[Chapter 29]
In one breath, Luo Zheng had run dozens of feet away. In front of him, there was a colorful belt of light, which was the entrance to the third layer. He didn't think much and plunged into the belt of light.
After passing through the belt of light, the scenery suddenly changed greatly.
The lush trees were gone, replaced by a bare hillside and a stone forest made up of rugged rocks. On the hillside, there were many deep holes, about ten feet in size, with black poisonous smoke coming out of the holes. There was no sign of life, as if it was a hopeless situation.
None of the disciples who had passed through the light belt had disappeared. Even Mo Can was nowhere to be found. He was probably afraid that the descendants of the landowning households would come after him through the light belt. Therefore, he had fled the moment he reached the third floor.
Luo Zheng climbed up the hillside in front of him and walked into the stone forest in front of him.
The crystal stone fragments in his hand were far from meeting the requirements, so he had to hurry up.
The phantom beasts in the third layer were relatively more difficult to deal with. The strength of these third-level phantom beasts was comparable to that of human warriors in the Marrow Refining Realm. Moreover, because phantom beasts were based on demonic beasts, they were generally stronger than humans at the same level.
Luo Zheng was vigilant, walking in the stone forest. Before he had taken two steps, he suddenly heard a hissing sound.
Something was following behind him.
The moment he heard the sound, Luo Zheng suddenly turned his head, but found nothing behind him except those rugged rocks.
Luo Zheng frowned, with a doubtful look on his face. Was he thinking too much?
After thinking for a while, he continued to walk forward. However, when he passed through a stone arch made of strange rocks, a black shadow suddenly shrouded him from the other side of the arch.
Luo Zheng was very vigilant. At this moment, his reaction speed was also very fast. At this critical moment, he suddenly lowered his body, crouching on the ground to avoid the black shadow, and at the same time rolled on the ground.
He saw a long tail behind the black shadow, which fiercely whipped the place where he had just been, creating a deep groove in the ground.
When Luo Zheng got up from the ground, he saw that in front of him was a jet-black third-level phantom beast, the Ground-Swallowing Python!
The Ground-Swallowing Python didn't succeed in its attack, so it suddenly fled, shuttling back and forth in the stone forest, looking for the next opportunity.
Facing a Ground-Swallowing Python, Luo Zheng didn't dare to be careless. He retreated a few steps, leaning his back against a stone to avoid the Ground-Swallowing Python attacking him from behind. Then his eyes constantly captured the phantom beast's figure. As long as the Ground-Swallowing Python lost its patience and attacked him from the front, Luo Zheng was sure he could give it a fatal blow.
What Luo Zheng didn't expect was that this Ground Devouring Python was very cunning. It circled around the stone forest at high speed, occasionally revealing its huge snake head to spit a few times at Luo Zheng, and then continued to move.
Luo Zheng didn't chase after it blindly.
This Ground-Swallowing Python's movement speed was very fast. If Luo Zheng chased after it, most likely he would reap without sowing. But phantom beasts were, after all, based on demonic beasts. Their biggest weakness was that they weren't as patient as humans. And Luo Zheng had plenty of patience to waste with this beast.
A man and a snake, after confronting each other in the stone forest for about half an hour, the Ground-Swallowing Python finally lost its patience and launched an attack at Luo Zheng.
That Ground-Swallowing Python was still circling behind Luo Zheng. It raised its tail, wanting to roll up Luo Zheng along with the stone.
Luo Zheng's power began to circulate. His whole body flashed with purple light. Facing this phantom beast, he only had one chance. If he couldn't kill this Ground-Swallowing Python, he was afraid it would run away with its tail between its legs. Therefore, Luo Zheng didn't resist. Instead, he let the phantom beast roll him up.
The rock behind him was quickly crushed and disintegrated under the great power of the Ground-Devouring Python, and Luo Zheng was firmly wrapped in it.
Luo Zheng was clear about the habits of snakes. After they rolled up their prey, as long as the prey breathed, they would contract their abdomen and roll it even tighter. Every time they breathed, they would roll it even tighter. Only when they knew the prey couldn't breathe and died of lack of oxygen would they start to devour the prey.
Before that, Luo Zheng took a deep breath.
He concentrated all his power on his arms and legs. After waiting quietly for a while, he used all his strength to break free.
"Rip!"
The Ground-Swallowing Python's bucket-sized snake body suddenly broke into several pieces and scattered in all directions. Only the eyes on the snake's head showed a horrified expression. In its memory, as long as the prey was rolled up by it, there was no way for it to escape. It thought it could eat to its heart's content.
But the sudden burst of power from this prey was far beyond the scope of what it could bear. Therefore, it was instantly torn into several pieces.
After the Ground-Swallowing Python's body broke into five or six pieces, it wriggled on the ground and then transformed into a little light.
"Ding ding!"
A Purple Crystal Fragment fell from the strange rock onto the ground, making a crisp and pleasant sound. To Luo Zheng, the third level was the most suitable place for him to hunt. He only needed to accumulate nine more Purple Crystal Fragments and he would be able to pass the Trial of Blood.
Luo Zheng picked it up, wiped it and put it into his pocket. Then, he found a direction and walked quickly.
