Once the three of them had settled on their tactics, they didn't hesitate any longer. Xiaokai led the way, charging across the boundary with his head down. With one step, he crossed the boundary and immediately grabbed the rogue rabbit's head, feeling no resistance. He was overjoyed.
The two girls each grabbed one of the rogue rabbit's long ears and easily lifted his light body into the air.
"Haha, we got him so easily," the thought echoed in the minds of the three.
The next moment, they were blinded by a bright flash of light. Before they could react, an irresistible force slammed into their chests. With three loud sounds, the three not-so-tall figures were catapulted far away and fell to the ground outside the boundary.
"You fools, idiots, morons, rascals, and fools! You're just like Greedy Eater, with big mouths and no brains!" the rogue rabbit at the boundary scolded. "This is the most boring, lowest level, vulgar, and ineffective way to fight. If you really encounter an enemy, you'll be killed in an instant without being able to make a move. I rely on, you are joking with your lives. How could you kill me with your way of fighting? If you can't kill me, how will you pass the trial? How will you restart the world?"
Xiaokai raised his head and spat out blood, feeling a piercing pain in his chest. He had been seriously injured by the recent attack.
The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox had been lying motionless on the ground, but when Xiaokai spat blood, it landed on the fox's body. Instantly, the blood triggered a change in the fox. An intense light flashed, a gust of smoke swept over, and the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox transformed back into human form and stood upright.
"Huh? You're different from before," Xiaokai was surprised. "Wow, how did you suddenly become a woman?"
Indeed, the male Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox had grown hair, longer nails, and was wearing a delicate garment. If not for the scars on the face and the ferocious and cold expression, the fox almost looked like a beautiful woman.
"Huh, something strange is going on," the rogue rabbit also exclaimed. "This creature was originally just a low-level being, how did it evolve into a higher life form so suddenly? What kind of rule is this? This isn't the rule in my world!"
Indeed, this wasn't the rule in his world. The process of monsters cultivating and transforming into human forms was always a difficult thing to explain.
Initially, the Celestial Fox had been very afraid of the rogue rabbit, but now, there was no hint of fear in its cold gaze.
Qing Hong looked at Xiaokai, then at the Celestial Fox, and her eyes suddenly lit up. "Right, although we're still in the Doomsday Gate, the rules here are no longer the rules of the Doomsday Gate. But... but Xiaokai, it's all because of the blood you just spat."
"Uh...what do you mean?" Xiaokai still didn't understand. "What rules, what world?"
"If I'm not mistaken, it should be like this," the Celestial Fox suddenly took over the conversation. "In this world, there are rules completely different from those of the real world. So when I came here, my two thousand years of cultivation all became invalid, and I could only revert to my original form. And when you came here, all your cultivation became invalid, so all your magical weapons are also ineffective, isn't that right?"
The fox was already a highly analytical and perceptive race, possessing two thousand years of life experience and cultivation insights. Despite only being here for a short time, its analysis was completely accurate.
The fox continued, "But the chosen Lord is a crucial figure. Although he is in the Doomsday Gate, his identity is the owner of the Wordless Book, upon which the Doomsday Gate relies. According to common sense, the rules of the Wordless Book are actually above the rules of the Doomsday Gate. Therefore, the blood of the owner of the Wordless Book may naturally be able to override the rules of the Doomsday Gate."
"Yes, that's right," Qing Hong excitedly nodded. "Simply put, if you use your blood, the rules of the real world can be effective here."
She took out her sacred sandalwood bead and said, "Xiaokai, if you spit your blood onto it, I think it will work."
On hearing this, the rogue rabbit immediately nodded. "Right, right. That should be it. You better hurry and spit out the blood. There's only an hour left; if you don't kill me before that, I will have to kill you later."
"Okay," Xiaokai said, feeling frustrated. He held out his finger to Ning Qing. "Come on, cut a little, but be gentle. Don’t make it too long or too deep, or it'll hurt a lot."
Ning Qing drew her sword and carefully touched Xiaokai's finger. She frowned delicately, showing clear reluctance. She was deeply attached to Xiaokai and even scolding him or pinching him would make her distressed for a long time. She hesitated to draw blood, holding the sword and gesturing for a long time but failing to find an angle to meet Xiaokai's demanding requirements of "not too long or too deep."
