Chapter 1233 - Maneater Worms

Liu Wuxie considered fleeing or slipping past the Shadow Blood Pythons, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He stood inside the Cannibal Valley, where danger lurked in every corner. Outside, he could unleash his footwork freely, but here, bursting forward recklessly would only hasten his death.

The moment he moved at full speed, every threat hidden within the valley would swarm him. Add the Shadow Blood Pythons to the mix, and escape would become impossible.

His only option was to kill the pythons and refine their corpses for strength.

......

"Why isn't he running away?" the three elders asked in unison, turning to Elder Long as confusion etched their faces. By ordinary reasoning, anyone would have bolted to safer ground upon encountering so many Shadow Blood Pythons.

"If he runs, he'll last three minutes at best. If he stays, he might still hold on to any hope of survival," Elder Long said calmly. He withheld the details, but his tone revealed certainty. Were he in Liu Wuxie's place, he would choose to fight, too.

......

When Liu Wuxie pressed the final array flag into the earth, a faint smile curved across his lips.

"We can have some fun now," he muttered, already planning to carve out a secure foothold to endure the last two days of the trial.

The Shadow Blood Pythons sensed the change in atmosphere. Their massive bodies slithered out from concealment, crimson eyes glowing with murderous intent as they fixed their gaze on him.

Suddenly, a strange light screen descended from above, sealing a thousand-meter radius and isolating the space from the outside. The pythons roared in fury, realizing Liu Wuxie had tricked them. They hid to lure Liu Wuxie in, confident they would soon eat him.

Instead, his trap ensnared them, making them the prey.

A mighty python launched itself at the barrier, but the moment it struck, countless blade rays shot out and tore into its body. Blood sprayed through the air as the beast writhed in agony.

"The Myriad Blood Purgatory Blade Array isn't that easy to break," Liu Wuxie said, his smile faint and calm. He had invested more than two hundred thousand astral stones to perfect this formation.

Though costly, the value of these Shadow Blood Pythons far outweighed the expense. Each flag cost only a few hundred astral rocks, but he inscribed runes that wove them into a self-sustaining formation.

......

"What kind of spiritual array is that? It's capable of attacking on its own? Its power already matches the first-level Primal Origin Realm!" The elders inside the Primordial Pagoda looked at one another in shock, their faces pale.

"This brat is a monster. The Shadow Blood Pythons don't stand a chance," they muttered with wry smiles. None of them had expected Liu Wuxie to survive, yet he had turned the valley into a cultivation ground.

The Shadow Blood Pythons thrashed about, but not one could break free. The Myriad Blood Purgatory Blade Array's true might unfolded as endless blade rays rained down, locking onto the pythons with unrelenting precision.

Guided by his primordial spirit, Liu Wuxie began killing them one by one, drawing the energy out of their bodies and feeding it into himself. With each kill, his soul sea grew denser and sharper, and he honed his spirit to a new edge.

The Shadow Blood Pythons were still astral beasts. The array's pressure soon threw them into chaos. Illusions ensnared some, driving them to strike at one another in confusion.

Liu Wuxie remained steady. Forming hand seals, he summoned a crimson mountain from the heavens. The mountain radiated overwhelming blade intent as it crashed down on a massive python, crushing it instantly.

Energy and laws surged from its body into Liu Wuxie, and he channeled them into the desolate world. With each infusion, his inner world grew richer, expanding and filling with power. He aimed to use the Shadow Blood Pythons as a source of nourishment to replenish the desolate world.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

......

The four elders in the Primordial Pagoda exchanged heavy glances. They had anticipated a desperate battle or perhaps an even match.

Instead, they witnessed a massacre. With every drop of blood the array spilled, it grew more savage. That was the essence of the Myriad Blood Purgatory Blade Array—the more it consumed, the stronger it became.

In less than fifteen minutes, the array killed dozens of Shadow Blood Pythons. Within the array's bounds, the formation shredded most trees and razed them to the ground.

The slaughter soon drew swarms of insects, including Threadworms, and they surged in to feast on the carnage. Liu Wuxie raised a protective barrier and leapt to the branch of a massive tree at the formation's edge.

