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

Chapter 423 Fragile Pride

"Aha!"

As the power of the blood crystal surged into her body, nourished by the powerful life energy, Shia suddenly opened her eyes!

She was still falling, but the powerful body brought by her King-level Awakened status and divine bloodline allowed her to regain consciousness in less than 0.1 seconds after losing consciousness from a direct confrontation with a top-tier Heroic Spirit's attack.

However, physical injuries are not so easy to repair.

The surrounding scenery changed rapidly. She passed through ancient trees hundreds of meters high, breaking off branches one by one, and finally crashed heavily to the ground with a loud bang.

"boom!"

Xia's slender body crashed into the ground, creating a large crater. She felt a surge of blood and qi, and her already broken bones were in excruciating pain.

She gritted her teeth, and the power of the blood crystal surged around her, rapidly healing the injuries on her body.

However.
"Not enough, not fast enough."

This was a furious attack from a top-tier Heroic Spirit. Furthermore, although Shia was a member of the royal family, the concentration of her bloodline was not high; she only possessed average talent.

This makes the power of the blood crystals completely insufficient. To fully recover, it not only requires a large amount of energy but also at least half an hour of repair.

In such a long period of time, even if the divine messenger didn't attack her, the "prey" that passed by would kill her ten or eight times over.

The great battle between the crowd and the divine messenger must have attracted many powerful figures watching nearby, so finding her location shouldn't be difficult; some might already be on their way.

And most importantly
Even if the injuries are healed, what then?

Shia's pale blue eyes were filled with helpless anger and resentment. Even the floating gunship had been destroyed so simply and brutally. Zoltan was seriously injured and his whereabouts were unknown. The remaining two fickle awakened ones had probably already started hunting their own kind. What could she do by herself?
Would you want to be beaten until your bones are broken again, completely defenseless, like this?
A voice kept ringing in Shia's mind: "The situation is out of control, and you are seriously injured. It is too dangerous for you to stay here any longer. You have done everything you can. You have done your best."

"Let's go, activate the items, and escape this trial."

"As for the people here, this is their fate, not your fault."

The voice grew louder and louder, gradually filling Shia's mind. Her lips trembled slightly: "No, that's right. Even if I stayed, it wouldn't help at all. The sooner I leave, the sooner I can report this matter."

This is, of course, a lame excuse. Awakened beings who fail the trial will not leave an anchor point at the trial site. Even if the Blood Crystal Civilization is a level seven civilization with gods, it cannot easily locate a tiny planet in the vast abyss where even its location is unknown.

Moreover, the royal family of the Blood Crystal Civilization has millions of members, and no one has the time to fulfill the naive wishes of an ordinary member like Shia.

But for Shia at this moment, after her previous plans were completely shattered in an instant, she completely lost her way to fight back. This huge sense of insecurity, that she had lost control of everything, made her desperately want to escape.

All she needed now was an excuse, and she no longer cared whether it was reasonable or not.

With her body regaining some sensation, she flipped her wrist, and a small doll appeared in her hand—the very doll she had used to detach herself from her body.

"Click."

With a soft sound, the doll's small mouth opened upwards, and then a transparent membrane spread outwards, as if to envelop Shia completely. At the same time, the space at the edge of the membrane began to fluctuate violently.

This is an extremely rare item. The membrane can cause the surrounding space to collapse, allowing the awakened one to fall directly into a higher-dimensional space and forcibly escape the trial. It is one of the few items that can help one escape the Heroic Spirit Trial without any side effects.

Just as the membrane was about to completely envelop Shia, a green light suddenly flashed without warning at the very moment it was about to be completed!

With a look of horror on Shia's face, her entire right arm, which was holding the doll, was severed at the root!

Shia's eyes widened suddenly. The excruciating pain from her severed arm made her scream in agony, followed by an unprecedented fear!
She looked up and saw that the lizard messenger had been standing behind her at some point, looking at her with amusement.

"You ran away much earlier than I expected."

The lizard envoy wore a wicked smile: "You were so aggressive before, I thought you were already prepared, and would at least hesitate for a few more minutes."

"But now it seems that your previous confidence was just because you calculated that even if the plan failed, you would have enough time to escape thanks to the protection of that big ship and the iron golem, right?"

"With no way out, you're no different from those cowardly servants who cling to life."

Shea stared at her severed arm, her face deathly pale, disbelief still lingering in her eyes, before being swallowed by a tremendous fear!

Standing atop the floating gunboat, she firmly believed that she would rather die than submit to the slaughter of her compatriots, and that her dignity was always above life.

But when faced with life and death, the fear brought about by the survival instinct stemming from her genes made it hard for her to breathe!

She was on the verge of losing her mind and all she wanted to do was run away!

