Immortality and cultivation: Heaven rewards diligence, and success is inevitable.

"Alright, in that case, lead the way," Jiang Shi nodded and said.

In any case, that Earth Bear is incredibly powerful, and the disciples of the Five Elements Demon Sect will likely find it difficult to defeat it in the short term.

It's not too late to go after you get the Earth Spirit Orb fragment.

Rockbone left the other earth spirits underground and led the way.

It walked very fast, its short legs moving swiftly, its body like a rolling stone.

The polluted area is to the north, about five miles from Shimen. The further north you go, the darker the ground becomes, changing from yellowish-brown to grayish-black.

The air was filled with a putrid smell, as if something had been rotting for a long time.

Bubbling began to rise from the ground, and black mud gushed out from the cracks, emitting a pungent odor.

"We're here." Rockbone stopped, no longer moving forward. "The contaminated zone is ahead. I can't go in; the demonic energy will corrupt my body."

Feeling the demonic energy ahead, Yan Gu spoke up in fear.

Jiang Shi probed out with his spiritual sense and found that within thirty feet ahead, there were more than a dozen life auras on the ground. They were all very weak, but their number was increasing.

There wasn't just one of these earth scorpions!

"There are more than a dozen Earth Demon Scorpions!" Jiang Shi was somewhat hesitant. If there was only one, he could fight it without expending much energy.

Currently, there are more than a dozen Earth Demon Scorpions, and fighting them won't be easy, given the influence of the Earth Element Realm.

Just as Jiang Shi was having second thoughts, Huo Lie took the earth spirit stone fragment out of his mouth, stepped forward, and said, "Shall I go first?"

"In your current state, going to the front lines would be suicide." Shui Lingxi glanced at him, then looked at Feng Yiran, "Let Feng Yiran come."

As a sword cultivator, Feng Yiran has gradually adapted to the influence of the Earth Element Realm.

Upon hearing this, Feng Yiran did not refuse. He drew his sword and walked alone towards the contaminated area.

Seeing that Feng Yiran had actually stepped forward, Jiang Shi could no longer suggest retreating.

He watched Feng Yiran cautiously, ready to come to her rescue at any moment.

As soon as Feng Yiran stepped onto the black ground, the soil beneath his feet cracked open.

A rotting earth monster emerged from the ground, its entire body pitch black with dark red eyes, and it opened its mouth to bite.

Feng Yiran slashed down with his sword.

The sword energy pierced the body of the rotten earth monster, splitting it in two.

The corpse turned into black ash and scattered all over the ground.

But more earth monsters emerged from the ground. One, two, ten, twenty.

They surged in from all directions, like a black tide.

The wind, however, did not retreat but advanced.

The sword light wove a net around him, each strike precisely hitting a rotten earth monster.

Wherever the sword light passed, the rotten soil turned into black ash, falling like black snowflakes.

In less than ten breaths, all twenty rotten earth monsters turned into black ash on the ground.

Huo Lie whistled: "Sword cultivators are really fierce."

Feng Yiran sheathed his sword and remained silent.

His breathing was steady; those twenty sword strikes were just a warm-up for him.

The ground shook again.

This time the tremor was more violent than before, and a huge crack appeared in the ground, from which a giant scorpion burst forth.

Earth Demon Scorpion, mid-stage Golden Core.

It is the size of an ox, and its whole body is covered with black carapace, on which there is a layer of dark purple light film.

tail high The poison needle at the end is as thick as a baby's arm and glows with a dark purple light.

The two pincers opened, making a clicking sound.

Its eyes were blood red as it stared at the four people, and black liquid dripped from its mouth.

Those rotten earth monsters were summoned by the Earth Demon Scorpion.

Huo Lie stepped forward. We wholeheartedly recommend this book to you: "Cultivating Immortality: Heaven Rewards Diligence, Success is Surely Within Reach," available here.

"This is my job." His voice was lower than usual.

Without waiting for Jiang Shi's reply, he bit his tongue and smeared his blood essence onto the magical artifact.

The runes on the artifact lit up, and the crimson light went from dim to dazzling.

Huo Lie's face went from pale to flushed, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

He gripped the magical weapon with both hands, aiming it at the Earth Demon Scorpion.

"Feng Tian - Pillar of Fire!"

A pillar of fire shot out from the magical artifact, thicker and more intense than the one he had unleashed on the third level.

The flames were golden, carrying scorching heat waves that turned the ground red in their wake.

The earth scorpion tried to hide, but its body was too big and its movements too slow.

The pillar of fire struck its head.

The carapace was burned through, and black liquid gushed out from the cracks.

The Earth Demon Scorpion let out a shriek, its tail whipped wildly, and its poisonous stingers pierced the ground, creating small craters.

The pillar of fire lasted for three breaths.

Three breaths later, the flames died down, and the Earth Scorpion's head was burned into a charred hole.

Its body swayed, then it collapsed with a thud.

Huo Lie stood there, panting heavily.

His face was as white as paper, and he could no longer hold onto the magical weapon in his hand, which fell to the ground with a clatter. He swayed a few times and then fell forward.

Shui Lingxi rushed over and helped him up.

"What are you showing off for?" she scolded, but her hands were feeding him pills.

Huo Lie leaned on her shoulder, grinned, and didn't say anything.

With her fiery personality, she wouldn't allow herself to always hide in the background and be protected by others.

Jiang Shi walked over and used the Canglan Sword to cut open the corpse of the Earth Demon Scorpion.

A fist-sized, yellowish-brown inner core, emitting a warm yellow light, was dug out from the chest area.

Rock Bone ran over from a distance, looking at the purified land, the light in Crystal Stone's eyes flickering.

"Thank you." It crouched down and touched the ground with its paw.

The black soil began to turn yellowish-brown upon its touch, and the putrid smell dissipated considerably.

It stood up, took out four fragments of the Earth Spirit Orb from its bosom, and handed them to Jiang Shi.

"I promised you. One yuan each."

Jiang Shi took the fragments and distributed them to the three people.

The fragments were warm to the touch, and a gentle power emanated from them, enveloping his body.

He could feel the pressure of gravity on him lessen somewhat.

"Thirty percent, just right." Feng Yiran carefully put away the fragments.

Shui Lingxi hung the fragment around the spirit beast's neck, and the spirit beast's fur immediately fluffed up a bit.

Huo Lie was too weak to hang himself, so Shui Lingxi helped him tuck it into his collar.

Yan Gu walked up to Jiang Shi and pointed in the direction of the stone gate.

"There's a shortcut in the temple; you can enter through the side door and bypass part of the first trial. But you can only bypass a small section; you'll have to fight the main force yourselves."

It told Jiang Shi the location of the shortcut in detail.

"Thank you," Jiang Shi said.

Rock Bone shook his head: "We're the ones who should thank you."

It led the earth spirits back underground. The ground closed up, as if nothing had happened.

Jiang Shi and his three companions returned to the stone gate.

The giant bear relief on the facade, with its two glowing yellow crystals, was even brighter than before, as if beckoning them inside.

Huo Lie leaned on Shui Lingxi's shoulder, weak but in good spirits: "Let's go."

Jiang Shi reached out and pushed the door open.

The stone gate remained completely still.

He infused the Five Elements True Essence, and the runes on the surface of the gate lit up. Two beams of yellow light shot from the giant bear's eyes and landed on him.

The door opened.

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