Chapter 476: Core Location

In a wooden hut in the Myriad Poison Forest, on the Lingxi Battlefield, Hua Ci, bored, counted the Myriad Poison Pills in her hand: "Eight, nine, ten..."

Her cultivation method was unique. Since acquiring that inheritance, her primary means of increasing her cultivation was to consume and refine poisons. The Myriad Poison Forest was undoubtedly an ideal place for her to cultivate because of its extremely dense poisonous mist. However, after reaching the ninth layer of the Lingxi Realm, she was temporarily unable to advance to the Cloud River Realm. She could only repeatedly lower her cultivation and condense Myriad Poison Pills. As a result, she accumulated more and more Myriad Poison Pills, and each pill was a condensation of her cultivation. When she eventually ascended to the Cloud River Realm, she could reabsorb them.

Lu Ye thought the Myriad Poison Pill he had deployed was merely a means for Hua Ci to kill enemies. Little did he know, it was a condensation of her own cultivation.

After condensing that Myriad Poison Pill, Hua Ci's cultivation directly dropped from the ninth to the eighth layer of the Lingxi Realm. The eruption of an entire layer of cultivation meant that even Cloud River Realm cultivators couldn't resist the corrosive power of this potent poison.

It was fortunate that everyone present was in the Cloud River Realm. If Lingxi Realm cultivators had been engulfed by such a poisonous mist, they would likely have been wiped out instantly.

Among everyone present, Lu Ye was the only one unaffected by the poisonous mist.

Heavy, chaotic footsteps reached his ears from behind. His forward sprint halted. He turned around and rushed towards the source of the sound.

Trapped with no escape by the pursuing Xuanwu Sect cultivators, it was finally time to fight back.

After only a few steps, two crimson glows appeared in the thick mist ahead.

The Mountain Crusher Saber glowed with fiery light. As the light flashed, amplified by two Sharp Spirit Runes, his own qi and blood mingled with Amber's. He unleashed a more powerful and swifter strike than usual, hacking down fiercely.

A dull thud, followed by the gush of blood. Two crimson eyes flew out with the severed head, dimming completely before they even hit the ground.

After being poisoned, the Xuanwu Sect cultivators, acting purely on instinct, had their strength greatly diminished. Their reaction speed was also much slower than before. They were utterly unable to dodge Lu Ye's turning strike.

Having slain a strong enemy with a single strike, Lu Ye was unstoppable. He crashed directly into the remaining three enemies. While nimbly evading their attacks, the Mountain Crusher Saber struck another enemy's head.

Another head flew off, and the headless corpse stumbled to the ground.

Just as he was about to kill the third person, Lu Ye was struck by a powerful force in his waist and abdomen, sending him sliding back over ten zhang.

Shen Xiaomao's battlefield was nearby. This woman wielded a colorful ribbon, twirling it dazzlingly, spirit light flashing and sending nearby enemies flying with skillful force. However, both she and her enemies were affected by the potent poison, making it difficult for either side to exert even half their strength. Furthermore, her type of spiritual artifact was ill-suited for killing enemies like the Xuanwu Sect cultivators; at most, it could only provide some binding effects.

Seeing Lu Ye appear not far from her, Shen Xiaomao's eyes lit up. With a flick of her colorful ribbon, she ensnared a nearby enemy. A tremor of her wrist sent the ribbon soaring, tossing the ensnared enemy directly towards Lu Ye.

Lu Ye had just stopped his backward slide. Seeing this, he immediately understood Shen Xiaomao's intention. He instantly brought his saber down; blood splattered, and a head flew off.

"Come!" Lu Ye growled, and charged towards Shen Xiaomao's position.

Though they had no detailed communication, they seemed to have a telepathic understanding, perceiving each other's intentions.

The colorful ribbon danced with increasing agility, ensnaring another person and binding them tightly in place. Lu Ye rushed past, his saber flashing. He brushed past Shen Xiaomao without looking back, engaging an enemy who had attacked her from behind.

Their figures constantly crisscrossed and maneuvered, as enemies ensnared by the ribbon were periodically delivered to Lu Ye.

Moments later, Lu Ye stood, saber in hand, breathing softly. Crimson blood dripped down the blade of the Mountain Crusher Saber. Beside him, Shen Xiaomao's face was covered in a greenish hue, and her eyes were filled with the relief of surviving a close call.

Through this cooperation, their enemies were swiftly eliminated.

Without stopping, they rushed towards the nearest battlefield! Upon arriving, they realized it was where the body cultivator of their team was fighting.

This body cultivator was quite strong, having reached the seventh layer of the Cloud River Realm. He was currently holding his spiritual artifact greatshield, fending off the enemies' frantic assault.

Like Shen Xiaomao, the body cultivator's skin was also covered in a greenish glow, a sign of poisoning.

However, he was strong and robust, with abundant qi and blood, so his symptoms were less severe than Shen Xiaomao's. An enemy corpse lay near him, seemingly slain by him alone. Thus, even if Lu Ye and Shen Xiaomao hadn't come to assist, he could have persevered.

The colorful ribbon danced, the long saber descended. Lu Ye and Shen Xiaomao charged into the enemy crowd, and the body cultivator seized the opportunity to counterattack.

Moments later, several mangled corpses were left on the ground, and the three figures charged towards the next battlefield...