The Celestial Fox, growing impatient, snatched the sword and said coldly, "At a critical moment of life and death, where does this hesitation come from?" Before her words were finished, the sword had swept through, leaving Xiaokai gasping for breath as a one or two-inch wound was cut on his finger, and blood gushed out.
Qing Hong immediately took the sacred sandalwood bead and let the blood flow onto it, but to their surprise, when the blood slid down the smooth bead and fell onto the ground, the bead remained unchanged.
"What's going on?" Xiaokai was also bewildered.
"Dummies, this won't work," the rogue rabbit chimed in. "You just fought me, exerted your full strength, surged blood and energy, expanded your meridians, and activated your breath. Then I struck you, causing the blood to contain the essence of your body, filled with surging energy. But the blood you've just let out is static, lacking vitality and the essential processes of meridian expansion and breath circulation. How could it be effective?"
"You... you're saying...?" Xiaokai was really exasperated. "Do I have to spit blood again?"
The rogue rabbit nodded matter-of-factly, "It seems so."
"Why didn't you say that earlier?" Xiaokai couldn't help feeling aggrieved.
"I hadn't thought about it, either," the rogue rabbit also felt wronged. "This involves the rules of the world and is very complicated."
Sighing, Xiaokai took out his precious thousand-year-old Xuan Iron Essence, took the sacred sandalwood bead from Qing Hong, and handed both to Ning Qing. Then, he walked a few steps away and pointed to his chest. "Come, Qing Hong, punch me hard twice." He then said to Ning Qing, "Take good care of these two treasures. When I spit blood, come up immediately. Don't let me down."
Qing Hong bit her lip and murmured, "Why do I have to hit him?"
Xiaokai smiled wryly, "Do you think Ning Qing can bring herself to do it?"
The light rainbow looked a little angry: "Do I really have to go down?"
Xiao Kai patted her shoulder: "Hehe, junior sister, I believe in you, come on!"
A slight blush appeared on Light Rainbow's face. She clenched her two fists and said, "Xiao Kai, you have to hold on."
Xiao Kai closed his mouth, straightened his chest, and struck hard twice.
Then, Light Rainbow exclaimed "Ah" lightly and punched Xiao Kai's chest.
Xiao Kai didn’t budge.
Gritting her teeth, Light Rainbow closed her eyes and fiercely punched Xiao Kai's chest again.
Xiao Kai still didn’t budge.
"Hey, I say," Xiao Kai looked puzzled, "You only have this much strength?"
Light Rainbow's face turned even redder, and she stammered, "I…I…"
Before Xiao Kai could speak again, he suddenly felt a flash of red light in front of him. With a swooshing sound, a fist fiercely hit him in the stomach, and Xiao Kai immediately felt dizzy and saw stars. He felt a surge in his stomach, a sweet taste in his throat, and he suddenly spurted out a mouthful of blood!
The one who punched him was none other than Tianyao. The Rogue Rabbit on the boundary laughed heartily, "Good, good, well done. This unique individual is quite to my taste."
Ning Qing was still shocked when she heard the master's low voice say, "Hurry up and go up!" It was only then that she reacted and hurriedly approached, holding the two treasures properly and meeting Xiao Kai, who was coughing up warm blood.
This worked, indeed. The Sandalwood Bead instantly emitted a golden light and surged with immense power, automatically leaving Ning Qing's palm and floating in the air, slowly flying back into Light Rainbow's hands. The Essence of Ten Thousand Years of Profound Iron also grew rapidly, from the size of a sewing needle to a length of two meters and the thickness of a goose egg, and then flew back into Xiao Kai's hands.
"Let's do it again," Xiao Kai said, "This time I'll charge ahead, with Light Rainbow and Ning Qing attacking from the side."
Suddenly, Tianyao walked up and said, "No, this time I'll charge ahead, and you two will stay behind. Qing'er's power is weak so there's no need for her to join."
Xiao Kai was stunned for a moment but suddenly realized. This fox was a super master who had cultivated for thousands of years. It was a huge mistake to have ignored it.
After this remark, without waiting for the two to agree, Tianyao directly charged toward the boundary. Its inner core had been completely sealed by the Demon-sealing Mantra, and now it could only rely on its formidable physical body. Fortunately, its body was indeed very powerful, allowing it to face the Rogue Rabbit head-on, something Xiao Kai was praying for.
