Shushan Earthly Immortal

Chapter 418 The Hundred Poisons Silkworm Gu, A Cave in Paper (5K words presented, please support with monthly votes~)

Lingdingyang, an unnamed island.

Cheng Xinzhan felt the force that had been dragging his head away disappear, and knew that the second thunderbolt he had summoned had taken effect and destroyed the altar.

So he had the lions escort him to deliver the head to the body.

In just a short while, the Golden Silkworm Gu had broken through the lion's defenses of its hair needles and bells. The lion concentrated all its power on its mouth, temporarily keeping Cheng Xinzhan's head intact, while its own body, tail, and limbs were riddled with holes and torn to shreds.

Fortunately, lions are not made of flesh and blood; their bodies, formed from solidified rock, are incredibly sturdy. Even with so many holes, no blood or bone was seen, and the lion's core remained unharmed.

The lion approached the meat, opened its mouth, and spat out the head.

Seeing this, the Golden Silkworm Gu chasing the lion and Cheng Xinzhan's head, as well as the Golden Silkworm Gu surrounding Cheng Xinzhan, all swarmed forward to kill Cheng Xinzhan's head, preventing the two from combining.

By this time, the lion, who had been holding back its anger, finally had a moment to breathe. Seeing the dense swarm of Gu worms before it, it mustered all its strength and roared with all its might.
"Roar--"

The lion's roar contained the incantation taught by Cheng Xinzhan, a spell with the character "散" (san, meaning "scatter"). Now, emanating from the lion's mouth, compared to Cheng Xinzhan's roar, it lacked a certain composure, but possessed a greater, more domineering fierceness. This roar, combined with the sound of its own bells, created a mutually reinforcing effect. Its incantation was amplified by the bells, and the bells' sound was imbued with the incantation's meaning. For a moment, it sounded as if thousands upon thousands of lions were roaring together.

The void before the lion was like soapy water, its surface bubbling up with countless tiny, overlapping bubbles from the roar. Each bubble contained numerous golden silkworm worms, and one large bubble held Cheng Xinzhan's head. Then, these bubbles burst one by one, the golden silkworm worms inside shattered into golden dust by the fragmented void, scattering in all directions.

Its power is extraordinary.

Cheng Xinzhan's head was unharmed, and the bubbles carried it to his neck.

His head and body reunited. He twisted his neck and touched it, finding no change compared to before. His magical power flowed smoothly, and the Twelve-Story Tower showed no flaws. Cheng Xinzhan was relieved.

Then, he picked at his ear. Over the years, the lion had basically never exerted its full strength while following him, and he had never interfered with or inquired about the lion's training, so he had no idea when the lion had mastered this skill. It seemed that this blockhead hadn't been sleeping all these years.

This move was indeed powerful. Even though the lion had specially protected his head, Cheng Xinzhan still felt a buzzing in his ears and heard the echo of the lion's roar.

only--

However, no matter how many of the Golden Silkworm Gu that were killed by the lion's roar, or those that were pierced by flying swords or burned by flames died, the remaining Golden Silkworm Gu would regenerate in endless numbers.

However, neither the lion's magic nor Cheng Xinzhan's own magic was inexhaustible. The magic cloth and the magic umbrella couldn't last much longer either.

Cheng Xinzhan's eyes flickered as he pondered a solution.

"Clouds lock a thousand peaks!"

In a flash, a thought struck him, and he suddenly remembered when he broke Gu Chen's "Azure Eyes Net" magic net. The azure eyes on that magic net were also endless and impossible to kill. Only by killing tens of thousands of ghost eyes at the same time could it be destroyed. He wondered if the Golden Silkworm Gu was the same.
So he once again used the Taiyi Splitting Light Sword Technique, riding the "Peach Capital" flying sword, and simultaneously assassinated the Gu worms that filled the sky.

"Puff puff--"

Against the backdrop of white, misty clouds, ten thousand silkworms were pierced by ten thousand sword-like threads, like countless golden stars in the white night, suddenly blocked by drifting clouds and disappearing all at once. It was also like lighting an oil lamp in the white mist, and with just a gust of wind, a large portion of the light went out, making a popping sound.

However, in just a flash, all the Venus shone brightly again, and all the oil lamps were rekindled.

The golden silkworms, still flapping their wings, continued their attack, filling the sky.

