...5...10...25...65...85...100...110… meters, Zhang Dong’s old Avatar form finally saw being used today. He matched the Cthulhu look alike in size but he was still half a head shorter than it was. It didn’t seem like this massive monster would be easily killed with its regenerative capabilities. It also looked to be on the more sluggish side which made this form more useful in this fight.

This new Avatar form technique was a bit different than the old one. For one thing, it utilized Zhang Dong’s soul-beast giving him less energy based qualities. He looked more like a golden statue covered with scales, lightning bolts and electric arcs were shooting off his whole body just as before.

His body refining skill also came into play here. He had already pushed it further than his Qi cultivation at this point. Making heavenly grade items was something that he was already proficient in.

This left him able to absorb them through the years, he was still restricted to the late stage as the resources were limited. Getting to the great circle stage would just bankrupt his entire sect. It was also not feasible due to a bottleneck that didn’t exist with the previous versions of this body refining technique.

Now he actually needed to absorb a higher grade of item each time he moved a small realm up. This posed a big problem as there were no weapons that he could craft that would be of the very height of heaven grade. He lacked both the skills, knowledge, and resources to push through that threshold. Any tiny mistake would cause the weapons he made to degrade. This process needed perfection, this he could only achieve with time and crafting experience.

Zhang Dong’s new and improved Avatar form took three of his aspects and combined them into one. With it, he lost some maneuverability and he couldn’t use most of his weapons. This form’s biggest attribute was its resistance and sheer power. He didn’t take the time to name it properly, he also didn’t have anyone to pass it onto either. This was a technique that he customized for his special constitution. Passing it on to his disciples wasn’t possible as they lacked his metal-like body refining technique.

The Cthulhu look-alike finally became active, after getting hit multiple times without retaliating it was time for it to strike. Black miasma surrounded its body, it looked thick and was even dribbling down to the ground. The moment a droplet of this dark-green liquid fell down it burned a hole right through the hard rock.

The monster opened up its large mouth to gather energy. Particles of dark qi were condensed into a smaller point right in the middle of that tentacled face. Luckily Zhang Dong remembered this type of attack as he had seen it once before when he was fighting this creature in his demon hunter disguise.

He was quick to throw an uppercut to that squiggly chin. It connected at about the same time that the monster fired off its attack. This caused another explosion to detonate, right inside the monster's toothy mouth. The dark rays of energy shined through to the outside, anything they touched died instantly. Plants wilted, rocks shattered into dust and even the small particles were affected.

Zhang Dong’s face that was in his avatar form was unmoving but in reality, he was trying not to show the amount of pain that he was in. It was only one punch but his whole fist felt like it had punched through a cactus. It felt like a million tiny needles were inserted into his knuckles at the same time. His only explanation was this black miasma that the creature was covered with. It was similar to acid and caused an excruciating amount of pain.

He couldn’t stop now though, he needed to follow this momentum. After the uppercut followed a straight punch to the exact same spot. The monster’s face caved in fully and it was pushed back. It looked like Zhang Dong had the advantage, the monster was getting pummeled by his giant form.

The people on the ship were all hidden inside and either manning the cannons or ready to repair anything if they got attacked. Before anyone could cheer the monster finally retaliated. While being forced back by the second punch it swung one of its giant arms toward Zhang Dong’s face. He reacted by putting up his guard but he was still pushed back.

The massive claws dug into his forearm that was used for defending. They ripped through his giant golden form causing dark-colored claw marks. The poison that was on the tips of those claws seeped in while Zhang Dong retreated in pain. His forearm that had a deep golden hue started turning black.

He wanted to scream but managed to hold it in. He grasped his injured arm and started injecting golden energy into it. With some time the evil Qi was pushed back and he recovered. The same was true for the monster, its head that was missing was now fully reformed and it looked just fine. It shouted out once more while charging another mouth beam, this time around Zhang Dong wasn’t close enough to interrupt this attack.

While Zhang Dong found himself in a pickle he noticed that his wife and Fang Heng was behind him. They were in the middle of their own battle facing off against the monstrous centaur looking deformity. If he dodged to the side there was a possibility of the two being hit. The beam that this monster could shoot off was quite wide and was also very toxic. He was somewhat protected by his holy Dao. His companions on the other hand would not be able to recover as easily as he could if they got hit.

He decided to take it head-on. He covered his face with his arms in a protective position while focusing. Before the monster fired off its dastardly beam he started gathering his holy energies. His body began shining once more and a thin layer of golden lightning energy gathered around his arms that he was using for blocking.