At the same time, he circulated the Desolate Devouring Art, siphoning the energy from the fallen pythons. When the insects pressed too close, he conjured demonic flames and reduced them to ashes.

Only one day remained before the array transported him out of the Cannibal Valley. All he had to do was survive until then.

"The reward better be worth dragging me into a hell like this," Liu Wuxie muttered with a devilish grin. He already dreamed of a prize: a seventh-grade spiritual pill, one strong enough to push him into the seventh-level Transcendent Realm.

Had the elders heard his thoughts, they would have worn bitter smiles. Even in such peril, Liu Wuxie focused not on surviving but on cultivation gains. That was what set him apart from ordinary cultivators.

Though he had entered the Cannibal Valley with caution, that wariness had quickly dissolved. Barely ten minutes inside, he had cast fear aside and fixed his mind entirely on how to grow stronger.

The nightfall cloaked the valley in a deceptive calm. Crickets sang, weaving an illusion of peace. But behind that facade, venomous insects and nocturnal beasts prowled, sharpening their fangs in the darkness.

Liu Wuxie moved like a predator himself, his Ghost Eye sweeping the shadows with relentless vigilance. A faint rustling rose from beneath the ground, a grating sound like teeth grinding together.

He activated Ghost Eye, peered through the leaves, and his breath hitched at the sight below.

"The leaves... they're moving?" he murmured. What he saw made his expression grim.

"Maneater Worms!" His eyes hardened. For the first time since entering the valley, his composure faltered. He had faced Threadworms, Cannibal Flowers, Tree Demons, and even the Shadow Blood Pythons without fear, but now, unease crept into his gaze.

Maneater Worms were far more terrifying than Threadworms. Threadworms devoured true essence, leaving cultivators defenseless but alive for a short while.

However, Maneater Worms offered no such reprieve. Barely the size of a needle, invisible to the naked eye, they slipped into the body through pores, nostrils, or even a single breath. Once inside, they would burrow into the brain, hollowing their victims into husks before slowly feasting on their flesh and bone.

Cultivators whispered rumors of an ancient race that bred Maneater Worms for food, but to ordinary cultivators, encountering them meant certain death. Unlike the Threadworms, cultivators knew no weakness in them.

Not even Liu Wuxie knew a way to restrain them.

......

Inside the Primordial Pagoda, the elders' faces paled.

"Elder Long, should we stop this? If a prodigy like him dies here, it will be a waste," the three elders urged, anxiety breaking through their usual composure. They could reach the valley within minutes through the teleportation array, but they couldn't tell whether Liu Wuxie would survive that long.

Even Elder Long hesitated. Ending the trial would strip it of meaning, yet letting it continue risked losing a once-in-a-generation genius. He froze, clenched his fists, and waited.

Meanwhile, countless Maneater Worms slithered upward, climbing the tree where Liu Wuxie perched. Unless he could fly, he had no escape.

Through Ghost Eye, Liu Wuxie saw the truth—countless needle-sized worms squirming just meters away. Once they swarmed him, he would have no way out.

"Am I going to die here?" he whispered with a wry smile. He had fought across the True Martial Continent, carved his path into the astral domain, and endured countless battles. To perish here, to such vile creatures, was a bitter fate.

He did not fear death, but unwillingness gnawed at him. Han Feizi and the True Martial Continent still awaited salvation. He had yet to take his vengeance. The truth of his destiny remained hidden. He still had too many riddles to solve.

He sighed softly, but his gaze sharpened as he glanced at the sky. The moonlight had vanished. The Maneater Worms had hidden beneath the leaves when the moon still shone, only to surge forward once darkness fell.

His mind raced. If they had no predator, then they had to have a weakness. Everything in the world had its bane—metal subdued wood, fire overcame ice. These worms remained dormant during the day, but at night, they stirred.

"Light..." Liu Wuxie whispered, his eyes glimmering. "They fear the light."

Only his formidable soul sea let him deduce the truth. If he were any other cultivator, despair would have surely paralyzed him at this point.

Outside the crystal wall, Elder Long exhaled hard and strode toward the teleportation array, ready to intervene.

"Elder Long, look!" the three elders suddenly exclaimed, fixing their eyes in shock on the scene unfolding beyond the crystal wall.