Chapter 54

The air was thick with blood mist, the path ahead shrouded in uncertainty. Xingke walked deep into the ingredient area, familiar with the route, able to proceed with his eyes closed.

The iron cages lining the path were silent, the fierce beasts inside not daring to make a sound, for fear of drawing the attention of Xingke, this incredibly cruel ghost servant, and ending up as real ingredients, their remaining flesh grilled, bones crushed into powder, and boiled into a thick soup, to be consumed by Xingke.

Xingke held the special ingredient token, his expression heavy, yet a faint sense of excitement stirred within him, a warrior's blood coursing through his veins.

"Li Dazui, you thought you could get rid of me by using the Tyrant Crocodile, but you don't know that this will actually fulfill my destiny." Xingke mentioned this name, his gaze flashing with a cold, sharp intensity.

"The Tyrant Crocodile, a tyrannical crocodile, is notorious even among special ingredients for its ferocity, especially its formidable physical strength. It is said to be one of the top in the entire northern Yin region, with a pure-blooded Tyrant Crocodile capable of breaking a mountain range with a single tail sweep!"

Xingke's eyes blazed with fierce battle intent, his gaze, cold and sharp like a blade, suddenly turned intensely hot, as if two flames were burning fiercely.

The special ingredient rooms were at the end of the ingredient area, just like the special cooking rooms, a massive ancient bronze door blocking the way. Two ferocious Taotie heads were cast in the center of the bronze door, one on each side, intimidating the ghost servants!

"Taotie."

Xingke looked up at the two vivid, ferocious Taotie heads, his face calm, unafraid even under the gaze of their large, bell-like eyes.

Just as he was about to push open the ancient bronze door, two thunderous voices descended from above, deafening!

"Stop, little ghost!"

"Restricted area ahead!"

The two Taotie heads suddenly spoke, their mouths full of fangs!

"I have the special ingredient token." Xingke replied, unhurriedly raising the Tyrant Crocodile's ingredient token and showing it to the Taotie heads.

In an instant, the Taotie heads, looking down from their lofty position, their large, bell-like eyes emitting a red light, scanned Xingke's ingredient token.

"Command correct!"

"Permission granted!" The Taotie heads retracted their red gaze, falling into silence.

Xingke's expression changed, putting away the ingredient token and reaching out to push the massive bronze door. His face suddenly turned grave.

"This massive bronze door is even heavier than the red door over there?!" Xingke said in a deep voice.

"Interesting!"

Xingke's arms, pressing against the bronze door, suddenly sank, the nine force soul wheels in his human soul suddenly spinning, amplifying ten thousand pounds of strength tenfold, resulting in a hundred thousand pounds of force in one arm!

"Rumble!"

The heavy bronze door slowly opened, revealing a pitch-black interior, as if swallowing all light.

Xingke paused, then stepped in without hesitation.

"Bang!"

The bronze door automatically closed, the gap between the doors perfectly sealed, the entire special ingredient area dark and deep, like a cave in the mountains, cold and terrifying.

The air emitted a faint blood smell, not as thick as the blood mist outside the ingredient area, but it contained overwhelming killing intent, making the ghost servants' consciousness float in a turbulent river, easily losing their minds and falling into eternal darkness!

"Such terrifying killing intent and evil aura, capable of producing illusions!" Xingke's face showed a rare look of shock.

Just a moment ago, even with his pure and powerful ghost thoughts, he was instantly overwhelmed by the killing intent and evil aura in the air, a mighty river appearing in his heavenly soul, nearly washing away three or four "thought leaves," extinguishing his consciousness.

At that moment, Xingke's soul would be intact, but his consciousness would be lost, turning him into a living dead, a lifeless puppet.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, a golden statue appeared, though only in outline, its divine power like a prison, its grace like the sea, directly suppressing the overwhelming killing intent and evil aura.

"My intuition was right; that mysterious golden statue is indeed extraordinary, possessing strange powers, the characteristics of humans, Buddhas, and immortals all in one!" Xingke sighed, almost losing his life in the special ingredient room due to his rashness.

In his heavenly soul, the outline of the golden statue appeared, emitting a gentle light, complementing the virtuous soul, the three ghost thought leaves seemingly swaying without wind, scattering crystalline light points, suppressing the killing intent and evil aura.

The crisis came and went in an instant, and Xingke now calmed down, looking around the special ingredient room, the darkness not hindering his vision.

His ghost eyes were misty, a faint yellow ghostly aura rising, circling around, making the surroundings no longer pitch-black but bright with a yellowish hue, like being illuminated by a white light.

"So this is the special ingredient room." Xingke said slightly surprised, his expression showing a sense of relief, as if subconsciously expecting the special ingredient room to be like this.

The walls were made of steel, the most fitting and simple description for the special ingredient room, unimaginably tall, the entire structure made of shiny steel, a steel corridor leading directly to the deepest part, with airtight steel rooms on both sides, each larger than the iron cages outside.

On the doors of the steel rooms, metal plaques hung, and near the door handles, there were slots, shaped to fit the ingredient tokens.

Xingke walked to the nearest door and read aloud: "Sword Pig, Special Danger."

"Special Danger? I wonder what that means." Xingke shook his head and continued on, searching for the steel room containing the Tyrant Crocodile.