But she was, after all, an elite raised by the Blood Crystal Royal Family, and her pride, which she had grown up with, would not allow her to bow her head at this moment!
Shea's eyes were filled with uncontrollable fear, but she still gritted her teeth and said, "The victor is king, the loser is villain. Kill me or torture me, why say more?"

The lizard messenger seemed somewhat surprised. After looking him up and down, he sneered, "You have committed an unforgivable blasphemy against the gods, and now you think you can simply end it all with death? You 'noble children' from high-level civilizations are truly naive."

Upon hearing this, images of various tortures flashed through Shia's mind. The excruciating pain from her severed arm made her break out in a cold sweat, and her face turned even paler. Yet, she still forced a cold laugh and said, "I am no match for you, but there are plenty of ways to end my own life."

"The premise is that you are truly willing to die for these servants," the lizard envoy smiled mysteriously, "Let me see if you awakened beings from advanced civilizations are as great as you claim!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he was struck by a finger, and a beam of yellow light pierced into Shia's body!
"What is that?" Shia asked in a trembling voice.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a ‘Lithos Worm’,” the lizard envoy let out a chilling laugh. “It’s a special creature on our planet with sharp mouthparts and an amazing ability to reproduce. They hide in the food they eat and eventually parasitize the host’s stomach.”

"The parasitized organisms don't feel anything at first, but as the Lithops reproduce, the energy from food gradually becomes insufficient to meet their needs. If they can't eat enough food to satisfy these worms, they will start to gnaw on the stomach pouch until they have completely devoured the host."

"The pain inflicted during this process is incomparable to any form of torture; those who haven't experienced it can hardly imagine even a fraction of it!"

"These insects have an incredibly strong survival ability. They don't stay in the stomach forever. When there is no food, they will burrow through the stomach and enter the host's blood and even bones. They become a fully healthy spirit. Once completely parasitized, they are difficult to remove easily."

"What's even more interesting is that the Lysacea I sent to your stomach happened to be a pregnant female."

"..." The thought of such a disgusting thing in her stomach made Xia feel like vomiting. After a long while, she finally let out a long breath and said, "I will annihilate my soul. You can do whatever you want with this body."

"So what are you waiting for now?"

Xia trembled. She didn't know what she was hesitating about. She knew that continuing would only result in torture and humiliation. She knew that the best way to protect her pride and dignity was to end her own life as soon as possible, but she just couldn't bring herself to destroy her soul.

A sense of unreality lingered in her mind: Am I really going to die here today?

But in the end, the pride that came from the depths of her bloodline overcame the fear of death. Shia gritted her teeth, and the power of the blood crystal turned into crimson threads that climbed up her cheeks. This was a secret technique that cursed the enemy at the cost of one's own soul!

However, just as the blood-red threads were about to burrow into her brain and merge with her soul, the lizard messenger's voice rang out again: "What are you doing? When did I say I was going to take your life?"

"Did you think I would torture you to death during a sacred hunting ritual?"

The lizard messenger's words made Shia pause abruptly, her hard-won resolve broken, and she couldn't bring herself to do it.

The lizard envoy smiled faintly, "I injected the Lithos worm into your body merely to provide you with a suitable 'motivation'."

“I do not have the right to execute people privately during the hunting ceremony; the rules of the ceremony remain in effect.”

"In other words, as long as you obtain enough hunting points, you can not only save your life, but also successfully pass the trial."

“You’re forcing me and my fellow human beings to kill each other,” Shia gritted her teeth. “I won’t let you have your way.” The lizard messenger looked at her with interest but did not answer. Instead, he changed the subject: “The Lites Worms aren’t all tools for tormenting people.”

"Besides its ability to reproduce and its difficulty to be eradicated, it has another characteristic: it stores a special life essence in its body, which can greatly enhance physical fitness."

"As long as the juice of the [Lithos Flower] is ingested, the Lithos insects will enter a frenzied mating state. They will continuously secrete life essence and die after exhausting their last bit of life essence."

"And the life essence contained in the mother worm in your belly is more than a hundred times that of the ordinary Lithos worm, and it even has a significant effect on Heroic Spirits."

The lizard envoy raised a finger: "In other words, you only need to collect 10,000 hunting points to exchange for the [Litters Flower] from the god. Not only can you get rid of these disgusting insects, but you can also significantly boost your own physique."

"How about it? Isn't that a good suggestion?"

Shia's expression kept changing, and she was completely stunned.

Just an hour ago, she confidently boasted that she would save the human race here, but now, is she going to have to survive by hunting her own kind?

Her pride wouldn't allow her to do that, but...
"Isn't this just part of the normal trial content?"

"Besides, even if I don't kill them, those people wouldn't survive anyway. Only if I pass the trial will I have a real chance to save this planet in the future."

These thoughts, which she knew were wrong, kept surfacing in her mind, and she couldn't shake them off no matter what.

