Shushan Earthly Immortal

Chapter 323 Thunderous Dragon Might, Insects Die Unborn (5K words, last day of the month, please vote~)

The Zhuanxu Dragon Cave is a maze of interconnected passages with countless branching points. The cave is not static; the passages vary in width, rise and fall, and are filled with stalagmites on the ground and stone bells on the ceiling. In some places, stalagmites and stone bells connect to form pillars, and when a pillar becomes thick enough, it creates another branching point, making the terrain extremely complex.

The main body easily shook off the dragon centipede using its escape technique, but its bamboo body crashed head-on into a demon.

The demon, riding a green bronze beetle, suddenly appeared from a fork in the road, blocking the way in front of the bamboo, and then charged at it at high speed.

Duan Youlin was quite excited. Some ignorant Xuanmen disciples had dared to cause trouble in the Dragon Cave, and only four of them were Golden Core cultivators! Fortunately, he had been injured in the battle against the Xuanmen a few days ago, and thanks to the Heavenly King's grace, he was allowed to enter the Dragon Cave to heal. At this moment, everyone in the Dragon Cave was out fighting the Xuanmen, leaving only three people. Including the Ancestor's mount, that made four. The Heavenly King had ordered that each of them capture one alive—this was his chance to make a name for himself!

Since his cultivation level was the lowest, the little mouse he was assigned was also the lowest-level, a mere Core Formation cultivator. Presumably, the credit for this was his.

The timing and location he chose were excellent. By intercepting the boy here, there would be no further obstacles between them, and he wouldn't have to worry about the boy escaping. The passage was narrow, but just wide enough to accommodate his mount. The Green Copper Golden Beetle was known for its copper skin and iron bones. With this charged attack, the boy would have no way to avoid it and would surely be turned into a pile of mud.

Duan Youlin grinned maliciously.

Then he noticed that the boy had taken off a leather pouch from his waist. Could it be some kind of flying sword?
Duan Youlin was slightly wary, so he jumped off his mount and let the giant insect lead the way, which also provided cover for himself.

However, after jumping off the mount and following behind, his view was blocked by the insects, and he could no longer see the scene of the mount smashing the Xuanmen boy to pieces. Duan Youlin felt a little regretful.

"Roar--"

With a loud roar, Duan Youlin was startled; his mount didn't sound like that at all.

"boom!"

Another loud bang rang out, and Duan Youlin, who was following behind the green bronze beetle, stared wide-eyed as he watched his mount fly back, even faster than when it went there.

The green copper beetle, like a giant copper boulder, slammed into Duan Youlin. He was right behind it and couldn't dodge in time. Struck by the iron-like shell, his chest caved in, blood flowed from his seven orifices, and he flew dozens of feet backward before crashing into a stone pillar. The pillars in the Dragon Cave were exceptionally sturdy, and the demon's spine snapped instantly. He fell to the ground, coughing up blood.

Before Duan Youlin could react to what was happening, a white and green shadow appeared in his bloodshot eyes, and then he knew nothing more.

When Cheng Xinzhan arrived in his true form, he saw the lion using its supernatural powers to swallow the entire green bronze tortoise beetle whole. This beetle ate metal and stones and had forged a body of bronze and iron, which was exactly what the lion liked to eat.

The demon's mangled corpse had been burned clean by the bamboo body. Cheng Xinzhan collected the demonic treasures and golden pills on the ground, and also retrieved the bamboo body and primordial spirit.

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"Hiss—hiss—"

The centipede chased after them again.

"Go find Lu Linqing. He has two demons with him. Go help him and finish this quickly. Don't let him waste too much of his magic power. I can handle Long Wu alone."

Cheng Xinzhan said to the lion.

"Master, be careful."

The lion responded and ran off to the south to find Lu Linqing.

Cheng Xinzhan quickly flipped through the map of the Dragon Cave in his mind, and then headed towards a larger cave nearby. The passage was too narrow, and he couldn't move around freely.

