Chapter 264: I'll Be Quick

Inside the room, Chen Luo finished his cultivation session and retrieved the Silver Centipede and Black Beetle from his Pest Control Pouch. The three insects and two Gu crawled onto the table.

These three insects were Wang Cangxiao’s trump cards. Chen Luo had previously used the Soul-Parasitic Gu on the Silver Centipede, discovering its incredible speed and remarkably durable body. Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators would struggle to harm it. Its only weakness was extreme cold, which drastically reduced its speed and potency. Chen Luo had learned all this through the refinement process.

The Black Beetle differed significantly from the Silver Centipede. Wang Cangxiao had only nurtured a single specimen. While not as fast as the Silver Centipede, its shell was incredibly tough. Chen Luo had once struck it with a Second-Tier Magic Sword, leaving not even a scratch. Lacking both venom and agility, its sole defining trait was its exceptional hardness.

Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators were powerless against it. Were it not for its lack of speed, the Black Beetle would have ranked even higher on the Strange Insect Ranking.

Chen Luo had taken these creatures out because he had noticed them fighting inside the Pest Control Pouch.

Back on Gu Demon Mountain, Lord Sun, who had pledged allegiance to Chen Luo, gifted him a rare insect egg. Chen Luo had kept the egg in his Pest Control Pouch, but recently, when he remembered it and tried to refine it, he discovered it had vanished.

The Three Insects and Two Gu had devoured the entire egg. Unsatisfied, they turned on each other, each vying to devour the others.

When Chen Luo discovered the scene, one of the Silver Centipedes had already lost several legs. The Black Beetle, head buried in the feast, gorged itself mindlessly, oblivious to the ongoing brawl. However, the Soul-Parasitic Gu truly held the upper hand.

This creature could siphon the strength of any host it parasitized. Despite the Ironclad Beetle’s voracious appetite, most of its energy was being siphoned into the Soul-Parasitic Gu’s belly. The Life-Stealing Mite was even more insidious. It lay motionless, passively drawing a portion of the energy consumed by the Ironclad Beetle into its own body.

Though the Ironclad Beetle appeared dominant, it only retained ten percent of the energy it consumed, with the remaining ninety percent stolen by the Soul-Parasitic Gu and the Life-Stealing Mite. The most unfortunate were the Silver Centipedes, trapped at the bottom of the food chain within the Pest Control Pouch. They gnawed relentlessly at the Ironclad Beetle’s armored hide, unable to pierce its defenses, let alone reach the Gu Insects—a truly humiliating ordeal.

“Though Gu insects are said to share a common origin, there’s good reason these two rank so highly on the Strange Insect Ranking.”

Chen Luo gazed at the five Miraculous Insects he had retrieved. The Silver Centipede among them looked particularly feeble, currently emitting frosty white mist to regenerate its body.

The Life-Stealing Mite can borrow life force to enhance cultivation—nothing in heaven or earth is beyond its reach!

The Immortal Sect Ancestor’s teachings resurfaced in Chen Luo’s mind. As a Core Formation cultivator, the ancestor had extensively researched the Life-Stealing Mite during his lifetime. The very mite in Chen Luo’s possession was the one refined by the ancestor himself.

Alas, the balance of yin and yang in the universe dictates that all borrowing must be repaid. Whatever you take today, you must return in full later. Failure to do so will cost you your own life, forfeit to the mite.

The Life-Stealing Mite had been the Immortal Sect Ancestor’s greatest trump card. It was this Miraculous Gu that allowed him to single-handedly suppress both the Corpse-Raising Sect and Nine Poisons Valley across the Seven Kingdoms. The Valley Master of Nine Poisons Valley had long coveted the mite, yet hesitated to use it. The price of using the Life-Stealing Mite was too steep. The Immortal Sect Ancestor’s lifespan had been comparable to theirs, yet he had met his demise prematurely due to overuse of the mite.

