"I had no idea my supposed demise would stir such strong emotions in you all. Liang Qing, are you rejoicing… or mourning?" Just as everyone believed Gao Han to be dead, a voice echoed from within the chamber.
"What? That's Gao Han's voice! Could he still be alive?" Elder Bai stared in dumbfounded disbelief.
All eyes fixed on the spot where Gao Han had stood, stunned to see the body pierced by the beast gradually fade into transparency, vanishing into thin air.
"An illusion! It was only an illusion! Gao Han lives—the beast struck nothing but a phantom!" Zhu Jin was utterly astonished by the sight. He had seen such exquisite movement art only in Kong Liankong, the Wind Wanderer.
The inner-sect disciple beside him stared at Gao Han in terror. "Though his lightness skill still falls short of Senior Brother Kong's, it is extraordinary enough to inspire awe."
Zhu Jin nodded numbly. "His movement art is truly remarkable. If his physical strength were to grow a little further, I would be no match for him. As things stand now, we might fight to a draw."
Heavy footsteps echoed from the chamber, drawing near as a figure stepped out into view.
Clad in a white robe with a longsword at his waist, his long hair bound high atop his head, he bore the same handsome, imposing countenance. An endless wave of frost radiated from his body, dropping the temperature of the entire dungeon by several degrees.
At the very instant his ice barrier had shattered, Gao Han had activated one of his trump cards: Like Shadow, Following Form. He had leaped behind the beast in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing but a single phantom in his place.
Naturally, he had not unleashed the technique to its full potential, hence only one illusion had formed.
With his current strength, a full-powered cast of the art could conjure seven phantoms.
Even so, his version paled in comparison to the true Like Shadow, Following Form. The genuine art created phantoms whose aura was nearly identical to the caster's own—so close that one could not distinguish real from fake without careful scrutiny.
The phantom Gao Han had left behind was easy to see through; a simple sensing of its energy would reveal nothing but empty air.
What was more, the perfected art could manifest a hundred phantoms at its peak. What Gao Han wielded was merely a fraction of its true power.
Gao Han smiled at the onlookers, then turned to study the shadow that had attacked him. For the first time, he got a clear look at the savage beast.
It bore the shape of a bull, its body measuring three meters long without its tail and nearly two meters tall, with rippling, rock-hard muscles bulging across its frame.
Its jaws were lined with jagged, razor-sharp fangs that struck fear into anyone who beheld them.
Instead of two horns, it bore three. Two horns jutted from its skull, each a foot long and glinting with silvery frost, their mere sight chilling the heart.
At the center of its forehead sat a tiny third horn, pitch-black and gleaming darkly.
The black horn was no thicker than a finger and barely an inch long, appearing delicate and harmless.
Yet Gao Han sensed an immense danger from it—anomalies always spelled peril.
Savage beasts had no decorative features; every part of their bodies served a purpose.
Each of the Azure Fiend Bull's four hooves was lined with sharp, backward-curving spines. It had two tails, each two centimeters thick and a meter long, tipped with vicious, protruding bone spikes.
The sight of the twin tails and their cruel spikes sent a shiver down the spine.
After crashing through Gao Han's phantom, the bull had stood motionless, staring fixedly at the chamber as if it knew exactly where Gao Han hid.
Gao Han was amazed. "A savage beast's senses are this sharp? It detected me even while I concealed myself within the chamber."
He had suppressed his aura completely, his presence as calm and still as a deep pool.
Yet the Azure Fiend Bull had still locked onto his qi, its raging power pinning him in place, watching his every move.
Moo!
The bull stamped its front hooves against the ground, snorting twin plumes of white mist from its dark nostrils. Its blood-red eyes blazed with crimson light, a clear sign it was preparing to attack.
Gao Han channeled his power to its limit, bracing himself for the assault. He dared not let his guard down for an instant. The ice barrier he had formed with sixty percent of his strength had been shattered in a single charge, and his arms had been torn open by the shockwave.
His martial body had reached major completion of the first tier, reinforced by layers of ice—even an ordinary Third Layer True Essence cultivator could not have broken through so easily.
Yet it had failed to withstand a single charge from this beast.
Boom!
The bull lowered its head slightly, its glinting twin horns aimed straight at Gao Han. Its hind legs coiled and exploded with force, hurtling toward him like a storm.
The sharpness of its horns, combined with the bull's overwhelming strength, shook the very air around them.
Savage beasts struck with all their power from the first blow; there was no such thing as testing an opponent's strength in their world.
Mountain-Shattering Strike!
Faced with such overwhelming force, Gao Han did not hold back. He unleashed the Mountain-Shattering Strike with one hundred percent of his power.
A rippling wave of palm force burst forth from his hand, as if capable of tearing the void apart, slamming violently into the charging bull.
Boom!
A violent shockwave erupted outward, its aftershocks leaving faint cracks in the floor forged from special alloy.
Gao Han was sent flying by the impact, while the massive beast stumbled back several steps. Its hind legs splayed backward, the spines on its hooves digging into the stone floor, leaving two deep gouges as it finally halted its charge.
No sooner had it steadied itself than the bull lowered its head again—this time not as far—and aimed the tiny black horn on its forehead at Gao Han. A raging burst of energy shot forth from the horn.
The destructive force streaked toward Gao Han like a bolt of lightning, carving a shallow trench into the stone floor beneath it.
Gao Han kipped up from the ground, only to see the violent energy hurtling toward him.
It was too late to use the Cold Mountain Palm; techniques like Earth-Shaking Might were utterly insignificant against this attack.
Frost Condensing Into Mountain required too long to charge, leaving him no time to prepare.
Sword Breaking Strike!
Gao Han's low-grade longsword flashed from its sheath as he executed the Sword Breaking Strike. The blade weaved through the chaotic energy with effortless grace, finally stabbing at its weakest point. The blast collapsed instantly, dissolving into the air.
Before Gao Han could catch his breath, two black shadows lashed toward him one after another, their brutal force cracking the air with every whip.
They were the Azure Fiend Bull's twin tails.
Gao Han thought to himself: This bull's speed and strength are extraordinary, and its combat experience is impeccable. It strikes first every time, forcing me onto the defensive. This cannot continue. I must create an opening.
His minor-attainment Ice Momentum erupted outward, freezing the surrounding air in an instant. The bull's movement slowed dramatically. Seizing the chance, Gao Han activated Like Shadow, Following Form. His body twisted and blurred into a phantom, while his real form reappeared over ten meters behind the beast, power surging through him.
Frost Condensing Into Mountain!
Gao Han struck out with his palm. A thick pillar of frost materialized in the air, shaped like a small mountain, crashing down heavily upon the Azure Fiend Bull.
Boom!
The frost slammed into the beast, forcing its body downward by a foot. Yet the bull's immense physical strength allowed it to struggle furiously, fighting to rise again.
The biting cold within the technique seeped relentlessly into its body, freezing its muscles stiff and rendering it immobile.
Layer upon layer of ice formed across its frame. By the time the frost mountain dissipated, the Azure Fiend Bull had been encased in a three-foot-thick sheet of ice, transformed into a frozen statue.