After winding his way through the cave, he arrived at a spacious cavern, which was fifty or sixty feet wide and deep, with countless stone bells hanging from the ceiling. The stone bells were of all shapes and sizes, some of which, under the influence of the dragon energy in the cave, had subtly grown into the shape of dragon heads, dripping stalactites from their mouths. The chilling stalactites froze into ice as soon as they hit the ground, and thus countless ice stalagmites grew in clusters on the ground.

No wonder the "Hibernating Dragon's Yin Saliva Evil" can arise here.

Cheng Xinzhan thought to himself.

Of course, the evil spirits here have long been plundered by the Five Poisons Heavenly King, but as long as the terrain remains unchanged, hundreds of years later, wisps of evil spirits will continue to grow in the Dragon Cave. It's just unknown who will control this place at that time.

A foul, fishy stench rushed in first, followed by the dragon centipede, which twisted in the air a few times before swiftly pouncing towards Cheng Xinzhan.

This dragon centipede is the poisonous insect that has followed the Five Poisons Heavenly King the longest. It has dragon blood, eats dragon spirits, and belongs to the fire and earth elements. In terms of physical strength alone, it can unleash the power of the sixth or even seventh level of the Heavenly King in this dragon cave. However, fortunately, this insect's mind is damaged, its Taoist magic is not high, and it only has brute force, which is not comparable to the true Upper Three Tribulations.

Cheng Xinzhan wanted a quick victory, but didn't want to reveal his methods of suppressing the Five Poisons. However, although the Dragon Centipede was one of the Five Poisons, its name also contained the character for "dragon," making it more suitable for another thunderous technique.

Possessing dragon blood brought this insect numerous benefits, greatly enhancing its potential as a venomous creature. This was precisely the most important reason why the Five Poison King valued this insect. However, as the sage said, fortune and misfortune are intertwined; today, this dragon blood might just be the insect's death knell.

As the poisonous insects pounced on him, Cheng Xinzhan made a sword incantation with his hand and pressed his finger against his forehead. Immediately, his forehead acupoint shone brightly, and a ball of silver-purple light shot out, spinning in the air before condensing into a magic sword.

The sword is entirely purple, but its blade is covered with fine black lightning-like runes, while the edge and tip are a bright silver, as if surrounded by lightning.

It was the Thunder Sword "Gao Zhen", which had been tempered by lightning twice and had not been drawn for more than ten years.

The magic sword illuminated the cave, and the accumulated thunderous energy and sword aura of over ten years made the dragon centipede deeply uneasy, even slowing its pounce by a fraction. However, faced with the might of thunder, the bloodthirsty and ignorant venomous insect seemed to fear the person who nailed the chair to its skull even more. So, despite the dragon centipede's involuntary, uneasy hissing, it did not stop its attack and continued to pounce.

The dragon centipede was close, opening its mouth to spew out a billowing cloud of black, foul-smelling mist that surged towards Cheng Xinzhan. Though this insect was foolish, it knew to learn from its mistakes; having failed to harm Cheng Xinzhan with weapons and flying forks earlier, it now spewed out this poisonous mist. This mist was no ordinary thing; it was a combination of the foul odor from the insect's stomach and the "Hibernating Dragon's Yin Saliva," capable of corroding a person's spirit and body, and corrupting magical artifacts.

Seeing this, Cheng Xinzhan shook his head and said,
"Stubborn."

So he changed his hand seals, raising both hands palms up to his chest. His left hand formed the "Dragon Thunder Seal," with his thumb pinching the Zi line and the other four fingers slightly bent like a dragon's claw. His right hand formed the "Fire Lightning Seal," with his thumb pinching the Wu line, his index and little fingers straight, and his middle and ring fingers bent, like flames rising.

The hands are separated but not joined, which is called the "Dragon Thunder Fire Lightning Guardian True Seal Technique".

At the same time, within his body, the blood of the Brocade Dragon, the scales of the Chi Dragon, the magic power of the Azure Dragon, the "Dragon's Roar Water Thunder Force," the "Angry Water Dragon King's Evil," the "Hibernating Dragon's Yin Saliva Evil," and other dragon might intertwined and then slowly emanated. The dragon might was as imposing as a mountain, causing the already extremely thin dragon energy within the Dragon Cave to begin to surge violently and converge in worship, forming a hurricane that shook the entire Dragon Cave.