He didn't plan to enter the fourth level. According to the strength of the phantom beasts in the Trial of Blood, the strength of the phantom beasts in the fourth level should be comparable to a half-step to Innate human. As they were phantom beasts, they should be stronger than humans based on their talents.
Although he only needed to kill three Level Four Mirage Beasts to pass the Trial of Blood, he had a headache when he thought about the strength that Xie Lang could unleash when his stamina was exhausted, let alone a Half-step to Innate Level Mirage Beast. Therefore, he dismissed this idea.
In fact, Luo Zheng's judgment was extremely correct.
In the Trial of Blood, most people would stay on the third level. Very few people would step on the fourth and fifth level. The phantom beasts there were too strong and it wasn't a place where the Trial Disciples could stay.
Luo Zheng wandered around the third level for six hours.
In these six hours, he had gained a lot.
First, he met a Sky Goblin Crow. That Sky Goblin Crow had been sneakily attacking Luo Zheng in mid-air. However, Luo Zheng couldn't do anything to this Sky Goblin Crow. Every time he wanted to attack the Sky Goblin Crow, it would distance itself from Luo Zheng.
In the end, Luo Zheng had no choice but to fall to the ground and pretend to be dead. He didn't expect that he would be right. This Sky Goblin Crow loved to eat corpses. The moment the Sky Goblin Crow got close to him, he killed it with a punch.
Then, another huge Ancient Mammoth came to find trouble with Luo Zheng. Facing such a huge and terrifying ancient beast, Luo Zheng relied on his agile body to kill it.
Three Headed Black Wolf …
Flame Dragon Beast …
Diamond Gorilla …
Overall, the phantom beasts on the third level were much stronger than those on the second level. However, for Luo Zheng, they were only slightly more troublesome. It wasn't too difficult to deal with them if he used his brain.
In these six hours, he had obtained a total of eight Purple Crystal Fragments.
Now, in front of Luo Zheng, there was a Blood Porcupine with a green face and sharp fangs charging at him.
This Blood Porcupine had poisonous thorns all over its body. Coupled with its thick skin and thick flesh, it was very difficult to deal with.
Fortunately, its intelligence was very low. Other than using brute force to charge at Luo Zheng, it didn't have any other way to attack.
Luo Zheng kept dodging, waiting for the Blood Porcupine's strength to be almost exhausted before dealing with it.
However, after dodging once, Luo Zheng suddenly felt an extremely dangerous feeling! Almost relying on instinct, he rolled to the side.
A long, bright blue line suddenly appeared at Luo Zheng's original position. The Blood Porcupine's reaction was very slow. As it charged at the long, bright blue line, it was instantly cut in half. It didn't even have time to scream before it disintegrated into countless specks of light. A Purple Crystal Fragment fell to the ground and made a tinkling sound.
Luo Zheng's face was ashen as he sized up the gradually disappearing bright blue line. This long line was unexpectedly sharp. If he had been just a little bit slower, he would have been cut in half by this bright blue line.
"This Purple Crystal Fragment is for you."
Not far away, a young man was playing with a dagger. At the tip of the dagger, a long, bright blue line kept appearing.
"Who are you?" Luo Zheng asked vigilantly. The attack just now was clearly aimed at him.
The young man casually said, "My surname is Fang. My name is Fang Yushu."
Luo Zheng's eyes flashed. He already understood seventy to eighty percent of the situation. Similarly, a descendant of a landowning household with the surname Fang. Furthermore, he attacked him without saying a word. He most likely came from the same family as the three people he met on the second floor.
Fang Yushu took out a handful of Purple Crystal Fragments from his bosom. They flowed from his hand and fell to the ground like broken jewels, making tinkling sounds.
Only ten pieces were needed to ensure that a trial disciple would pass the trial. However, there were actually dozens of Purple Crystal Fragments scattered on the ground!
Luo Zheng had been busy for so long and had only managed to gather nine Purple Crystal Fragments. This guy actually had so many.
"Fight with me and these Purple Crystal Fragments are all yours," Fang Yushu said coldly.
Luo Zheng shook his head and said, "I'm not interested."
What a joke. He only lacked one Purple Crystal Fragment to complete his advancement. Why bother fighting with this guy? For this guy to be able to gather so many Purple Crystal Fragments in such a short time, it was most likely because of the dagger in his hand.
According to Luo Zheng's judgement, this dagger was very likely to be a Spirit Tool level treasure.
Luo Zheng was very confident in his own strength, but he was not blind.
Fang Yushu smiled faintly, "I'm afraid you don't have a choice. Although I wouldn't be surprised if those three idiots were eliminated, and I wouldn't feel pity either, it's impossible to eliminate people from our Fang family without paying a price."
Hearing this, Luo Zheng was unmoved. He was about to leave when a bright blue thread strangely appeared in front of him.
Furthermore, this thread rapidly increased in size, becoming a small square. The square also continued to increase until it finally became a huge net. This net covered an area of over a hundred meters, including Luo Zheng and Fang Yushu.
"The Trial of Blood is too boring. Dealing with these mindless mirage beasts is simply an insult to my intelligence! Perhaps only a good fight can make me happy! "Fang Yushu said in an ambiguous tone.