Train Survival: Can I get a treasure chest by touching my goddess?

The scepter slammed to the ground, and the dark red gem at the top of the scepter exploded into a blinding burst of blood light.

The light enveloped the high priestess's entire body, and her body began to twist and deform.

Her upper body was still that of a beautiful elf, with delicate features, flowing silver hair, and radiant deep purple skin.

But below the waist, starting from the hip bone.

Her skin was tearing and rebuilding, and eight spider legs covered in black carapaces extended from both sides of her body. Each leg was as long as a person and had sharp tips like spears.

The robe was torn, and scraps of cloth were scattered all over the ground.

The high priest stood on eight spider legs, looking down at Shen Wen.

Her upper body leaned slightly forward, a ferocious smile on her lips, and the red light in her beautiful eyes was like two burning flames.

"I possess the gifts of the Mother Goddess with a thousand limbs; what can you possibly use to fight me!"

Shen Wen looked up at her.

That face was still beautiful, unbelievably beautiful. But paired with those eight hairy spider legs, it only made one feel disgusted.

"Holy crap, Bibi Dong!"

"Will your Mother Goddess of a Thousand Limbs tell you that you will die here today?!"

Bloodlust and berserk mode activated.

A violent force exploded from his heart, like magma pouring into his blood vessels.

Shen Wen's pupils turned dark red, and spiderweb-like blood patterns appeared on his skin. His muscles were swelling wildly, stretching his clothes taut.

Bathed in blood, open.

The corpses of the demonic spiders and fallen elves within a ten-meter radius simultaneously emitted dark red mist, which surged into Shen Wen's body as if it were alive. His power surged once again at this moment.

Temporarily increase physical constitution by 10 and mental strength by 5.

With the two forces combined, Shen Wen resembled a demon emerging from a sea of ​​blood.

The high priest's smile froze on his face.

Before she could react, Shen Wen had already moved.

It's not "rush", it's "collision".

His boots shattered the rocks, and he was like a cannonball launched from a gun, arriving before the high priest in the blink of an eye.

The scimitar slashed upwards, the blade cutting through the air with a piercing whistle.

The high priest raised his scepter to block.

clang--

The bone-white staff was shaken so badly that a crack appeared on its body.

The high priest's arms went numb, and he leaned back, his eight spider legs leaving eight white marks on the ground before he could barely steady himself.

Shen Wen followed up with a second strike.

He slashed horizontally, aiming straight for her waist and abdomen.

The high priest stepped to the side, his two spider legs blocking his way, and the blade struck the carapace, sending sparks flying.

A crack appeared in the carapace, and black fluid seeped out. The high priest screamed and his body slumped to the side.

Shen Wen didn't stop.

The third cut, the fourth cut, the fifth cut.

Every strike landed in the same spot, and each strike was heavier than the last.

The high priest's two spider legs finally gave way, their shells shattered, bodily fluids gushed out, and the entire leg broke off at the base, falling to the ground still twitching.

The high priest's screams echoed through the tunnel.

Her remaining six legs retreated frantically, her scepter flailing wildly, black light shooting in all directions, blasting craters into the stone walls.

But Shen Wen had already posted it.

Wave after wave of the killing intent crashed into the high priest's consciousness like ocean waves.

Her eyes began to glaze over, her movements slowed, and her blocking became increasingly weak.

The execution mark remains in effect.

Each strike was not just a physical wound, but also a mental "execution" that tore her soul apart.

Fear finally showed on the high priest's face.

It wasn't the kind of anger and shock I felt before, but a real, deep-seated fear.

She looked into Shen Wen's dark red eyes.

"Let me go!"

Shen Wen raised his curved sword and sneered, "You're so fond of your mother goddess, aren't you? I'll take care of sending you to see her now!"

The blade flashed.

The high priest's head flew up, his long, silvery-white hair spreading out in the air like a flower in full bloom.

Her beautiful face was frozen with fear and resentment; her eyes were still open, and her lips were slightly parted, as if she wanted to say something.

The corpse fell, its eight spider legs curled up in a ball, twitched twice, and then lay still.

Shen Wen sheathed his sword.

The effects of the bloodbath continued, with the dark red mist rising from the surrounding corpses constantly flowing into his body, replenishing the stamina consumed by the berserk state.

He stood beside the high priest's corpse, his chest heaving, but his breathing remained relatively steady.

There's still time for Berserk mode to activate.

He didn't waste it.

He turned around, slashed horizontally with his scimitar, and a blood-red blade aura exploded from the blade, sweeping towards the nearest fallen elf.

