CHAPTER 121: CHAPTER 119: EARTH DRAGON WORM

"Hm? The Golden-winged Thunder Eagles are suddenly attacking Red Tiger Mountain!"

At the Yellow Sand Sect, Cao Wenjin’s expression suddenly changed after hearing Xiao Bufan’s report through the Mother and Child Golden Conch.

He frowned deeply and muttered to himself, "Could it be that those two escaped members of the Blood Slaughter Demon Sect, seeing they can’t handle our Yellow Sand Sect, want to use a borrowed knife to kill, luring demon beasts from the Broken Cloud Mountain Range to deal with us?"

Xiao Bufan could guess that someone had angered the two "Golden-winged Thunder Eagles," leading these two demon beasts to go mad and attack Red Tiger Mountain. Naturally, Cao Wenjin could guess this too. He even immediately suspected the two Purple Mansion Stage demon cultivators from the Blood Slaughter Demon Sect.

In the current Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm, only the demon cultivators of the Blood Slaughter Demon Sect would be so reckless, daring to do such a thing.

"Even if they lead the demon beasts to attack Red Tiger Mountain, what can they do? Red Tiger Mountain is guarded by a Tier Four High-grade Array. Even if they lured a Tier Five Demon Beast to attack, it wouldn’t break the defense there easily, let alone harm the foundation of our Yellow Sand Sect."

Cao Wenjin furrowed his brow, sensing that things were not that simple.

The treachery of demonic cultivators was infamous. Especially after suffering several defeats, the surviving two Purple Mansion Stage cultivators from the Blood Slaughter Demon Sect would surely be more cautious than ever.

If his guess was right, and those two demonic cultivators indeed lured the "Golden-winged Thunder Eagles" to attack Red Tiger Mountain, their intention was certainly not just as simple as "using a borrowed knife to kill."

"This matter is fraught with intrigue. To be on the safe side, let’s have Bufan remain on high alert for a period of time and see how things develop!"

Thinking of this, he immediately conveyed his decision to Xiao Bufan through the Mother and Child Golden Conch.

On the other side, after receiving Cao Wenjin’s reply, Xiao Bufan’s expression subtly changed. Cao Wenjin did not hide his suspicions from his devoted disciple, so he was somewhat flustered as well.

Just like Cao Wenjin said, he wasn’t worried at all about the mere two "Golden-winged Thunder Eagles" attacking Red Tiger Mountain. With the protection of a Tier Four High-grade Array and himself, a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator, there was no way just two Tier Four demon beasts could break through.

But if it was indeed a demonic cultivator’s plot, then it would definitely be troublesome.

Seeing his face change as he pondered for a while, he suddenly looked at the cultivator responsible for guarding the mountain and asked, "Has the team that went out for patrol today sent any news?"

"Not yet!"

"Since there’s no message yet, it seems they are also met with misfortune!"

Xiao Bufan muttered to himself, his face becoming even more grim.

Zhouyang and the other two were conscripted by him, and if all three perished here, their relatives and friends would certainly not rest easily. If this matter escalated, it would tarnish his reputation among the Foundation Establishment cultivators inside and outside the sect, even if they couldn’t touch his influential background.

But now that things had already happened, regret was futile. He quickly suppressed these troubling thoughts, focused, and began manipulating the array to defend against the attacks of the two "Golden-winged Thunder Eagles."

On the other side, just as Zhouyang escaped the shackles of the Golden Thunder Net, he had intended to immediately find a place to sit and restore his magical power. Unexpectedly, his luck was extremely poor as he promptly encountered a "Earth Dragon Worm" juvenile awakened by the Tier Four demon beast’s aura and was swallowed whole by this demon beast.

Adult "Earth Dragon Worms" are also Tier Four demon beasts; their juveniles are Tier Two upon birth, reaching Tier Four upon maturing.

Despite having "Dragon" in its name, the "Earth Dragon Worm" has no relation to dragons. Resembling a massive worm, its newly born juveniles are over ten feet long.

Among the entire Boundless Desert Sea Cultivation Realm, only the "Sand Worm," a Tier Five demon beast over a thousand feet long, rivals the "Earth Dragon Worm" in size.

However, these demon beasts usually live in underground depths ranging from a hundred to several thousand feet, feeding on mineral-rich spiritual qi and subterranean demon beasts. Once satiated, they may sleep motionlessly for a decade or several decades.

Moreover, the "Earth Dragon Worm" detests sunlight immensely and would never surface unless something unusual occurs. Thus, although many cultivators have heard its name, few have seen this demon beast firsthand.

In contrast to "Sand Worms," which primarily feed on underground spirit ores but often surface to hunt.

Despite being a juvenile, the "Earth Dragon Worm" devouring Zhouyang was nearly eighty feet long, with an aura reaching the Tier Three high-grade demon beast level, nearly reaching maturity.

Once the demon beast swallowed Zhouyang, a flash of yellow light enveloped its body, and it earth escaped from the scene, vanishing to an unknown destination.

