Chapter 175: Black Dread Prison

A series of clinking sounds echoed, accompanied by sparks flying. This strike felt as though it had hit granite, leaving only a white mark on the Underworld King Snake’s scales.

Zuo Zhicheng was not surprised at all. Even before his attack, he had anticipated this possibility. The layer of scales on his opponent was naturally not so easy to pierce.

However, Zuo Zhicheng did not give up. After his first strike was deflected by the scales, he followed up with another. This strike carried a chilling, icy, and cruel intent, along with an aura of desolation and the freezing of time itself. Though there was no actual change in temperature, the combined force of his physical and mental strength was enough to distort one’s perception of the world, nearly freezing the Underworld King Snake’s very soul.

At the same time, a flurry of snowflakes, which only the Underworld King Snake could perceive, rose from behind Zuo Zhicheng. These snowflakes coalesced, forming a pattern of overlapping circles and triangles.

This was the Heartscape Zuo Zhicheng had cultivated: the Ice Soul Frost Demon Field. From that moment on, as long as the Underworld King Snake remained within a hundred meters of Zuo Zhicheng, it would continuously suffer from numbness, stinging, and stiffness—as if it were frozen.

If Zuo Zhicheng, when using his mental strength, had previously been like a block of ice, then now, he was like a ten-thousand-year-old glacier. The sensation of being trapped in a frigid hell, with one’s body freezing bit by bit, was not physical but a distortion of the mind.

Under the assault of the pungent odor, the head strike, and the Heartscape attack, the Underworld King Snake awakened more quickly. Its eyes suddenly snapped open, revealing a pair of vertical yellow pupils.

At the moment it was attacked, this guardian deity of Amariken also unleashed its own Heartscape.

In Zuo Zhicheng’s eyes, he could see the creature’s body suddenly erupt in roaring black flames. Then, the surrounding light began to dim, and various ghost-like shadows appeared all around Zuo Zhicheng.

These shadows, like demons from the Underworld, lingered around Zuo Zhicheng, as if trying to drag him down into hell.

This was the Heartscape of the Underworld King Snake, known by the people of Amariken as the Black Dread Prison. If the Crimson Sun Monk’s Heartscape inflicted scorching damage and Zuo Zhicheng’s Heartscape inflicted freezing damage, then the Underworld King Snake’s Heartscape produced effects of darkness and fear.

An ordinary person entering its Heartscape would instantly break down. Even the braver ones would flee in terror, powerless to resist.

When it came to martial artists who also possessed a Heartscape, the conflict between the two Heartscapes came into play.

When two Heartscapes overlapped, as was the case with Zuo Zhicheng and the Underworld King Snake, Zuo Zhicheng’s Ice Soul Frost Demon Field would affect the Underworld King Snake, and the Underworld King Snake’s Black Dread Prison would affect Zuo Zhicheng.

Usually, when facing a Heartscape attack, two main factors mattered: one’s own willpower to resist and one’s resistance to that particular type of attack. For example, when dealing with the Black Dread Prison, a timid ordinary person like Xiao Lan could easily be scared half to death.

The same applied to others. Those who were heat-resistant and unafraid of heat had an advantage against the Crimson Sun Monk. Those who were more resistant to cold and unafraid of freezing naturally had an advantage against Zuo Zhicheng.

So, when resisting a Heartscape, it primarily relied on one’s own willpower and resistance. But when two Heartscapes clashed, besides willpower and resistance, it also depended on the clash of mental strength.

Naturally, the stronger one’s mental strength, the more resistant they were to the opponent’s Heartscape.

At that moment, Zuo Zhicheng’s resistance to darkness and fear was likely unmatched in the entire world. However, an animal’s brain was not as developed as a human’s, so its mental strength was naturally not as powerful. This was also why, during his previous encounter in the Self Aspect, Zuo Zhicheng could resist the Underworld King Snake’s mental attacks with his killing intent. Of course, the great distance between them at that time also played a role.

