Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Steel of the Heart

Amidst the swirling yellow sand, two enormous, jet-black scorpions lay sprawled on the ground, one horizontal and one vertical.

Around these two scorpions were countless tiny two-tailed scorpions, several sizes smaller.

However, at this moment, all of these two-tailed scorpions had become corpses.

Xiang Bei stood alone on the yellow sand, wielding only a halberd.

Suddenly, Xiang Bei, who had been standing still, stumbled and fell directly onto the yellow sand.

"Damn, I was careless!"

At this moment, Xiang Bei's consciousness was already blurred, and he could not even see the scenery in front of him clearly. His whole body stiffened and he lay on the ground.

The two-tailed human-faced scorpion is a poisonous scorpion. Its most venomous parts are the venom it spits out and the terrifying stinger on its tail!

But that doesn't mean it's safe elsewhere!

When the two tails of the two-tailed human-faced scorpion are severed, a large amount of juice spurts out.

This includes venom that can be delivered to the tail stinger.

Moreover, the blood of the two-tailed human-faced scorpion is also highly poisonous!

Even a small amount could be fatal to an ordinary warrior.

When the tail of the two-tailed human-faced scorpion broke off, the highly toxic fluid not only splashed onto the yellow sand, but also splashed onto Xiang Bei's combat uniform.

These toxins wouldn't normally harm Xiang Bei even through his combat uniform.

But don't forget this is a desert, where the scorching sun beats down on the earth, and soon turns the venom spilled by the two-tailed human-faced scorpion into gas.

The entire scene was enveloped in invisible poisonous gas.

Xiang Bei would inevitably inhale these gases during intense combat.

Over time, even a warrior-level physique can't withstand it.

Xiang Bei sensed something was wrong after killing the two lord-level twin-tailed human-faced scorpions.

After Xiang Bei quickly slaughtered all the twin-tailed scorpions around him, he could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground with everything going black.

However, not long after Xiang Bei fell to the ground, a smaller, whiter two-tailed scorpion quietly crawled up from under the yellow sand.

Although it has grown to the size of a calf, it should still be a juvenile scorpion that was born not long ago.

As the juvenile two-tailed scorpion moved its legs, it gradually approached Xiang Bei.

The tail barb, as thick as an adult's arm, mercilessly pierced Xiang Bei's neck.

However, Xiang Bei's strength had already reached the level of a war god, and he had just increased his physical fitness by killing the two-tailed human-faced scorpion.

The toughness of the skin on the body surface is far beyond what ordinary swords and knives can damage.

Even though Xiang Bei's consciousness is now blurred and his body is not as taut as it was during battle, it is still not something that a small, juvenile two-tailed scorpion could pierce.

The juvenile two-tailed scorpion tried to pierce Xiang Bei's skin a few more times with its stinger, but still failed. It then used its pincers to clamp Xiang Bei's head.

The result was still ineffective; Xiang Bei's skin was much thicker than he had imagined!

Neither of the two methods worked, and the juvenile two-tailed scorpion was clearly stunned for a moment.

However, the little guy clearly didn't want to give up the food he had gotten his hands on, and circled around Xiang Bei once.

This two-tailed scorpion actually clamped Xiang Bei's arm with its two huge pincers, and then the entire scorpion quickly disappeared into the yellow sand.

As the yellow sand flowed, Xiang Bei's body was gradually buried in it, forming a small vortex.

As the yellow sand flowed, the whirlpool disappeared, erasing all traces of Xiang Bei's existence.

The End!

.

.

.

That's impossible!

Beneath the vast expanse of yellow sand, in some unknown location underground.

Xiang Bei shook his still dizzy head and slowly woke up.

"Damn it! I should have bought a helmet with a gas filter!"

His equipment did not include a helmet, which is why Xiang Bei was caught.

In fact, many martial arts combat suits do not come with helmets. Even if they do, they only enhance the protective capabilities, rather than providing a full-featured combat support helmet like a gas mask.

The reason is simple: firstly, it's expensive, and secondly, it's not usually needed, so it's better to focus on increasing defense.

Secondly, the addition of various functions not only reduces protective capabilities, but also makes these full-function auxiliary combat helmets larger than normal helmets, affecting the warrior's flexibility and field of vision.

Therefore, it is not very popular among martial artists.

Of course, this excludes those auxiliary helmets that are extremely expensive and incorporate the best of global technology!

Looking back now, I realize that not making the tough decision to buy a combat helmet when I made money was my biggest mistake.

Otherwise, things wouldn't have turned out so messy.

He guessed that his survival was thanks to the 200% life recovery function of the Heart of Steel.

He barely managed to open his eyes, only to find that everything was still pitch black. There was even a lot of sand in his nose, making Xiang Bei want to sneeze.

Xiang Bei felt a sticky secretion below his body, which was probably some kind of discharge!

"I'm not going to get swallowed whole by that monster, am I?!" Xiang Bei had a bad feeling.

Fortunately, his limbs seemed to be still intact, and he did not feel any injury. However, the toxins did not seem to have been completely eliminated, and his body was still somewhat weak and powerless.

Despite the discomfort caused by the sticky substance under his hands, Xiang Bei slowly stood up.

Looking around, it was still pitch black and nothing could be seen clearly; it seemed that there was not a single ray of light around.

Although he didn't buy a high-end helmet, the combat uniform he was wearing was quite advanced and had some built-in features.

The lighting function in front of the combat suit was activated instantly, and a soft light shone forward.

Only at this moment did Xiang Bei finally see the situation around him clearly.

This was a dark, slimy underground cave. Underfoot and above, there were uneven rocks, some even with sharp spikes.

The underground cave was very spacious. Xiang Bei estimated that it was about ten meters wide and more than five meters high.

The ground was covered with slime, and scattered among it were many white, insect-egg-like objects of various sizes.

However, what was most eye-catching was what was about ten meters in front of him.

It turned out to be a half-open metal door, quite wide, almost the same width as the entire underground cave. As for its height, it was hard to judge, as the high underground cave only revealed a section of this door, and it was difficult to determine how much was above it.

At the same time, there were some strange symbols on the metal gate that Xiang Bei couldn't understand at all, and behind the gate seemed to be a dark passageway.

"Could this really be the lair of the Two-Tailed Human-Faced Scorpion?" Xiang Bei wondered. "Then what's inside this gate?"

Xiang Bei was filled with doubt. Judging from the situation, he was very likely to have been dragged off the yellow sand by the surviving two-tailed scorpion, since there was still sand in his nose.

And this place was covered with insect eggs and slime, looking just like an insect nest!

These insect eggs are most likely unhatched two-tailed scorpions!

However, no other two-tailed scorpions were found around, so it seems they may have gone out to forage for food.

I just don't know why the other side doesn't eat me. These two-tailed scorpions don't seem to reproduce by parasitism!

Unable to figure it out, Xiang Bei stopped thinking about it. The key question now was what exactly was behind that metal gate.