An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 184 Cleaning Up Corrupted Creatures
In the pitch-black abyss, Chu Xiu lay on the back of a giant dragon, the whistling of the wind rushing down in his ears.

The closer you get to the bottom of the pit, the more you can feel the bone-chilling cold, as if countless tiny insects are crawling along your skin and into your bones.

Chu Xiu didn't care, but Guan Ke, who was the weakest, couldn't help but subconsciously tense up.

I don't know how much time passed, but suddenly a faint light appeared before my eyes.

Those were glow sticks placed in advance by the drone during the initial reconnaissance. This faint red light was the only source of light at the bottom of the deep pit.

In the dim red light, one could vaguely see a large number of creatures running back and forth in the darkness, making rustling sounds.

"This is it."

As Chu Xiu's voice fell, the giant dragon he was riding opened its mouth wide, and a spark lit up in its throat. The next moment, it was as if a house filled with gas had been ignited, and a scorching dragon breath shot out from its mouth and quickly spread into a raging torrent!
The air was scorched and distorted, flames rolled and spread in the air, turning into a rain of fire that fell instantly, dispelling the dense darkness below and revealing the ugly faces of corrupted creatures. They roared towards the dragon, but were soon engulfed by the flames, their roars turning into shrill screams.

Zhang Qingshan commanded the giant dragon to circle in the sky, spewing flames downwards at will, turning the entire area into a sea of ​​fire in no time. This large-scale area-of-effect skill with no cooldown surprised Chu Xiu.

Su Jinyu and Guan Ke also showed expressions of shock.

As the last area was cleared and most of the corrupted creatures below were burned to death, the dragon slowly descended carrying the four people.

"drop."

"Reporting the news."

Just as they landed, the other party's voice sounded from the communication bracelet that Qin Xiang had given them earlier.

"Arrived at the designated area."

"Arrived."

Reports rang out one after another. Chu Xiu looked down and saw that the bracelet had a small display screen connected to the detector. It could display the latest surrounding map in real time, and also showed the location information of everyone using glowing dots.

At this moment, the closest Wang Jie to Chu Xiu was seven or eight kilometers away, and the group had planned their route in advance so that they would not make contact along the way, but would maintain a distance that would allow them to provide support at any time.

"In a sense, this bracelet is Qin Xiang's way of protecting me, right?"

Qin Xiang seemed to know that the other three kings were not trustworthy. He probably couldn't even be sure if one of them would make a move against Chu Xiu for personal gain.

With this device, the location of everyone can be confirmed in a timely manner, and even if someone wants to harm Chu Xiu, the difficulty of the operation will be greatly increased.

"However, on the other hand, it can also pinpoint my location."

Chu Xiu stroked his chin and pressed the communication button: "Chen Ce is in position."

"Alright, everyone proceed according to the original plan. Remember, the main purpose of this operation is only reconnaissance, to find out the passage to the underground area. Do not venture out alone."

Qin Xiang gave one last instruction and then said no more. Chu Xiu also pressed the mute button on his communication device.

"Captain, what do we do next?" Zhang Qingshan asked, looking around warily.

Chu Xiu said, "Guan Ke, release all your reconnaissance items and conduct large-scale reconnaissance. Don't worry about concealment. If you find any corrupted creatures, report them immediately. I will have my summoned creatures help you eliminate them. Zhang Qingshan, you provide air support. We will follow the planned route and fight our way through."

Upon hearing this, Guan Ke and Zhang Qingshan were both taken aback, but Su Jinyu remained calm.

"Wouldn't that be too risky?" Zhang Qingshan asked cautiously. "We don't know the environment at the bottom of the pit, nor do we know the strength and number of the enemy. If we launch a rash attack, we might be ambushed. Even if you, Captain, are very strong, I think it would be safer for us to focus on reconnaissance, as Senior Qin suggested."

He offered his suggestion tactfully, while looking at Chu Xiu with some surprise in his eyes, perhaps because he hadn't expected the legendary Dark Night King to be such a reckless person.

However, in response to Zhang Qingshan's suggestion, Chu Xiu calmly replied, "No need. Let's just charge straight in and maximize our gains."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qingshan didn't say anything more.