Cheng Xinzhan frowned. The difference between the Golden Silkworm Gu and the Jade Eye Heavenly Net was this: those jade eyes were fixed on the magic net and were inanimate objects that could not move, but the Golden Silkworm Gu was an alien insect with extremely fast movement speed. To hit them all at once would be many times more difficult.

I had only missed less than a hundred, but in an instant, the number of insects had returned to tens of thousands.

The problem is that he currently only has "Taodu" available. This flying sword has a high foundation and has been tempered by Qi and immortal fire, now reaching the peak of Dao artifacts, only one step away from immortal artifacts, thus it can kill insects. Although "Youdu" has also been tempered and has reached the level of a embryonic stage, which is still astonishing compared to his current embryonic stage, even at this level, it can only injure this strange Golden Silkworm Gu, but cannot kill it in one strike. The other magic swords are the same.

The magic fan obtained from the demon ancestor of Wumeng Mountain is very powerful, seemingly an ancient relic, capable of killing insects. However, unfortunately, the inherent nature of this magical artifact means that the power of the wind gradually weakens after leaving the fan, making it impossible to kill insects simultaneously. The same principle applies to the lion's roar and the bell.

The other protective, suppressive, and ritualistic measures need not be elaborated upon.

After much thought, the only thing that came to mind was the flame inside the gourd. The flame could split into thousands of smaller flames, and its own flame was enough to kill insects.

The only problem is that two years ago, I burned down Mount Ailao. That time, in order to put pressure on Zuo Feizi, I used up a lot of flames, almost emptying the gourd of fire liquid. Although the gourd has spawned many more in the past two years, the total number is still not full. I don't know if it will be enough to deal with these tens of thousands of insects.

So he took out all the flames except for the Pure Yang Divine Fire and Samadhi True Fire, which could only be applied to the primordial spirit and soul level, and tried them out.

He released all of them, including Crimson Smoke Fire, Burning Heavenly Gang Fire, Smoke Melting Fire, Ghost Lamp Fire, Heavenly Star Fire, Rotten Peach Fire, Burning Soldier Fire, Azure Sky Fire (Fire in Wood), Fire in Stone, Fire in the Sky (Sun Bing Fire), Six Ding Divine Fire, and Samadhi True Fire, and tried them all.

He quickly came to a conclusion:
No single spiritual flame can instantly kill Gu worms, but the white immortal fire composed of wood fire, stone fire, and air fire can; the purple-gold spiritual flame composed of the sun's Bing fire and the six Ding divine fires can; any combination of the eight types of Gang Sha fire, as long as seven types are counted, can also form a seven-colored spiritual fire that can instantly kill Gu worms.

Before this, Cheng Xinzhan had never combined and tested the various flames on his body like this, and the results surprised him.

First on the list, of course, is the Samadhi True Fire. Second is the Purple-Gold Spiritual Flame, a combination of the Sun's Bing Fire and the Six Ding Divine Fire, which Cheng Xinzhan named "Male and Female Bing-Ding Fire" on the spot. Third is a seven-colored spiritual fire composed of any seven types of fierce fire, which Cheng Xinzhan named "Seven Fiend Rainbow Fire." Furthermore, he discovered that the power of the Seven Fiend Fire is far greater than that of the Six Fiend Fire, but there is no difference compared to the Eight Fiend Fire. It seems that this is the unseen rule of heaven and earth, and the limit of the superposition of fiend fires has been reached. In this light, it seems that his use of the Nine-Colored Fire to burn Ailao Mountain last time was somewhat of a waste of firepower.

However, it's not too late to discover this now. Fortunately, I have accumulated the most Sun Fire (丙火), and I still have quite a bit in my Heart Palace. I can allocate it to the Samadhi True Fire and the Male and Female Bing-Ding Fire. The Azure Fire (木中火), which is also known as Wood Fire, will all go to the Samadhi True Fire. The remaining seven types of evil fire can be combined to form the Seven Evil Rainbow Fire. In this way, I can make full use of the existing flames and maximize the damage.

"Ow—"

Just then, Cheng Xinzhan finally cleared his mind and suddenly heard a lion beside him let out a mournful roar before falling into the sea.

Cheng Xinzhan took one look and his expression changed drastically.

At this moment, all the places on the lion's body that had been bitten by the Golden Silkworm Gu had turned black and were covered with large patches of dark purple mold.

This insect is poisonous!

Cheng Xinzhan remembered that the batch of Golden Silkworm Gu that Diyin Island purchased from Jiuyi Mountain was non-toxic! At the time, it was only said that this insect could gnaw on gold and iron and was specifically designed to counter the golden stomach of the Crocodile Demon. He had also handled and examined it himself, and it was indeed non-toxic!

