Two shadows zapped through the sky as the heads of the beasts turned. It was too late, the two had disappeared into thin air.
Did something fly past? Was it a flying beast?
The dumb beasts scratched their heads in puzzlement and forgot about the matter a short while alter. They lowered their heads and continued to trace the origin of the scent and aura. Soon, they stopped before the entrance to the Heavenly Lands.
Weird, why did the strange aura disappear all of a sudden there?
Dissatisfied, the beasts took another step forward and were confused at the sudden disappearance of the aura. The beasts c.o.c.ked their head to one side and decided that the two unidentified people must have left. Otherwise, why would their scents disappear?
At that point, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan were already a few hundred meters into the depths of the Heavenly Lands.
At first, they had thought that there were only beasts surrounding the Heavenly Lands and they hadn"t expected that there would be so many beasts inside. No wonder the beasts could launch a major attack so often. Their numbers were not diminis.h.i.+ng at all. With such a large number of beasts left, it would require more than a few more major battles to eliminate them once and for all.
Thankfully, vision was obstructed in the Heavenly Lands and they could not see anything past five hundred meters from them. Otherwise, the two would be in severe danger being surrounded by so many beasts.
Sharpening their senses, and heightening their alert level, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan expertly avoided the beasts in the Heavenly Lands and found a place where the Female Worm was likely to reside.
Occasionally, a beast would spot them but before it could warn its fellow comrades, the two would kill it at lightning speed.
“The Heavenly Lands are so large. When are we going to be able to find the Female Worm?” Gu Lingzhi asked worriedly. The longer they stayed in the Heavenly Lands, the more danger the Spirit City was in. This was also the reason why they could not wait for Pan Wen and Xiao Yu to reach the Heavenly Lands.
“Don"t worry. We will find her eventually if we try.” Rong Yuan"s soft voice comforted her.
By then, the beasts still had not noticed the two infiltrators and they carried out their normal business.
Suddenly, Rong Yuan reached out in a flash and stopped Gu Lingzhi. He stared closely at a group of beats not far away.
Unlike the way other groups of beasts acted, this particular group seemed to be controlled by a leader and they were headed towards the exit of the Heavenly Lands.
This… was this a group of beasts controlled by the Female Worm?
Gu Lingzhi jumped in surprise and she looked at Rong Yuan in antic.i.p.ation. If the offspring was there, was the Female Worm not far away?
“Let"s take a closer look.” Rong Yuan whispered to Gu Lingzhi.
There were many beasts that were controlled by the Female Worm and there seemed to be no end to the number of beasts in the group. Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan could only trail after the group and pray not to get caught. As they walked, a strange sense overwhelmed Gu Lingzhi. Before she could pinpoint it, Rong Yuan guessed, “This seems to be the direction towards the Spiritual Origin. The deep danger that Xiao Yu mentioned in her story was located at the deepest point of the Heavenly Lands. Could the Female Worm be residing in the Spiritual Origin?”
Gu Lingzhi"s eyes brightened. Rong Yuan"s guess was possible. Without further delay, the two continued to stalk the group of beasts to head towards the Spiritual Origin.
Back when she was with Wei Lingshu and the rest, they used close to five days before they reached the middle of the Spiritual Origin. However, this time, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan reached the Spiritual Origin within two days. They escaped a few close calls of being caught by the beasts by escaping into the Inheritance s.p.a.ce.
The closer they got to the middle of the Heavenly Lands, the less number of beasts there were.
If not for the strong aura that came from the Spiritual Origin, Gu Lingzhi would have questioned her decision to follow the group. However, as they neared the center, two dark and blurry figures started to appear and this rea.s.sured Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan that they were right.
Two females that had a slight humanlike appearance stood out from the group of beasts. They had a light blue skin tone and long, skinny legs that seemed to be insect legs.
The blue light that flashed from the core of the Heavenly Lands that Gu Lingzhi witnessed before seemed to be a large coc.o.o.n that was surrounded by the Spiritual Origin. As the energy from the Spiritual Origin drifted, the entire body seemed to breathe along with it.
“That should be the Mother Worm.” Rong Yuan whispered as his expression turned serious.
From the movements of the large coc.o.o.n, it seemed that the living creatures inside it were high ranked DemiG.o.ds who were stronger than Rong Yuan. This excluded the Female Worms who were low ranked DemiG.o.ds surrounding it.
A great battle was about to begin!
Gu Lingzhi felt herself being suppressed based purely from the energy that dissipated through the air from the coc.o.o.n. She narrowed her eyes and gripped her Fengwu Sword in her hands.
While she could not handle the beings in the coc.o.o.n, she could still put up a fight against the two Female Worms that surrounded it.
“Let"s rest in the Inheritance s.p.a.ce first. We will battle after we have formed a plan.”
Gu Lingzhi nodded in agreement before she pulled Rong Yuan into the Inheritance s.p.a.ce. In order to find the Mother Worm quickly, she and Rong Yuan had not slept for a long time and they needed their rest.
