Advanced Tier Level Four — Netherworld Ghost Punishment!
Woooo—
Lu Jun summoned the Ghost Fiend, instantly triggering drastic changes in the heavens. Darkness enveloped the Taibai Mining Area within several kilometers, giving the eerie sensation of a Nether Deity descending into the world.
He had raised his Curse Element advanced magic to Level Four. The two contracted fierce ghosts—the Heaven and Earth Ghost—benefited the most. At last, they shattered their bottleneck and advanced from Commander-stage to Sub-Monarch.
The moment Sub-Monarch-level wraiths emerged, an exalted and terrifying pressure swept across the surroundings.
Not only that, Lu Jun traced star paths, and two enormous blood-red formation diagrams were outlined upon the ground. Vast blood-fiend aura surged skyward.
Amid the boundless crimson glow, the towering figures of the Nether Serpent Undead Lord and the Medusa Undead Monarch appeared indistinctly.
Four Sub-Monarchs!
While controlling the star particles, he had also taken the time to refine the corpse of Scorpion Lord Medusa into an undead using the Necromantic Revival.
Although empowered by the Death Emblem magic equipment and the Death Sovereign talent, his luck was still lacking. The King of Undead Remains auxiliary effect did not roll a favorable talent, causing the result to drop by one tier.
In one breath, Lu Jun summoned four malevolent monarchs. Four boundless currents of sinister radiance shot into the sky, filling heaven and earth, turning the area into something resembling the Netherworld itself.
The next moment, his expression turned astonished. The endless yellow sands deep within the battlefield gradually receded, and the serpent shadows within vanished completely.
"Ah… this—did they run?"
Seeing this, Lu Jun felt rather bored. He had thought the snake-scorpion monarchs would choose to fight their nemesis to the death!
"So they're bullies who fear the strong after all. If humans were firm enough, why worry about being besieged on all sides by multiple demon empires? Better to cripple one finger than injure ten."
Lu Jun shook his head and muttered inwardly.
Unbeknownst to him, with the combat power of four Sub-Monarchs plus his own Ture Monarch-level strength, venturing out alone would already be equivalent to an entire demon kingdom.
Figures such as Hangzhou's White Magpie Eagle Kingdom, the Demon Wolf Kingdom of the Southern Ridges, or legendary beings like the former Silver Sky Dominator and Demon-Eyed Wolf Monarch—he could now contend with them to some extent.
After this wave of attacks from the snake-scorpion race, the Taibai Mining Area gradually returned to calm. Not a single venomous snake invaded again, as if they had completely given up.
As a result, the three of them spent several more peaceful days. Altogether, nearly twenty days passed, and the Tai'a Sword's refinement of an entire Taibai Xinjin ore vein was nearing its conclusion.
From the cracks throughout the mining vein, the white metallic qi spilling out became increasingly scarce.
At the same time, Lu Jun's mastery over Curse Element super-tier magic was fully completed. 2,401 star particles formed a resplendent Star Palace.
At that moment, a sudden sensation stirred in his mind. He jolted awake, stood up, and gazed into the distance. Three inches between his brows, his condensed soul shone brilliantly, his Spiritual Heaven Realm linking to the void.
Buzz—buzz—buzz!
Lu Jun entered a state of astral wandering. His soul left his body and, in an instant, traveled thousands of kilometers away, descending upon a bustling human city.
Cairo, Egypt.
A graceful and alluring woman sat upon a high seat, holding a stack of documents and reading them carefully. Below her, more than a dozen powerful human mages trembled—among them were even super-tier paragons.
The most striking feature of this woman was her pair of golden-pink eyes, filled with an aura of supreme nobility.
Euryale murmured to herself, "So this is the one who killed my male pet? Lu Jun… a human of the younger generation?"
"Heh heh heh, seems I was overthinking it. It wasn't an ambush set by my two sisters."
She sneered coldly. "Since that's the case, I'll make this human pay the price—peel off his skin and turn it into my eternal collectible."