Although he was not satisfied with Chu Xiu's decision, he also knew that in a team, it was important to obey the captain's orders. If everyone had their own ideas, the whole team would become a disorganized mess.

With a surge of air, Zhang Qingshan rode the giant dragon into the air, while Guan Ke lightly slid her mechanical arm a few times, and a mechanical backplate on her back opened to the sides, from which a large number of mechanical spirit birds flew out and scattered in all directions.

Chu Xiu then raised his hand and waved it, and a massive number of ghosts rushed out from the Hundred Soul Banner!

One hundred, two hundred, five hundred, one thousand! Two thousand!!!

In the blink of an eye, a total of two thousand ghosts rushed out, including two hundred fierce ghosts!
The sky was filled with howling ghosts, which swirled wildly around the four of them, causing the surrounding temperature to drop by more than ten degrees Celsius instantly.

This terrifying scene left Guan Ke and Zhang Qingshan stunned, their faces filled with disbelief.

Dude? You're a Fierce Rank cultivator, and you have two thousand summoned creatures?!

They could clearly sense that these ghosts were not only numerous but also of extremely high quality, including a large number of malevolent ghosts!

When the two ghosts stepped out from the Hundred Souls Banner, the shock on their faces turned into a helpless, bitter smile.

Guan Ke and Zhang Qingshan both had a certain arrogance about them, and they both believed that their mechanical creations and dragons were no worse than those of summoners of the same level.

But compared to Chu Xiu's ghost army, it was not even in the same league; it was like children playing house.

They recalled for the first time the fear of being dominated by Chu Xiu during the world mission.

This is a terrifying being who can single-handedly kill a world boss!

only.
Guan Ke and Zhang Qingshan exchanged a glance, and they still saw a hint of worry flash in each other's eyes.

Chu Xiu is strong, but the problem is that there are King-level beings at the bottom of this deep pit!

Two generals, two hundred fierce warriors, and a large number of warriors are indeed enough to contend with kings. But what if more than one king comes? What should we do then?
The bottom of the pit is the home ground of Calamity, so the other side would not be foolish enough to send an equally matched enemy to give everyone a chance to level up. It is more likely that they will take advantage of the terrain and take the initiative to intercept and kill them!

The principle that even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit is something that a calamity that has survived for countless years could not possibly be unaware of.

In this situation, even a King-level Awakener needs to be careful. Although Chu Xiu's strength is unmatched among his peers, he is not qualified to be so arrogant!

Thinking this, both of them looked at Chu Xiu with suspicion.

However, what they didn't know was that the terrifying army of ghosts before them was only a quarter of Chu Xiu's total strength.

Moreover, although they are both generals, the strength of a ghost general is much greater than that of an ordinary general. Combined with the general's command, bloodline symbiosis, and horn, the true strength of the ghost army is at least ten times what the two of them expected!
So, contrary to what the two thought, Chu Xiu was not worried about being ambushed, but instead deliberately lured the calamity underground to make a move!
"The subterranean calamity's assessment of my strength should still be based on the ambush three days ago. It could never have imagined that there is a being in this world that can become significantly stronger simply through killing."

"If the other side rashly sends a King-level assassin to kill me, then there will be a big surprise."

A faint smile appeared on Chu Xiu's face beneath the mask.

With his burning golden eyes and a brand-new army of monsters, as long as you don't face his true form, even all the remaining king-level monsters wouldn't be a match for him!
Of course, Chu Xiu also had a backup plan as usual. Even if the opponent's true form appeared, he was confident that he could retreat with Zhang Qingshan in peace.

Without further thought, Chu Xiu made a move, and the ghost army dispersed into dozens of teams, each following Guan Ke's scout sparrow, and scattered in all directions. As for the two ghost generals, they maintained a distance that allowed them to provide support at any time.

"Captain, a large number of decaying creatures have been spotted at a distance of 600 meters at a 58-degree angle to the right front."

"They seem to have set traps in advance, making your summons avoid the plaza area in front of you."

Guan Ke's voice rang in Chu Xiu's ears. With a thought, Chu Xiu used the Hundred Soul Banner to send his consciousness to one of the vengeful ghosts in the area Guan Ke had mentioned.

Before us was a rather large square, seemingly used for parking military vehicles. The once smooth cement road surface was now uneven and covered with a thick layer of dust.

