Versatile Mage: Get the Desert Emperor clone at the start

Chapter 156 Sandworms and Poisonous Insects, Dark Experiment Field

The silver wolf king fell amidst the crimson blood mist.

The wolves, who had been frantically attacking, suddenly stopped, and fear finally appeared in their scarlet eyes.

"Woo"

Low, mournful whimpers echoed among the wolves.

Some wolves retreated with their tails between their legs, their sharp claws leaving messy marks on the scorched earth. In the distance, several leader-level wolf demons from different packs exchanged glances, their eyes revealing a desire to retreat.

Qin Xiaonan stood beside the wolf king's corpse, the golden rock spikes slowly retracting into the ground.

He coldly surveyed the retreating wolf pack, a sneer playing on his lips. These beasts knew better than to charge in and die.

The wolf pack then slowly retreated into the dense forest, led by several other leader-level wolf demons.

Among them, the all-black shadow wolf was the most cautious. It always walked at the back, its eerie green eyes watching Qin Xiaonan's every move warily.

Qin Xiaonan showed no intention of pursuing them.

He dusted off his sleeves and looked up into the depths of the Nanling Mountains.

With the female wolf king killed and the newly chosen wolf king also falling at his hands, this pack of wolf-like demons will probably not be able to cause any more trouble in the short term.

"Next"

His winged magical artifacts slowly unfolded, and as the silver light shone, his figure gradually blurred and eventually disappeared completely from the spot.

All that remained was a desolate battlefield and the wolf king's corpse, which was gradually being shrouded in the night fog.

Qin Xiaonan explored the Nanling Mountains for a long time but did not find any trace of the Sandworm Monarch.

After spending some time in Bocheng with Mu Nujiao, he decided to return to Shanghai.

"You're leaving so soon?"

Mu Nujiao gently squeezed Qin's mother's hand in return: "Auntie, we will definitely come back to visit you often when we have time."

Today, she wore a simple beige dress and a sandalwood hairpin given to her by her mother, giving her a gentle and graceful air.

"Mom, don't worry about it."

Qin's mother glared at her son, then lovingly straightened Mu Nujiao's collar, clearly very satisfied with the girlfriend Qin Xiaonan had brought back.

As they were parting, Qin's mother suddenly grabbed her son's arm and whispered, "Jiaojiao is a good girl; you must cherish her."

“I know, Mom.”

Upon returning to Shanghai, Qin Xiaonan went to Qingtian Hunting Grounds immediately.

"Lingling, do me a favor. Can you check if there are any reports of humans or demons going out of control? The characteristics are white eyes and fine sand on their bodies."

Lingling nodded, her slender fingers flying across the keyboard.

The screen flashed blue light as the Hunter Alliance's database page kept refreshing.

She stared at the screen, her pupils reflecting the flowing data. "There's no news on that front yet."

"Okay, then keep an eye out for me," Qin Xiaonan said.

Although Qin Xiaonan had not found any trace of the Sandworm Monarch, he had some clues. After several days of investigation, he deduced that the Sandworm Monarch had used Azir's sand soldiers to kill the Wolf Queen and severely injured two other monarch-level demons in the Southern Ridge Demon Tribe, but he himself was also seriously injured and was probably ambushed and captured by someone.

Even a corpse could sense the marks left by the sun disk, just as the Viper Lord had done.

There was no sign of the sandworms near Nanling and Bocheng, so they must have already left.
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Deep in the mountains, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, a forgotten little village is shrouded in an eerie silence.

The pale moonlight shone on the dilapidated thatched huts, and the village, which should have been filled with wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys, was now permeated with a nauseating stench of decay.

At the village entrance, several figures dressed in black papal robes were talking in hushed tones.

"I've heard that Lord Salam has developed a new type of black beast demon, whose strength far surpasses that of ordinary ones," a hunched priest said in a sinister tone, his voice hoarse as if sandpaper were being rubbed.

“It’s not entirely successful yet,” another cultist wearing a metal mask chimed in, his eyes gleaming with fanaticism. “This village is the testing ground; we’ll see the results by dawn.”

Several young priests whispered excitedly upon hearing this, one of them licking his chapped lips: "If it succeeds, could you teach us the techniques?" A cruel flame flickered in his eyes, and his fingers twitched involuntarily.

These were all made from living people, yet these members of the Black Vatican had absolutely no feelings for them.

The scene inside the village at this time was extremely bloody and terrifying.

Dozens of villagers are undergoing a horrific transformation—their bodies are contorted at incredible angles, and their skin is covered with a layer of flowing sand.

What's most terrifying are their eyes, which sometimes roll back like dead fish, and sometimes burst forth with an eerie green light.

“Heh heh.” A middle-aged farmer knelt on the ground, his throat emitting inhuman roars.

Suddenly, his right hand transformed into quicksand, shooting fiercely towards the distant wooden stake. Upon contact, it solidified into sharp sand spikes, piercing through the stake.

The pierced stake immediately began to rot, with disgusting green foam bubbling up from its surface.

These creatures, which can no longer be called "human," are Salang's latest masterpiece—the perfect combination of the sandworm monarch's sandworms and her venomous insects.

"A perfect symbiotic relationship." On the high platform in the center of the village, a woman dressed in a black robe exclaimed softly. This woman was Salang.

Salang stared at the writhing "experimental subject" below, a morbid expression in his eyes.

Her manufacturing techniques can be described as "exquisite":
First, poisonous insects are used to erode the human body. When the person is near death, sandworms are injected. The sandworms will instinctively wrap these "people" with their sandy shells, isolating them from the toxins while controlling their movements. This method retains the deadly toxicity of the insects while also providing the ability to control the sandworms.

These "Sand Poison Demons" have eerie, semi-transparent bodies, through which one can see the writhing green venom inside.

Its fingers had mutated into sharp sand blades, each strike carrying deadly poison. A faint golden light could be seen on its chest—that was the true form of the sand worm, controlling this highly venomous body.

Qin Xiaonan's guess was correct; after the Sandworm Monarch was severely injured, he was ambushed by Salang of the Black Church.

However, she cannot control the Sandworm Monarch yet, but she can combine her own toxins with the Sandworm Monarch's aura.

Drive some small sandworms.

Thus, this "Sand Poison Demon" was created.

Their strength far surpasses that of ordinary black beast demons.

But what Salam was most proud of was the monsters' unpredictable parasitic ability.

She gestured to her men to bring over an iron cage, inside which was a demonic wolf with bloodshot eyes.

After the iron cage was opened, the demon wolf charged at a "sand poison demon." The sand poison demon swung its claws made of sand and fought with the demon wolf. In the end, the human's body was no match for the demon, and the wolf's body was almost torn to shreds.

(End of this chapter)