He recited,
"Dragon, thunder, fire, and lightning surround and protect my body."

The Dragon Official relieves calamity, and the Thunder General protects the true.

They overturned the seas and drove away the rain, pointing fingers at the dragon's grandson.

Anyone who dares to commit an offense will be punished and their wickedness eradicated.

"Hurry, hurry, as commanded by the Jade Purity True King of the Divine Firmament!"

"Boom!"

As Cheng Xinzhan finished chanting, the magic sword above his head responded with thunder, and lightning and molten metal poured down like a waterfall, transforming into a silver bell with a thunderous dragon head pattern, protecting Cheng Xinzhan within it.

The foul mist that flew in was instantly burned to nothingness by the lightning and fire upon touching the Dragon Bell. The dragon centipede followed closely behind, coming with overwhelming force, and crashed into the Dragon Bell, trying to break through this thunderous magic bell.

It's laughable that these poisonous insects, blind to the "Superior Heavenly Dragon Thunder Righteous Law," dared to use their mixed-blood insect bodies to strike the thunder bell. This is no different from throwing an egg against a rock.

"clang!"

The thunderous bell resounded, like a dragon's roar. The bell vibrated, sending the centipede flying dozens of feet away, crashing heavily against the cave wall before falling to the bottom. At the same time, the sound of the bell echoed and rolled repeatedly in the cave, causing the poisonous insects to scream in pain, writhing on the ground while being pierced by stalagmites, their scales flying off and blood flowing freely.

With the dragon centipede injured, Cheng Xinzhan naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass. At this moment, he put his hands together in a mudra, with the dragon thunder in his left hand below and the fire and lightning in his right hand above, his wrists crossed to form a "+", forming the "Divine Firmament Dragon Thunder Dragon Slaying Seal Technique".

Oral recitation,

"May the Thunder God be invoked, and may thunder shake the heavens!"

Dragon thunder spews fire, burning and killing the dragon-like insects!

The scales were charred and the flesh was melting away!
"Hurry, swift as thunder and lightning, by the decree of Heavenly Lord Deng! Remove the scales!"

Lightning struck, hitting the dragon centipede and unleashing boundless lightning and fire. Under the burning force of the dragon lightning, the dragon centipede's prized carapace burned like straw paper, rapidly melting away to reveal the flesh beneath.

The centipede, writhing in pain, grew even more frenzied, but the extreme pain also helped it suppress the fear of the dragon's might in its heart. The insect leaped up from the ground, shaking its head and wagging its tail, and two golden dragon whiskers, each four or five zhang long, lashed out, making a sharp whistling sound as they cut through the air.

Cheng Xinzhan remained unmoved and recited again, "Divine Firmament Heavenly King, by decree Lei Yang!"

The dragon roars with might, its form vanquished by shears!
The venomous dragons and sea monsters were shattered and sank into the ocean!
"Hurry, swift as thunder, by the decree of Heavenly Lord Deng! Remove the horn!"

The lightning, like a whip, lashed at the dragon centipede's head. This lightning could pluck out dragon horns, but this dragon centipede was too low-lying; although it had grown dragon whiskers and manes, it had not yet grown horns. However, this lightning was aimed at the dragon's head, intending to cut off its true dragon form. Even without dragon horns, its dragon whiskers and manes could not be retained.

The lightning whip struck rapidly, weaving like rain, hitting the insect's head. The two fierce dragon whiskers immediately broke off at the root and fell to the ground, while the dragon mane turned into charred ash, scattering in all directions. In addition, the lightning whip also knocked off the fine gold chair embedded in the poisonous insect's head, and the insect's blood gushed out like a spring.

Cheng Xinzhan pressed on with renewed vigor, and recited again.

"By order of Commander Deng, Long Lei, proceed immediately!"