However, Chu Xiu soon discovered that there were several places with significantly less dust, and there were signs of human damage to the ground.

"Is this a place where landmines or something are buried?"

Following Guan Ke's instructions, Chu Xiu led the ghosts around from the side and soon discovered a small squad of corrupted soldiers hiding on the roof of a building near the square.

The corrupt soldier in the lead even had a thermal imaging night vision device, which allowed them to accurately observe living things in the dark. The other squad members had clear divisions of labor: there were heavy gunners with heavy machine guns responsible for suppressing fire, snipers for long-range attacks, and demolition experts responsible for planting explosives.

If Chu Xiu's ghost hadn't been able to transform into a spirit form, it would have been discovered by this small team from a great distance.

But now, the battle is over once the ghost gets close.

One after another, grotesque ghostly bodies materialized and appeared out of thin air on the roof. Before the small team could react, they were torn to pieces.

[Professional Experience +2]

[Causal Points +15]

A notification sound rang in Chu Xiu's ear.

"This squad isn't very elite; it only has five soldiers."

"But without Guan Ke's advance reconnaissance, my ghost army would probably have suffered considerable losses."

Chu Xiu controlled the ghost and gently pressed the detonation button.

"boom!"

Instantly, huge flames rose up in the square not far away, and more than a dozen bombs buried in the square detonated at the same time. In addition to the shock wave generated by the explosion, a large number of fragments were shot out in all directions under high temperature and pressure, and almost the entire square was included in the kill zone.

"Although these corrupt soldiers no longer have free will, they seem to retain the experience and knowledge of being soldiers. They even placed a large number of metal fragments such as long nails near the bomb."

"The total explosive yield here is probably several hundred kilograms!"

Chu Xiu was slightly startled.

If his ghost had unknowingly stepped into the plaza, even in its soul form, a mortal-level Yin ghost would have been instantly blasted to pieces, and even a fierce ghost would have been injured! If it were close to the explosion site, it wouldn't be impossible for it to be blown apart.

Chu Xiu couldn't possibly divide his consciousness into thousands of parts to manipulate all the ghosts. In most cases, he would issue simple commands, which the ghosts would then carry out autonomously. Under such circumstances, it would be almost impossible to evade the opponent's ambush.

If we force our way through, we're afraid we'll lose a lot of ghosts!

"Qin Xiang is right, the reconnaissance profession is still very necessary."

"If I don't want to be burdened with this, I need to unlock a skill that allows for large-scale reconnaissance as soon as possible," Chu Xiu thought to himself.

Under Guan Ke's reconnaissance, Chu Xiu successfully evaded numerous ambushes and traps, and quickly wiped out more than a dozen squads of corrupt soldiers.

Of course, there were certainly many ambushes that Guan Ke couldn't detect, but overall, the losses of the ghost army have been greatly reduced. The living souls obtained from killing corrupted creatures are enough to make up for the losses, and there are still quite a few left over.

During this process, Chu Xiu made a surprising discovery.

That's because the range of movement of the mechanical creations that Guan Ke manipulates is actually larger than his ghostly creatures! The furthest they can even reach is more than ten kilometers away from the main body! "Consciousness attachment truly lives up to its reputation as a top-tier S-class talent."

Chu Xiu sighed inwardly, and even subconsciously began to calculate whether or not to use the Hand of Deprivation to strip Guan Ke of his talent.

Of course, this was just his instinct. Chu Xiu would not be so foolish as to risk breaking away from the existing order for such a small benefit. Besides, his current level of the Hand of Deprivation was not high enough. It was given to him for free when he passed the trial. Deprivation would reduce his level by at least three levels, which was not worth it.

Just as Chu Xiu was pondering these strange thoughts, a loud dragon roar suddenly came from the sky. Chu Xiu looked in the direction of the sound and saw Zhang Qingshan's giant dragon spewing out a large amount of flames downwards. Its body seemed to be growing rapidly under the influence of some strange power, and in just a few seconds, it had visibly grown a size larger.

"It's upgraded."

It has to be said that with the dragon's wide-range attack skills, leveling up is really fast. Zhang Qingshan had already reached level 3 in the previous push and annihilation battle and should have accumulated a lot of experience. Now, after annihilating several waves of corrupted creatures, he has leveled up again.

