Chapter 208: Spirit Centipede

As they proceeded, the passageway narrowed, ending in a cramped space that could only hold a few people. From there, over a dozen even narrower pathways branched out, extending in various directions and intersecting deep within, forming a web-like network.

This area marked the deepest part of the entire mining vein and was also the most promising spot to uncover Qianyang Quartz.

Because the Cloud Artifact was unstable, they had to extract the Qianyang Quartz as quickly as possible and leave the great rift before the Star Disk's power was depleted and it was destroyed.

At the passage’s end, Yin Xingge surveyed the branching paths and turned to the others. “We’ve already wasted too much time, and part of the Star Disk’s power has been consumed. It won’t last long, so we need to complete our task quickly and get out of here. Daoist Mu, the three of you should work together to power the Star Disk, while I personally lead the others to extract the Qianyang Quartz.”

Yunqiong had no objections and agreed immediately.

Qin Sang and Mu Yifeng exchanged glances and nodded in unison, saying, “Thank you, Daoist Yin.”

Mu Yifeng had already made arrangements.

The nearest town to the great rift was Yuankong Town, situated within the Yuankong Hidden Realm, where Shaohua Mountain had an outpost. Presumably, their sect’s experts in the outpost had already been alerted.

Because of this, Qin Sang and Mu Yifeng would not confront Yin Xingge here. Instead, they adopted a cooperative stance to avoid raising any suspicion.

Once they left the great rift, even if their sect’s experts couldn’t arrive in time, they could find a pretext to lure Yin Xingge around Yuankong Town. It would then be a simple matter to take him down. This plan required perfect coordination to avoid arousing Yin Xingge’s suspicion. Qin Sang and Mu Yifeng had discussed it multiple times and had a strategy in place.

If Yin Xingge truly intended to keep the Qianyang Crystal for himself, the major sects at Xuanlu Stronghold would not let him off easily.

Mu Yifeng and Qin Sang had no intention of taking the Qianyang Crystal for themselves either.

For one, Yin Xingge was not easy to deal with, and there were many others present, making it hard to keep things under wraps. Secondly, if the Qianyang Crystal was obtained by their sect’s experts, it would end up with Shaohua Mountain, which would reward them generously, both in merit and with rewards from the sect.

Yin Xingge felt a bit suspicious, surprised that Qin Sang and Mu Yifeng agreed so readily without any objections. The excuses he had prepared turned out to be unnecessary. Since things were going smoothly, he decided not to complicate matters, withdrawing his spiritual power from the Star Disk, assigning tasks, and setting off immediately.

The seven of them split up, each choosing a different path. They each carried a jade talisman and could crush it to call for help if they encountered danger.

Qin Sang and the other two remained in place, sitting in a triangular formation to focus on powering the Star Disk. Their combined power spread through the passageways, covering the entire area below, allowing the others to concentrate on extracting the Qianyang Quartz without worrying about exposing their presence.

With everyone attending to their roles, the ancient mining vein seemed to return to a state of calm. The Star Disk hovered slowly above the three, its starlight shimmering, creating an exceptionally deep and beautiful sight.

Out of Qin Sang and the others' view, Yin Xingge glanced behind him, then suddenly picked up speed, his figure flashing like lightning as he darted deeper into the mining vein.

The winding tunnel didn’t hinder Yin Xingge’s pace at all. Suddenly, a flash of grayish-white mist appeared ahead, taking on a strange shape—clearly an unformed Cloud Beast.

Yin Xingge flicked his finger, sending the Cloud-Thunder Golden Net flying toward the creature. The net expanded instantly, and several lightning chains shot out silently, binding the Cloud Beast securely.

Hiss...

Tiny, hair-thin electric snakes slithered across the Cloud Beast’s body, which soon disintegrated, leaving only a stone fragment about the size of a baby’s fist.

The stone was smooth and dense, though its colors were mottled, with red and gray intermingled, lacking any spiritual aura.

This was Qianyang Quartz, tainted by the essence of the Cloud Beast. If the Cloud Beast had fully taken shape, the spiritual object would be entirely corrupted and unusable for crafting artifacts, turning the Qianyang Quartz into an evil spirit-bound item.

As it was, simply removing the Cloud Beast’s essence from the Qianyang Quartz would render it usable again.

Yin Xingge extended his hand, and the Cloud-Thunder Golden Net flew back above his head, coiling restlessly. Without even glancing at it, he reached out, grabbed the Qianyang Quartz, and stashed it away, continuing to race deeper into the tunnel.

From beginning to end, his pace never slowed.

Strangely enough, at the location of the earlier confrontation, there was a piece of Qianyang Quartz in a nearby corner, showing only minor contamination. Yet Yin Xingge appeared not to notice, not sparing it a single glance.

Throughout his journey, he only intervened when a fully-formed Cloud Beast blocked his path, and when he did, he would casually collect a piece of Qianyang Quartz in passing.

Before long, Yin Xingge’s figure suddenly halted as he stopped in front of a fork in the path.

He paused momentarily, studying the two branching tunnels, then reached into his robe and took out a Spirit Beast Pouch.

Casting a wary glance behind him, Yin Xingge crouched down, carefully opened the Spirit Beast Pouch, and after a brief moment, a red line slithered out—a red centipede.

The centipede wasn’t particularly large, only slightly longer than an ordinary one. What made it unique was its appearance: its entire body was as translucent as fire jade, and fiery red threads could be seen flowing continuously inside it, as if they were its blood or some form of inner power.

As the centipede emerged, the air within the tunnel became noticeably hotter. Its appearance alone was enough to confirm it was a spirit bug; where Yin Xingge had acquired it remained a mystery.

Yin Xingge patiently waited as the centipede crawled out of the Spirit Beast Pouch, his gaze fixed on its movements with anticipation.

Unexpectedly, the centipede didn’t choose either of the branching paths. Instead, it turned and crawled back along the path, darting like lightning to a piece of Qianyang Quartz. It coiled its entire body around the stone, opened its sharp mandibles, and began gnawing on the surface of the Qianyang Quartz bit by bit.

A hint of disappointment flashed in Yin Xingge’s eyes. He summoned the Spirit Beast Pouch, retrieved the centipede, and stood at the fork, glancing left and right before randomly picking a direction and moving forward.

This scene repeated several times. Each time he reached a fork, Yin Xingge released the centipede, and each time, when he encountered a dead end, he retraced his steps and chose a new path, but his search remained fruitless. Eventually, he found himself venturing so deep that he was nearly beyond the Star Disk’s protection, forcing him to summon his own Cloud Artifact.

At yet another fork, Yin Xingge repeated his technique, releasing the centipede. He hadn’t held out much hope this time, but to his surprise, as soon as the centipede crawled out of the Spirit Beast Pouch, it raised its head, as if sensing something. Suddenly, it darted into one of the tunnels like a red streak, moving with astonishing speed, as if drawn by some great treasure ahead.

Yin Xingge’s eyes lit up at the sight, and he chuckled silently, swiftly stowing the Spirit Beast Pouch and following closely with his movement art.

Unexpectedly, after only a short distance, the path ended in a dead end—a rough stone wall, with no sign of even a single piece of Qianyang Quartz. Yin Xingge stopped, his gaze fixed intently on the centipede.