NOVEL NEXT Chapter 98 - 098: Return Trip Horrors
Chapter 98: Chapter 098: Return Trip Horrors
After a long while,
In front of a whole wall of Moon Spirit Ore radiating soft moonlight, Chen Yu came to his senses.
He shivered with a start.
The mining cave was fraught with peril, teeming with Corpse Worms, strange spiders, poisonous scorpions, and who knows how many other dangerous creatures.
Chen Yu had only explored a very small area of this place.
“Eh!”
He carefully surveyed his surroundings and suddenly let out a soft exclamation.
He saw
A vast expanse of Moon Spirit Ore Wall in front of him, forming a “concave” shape, with about three walls of Moon Spirit Ore directly facing him.
In the middle of the concave wall was a stone platform intricately engraved with the complex lines of an array, bearing traces of human excavation.
This was an Array Stone Platform.
It was roughly ten feet in diameter, with a dark green, rusty metal dragon head at each of the four directions.
Each dragon head held within its mouth a peculiar small notch.
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Chen Yu faintly felt this arrangement was familiar; he should have read about it in some ancient tome, but couldn’t recall where.
“Better head back.”
Chen Yu didn’t dare linger; his storage bag was already filled with enough Moon Spirit Ore.
The privately stashed piece of Moon Spirit Crystal Ore was even more immeasurable in value.
On his way back,
Chen Yu felt as if he was being watched, faint rustling sounds coming from all around within the dark, interconnected mining tunnels.
Hiss-hiss!
Out of the darkness, a huge crawling creature emerged with a hiss, revealing a pair of cold, green-tinted eyes larger than a crocodile, its body covered in scales.
“What is that!”
Chen Yu felt an invisible pressure, even similar to that of the Qi Transformation Realm.
Thump thump! Thump thump!
His heart suddenly started racing.
Whoosh!
The scaled creature, darting forward like a swift breeze, pounced towards Chen Yu with a speed hard to react to.
In an instant,
Sand and stones flew around, a pungent wind howled, and the terrifying pressure was enough to suffocate anyone at the Organ Refining Stage.
This was likely a Postnatal Qi Transformation creature!
Zoom!
Chen Yu’s heart surged with power, and with an astonishing bounce, he leaped rapidly to the side.
The next instant,
A fierce gust barely missed him, the skin protected by the “Copper Statue Technique” felt a stabbing pain.
By mere inches,
The creature streaked past Chen Yu.
That was close!
Chen Yu’s heart raced with fear.
He had been on guard the moment before, and with his heart’s power at its peak, nearing an explosive technique, his reflexes and speed were far superior to the ordinary.
Only then had he narrowly escaped disaster.
“That was…”
Chen Yu caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye of a dark lizard over ten feet long, its body covered with scales.
Scrape!
The dark lizard, strong and powerful in limb, turned back in an instant after missing its initial pounce.
Chen Yu retreated, pulling several bloody chunks of meat from his storage bag and threw them towards the dark lizard.
The last two pieces were slashed with a poisoned sword.
Plop plop!
The dark lizard, quick as a wraith, swallowed the bloodied chunks in a few sweeping dashes through the night’s shadows.
“The potent poison on the meat, enhanced, should be a threat to Postnatal Qi Transformation.”
Chen Yu thought to himself.
In one hand, he clutched a Yin Fire Pearl, his face wary.
Hiss-ow!
After ingesting the poisoned meat, the dark lizard seemed uncomfortable, scratching the ground restlessly.
The hard rock layer was easily scratched open, gouges several inches deep appearing.
Chen Yu felt a chill; the rock layer’s hardness in the mining cave was almost comparable to a Half-precious Artifact, yet the dark lizard easily clawed through it.
Shhh shhh shhh!
Suddenly, a vague noise came from between the rocky walls all around.
“That feeling…”
Chen Yu grew uneasy inside; that feeling of being watched had grown even stronger since he started his return.
Seeing this,
He quickly took out several more pieces of meat and dragged the poisoned sword across them.
