Chapter 2456: Capturing the Bloodworm Beast

"Thank you for your help, fellow Daoists. I apologize for interrupting your hunt for demonic beasts." Duan Tongtian said courteously, his eyes scanning the demonic beast corpses in the valley. Wang Qingshan and the others must have been hunting, but hadn't succeeded. Duan Tongtian wondered if his arrival had interfered.

"It was nothing. By the way, fellow Daoist, have you ever encountered a Blood Earthworm Beast?" Wang Qingshan asked sincerely.

"A Blood Earthworm Beast? About three million li to the west of here, I once encountered one. You might try your luck there." Duan Tongtian suggested.

"Thank you, we're leaving." Wang Qingshan said his thanks and flew westward, followed closely by Wang Yingjie and Lan Fukong. Soon, the three vanished into the sky.

"A Blood Earthworm Beast? Are they trying to refine a sixth-tier demonic core to replenish qi and blood? Who could be injured?" Duan Tongtian furrowed his brow, his mind immediately going to Dong Xueli. The inner core of a Blood Earthworm Beast could be refined into elixirs that replenished qi and blood, offering excellent healing properties. However, these beasts were naturally timid; the slightest disturbance would send them fleeing, making them incredibly difficult to capture. Wang Qingshan’s specific journey to Zhulong Mountain to find one clearly indicated that the Wang family was in pursuit of a Blood Earthworm Beast.

Duan Tongtian collected the giant red pigeon's corpse and then descended into the ground.

They arrived at a vast, dense black forest. Numerous black trees grew within it; these trees were leafless, their surfaces pockmarked with holes as if gnawed by insects. The ground was dotted with puddles, and a light green miasma permeated the air above the forest.

Wang Qingshan, Lan Fukong, and Wang Yingjie hovered above the forest, their expressions somber. "This should be the place," Wang Qingshan stated gravely. "I hope we can find a sixth-tier Blood Earthworm Beast this time."

Wang Yingjie produced a green cloth bag and chanted an incantation into it. The bag immediately emitted a stream of green light, from which a group of yellowish-brown boars emerged. Most were fourth-tier, and still alive.

Lan Fukong gently shook the green whisk in his hand. The whisk suddenly expanded, sending countless fine green threads shooting forth. These threads effortlessly pierced the boars' bodies, killing them instantly. As the green threads retracted, the boars collapsed to the ground, bleeding profusely.

Wang Qingshan and his companions landed in a clearing. He then produced a white bone fan and fanned it gently, causing a vast white mist to sweep out and envelop their bodies. A moment later, the mist dissipated, and the three had disappeared.

Occasionally, demonic insects and beasts were drawn by the scent of blood. As they approached within a hundred zhang of the boars' corpses, slender green threads suddenly shot out from the air, piercing their bodies and intensifying the bloody aroma.

Over two months later, the demonic beast corpses had severely decomposed, crawling with maggots. Blood stained the ground, and many more demonic beast carcasses were now visible.

A sharp, piercing shriek echoed from above. A dozen golden-winged vultures appeared in the sky, circling briefly before plummeting downwards with exceptional speed.

Just as they neared the demonic beast corpses, the ground violently shook. A blood-red earthworm, eyeless and possessing only a gaping maw, its body adorned with yellow spirit patterns, burst from the earth. It was indeed a Blood Earthworm Beast.

The moment the Blood Earthworm Beast surfaced, it opened its gaping maw and spewed a pungent, bloody poisonous mist directly at the golden-winged vultures.

The golden-winged vultures shrieked in agony as the bloody mist touched them, their bodies visibly melting into puddles of blood, which the Blood Earthworm Beast then devoured.

The Blood Earthworm Beast then opened its gaping maw, inhaled sharply, and sucked all the demonic beast corpses into its mouth and stomach.

Almost simultaneously, the void vibrated and warped, as countless five-colored spiritual lights coalesced, suddenly forming a mountain-sized, five-colored hand that slammed down.

The Blood Earthworm Beast swiftly spewed a stream of bloody spiritual light. As the five-colored hand met the bloody light, green smoke billowed, and its descent abruptly slowed.

Seizing the moment, the Blood Earthworm Beast burrowed underground.

