These days, Chu Xuan often communicated with Chen Xi, observing the gu insects it produced.
He discovered that the combat capabilities of all the gu insects now born from Chen Xi had surged to a new level. As soon as they hatched, they already possessed the combat strength of mid-stage third-tier creatures.
After experiencing a battle or two, they could even reach the late third-tier. Even if injured, as long as it wasn't life-threatening, they could return to the Myriad Insects Nest and heal quickly, ready to fight again.
As long as the blood honey was sufficient, these gu insects would continuously engage in battle. The longer the drawn-out and prolonged battles lasted, the more advantageous they became.
Chu Xuan was extremely pleased with this outcome. With the Blood Queen transforming into the Sunfire Insect Mother, and the Blood Bee Nest expanding into the Myriad Insects Nest, his strength had once again grown. How could he not be happy?
...
On Desolate Island, this day, Chu Xuan was leisurely flipping through the talisman classics in his shop as usual when he suddenly felt the ground faintly tremble.
Both he and the cultivators in the shop were unfazed. Such tremors had occurred numerous times over the past month. When it first happened, Chu Xuan immediately packed up the talismans and pills, boarded his flying boat, and fled. Many other cultivators had similar thoughts.
However, after traveling some distance from Desolate Island, they found nothing out of the ordinary. So, the cultivators eventually returned to the island.
After several instances of such occurrences, no one paid it much attention anymore. But in the last few days, Chu Xuan couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. He couldn't put his finger on it, but his eyelids kept twitching.
With his current strength, even if he were to encounter Moon, Yellow Spring, or White Bone, it wouldn't matter. Even if he couldn't win, he could always escape.
He couldn't imagine what could possibly pose a threat to him on Desolate Island.
Boom!
The ground trembled again.
The cultivators in the shop reacted as usual, continuing to select talismans. But Chu Xuan furrowed his brows, standing up.
Two tremors in such a short time felt very odd. This had never happened so frequently before. Could it be that something major was happening? After a moment of thought, he decided it was better to be cautious.
"Close the shop for the day."
With a wave of his hand, Chu Xuan dismissed the cultivators, quickly packed up all the talismans and pills, locked up the shop, and turned to leave.
He arrived at the edge of Desolate Island, took out his flying boat, and prepared to depart. This time, only a few cultivators shared the same thought as him.
"Master Liu?" A voice came from not far away. "What a coincidence, you're leaving too?"
Chu Xuan smiled lightly. "A wise man doesn't stand beneath a dangerous wall. It's better to be cautious."
Zhao Kongming nodded in agreement. "I too have a strange sense of danger. The frequency of these tremors today is too high; we should indeed leave."
The two of them steered their flying boats away from Desolate Island. But at that moment, a violent tremor erupted from deep within Desolate Island. A terrifying roar shook the very heavens and earth!
Boom!
The volcanoes on Desolate Island erupted all at once—twenty-three of them!
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In an instant, black smoke enveloped the sky. Lava was hurled into the air and rained down like a torrential downpour!
For a moment, the entire Desolate Island appeared as if it had turned into a hellish landscape!
The screams of cultivators echoed from all directions.
Zhao Kongming gaped in shock. "Good thing we left quickly!"
Chu Xuan nodded, about to speak, when suddenly, a muffled explosion came from beneath Desolate Island.
The next moment, the ground began to collapse on a massive scale!
Crack, crack!
Hills, rivers, forests, houses—everything began to fall into the earth.
Even more terrifying, a tremendous sucking force began to emerge from deep beneath the ground.
It was like a black hole, pulling everything around Desolate Island toward it.
The cultivators closest to the center of the island had no chance to resist; they were sucked in without a fight.
Those on flying magic treasures, attempting to escape, couldn't withstand the force either.
Chu Xuan saw White Bone True Master, who had already fled, desperately trying to resist the suction. But he too was gradually being drawn into the earth.
Chu Xuan and Zhao Kongming both felt the overwhelming force pulling them in.
Their faces changed drastically. Without hesitation, they both used escape techniques, speeding away.