But how could the poison of the Gu worms in front of us be so potent? Lions are made of rocks, what kind of poison could bring down an entire mountain?
Without thinking twice, Cheng Xinzhan quickly leaped down to catch the lion. He used sword threads to form a tightly woven sword cage around himself for protection. Then he scooped up the lion, only to see that in just a short while, the lion was already on the verge of death. Its snow-white body was now completely covered with purplish-black mold spots, and black blood was flowing from its eyes.

The Taoist priest was shocked and furious. This poison was truly bizarre, and the person who raised the Gu poison was truly wicked. This Gu poison, once it entered the body, lay dormant, making people lower their guard, before suddenly erupting after a period of time, making it impossible to defend against. The lion was poisoned this time entirely because it was protecting its own head; it was its own fault that it was caught in the trap.

Seeing the lion's condition, Cheng Xinzhan didn't hesitate to take out the "Nine-Turn Jade True Powder" that Master Dong had given him. This was a sacred medicine used to prolong life, given to him by Dong Shouren when Cheng Xinzhan first narrowly escaped the Dan Tribulation, which he had never used. Cheng Xinzhan also had healing and detoxifying pills that he had refined himself and those given to him by Feng Jihu, but he didn't use them. Judging from the lion's symptoms, this was definitely a poison beyond the third realm, and using it would only waste time. After taking the medicine, the lion's rapidly disappearing life force was immediately stabilized, but it was still barely breathing and its mind was unclear. This life-prolonging medicine could only prolong life for a period of time; it couldn't detoxify. If the lion wanted to survive, it needed to be sent to a doctor immediately.

Cheng Xinzhan was anxious, but he didn't lose his composure. He put the lion and its bell-shaped magical artifact into his leopard pouch, and then put away the magic seal as well. At the same time, he realized that the poison of these Gu worms was latent and then suddenly erupted with immense power. Not only was the lion suddenly poisoned, but the magic cloth and umbrella that had been trying to restrain the Gu worms were also beginning to develop large holes, and they were about to be unable to contain the Gu worms. Perhaps, their life force was already leaking out.

So he raised the Earth Book high and flew out beyond the white mist. At this moment, it was clearly visible from outside the white mist that above a hazy cloud of mist in the Lingdingyang Ocean, an apricot-yellow magic book stood suspended in mid-air. The book was open, with the pages facing down and the cover facing up. The book grew taller in the wind and soon enveloped the entire cloud of white mist, like a huge "人"-shaped roof.

"Snapped--"

The calligraphy book suddenly closed, slamming the entire cloud of white mist inside.

Immediately, the book shrank to the size of an ordinary booklet and fell onto the small, isolated island. At that moment, the man, the lion, the insect, and all the magical treasures vanished without a trace, leaving only an ordinary-looking booklet.

A fiery red lotus flower floated up from the seabed and transformed into a human figure. This person picked up a book from the deserted island, then turned into a streak of fire, disappeared into the void, and fled north, vanishing without a trace.

About five breaths later, a figure in green robes appeared on the deserted island.

The man in green robes sniffed the air, then looked north. The sky there was empty; he saw nothing. He let out a soft "hmm," a sense of unease creeping into his heart. The Hundred Poison Golden Silkworm Gu had clearly pierced through the layer of smoke, so how could its presence have vanished in the blink of an eye? Moreover, this time, he had completely lost contact with the Gu worms and couldn't see anything at all. Besides, how could that Taoist priest have escaped so quickly amidst the Gu worms' attack?
"strangeness."

"What's weird?"

At this moment, a man in blue robes suddenly appeared, stood at the northern end of the island, looked directly at the man in green robes, and responded with a word.

This was a middle-aged Taoist priest, dressed in a soft blue robe with an iron flute at his waist. He looked to be around forty years old, and could be described as handsome and dashing, with a refined and elegant demeanor. Judging from his temperament, he was a gentleman with a touch of romantic charm.

"nothing."

The green-robed patriarch felt a pang of regret, both for the Taoist priest's escape and for the loss of one of the Hundred-Poison Golden Silkworm Gu treasures of Mount Jiuyi. He withdrew his gaze, looked at the blue-robed Taoist priest, and replied. It seemed he recognized the man; his sudden appearance didn't surprise him, but rather he smiled and asked like an old friend.
"Lan Qiao, why aren't you thinking about ascending to immortality? What are you doing staring at me all day?"

