socalfunplaces Chapter 367 The Cicada Sheds Its Shell
Chapter 367 The Cicada Sheds Its Shell
Chapter 367 The Cicada Sheds Its Shell
Chen Yi made a move.
Even after she blew away the gray aura, he still moved.
Without the slightest hesitation, without the slightest room for maneuver.
He transformed into an arrow released from a bow, recklessly charging into the more terrifying death passage on the right, a passage woven from gales and flames.
"boom--!"
The Vajra Buddha light protecting the body emitted a mournful cry of being overwhelmed the moment it came into contact with the chaotic spiritual energy, and the light dimmed rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The fierce gale transformed into thousands of steel blades, slicing wildly across his body.
The blazing flames condensed into fire serpents, coiling around him, trying to burn him to ashes.
But Chen Yi ignored it, neither dodging nor avoiding it.
His eyes glowed with a blood-red light, and his entire field of vision was filled only with that fifth-tier demon core that exuded a deadly attraction.
In his mind, the long-absent system notification sound was frantically refreshing at an unprecedented frequency.
[Detected peak fourth-tier Gale Spiritual Power, extremely high purity. Absorb?]
[Detected peak fourth-tier blazing flame spiritual power, immense energy. Absorb?]
【————】
Chen Yi turned a deaf ear.
It seems that he has only one goal: that fifth-tier demon core.
He seems to have lost his mind and is acting recklessly.
Nearly.
closer.
The gale had already torn his flesh apart, and the blood that had just seeped out was evaporated by the flames.
Just before the Vajra Buddha Light shattered completely, his fingertips finally touched the cold and hard demon core.
[Fifth-tier Vajra demonic power detected, pure in origin. Absorb?]
The moment Chen Yi touched the demon core, his mind cleared for a brief moment.
He quickly sensed the intensity of this power.
It was several times stronger than the Vajra power contained in the spine of the near-fifth-tier Vajra Ape that he had previously absorbed.
However, it is not unbearable.
With system assistance, and given a little time—
His mind raced, and he temporarily suppressed the option of devouring it. He suddenly exerted force with his five fingers, trying to firmly grasp the demon core.
It was in that very moment.
A sudden change has occurred!
The fifth-tier demon core he held seemed to have been subjected to the ultimate provocation, and the dormant power within it suddenly awakened.
Om-!
A dazzling and domineering aura of Vajra light erupted from the center of the demon core.
That light was not an energy surge, but a pure, tyrannical vibration of rules.
Chen Yi's hand, which was gripping the demon core, was the first to be hit, and the bones in his entire arm made a cracking sound.
Before he could even utter a muffled groan, he was violently blasted away by this irresistible force.
"puff--!
""
A mouthful of scalding blood sprayed into a cloud of blood mist in mid-air.
He was thrown dozens of feet away, his body crashing heavily onto the ground outside the passage, rolling several times before coming to a stop.
But that golden light, like a leech, clung tightly to him, frantically surging into his body and ravaging everything about him.
His injuries were clearly very serious.
The meridians are severed.
Internal organs ruptured.
The aura emanating from Chen Yi rapidly dissipated at an avalanche-like pace.
By the time the last ray of golden light completely entered his body, he was barely breathing.
Clearly, with just one blow, he was critically injured and on the verge of death.
"Chen Lang!"
"Chen Yi!"
Ning Bu'er and Hu Mingyue rushed over immediately and helped him up, one on each side.
Ning Bu'er placed her hand on Chen Yi's pulse, and the next moment, all color drained from her beautiful face.
"My meridians are completely destroyed! My dantian—it's cracked too!"
Her voice trembled, choked with sobs, and tears streamed down her face.
"Chen Lang, how did you get so badly injured? How could this happen—"
Of course, there's a 30% truth and a 70% exaggeration in this.
This was a tacit understanding that she and Chen Yi had developed over countless brushes with death, a understanding that needed no words.
Chen Yi opened his eyes, extremely weak, and saw the signal in Ning Bu'er's eyes. He swallowed hard and spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs.
The color drained completely from his face, leaving behind a deathly pale gold.
He looked like a glass statue about to shatter, about to collapse completely at any moment.
"Help me—to a safe place—I'm injured—"
He used his last bit of strength to barely utter those words, then his head lolled to the side and he "fainted" in Ning Bu'er's soft embrace.
"Chen Yi!"
Ning Bu'er and Hu Mingyue's expressions changed again, their faces filled with panic and helplessness.
The two said no more. Hu Mingyue coldly said to Master Kudu, who was not far away, "Master, Chen Yi's life is in danger. We must find a place to treat him immediately. We must take our leave now!"