Thunderous chisels and lightning hooks, slaying the dragon demon!
Disembowelment and tendon removal, utter destruction and disfigurement!
"Hurry, swift as thunder, swift as fire, Heavenly Lord Deng commands! Remove the tendons!"

The lightning struck, sharp and hook-like. The dragon-centipede's scales were gone, and the lightning pierced directly into its flesh, aiming to remove its demonic tendons. Once the tendons of such creatures as dragons, snakes, and worms were removed, they were like fish meat awaiting slaughter, unable to move again.

"Exalted Immortal, have mercy on me!"

Just then, the dragon centipede suddenly spoke in human language, arched its body amidst the pain of being struck by lightning, and kowtowed repeatedly, its head hitting the ground.

The urgent female voice turned out to be from a female insect.

"My lord, please calm your anger! My lord, please forgive me! This lowly demon was captured by the Demon King and impaled with the 'Heart-Locking Nail of Chaos' in my Niwan Palace. My actions were entirely against my will, and I had no intention of offending your majesty!"

Seeing that the insect's speech was quite clear and its eyes had regained their clarity, no longer displaying its former bloodthirsty madness, Cheng Xinzhan withdrew his thunder technique and descended to the side of the dragon centipede.

At that moment, he also saw the chair that had been knocked to the ground. It turned out that all four legs of the chair were connected to three-foot-long sharp nails!

The Five Poisons King has some ruthless methods!
Cheng Xinzhan shifted his gaze from the so-called "Chaotic Soul-Locking Nail" back to the dragon centipede. At this moment, the dragon centipede had lost all its scales, its flesh was charred, its bones were detached, and its Niwan Palace was also in turmoil from the forced removal of the "Chaotic Soul-Locking Nail," its soul damaged. It was clearly barely breathing; even if Cheng Xinzhan stopped now, the dragon centipede wouldn't survive. Of course, if Cheng Xinzhan wanted to save it, he could still do so. Dragon lightning wasn't just lightning of annihilation; it was also lightning of creation and life.

But instead of taking action, he asked a question.
"I smelled the stench of death in the poisonous mist you exhaled; you've eaten people. You say you're controlled by the Demon King, and that your actions are beyond your control. Then let me ask you, did you eat people before or after you were controlled by the Demon King? Or perhaps both?"

Upon hearing this, the dragon centipede paused, stopped begging for mercy, and stammered,
"Both."

Cheng Xinzhan nodded as expected.
"Then we can't let you stay."

After he finished speaking, lightning surged from his palm again.

"Please wait a moment, Immortal!"

Seeing this, the centipede quickly opened its mouth again, its eyes full of pleading.
"Immortal, I am not seeking to live for myself. This lowly demon knows my sins are grave and I would gladly die ten thousand times over. However, I am carrying a child in my womb, who has not yet been born. The child is innocent!"

Cheng Xinzhan frowned upon hearing this.

When did you get pregnant?

Dragon Centipede Road

"Just when the Demon King was sealed away, I, a little demon, lurked in the southern border. Knowing that I would not have a good end in this life, and not wanting to die silently, I searched everywhere for the Demon King to make love to. In the end, I became pregnant with a child. Even the Demon King did not know about this. Now, my child is not yet full-term, but he already has a heartbeat. Even after leaving the mother's body, he should be able to live."

The dragon centipede struggled to crawl forward two steps, reaching Cheng Xinzhan's feet, and bowed again.

"This lowly demon is filthy and need not soil the hands of the immortal. I beg the immortal to allow me to immolate myself and pass on my cultivation to my child, to make up for his premature birth. The immortal is of high merit and great virtue, may you adopt my child and educate him, so that he will not encounter evil people again and harm the world. I humbly beg the immortal, I humbly beg the immortal!"

The dragon centipede had its whiskers severed and the "Chaotic God Locking Heart Nail" knocked over. Its head was already a bloody mess, but the dragon centipede was still kowtowing forcefully, with blood flowing freely on the ground.

Cheng Xinzhan sighed softly and then said,

"Do as you please. Children are innocent. I will take care of them."