"Let me sense him… He seems to be marked by the snake-scorpion race. Interesting!"
Euryale closed her eyes and used her Psychic Element power to trace her enemy. Unexpectedly, when she captured Lu Jun's aura, her bloodline automatically revived, boiling violently.
This phenomenon was all too familiar to her—it signified a sworn enemy of the snake-scorpion race, one whom every Medusa was duty-bound to slay.
For Euryale, if she could capture Lu Jun, she might gain her mother's favor. Without contending with her two sisters, she could ascend directly to the throne.
"Hahahaha, fortune truly comes without effort."
She laughed excitedly and prepared to search for Lu Jun's whereabouts, when her expression suddenly changed and she shouted sharply, "Who is it?!"
Buzz—buzz—buzz!
In an instant, the observer's scene around Lu Jun began to ripple. The true-name warning of his spiritual realm suddenly made contact with another powerful soul.
In the hazy void, he vaguely saw a pair of golden-pink eyes, sharp and cold, staring straight back at him—
And along with them descended an overwhelming surge of Curse power!
Amid the indistinct haze, he vaguely saw a pair of gold-pink eyes, sharp and cold, looking straight at him.
And together with them descended a vast surge of curse power!
Medusa's Gaze!
At this sight, Lu Jun was greatly alarmed. This was the first time his Level-Five Beginner Psychic Magic had ever gone wrong. On the previous occasions when it was triggered, the targets had been completely unaware of it—its success had been absolute.
He had to admit that he had indeed underestimated the Medusa Mother. As the three daughters who inherited her most fundamental power, they could, through the mental connection between them, also perceive his spying.
Boom—!
In an instant, the mountainous ground around Lu Jun was shrouded in gray-white radiance, rapidly crumbling and flowing down like sand and mudi. His true body suffered a violent impact, nearly turning into a stone statue.
Lu Jun let out a muffled groan. The Parthenon Divine Soul within his body automatically awakened, his entire form blooming with pure radiance. The powerful purifying force shattered the petrification.
Moments later, the gray-white stone texture fading from his limbs and bones, Lu Jun regained clarity, his expression solemn.
"I didn't expect Medusa's second daughter, the Harpy Medusa [Euryale], to set her sights on me."
Lu Jun felt as if he were facing a formidable enemy. Fortunately, the two were separated by tens of thousands of miles this time, greatly weakening the power of Medusa's curse. Moreover, Euryale did not specialize in petrification curses—otherwise, he truly would have suffered badly.
All three daughters of the Medusa Mother possessed extraordinary cultivation. Even the weakest, Apas, had Great Monarch-level strength, not to mention Euryale and Cessna.
He had slain the opponent's male consort, the Grand Duke Serpent Jiehai, and already bore deep enmity with the Serpent-Scorpion race. He did not believe Euryale would let him off.
As for how Euryale could move freely within human cities and even gather intelligence on him, the explanation was simple.
Euryale was born from the union of the Mother of Medusa and the Harpy Empress, inheriting the finest bloodlines of both. With her unparalleled power of deception, she traveled the world freely, even hiding and lying low beneath the very eyes of the Holy City, hunting tourists.
"Looks like I need to prepare properly. A Great Monarch-level opponent…"
Lu Jun murmured, the pressure in his heart immense—enough to be called the strongest enemy he had faced so far.
"What happened?"
Nearby, the two women, Lu Mei and the other, were alarmed and flew over to ask.
When Jun Yaojin learned the full story, she fell silent, feeling an urge to get off this ride—damn it, why was the new boss so good at making enemies?
Lu Jun reassured them, "Don't panic. I have a way."
After Euryale developed killing intent, he sensed that she was rapidly approaching him, intending to cross more than half of Africa to reach him.
"A Great Monarch… I can't handle that alone. Right—Apas. I can join forces with her."
A plan formed in his mind. He intended to divert the calamity elsewhere, stall for a few days, and once the Tai'a Sword finished refining, he could withdraw from Africa entirely.