The lizard envoy watched Shia's changing expressions and revealed a smile that said, "I have everything under control."

You need to make a decision as soon as possible.

“The wrath of the gods killed a large number of low-level participants, and those who remain are all seasoned survivors. Not to mention your two ‘accomplices’ who have already started hunting ahead of time.”

“At any moment inside your body, the mother worm has a chance to lay eggs. At that time, not only will her life essence be lost in large quantities, but the larvae will also burrow into the blood and bones that the sap of the Lithos flower cannot reach, making them difficult to remove.”

Upon hearing this, Shia's face turned extremely pale. At this moment, the injury to her right arm had stopped and her body was regaining its vitality, but her complexion was even paler than before.

"Oh, right!" The divine messenger seemed to remember something else. "You should know, as the protagonist of this ceremony, Cang Kai has a score bonus far exceeding that of everyone else, right?"

"The hunting points he provides alone are enough for you to complete the game."

"And I happen to be able to offer you some assistance in this regard."

As he spoke, the lizard messenger plucked a golden scale from his neck. Strangely, even after he released his grip, the scale remained suspended in mid-air, its tip pointing in a clear direction.

"My weapons are not so easy to wield." The lizard envoy smiled faintly. "I have high hopes for your performance. I hope you won't lose your life because of those foolish insistences."

Having said that, it said no more, and turned into a streak of light that disappeared into the horizon, leaving Shia alone standing quietly in the same spot.

She remained motionless like a stone statue. Although the energy within her body was gradually increasing, the expression on her face grew increasingly ashen, like a puppet whose soul was being slowly drained away.

After a long while, she suddenly seemed to have made a decision, grabbed the golden scale left behind by the lizard messenger, and rushed into the sky without saying a word.

In the distance, Chu Xiu's consciousness slowly withdrew from mid-air.

At this moment, his consciousness, which had descended nearby, was more than ten times stronger than before, and the spiritual body he had condensed with the help of the altar's energy was also more solid.

This is a change brought about by the reduction in spatial distance.

He can now easily project his consciousness using turbulent currents, and even projecting independent anchor points is no problem for him.

However, it will take more time before the main body arrives.

Chu Xiu frowned as he looked in the direction Xia had left, and shook his head with some regret.

Originally, he planned to designate this girl as a divine messenger. All he needed to do was use the energy of her spirit to initiate a small ritual and then send the anchor point over to merge with her.

Unfortunately, she chose to back down, and now she can only choose another option.

This is a valuable [Independent Anchor Point], and Chu Xiu doesn't want to waste it.

After a moment's thought, he shifted his focus and looked to the other side.

Fifty kilometers away, in a mountain cave, Cang Kai stood in the center, holding a golden spear and covered in blood.

Although it's called a cave, it has actually been melted down by the energy of the battle, turning it into a huge karst cave with a diameter of several hundred meters.

Beside him lay two mangled corpses.

They were actually the two King-level beings in charge of hunting Cang Kai!

The remaining King-level expert was not far away. His limbs were all broken, his face was covered in blood, and he laughed bitterly, "Well done, Cang Kai. I didn't expect that even with three against one, we were still no match for you."

"What are you waiting for? You can't be clinging to old feelings at a time like this, can you?"

Cang Kai glanced at him indifferently, without replying, and stared blankly at the spear in his hand, seemingly lost in thought.

"Cang Kai!"

The man was clearly enraged by his attitude and shouted, "Do you want to hear me repent? I may have lost, but I have never regretted my decision!"

"Mortals are like weeds. From the perspective of a thousand years, does it make any difference whether they live happily or painfully? They will die in waves and be born again in waves. How insignificant are the joys and sorrows of individuals!"

Why should we give up the chance to pursue immortality for their sake?

Attracted by his shout, Cang Kai slowly turned his head, looked at his former best friend, and said slowly, "You've misunderstood."

"I am not killing you because I have any sympathy or expectations of you."

"It's simply because if I kill you, I will transform from [prey] into [hunter]."

"As I said before, everyone can live today, but I, Cang Kai, must die!"

"you"

The man was clearly taken aback by Cang Kai's words and stood there stunned, his face showing utter incomprehension.

Cang Kai said no more, but glanced at the drones surrounding him before looking ahead again, as if waiting for someone.

A rare silence fell over the area, but it didn't last long. Suddenly, with a loud bang, the rocks above the cave were blasted open, and blinding sunlight streamed in.

In the intense light, the silhouette of the lizard messenger, backlit by the sun, emerged. It looked down at Cang Kai with a mocking gaze: "Waiting for me?"

"No."

Cang Kai said calmly, his gaze passing over the lizard messenger and looking behind it.

There was a streak of blood-red light rushing toward us.

(End of this chapter)