I have a panel that reduces proficiency.

Chapter 79

Fang Shidao asked, "A chasm? What's that?"

Just as the girl was about to answer, she suddenly heard a splashing sound of water behind her.

The two were standing on the bank of a river, with a wide river behind the girl.

The river was originally calm as a mirror, clear and blue, without the slightest ripple.

Just now, ripples suddenly appeared on the riverbank, spreading outwards in circles. Then, a loud sound of water arose, as if something was churning and stirring beneath the surface, stirring up waves that pounded against the mud on the bank.

The girl's face changed drastically, and she exclaimed, "Oh no! It's the Nine-Beetle! We have to cross the river quickly, or we won't be able to get back to the Spirit Platform!"

With a flick of her right hand, an apricot-yellow talisman appeared between her fingertips, which she then hurled towards the riverbank.

The talisman ignited as soon as it hit the water, and in the flames, the ashes gathered and instantly transformed into a three-zhang-long, snow-white paper boat.

Although the boat is as thin as paper, it is watertight and floats steadily on the water.

The girl grabbed Fang Shi's wrist, lightly touched the ground with her toes, and landed steadily in the center of the paper boat with him.

She loosened her grip on the oath, then pulled out a blue talisman with her left hand and slapped it against the side of the boat.

The paper boat, without oars, moved automatically, cutting through the water and shooting towards the opposite bank like an arrow.

The river water gurgled on both sides of the boat, but dark shadows could be seen underwater.

Those slender black shadows swam and darted in the water, with half of their insect bodies occasionally emerging from the surface. They were completely black, shaped like centipedes but without heads or tails, with a round, hole-like mouth at each end covered with fine teeth.

The girl released more talismans with her left hand, and fire talismans flew out like a string of pearls. Clusters of blazing flames exploded on the river surface, blasting dozens of nine-beetles closest to the hull into charred remains.

But as soon as those charred fragments fell into the water, more dark shadows surged in from all directions to fill the gaps.

Ripples on the river surface were as dense as raindrops, and beneath the surface, countless wriggling shadows swarmed, as if the entire river was covered with these things.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Water splashed and burst open one after another, and dozens of slender black shadows leaped out of the river at the same time.

The girl's hands moved swiftly, and fire talismans poured out of her hands like a sudden rain.

Clusters of blazing flames exploded around her, blasting the nine-headed beetles that leaped out of the water into charred remains one after another.

The charred, foul-smelling insect carcasses fell into the river like a torrential downpour, splashing up layers of water. But with each batch of charred insect carcasses sinking, more dark shadows emerged from the riverbed to fill the gaps.

Although the girl's fire talisman was fast, there were simply too many Nine-Beetle worms. After killing one batch, the second batch had already pounced within three feet of the ship's side.

The third wave followed closely behind, leaping out of the water. The dark, overlapping insect shadows almost completely obscured the azure sky above.

Snapped!

The first nine-horned beetle broke through the fire net, its wet body crashing onto the bow of the ship, its mouths at both ends frantically gnawing at the deck.

With each bite, the paper boat shrinks a little.

The girl blasted it into a charcoal with a talisman, but in the blink of an eye, a second, a third, and a fourth followed, landing with a series of thuds on both sides of the ship's side.

The slender insect body writhed wildly on the deck, its hooked teeth gnawing at every inch of the paper boat's surface.

The paper boat shrank rapidly under the swarm of insects, shrinking from 29 feet to 28 feet, and then from 28 feet to 27 feet.

The girl had no choice but to slap a talisman on the gunwale and shout, "Rise!"

Two pale golden light walls suddenly rose up on either side of the paper boat, enveloping the entire boat.

As soon as the light barrier took shape, dozens of nine-beetles simultaneously crashed into it, causing the light barrier to tremble violently.

Without turning her head, the girl's voice was filled with exasperation as she said, "Go ahead and do it! What are you standing there for? Are you some kind of idiot who's run off into the chasm?! Hurry up and clear out the nine vermin from the ship, I'll take care of the outside!"

Before she finished speaking, another talisman was placed on the light barrier, which was already teetering on the verge of collapse due to the impact of the Nine Vermin outside, with cracks spreading to the top.

Fang Shi did not reply.

He had remained inactive for two reasons: first, he wanted to observe the girl's behavior; second, the situation had unfolded so abruptly that he wanted to see what was going on.

But right now, the boats have all been gnawed down to a smaller size.

Although I don't know why the girl insisted on crossing the river, wouldn't it have been better to stay on the shore?

But now that he's already on board, he can't afford to think about it anymore.

His mind sank, fear welled up from the depths of his heart, traveled along his meridians to his fingertips, and a chilling white light exploded in his hand.

laugh!laugh!laugh!