This made Guan Ke, who was standing to the side, look envious.

"Um," she hesitated for a moment, then said cautiously, "I found quite a few scattered weapons nearby. I'd like to collect them and install them on my mechanical creations, is that alright?"

Chu Xiu glanced at the anxious Guan Ke, then suddenly smiled gently.

"of course can."

“As a mechanic, this place is a treasure for you, I understand.”

If Guan Ke wants to build a mechanical legion, then a large number of firearms are essential, and these things are not cheap. A heavy machine gun with enough ammunition would cost at least tens of thousands on the market. And this is just the most basic weapon, which is basically only suitable for combat at the warrior level.

Those high-end machine guns and artillery pieces are extremely expensive. The cost is already high enough, and the military will make an even bigger profit when they are sold.

There is a lot of equipment here. Even the destroyed anti-aircraft guns can still be salvaged using the mechanic's special methods, saving the already resource-constrained mechanic profession a lot of money.

"I'll give you some more ghostly things to help you disassemble it. Also, you can sit on this thing."

Chu Xiu pointed, and a large, resurrected corpse of the ferocious rank emerged from it.

During the previous fusion, not all the resurrected corpses were consumed. A few that were not suitable were left behind and strengthened in the corpse fire.

This creature is over five meters tall and moves quite swiftly. It's no longer of much use in combat for Chu Xiu, but it would be a good mount.

"While you're up there, you can conveniently forge weapons onto your mechanical creations while traveling, and send them out to fight monsters in time."

Chu Xiu's words surprised Guan Ke, who looked at him with a look of astonishment, seemingly never expecting the Dark Night King to be so friendly. After realizing what he had said, he quickly thanked him.

Then, he hurriedly took out dozens of mechanical dogs from his storage space and led Chu Xiu's ghosts toward the high-value weapons scattered around.

Watching Guan Ke's figure disappear into the distance, Chu Xiu finally withdrew his gaze, only to meet the surprised expression on Su Jinyu's face.

"What? You think I couldn't possibly be that kind?" Chu Xiu looked at her with a half-smile.

Su Jinyu was startled and quickly shook her head.

Chu Xiu laughed and said, "You don't need to be so nervous. I'm not a capricious monster. If you complete your task as agreed, I will give you the wine of resurrection."

"Yes." Su Jinyu breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.

After a long pause, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you and that girl on good terms? You're helping her like this for no reason."

"Free of charge? Not really," Chu Xiu chuckled. "I put the locator on her mount, and also hid a ghost general nearby, so that if there's anything fishy about the communication device, or if someone wants to harm me, I can find out in time."

Su Jinyu:
She knew it.

At this moment, Chu Xiu said again, "Don't rush, you have a share too."

As he spoke, he took out a piece of [contaminant] and handed it over.

Su Jinyu:
She now deeply regrets having this mouth; why did she have to ask this for no reason!

However, judging from the speed at which Chu Xiu handed it over, he had obviously already made up his mind. He figured that even if he didn't ask, the other party would bring it up on his own, so he could only accept it helplessly.

Chu Xiu chuckled, his figure drifting backward and disappearing into the darkness.

Su Jinyu sighed, rubbing her forehead. Sure enough, this was the person she knew.

However, thinking of the Resurrection Wine, Su Jinyu lost her temper and could only do her best to set up enough rune arrays nearby to ensure her safety.

Fortunately, after everyone had thoroughly scanned the planned route, the Calamity did not send anyone to attack Chu Xiu again. It was unclear whether this was due to some kind of restriction or because they had suffered a great loss at Chu Xiu's hands and dared not act rashly again.

This naturally relieved Su Jinyu, while Chu Xiu was quite disappointed.

"It seems they're adopting a further retreat strategy, concentrating their elites deeper underground."

"Only a few squads remain on the surface, using explosives to delay and harass us, while also buying us some time."

Chu Xiu pondered to himself.

Just then, Zhang Qingshan rode the giant dragon back to report.

"Captain, we've found the entrance to the underground area. Miss Su was right; there is indeed an elevator shaft leading to a deeper part of that building."

"The entire route has been explored, and the entrance has been found. It's time to return to the base."

Chu Xiu glanced at him.

