Chapter 71: The Black Monster, Magic Immunity

Throughout the journey, since three minutes ago, he had felt a gaze fixed on him! Even now, after walking nearly thirty meters, that sensation not only hadn’t disappeared but had grown stronger!
If at first he had assumed such feelings were merely due to nervousness—hallucinations caused by being on such a dangerous place—now he was certain of it. He had already unleashed his mental energy to search around from the start, but found nothing.
Still, Rod was sure he was being watched by someone. Such a sensation was unmistakable; he only experienced it in life-threatening situations, and it had never failed him.
With a cold smirk on his lips, he gripped the Dark Dragon in his hand tightly, pretending to be unfazed as he moved forward step by step. As he progressed, he maximized the use of his mental energy to closely monitor the area within a hundred meters. As for what was further away, Rod had given up on checking it.
The gravity continued to increase, and in the blink of an eye, it had reached 750 times normal. At this point, the sensation came from a direction just about ten meters away, sending a chill deep into his bones. That the opponent could reach such a level without him detecting it filled Rod with a hint of admiration for the hidden figure—controlling one’s aura and energy to such an extent was no small feat. At least Rod thought he couldn’t do it. Even those so-called late-stage or peak Saint-level warriors he had seen in Iron Bar Town couldn’t achieve this; perhaps only God-level powerhouses could barely manage it.
Rod wasn’t concerned about whether anyone else could do this. Right now, he was only focused on the immediate situation. Forcing himself to stay calm, he realized he was in serious trouble this time—the opponent might be extremely strong! He couldn’t let them attack first. If he were weaker, striking first might be the best strategy.
He could no longer hold back. Taking a deep breath, he unleashed his prepared combat energy in one burst: “You bastard, seeking death!”
With a fierce shout, though he couldn’t detect the opponent’s whereabouts, relying on his intuition and the direction indicated by the sensation, Rod made his decision decisively.

Under the influence of his combat energy, the dark dragon erupted with a burst of black light, which remained clearly visible even in the dim environment. Its pale purple combat energy glowed vigorously like burning purple flames.

Boom… A sword was swung in that direction without leaving any room for retreat. Following a loud explosion, it cut deep fissures across dozens of meters in front of Rod, with the cracks spreading rapidly. The sword energy, as if tangible, continued to charge forward with a howling force.

Roar… A furious roar echoed, and a black figure flashed by at incredible speed, its face indistinguishable. It dodged the incoming sword energy and leaped aside, revealing its form.

“Hmph, you’ve shown up?” Rod said coldly, staring at the creature with disdain. The giant beast before him was entirely black, resembling a leopard, with dark red flames covering its body as if burning faintly. However, the dark red flames were hard to see beneath its black surface. A pair of long fangs extended from its mouth, almost reaching the ground. It stood about 1.2 meters tall, with a body longer than a human’s, and its four legs were thicker than an adult’s arms. Its muscular limbs were prominently visible, and its claws were extremely sharp, about 10 to 20 centimeters long, reflecting a dim glow under Rod’s faintly glowing combat energy.

At first glance, it resembled both a leopard and the saber-toothed tiger Rod had seen before, plus its strange patterns. Rod believed he had never seen or heard of such a magical beast! Another strange species!

The giant beast stared warily at the human before it, standing opposite Rod, slightly crouched as if ready to attack at any moment, letting out a low growl. Its aura surged suddenly, and the previously unnoticed presence became evident now.

The human and the beast stood face to face in the dark forest, both watching each other warily. “Let’s see what you’re capable of today!”

With a cold snort, Rod exerted force from his feet, ignoring everything else and launching an attack first. Facing such a strange magical beast, he couldn’t let it strike first. Otherwise, if he fell into a disadvantageous position, he would face endless defense and embarrassment, and might even lose his life.

After several days of living in the forest, although he still couldn’t fully adapt to gravity, with the help of combat energy, his condition had improved significantly. At this moment, though Rod still couldn’t fully unleash all his strength, he could use about seven or eight out of ten of it.

Following Rod’s lead, Fen Tian let out a long howl before charging at the black giant beast.

