Chapter 549 - 54: A Narrow Escape, a Successful Retreat

"That’s right. You’ve exhausted yourself too much. Leave the rest to us. Fatty and Fellow Daoist Chi Huo will keep an eye on those beasts behind us. Yuechan and I will clear the path ahead. Changsheng, get some proper rest."

Xu Yunhe silently moved to the front of the group, the Cyan Blade in his hand letting out a clear ring.

Seeing this, Song Changsheng stopped forcing himself. He took out Spirit Stones, sat cross-legged on his flying sword, and began to meditate to recover his energy. He had to get back into fighting shape as quickly as possible. If Zhuang Yuechan and Xu Yunhe’s strength wasn’t enough, he would need to step in and take over.

"We’re almost there." Xu Yunhe’s palms began to sweat. ’Those insects are no easier to deal with than the Demon Birds behind us.’

"They’re merging together again."

Everyone looked ahead and saw a colossal, octopus-like creature materialize before them. Its entire body was covered in dense red dots, a sight that made their skin crawl.

CLANG—

Xu Yunhe’s long sword left its sheath in a flash of dazzling light. The sharp Sword Qi formed a barrier around the group, shredding a dozen incoming tentacles to pieces.

DONG...

A zither string trembled, and a melodious tune rang out. Sound waves rushed forth like a tide, but the giant octopus formed from countless insects only shuddered slightly before sprouting even more tentacles that swept toward them.

"Sonic attacks are useless against them." Zhuang Yuechan’s expression turned cold. She put away her Jade Zither and took out an emerald-green fan that looked like a giant maple leaf.

The moment Song Changsheng saw the fan, he recognized its origin.

Years ago, when he had gone to Luoxia City to celebrate the Great City Lord’s birthday, a Law Spirit Fruit had been born inside the Luoxia City Secret Realm—a treasure that surpassed the grade of the Secret Realm itself.

During the ensuing struggle, Song Changsheng had obtained the fruit and the Spirit Plant’s root, while the leaf had fallen into Zhuang Yuechan’s hands. He hadn’t expected her to have refined it into a Tier Three Low-Grade Artifact.

Zhuang Yuechan’s delicate hands moved, fanning out gusts of Gang Wind that instantly scraped several layers of insects off the "octopus’s" surface.

"The Demon Birds are catching up! We need to end this fast!" Zhu Yiqun shouted, then began working with Chi Huo Old Ghost to slow the Demon Birds’ advance.

"Yunhe, Yuechan, create an opening for me! We’ll charge through in one go!" Song Changsheng stood up. After his brief meditation, his complexion had improved considerably.

"Alright."

Zhuang Yuechan and Xu Yunhe exchanged a look. Their Spiritual Power flared as they simultaneously activated their magical artifacts at full power, combining their attacks to strike the "octopus’s" core.

BOOM—

Their joint attack was a success. The "octopus" was instantly pierced through, and countless insects turned to ash with shrill cries as the massive body crumbled and fell apart.

In the instant before the insects could reform, Song Changsheng burst into action. A five-colored Jade Seal appeared in his hand, radiating a brilliant light.

"Little Divine Technique, Mountain-Flipping Seal!"

A breathtakingly vivid landscape of rivers and mountains materialized in the air, as beautiful and unreal as a dream.

Cast using the Five Elements Creation Seal, this Mountain-Flipping Seal’s might was several times greater than normal. The Jade Seal descended from the sky with an unstoppable momentum.

RUMBLE—

Countless insects were crushed into a pulp beneath the Jade Seal. The "octopus," which had just begun to reform, was once again blown to pieces by the impact’s shockwave.

"Now’s our chance! Go!"

Seizing the golden opportunity, the group charged through. To their surprise, the insects were hostile to the Demon Birds, and the two swarms began to tangle and fight each other in the air.

This created the perfect opening for Song Changsheng’s group. They pushed forward in one final burst of effort, reached the exit, and entered the Space Tunnel.

The familiar feeling of weightlessness washed over them. Soon, Song Changsheng and the others were back in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. The moment they opened their eyes, they found Bai Zhengchun staring at them with a grim expression.

"Martial Uncle?"

Before Song Changsheng could even get his bearings, Bai Zhengchun spoke, his face dark. "Tell me everything you saw in there. In detail."

Though he didn’t know what was happening, Song Changsheng quickly gathered his thoughts and recounted everything they had seen and heard in the Small World.