Tianyao's hands clashed with the Rogue Rabbit's forepaws. Xiao Kai and Light Rainbow were about to launch a sneak attack from the side when they suddenly heard a deafening thunder in the sky. A bright lightning bolt struck directly at Tianyao's head!
"Be careful!" Light Rainbow immediately used the Sandalwood Bead to rush toward the lightning, but almost at the same time, a "whoosh" sound was heard. Two thick flames, each the size of a bowl, suddenly spewed out from the Rogue Rabbit's ears, instantly engulfing Tianyao's face.
At a critical moment, the golden light of the Sandalwood Bead suddenly expanded several times. Wherever the golden light went, it instantly formed a barrier like an iron bucket, not only blocking the lightning but also the flames.
But the Rogue Rabbit's attack was too powerful. Before everyone could catch their breath, they saw the Rogue Rabbit's left foot step on the ground, and a pale blue arc of current spread along the emerald green stone floor.
Tianyao snorted, bit his tongue, and sprayed blood onto his right hand. It was then that Xiao Kai and Light Rainbow noticed that the Rogue Rabbit's right hand still had a jade finger ring. This jade finger ring, when soaked in the Rogue Rabbit's blood, emitted a green light. The green light, with the finger ring as the center, spread in all directions and instantly formed a green barrier between the Rogue Rabbit and Tianyao, effectively blocking the pale blue electric current.
The Rogue Rabbit seemed completely at ease, even smiling. "Not bad, there's finally some resistance."
As soon as he finished speaking, he stepped on the ground, and vines rapidly grew, winding and creeping along the floor, becoming denser and denser. These vine tendrils, swift and lush, appeared as flexible as the tentacles of an octopus, as if they were about to entangle the entire body of Tianyao.
"Meow!" Little Black suddenly called out and struggled out of Ning Qing's embrace. Shaking his black fur, he eagerly pounced forward and bit into the vines.
This little cat really ate things unbelievably fast. Its talent had been demonstrated when it had devoured the towering trees during the trial outside. Now, its prolific talent was on display once again. Although the vines grew fast, they could not match its speed. Crackling sounds were heard incessantly as Little Black slowly expanded and grew taller. When it reached a height of about three meters, it had devoured all the vines crawling on the four sides.
Xiao Kai and Ning Qing stood there, dumbfounded.
"Oh, I forgot about this," the Rogue Rabbit laughed again. "Although the Greedy Beast is weak, it is second to none in eating. You're quite lucky to have subdued a Greedy Beast King."
"A king?" Xiao Kai asked, "How can you tell?"
"Look at its four feet," the Rogue Rabbit said, "Greedy Beasts are normally monochrome. Only the king within them could have different-colored feet. This Greedy Beast is all black with white feet, a typical example of a Four-Feet-on-Snow."
After devouring the vines, Little Black seemed unsatisfied. It lifted its head and meowed at the Rogue Rabbit. Instantly, its body shrank back to its original form of a black cat, and Ning Qing hurried over to pick it up again.
The Rogue Rabbit's expression turned grim. "Be careful, I'm about to make a move!"
At this moment, the Rogue Rabbit's forepaws clashed with Tianyao, his left foot contested Tianyao's jade finger ring, and his right foot was restrained by Little Black, but he summoned a thunderstorm and fire on his ears, which were both suppressed by the Sandalwood Bead. Nevertheless, he didn’t seem like he had any energy left. His words sounded more like a last resort than a battle declaration.
"I rely on you. You've used up all your energy, how can you still make a move?" Xiao Kai flipped him off and said, "Damn bunny, now it's my turn to make a move. I'll show you the power of my Essence of Ten Thousand Years of Profound Iron!"
He threw the Essence of Ten Thousand Years of Profound Iron out with one hand, and with the other, he aimed at the Rogue Rabbit and commanded, "Hit him!" The Essence of Ten Thousand Years of Profound Iron immediately flew at high speed towards the rogue rabbit. The rabbit looked up innocently at the approaching stick and suddenly opened its mouth, inhaling the stick with all its might. It was sucked into its body as if into a deep abyss.
"Hehe, are you looking for death," Xiao Kai sneered, "The Essence of Ten Thousand Years of Profound Iron isn’t something to be trifled with. It’s strange if it doesn't puncture your throat."
The next moment, Xiao Kai was completely stunned.
The Essence of Ten Thousand Years of Profound Iron seemed to be swallowed up by a bottomless abyss, entering the rabbit's body from his mouth and disappearing without a trace.