The "Earth Dragon Worm’s" body structure differs greatly from ordinary creatures. Lacking teeth, it relies on swallowing prey into an internal pouch space, where acidic fluids break down the food into nutrients absorbed throughout the body.

Caught off guard, Zhouyang was swallowed into its pouch space by the demon beast’s innate devouring divine technique. His protective "Qianyang Golden Light" was swiftly corroded by the acids, leaving only a thin layer, scaring him enormously.

His magical power was nearly depleted during his defense against the Golden Thunder Net, leaving only a small reserve, retained specifically for sustaining the "Earth Escape Technique," his lifeline.

But now, this life-saving magical power is rapidly depleting. It can be foreseen that if he cannot escape from the "Earth Dragon Worm’s" pouch space in a short time, within half an hour, his magical power will be exhausted, and he will be corroded by the acid into nutrients for the "Earth Dragon Worm" to absorb.

"Open for me!"

Without time to think, Zhouyang immediately released his flying sword, slashing towards the pitch-black area ahead, but the result made his heart sink.

In his Divine Sense perception, the flying sword seemed to strike a wall of extremely strong elasticity and toughness, only leaving a sword mark on the wall before being forcefully rebounded.

At this moment, the "Earth Dragon Worm" tunneling through the ground seemed to sense something as it suddenly stopped moving and began devouring the soil and rocks in front of it.

The soil and rocks, once inside its pouch space, were instantly corroded and assimilated by the acid, causing the concentration and quantity of acid inside its body to rapidly increase.

This reflected in Zhouyang’s situation, with the acid corroding his Protective Golden Light faster, and his dwindling magical power growing less effective by the second.

Upon realizing this, his face turned pale, and his eyes filled with undisguisable panic.

Of course, he had more tricks up his sleeve, but without sufficient magical power, whether it was the "Qianyang Celestial Sword" he had reformed or using the "Qianyang Treasure Pearl" to boost the "Qianyang True Flame", or the Tier Four Middle-Grade Spirit Talisman "Mountain Talisman" given to him by the old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan, none could be deployed now.

"What to do? What to do? Am I really going to perish here today?"

In the blink of an eye, Zhouyang was drenched in sweat, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

After cultivating for decades, this was his first time encountering such a situation, with multiple life-saving techniques at hand but unable to use them due to insufficient magical power—it’s simply laughable!

If he were to die under these circumstances, it would truly be a death that’s hard to accept peacefully!

"Magical power, magical power, is there any method to quickly replenish it? Wait... I’ve got it!"

In his extreme anxiety, Zhouyang’s eyes suddenly brightened, like someone in a dark abyss suddenly seeing light, and his face showed immense delight.

He had thought of a solution!

With a hardened look, he quickly formed seals with his hands, casting some kind of magic.

After dozens of breaths, as the Protective Golden Light was about to completely shatter, Zhouyang’s previously fair and clean face suddenly flushed like someone intoxicated, turning red as if it was about to bleed, and a powerful magical energy rose from him.

The Demonic Secret Technique "Blood Boiling Technique", which consumes Essence Blood to temporarily boost magical power cultivation, can increase magical power by several times!

Early in his Qi Cultivation Stage, Zhouyang had obtained a jade scroll recording this Demonic Secret Technique from a sand bandit, but over the years, he had only used the "Blood Escape Technique" recorded on the jade scroll during a battle in the "Thousand Machines Grotto Heaven".

Compared to the "Blood Escape Technique", this "Blood Boiling Technique" is more harmful to cultivators because it not only depletes Essence Blood but also inflicts great damage on the physical body, potentially leaving lifelong injuries.

Even the ruthless Blood Demon Dao cultivators rarely dare to use the "Blood Boiling Technique".

Zhouyang wouldn’t use this Secret Technique unless faced with a life-and-death crisis.

The magical power boost from the "Blood Boiling Technique" is temporary, and each extra moment of use inflicts more damage on the physical body. Therefore, upon regaining ample magical power, Zhouyang immediately initiated his strongest attack for a decisive counterattack, without lamenting the domineering nature of the Demonic Secret Technique.

What is Zhouyang’s strongest attack currently?

Is it the "Qianyang True Flame" enhanced by the "Qianyang Treasure Pearl"?

No!

It’s the "Qianyang Celestial Sword" infused with "Qianyang True Flame"!

He took a deep breath, then sprayed from his mouth, releasing a Flame Divine Sword burning with fierce golden flames, which instantly flew forth, splitting the pitch darkness ahead and struck a sleek dark red flesh wall.

Have you seen a hot knife through butter?

Now, the scene before Zhouyang’s eyes was almost identical to that.

Under the slashing of the Flame Divine Sword burning with golden flames, the flesh wall which Zhouyang had previously been unable to harm with his flying sword was quickly sliced open layer by layer, revealing the earthy-smelling yellow-brown soil outside.