Before they finished speaking, the two of them lifted the unconscious Chen Yi up and transformed into two streaks of light, rushing towards the outer edge of the ancient battlefield without looking back.
Master Kudu stood there, his brows furrowed, silently watching everything unfold.
The situation unfolded largely as he had anticipated.
Chen Yi was lured by greed and rushed into the trap without regard for the danger.
He was severely injured by the backlash from the fifth-tier demon core and completely lost his fighting ability for a short period of time.
perfect.
Next, if I use a little more skill to draw the death energy and misfortune of this ancient battlefield to entangle him, a severely wounded and dying person will have no chance of survival.
The entire process was Chen Yi's own choice, and had nothing to do with his suffering.
But for some reason, as he watched the three departing figures, a sense of unease crept into his heart.
The plan appears to have deviated slightly from its intended course.
Letting Chen Yi leave like this gives one the feeling of releasing a tiger back into the mountains.
But under the watchful eyes of everyone, he couldn't stop it.
How to prevent a seriously injured subordinate from receiving treatment?
This contradicts the image of a "benevolent and compassionate" high monk that he had painstakingly cultivated.
In the end, he could only suppress the strange feeling in his heart and watch the two women protect Chen Yi's figure as they disappeared into the distant sandstorm.
After the two women left with Chen Yi, Xuan Hui and Yuan Lingling's expressions were not pleasant.
They had hoped to try again to capture that fifth-tier Vajra Demon Core.
But opportunity sometimes only lasts a moment.
One failure can be an insurmountable obstacle.
The intelligence of that demon core far exceeded that of an ordinary fourth-order being. After being startled, it completely fled into the depths of the chaotic environment ravaged by fierce winds and flames.
-
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth there was so violent that it could tear apart the protective magic power of a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. Even Ku Du's clone could only look on in despair, with no chance for a while.
In the end, he had no choice but to leave with his team, filled with regret.
Ancient battlefields are teeming with opportunities; this is no exaggeration.
Under Kudu's guidance, the cultivators of Zhongzhou did indeed achieve several more good results.
But the atmosphere within the team became increasingly delicate.
The group soon discovered that Kudu's so-called "leadership" was more like a resource monopoly.
Most of the opportunities he obtained, whether spiritual medicines or fragments of magical treasures, ended up in the hands of the Vajra Temple lineage or a few cultivators with whom he had close personal relationships.
As for marginalized Nascent Soul cultivators like Ji Wuchen and Yuan Lingling, as well as those rogue cultivators who were just temporarily added to the ranks, they often only received some spirit stones as compensation.
Offering spirit stones to a Nascent Soul cultivator is itself a form of disrespect.
Gradually, people began to yearn for change.
Ji Wuchen, Yuan Lingling, and the others were no longer willing to work for others and serve as thugs for Kudu in vain.
They began looking for an opportunity to break away from the group.
As they ventured deeper, the grotesque nature of this ancient battlefield was fully revealed.
They encountered Nascent Soul stage experts from other cultivation worlds, clashed with fourth-tier body refiners whose physiques were comparable to high-grade magic treasures, and even engaged in fierce conflicts with fourth-tier stage demonic beasts from unknown worlds in some perilous locations.
Fighting became commonplace.
Bloodshed and casualties began to follow them closely.
the other side.
After leaving that troublesome place, Chen Yi and the two women quickly found a secluded mountain valley hidden by huge rocks.
As soon as he landed, he sensed that a wisp of gray mist still lingered above his head, indicating that the monk might still be observing him.
He then spat out a mouthful of golden blood with a "poof," his face instantly turning deathly pale, and his breath weakening.
This scene was 50% fake.
The other 50% was to create real internal injuries for himself by forcibly activating his qi and blood to make his disguise flawless.
Ning Bu'er quickly stepped forward to support him, her eyes full of concern.
Hu Mingyue stood to the side, a hint of understanding flashing in her cool eyes.
Then, his eyes darted around, brushing away the last wisp of gray he had been observing above Chen Yi's head.
Chen Yi also sensed this scene, glanced at Hu Mingyue, and the two understood each other without saying a word.
Then, after setting up a simple isolation barrier, Chen Yi immediately sat down cross-legged.
He appeared to be regulating his breathing and healing his injuries, but in reality, his mind had already sunk into his body and was communicating rapidly with the system.
The Vajra power that the fifth-tier Vajra Demon Core injected into his body would be a fatal wound to others, but for him, it was an invaluable tonic.
"Devour".
Chen Yi had a sudden thought.
