Chapter 155: Huodu!

In the Inner Sea of Spiritual Energy, immortal clouds drifted in patches, dotted like chess pieces, exquisite and magnificent. The crisp sunlight cast shimmering ripples across the surface of the sea, where spiritual fish leapt from time to time and white whales breached and floated.

At this moment, on the Heavenly Monument, an unfamiliar name, "Shang", abruptly broke into the top ten without slowing down. His score continued to soar at an astonishing speed, and his rank climbed like a rocket.

Countless cultivators craned their necks to watch.

The already heated atmosphere was frothed into a frenzy once again.

"Nineth place! What on earth is the origin of this Shang? How many Sea-Mountain Spirits are hooked onto his fishing rod? Is he planning to charge straight into the top three in one go?"

An old man in the light realm exclaimed in wonder. The fishing rod in his hand had long been tossed aside, as the Heavenly Monument rankings were clearly beyond his reach, but watching these youngsters vie for the top spots was far more entertaining.

"Shang?"

Somewhere within the inner sea, a man of otherworldly demeanor was fishing alone, undisturbed by anyone.

He wore a gorgeous embroidered brocade robe, a golden crown and a jade belt. Above his head hovered a mysterious Ziwei star, tiny yet majestic, restrained yet radiant, possessing two contradictory and wondrous traits. He was none other than the Ziwei God Lord, currently ranked third on the Heavenly Monument points leaderboard.

In the palm of his hand, trails of divine splendor and wondrous colors danced as an exquisite purple spiritual jade floated up and down, exuding an aura identical to that of Ye Jiushang.

Clearly, this was also a Heavenly Omen Jade!

"Holding the Heavenly Omen Jade with the fortune of the starry sea aiding me, I never imagined that merely maintaining a spot in the top three would be so arduous. It is one thing for the Palace Master of Xinglang to possess boundless divine powers, but how on earth did so many freaks and anomalies crawl out of the woodwork?" The Ziwei God Lord frowned.

He coveted the three treasure rewards offered by the Saint of Recollection immensely; whether it was the Saint's Blood or the Emperor Yu's Seal, both would provide tremendous assistance in elevating his strength.

Not to mention, there was also that mysterious treasure awarded for the first-place ranking.

Yet the situation was far from optimistic. Too many dark horses had emerged, and the competition on just the first day was already this intense. He truly had no idea what monsters might surface later on.

Hum!

Within Feng Shang's body, the three thousand virtual crystals chimed softly. Following his will, they emitted a powerful super-core energy, pulling the crystal line upward with a rapid, rustling sound. Yet the degree of the fishing rod's tight bending still did not slacken in the slightest, causing many people's hearts to skip a beat.

Just how many Sea-Mountain Spirits were still hanging beneath that fishing rod?

"One hundred and twelve lower-tier Sea-Mountain Spirits, sixty-seven middle-tier Sea-Mountain Spirits, and twenty higher-tier Sea-Mountain Spirits—totaling thirty-four thousand four hundred points!"

Someone tallied Feng Shang's current score, which was utterly shocking, vaulting him straight into the fifth position. One had to remember that just moments prior, his score had still been zero.

"They're gone."

Feng Shang suddenly halted his movements.

The crowd was taken aback, looking at one another in bewilderment. They were really gone? Yet the young man's fishing rod clearly remained taut.

"There's one more!"

Feng Shang abruptly changed his mind. His arm emitted a radiance, and the crystal block at the tip of the snow-white fishing rod suddenly grew brilliant, the line-retrieving speed accelerating more than tenfold.

"Woof-roar... ooh... woof!"

Fierce and cruel canine barks rang out one after another, laden with stifled frustration and mad fury, striking the heavens and the earth. That desire to tear everything apart resonated directly through thousands of layers of seawater, reaching the ears of the onlookers.

"Is that a dog barking?" Many people froze in a daze.

"A big one is coming."

Feng Shang's gaze grew fiery. He gripped his fishing rod a bit tighter, feeling perhaps that it wasn't secure enough, and tossed out six Annihilation Talismans, fusing them into a talismatic array right at the edge of the water.

The entity below was not someone to be trifled with!

It was incomparably vicious and violent! By comparison, the Cheng Huang could definitely be considered an obedient little baby.

"Woof-roar! Woof-roar! Woof-roar!"

The violent barking grew louder and louder.

