Black Myth: The Legend of Tianpeng Seeking Demons

"Your Majesty, this 'Heart of the Desert' doesn't look like an auspicious object at all!" Zhu Feifei said, carefully backing away while staring at the jade stone that shimmered with a ghostly green light. He swallowed hard. "The atmosphere here is incredibly eerie! Besides, with such a thing guarding it, isn't it bound to attract some ferocious beast?"

Queen Jingjue ignored him completely, her gaze fixed intently on the center of the altar as she slowly stepped forward. Her hand reached for the "Heart of the Desert," her fingertips about to touch the jade, when suddenly, something unexpected happened!

Suddenly, a roar came from the entire temple. The ground shook as if it were about to crack. The reliefs on the walls trembled and pieces of stone fell off, hitting the ground with loud "bangs".

"Earthquake?!" Zhu Feifei screamed, clutching her nine-toothed rake as she tried to run outside.

"This isn't an earthquake!" Queen Jingjue exclaimed urgently, her eyes fixed warily on the depths of the temple. "The guardian has awakened!"

Just as Zhu Feifei was about to ask, "What guardian?", a deep roar made his eardrums ring. Immediately afterward, a massive golden figure slowly emerged from the shadows, each step causing the earth to tremble slightly.

It was a colossal lion-like beast, its size comparable to a small mountain. Its body was covered in shimmering golden scales, and it had a pair of enormous, curved horns on its head, making it both ferocious and majestic. Its eyes burned with intense flames, and its sharp claws sliced ​​across the ground, sending sparks flying.

"My God! What is this thing? A giant Lion King?" Zhu Feifei's legs trembled with fright, and she almost dropped her nine-toothed rake. "Is it considering whether to eat me first or you first?"

"Shut up!" the Queen of Jingjue said coldly, a hint of tension in her eyes. "This is the Golden-Armored Lion King, the divine beast that guards the 'Heart of the Desert.' Legend says it possesses world-destroying power..."

"Destroy the world?" Upon hearing these words, Zhu Feifei almost knelt down. "Your Majesty, listen to my advice: life is more important than treasure. This 'Heart of the Desert' isn't worth it! I think preserving your life is the most valuable thing!"

The Golden Armored Lion King let out a deafening roar, and the next second it charged forward like a golden lightning bolt, its sharp claws aimed directly at Zhu Feifei.

"Help!" Zhu Feifei screamed and lunged to the side, barely dodging the sharp claws, but unfortunately fell flat on her back. "Why don't you find a smaller opponent! You can't bully people so blatantly!"

"If it doesn't bully you, why would it bully me?" The voice of the Ringwraith White echoed in his mind. "Hurry up and use the power of the nine-bead bracelet, or no one will save you in the next second."

"Alright!" Zhu Feifei switched to "Super Strength" mode with trembling hands, and the nine-toothed rake in his hand instantly became as heavy as a mountain. He gripped the rake tightly and muttered, "I'll risk it all! I'll take someone down with me even if I die!" He mustered his courage and charged towards the Golden Armored Lion King.

The lion king suddenly opened its blood-red maw, revealing fangs as sharp as blades, and bit down hard at Zhu Feifei. Zhu Feifei roared and swung her nine-toothed rake, smashing it down hard on its head.

With a deafening crash, Zhu Feifei's nine-toothed rake struck the Golden Armored Lion King's head, but it didn't even shatter a single scale. Instead, the impact made Zhu Feifei's arm go numb.

"Is this...is this guy an iron tiger? It's so hard!" Zhu Feifei was stunned for half a second, then quickly retreated while holding the rake, but was almost hit by the lion king's sweeping tail.

The Queen of Jingjue had somehow taken out her crossbow and fired a poisoned arrow at the Lion King's flank. However, before the poisoned arrow could even touch it, it was vaporized by the flames on its body.

