The tremors in the ground grew stronger and stronger. Evan Lin and his two companions could barely stay on their feet, each staring in shock at the earth ahead—such a bizarre phenomenon was clearly anything but ordinary.
"Boss, don't tell me more monsters are coming? This time the shaking's even worse than before—could it be something even stronger is about to show up?" Goldwing muttered.
"You jinx! Can't you think of something positive for once? If stronger monsters show up, you can handle them yourself—I'll just sit back and watch." Evan Lin shot Goldwing a glare.
Goldwing looked a bit aggrieved. He'd only voiced his thoughts, yet Evan Lin had assigned him such a task—how infuriating! Just then, Shadow burst out laughing, "Haha, Goldfeathers, you're doomed this time!"
"Shadow, don't gloat. You and Old Goldwing can handle it together!" Evan Lin added.
"No way!" Shadow immediately looked frustrated—following a boss like this, could anyone survive? Goldwing, meanwhile, just laughed, "Serves you right for gloating! Let's see who kills more monsters!"
Soon, the tremors in the ground stopped altogether. Suddenly, forty to fifty massive dark monsters appeared. These monsters looked different from the previous ones—each had four scythe-like arms, and their power had reached the Da Luo Golden Immortal realm, a full level higher than the earlier monsters.
"Charge!" Goldwing shouted, but he didn't move at all—Shadow dashed forward instead. In this dark space, both their visions were heavily limited, so Evan Lin quickly activated Fireshift, conjuring flames in his palm to light up the hundred meters around them.
Shadow saw Goldwing hanging back and instantly snapped, "Goldfeathers, you dare set me up? Believe it or not, I'll pluck every last feather off you and turn you into a bald bird!"
Goldwing quickly charged in as well, and soon the two were fighting both the new dark monsters and the remnants of the earlier ones. They knew they had to completely annihilate these monsters to keep them from regenerating, so both went all out, slashing away with everything they had.
Shadow especially was a monster when it came to defense—he didn't even bother dodging the dark monsters' massive scythes; their attacks felt like nothing more than a tickle. Whenever he grabbed one, he'd instantly tear it to pieces, leaving not a shred for the monsters to regenerate from.
In about half a stick of incense, the two had wiped out every monster in the area and returned to Evan Lin. The dark beads scattered across the ground were getting more numerous—and much larger.
"Big bro, aren't we awesome? We cleaned up these guys in no time, and we still didn't get our fill! They're way too weak—no challenge at all," Shadow declared.
"It's definitely not that simple. There must be even stronger monsters lurking here!" Evan Lin said.
No sooner had he spoken than the ground started shaking again. This time, the monsters that appeared were dozens of meters tall—and ten of them showed up at once, each with power at late-stage Immortal Lord realm.
"Jinx!" Shadow and Goldwing shouted in perfect unison at Evan Lin, making him break out in a cold sweat—talk about instant karma!
"Boss, isn't it your turn to put on a show? Goldfeathers and I are worn out from the last round—we need a break," Shadow said.
"Piece of cake. You guys just watch!" Evan Lin grinned.
Such giant monsters didn't worry Evan Lin at all. With a thought, he instantly activated Fireshift, conjuring a massive fireball in his palm—this wasn't just any fireball, but pure Heavenfire. Its temperature was so intense that Shadow and Goldwing had to quickly retreat.
Evan Lin's figure flickered as he unleashed Shifting Position, then slammed the fireball into one of the dark monsters. The fireball exploded instantly, sending countless flames scattering in all directions.
The monster struck by the fireball let out an ear-piercing scream, and within a few breaths was reduced to ashes. The monsters hit by the scattered flames suffered the same fate, burned to death by Heavenfire—though a bit slower than the one Evan Lin hit directly.
In the blink of an eye, four monsters were dead, leaving six remaining. Shadow and Goldwing were amazed, "Boss really is a monster—he kills monsters way better than us! That Heavenfire of his is seriously fierce."
"If he wasn't strong, how could he be our boss? Let's see how he handles the last six," Shadow said.
Seeing how powerful Heavenfire was, Evan Lin kept using Fireshift, hurling several Heavenfire orbs at the giant monsters. In no time, he wiped them all out. Strangely, there were no dark-law beads left on the ground—maybe the Heavenfire had burned them away too.
After finishing off the monsters, Evan Lin laughed, "See? Wasn't that way easier than your method? Let's see which of you still wants to brag now."
Both Shadow and Goldwing fell silent, though they were sure even stronger monsters were still to come. Sure enough, after a few breaths, the ground shook again, knocking all three to the ground. This time, three dark monsters appeared before them—but these looked completely different: they had human forms.
"You brats are way too arrogant—how dare you slaughter so many of our dark sprites! Today, you'll all die here!" one of the humanoid dark monsters shouted.
"It speaks—and looks human! Its power is at early Immortal Emperor realm. No wonder it's so tough!" Evan Lin exclaimed.
"Shadow, Old Goldwing, there are three of them—how about we each take one?" Evan Lin suggested.
"No problem! I love a good fight!" Shadow shouted, charging forward. But before he could reach his target, a powerful blade-qi struck him, sending him flying dozens of meters before he managed to steady himself.
Evan Lin saw that the dark monster who knocked Shadow back was now holding a black scythe, pulsing with powerful energy. It was clear these three were extremely tough opponents—he'd have to be careful.
After all, there was no Immortal Essence in this place—every bit of energy spent was gone for good. Who knew how much stronger the monsters ahead would be? Evan Lin realized that Heavenfire wouldn't be enough to take down these three.
Inside this dark space, only dark-element energy existed. Gathering lightning-element energy was impossible, and Evan Lin still hadn't figured out what the dark element was really good for—so far, it hadn't shown any special properties.
Just then, one of the monsters suddenly charged at Evan Lin, unleashing a wave of black blade-qi. Evan Lin dodged quickly, but the spatial restrictions here meant he couldn't fully avoid the attack—pain flared across his body.
But the attack hadn't actually struck him, which was odd. When Evan Lin checked the sore spot, he found the muscle there was rapidly corroding...