Chapter 201 - 151: Eerie Blood Egg

Chapter 201: Chapter 151: Eerie Blood Egg

Zhao Zuo cleared his mind, channeling his Mana to activate the Clear Heart Jade Pendant, but he received no response.

After his first attempt failed, Zhao Zuo didn’t lose heart. He had other methods. He began to visualize a great silver hammer deep within his mind, then brought it crashing down.

BOOM!

Monstrous waves erupted on the placid lake of his consciousness. The walls of the world around him began to shake, and distorted patches appeared, as if the space itself were under attack and losing its stability.

"Again!"

Zhao Zuo continued to swing the hammer, and his surroundings grew even more unstable. It was as if cracks were spreading across the surface of a mirror, threatening to shatter completely at any moment.

BOOM!

BOOM!

Each blow was stronger than the last. The sea of his consciousness churned and surged, its boundless waves rolling.

Zhao Zuo suddenly smelled the stench of rotting corpses. He heard the sound of water droplets striking rock and shattering.

At the same time, he felt the movement of air. He could also clearly sense the stagnant Mana within his body and the Clear Heart Jade Pendant continuously releasing its cooling aura. Freed from the Illusion Realm’s interference, he could finally feel the pendant that had been working all along.

Without hesitation, Zhao Zuo brought the silver hammer in his mind crashing down again, keeping his soul in a turbulent state. He simultaneously channeled Mana into the Clear Heart Jade Pendant to further activate the Magical Artifact’s power. A stronger stream of cool air emerged, stimulating his soul.

The world in his eyes seemed to split in two. One part was a suspiciously pristine, dark passageway; the other was a cave filled with the corpses and bones of Demon Beasts.

At the same time, he diverted a portion of his Mana into the Soul-Shaking Bell at his waist.

Two seconds later, filled with Mana, the Soul-Shaking Bell flew from his waist.

BOOM!

Though it was a bell, it released a sound like a clap of thunder. The immense boom, which struck directly at the soul, must have harmed the hidden entity behind the scenes. The world before Zhao Zuo’s eyes abruptly shattered and re-formed. The new environment wasn’t dark at all, but brightly lit.

Zhao Zuo had no time to analyze why it was so bright. He immediately began searching for the hidden creature and quickly found his answer...

About half a meter in front of him stood a giant egg, roughly one and a half meters tall. Its shell was a dark, crimson red and faintly radiated a scarlet energy. Growing on the shell’s surface were seven or eight long, narrow, scarlet eyes, all staring at Zhao Zuo with pure malice.

A wave of red light spread out. Zhao Zuo felt a surge of nausea, and the world began to sway before his eyes.

’This is bad.’

Mana surged into the Soul-Shaking Bell, while another portion flowed into the Sky-Breaking Saber.

"Kill!"

Zhao Zuo sensed a fatal threat. With a great roar, he swung the Black Flame Saber at the eggshell. He had almost no time to hesitate or think, mobilizing all the Qi Blood and Mana in his body without holding anything back.

In that instant, Zhao Zuo’s body broke out in a cold sweat. His adrenaline spiked, his heart hammered in his chest, and his blood began to race.

This was, without a doubt, an all-out attack.

CLANG!

The sound of striking metal rang out as black flames spread from the point of impact. The Black Flame Saber was sent flying by a tremendous force, and the shock left Zhao Zuo’s hands numb. The eggshell’s surface was left with only a wound half a finger deep... Zhao Zuo hadn’t expected the shell to be so tough, but he still had another move.

BOOM!

The Soul-Shaking Bell rang out again, sending out a wave of soul-attacking energy.

Zhao Zuo could sense the creature’s agonized wail through the eyes on the strange, bloody egg’s surface. But he had no time to hesitate. A nauseating feeling still wracked his body, as if he were about to vomit up his own organs.

His soul screamed a deathly warning. ’I’m going to die! I’m going to die!’

This nausea felt more like a physical premonition; he was under a fatal attack!

Seizing the opening created by the Soul-Shaking Bell, Zhao Zuo controlled... the Sky-Breaking Saber. It shot forward, its blade instantly cutting through the air and plunging into one of the long, narrow, scarlet eyes.

This time, the Sky-Breaking Saber pierced through the tough eggshell, reaching the interior.

Evidently, while its shell was hard, it couldn’t block the sharpness of a Magical Treasure. Of course, it was also possible that the Sky-Breaking Saber had just happened to strike a weak point.