At the same moment, the large body of the dark lizard stiffened, and its eyes showed a glint of apprehension and fear.
Whoosh!
The dark lizard opened its mouth and spat out a greenish-black mist, which hit a part of the rocky wall several feet away with a “poof.”
Sizzle~
The hard wall corroded instantly, creating an opening about ten feet in diameter, and a cloud of corrosive greenish-black mist spread over an area four to five feet wide.
Chen Yu looked in that direction and was shocked.
He saw thousands of gray-spotted Iron Moon Corpse Worms emerging from the hole, indeed they were Iron Moon Corpse Worms!
The corrosive mist spewed by the dark lizard killed over a hundred Iron Moon Corpse Worms instantly, but considering their large numbers, it was just the tip of the iceberg.
Shhh shhh shhh! Shhh shhh shhh!
More and more Iron Moon Corpse Worms swarmed from every corner and passage of the mining cave.
The number of Iron Moon Corpse Worms in front of him was at least in the tens of thousands.
Within the swarm, there were even larger insects with a metallic luster on their surface, the Iron Moon Corpse Worms, their presence even stronger.
Scrape-zoom!
The dark lizard, showing fear, turned into a shadow and fled through a tunnel in the mining cave.
Even a powerful Qi Transformation Realm creature fled at the sight!
Go!
Chen Yu’s scalp tingled as he quickly tossed a few poisoned pieces of meat.
Then, charging his heart power and applying the Copper Statue Technique to protect his body, he dashed back the way he’d come.
Shhh shhh shhh! Whoosh!
The Iron Moon Corpse Worms quickly engulfed the poisoned meat that Chen Yu had thrown.
As he sprinted, Chen Yu threw out more chunks of meat.
These blood-scented pieces attracted most of the Iron Moon Corpse Worms.
But still,
Some Iron Moon Corpse Worms, in an almost encircling “formation,” closed in on Chen Yu.
“Why are these bugs chasing me non-stop! The big lizard is such an obvious target, yet they don’t go after it!”
Chen Yu gritted his teeth in silent fury.
The dark lizard was escaping, with hardly any Iron Moon Corpse Worms in pursuit.
Many Iron Moon Corpse Worms, as though possessing a kind of intelligence and controlled by some force, targeted Chen Yu.
What could be the reason?
Just as Chen Yu pondered this, he suddenly felt pain underfoot, and some Iron Moon Corpse Worms had crawled onto him.
“Damn it!”
His heart sank to the bottom.
The Half-precious Soft Armor he wore, though covering his entire body, began to fall apart bit by bit under the relentless tearing and biting of the numerous Iron Moon Corpse Worms.
In a few breaths,
the armor on Chen Yu’s body turned into tatters, about to fall apart completely.
Had it not been for his Copper Statue Technique guarding his body, any ordinary Organ Refining practitioner, even those in the Qi Transformation Realm, would have perished, reducing to bones and ashes.
And what was more terrifying,
those larger Iron Moon Corpse Worms, emitting a metallic sheen, managed to bite through Chen Yu’s skin, leaving a small bloody mark with each bite.
Fortunately,
there were few of these creatures, and Chen Yu’s self-healing abilities could still withstand them.
However, the ordinary corpse worms were numerous, and each bite could leave a bruise.
Before his eyes,
more and more worms crawled onto Chen Yu.
Thump! Thump! Thump, thump, thump!
Chen Yu’s heart raced, reaching a critical threshold, and suddenly his entire body erupted with a newfound, vigorous strength.
Whoosh-bang!
His power and speed surged dramatically, like a cheetah in a burst of speed, covering several yards in a leap, rapidly moving through the swarm.
However, there were too many worms, and they surrounded Chen Yu.
A hundred or two hundred worms crawled on Chen Yu, his hands flailing wildly, preventing the worms from approaching above his neck.
The thought of the worms burrowing into his nose or ears was unthinkable.
“Launch!”