But now, relying on his willpower, his strong resistance to darkness and fear, and his superior mental strength compared to the Underworld King Snake, the Black Dread Prison had almost no fear-inducing effect on him.

On the other hand, the Underworld King Snake was different. Its willpower was debatable, but as a snake, it naturally feared the cold, so its resistance to freezing was poor. Its mental strength was also weaker than Zuo Zhicheng’s, making it extremely vulnerable when confronting the Ice Soul Frost Demon Field.

Inside its body, its blood circulation was steadily slowing down, and even many of its muscles were beginning to stiffen.

Though, as a snake, its growth in mental abilities was far inferior to Zuo Zhicheng’s, its physical strength—even with just a purple-level Physique Strength—coupled with its massive size and weight, still surpassed Zuo Zhicheng’s.

As if realizing its predicament, the Underworld King Snake shuddered and moved like a furious dragon, its mouth gaping wide as it lunged to swallow Zuo Zhicheng whole.

‘What incredible explosive power!’

This was the gap created by size and species. Faced with the Underworld King Snake’s lunge, Zuo Zhicheng could only swiftly dodge, his sword tip leaving trails of sparks once again.

As Zuo Zhicheng struck the Underworld King Snake with one sword strike after another, each carried a bone-chilling coldness. Faintly, one could see streams of icy energy entering the creature’s body with every strike. The areas hit by the sword felt increasingly colder.

Though its scales remained unpierced, the cold seeped through the sliding sword tip into its body, slowing its thoughts and bodily reactions, making them sluggish and stiff.

This was the Frosty Ice Energy of the Cold Light Rippling Sword—using the mind to imprint coldness, transmitting it through the sword, and continually accumulating freezing damage within the opponent’s body. It made the opponent’s thoughts slower and slower. This attack effect was even stronger than Zuo Zhicheng’s previous use of pure mental strength to assault others.

Zuo Zhicheng’s body continuously shifted around the Underworld King Snake—above, below, and beside it. Relying on his relatively smaller size, he used various agile techniques to evade the Underworld King Snake’s attacks.

In contrast, the Underworld King Snake, under the relentless accumulation of cold, moved increasingly slower, its body growing stiffer.

With a deafening crash! The Underworld King Snake slammed its tail toward Zuo Zhicheng’s position. The impact sent stones and dust flying, leaving a large crater on the ground. But when it retracted its tail, Zuo Zhicheng was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, a series of clinking sounds came from behind—Zuo Zhicheng had already slashed it several more times.

Roar!

Growing increasingly irritated by Zuo Zhicheng’s attacks, the Underworld King Snake ignored the foul smell of sulfur around it. Its muscles violently contracted, and its entire body surged forward with a thunderous roar.

Wherever it passed, clouds of dust were kicked up, and even the trees bearing Psychic Energy Fruit were directly shattered and pushed aside.

Zuo Zhicheng, of course, immediately gave chase. But suddenly, everything went dark as a massive tree, thick enough to require three people to encircle, was wrapped by the Underworld King Snake’s tail and hurled toward him.

This was why Zuo Zhicheng had not used fire attacks. If he set the Underworld King Snake ablaze, regardless of whether it would die, all the Psychic Energy Fruit trees would surely be lost.

Seeing the giant tree hurtling toward him, Zuo Zhicheng’s sword flashed repeatedly. Accompanied by the sound of tearing air, the entire tree was split in half from the middle. Visible shockwaves even rippled from the blade of Qing Shuang.

That was the airflow caused by the extreme speed of his sword swings.

With a single stroke, he cleaved the giant tree. Ignoring the swirling dust, grass, and stones before him, Zuo Zhicheng resolutely continued his pursuit.

As long as he kept following the creature, his Heartscape would continuously inflict damage on the Underworld King Snake. Given the Underworld King Snake’s demonstrated resistance to the Ice Soul Frost Demon Field, Zuo Zhicheng was confident he could kill it before his mental strength was exhausted.