The ground suddenly glowed with dazzling yellow light, which swiftly turned grey-white. The Blood Earthworm Beast was initially blocked, but moments later, the yellow spirit patterns on its body flared intensely, and it rapidly burrowed deeper underground.

Following a thunderous roar, the ground abruptly cracked open, sending dust flying. The Blood Earthworm Beast's path was blocked by a misty yellow light barrier.

The five-colored hand suddenly flared with brilliance, the bloody spiritual light instantly dissipated, and the five-colored hand slammed down.

The Blood Earthworm Beast unleashed a thick pillar of bloody light, which pierced through the five-colored hand.

A deafening thunderclap ripped through the sky as a massive golden thundercloud suddenly appeared overhead, flashing with lightning and roaring with thunder. Hundreds of thick golden lightning bolts rent the heavens, descending directly upon the Blood Earthworm Beast.

The Blood Earthworm Beast's body erupted with blinding bloody light, deflecting all the golden lightning bolts. Simultaneously, a sky full of sword light descended, threatening to hack it into pieces.

Lan Fukong conjured a green long-handled spear, which transformed into a streak of green light, slashing towards the Blood Earthworm Beast.

A streak of bloody light shot skyward, manifesting as a colossal, spectral image of a blood-red earthworm. The moment it appeared, the spectral image immediately spewed forth a bloody light to counter the myriad sword lights and the green streak.

Lan Fukong performed a hand seal, and the green streak's light suddenly intensified, allowing it to evade the bloody light. However, when the sword light contacted the bloody light, it instantly erupted in puffs of green smoke and completely dispersed.

Wang Yingjie directly summoned his Dharma Idol. The five-colored giant's spectral image gently clapped its hands towards the void, causing ripples above the earthworm's spectral image. Two mountain-sized, five-colored hands then materialized and clapped down on the earthworm's spectral image.

The earthworm's spectral image spewed a thick stream of bloody flames, blocking the two five-colored hands.

After a tremendous impact, the five-colored hands and the bloody flames negated each other.

Nine gleaming green flying swords shot forward, suddenly coalescing into a single, misty green sky-piercing giant sword. The sword's blade was wreathed in green flames, carrying astonishing heat as it slashed towards the earthworm's spectral image.

Just as the Blood Earthworm Beast was about to cast a defensive spell, the five-colored giant's spectral image let out a thunderous roar. The void vibrated and warped, and long, rough cracks appeared.

The sky-piercing giant sword struck the earthworm's spectral image, slicing it in two. The image then dissolved into specks of spiritual light and vanished.

With its Dharma Idol shattered, the Blood Earthworm Beast let out a mournful shriek, its massive body writhing uncontrollably.

Countless green threads descended from above, striking the Blood Earthworm Beast repeatedly with dull "ding-ding" thuds.

The void rippled, and a colossal hand shimmering with five-colored spiritual light materialized, striking the Blood Earthworm Beast.

The Blood Earthworm Beast shrieked continuously, its body twisting without cease.

The sky-piercing giant sword then slashed its body, immediately opening a long, thick bloody gash from which blood flowed ceaselessly. A stream of green flames spread along the giant sword, engulfing most of the Blood Earthworm Beast's body.

The golden thundercloud high above churned violently, and hundreds of golden lightning bolts continuously struck the Blood Earthworm Beast.

A series of thunderous explosions erupted, and the Blood Earthworm Beast was engulfed by dazzling spiritual light.

A quarter of an hour later, the spiritual light dissipated. Most of the Blood Earthworm Beast's body was charred black, and its aura was weak; it was not yet dead but severely wounded.

Lan Fukong was about to move in for the kill, but Wang Qingshan stopped him. "Wait, fellow Daoist Lan," he interjected, "I want the Blood Earthworm Beast alive."

Wang Qingshan then conjured a small tower that shimmered with green light. It emitted a stream of green radiance, drawing the Blood Earthworm Beast into it.

The dense forest had been reduced to scorched earth. They left the area to find another suitable location for an ambush.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Duan Tongtian emerged from underground, a thoughtful expression on his face. "A live Blood Earthworm Beast?" he murmured to himself. It seemed the Wang family had a significant use for the Blood Earthworm Beast, and the higher its cultivation level, the better.

He then transformed into a streak of light and departed.