An invisible suction force erupted within him, and the domineering golden energy that had been rampaging through his meridians was instantly locked in by a purer and more primal power.
It was the Vajra Essence within his body.
The essence of Vajra transformed into a large net, wrapping and crushing the foreign Vajra power layer by layer, and then devouring it.
As a result, his Vajra Essence itself received a pure and nourishing boost.
He could clearly feel that the strength of his physical body was increasing at a small but solid rate, and his listless aura was quickly restored to full strength.
In the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he was already at full strength, and even made further progress.
Seeing that he opened his eyes, his divine light was restrained, and his breathing was steady, Hu Mingyue finally felt completely relieved.
She has completely figured it out now.
Chen Yi must have also sensed the gray cause and effect that shrouded his fate.
That was a hidden move by the monk Kudu, a subtle opportunity that would influence his judgment and behavior at a crucial moment.
However, he did not choose to break off relations on the spot, as that would only make Kudu wary, or even turn against him directly.
He chose a more sophisticated approach.
Going with the flow, he pretended to be injured, using this as an excuse to withdraw legitimately. This way, he freed himself from the constraints without arousing excessive suspicion in the monk Kudu's mind.
Uncle Chen is still the same Uncle Chen; when faced with danger, his first thought is to run.
The key is that she acted so convincingly that the monk couldn't find a single fault with her.
Hu Mingyue felt a slight sense of emotion.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "Uncle Chen, if you have nothing else to do, you can continue exploring with Fairy Ning. I'd like to wander around here by myself for a bit."
Upon hearing this, Ning Bu'er frowned slightly and said in surprise, "Mingyue, you've only just formed your Nascent Soul, so your cultivation level is the lowest here. You've seen the dangers here; there are countless crises at the late fourth stage, and even some at the fifth stage. How can you manage alone?"
However, Chen Yi raised his hand to stop her from speaking.
Chen Yi looked at Hu Mingyue with a calm and profound gaze.
"Then be careful."
He handed over a specially made jade talisman.
"If anything happens, you can contact me through this emergency communication talisman. As long as you are within a few hundred miles, I can get there as quickly as possible."
Hu Mingyue nodded slightly, said "okay," and then her figure transformed into a gentle breeze, drifting away and disappearing into the hazy world in an instant.
Ning Bu'er looked in the direction Hu Mingyue had left, still feeling puzzled and worried.
Chen Yi knew very well that Hu Mingyue's safety was perhaps more secure than theirs.
The greatest threat to Nascent Soul cultivators in this ancient secret realm is not demonic beasts or enemies, but the omnipresent chaotic spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
But for someone like Hu Mingyue, whose spiritual level is inconceivably high, chaos itself is the best protection.
The spiritual energy of this place is indiscriminate, neither friend nor foe, and is in a state of violent chaos.
However, under Hu Mingyue's high-level spiritual techniques, they could be transformed into their own, enabling them to do many incredible things.
Just like that fifth-tier Vajra Demon Core before, if she were to retrieve it, it would probably be as easy as taking candy from a baby.
She simply didn't want to reveal her true intentions in front of others.
In truth, Hu Mingyue had a deeper purpose for this trip. The true core of this ancient battlefield, the place where Nascent Soul cultivators fought to the death tens of thousands of years ago, was what she wanted to explore.
That place is about whether there is a spatial node connecting to the upper boundary.
After Hu Mingyue left, Chen Yi spent another half an hour to completely digest the golden crystal power he had absorbed.
Once his energy and spirit had reached their peak, he had a brief discussion with Ning Bu'er.
Then, he flipped his hand and took out a palm-sized silver ring.
The circular shape is simple and ancient, and it is engraved with countless intricate spatial runes.
Chen Yi slowly poured his spiritual power into it.
The ring emitted a soft hum, and invisible, unique spatial fluctuations, like ripples on water, spread out in all directions.
Chen Yi closed his eyes and waited quietly.
However, after only ten or so breaths...
A faint yet clear spatial fluctuation echoed from a direction more than a hundred miles inside the center of the island.
Chen Yi opened his eyes, a slight smile curving his lips.
"Let's go, Silverhorn should be here by now."
"7
He looked at Ning Bu'er.
"I wonder if he brought what he prepared for us."
His destination this time was deeper into the ancient battlefield.
With Ning Bu'er's current cultivation level, advancing a hundred or so miles inward is entirely possible as long as he proceeds with caution.
Without saying much, the two quickly made simple disguises, changing their appearance and figure.
They concealed all spiritual energy fluctuations and relied solely on their physical strength to move forward swiftly and discreetly.
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