Lu Xuan couldn't fly, but he could use the air currents created by the flying centipede to move nimbly through the air. At this moment, Lu Xuan had already peeled off a lot of the centipede's shell. Blood mixed with pus fell from mid-air. When it landed on a soldier's hat, it instantly burned off a large chunk of the hat and the soldier's scalp.
"Everyone scatter." Commander Luo dared not mention setting up the machine gun again. This thing could fly, and if it were provoked, it would come flying down from the sky. Even if they could kill it, the blood it splattered would likely injure most of the brothers nearby.
Just then, everyone heard the flying centipede suddenly let out a painful roar. Its enormous figure, blotting out the sky, plummeted from the air.
Chapter 192 A Change in Qi (First Update)
Amidst the swirling dust, the crowd could only vaguely make out the flying centipede struggling in agony, seemingly suffering some kind of severe injury. The next second, Lu Xuan emerged from the dust.
The flying centipede let out a shrill scream, but it was too late. Everyone then noticed that Lu Xuan was holding a jet-black bead surrounded by a strange light. The bead bounced constantly in Lu Xuan's hand, seemingly trying to escape his grasp. However, it was trapped by a vortex of energy in Lu Xuan's hand and could not fly away.
This fantastical scene left everyone in awe. It was a genuine battle of cultivation, albeit at the lowest level, yet it far exceeded the imagination of ordinary mortals.
"Damn it, there really are gods and monsters in this world. Does that mean I, Luo Laowai, who's done so many bad things, really have to go to hell?" Chen Yulou glanced at him but didn't say anything. He himself was feeling guilty. The abilities Lu Xuan and the Flying Centipede had displayed far exceeded his expectations.
The flying centipede's struggles gradually subsided. After Lu Xuan removed its inner core and severed its connection with its inner core, its life force began to rapidly drain away. The inner core is the very essence of a demon. No matter how severe the injury, as long as the inner core remains, it can rely on the stored energy within to recover. However, similarly, once the inner core is lost and the creature is injured, death is imminent.
Lu Xuan had inflicted numerous wounds on it intermittently. Supported by its inner core, it was able to thrive. However, without the inner core, its injuries flared up, and the Flying Centipede could no longer hold on.
Seeing that the enormous thing finally fall silent, only then did the hundreds of people around dare to slowly approach.
"Brother Lu, this thing... is it dead?"
"Yes, it's dead. I took its inner core, and it's completely drained of its vital energy. There's no chance of it surviving."
"That's good, that's good. This thing looks really scary. Even if I bring a large army over, it probably won't be easy to kill it."
"It's alright. It was corrupted by Yin energy. Although its spirituality was strong, its intelligence was not commensurate. That's why I was able to kill it so easily. If there were no tombs below and the Feng Shui layout hadn't become extremely Yin, given the layout of this place where wind is contained and Qi is gathered, we probably wouldn't have been able to do anything to it today."
"Oh...so this tomb is our lucky star? We'd better treat it well then."
Lu Xuan: ""
Although the flying centipede was dealt with, countless smaller centipedes still infested the interior of the main hall. The fierce battle had nearly destroyed the hall, allowing all the smaller centipedes to escape. Now that the Angry Sun Rooster was fast asleep, no one dared to go down there easily.
"It's alright, you can all go down now. Miss Hong, when the time comes, you can open the medicine pouch on your body and let the medicine take effect, and that should solve the problem?"
"...No, Brother Lu, if you had this ability, why didn't you say so earlier?"
"The medicinal power of the medicine sachet is constantly accumulating. After this use, it will take at least three months for it to accumulate to this level. Therefore, it is best to use it with caution."
"Oh... I understand. Hurry up and get ready."
The second descent into the canyon. This time, almost the entire army was mobilized. Only a group of engineers remained, setting up pulleys to transport the treasure.
Upon entering the canyon, the girl in red opened her medicine pouch as instructed. The demonic power that had accumulated within for months was instantly released. Throughout the entire canyon, wherever they went, not a single poisonous insect remained.
This scene immediately amazed everyone present.
"Wow, Brother Lu, that's impressive! How much is your medicine pouch? Can't I just buy one from you?"
"That's all. There are only two in the world. One has already been used. The other is the one that Miss Hong has. If you want to buy one, go buy hers."
Commander Luo turned to look at Miss Hong. He saw her deftly put away the medicine pouch without even glancing at him.
""
Because the main hall was destroyed, everyone had to find another way to enter the underground palace. Partridge Whistle also showed off his skills, determining the location of the underground palace by the speed of water seepage. He then took out the Mountain Moving Cutter Armor, a magical artifact of the Mountain Moving lineage.
This was the first time Lu Xuan had ever seen such things. Two pangolins, one large and one small. And they were specially bred. Their claws were exceptionally sharp. The soil above the underground palace was compacted hard earth. It would take a whole day to dig it up manually. But in front of the two pangolins, this hard soil was like tofu dregs, easily broken through to create a large hole.
"Interesting. This little thing is showing some intelligence. It's just a pity that we've already reached the limit of forcing it to grow."
"These pangolins undergo rigorous training, supplemented with various precious medicinal herbs. Only one out of a dozen or so can be selected as the true Mountain-Moving Pangolin. However, as the senior said, its potential has been exhausted, and its lifespan has also been shortened."
"That's a good technique. I also know a little about pharmacology; we can discuss it later."
"I would be happy to receive your guidance, senior," Partridge Whistle readily agreed. He had truly exhausted all means to lift the curse on his people.
It took the pangolin more than two hours to successfully open the passage into the underground palace. As soon as Commander Luo saw the underground palace in front of him, he excitedly rushed in to grab the treasure, but Lu Xuan grabbed him.
He reached out and wiped his hand on the wall beside him. His fingers were covered in a clump of sticky liquid.
"Look what this is?"
"What? What is this thing?"
Lu Xuan took a torch and illuminated the slime. Only then could Luo Dashuai barely make out that the slime contained countless tiny, maggot-like creatures.
"What...what is this thing? It can even move!"
Partridge Whistle, who was standing nearby, immediately understood.
"These should be centipede eggs. It uses this place as its nest, and the entire underground palace is covered with its eggs. These things are probably also highly poisonous."
"Damn it, this dead centipede is really persistent. It's already dead, but it's still causing us trouble. Brother Lu, what do you think we should do?"
"After all, they are just insect eggs, not fully formed yet, so they are easy to deal with. Prepare several torches and burn them along the way. Be sure to burn all the cracks in the walls and the ground."
"More than twenty soldiers rushed in, each with two torches, and started burning everything in the passage. After about half an hour of this, finally there wasn't a trace of slime left."
The group finally entered the main hall of the underground palace. By then, it was already pitch black. There wasn't a single ray of moonlight in the sky; it was gloomy and even a faint, eerie wind was blowing.
Lu Xuan seemed to sense something, paused slightly, and looked up at the sky. Naturally, one couldn't see the sky from inside the underground palace. However, Lu Xuan could sense a subtle change in the surrounding aura.