Chapter 872: Old Man Translator: CKtalon This Essence Energy Art was also strange. There weren’t many changes. It was purely an Energy Refinement technique. With every circulation of the Essence Energy Art, a portion of the impurities in the Essence Energy would be removed, allowing the Essence Energy to become purer. It was as though it was a technique that specialized in extracting Essence Energy. Zhou Wen originally imagined that by cultivating this Essence Energy Art, he could enter the Founding Emperor Tomb, but he realized that it was useless. After he gained basic mastery of the Essence Energy Art, Zhou Wen used it to push open the door, but the door remained firmly locked. It didn’t open. Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed that he couldn’t enter the Founding Emperor Tomb in-game. He originally wanted to try entering the palace in-game to see if there was a way to pass through the temple guarded by the stone sword, but now, he had to give up. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General became stronger the more it fought. It was already capable of contending against the twelve Gold Men. He constantly charged back and forth in the ancient city. Most of the Bronze Men had been killed by him, leaving only the twelve Gold Men to fight him. However, there was no way to suppress the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. This fellow’s abilities are really impressive. As long as he has enough time, he’s even stronger than Tyrant Behemoth. Zhou Wen was somewhat gratified, but he was also somewhat worried. Jinxes Master and Badlands still existed, making Zhou Wen feel uncomfortable. “Junior Brother, I remember that this Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General should be an Epic Companion Beast, right? Why is it so terrifying?” Liu Yun couldn’t help but ask. “Don’t you know that some Companion Beasts can evolve?” Zhou Wen asked casually. Liu Yun had already guessed it, but when he heard Zhou Wen admit it, he couldn’t help but regret returning the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to Zhou Wen. There were very few Companion Beasts that could evolve. Typically, only Companion Beasts that hatched from bestowed Companion Eggs obtained from special dimensional zones could have the ability to evolve. From Liu Yun’s point of view, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was likely such a Companion Beast. In the intense battle, a Gold Man couldn’t withstand the powerful collision. Cracks appeared on his body as he was beheaded by the Tiger Soul General. The Gold Man’s massive body fell to the ground. Its originally extremely hard body suddenly became as weak as porcelain. It shattered into pieces. Zhou Wen saw a dimensional crystal drop from the Gold Man’s remnant body. After losing a Gold Man, the combat strength of the Gold Men was further weakened. As for the Tiger Soul General, its strength became even stronger. Under this situation, the Tiger Soul General’s might became even more ferocious. The remaining eleven Gold Men were completely suppressed by him. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was like a killing machine that didn’t know fatigue on the battlefield. The more it fought, the more ferocious it became. It forced the remaining eleven Gold Men to retreat. Soon, another Gold Man was killed. As such, the Gold Men’s combat strength was even weaker. The remaining Gold Men were killed by the Tiger Soul General. When the last Gold Man collapsed, there were no longer any living dimensional creatures in the ancient city. Zhou Wen went down to clean up the battlefield and pick up the Companion Eggs and dimensional crystals that had dropped from the Bronze and Gold Men. The twelve Gold Men only dropped one dimensional crystal, but it was an Essence Energy Skill Crystal. Zhou Wen secretly used his phone to take a look and realized that the requirement for the Gold Man Essence Energy Skill Crystal was relatively simple. It required 41 Essence Energy and 41 Constitution, without any special stat requirements. Unfortunately, Zhou Wen only had 41 Essence Energy, so he couldn’t absorb and refine it. All he could do was put it away. Without an opponent, the flames on the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General’s body gradually dissipated. The fire in its body also slowly extinguished as its strength rapidly dissipated. Zhou Wen didn’t order the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to rush into the palace. Although he was powerful, he hadn’t advanced to the Terror grade. He would probably suffer greatly if he fought the stone sword. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖 “Could it be that we can only wait here for Jing Daoxian to return?” Liu Yun was very indignant, but there was nothing he could do. He had already attempted to summon a few Epic creatures to rush into the palace, but the moment they entered, they were instantly killed by the sword beam emitted by the stone sword. The stone sword didn’t even leave its scabbard. Zhou Wen had also looked at the stone sword, but his gaze was mainly focused on the bamboo slips. Although the stone sword is powerful, its energy source seems to be from the bamboo slips. If I can destroy the bamboo slips, the stone sword’s strength might be greatly weakened, making it possible to rush over, Zhou Wen thought to himself. Unfortunately, the bamboo slips were in the hall behind the stone sword. To touch the bamboo slips, one had to pass the stone sword. It was not an easy task to get rid of the bamboo slips. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and summoned the tiny Blood Threadworm Companion Beasts. He got them to crawl into the palace to see if they could escape the stone sword’s protection and crawl into the hall to destroy the bamboo slips. However, just as the Blood Threadworms entered the palace, they were killed by the sword beam emitted by the stone sword. Not even a miniature Companion Beast works? Zhou Wen frowned slightly. It wasn’t that Zhou Wen didn’t have any other solutions, but those solutions needed him to enter the temple himself to know if they were useful. He wasn’t willing to take the risk. A stone sword that could use Terror transformation was too dangerous for him. “What’s that?” Liu Yun suddenly pointed into the ancient city and shouted in horror. Zhou Wen turned his head and saw a pillar of light shoot out from the city. It reached the stone dome of the underground world, illuminating the entire underground tomb. Zhou Wen frowned inwardly. Just as he was about to use Truth Listener to scan the pillar of light, he saw a figure walk out. Human? That’s not right. Guardian? That’s not right either. Zhou Wen looked at the figure in surprise. The figure looked like a human. His appearance and clothes were very similar to a human’s, but his aura had the aura of a Guardian. Could it be... Zhou Wen thought of Wang Mingyuan. The creature in front of him looked like a fusion of a human and a Guardian. However, he was somewhat different from Wang Mingyuan. Wang Mingyuan had absorbed and fused with a Guardian, but Wang Mingyuan’s will was still dominant. As for the creature in front of him, it made him feel that it was closer to a Guardian. Liu Yun also looked warily at the creature who walked through the air step by step. The ancient clothes on his wide sleeves and robe fluttered despite a non-existent wind. When he got close, Zhou Wen and Liu Yun saw his appearance clearly. It was an old man with white hair and beard. He was wearing ancient traditional clothes. The only difference between this elder and a normal human was his skin. It had jade-like skin that was crystalline and transparent. Seeing the elder walk towards the palace door, Zhou Wen and Liu Yun retreated. The elder ignored them as though he hadn’t seen them and walked straight though the palace door.