Three cold beams shot out in succession, striking the three nine-beetles that were frantically gnawing at the deck.

The insect's body stiffened instantly under the extreme cold, its dark surface covered with frost patterns, and its mouths at both ends remained open, frozen into ice sculptures along with its fine hooked teeth.

Then, with a crisp crack, the frost pattern on the surface spread rapidly and shattered into countless tiny ice shards.

[Frostfall Returns to Dust Proficiency +1]

【Frost Falls, Dust Returns (Beginner): 94/100】

The girl glanced at it and said, "Good ice magic! There are two more at the bow."

77

Needless to say, the young girl...

At this point, the paper boat shrank from its original length of three zhang to two zhang and five zhang.

Fang Shi's fingertips flashed with white light, and two cold beams struck the two nine-worms at the bow of the ship. The insect bodies froze into ice pillars, and then shattered into fragments.

But more nine stupid things are still pouring in.

The cracks on the light barrier were already as dense as a spider web. The girl's speed in repairing the talismans could not keep up with the speed of the shattering, and the speed of destruction could not keep up with the frenzy of the Nine Vermin.

The wall of light was already covered with dark, swarming insect shadows, which wrapped the entire paper boat into a writhing black carpet.

The girl gritted her teeth, reached into the brocade pouch at her waist with her right hand, and took out the palm-sized bronze mirror again.

With his other hand, he swiftly reached into the bottom of the pouch and pulled out a handful of jet-black crystals, at least twenty or thirty of them.

"Little mirror!"

She shoved the handful of black crystals into the mirror, her voice urgent and pained, "Here, take it all. Hurry up and get rid of these bugs!"

The mirror surface rippled like water, and a six-fingered hand emerged from the mirror, its six fingers spreading out to gather the large handful of black crystals.

Suddenly, the mirror trembled violently, and a thick white mist gushed out from it, quickly spreading and enveloping the entire paper boat and the surrounding river surface for dozens of feet.

It was so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

Then Fang Shi saw it—countless hands emerged from the fog.

Those hands had long, slender fingers with distinct knuckles, just like the six-fingered hand he had seen in the mirror earlier. However, their numbers were terrifying, densely packed, numbering in the hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands. Each hand held a frantically writhing nine-headed vermin.

The nine-insects were held in the middle of their bodies by the palm of the hand. Their mouths at both ends opened and closed desperately, their hooked teeth making a grinding sound, but they could not break free from those seemingly slender fingers.

Then, with a sudden movement of their hands, they dragged all nine vermin into the thick fog, which quickly receded back into the mirror like a receding tide.

The river suddenly became clear.

The ripples were still there, but the shadows underwater had vanished completely, and not even a single worm could be seen.

The bronze mirror returned to the size of a palm, its surface smooth and calm once more, as if the overwhelming swarm of insects had been nothing but an illusion.

The girl let out a long sigh, stuffed the bronze mirror back into the brocade pouch at her waist, patted the surface of the pouch, and muttered, "What a huge loss! All the savings I've accumulated over half a month have gone to you."

The paper boat continued to speed forward, covering dozens of feet in an instant.

Fang Shi glanced back at the receding river behind him and asked, "Why did you have to cross the river as soon as the Nine Vermin appeared?"

Wouldn't it be safer to stay on shore?

The girl, who was turning to count the remaining talismans in the brocade pouch at her waist, looked up at the words, her large, dark eyes widening in surprise. "I said you're an idiot, are you really an idiot? How did you even cross that chasm?" she exclaimed.

She stretched out her right hand, her slender index finger crossing Fang Shi's shoulder, pointing to the riverbank behind him, and said, "Fool, look there."

0

Fang Shi turned around in the direction she was pointing, and then his pupils suddenly contracted.

The riverbank they had just left was now shaking violently.

Unlike before, when the water surface surged and waves crashed against the shore, the entire riverbed was trembling, and even the mud and vegetation on the riverbank were shaking.

The tremors grew increasingly violent, creating waves hundreds of feet high, and a colossal creature burst forth from the riverbed.

The part of the giant beast that was above the water was hundreds of feet long, and it had already covered half of the sky.

It resembles a giant whale, but has a round head with no eyes or nostrils; its entire face consists of only a terrifyingly large mouth.

The mouth stretched across the entire head, and when it was slightly open, the gaps were pitch black. There were no teeth, only layers upon layers of folds, like the dense teeth of a comb.

Its massive body slowly climbed ashore.

The riverbank was carved into a ravine several meters deep, with gravel and soil rolled up to both sides like a plowed field.

The trees beneath him were crushed to dust, and the trees on both sides were uprooted.