Like a snowball rolling downhill, as more Xuanwu Sect cultivators were slain, their side's advantage grew increasingly, until the scattered group reunited.

Everyone was in a terrible state. Being poisoned was one aspect, but almost everyone had sustained injuries from previous encounters with the enemy, even the most powerful, the Grand Elder and Xia Qianqian, were no exception.

Furthermore, as time passed, their poisoning symptoms gradually worsened. Although everyone had swallowed antidote pills, in this confined environment, the effects of the Myriad Poison Pill were undoubtedly maximized. In another place, even if Lu Ye had activated the Myriad Poison Pill's power, it might not have been so potent. At the very least, a few Cloud River Realm ninth-layer cultivators wouldn't have been put in such a dire state.

By this point, the previously dense poisonous mist had slowly begun to thin.

Xia Qianqian suddenly showed surprise in her eyes and looked towards Lu Ye, because she noticed that Lu Ye showed no signs of poisoning.

With everyone gathered, it was clear at a glance who was poisoned and who wasn't. Those who were poisoned were covered in a very noticeable greenish glow. Only Lu Ye's spiritual light was clear. Not only was he not poisoned, but even Amber, who had been perched on his shoulder, was also unaffected. This was because Lu Ye had continuously channeled spiritual power to protect her.

What puzzled Xia Qianqian even more was, who created this poisonous mist? She had been wondering about this during the battle. Initially, when the poisonous mist erupted, she thought it was a tactic by Xuanwu Sect cultivators or the insectoids. But when even the Xuanwu Sect cultivators were affected by the mist, she realized it wasn't an enemy tactic, but one of their own.

Now seeing Lu Ye show no signs of poisoning, Xia Qianqian had a vague suspicion: only someone immune to poison would create such a mist!

This method was too insidious, completely indiscriminate against both friend and foe. However, it was fortunate to have this method. Otherwise, if the situation had continued to develop as before, their group would have been annihilated sooner or later. Although they were in a sorry state now, at least they wouldn't die for the time being. As long as they could escape in time and recover slowly, they would be fine.

At this very moment, in the center of the insect lair, Zhou Hai and Pang Dahai were jointly attacking Niu Meng, the leader of the Xuanwu Sect. However, the situation was far from optimistic. Both Pang Dahai and Zhou Hai were covered in wounds. One of Pang Dahai's arms hung limply by his side, completely unable to be raised; it seemed to be broken.

One of Zhou Hai's legs was also unnaturally twisted.

In contrast, Niu Meng, who was being attacked by the two, had no injuries whatsoever. Although his expression was dull, the ruthlessness and ferocity in his eyes remained undiminished. His attacks were simple and monotonous, yet extremely vicious. Even a casual punch or kick could exert immense pressure on Zhou Hai and Pang Dahai.

Despite all being at the ninth layer of the Cloud River Realm, Niu Meng's strength was significantly greater than Zhou Hai's and Pang Dahai's. Furthermore, he was under the parasitic control of the insectoids. This was clearly abnormal.

What concerned Lu Ye even more was that Niu Meng had no injuries on his entire body. If he remembered correctly, Zhou Hai should have already injured Niu Meng when he first appeared.

However, Lu Ye soon understood why. Zhou Hai launched a flying sword that struck Niu Meng's arm, leaving a wound so deep that bone was visible. Yet, the wound astonishingly wriggled and healed rapidly!

This sight made everyone's eyelids twitch. No one had ever witnessed such terrifying regenerative abilities. Such recovery power defied all reason.

"His vitality..." Xia Qianqian suddenly whispered, dimly realizing, "He is the core of the insect lair!"

Every insect lair had its own core. The simplest and most effective way for cultivators to destroy an insect lair was to destroy its core, because the core contained an enormous amount of vitality, and even something like a vitality core. Without destroying the core, the lair could continuously spawn insectoids. Only by destroying the core would the lair wither and lose its ability to produce insectoids.

The core of an insect lair was usually located in the central fleshy sac.

However, here, Niu Meng had emerged from the core fleshy sac! So even if that core fleshy sac was gone, the insect lair was still not destroyed.

Everyone had previously felt the surging vitality within Niu Meng. It was not something a Cloud River Realm cultivator could possess.

Xia Qianqian's words finally made everyone realize: the reason Niu Meng possessed such immense vitality was because he was the core of the insect lair.

With such exaggerated vitality, it was only natural for his body to heal instantly upon injury.

If Niu Meng was indeed the core of the insect lair, then they were in serious trouble.

Because if they wanted to escape this place alive, they had to kill Niu Meng first. Otherwise, in this enclosed insect lair, they would have no way to escape.

But how could they kill an enemy who could instantly heal from injuries? Unless they could decapitate him, they would have to slowly deplete his vitality.

The only thing to be thankful for was that Niu Meng's body was also covered in a greenish hue; he was also poisoned. And the strength he displayed now was considerably weaker than what he had shown initially.

Clearly, the potent poison had a significant impact on him.

"I'll go help!" the seventh-layer body cultivator said, and charged forward with his spiritual artifact greatshield.

The Grand Elder also followed closely without a word.

The remaining people did not dare to advance recklessly. Compared to body cultivators, the physiques of weapon cultivators and spell cultivators were undoubtedly much more fragile. Everyone had witnessed Niu Meng's terrifying destructive power previously. If he landed a kick or a punch, none of the remaining individuals would be able to withstand it.