The monster roared at Zhang Dong that looked like a giant electrified golden statue. Both of them were now in a contest of strength with their fingers interlocking. No one was giving their enemy an inch but also neither of them was able to move. The creature and the cultivator seemed equally matched in strength at least for now.

After a moment Zhang Dong’s golden fingers started changing in color, they shifted into an unhealthy looking dark green. The monster’s evil energy was seeping into his hands while expanding like tiny spiderwebs. Before this corruption could continue the monster received a swift strike to its nether regions.

It was kind of odd to see the monster’s face convulse in pain after receiving this strike. The tentacles that were on its face weren’t the only dangly bits that this Cthulhu possessed. It had apparently some humanoid traits with some common weaknesses with this being one of them.

The monster’s grip loosened up after the swift smack to its more squishy lower organs. Thanks to this Zhang Dong could move his hands back while also delivering a swift palm strike to the beast’s chest. This strike caused a large shockwave to travel far and wide, causing even more destruction to the whole area.

‘Where is it… I’m sure it’s in there… I need to take it out…’

Zhang Dong was looking at the hole that he blasted into the monster’s chest with his palm strike. It took a few moments for it to close up but this was enough time for him to spot a tiny metallic object inside that opening. It was something he was familiar with and also something that he was looking for all these years.

It looked like a regular cube, similar to the ones he found in that secret ground and below the area where he was teleported into this world. It looked slightly different, it was pitch black and radiating a strange menacing demonic energy. The previous ones that he encountered weren’t like that. They mostly had regular spirit energy stored in them and acted as some kind of batteries or storage devices.

Somehow this device that was connected to him arriving in this world was inside that monster. Was this ruins a spot that a previous person that was spirited away arrived at? Maybe this thing was their tutorial monster, maybe they perished during it and it was left here to its own devices?

There were a lot of these scenarios going through Zhang Dong’s head right now. How it got there wasn’t that important but how this could help him in defeating this monster was.

He knew that these cubes stored a massive amount of spiritual energy in them. During the fight with the old Pride Demon all those years ago he was able to raise his cultivation level to a new height thanks to it.

This cube looked corrupt by the monster’s demonic energies. Zhang Dong had a suspicion that it was using this cube as a power source. The one he found below his initial summoning spot had a lot more energy in it than the one at the sacred grounds.

There was probably another spirit vein down here, or there was one at least. It was possible that the monster somehow fused with it after suffering injuries from the Divine Fist Sect relic weapon. How and why wasn’t important but now he had constructed a plan of action, there was some hope.

He only needed to get that tiny thing out of the creature’s body. The problem was that he had tried blasting several holes in this Cthulhu monster but the cube wasn’t there. He had used his spiritual sense to focus on it. This thing was moving around the monster’s body at a random pattern.

Whenever he tried getting to it, it shifted to another spot and got away. The monster was also quite resistant, even though he was blowing chunks out of it, most of his energy was consumed during this task.

After the initial strike, the cube dived back into the monster’s body to another part of it while the wound was mended. This had continued for several minutes, he was now slowly running out of stamina. The previous test of strength was proof enough, he was weakening.

Huo Qiang and Zhang Liena were further away. Fang Heng and the Argonaut were supporting those two from a distance. The ship was constantly firing its many cannons while moving around in the air. The nascent soul cultivator performed his own ranged attacks that utilized his Divine Dao.

The two monster helpers weren’t easy foes though. They had similar healing capabilities to their master. They weren’t as strong as the foes Zhang Dong was fighting but they were also battling against weaker opponents. Both sides were at a stalemate for the time being but the biggest problem was the main demonic being that was facing off against Zhang Dong.

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It was much stronger than anyone here and Zhang Dong was barely contending with it. Was it not for his battle sense he would have gone down for the count a long time ago. A direct hit from the monster’s massive fists or claws would be enough to topple the golden giant. In his smaller form, he would not be strong enough to deliver enough damage to the monster.

He also contemplated trying to invade the monster’s body in his regular size to get to the cube but gave up on that idea quite fast. The monster was a shapeshifter and it could consume other people into its body. If he entered its insides he would probably find himself attacked by the inner organs, consumed in a matter of seconds by the demonic energy that was at the great circle of the nascent soul level. He was just not strong enough to resist them in his regular form.