Chen Yu slammed a Yin Fire Pearl in his palm onto the ground below.
Thud!
Using an explosive technique, with his heart’s energy at its peak, his body’s power burst forth, shooting him six to seven yards like a cannonball.
Boom!
A cluster of dark red and gloomy flames exploded on the ground, unleashing a terrifying wave of crimson flames and black wind.
“Swoosh!”
Under the sweep of the flame wave and dark wind, the worms within nearly ten yards were instantly melted and incinerated.
The hard ground was blasted into a deep pit, and the surrounding rock layers showed signs of melting.
“As expected of the Yin Fire Pearl, a threat even to killers in the Postnatal Qi Transformation stage,”
Chen Yu’s pressure greatly alleviated.
But the swarm of insects around him still organized, relentlessly closing in on him.
“Could there be something on me that makes these worms so determined to get me?”
Chen Yu inwardly speculated.
This situation reminded him of Li Dakui, who once stole a Fierce Bird King Egg and was relentlessly pursued by the flock.
Suddenly,
a metallic reflection appeared in the area ahead, from a corpse clutching a broken sword.
“Got it.”
Chen Yu’s eyes lit up.
The corpse holding the broken sword had remained intact to this day, surely possessing a power that repelled the other fierce beings in the mine.
Whoosh!
Chen Yu accelerated toward the corpse with the broken sword.
Hum!
As he neared a critical point, the broken sword hummed, emitting an overwhelming Sword Intent, with strong winds carrying Sword Qi furiously whipping around.
In a flash,
the nearby worms besieging Chen Yu stiffened, trembling in fear, not daring to come closer.
“That’s great.”
Since Chen Yu had had dealings with the corpse and broken sword before, he was able to gauge a rough triggering point.
At that moment,
the area where Chen Yu stood became a vacuum zone.
Thousands of worms around him kept their distance, not daring to approach.
Just as Chen Yu was about to breathe a sigh of relief,
Hisss!
An excruciating pain shot through his abdomen.
Chen Yu was shocked to see a thumb-sized Iron Moon Strange Insect, with a faint silvery gleam, easily biting through his Copper Statue Technique’s defenses.
Then, a numbing chill spread throughout him.
Thump! Thump! Thump, thump!
His heart pounded heavy and powerfully, an odd warmth surging within, blocking the numbing poison of the strange insect.
Any other Organ Refining practitioner might have been poisoned instantly.
Just as Chen Yu was about to catch the insect, what happened next chilled him to the bone: “No!”
Spurt!
The insect’s sharp, silvery body flashed, and it swiftly burrowed into Chen Yu’s body through the abdominal wound.
“Ah!”
Chen Yu groaned, heart pounding wildly in extreme fear, entering a state of explosive technique.
Once inside, the silvery Iron Moon Strange Insect frantically began to damage and tear.
Had it not been for Chen Yu’s robust body, reinforced inside and out, supplemented by the Copper Statue Technique, he would have likely passed out.
As he watched,
the Silver Moon Strange Insect moved towards Chen Yu’s organs, even towards the heart area.
Thump, thump, thump! Thump, thump, thump!
His heart beat furiously, generating a heavy, mountain-like pulse, as if resonating with the space in a mysterious harmony.
Suddenly,
the Iron Moon Strange Insect inside his body stiffened, shivering as if suppressed by a powerful force, rendered unable to move.
Phew!
Chen Yu exhaled, his back soaked with cold sweat.
At the same time, the wounds inside and outside his body began to heal rapidly under the influence of his heart’s pulsations.
“The worm… the worm…”
Seeing his abdomen wound healing, he couldn’t help but murmur, wanting to cry yet having no tears.
Upon sensing carefully,
the strange insect inside remained rigid, quivering, immobilized by the mysterious power emanating from his heart.
Rustle! Rustle!
At that moment, the overwhelming swarm of insects seemed to lose their lead, dispersing like loose sand, retreating to various corners of the vast mine.
In Chen Yu’s mind, a term emerged unbidden—Queen Worm!