For cultivators with dwindling lifespans, the Life-Stealing Mite was nothing short of lethal poison!

While it’s true that what’s borrowed must be repaid, the Life-Stealing Mite takes ten percent of the borrowed lifespan as its fee. The more frequently it’s used, the more lifespan it claims, hence its ominous name.

Chen Luo picked up the Life-Stealing Mite and the Soul-Parasitic Gu.

The two Gu Insects hovered in his palm, encircled by a faint white halo.

“Perhaps I should try the Demonic Heart Art,” Chen Luo mused, recalling Gu Demon Khan Jiu’s method. The unique powers of these Gu Insects made them ideal for integration with his magical arts, allowing him to “parasitize souls” and “steal life” during combat. The Demonic Heart Art seemed perfectly suited for this.

After storing the Gu Insects, Chen Luo turned his attention to the Ironclad Beetle still struggling nearby. He grabbed it, enveloped it in spiritual energy to seal it, and tossed it into his Pest Control Pouch. This seal was only temporary; the beetle would eventually devour the Restriction, requiring him to reapply it.

The night passed uneventfully.

As dawn broke, the wooden Whale Flying Boat left the territory of the giant flower and accelerated forward. Ahead lay the first perilous location Zhao Long had warned about: the Bridge of Helplessness.

Boom!!

A muffled explosion shook the air, and the Flying Boat’s protective barrier flared to life once more.

Chen Luo stowed his Medicinal Cauldron and stepped out of the Cultivation Chamber.

The moment Chen Luo stepped outside, he sensed powerful surges of magical energy. Boulder Peak Master, who had previously slain the Peak Master of Heart Sword Peak, was locked in a fierce battle with three black-clothed men. Though each of the men was at the Late Foundation Establishment stage and individually weaker than Boulder Peak Master, their minds were interconnected, and they employed a coordinated attack technique that allowed them to hold their own, creating a stalemate.

“Qiong Hua Sect disciples are forbidden from infighting! Boulder, you have murdered the Peak Master of Heart Sword Peak! Surrender immediately!”

“You three trash dare covet the Primordial Essence Stone? You’re practically begging for death!” Boulder Peak Master conjured a pitch-black boulder in his palm.

The moment the stone materialized, the surrounding temperature skyrocketed.

The three black-clothed men swiftly gathered together, seated themselves cross-legged, and each summoned a Magic Artifact: a sword, a leaf, and a bell. These three artifacts fused into a black umbrella. As soon as it formed, the umbrella began to spin, its canopy unfurling to reveal a red-clad female ghost beneath.

The trio were Soul Cultivators.

Boulder Peak Master snarled, his stone glowing dark crimson and radiating waves of intense heat. The Red-Clothed Female Ghost opened her mouth and exhaled a blast of icy frost.

The opposing forces of heat and frost collided, unleashing a violent, swirling vortex.

The Flying Boat’s protective barrier instantly lit up, a shield capable of withstanding attacks from Core Formation cultivators. Naturally, it wouldn’t be breached by a battle of this level.

The two forces remained locked in a stalemate for a moment, but the Boulder Peak Master’s Fire Technique grew steadily stronger. The stone in his hand continuously amplified its power, while the Red-Clothed Female Ghost summoned by the three brothers possessed no such advantage.

Realizing their disadvantage, the three brothers’ expressions shifted slightly.

The eldest brother extended his left hand and formed a hand seal. A gray character flashed at his fingertip. The bell hanging from the handle of the Red-Clothed Female Ghost’s umbrella began to shake violently, emitting concentric rings of sound waves that carried a disruptive divine soul attack designed to unsettle minds.

The Boulder Peak Master frowned slightly, tightening his grip on the stone, which glowed even brighter. The scorching flames radiating from it raised the temperature above the Flying Boat to unbearable levels.

They were about to enter the first dangerous zone. They had to end this confrontation before then, or the situation would spiral out of control. These were all Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Qiong Hua Sect, and they were naturally aware of everything Zhao Long knew.