Chu Xuan didn't waste a second and immediately expelled a mouthful of Nascent Soul essence. But even the seawater itself was being drawn in by the immense force.
Before such an enormous and formidable power, even Deity Transformation cultivators were helpless, let alone Nascent Soul or Golden Core cultivators.
Chu Xuan did everything he could, yet still could not resist the massive pull. Before long, he was engulfed by the ocean, sucked into the earth. His conscious mind slowly began to be swallowed by the wildly spinning vortex.
"Damn it, I should have turned and run earlier…"
Before losing consciousness, the only thing Chu Xuan could do was summon Long and Hu, urging them to hold tightly to him.
He needed them to protect him, in case he fell unconscious and was ambushed by others, meeting his end in his sleep.
...
The sound of water echoed around.
Chilly drops of water fell on Chu Xuan's cheek. He jolted awake, his eyes snapping open. His senses immediately went on high alert as he scanned his surroundings.
The environment here was damp and cold. All around, there were broken bricks and shattered tiles, the remnants of some long-forgotten structure. The ground was thick with lush, green moss, and further away, there were several half-decomposed corpses. Some looked like they had been dead for a long time, while others had only just perished.
Chu Xuan raised his head and was met with the sight of a towering, iron-like black shadow standing beside him. It gave off an overwhelming sense of safety.
"Master, you're awake?" a familiar deep voice rumbled.
Chu Xuan's heart relaxed slightly.
As expected, Hu had remained by his side.
With such a formidable Level Eight Corpse King guarding him, unless he encountered a Deity Transformation cultivator or a Deity Transformation-level demonic beast, it was highly unlikely that anything would go wrong. After all, there were so few such beings, and it was unlikely he would encounter one so easily.
However, he was puzzled. Before losing consciousness, he had summoned both Long and Hu from the Heavenly Corpse Tower. Why was only Hu here now? Where was Long?
Chu Xuan immediately inquired about the situation.
Hu scratched its head in its usual awkward manner. "Master, as we were being sucked into this place, Long got struck by a huge boulder and disappeared. I don't know where it went. You were unconscious, so I stayed here and didn't move. There were two cultivators who wanted to kill you and steal your treasures, but I crushed them. They're over there."
Hu scratched its head again, looking a bit embarrassed. "I was a little hungry, so I had a few bites. But don't worry, I didn't eat too much. I was afraid it would make me lazy and slack off in protecting you."
Chu Xuan couldn't help but laugh. "It's fine, I know you're hungry. It's no big deal that you ate them."
Hu's face lit up with joy. "Thank you, Master!"
Without waiting for another word, it immediately bent down and began devouring the two Golden Core cultivators it had killed.
In no time at all, there was nothing left but the tattered remnants of their clothes. It was as if they'd never existed.
"Always with the 'clean plate' mentality, no wasting," Chu Xuan thought, shaking his head in amusement.
Looking up, he found nothing but darkness. The rocky ceiling loomed overhead, an oppressive void that swallowed any light.
It was clear that they had been swept into a deeper, darker section of the cave by the water.
What confused Chu Xuan even more, however, was when he attempted to extend his spiritual sense. To his shock, it was intensely suppressed.
His spiritual sense was crushed by an overwhelming force.
He instinctively turned his gaze toward the surrounding rock walls and marveled aloud, "Nether stone... everywhere. No wonder the spiritual sense is so heavily suppressed."
He tested further and found that not only was his spiritual sense hindered, but his Spiritual Qi was also being suppressed.
He quickly gathered his Ice God Pillar, only to find that it was only one-tenth of its usual size, yet the Spiritual Qi consumption was greater than ever.
"This place is a problem!" Chu Xuan's expression shifted to one of surprise.
But then, after a brief moment of astonishment, his mood changed to one of excitement.
The suppression of Spiritual Qi and spiritual sense here might actually be an advantage for him.
After all, his Qi cultivation was still only at the Nascent Soul Ninth Layer.
But his body cultivation was at the Forty-Second Layer!