After a three hour nap, Gu Lingzhi"s energy was replenished. She filled a bottle with water from the Spiritual Essence Spring and made Rong Yuan drink it to replenish his spiritual energy. The pair left the Inheritance s.p.a.ce after they were full of energy.
Nothing had changed since they went into the inheritance s.p.a.ce and there were only a few beasts guarding the s.p.a.ce. The two humanlike Female Worms surrounded the coc.o.o.n in the Spiritual Origin and each of them had a long thin tube that connected it to the coc.o.o.n. It seemed that they were using the energy from the coc.o.o.n to cultivate.
“No wonder the Female Worms are so strong. They knew how to use the Spiritual Origin to strengthen themselves.” Gu Lingzhi realized. Beasts were considered low intelligence creatures and even the Female Worms were not too intelligent. However, the Female Worms around the Spiritual Origin seemed out of the ordinary as it had its unique but effective way of cultivation.
“It seems that we are lucky. It is the perfect opportunity to strike now.” Rong Yuan laughed lightly. Anyone who cultivated would know that external interruptions were harmful during cultivation. The senses of one would turn down to its minimum level and the Female Worms would be no stronger than a human.
Gu Lingzhi nodded and channelled spiritual energy into her Fengwu Sword. With a final glance at Rong Yuan, she stomped hard onto the ground and her body shot upwards as quickly as an arrow through the sky. Her Fengwu Sword was aimed directly for the two offsprings around the coc.o.o.n.
At the same time, Rong Yuan made the same action. He was a tad bit faster than Gu Lingzhi and he attacked the coc.o.o.n.
Buzz-
An invisible shock wave almost blew Gu Lingzhi backward and she gritted her teeth through the pain that shot through her head to deliver a sword blow at one of the Female Worms.
“Eek!!” A sharp shriek escaped the Female Worm, causing pangs of pain to hammer at Gu Lingzhi"s head. The other Female Worm also shrieked and it pounced at Gu Lingzhi. The two claw-like mandibles of the beast enlarged as it struck at Gu Lingzhi, revealing its s.h.i.+ny black exoskeleton.
Before the blow struck her, Gu Lingzhi released spiritual energy that morphed into a fireball and blasted into the beast"s body. This instantly forced the insect back a few hundred steps.
With one trouble dealt with, Gu Lingzhi bit her lip and turned towards Rong Yuan.
The Spiritual Origin surrounded Rong Yuan as he forced his Dragon Sword deep into the coc.o.o.n. Loud roars escaped the coc.o.o.n and it shook violently and released an onslaught of waves of mental energy attacks at Rong Yuan. Rong Yuan"s face turned pale at the attack but he desperately shoved his sword further into the coc.o.o.n.
There was nothing that Gu Lingzhi could do even though she knew that Rong Yuan was taking the full blow of mental energy attack. The second Female Worm had recovered from the first blow and Gu Lingzhi turned her attention back to it. Manipulating spiritual energy to form a thick layer of protective array around her, she defended herself against a mental energy attack by the Female Worm. At the same time, she skilfully brought the Fengwu Sword upwards to block the s.h.i.+ny black claw of the offspring that swung towards her.
Sparks flew as the Fengwu Sword clashed against the insect"s claws. As she battled against the Female Worm with one hand, Gu Lingzhi used her other hand to continuously throw out Spiritual Talismans at the offspring. Where would the Female Worm meet such an attack in the Lost Lands? It was immediately dumbfounded by what it saw.
A glint crossed Gu Lingzhi"s eyes and she threw out more Spiritual Talismans at the offspring.
The Spiritual Talisman was an external weapon and Gu Lingzhi hardly used it. Hence she was surprised that it was effective against the beast.
“Behind you, be careful!” Gu Lingzhi dodged to her side at the sound of Rong Yuan"s warning. The other Female Worm had recovered partially and was ready to attack Gu Lingzhi again.
Gu Lingzhi grumbled as soon as she focused on her target, “How can this insect be revived?” This had not happened before when Rong Yuan killed the Female Worm.
Rong Yuan quickly reminded her, “I killed them in one blow.”
Cursing under her breath, Gu Lingzhi observed the beast"s wound healing itself at an unbelievable speed. This creature could heal itself!
Bringing up her sword to block another attack by the second beast, Gu Lingzhi struck the Fengwu Sword down on the floor strongly and formed a three meter tall stone wall. This stone wall separated her and the beast, pinning the beast against the wall behind it, effectively immobilizing it. With one dealt with, Gu Lingzhi began her attack against the other beast.
The first beast shrieked wildly, letting out ear-piercing sounds that struck Gu Lingzhi"s mind. It jumped off the floor and sped towards Gu Lingzhi like a bullet. As she readied herself for the first beast, the second beast wriggled out of its bind from the stone wall and headed for Gu Lingzhi.