“Fallen Sun!”

The Boulder Peak Master twisted his fingers around the stone. His previously dominant Fire Technique surged in intensity, transforming into a spherical ball of flame that shot forward. The Red-Clothed Female Ghost’s frigid aura could no longer hold back the advancing fire. She could only watch helplessly as the engulfing flames surged toward her.

Boom!!

A thunderous explosion erupted, sparks flying in all directions like a dense, fiery rain that pelted everyone on the Flying Boat. The old man acted recklessly, with utter disregard for anyone present.

“Even dying old geezers are this unhinged… hmm?”

Chen Luo’s expression froze. He sensed his Treasure-Seeking Rat stirring excitedly inside his Beast Taming Pouch, as if it had caught the scent of treasure. This discovery transformed his face into an inscrutable mask.

I just wanted to be a decent person…

The searing heat surged forward. A semi-transparent barrier of Spiritual Energy materialized around Chen Luo, effortlessly absorbing the flying sparks.

The intense heat raised the Whale Flying Boat’s surface temperature by several degrees. The frost that had accumulated during their ascent of Ten Thousand Demon Mountain melted completely, droplets cascading from its stern.

Squelch!

Seizing a brief opening, the Boulder Peak Master, now firmly in control, swiftly killed one of his opponents. His five fingers pierced through the man’s heart as scorching flames enveloped his arm, instantly reducing the foremost fighter to ashes.

“Big brother!”

With one brother dead, the trio’s coordinated formation instantly crumbled. The remaining two barely managed to resist before the Boulder Peak Master, using the black stone in his hand, ruthlessly slaughtered them.

His killing was swift and efficient, the corpses incinerated without a trace. Clearly, this was the work of a seasoned Old Demon, well-versed in combat.

All eyes turned to the black stone in the Boulder Peak Master’s hand. The artifact radiated power, its role in his swift victory undeniable.

“Useless trash!” the Boulder Peak Master snarled, using his Spiritual Energy to snatch the trio’s Pouches of Holding. He then swept his Divine Sense across the crowd without restraint. Everyone instinctively averted their gaze except Chen Luo.

Crack!

As the Boulder Peak Master’s Spiritual Energy reached the Black Umbrella Artifact, a foot suddenly stomped down on it.

“This is mine now,” Chen Luo declared.

With a casual gesture, he snatched the Black Umbrella Artifact right from under the Boulder Peak Master’s nose. The red-clad woman trapped inside, sensing Chen Luo’s aura, didn’t dare to materialize.

Chen Luo had no interest in the broken artifact itself. What intrigued him was the Red-Clothed Female Ghost trapped inside—another prime soul for his Soul Banner.

“Very well,” Chen Luo acknowledged.

The Boulder Peak Master glared at Chen Luo, his Spiritual Energy surging around him. Just when everyone expected him to strike, he retreated.

This old fox might appear brazen, but he knew precisely who he could afford to provoke and who he couldn’t.

“Give me the stone in your hand, and everything else you plundered last night.”

Having already made his move, Chen Luo abandoned any pretense of civility.

Without the Treasure-Seeking Rat’s warning, he might have remained a passive observer. But now that he had discovered such a valuable treasure and held a clear advantage, backing down would be unforgivable.

The old man had gotten away with countless murders; two more shouldn’t raise any eyebrows. Besides, his mind seemed sharp enough—perfect for replacing Chen Luo’s own damaged brain.

“Fellow Daoist, consider this carefully. We’re approaching the Bridge of Helplessness. Attacking me now could drag us all into the abyss.”

The Boulder Peak Master’s apprehension deepened.

Though Chen Luo hadn’t yet attacked, the aura of danger emanating from him was unmistakable. While both were Great Cultivators of the Perfected Realm, those with a Core Formation Seed were in a different league from those without.

“Don’t worry, this will be quick.”

Chen Luo grinned, a sliver of silver light materializing in his palm.