There wasn’t quite enough time for him to produce a proper quality shield but it would have to be enough. The torrent of evil energy condensed around that squidly mouth of the Cthulhu analog creature. It shot towards Zhang Dong’s upper body which was a stroke of luck for him as that was the spot that he was defending the most.

When the beam impacted a loud thundering sound was heard. His entire body was shrouded in black energy and anyone or anything that was in close proximity was pushed back. Zhang Liena, Huo Qiang, and even the Argonaut weren’t able to hold themselves in place. The two monstrosities that they were fighting were affected as well, both of them tumbled back while actually receiving some residual damage from their boss’ attack.

“Senior Brother!?”

“Zhang Dong!”

Both Liena and Qiang shouted out as they both saw what transpired. A similar mushroom cloud was produced in the spot that Zhang Dong was standing. Both of them wanted to jump in to aid in his battle but before they could act the two monsters they were fighting resumed their attacks.

Quasi-thulhu howled in a strange way, it was as if it was laughing. After the smoke had cleared the golden form of Zhang Dong could finally be spotted. It was a lot less shiny than before, his forearms that he used for blocking were brownish-green. It looked as if he was being affected by the corrosive properties of this attack. Even he wasn’t able to fully resist it.

But he would have to, he didn’t think his allies would do much against this monster. If he canceled out his avatar form at this moment, there was a danger of succumbing to this poison. He was many times stronger in this form than without it, even with it fully activated he was receiving damage over time.

‘How am I supposed to kill this thing… Should I try the pulsar technique? But that technique takes forever to charge…’

The only techniques that were plausible against this thing took an ample amount of time to perform. He could try doing it like last time with his swordsmanship but this monster was much bigger than before. Cutting it up into tiny cubes before disintegrating it would not be possible. It would probably out regenerate those strikes and he had to be careful of its offensive capabilities as well.

After receiving a simple claw strike and a simple Qi discharge his fighting capabilities had already dropped. He was losing copious amounts of Qi while healing himself as this demonic spiritual energy was draining him of his own healing powers.

The beast wouldn’t give him much time to strategize as it lunged forward. Its webbed wings spread wide while it growled. Those tentacles on its face squiggled around as it opened its mouth.

Zhang Dong had one advantage over this monster. He actually knew how to fight, this beast obviously was only good at overpowering its opponents. The attacks it used were easy to read and rudimentary. It was telegraphing all of its strikes, the way it moved it body made it easy for Zhang Dong to read its intentions.

Quasi-thulhu went for quite the tactic as it attempted a bear hug. It was probably aiming to grab its opponent and then deliver a murderous bite. Zhang Dong was quick to react by stepping to the side, when the monster flew past him, he delivered a palm strike to the side of the monster’s scaly body.

If this being had human anatomy then the blow would probably be a crippling one. It would at least take the air out of its lungs but instead, it only made it angrier. Quasi-thulhu shouted out while quickly generating dark energy on its claws. It aimed for Zhang Dong’s head but he was already able to read this move. He bobbed his head to the side and managed to slide his hand in right over for a counter punch.

This blow sent shockwaves into the surrounding area. If a core formation cultivator was flying unprotected around this battle he would find himself blowing up into small bloody meat chunks. The spiritual energies that these two were producing were just far too massive for any normal person to stomach. Even Huo Qiang and Zhang Liena needed to move away from the two giants.

It looked like the United Element Sect’s Patriarch had everything under control. He was dancing around this monster delivering blow after blow. Each time his kick or punch connected part of the monster’s body exploded. The problem was that afterward it mended itself back to its previous state.

Zhang Dong was slowly losing out, if this fight continued for too long he knew that he would run out of stamina. He was still only someone at the middle stage of the nascent soul realm. He was fighting an opponent two small realms above him. Even with his better cultivation method, he would tire out before it and he wasn’t as proficient at healing himself as his opponent.

‘Shit… what should I do…’

He dodged another blow while delivering a massive energy-filled palm strike to the monster's back. He injected his lightning energy along with his holy qi into the spot he hit making it explode. But when he was pulling his hand away it was already mending itself back into place.

Then he saw it, before the wound closed itself fully there was something he noticed. It was tiny compared to the monster and him but it was there. It was an item that he was familiar with why it was in the creature's body was unknown.

“Why is that there… did this thing absorb it… or is it powering itself through it…”

His eyes shone a bit as he quickly thought up another plan, with this new discovery he might stand a chance.