The fallen elf was raising her staff, preparing to cast a spell, when the blade energy was already upon her. Before she could even cry out, she was sliced ​​in half at the waist.

Second knife.

The third cut.

The fourth cut.

Shen Wen was like a harvester, rampaging through the piles of fallen elves and spiders.

Each slash takes a life, each blade of energy plows out a clearing.

The effects of the bloodbath kept refreshing; with each fallen corpse, a wisp of dark red mist surged into his body, replenishing his energy.

Su Qingxuan and the others were not idle either.

The Blood Bride followed behind Shen Wen, finishing off the fallen elves he had crippled but who were still alive.

She was even faster than before. After devouring so many souls, her aura was approaching the peak of the Black Iron level. Every move she made carried a suffocating sense of oppression.

Su Mu stood at the forefront, his shield blocking the black light shooting from the side, and his battle axe cleaving through the charging demonic spiders.

Her movements were smoother than before, and the buffs from the Paladin sequence kept stacking up in the battle, with her strength, speed, and reaction all slowly improving.

Jiang Youchu's frost attacks swept across the battlefield time and time again, scattering the swarm of demonic spiders that were trying to gather together.

Lydia's holy light was constantly circulating, healing the tiny wounds on everyone's bodies.

Xiaoqian and Gou Dan floated at the edge of the battlefield, tasked with interfering with the fallen elves who were trying to cast spells.

Xiaoqian would occasionally tap the fallen elf on the shoulder from behind, startling her and interrupting her spellcasting;

Dog Egg went even further, enveloping the fallen elf's head in black mist, rendering her unable to see anything.

More than ten minutes later.

The tunnel fell silent.

The ground was littered with the corpses of spiders, fallen elves, and cave goblins. Green, dark red, and black bodily fluids mixed together, forming sticky streams that flowed down the crevices of the rocks.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood and burnt flesh, mixed with a strange, sweet, fishy odor that made one's throat tighten.

Shen Wen stood in the middle of the pile of corpses, his curved knife stuck in the ground, his hands supporting the hilt, panting heavily.

The berserk effect had ended, and the weakened state left him feeling weak all over, with all his attributes dropping by forty percent, making it difficult even to stand.

But he didn't fall.

Lydia stood at the very back of the line, her priest's staff still raised, the holy light still emanating from her.

She stared blankly at the corpses scattered on the ground, at the mutilated remains of the fallen elves, and at Shen Wen's back as he stood amidst the pile of bodies.

She recalled the scene when she first encountered Shen Wen and his three companions in the tunnel.

At that time, Hitt said that they were "ordinary people without even a sequence number who dared to run here."

His tone was full of disdain.

Although Allen didn't say anything, he didn't stop Hit either.

Delia and Dipsy just laughed, laughing at how these people overestimated themselves.

She also felt at the time that these people were too reckless.

But now.

She looked at the corpses scattered on the ground, then at Shen Wen and the other three.

They were covered in blood and bodily fluids, and their clothes were torn in several places, but none of the four standing men fell down.

And the Brilliant Adventurers were reduced to just her.

Lydia lowered her head and gripped her staff tightly.

If the captain had said he would go with them, would he... have survived?

She dared not think.

Su Qingxuan walked over, glanced at Shen Wen, and took out a bottle of water from her spatial backpack and handed it to him.

Shen Wen took it, drank two mouthfuls, and felt the cool liquid slide down his throat, making him feel much more awake.

"Let's go find the Arcane Core."

After the fallen high priest died, the oppressive feeling in the tunnel dissipated by most.

The rustling crawling sounds faded into the distance, like an ant colony that had lost its command and retreated deeper into the burrow.

The five continued deeper into the tunnel.

The dome grew higher and higher, from seven or eight meters to more than ten meters, and large-scale murals began to appear on the stone walls on both sides.

It wasn't the rough scratches from before, but a complete pattern drawn with some kind of pigment.

Humanoid creatures kneel, offer sacrifices, mate, and reproduce; the images become increasingly distorted, yet the lines become more and more refined, carrying a morbid beauty.

After walking for about ten minutes, a door appeared at the end of the tunnel.

It wasn't a stone door, but a door made of some kind of black, glowing material, its surface covered with densely packed runes.

The door had no handle or keyhole; it was simply embedded quietly in the stone wall, like a huge black mirror.

Shen Wen raised his hand and pushed him.

The door slid open silently to both sides.

Behind the door was a huge circular stone chamber with a dome so high that the top was invisible, filled only with deep darkness.

In the center of the stone chamber floats a fist-sized crystal, its entire body ice-blue, with starlight flowing inside, like a miniature galaxy.

