"Bang~! Cracking~! Boom!"
The moment the stone door creaked open, the space in front of it distorted. Then, a hand covered in yellow fur shot out, lunging towards Brother Rui's chest.
"Pfft~! Hiss! Hiss!"
Brother Rui's chest flashed with a yellow light, seemingly generating a shield. However, it shattered in an instant, offering no resistance. His chest was instantly pierced… and blood gushed out…
"Screech~ Pfft~ Hiss!"
"Whoosh!"
At this moment, the yellow-furred hand retracted, but not before it had ripped out Brother Rui's heart. It then vanished into the distorted space.
"~Gulp~ Gulp~ Glug! ~Glug~"
Immediately after, chewing and swallowing sounds emanated from behind the stone door.
"Whoosh! ~"
Seeing this, the adventurers on the stone platform who had been scrambling to enter the stone door retreated several meters, their faces filled with terror…
After all, Brother Rui, who was at Golden First Rank, had been instantly killed… and they hadn't even seen what kind of monster it was…
Only Ye Feng, Xiao Xiao, and Qiao Ying remained on the stone platform, their expressions grave. The distorted space in front of the stone door was a clear manifestation of spatial energy…
"This dark aura… a Hellhound?"
Ye Feng frowned slightly and stepped forward.
"Buzz!"
As Ye Feng approached the stone door, the same yellow-furred hand reappeared, aiming directly for Ye Feng's chest. The dark nails at the fingertips emitted a faint black mist.
Ye Feng's eyes narrowed. Arcane energy surged in his hands as he grabbed the yellow-furred hand, pulling and twisting it violently towards himself.
"Crack~! Crack!"
"Woof~! Grrr! ~"
The yellow-furred hand was instantly twisted into a pretzel by Ye Feng, bones cracking incessantly, followed by sounds resembling a dog's whimpers.
The space around the yellow-furred hand distorted slightly, and the hand quickly merged into the void.
Seeing this, Ye Feng's eyes narrowed. Arcane energy surged, and he slashed at the yellow-furred hand with a chop.
As the yellow-furred hand was about to completely vanish into the void, the arcane energy from Ye Feng's chop instantly transformed into true energy, penetrating the slightly distorted space…
"Hiss~ Slaaash!"
"Grrr~ Woof~! Woof!"
A splash of blood erupted. The portion of the yellow-furred hand that hadn't merged into the void was severed by Ye Feng's true energy, falling to the ground. Immediately after, strange cries of suppressed pain echoed from behind the stone door.
"Damn human!"
A furious shout followed.
Before the words faded, the space in front of Ye Feng distorted, and several black streaks slashed towards him – claws shrouded in black mist.
A flash of light appeared on Ye Feng's hand, and his tungsten rod materialized, clashing head-on with the opponent's claws.
"Bang!"
After a dull impact, Ye Feng retreated, five scratches appearing on his tungsten rod.
"Big Brother, it's the burly dog-headed man who fought with Sister Lingxi before!"
Upon clearly seeing the monster with the yellow-furred hand, Xiao Xiao exclaimed in surprise.
"Hoo~ Boom!"
As Xiao Xiao finished speaking, the dog-headed brute swung a magnificent-looking staff, sending a huge ball of flame hurtling towards Ye Feng. However, Xiao Xiao waved her hand and dispersed it.
"Ye Feng, this guy is a product of divine stone irradiation, a replica of a Hellhound created by shining the divine stone on something!"
Qiao Ying also chimed in.
"The one Lingxi encountered back then… but the appearance isn't quite the same…"
Looking at the dog-headed brute not far ahead, Ye Feng frowned slightly.
"Damn human, how dare you try to intrude upon the sacred Altar of Gods!"
At this, the dog-headed brute's eyes flashed red, and its figure rapidly merged into the void.
"Screech~ Ah! ~"
In the next second, screams erupted from a distant adventurer. The brute had torn him in half.
"Ah! ~ Ah!"
"Screech~"
"Help me!"
"What kind of monster… Ah! Ah!"
…………
As the dog-headed brute flickered, numerous adventurers were dismembered, screaming and falling to the ground. Some didn't even have time to scream before being torn in two…
"This spatial energy is truly troublesome…"
Ye Feng's expression was grave. Although he had grasped spatial energy, without his Tang Saber, he couldn't utilize it. He could only sense the fluctuations of spatial energy…
Furthermore, his body couldn't merge into the void like Elias or the Hellhound, let alone like the dog-headed brute before him…
"Whoosh~ Screech!"
"Ugh~ ! Ah!"
At this moment, the dog-headed brute let out a human-like scream. A bloody wound appeared on its right shoulder, courtesy of Ye Feng's mithril longsword.
"Hmph, I'll deal with you later!"
The dog-headed brute snorted, and its body merged into the void once more. In the blink of an eye, the fleeing adventurers screamed, their limbs flying…
"Is this guy recovering his strength through killing and drinking blood?"
Ye Feng frowned slightly as he watched the dog-headed brute biting the carotid artery of a burly man. He then turned and ran towards the stone door.
"Cunning human, don't even think about entering the Altar of Gods!"
Noticing Ye Feng's movement, the dog-headed brute immediately stopped its actions, merged into the void, and reappeared in front of Ye Feng in the next second.
At this moment, a smile flickered across Ye Feng's lips.
"Whoosh! Screech! Screech!"
"Woooo~!"
The mithril longsword flashed with light. The dog-headed brute let out a low whimper, its body slowly collapsing to the ground. In a moment, it had no breath.
"Hoo! ~"
Seeing this, Ye Feng breathed a sigh of relief.
If this dog-headed brute had directly merged into the void and escaped, he would have had to use his Tang Saber, and even then, in this underground cave, it would have been quite troublesome…
"Let's go, let's see what's inside!"
Ye Feng scanned his surroundings and quickly entered the stone door, Xiao Xiao and Qiao Ying following closely behind.
"Th-thank you…"
Watching Ye Feng disappear into the stone door, a middle-aged adventurer murmured. The dog-headed brute had been about to twist his head off, but Ye Feng had drawn its attention away…
…………
It was pitch black inside the stone door, so Ye Feng and the other two took out their flashlights and spotlights.
"Ye Feng, be careful. Although there isn't the same powerful dark aura as the dog-headed brute outside, it's still present, and in considerable numbers!"
Qiao Ying frowned slightly and quickly said to Ye Feng.
"Ah! ~"
As Qiao Ying finished speaking, Xiao Xiao suddenly cried out and fired a flaming arrow from her hand.
"Hoo~ Boom!"
Xiao Xiao's flaming arrow whistled through the air, instantly piercing the chest of a dog-headed brute.
"B-Big Brother, there are so many dog-headed brutes here…"
Xiao Xiao swept her spotlight across the area where she had just seen the dog-headed brute. She found the ground covered in densely packed dog-headed brutes.
However, these dog-headed brutes were different from the one Ye Feng had just killed. They were all lying on the ground, motionless… and their bodies were mostly twisted and deformed… some were just skin and bones, some had only one eye, some had both legs fused together… some were no longer recognizable as human…
…………