The anger within it intensified like the flames of hell. The calm sea surface began to tremble, sending up ripples of waves that spread far across the ocean expanse.

Gradually, the heavens and earth grew silent, save for the occasional outburst of irritable barking.

An atmosphere of an impending storm shrouded the place.

Many people felt uneasy. Listening to these cries, they vaguely felt a tightness in their chests, as if a vicious hound might pounce upon them at any moment and take a bite out of them. Their bodies unconsciously shifted positions.

"Rumble!"

The heavens and earth shook.

Abruptly, a pitch-black figure burst into the sky, baring its teeth and flashing its fangs, looking down disdainfully upon all directions. As its figure swept past, it stirred up ten-thousand-丈 waves, its overwhelming momentum utterly ferocious.

The Six Paths Annihilation Talismans that Feng Shang had previously deployed were actually torn apart in an instant. The brilliant talismatic light that was originally meant to shroud this creature's head and heavily suppress it was directly shattered by a bite from its sharp teeth.

Too fierce! No wonder it was a Sea-Mountain Spirit renowned for its tyranny.

"Is this a black dog?"

"No, it's a Huodou!" someone recognized.

A patch of dark clouds drifted over, obscuring the sun, and this expanse of sea plunged into sudden darkness.

At the zenith, the black hound's eyes were crimson red and its aura was ferocious. Thick black smoke billowed from its mouth like ink, as it clamped down on a slender strand of divine power crystal thread, desperately grinding its teeth in an attempt to snap it.

However, a trace of miraculous qi flowed across the surface of this crystal thread, emitting a rebound force. No matter how sharp its teeth were or how dense the dark laws were, the black hound simply could not bite through it.

"What an untamed and unyielding Sea-Mountain Spirit!" The crowd was shaken, awed by the appearance of this black hound.

"Ooh... woof-roar!"

The black hound gnashed its teeth with redoubled fury, yet the object in its mouth refused to be chewed through. Moreover, it was wedged firmly between its teeth, causing it immense discomfort. Soon, its crimson-red eyes locked onto Feng Shang, and murderous intent permeated the air.

Was it this human?

Feng Shang met its gaze and felt an unusual murderous intent, a rare chill spreading down his spine. He smiled slightly and waved at it.

Boom!

Laws surged wildly around the black hound, and hellish flames burned furiously as it lunged toward Feng Shang. Because it moved too fast, its body friction against the air sparked flames and created sonic booms, causing even the void to vibrate with cracks.

Whoosh!

Feng Shang cradled the astonished little Phoenix in his arms, while the little Phoenix cradled the squealing little silver pig, and the three of them vanished into the void, disappearing directly from the spot.

With a loud bang, a massive black claw descended from the sky, unleashing destructive power. The immortal clouds cracked slightly and nearly collapsed, though the inherent divine power within them kept them quite sturdy.

"Bang!"

When Feng Shang reappeared, he was already behind the black hound. Energy materialized out of thin air, transforming into a radiant, glowing giant hammer. Gripping it tightly, he smashed it fiercely toward the back of the black hound's head.

"Woof-roar!!!!"

The black hound whipped its head around, opened its jaws, and unleashed a sonic roar that shook the heavens. Rings of invisible soundwaves whipped Feng Shang's hair into a frenzy, straightening it backward.

The giant hammer struck, plunging right into its maw.

This hammer blow was truly vicious, and delivered when the hound was off guard. One of the black hound's teeth was forcibly knocked loose, and an indescribable pain shot through its jaw. The flesh and blood around its gums were visibly mangled, and blood began to trickle out.

The pain drove the black hound to go red-eyed, and it let out a howl of agony.

Feng Shang swung the giant hammer to strike again, but the black hound reacted with astonishing speed. Like a mad beast, it lunged forward, snapping viciously at Feng Shang's neck.

Feng Shang's pupils dilated. In the nick of time, he quickly retreated and plunged into the void.

Drip!

A drop of cyan energy drifted down, seemingly blood yet seemingly energy, falling from the sky and silently merging into the void.

A hundred zhang away, Feng Shang touched his neck with a lingering sense of danger. A tiny patch of skin was broken and slowly healing, while a trace of dark laws imbued with corrosive power was being squeezed out by his super-core energy.

"What a vicious hound! Truly ferocious. Good thing I'm not a flesh-and-blood entity, or I'd have taken a nasty wound this time."