CHAPTER 377: CHAPTER 22: EXOTIC BEAST

Yue Jinghua quickly discovered that an overwhelmingly strong mysterious force was seeping up from beneath the summit of the mountain.

Even in the form of her Second Primordial Spirit, she could clearly feel the ground within the Heavenly Pit cracking.

As the vibrations and frequency intensified underground, even the giant-winged mosquitoes by Yue Jinghua’s side were affected, and had she not forcefully controlled them, they would have likely disintegrated into disarray.

Despite knowing there might be some strange phenomenon occurring underground, Yue Jinghua was unwilling to leave so easily.

Her Nine Revolutions Creation Technique surged within her like a raging torrent, and subconsciously, she knew that the creature underground might be beneficial to her cultivation.

Yue Jinghua had enough confidence that even if a Holy Beast emerged, in the worst-case scenario, she could retreat into her Star Sea.

After the violent shaking, a mound suddenly bulged out from the center of the Heavenly Pit.

Above the mound appeared clouds as colorful as a rainbow.

Those clouds were as radiant as a rainbow, exceptionally brilliant, and continued to spread, eventually shrouding half the sky above the Heavenly Pit.

Upon closer examination, what was deemed as clouds turned out to be a colorful mist coming up from the depths of the Heavenly Pit.

As the colorful mist drew closer, Yue Jinghua smelled an odor that was both fishy and sweet.

No sooner had the smell entered her nostrils, Yue Jinghua felt a weakness in her limbs, a dryness in her eyes, and her blood seemed to thicken; she inwardly cried out, "Not good, it’s poisonous."

A poison that could harm even the Primordial Spirit, needless to say, must be dreadfully potent.

On the ground, numerous reptiles were sprayed with the poisonous gas and immediately flipped over, frothing at the mouth and dying within the Heavenly Pit.

The once vibrant spirit woods also withered away, their leaves blackened as if scorched by fire.

The poison was extremely potent, so Yue Jinghua immediately took out a Detoxification Pill that Nan Muyu had given her earlier.

After swallowing the Elixir Pill, the situation only slightly improved.

"Boom--"

The mound exploded like a landmine had been triggered.

A dark shadow flickered through the poison fog.

A grotesque insect as thick as a water bucket broke through the soil, half its body fully exposed to Yue Jinghua’s sight.

It was a repugnant Dark Insect, gray-brown, boneless, with its body covered in ring-shapes and coated with a sticky substance. The floral petal-like wrinkles at the top of its head were its mouth.

The colorful mist was being emitted from its mouth.

At its segmented rings, grew a pair of antennae-like bristles, serving as legs, and with over a hundred rings, it had several hundred pairs of legs upon rough count.

"The Centipede Worm King," Gold Eater Worm cried out in terror, forgoing even its howling sounds, evidently dreading the creature that had emerged from the ground, "There is still such a creature in the Canglong Continent. No, it must be the Star Falling Mine, it’s due to the Star Falling Mine that it has mutated."

The term ’Centipede Worm’ is a nickname used in the Eastern Continent, and to Yue Jinghua, the term was still somewhat unfamiliar.

At first glance at the creature, Yue Jinghua felt it resembled an earthworm.

In fact, the Centipede Worm is a type of earthworm, but compared to ordinary earthworms, this kind born with the capacity to reach the peak of Sixth-level Dark Beast is one of the most terrifying subterranean creatures on land.

When it hatches, it’s only the size of a small finger; each year it sheds its skin, growing a pair of bristly antennae, and its skin becomes harder and harder. Once the 999th pair of bristly antennae is grown, it becomes a Ninth-order Peak Dark Insect, capable of sprouting Rainbow Wings and transforming into an Earth Dragon, hence it is also known as the Earth Dragon.

This Centipede Worm, although not yet Ninth Rank, can be estimated from the legs on its abdomen to be a Peak of Eighth Rank Dark Insect.

However, under the influence of the Star Falling Mine, this Centipede Worm, already hair-raising in its own right, mutates even further. It grows larger, moves at an astonishing speed, and can also spew Poisonous Gas.

No sooner had the Centipede Worm broken through the ground than it swept across and, with a whale-like gulp, sucked in all of the poisoned Dark Insects and Dark Beasts from Heavenly Pit Li in one breath.

After it consumed the Dark Beasts, the colorful Poisonous Gas it spewed became even denser.

After consuming a large number of Dark Beasts, it did not return underground; instead, it continued crawling lazily towards where the Giant Winged Mosquito King was, with its ugly body held high.

Yue Jinghua felt a jolt in her heart, realizing she might have walked right into its sights.

This Dark Insect hiding under the Heavenly Pit seems to prefer hunting at night.

"Attack," Yue Jinghua intended to use the Giant Winged Mosquito King to delay the Centipede Worm at first, while finding a way to approach the center of the Heavenly Pit to investigate the source of that mysterious power beneath the pit.

She was certain that this mysterious power did not come from the Centipede Worm.

The Giant Winged Mosquito King, having a mind link with Yue Jinghua, heard her command and disregarded the Grade difference. With a flap of its massive wings, it enveloped and charged towards the Centipede Worm.

Yue Jinghua took this opportunity to leap forward, skating toward the exact center of the Heavenly Pit.

But just as she moved, the Centipede Worm, as if catching a signal, "thump, thump," sprayed several clouds of colorful gas towards Yue Jinghua.

Yue Jinghua was startled, wondering if this Centipede Worm also possessed strong spiritual power?

According to Qing Pu, only a High-level Dark Practitioner or Dark Insect with equally strong spiritual power could detect someone concealed or in a Primordial Spirit state through spiritual power.

Damn, does it have to be this freakish?

At this moment of indecision for Yue Jinghua, a more infuriating scene occurred.

None of the hundreds of Giant Winged Mosquitoes released to fight the enemy could approach the Centipede Worm, not even the Sixth-level Giant Winged Mosquito King, which wielded a proboscis capable of instantly penetrating Middle Level Spirit Armor, could disturb the Centipede Worm.

"Ow ow, ugly, run," the Gold Eater Worm watched in stunned silence, "This thing is impervious to Sword and gun; it’s not just the Giant Winged Mosquito King that’s powerless before it, even your crappy Sword can’t harm it."

In just a few leaps, the group of Giant Winged Mosquitoes that Yue Jinghua had carefully raised were scattered about, leaving her both heartbroken and horrified.

A wise man does not fight when the odds are against him; this Centipede Worm, having mutated due to the Star Falling Mine, had greatly increased its Dark Power, and she was no match for it at the moment.

Looking at the center of the Heavenly Pit only a few hundred meters away and about to unveil the mysterious power, Yue Jinghua was very unwilling to leave.

But after exterminating the Giant Winged Mosquito King and sensing that strong, alluring Dark Power emanating from Yue Jinghua, the Centipede Worm, like a gambler blazing with madness, rapidly moved towards Yue Jinghua’s location.

That speed was like a bolt of lightning, nearly catching up with Yue Jinghua in a blink of an eye.

Yue Jinghua gritted her teeth, recalled the last few Giant Winged Mosquitoes, and immediately activated her Dark Skill, holding onto the last breath of Dark Energy, she ran down the mountain in an extremely disheveled fashion.