For now, he decided to focus on the cube. That thing looked like it might be responsible for this creature’s might. If it was fueling it, after its removal it should drop to a weaker state, maybe even revert to the core formation level. If it was that weak he would be able to crush it between his fingertips.

So he tried again, this time around he used some of his reserves to activate another improved version of his old technique. He clasped his hands together, this combined with his golden form made him look like a giant Buddhist statue that was praying.

His body started to shine brightly, golden lightning bolts started shooting out of his back into the surroundings. A sound of shifting metal could be heard as his body started to change. A new set of arms erupted from his body. Those arms appeared right below his shoulders, soon another set of arms sprung out making him look as if he had six of them now.

Each of those arms opened up their hands while blue energy gathered. Soon each one was holding a sword made from lightning energy. This was one of his original techniques that he was sent to this world with, the Thunderlight sword. He had trained it up to perfection throughout the years as well as brought it towards the nascent soul level of strength.

With the six swords in hand, he charged towards the massive opponent that was already healed up. The monster didn’t just stand there as it blasted him with more demonic energy. He had to force his way through it while defending himself with the swords but when he got in range the slicing started.

He was like a machine, the plasma-induced swords started chopping Quasi-thulhu’s body into small pieces. His swordsmanship expertise showed as the body was carved up. His gaze was focused not on the damage he was doing but at the moving treasure inside the monster. He constantly tried hitting it with this thunderlight sword but each time he swung down the tiny object moved to another section of the monster's body.

The only thing he could do was to follow its movements while chopping parts of the monster up. The less body there was to travel through the easier it would be for him to get it. Time was of the essence as he knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long. The monster’s arms, legs, and even head were now falling down to the ground but he still wasn’t finished. Soon most of its torso was coming apart which left the small cube not much space to maneuver.

‘Damn I can’t hold it…’

The thunder swords started sizzling out of existence. His spiritual energy was almost drained now but he wasn’t giving up just yet. He moved his arms towards the part of the monster’s body that had the cube in it. All six of them were plunged inside of this demonic being but the moment they did Zhang Dong could feel that something was wrong.

When he sunk his hands into the monster he didn’t feel much resistance but he couldn’t stop now. With his six hands still there, he managed to force the cube into a corner, and finally his giant digits managed to grasp it in place.

The moment they did though, he felt a massive jolt of fear run through his body. With all his might he started pulling, his hand that was holding the small object jerked back but he was unable to remove it from the monster’s oversized body.

Then it happened, the sliced up parts started moving back towards the chopped up body. Zhang Dong’s multiple hands started vanishing which left him with two of his original ones. One was deeply stuck in the monster’s body while he was using the other one to try and push himself back to freedom.

Before he knew it he was getting pulled inside of the monster’s body. The corrupt cube was stuck in there with his whole fist around it. He just couldn’t yank himself free from the monster’s clutches. No matter how much he pushed, pulled, or even discharged his golden lightning into this demonic being it wasn’t budging an inch.

He could feel the monster slowly absorbing his body. His golden form started corroding into a brownish color. Dark cracks started forming on his hands and face as he started to show signs of breaking. If he didn’t get out of here he would certainly get consumed by this monster.

‘I… I can’t…’

He found himself unable to budge from his spot, canceling out of his transformation to get smaller was being blocked. The monster’s demonic Qi was somehow affecting his state. Activating the system’s teleportation function was also not working, things looked dire.

Zhang Dong looked around hoping to find something that could aid him. His gaze landed on the Argonaut that wasn’t that far off. It was bombarding the large eyeball along with Huo Qiang that looked somewhat beat up.

He steeled his resolve and sent a quick message to the ship’s captain. The man in question was sitting in his large chair as he received a red prompt on his monitor. There was a clear order there, the man grimaced but would comply with the Patriarch’s edict.

The man stood up from his seat which brought attention to him. He remained silent without uttering a word while looking out to the large screen. On it, he could see the golden giant wrestling with the monster. With each passing moment the golden glow was dimming, this made him realize why the Patriarch gave him such an order.

“The order has been given, activate the Gungnir. Aim… aim for the Patriarch!”