Soon, the giant beast had completely climbed onto the riverbank, and then it stopped moving, like a newly formed mountain, quietly resting on the bank.

The riverbank where Fang Shi and the girl had just stood vanished completely beneath the giant beast, as if it had never existed.

The girl pulled a light blue talisman from the brocade pouch at her waist and tossed it to the back of the boat.

The talisman ignited upon contact with the wind, transforming into a thin, aquamarine light curtain that spread along the edge of the boat, firmly protecting it.

A giant wave crashed into the light screen with a muffled roar, splitting the wave in two and gliding past the sides of the screen. Water splashed everywhere like a torrential downpour, but not a single drop fell into the ship.

The paper boat bounced violently a few times in the aftershocks, then steadily glided forward through the waves.

"That's Xiu Qing, a monster born and raised in the Honggou region."

"The Nine Vermin are originally the manifestation of the decaying and corrupting intent on Xiu Qing's body."

"When Xiuqing lives in the Honggou for a long time, the body will accumulate decaying energy. This decaying energy will leak out from the cracks on its back, fall into the river water, and condense into the initial embryo of the Nine Vermin."

"These nascent embryos lie on Xiu Qing's back, surviving by absorbing the decaying energy seeping from its body. After absorbing it for a long time, they gradually develop their own intelligence."

"They revere Xiuqing as a deity. Whenever Xiuqing surfaces and climbs ashore to rest, its decaying aura suddenly extinguishes, replaced by a vibrant life force that springs from deep within its body and flows throughout its entire being."

"The life force clashes with the decaying energy naturally present in the Nine Vermin—when Xiu Qing's life force is at its peak, the Nine Vermin that are feeding on its decaying energy will be burned to charcoal in large swathes."

"So whenever Xiu Mo came ashore, the Nine Vermin would frantically search for living creatures everywhere, like mortals worshipping the river god, trying to feed Xiu Mo with the life force of living people so that it would sink back to the bottom of the river as soon as possible and re-emit its decaying aura."

Fang Shi withdrew his gaze and said, "So, we are the sacrifices that the Nine Vermin have chosen?"

The girl shrugged and said, "That's right, but they don't know that it's just the way Xiuqing goes ashore to rest. The decaying energy extinguishes and the vital energy arises; that's just it breathing and has absolutely nothing to do with whether it's eaten enough. No matter how much vital energy Xiuqing eats, it still needs to come ashore."

Fang Shi said, "So, this river is the chasm?"

"That's right, this river is the chasm."

The girl casually replied, then suddenly exclaimed, "Wait! Are you really an idiot?! You don't even know about the chasm? How on earth did you cross the chasm and get to the virtual world?"

"That shouldn't be happening, that shouldn't be happening—unless you're not from this world!"

The girl frowned again as she spoke, muttering to herself, "No, no, you have the aura of the Water Lord of Taiyuan on you. This aura can't be faked—you are undoubtedly a person from the mortal world."

"I couldn't be wrong. Taiyuan Water Lord would never accept beings from the Void Realm. You must be one of us from the mortal world."

"But how can a person from the real world know nothing? Are you trying to deceive me?"

Fang Shi pondered to himself: Taiyuan Water Lord? Water Lord? What does this title have to do with morning dew?

This is not just his wild imagination.

It was obvious that the girl was not from the Sanpanguan area.

What sets him apart from the people of the Sanpan Temple area is that he possesses the power derived from the morning dew.

Chaolu herself was once the Lord of Forgetfulness Water, so even if this Lord of Taiyuan Water is not Chaolu herself, they must have a very deep connection with her.

But this connection has now brought him enormous trouble.

This girl was clearly not from the Sanpan Temple area. He had never even heard of the terms "void," "chasm," and "cultivation villa" that she mentioned.

The reason she saved him was probably because he was tainted with the aura of the Water Lord of Taiyuan, which made her mistakenly believe that he and she shared some kind of origin.

Now that she's become suspicious, if he can't give her a clear answer, she might turn on him faster than flipping through a book.

Before Fang Shi could even think of a reply, a golden light suddenly burst open in the sky ahead.

The entire paper boat, along with the surrounding river surface, was coated with a flowing layer of gold.

Amidst the golden light, the outline of an island appeared out of thin air in the river.

The island is rugged with rocks, and waterfalls and springs can be vaguely seen, along with ancient trees reaching for the sky.

The girl's suspicion and confusion vanished the moment the golden light appeared, replaced by undisguised ecstasy.

She said, "Xiu Mo, Xuan Pu, this trip to the Void Realm was definitely the right one! This is a great opportunity for Foundation Establishment! Hey, you idiot, we can talk about your nonsense later, come with me to the island first!"

",