Less than a second later, all the eyes on the eggshell flew wide open. But the bone-chilling malice was gone, replaced by the weakness and hatred of impending death.

The nauseating feeling in Zhao Zuo’s body vanished completely, and the blurry, swaying world returned to normal.

He let out a sigh of relief and immediately directed the Sky-Breaking Saber to shred whatever was inside the eggshell.

’So demonic, so ominous... I can’t leave any part of it alive.’

Only after dealing with the threat did Zhao Zuo have time to survey his surroundings. Shen Yunjiao was standing beside him, clutching a Magical Artifact in her right hand. On her left wrist was a long, thin wound from which blood was dripping steadily.

So, the dripping sound Zhao Zuo had heard was the sound of dripping blood. Furthermore... Shen Yunjiao must have made that wound herself with her Magical Artifact.

This strange Blood Egg could not only create an Illusion Realm, but it could also control a person’s body.

A chill of fear ran down his spine. He had read many books in the Scripture Pavilion and knew a great deal about the Demon Beasts in the Yunlan Mountain Range, but he had never seen any mention of a creature like this. It could control the minds of two Late Period Qi Cultivation cultivators before it had even hatched.

He looked at Shen Yunjiao’s pretty face and noticed her strange state. Though blood was flowing from her wrist, the corners of her lips were curled into a faint smile, as if she were having a pleasant dream.

After a few seconds, Shen Yunjiao’s eyes fluttered open. Her gaze was slightly dazed, like the gentle ripples on a spring lake, making them exceptionally captivating.

Seeing this, Zhao Zuo could guess what she had experienced in the Illusion Realm.

Nothing needed to be said.

Her body swayed for a moment, as if her legs were weak. Then her gaze sharpened as she scanned her surroundings, and the wound on her left wrist healed rapidly.

"Was I... pulled into an Illusion Realm?" Shen Yunjiao asked in a low voice.

"Yes."

Zhao Zuo answered, holding his breath. The stench in the air was simply too foul. He bent down, picked up the Spirit Stone lamp from the ground, and began to inspect the area.

Underfoot was a layer of nearly solidified blood, filled with the corpses of numerous Demon Beasts. Most were spiders, with a few other species mixed in. However, there was no Spiritual Power left in the surrounding blood or the bones; it had clearly been completely absorbed.

The two of them stood in the center of a pile of bones. Further out lay desiccated corpses, drained of blood. At the same time, some of the spider corpses were quite fresh, their surfaces covered in various wounds.

Still holding his breath, Zhao Zuo took a closer look. He recognized a few of the Spider Demon Beasts he had killed during the day; they had clearly been recycled. Farther out were fifteen Spider Demon Beasts whose auras had been at the lower grade of Tier One. Now, however, they were all lifeless, their bodies collapsed.

These dozen or so spider corpses were peculiar. Zhao Zuo saw no external injuries; rather, it looked as if they had died in an instant, their internal Spirit completely drained.

Zhao Zuo turned and walked back to where he’d been. Ahead was the strange Blood Egg, soaking in a pool of blood. It was using the blood underfoot and absorbing the Spiritual Qi from the surrounding Demon Beasts to fuel its own growth.

’What kind of creature can hunt before it has even hatched?’

It was a question Zhao Zuo was destined not to have an answer for. With a flick of his hand, he placed the strange Blood Egg into his Storage Bag and took out a pair of Spirit Silk Gloves, which he then put on.

"There are a few Cultivator skeletons around here too. They might have Storage Bags. Let’s search," Zhao Zuo said to Shen Yunjiao, who was still standing there in a daze. He then immediately picked a direction and set off.

Shen Yunjiao watched Zhao Zuo’s back, a lovely blush spreading across her cheeks. She stood still for a few more seconds to compose herself before picking a direction and starting her search for Storage Bags.

「Ten minutes later, the two of them left the cave.」

On the way back, Zhao Zuo finally noticed that the cavern was actually filled with countless spiderwebs. At regular intervals, web sacs on the walls held dozens of round spider eggs, each nurturing an unhatched spiderling.

In fact, even their own bodies were covered in numerous strands of silk; they had simply been too tense inside the cave to notice anything amiss.

Shen Yunjiao was rather quiet on the way back.

After walking for about three minutes, Zhao Zuo finally felt a breath of fresh air.

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