"Damn it! It really is the Bone Marrow-Feeding Insect! Those lunatics from the Blood Demon Sect... to think they would dare to raise something like this!" A chilling killing intent appeared on Bai Zhengchun’s face.

"Bone Marrow-Feeding Insect?" Song Changsheng and the others exchanged confused glances, having no idea what he was talking about.

Shen Qingxiu sighed softly. "Look down at your feet."

Song Changsheng looked down and saw the ground was covered in tiny black particles. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were actually minuscule black beetles.

"These are..." Song Changsheng’s expression changed as a guess formed in his mind.

"These are the Bone Marrow-Feeding Insects that escaped from the Space Tunnel. It’s a good thing we discovered them in time. If they had been allowed to spread into the Daqi Cultivation World, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

"Is it really that serious?" Zhuang Yuechan asked, puzzled. ’Even a Qi Cultivator could kill swaths of these insects. There are just a lot of them. How could they possibly threaten the Daqi Cultivation World, which is teeming with powerful experts?’

"You don’t understand. The Bone Marrow-Feeding Insect’s favorite food is the marrow of living creatures. They also like to lay their eggs inside their hosts, and they reproduce with astonishing speed.

"Although they can’t threaten Purple Mansion Cultivators or anyone stronger, mortals and Qi Cultivators stand almost no chance of survival. If these things were allowed to run rampant, the Daqi Cultivation World would become no different from a Death Domain," Shen Qingxiu said, her expression grave.

Hearing this, Song Changsheng and the others broke out in a cold sweat. They never imagined such inconspicuous little insects could possess such destructive power.

If the Divine Sense of the Purple Mansion Cultivators hadn’t reached the state of Entering the Microcosm, allowing them to detect these dust-like Bone Marrow-Feeding Insects and nip the danger in the bud, the group would have been responsible for a terrible disaster.

"This place can no longer be left as it is. Senior Sister, Martial Uncle, please join me in destroying this Space Tunnel!" Bai Zhengchun said in a low voice.

The three Purple Mansion Great Cultivators attacked in unison. The already fragile Space Tunnel collapsed in an instant, completely severing the connection between that Small World and the Purple Imperial Realm.

If the Blood Demon Sect wanted to find this Small World now, they would have to search for it in the vast, boundless starry sky.

"Martial Uncle, it seems Soulless never showed up. What should be done with this Celestial Purity Demon-Extinguishing Mirror?"

Bai Zhengchun glanced at him. "There’s no way he’ll give up. You hold onto it for now. He’ll come looking for you sooner or later.

"We shouldn’t linger here. Let’s return to Luoxia City first."

With that, the group began their journey home.

Not long after they left, a group of people dressed in blood-red robes and wearing Evil Ghost masks appeared at the site of the collapsed Space Tunnel.

Looking at the corpses strewn across the ground, a flash of anger crossed the elderly leader’s eyes, but he managed to restrain it. However, when he saw the completely collapsed Space Tunnel, he let out an enraged roar.

"Who?! Who did this?!"

Beneath his mask, the old man’s face was twisted in a ferocious snarl, his body boiling with endless killing intent.

"Lord Mie, there are no survivors. The tracks have also been wiped clean," a tall cultivator in a Blood Robe stepped forward and said in a low voice.

Hearing this, Mie grabbed him by the collar, stared into his eyes, and said with chilling murderous intent, "Then investigate! Five hundred years of the Holy Sect’s hard work has been turned to ash! I don’t care who it was, they will pay the price!"

The blood-robed cultivator trembled and bowed his head respectfully. "As you command."

——————

While the Blood Demon Sect was frantically searching for the culprits, Song Changsheng and his group had already returned safely to Luoxia City.

Song Changsheng found Shen Qingxiu and said, "Martial Aunt, I gained quite a lot from this trip, but I haven’t had time to sort through it all. Could you please find a place for us to properly take inventory?"

Shen Qingxiu glanced around the spacious grand hall and chuckled. "Why look for another place? It’s fine to sort it out right here. What, are you afraid we’ll try to steal it from you?"

Hearing this, Song Changsheng quickly waved his hands and said with some difficulty, "Martial Aunt, you misunderstand. I absolutely don’t mean that. It’s just... this place isn’t big enough. I’m afraid I won’t be able to lay everything out."

Shen Qingxiu’s beautiful eyes widened in an instant. "This isn’t enough?" she exclaimed in shock. "Just how much did you get?"

"Not much. It should fill up a little more than half of this grand hall," Song Changsheng said humbly.

At these words, even Bai Zhengchun shot him a look of astonishment.

...