Upon reaching the underground pit, Zhou Hong immediately began slaughtering the monsters.
Last time, Zhou Hong's strength was still very weak, and he wasn't a match for even one monster.
However, this time, Zhou Hong had stepped into the realm of cultivation, and naturally, he was a completely different person.
"Bang!" Zhou Hong killed one monster with three punches. While it wasn't an instant kill, it wasn't like last time. Moreover, with the aid of the light source, Zhou Hong was practically invincible.
Thus, Zhou Hong continued to kill and kill.
Soon, three hours passed.
During these three hours, Zhou Hong killed more than 500 monsters.
By the end, almost no monsters were climbing up anymore.
Only then did Zhou Hong stop, looking at the piles of beast cores on the ground, he smiled in satisfaction.
These 500 beast cores were enough to support his cultivation for some time.
Without wasting any time, Zhou Hong immediately sat down on the ground in the cave and began his second round of cultivation.
When Zhou Hong opened his eyes again, it was already half a month later.
"Hahaha!" Zhou Hong let out a hearty laugh.
"Late Foundation Establishment, I didn't expect I would reach the late stage of Foundation Establishment," Zhou Hong said with a smile. This half month had indeed been well spent.
However, Zhou Hong's rapid progress was naturally due to his experience from his previous life. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to soar through two levels in just half a month.
He had now reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment, and his next target was the second realm, "Xuan Zhao."
It was a pity that all 500 beast cores had been used up.
Furthermore, during this half month, no monsters had climbed up from the underground pit. This indicated that there were no more monsters at the bottom of the pit, or if there were, they were at an extremely deep level.
Without these beast cores, it was impossible for Zhou Hong to continue cultivating.
For now, Zhou Hong wasn't dwelling on these thoughts. He wanted to return to the surface to rest for a while, and then find a way to re-enter the underground pit.
Thus, Zhou Hong returned to the surface.
Zhou Hong's phone had run out of battery during his half month underground.
Zhou Hong found a place on the surface to charge his phone. After turning it on, he found many missed calls.
For example, Qiao Zhenhua and his wife, the Changsun sisters, Liu Zhen Feixu, and others had all called many, many times.
Seeing so many missed calls, Zhou Hong chuckled wryly. It seemed that they had all been extremely worried about him during this half month, perhaps even suspecting that he had been killed.
Zhou Hong immediately called them back.
The first call he returned was to Qiao Zhenhua.
"Zhou Hong, is that really you?" Qiao Zhenhua cried with emotion upon receiving Zhou Hong's call.
"Of course, it's me."
"Where were you for the past half month? Why were you always out of service area when we called?" Qiao Zhenhua asked, sobbing.
Zhou Hong had been deep underground for the past half month, where there was no signal.
"I was in seclusion cultivating. There was no signal where I was cultivating," Zhou Hong explained.
"Why didn't you tell us in advance? You made us worry so much."
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
After hanging up, Zhou Hong called Changsun Qinghe.
Similarly, Changsun Qinghe cried upon receiving Zhou Hong's call. It was clear that losing contact with Zhou Hong for half a month had caused her immense worry, making her suspect he might have been secretly eliminated.
After comforting her, Zhou Hong called Liu Zhen Feixu.
Although Liu Zhen Feixu was also worried, she had great confidence in Zhou Hong and didn't believe he would get into trouble.
Moreover, Zhou Hong learned that Liu Zhen Feixu was currently at the battleground in Kyoto.
It turned out that during the past half month, the chief disciple of the Kongtong Sect had been persistently provoking Zhou Hong. Initially, he had politely invited Zhou Hong to a duel through television. However, as Zhou Hong did not respond for a long time, he seemed to have lost patience, his words becoming increasingly offensive, even calling Zhou Hong a coward.
Finally, after more than ten days passed without Zhou Hong appearing, the chief disciple of the Kongtong Sect made a bold threat: if Zhou Hong did not show up within three days, he would take action against Huangfu Shanhe.
The reason for choosing Huangfu Shanhe was that the sect leader of the Six Doors had previously tried to attack Huangfu Shanhe, and at a critical moment, Zhou Hong had appeared, or rather, a reclusive extraordinary expert had appeared.
Therefore, the chief disciple of the Kongtong Sect used Huangfu Shanhe to threaten Zhou Hong.
And today was the last day. He was waiting for Zhou Hong at the battleground in Kyoto. If Zhou Hong did not show up before 12:00 PM, he would kill Huangfu Shanhe.
Upon hearing what Liu Zhen Feixu told him, Zhou Hong was enraged. He hadn't expected so many things to happen while he was cultivating in the underground cave for half a month. The chief disciple of the Kongtong Sect had escalated the provocation to this extent. He had initially thought the person was insignificant and not worth his attention, but unexpectedly, the person had become so audacious.
Zhou Hong immediately decided to go to the battleground and deal with him.
Without further ado.
Zhou Hong set off immediately for the battleground in Kyoto.
At this very moment, it seemed that everyone in Kyoto knew that today was the final deadline set by the chief disciple of the Kongtong Sect.
Therefore, many people woke up early and headed to the battleground, wanting to see if the reclusive extraordinary expert would truly dare not appear.
If he truly didn't dare to show up, people might feel a bit disappointed. The other party had provoked him to such an extent, yet he remained hidden, instantly negating any previous goodwill.
Meanwhile, the chief disciple of the Kongtong Sect was already waiting for Zhou Hong at the martial arts battleground.
Beside the battleground, Huangfu Shanhe was bound, appearing like a prisoner awaiting judgment.
The chief disciple of the Kongtong Sect looked up at the sky. The sun was almost at its zenith, and only a few minutes remained until the agreed-upon 12:00 PM. However, the reclusive extraordinary expert had not yet appeared. He now understood that this so-called extraordinary expert was either a coward or knew he was no match and thus remained hidden, afraid to show himself.
The crowd gathered around the battleground also expressed their disappointment.
"It's almost 12 o'clock, and that extraordinary expert still hasn't appeared. It seems he won't show up."
"Yes, I still held out a sliver of hope, but now it seems it was just wishful thinking. If he were going to appear, he would have done so any time during the past half month."
The onlookers at the battleground began to murmur, their words betraying a sense of disappointment towards the extraordinary expert.
"Everyone." Just then, the chief disciple of the Kongtong Sect shouted.
The scene fell silent, as if everyone was waiting to hear what the chief disciple of the Kongtong Sect had to say.