The Rogue Rabbit closed its mouth and blinked at Xiao Kai, seemingly saying, "Wasn't that a good move?"
"Hit him, hit him!" Xiao Kai desperately commanded his treasure stick, but his mental connection was completely severed. The stick had fallen into the Rogue Rabbit's stomach as if it had been digested.
The Rogue Rabbit gave Xiao Kai a mysterious smile. "Don’t you remember? I said from the beginning that I can absorb all kinds of energy and convert it into forms I need. Although the energy on your stick was peculiar and something I've never encountered in my own world, with a bit more effort, I was able to absorb and convert it."
Xiao Kai had been mingling in the world of cultivation for so long with the greatest asset being the Wordless Heavenly Scripture. The young Guan and the four Immortals in the Wordless Heavenly Scripture were, after all, external forces. The truly personal power for Xiao Kai was the Essence of Ten Thousand Years of Profound Iron. In his mind, this treasure was the dearest thing to him. Losing the primary magic weapon in his possession made his eyes turn red. He clenched his fists and wished to rush forward. But just then, the Rogue Rabbit added insult to injury by saying, "I remind you, there are still five minutes left. I'm going to counterattack."
After making this statement, it opened its mouth and sucked in the Sandalwood Bead floating high in the air. Despite the bead’s enormous energy, it was unable to resist this suction and was completely absorbed by the Rogue Rabbit, leaving Light Rainbow, who had lost her support, to fall helplessly to the ground.
"Ah!" Xiao Kai gasped in shock, and the profound impact on his mind was beyond description. He had originally thought the Rogue Rabbit was just powerful in the same way. But it was far more powerful than he had imagined. It was just a fraction of the power the Rogue Rabbit possessed in its prime. This made him realize how incredible and prestigious the rabbit must have been back then.
As the two retreated, Tianyao was immediately defeated and sent flying by a strong force, landing outside the boundary. Fortunately, the rabbit didn’t aim for a victory, showing mercy and sparing Tianyao’s life.
As Tianyao landed from the sky, the rabbit opened its mouth and sucked in his jade finger ring.
It was over, completely over, and this thought flashed through everyone's mind in an instant.
"It looks like you can't kill me," the Rogue Rabbit lamented, shaking his head in distress. "It's lonely being at the top. I just wanted a taste of defeat. Why is it so difficult? I've weakened my abilities to one in a million and held back everywhere, even exposing my weak points. But I still can't be killed. Could it be...that I am truly a lonely master chosen by fate?"
Xiaokai felt so depressed that he felt like he was going to spit blood, but in the face of this formidable and inscrutable opponent, he couldn't say a word.
Luomangtu was feeling sentimental, but suddenly his tone changed: "Oh... Oh... Oh, what's going on?"
Everyone looked up in astonishment and saw Luomangtu starting to stagger and sway, opening his mouth wide and gasping for air, pressing hard on his stomach, a look of pain on his face.
"Um, looks like something's wrong," Xiaokai stood up hopefully, nervously assessing the "lonely master" in front of them.
"It looks like he has a stomach ache," Qinghong said, "Look at his stomach..."
Indeed, Luomangtu's stomach began to swell visibly, expanding noticeably, gradually inflating like a ball, he was pressing it down hard, but it seemed to be filled with air, refusing to be pressed down, until it almost reached bursting point before finally stopping.
Luomangtu had already lost his balance, slipping and falling, but with his current physique, lying down and standing up were no different, just a ball. In some positions on the ball, there were several small holes, which were his nose and mouth. Now, the mouth hole was opening and closing weakly, uttering phrases, "What are all of you holding? I can't digest it, it's really strange... in this world, is there still an energy that I can't digest?"
Xiaokai and Qinghong exchanged glances, and they both vaguely understood.
The essence of the ten thousand year profound iron is the most extreme form of metal energy in the real world, and the sinking incense pearl represents a love that had been sealed for ten thousand years. These were all the most high-end existences in the world rules. For Luomangtu, who was in a different world's rules, the difficulty of absorption and transformation was naturally great. In Xiaokai and Qinghong's view, that was the reason why Luomangtu couldn't digest it.
But they did not know that although these two treasures were powerful, they were not fatal to Luomangtu. What really made Luomangtu uncomfortable was the ink-jade thumb ring on Tianyao's finger and the pool of water from the ten thousand year profound iron.