body Forging Chapter, was only marginally weaker.
Chu Ming’s Shadowless Swordsmanship had reached the Transformation Realm. Countless Sword Light collided with the mummy’s bone fist, sparking fiercely, like a rain of fire.
However, Chu Ming’s Sword Qi was too sharp. The burly mummy’s body was completely destroyed by the Sword Light, turning it into a sieve.
The burly mummy roared, its bone hand clawing towards Chu Ming’s chest. At the critical moment, Chu Ming’s body swayed slightly, dodging to the left, while a sharp Sword Light turned into a beam and blasted towards the mummy’s skull.
The burly mummy’s entire skull was smashed, fragments flying and hitting the cave walls, carving deep grooves. The mummy’s body struggled slightly, then went completely silent.
Chu Ming breathed a sigh of relief, lifting his right foot lightly, exerting immense power, stomping fiercely on the mummy’s body, sending Powerful Qi shooting out.
The burly mummy was dead, its bones completely softened, Chu Ming’s kick shattering its body into countless pieces, scattered everywhere.
Chu Ming lifted his foot lightly, entered the belly of the cave, hoping to find hidden treasures. Unfortunately, aside from what he had initially spotted, there was nothing else.
At this moment, Bing Bufan, who arrived later, had also reached the foot of the peak, staring in awe at the entire mountain.