The Taoist priest replied,

"Isn't this all thanks to you? I was meditating and practicing Taoism when I was suddenly awakened by the dragon's aura, so I came out of seclusion to take a look. Your territory is in the Southern Wilderness and the South China Sea. If you really want me to ascend to immortality as soon as possible, you'd better stay away from the Lingdingyang."

"Haha, alright, alright, I won't disturb your meditation, I'll be going now."

The Green-Robed Ancestor didn't take it seriously, laughed loudly, turned around and left, disappearing from sight.

The Taoist priest gazed south, and only after sensing that the green-robed figure's aura was indeed far enough away did he withdraw his gaze. Then, he looked north, sensing the faint, elusive aura of fire magic in the void, and thought to himself...

Who is that, and how did the Green Robe get targeted?

The Taoist priest shook his head, turned east, took a step, and disappeared on the spot.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Meanwhile, Cheng Xinzhan's Fire Lotus Incarnation put away the Earth Book, transformed into a rainbow, and headed north.

At this moment, on his body, is a page of the Earth Book.

At the top of this page is a blue umbrella, its surface emitting a blue light downwards. Beneath the umbrella floats a white silk handkerchief, which swirls and exhales a hazy white mist.

Enveloped in a blue light and white mist, a cluster of golden points of light could be seen shimmering within the fog. A Taoist priest also stood within the mist, surrounded by golden sword threads.

Upon closer inspection, these golden specks of light were actually tiny, menacing insects darting about in the mist. Some insects, blinded by the white fog, spun in circles, while others were trapped by the blue light, unable to escape. But there were simply too many insects. These insects seemed capable of biting anything, even the white fog and the blue light, and they followed the mist to the source—the handkerchief and the umbrella—and then chewed holes in them.

The insects flew away from the blue light and white mist through the hole. However, these escaped specks of light soon discovered that there was a pale yellow paper outside the blue light and white mist, blocking their way and cutting off their contact with the outside world.

So the insects split into two groups: one group bit the paper, and the other group bit the Taoist priest.

At this moment, the Taoist priest was seen holding a fiery red gourd, spewing fire outwards. These flames were of various colors, red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, like a rainbow in the sky, or like colored ink in a dye vat, continuously flowing out of the gourd, gradually filling the entire sheet of paper and covering everything.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Paper World.

Cheng Xinzhan manipulated the gourd, setting it ablaze until the entire small world of paper was filled with flames. He reasoned that only by trapping these insects within this small space would the fire in his hands be sufficient and effective.

At this moment, the world was filled with seven-colored and nine-colored fire energy, which drifted in wisps. However, these golden silkworm gu were truly formidable, completely unmoved by such fiery and colorful energy, and continued to gnaw and bite everywhere.

Cheng Xinzhan carefully manipulated the flames; he had never been so focused before. He divided his thoughts into countless streams, controlling every single wisp of fire, and then distributed these flames of different colors around each golden silkworm gu, making sure that the flames followed each gu worm as it danced.

Fortunately, this is the Earth Book, and one's thoughts are exceptionally clear and sensitive within one's own magical artifact.

Even so, by the time each flame reached its proper place, Cheng Xinzhan was drenched in sweat.

When the time was right, he didn't hesitate and immediately recited a spell.
"burn!"

Thus, all the anger acted as if on command, as if it had been rehearsed beforehand:
Golden, red, and cyan flames suddenly converged, enveloping the golden silkworm gu that was surrounded by them. The three flames condensed into a white lotus, instantly killing the gu worm.

The golden and purple flames suddenly merged, transforming into a purple-gold lotus, which instantly burned and killed a Gu worm wrapped in the lotus.

In addition, there are seven colors of fire: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and gold. These seven colors combine to form a rainbow-colored lotus, which burns the Gu worms in the lotus heart the moment the lotus takes shape.

Throughout the entire world of the paper, countless lotus flowers bloom.

This vibrant sheet of colored paper resembles a pool of mixed dye, formed by countless vats of paint being poured in. In that extremely brief instant, with the sound of an incantation, the pool suddenly cleared, and all the colors, as if imbued with life, combined on their own, blooming into countless wondrous and dazzling lotus flowers on this sheet of paper.

It resembles a lotus-shaped grotto on a sheet of paper.

The lotus blossomed, and all the Gu worms vanished in that instant, never to be resurrected again.

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(End of this chapter)