Arcane Core.

The floor of the stone chamber was engraved with intricate magic circles, with lines extending out from below the core and sinking deep into the stone walls like tree roots.

Next to the Arcane Core stands a statue.

It is about half a person's height, made of some kind of black stone, with a surface polished smooth as a mirror.

The statue has a bizarre shape.

Countless limbs extend from the core: arms, legs, tentacles, wings, and claws, densely packed and layered, yet arranged in a strange way, like a flower in full bloom.

Every limb is sculpted with exquisite detail, the texture of the muscles, the undulations of the bones, and the luster of the skin are all lifelike.

No, it's not lifelike.

it is true.

Shen Wen stared at the statue, his pupils slightly contracting. On the surface of those limbs, blood vessels were pulsating faintly.

"Don't touch that statue."

The three women stopped in their tracks at the same time.

Lydia was a beat too slow and almost bumped into Jiang Youchu, but Su Qingxuan grabbed her.

Shen Wen turned to Su Qingxuan and Jiang Youchu: "You two wait here, don't go over there. Something's wrong with this thing."

Su Qingxuan frowned: "You're going alone?"

"Yes." Shen Wen nodded. "I have a killing intent and am immune to mental pollution. You can't."

"Yes." Shen Wen nodded. "I have a killing intent and am immune to mental pollution. You can't."

Su Qingxuan glanced at him but didn't say anything more.

Jiang Youchu opened her mouth as if to say something, but Su Mu pressed down on her shoulder.

Shen Wen turned around and walked towards the center of the stone chamber.

The arcane core floated in the center of the magic circle, its icy blue light standing out conspicuously in the dim stone chamber.

Shen Wen put the core into his pocket and turned to leave.

His gaze swept over the statue next to him.

Then he stopped, and the limbs were moving.

It's not a large movement, but rather an undulation like breathing.

Every limb was twitching slightly at its own rhythm, like countless snakes intertwined, slowly and tirelessly writhing.

Shen Wen stared at the statue, a voice in his head saying...

Don't look, hurry up and go.

But his feet seemed nailed to the ground.

The surface of the statue began to blur.

The outlines of those limbs became indistinct, like ink drops falling into water, slowly spreading.

Black, deep purple, dark red—various colors intertwine, swirl, merge, and recombine.

A face appeared.

Extremely beautiful.

It's so beautiful it doesn't seem real.

The proportions of her facial features, the curves of her eyebrows and eyes, the thickness of her lips—everything is just right, as if measured with the most precise ruler.

But it's not a human face.

There are fine scales on the forehead, and several dark red lines below the cheekbones, resembling some kind of totem.

There were no eyeballs in the eye sockets, only two dim lights, flickering like breathing.

The body emerges from the blur.

He was completely naked.

But Shen Wen couldn't see any details.

It's not because it's blurry, but because of the limbs.

Countless animal limbs stretched out from all parts of her body—arms, wings, tentacles, tails—densely packed together, like a living cloak.

Those limbs swayed slowly behind her, elegant yet eerie.

Shen Wen's mind went blank for a moment.

A powerful impulse surged up from the depths of my consciousness.

Kneel down, offer yourself, and become a part of her.

The system panel pops up automatically.

[Contact with a special item: Statue of the Mother Goddess with Ten Thousand Limbs]

[Sequence fit detected: 78%]

[Potential sequence: Believer of Ten Thousand Limbs (Bronze Level)]

【Whether to accept? 】

Shen Wen's consciousness split in two at that moment.

Half of them were screaming "No! Something's wrong with this! Back off! Run! Don't agree!"

The other half is speaking.

Agree to it, become a part of her, and you will gain power, you will no longer be alone, you will be one with all spirits.

A murderous intent exploded within him.

Like a volcano erupting from the depths of consciousness, its fiery power instantly swept across the entire sea of ​​consciousness.

That extremely beautiful face shattered before his eyes.

It wasn't shattered, but rather as if it had been torn in two by an invisible hand, revealing the deep darkness behind it.

Those limbs were writhing wildly, like snakes whose tails had been stepped on.

Shen Wen heard a scream.

It didn't come from my ears; it exploded directly in my brain, and then everything disappeared.

The statue remains in place, half a person's height, made of black stone, with countless limbs extending from its core.

Those limbs remained motionless, like ordinary stone sculptures.

Shen Wen lowered his head.

The statue had somehow ended up in his hands.

It was cold, heavy, and smooth, with no abnormalities.

Shen Wen instinctively wanted to discard it; this thing was even more sinister than the Beast God's Finger, but after thinking about it...

This thing seems to be a very good means of attack...