“Argh…” Faced with an enemy who dared to provoke it, the black giant beast was clearly furious. With a loud howl, it exerted all its strength and rushed at Rod like an arrow leaving the bowstring.

Its massive body appeared incredibly agile at this moment. In the blink of an eye, it was already right in front of Rod, opening its bloody maw and biting straight for Rod’s body.

With his eyes narrowed, Rod watched the charging beast. As its fangs were about to touch him, in a split second, Rod darted to the side, narrowly avoiding the fangs. Seeing them pass by, he was shocked—its speed was too fast; he had barely reacted in time. If he had been slightly slower, those fangs might have pierced through his body.

Looking down at the black giant beast in mid-air, Rod sneered inwardly. He guessed this guy had little combat experience, exposing its body so directly to the enemy. It was unclear whether it was overly confident or ignorant.

Clutching Dark Dragon tightly, he let out a cold snort, his eyes flashing with intensity. With a roar, Dark Dragon drew a beautiful arc, leaving behind a trail of afterimages as it rushed straight at the giant beast’s abdomen. Normally, the weakest point of such beasts was their abdomen.

This was the experience Rod had gained after defeating the giant rat last time! With his current abilities, it would be difficult to penetrate such strong defenses, and even if he managed to inflict damage, it wouldn’t be fatal. Moreover, this beast was clearly a higher tier than that one—every aspect, including defense, was superior. Cutting at other parts would be of little use; even if successful, it would hardly be possible to kill it in one strike, let alone cause serious injuries. Under the influence of bloodlust, who knew how insane this beast might become. So, the abdomen was the best target.

Ding… His arm felt a severe shock, and it hurt terribly. He almost lost grip on Dark Dragon. Rod’s full-force strike was effortlessly blocked by the beast’s front paw. The force was so great that Rod was surprised himself.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. The giant beast Rod opened its mouth with a deep roar and prepared to charge at Rod once again.
Ahow… The howl of Fen Tian could be heard as it spat out several fireballs straight at the beast. Then, something unbelievable happened to Rod—the beast didn’t even glance at the flying fireballs; it allowed them to hit it as if it cared nothing at all. Instead, it focused all its attention on Rod.
Thud… A muffled sound came as the fireballs struck the black beast’s body in an instant. Like touching a black hole, they disappeared in a short while, merging into the beast’s body as if absorbed. The moment the flames vanished, it was clear that the red flames on the beast flickered briefly before turning darker. The range of those flame patterns seemed to have expanded as well!
This scene scared Rod greatly. After all, Fen Tian was an imperial-grade beast soul, belonging to the dragon race, and its magic was already renowned for its power. How could it be completely ignored by the black beast?
Fen Tian was also stunned for a moment. Though it was a beast soul, it had its own thoughts, and clearly it hadn’t expected such a situation.
The black beast had once again closed in on him. With no time to think further, Rod quickly dodged its fierce claws and then unleashed the Autumn Wind Sword, charging forward with a sweeping motion.
Ding ding ding… A series of crisp sounds followed as Rod’s attacks were blocked by the annoying beast, filling him with rage.
Fen Tian in the sky, unwilling to accept the failure of its attacks, sent magic after magic, creating a spectacular display of fire meteors. The black beast on the ground became the target, but the fire rain that fell on it disappeared in an instant, as if it had never existed—creating a bizarre scene.
After a while of intense fighting, with the black beast having an absolute advantage in strength and speed, Rod faced numerous dangers, and the situation became extremely precarious. Fen Tian, enraged, began unleashing its magic frantically, acting as if it were sulking.

Muttering in frustration, Rod also knew that things couldn’t continue like this. The giant beast’s defense was terrifyingly strong. His attacks over the past period hadn’t been entirely ineffective—he had managed to strike the beast’s body several times—but its body was like a solid rock, able to block all his attacks completely, even causing sparks to fly. It was as unbreakable as reinforced steel, failing to inflict any damage. Only two full-force attacks had left two shallow scars, which not only did nothing but also enraged the beast, making its attacks even more frantic!