Longwu suddenly raised his head, seemingly in disbelief. Although his body looked like a mess, it could still be used to refine dragon blood essence, especially since his inner core was still intact. This was the most precious thing in his body. Was this person really willing to let him give his dragon blood essence and inner core cultivation to his child?
The dragon centipede immediately came to its senses, and kowtowed again, tears streaming down its face, repeatedly saying...

"Thank you, Immortal! Thank you, Immortal!..."

After kowtowing more than a dozen times, the dragon centipede opened its mouth and spat out a bright red sixteen-foot-long flying fork that fell to the ground. Then it gently spat out a white egg the size of a winter melon and placed it on the ground.

Immediately afterwards, flames spontaneously erupted on the centipede's body, engulfing it in flames. Yet, the centipede remained motionless, lying quietly on the ground, gazing at the white egg with eyes full of relief and compassion.

Soon, under the burning flames, the insect's body, which was dozens of feet long, slowly disappeared, turning into a wisp of blood mist. The golden core in its abdomen turned into a pure stream of magic power, which was completely absorbed into the white egg.

Cheng Xinzhan put the glowing white egg into his leopard pouch. He didn't regret losing a demon core that might have been a Six-Wash Demon Core. In his view, one more benevolent demon spirit in the world was undoubtedly more precious than an inanimate object.

He put away the two dragon whiskers and the flying fork, intending to pass them on to the son of the dragon centipede in the future. However, he did not put away the repulsive chair. Such an evil object was not even worth reworking, so he directly destroyed it with lightning magic.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

Just as Cheng Xinzhan finished dealing with the dragon centipede, he suddenly heard several loud noises, and the entire dragon cave was shaking.

He listened carefully; it sounded like it was coming from the south.

"Hey, this old ghost, he claims to be at the fourth level, but he's actually a coward, scared before the battle even begins. Just now he went to the south gate to leave the Dragon Cave, but his path was blocked by the Treasure Shield. He tried to fight it with spells, but he couldn't do anything to the Treasure Shield. Now he's slunk away and we don't know where he is."

"Did you see it with your own eyes? What is his physical condition now? Was he injured by the exploding prayer beads? Is it still safe for you?"

Cheng Xinzhan asked a series of questions.

"I'm safe here. I've eliminated the two demons who tried to stop me. Your Lion King is really powerful; the Four Washing Demons are like paper in front of him. What about yours? You sent Lion King here. Can one person handle it? Is that Dragon Centipede difficult to deal with? Your commotion was too loud. I could hear it all over here. Thunder was booming. You even know thunder magic?"

Lu Linqing countered with a series of questions.

"The demon and the dragon centipede have been eliminated."

Cheng Xinzhan answered succinctly, giving only one sentence.

"That's it. I didn't see that old ghost, but I asked him before I killed the demon. There are only three little demons and a dragon centipede in the cave now, and they are all dead. Who else could have made that commotion if not him? Moreover, the commotion was indeed huge. Judging from the force of the shield turning back, it should be the magic power of the fourth realm."

Lu Linqing explained.

Cheng Xinzhan frowned upon hearing his overly relaxed tone and said repeatedly,

"Be careful. After all, he's an old demon who's lived for hundreds of years. He's cautious, sending his men to test our strength and find the way out. But he's not stupid. There are only the three of us in the Dragon Cave now, and we haven't reunited yet. He'll definitely pick us off one by one before we do. Since the voice just now came from the South Gate, you need to be even more careful!"

Lu Linqing paused for a moment, then said,
"Yes, you're right. Let's hurry and reunite, then take the outer perimeter and avoid the Dragon Palace in the middle, which should be the place with the most restrictions... Lie Xingye!"

Lu Linqing suddenly shouted.

"What's wrong!"

Cheng Xinzhan asked repeatedly, his heart tightening.

"It's alright, that old dog attacked from the side. I had a protective magic treasure that blocked the attack. Come here quickly, Elder Ye has succeeded. He's a Nascent Soul spirit body, his physical body is gone!"

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(End of this chapter)