After completing the sweep, his experience points surged again, and he should be close to level 5, and he gained at least two thousand karma points.

Guan Ke's reconnaissance skills, combined with the dragon's high mobility and destructive power, made this kid quite successful this time.

Guan Ke also successfully leveled up and acquired a lot of weapons. The heavy machine guns could be used directly by mounting them on the mechanical dogs, and the heavy weapons were also disassembled into parts, which could be modified and reassembled for use. It can be said that her gains were even greater than Zhang Qingshan's, and she was beaming with joy.

But Chu Xiu was not satisfied.

This time, he only took 6,000 karma points and a bunch of useless junk.

To achieve the perfect level of the Burning Blood Golden Eyes, one needs nearly 80,000 Karma Points, and the final level of the Golden Skin and Nether Bone requires even more, up to 200,000.

Although Chu Xiu did not intend to collect them all at once, he would eventually have to accumulate them gradually.

"No need to go back, let's go down and take a look first," Chu Xiu said.

As soon as he finished speaking, the other three fell silent.

Although based on their previous actions, Zhang Qingshan and Guan Ke also discovered Chu Xiu's aggressive style of action, and the two of them also gained a lot of benefits.

Without Chu Xiu leading the team, their harvest might not even be a third of what it is now!
But while they could reap great rewards, they certainly didn't want to risk their lives along with them!

The two exchanged a glance, both hesitant. While they were still hesitating, Chu Xiu walked to the entrance on his own, his Berserk Demon Hand appeared, he swept aside the large amount of rubble covering it, and then jumped down.

After setting up another rune array beside her, Su Jinyu followed closely behind.

This left the remaining two people helpless.

"Why don't we leave first? We've already gone this far, Senior Qin won't say anything to us," Guan Ke sighed.

Her words made Zhang Qingshan hesitate slightly, but he finally said, "You should go back first."

After saying that, the giant dragon beside him transformed into a lifelike tattoo on Zhang Qingshan's left arm. Without further hesitation, he jumped down into the elevator shaft.

"You've all left, how am I supposed to get back? Am I supposed to climb up by myself?" Guan Ke's face was full of helplessness.

"I'm really unlucky. I should have never agreed in the first place. I thought it was a cushy job with free resources, but who knew I'd have to risk my life so soon."

But in the end, he could only sigh and then jump into the elevator shaft.

Under the influence of gravity, her body plummeted rapidly. After falling about ten stories, she could vaguely see the ground. Six mechanical arms extended from behind Guan Ke and suddenly plunged into the surrounding walls. Amidst the ear-piercing metallic scraping sound, her falling speed rapidly slowed down, and she finally landed steadily on the ground.

A built-in flashlight in a robotic arm was activated, and a beam of light shot out, illuminating the dark passage.

However, she paused slightly when the lights came on.

She noticed that the other three hadn't gone far; instead, they were huddled in a corner, motionless.

Chu Xiu's expression was obscured by his mask, but the other two looked grave, especially Zhang Qingshan, whose expression was a mixture of solemnity and astonishment.

"what happened?"

Guan Ke stepped forward, but stopped after only a few steps.

She saw a corpse standing silently in front of the three of them.

Yes, there is a corpse standing there.

The corpse was bizarre; only the upper half remained, the severed end standing upright on the ground, beneath which lay a strange substance resembling pitch-black sludge.

Both of his arms were severed, and his eyes were wide open, as if he had encountered something extremely terrifying before he died.

For some reason, the moment Guan Ke saw the corpse, a sense of fear instinctively rose within her, but she still managed a forced smile: "It's normal to find corpses in a place like this, right? What, are you scared by this strange posture?"

“No, this body is very fresh,” Su Jinyu’s solemn voice rang out.

Guan Ke was taken aback, and then felt a chill run down his spine.

Upon closer inspection, she realized that the corpse in front of her was indeed clearly dead, as even the blood on the ground had not completely congealed.

However, Guan Ke found the person's face completely unfamiliar; it was definitely not anyone from this exploration mission, nor any of the other high-level awakened individuals in the camp.

This baffled her; how could a complete stranger have entered the underground before them?
Just then, Chu Xiu's serious voice rang out.

“I know this person.”

"He's the yakuza who attacked me back then."

(End of this chapter)