"Black Evil Tiger, Special Danger; Fire Cloud Sparrow, Special Danger; Earth Fierce Bear..."

"Ah? Finally found it!" Xingke's eyes lit up, staring intently at the metal plaque on the steel door, which clearly read "Tyrant Crocodile, Special Danger!"

"Tyrant Crocodile!"

Xingke's gaze focused, his heart filled with solemnity, placing the ingredient token in the slot.

"Click!"

Xingke's ears perked up, and immediately, the steel door behind him emitted a faint sound of metal interlocking and turning, the chains pulling, and the tightly closed steel door slowly opened.

"So advanced?" Xingke opened his mouth, feeling somewhat exaggerated, amazed that such precise machinery existed in a world filled with mythology.

Thinking about it, Xingke removed the ingredient token, discovering that once it was taken out, the steel door immediately closed, and another door behind it also closed.

"Such a design? I see, it's to recover the token after a ghost servant dies inside." Xingke understood, his eyebrows raising, a slight smile on his lips, as he placed the token back in the slot and strode in.

"Clank"

The steel door in front automatically opened, Xingke entered, and it closed behind him, with another steel door behind it.

After passing through the third steel door, the view suddenly opened up, the yellowish vision revealing a vast, airtight room, with walls of steel and iron, completely sealed!

In the center of the steel room, eight steel chains restrained a dormant fierce beast!

Four steel chains bound its powerful limbs, two chains wrapped around its thick tail, and the last two chains bound its long, wide mouth.

Xingke walked closer, and the dormant fierce beast naturally emitted a terrifying aura, one of dominance and arrogance!

"Tyrant Crocodile!"

The fierce beast before him, no different from an ordinary crocodile, was the notorious Tyrant Crocodile!

In terms of size, it was only slightly larger than a regular crocodile, about half the height of an adult, even smaller than some of the fierce beasts in the deeper parts of the ingredient area, making it hard to imagine that it could break a mountain range with a single tail sweep, dominating the northern Yin swamps.

"Take advantage of its sleep and finish it quickly!" Xingke did not dare to be careless, the Tyrant Crocodile giving him a very dangerous feeling.

Xingke pulled out a butcher's knife from his ghost pocket, preparing to end the Tyrant Crocodile's life in a peaceful dream, painlessly and without suffering.

"Go in peace." Xingke's lips curled into a cold smile, the butcher's knife raised, and he suddenly slashed down!

"Clang~~~~!"

Instantly, sparks flew, the butcher's knife hitting the ground, the harsh sound of metal scraping followed by a "snap," and one of the steel chains broke.

Xingke had unexpectedly cut through a steel chain without striking the Tyrant Crocodile's head.

"Awake, I will personally deal with you, making you a stepping stone for me to become a powerful figure, and a way to hone my butcher's knife!" Xingke looked at the dormant Tyrant Crocodile, speaking coldly. He had just realized that the moment he entered the airtight room, the Tyrant Crocodile had already woken up from its sleep!

The Tyrant Crocodile, hearing the voice, slowly opened its tightly closed eyelids, its eyes a dull yellow, with vertical pupils, not as terrifying as imagined, but very deep.

The Tyrant Crocodile's eyes rolled, its gaze instantly landing on the cold-faced Xingke, its mouth moving.

"Snap!" The Tyrant Crocodile's mouth suddenly opened wide, the remaining steel chain immediately breaking, clattering to the ground.

Xingke's eyes narrowed slightly, the Tyrant Crocodile's bite force was impressive, and he knew the hardness of the steel chain from cutting it himself. The ability to break another chain so easily indicated that the Tyrant Crocodile's strength was not to be underestimated, or it would cost him his life!

"Roar——————!"

The Tyrant Crocodile looked at Xingke calmly, then suddenly let out a terrifying roar, its entire body struggling, the chains around it clanging and breaking, sparks flying, making the dark room flicker between light and dark.

It was terrifying, the dark room flickering between light and dark, and in the bright moments, a bloodthirsty fierce beast could be seen roaring and struggling wildly, too savage!

"Is this the Tyrant Crocodile? It's clearly a terrifying tyrant dinosaur!" Xingke kicked back, jumping to the side, speaking.

Just now, the Tyrant Crocodile suddenly went berserk, and Xingke did not dare to touch its fur at that moment, so he temporarily held back.

After a bout of savagery, the Tyrant Crocodile calmed down, its deep eyes looking at Xingke, now free from the chains, its feet surrounded by broken chains.

The current Tyrant Crocodile was extremely dangerous, a free fierce beast!

"Good, just like this. I was planning to deal with you anyway, no need for the chains!" Xingke stood his ground, his气势 not weaker than the Tyrant Crocodile's, his hand gripping the butcher's knife.

"Swish"

Xingke moved, wanting to take the initiative, both arms gripping the knife, the nine force soul wheels spinning, cutting down with all his might at the Tyrant Crocodile!

One arm with a hundred thousand pounds of force, two arms with two hundred thousand pounds of force!

Xingke's butcher's knife could subdue many fierce beasts, turning them into fish on a chopping board. But the Tyrant Crocodile was different; it raised its head and roared at Xingke, not afraid of the knife's blade, which seemed to fall from the starry sky, and swung its tail to meet it!

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(End of the chapter)