"Your Majesty, isn't it protected by both scale armor and fire armor? Can we discuss changing to a boss of a different difficulty level?" Zhu Feifei complained, panting.

"Shut up!" Queen Jingjue coldly shouted, "Concentrate your attacks on the weak points of its scales, or we'll all die!"

Zhu Feifei gritted his teeth and circled around to the side of the Golden Armored Lion King, taking advantage of the moment its hind legs were exposed to swing his rake with all his might. This strike used all his strength, and the nine-toothed rake actually smashed a crack in its scales.

"I did it! Your Majesty, so this guy isn't made of iron after all!" Zhu Feifei shouted excitedly.

The lion roared angrily, turned around abruptly, and breathed out a ball of scorching flames. Zhu Feifei was so frightened that he tumbled and scrambled, the flames brushing past his back and singing a small tuft of his hair.

"Oh my god! I almost turned into roasted pig's trotters!" Zhu Feifei slapped her head, cursing as she continued to search for cracks in the lion king's scales.

At the same time, the Queen of Jingjue seized the opportunity when the Lion King was forced back and stabbed it in the abdomen with her dagger. However, the Lion King merely glanced down at it, as if mocking the insignificance of the injury, and then sent the Queen flying back several meters with a single blow.

"Your Majesty, please take it easy! If you get injured, I won't even be able to get my wages!" Zhu Feifei shouted.

"Stop talking nonsense! Its weakness is near its throat, so attack there!" Queen Jingjue said, her eyes flashing with even more killing intent as she rubbed her shoulders.

"I specialize in throats? You make that sound so easy! It's not like it's a cat that obediently stretches out its neck!"

The Ringwraith couldn't help but complain, "Even if it's a cat, you're still a useless piece of trash who can't catch mice! Focus!"

Driven to desperation, the Golden Armored Lion King roared, its entire body radiating golden light. Sharp golden blades shot out from its body, like an indiscriminate rain of swords, covering the entire temple space.

"It's over!" Zhu Feifei covered her head and dodged, watching the light blade graz her ear as it flew past, leaving the walls and floor riddled with holes.

"Zhu Feifei!" Queen Jingjue's voice rang out amidst the chaos, "Take advantage of its weakened defenses while it releases its energy, and attack its throat with all your might!"

"Huh? You want me to go? And what about you?"

"Stop talking nonsense! Don't you have a nine-bead bracelet? Use 'lightning strike' mode!"

Zhu Feifei didn't have time to think and switched modes. Lightning immediately crackled on the nine-toothed rake, and he gritted his teeth and roared, "Lion Head! Take this!"

The power of lightning erupted from the nine-toothed rake, and he leaped up with all his might, smashing the rake fiercely into the crack of the lion king's throat.

"Boom!" With a loud bang, the Lion King let out a mournful howl, and its huge body crashed to the ground, the flames in its eyes gradually dying out.

Zhu Feifei collapsed to the ground, panting, and raised her nine-toothed rake: "I...I won?"

Zhu Feifei's victorious smile was still on her face when, in the next second, the golden light that shot out from the Golden Armored Lion King's body swirled and surged towards the altar, quickly enveloping the "Heart of the Desert" in dazzling brilliance. The entire temple trembled again, even more violently than before.

"Your Majesty, this can't be a good thing, can it?" Zhu Feifei, catching her breath, stared at the altar in horror. "Did we kill the little one and end up with an even bigger one?"

The Queen of Jingjue frowned and said coldly, "'Heart of the Desert' is the key to sealing power. The battle just now may have triggered its power to go out of control."

"What?!" Zhu Feifei nearly dropped the rake. "You mean, this thing can conjure up an even scarier BOSS? I... what's my life worth anyway?!"

Just then, the "Heart of the Desert" in the golden light suddenly floated up, spinning rapidly, and a piercing buzzing sound resounded throughout the entire temple. A violent gust of air threw Zhu Feifei and the Queen of Jingjue to the ground at the same time.