The Samsara Jade

Chapter 16

Li Chen felt his physical strength double. His hearing and sight became even sharper. But the whirlpool of fog around him did not stop. He was still eating the ancient poison. 

The dark Qi continued to build, filling his newly expanded meridians. It packed into his body until he felt like he was going to burst. The pressure was intense, but Li Chen gritted his teeth and forced his body to hold it. 

"Break it!" Li Chen roared in his mind. 

BOOM! 

Another explosion of dark air burst from his body. This one was much larger. It blew the mud and rocks away from where he sat. 

In just one hour, Li Chen had jumped from a dying, crippled boy to a Third Level cultivator. Most normal disciples in the Azure Sword Sect took five years of hard work and hundreds of spirit stones to reach this level. Li Chen had done it by eating deadly poison. 

Slowly, the massive whirlpool of purple fog began to calm down. 

Li Chen took a final, deep breath, and opened his eyes. 

The deep, pitch-black vortex in his pupils spun slowly, glowing with dark power. He uncrossed his legs and stood up effortlessly. His bare feet touched the cold mud. His legs easily supported his weight. He felt light, incredibly fast, and full of explosive power. 

His clothes were completely melted away, leaving him wearing only his ripped, dirty trousers which were somehow tough enough to survive the edges of the fog. But his upper body was perfect. His muscles were lean and defined, packed tightly like twisted steel cables. The dark golden dragon-turtle tattoo on his chest looked fiercely alive. 

He looked around. 

Because he had sucked in so much of the miasma, there was now a large, clear circle of clean air around him. The purple fog had been eaten away, creating a safe zone about fifty feet wide. 

Li Chen looked down. He saw the flat, crushed remains of Mo's armor mixed with the mud. He remembered Mo's glowing blue sword. 

Li Chen walked over and searched the mud. He found the long blue sword half-buried in the dirt. Amazingly, the blade was not broken. It was a high-quality weapon. Li Chen picked it up. The handle was cold and heavy. He swung it once. 

Whoosh. The sharp blade cut the air cleanly. 

"This will be useful," Li Chen thought. 

He was feeling extremely confident. He was healed. He was at the Third Level. He had a strong weapon. 

The Beast Chasm did not seem so scary anymore. He felt like he could survive anything. But then, the ground began to shake. 

It was a slow, heavy vibration. It shook the mud under Li Chen’s feet. It shook the walls of the cliff. 

Something was walking in the deep, thick fog outside of Li Chen’s clear circle. Something massive. 

Li Chen stopped moving. He lowered his sword. The confident smile vanished from his face. His newly enhanced Third Level senses screamed at him. Every hair on his arms stood straight up. A feeling of absolute, crushing terror washed over him. 

The aura coming from the fog was not human. It was ancient, wild, and unbelievably powerful. It felt heavier than a mountain. 

The thick purple clouds slowly parted. 

High up in the darkness, about thirty feet off the ground, two giant, glowing lights appeared. 

They were not torches. They were eyes. 

The eyes were the size of large carriage wheels. They glowed with a sickly, bright green color. They looked down through the fog, staring directly at Li Chen. 

As the fog moved slightly, Li Chen saw a brief outline of the creature. It was covered in thick, dark grey scales. It had a massive, terrifying jaw filled with teeth as long as swords. Thick, purple saliva dripped from its mouth, sizzling as it hit the ground. 

This was not a normal magical beast. This was a true monster of the abyss. And Li Chen instantly realized a terrifying fact. 

The purple fog... the miasma that Li Chen had just eaten... was this monster's food. The creature survived by breathing the toxic clouds. 

And Li Chen had just stolen a massive portion of its meal. 

The giant green eyes narrowed in anger. The creature opened its massive jaws. 

"ROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!" 

The sound was not just loud. It was a physical force. The roar blasted out from the creature like a hurricane. It hit Li Chen like a solid wall of air, blowing his hair back and sending a shockwave of pain deep into his soul. 

The master of the Beast Chasm had found him. And it was very, very hungry.