Moreover, judging by how Wan Xiu controlled them, these creatures were likely cultivated by him.
What was his goal in breeding so many monsters?
Chen Zhou thought for a moment and then asked Chan Yi, "What other changes have occurred in Tianchi Province over the past thousand years?"
Chan Yi frowned, trying hard to remember.
"Changes... there have been so many."
"The environment has become increasingly harsh. We used to be able to stay on the surface for a while, but now, you start to rot the moment you go up."
"There are fewer and fewer demons and monsters. When I was little, I could still see many powerful ones, but later they either died or fled."
"The area of the Hundred Corpse Wilderness has grown larger and larger. Tianchi Province used to have quite a few green spaces, but now almost the entire province is a nest for the hundred corpse patchwork."
As he spoke, he suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, right, there is one more thing."
Chen Zhou asked, "What is it?"
Chan Yi lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "Occasionally, there are riots on the surface."
Chen Zhou raised an eyebrow. "Riots?"
Chan Yi nodded. "Yes. Every so often, maybe every few decades or every few centuries, all the hundred corpse patchwork will collectively awaken from their markings."
"Then they gather together in a grand procession, like an army. I have no idea what they are going to do."
Chen Zhou asked, "Do you know where they went?"
Chan Yi shook his head in fear.
"I don't know, I don't know! How would I dare to look?"
"With so many hundred corpse patchwork gathered together, if I dared to show my head, wouldn't I be gnawed until not even my bone fragments remained?"
"Every time there is a riot, I hide in the deepest part of the ground, curled into a ball, praying desperately that they won't find me, that they won't find me..."
As he spoke, he subconsciously curled into a ball, as if remembering something terrifying.
Chen Zhou pressed further, "Did you sense which direction they were headed?"
Chan Yi thought about it and said uncertainly, "Based on the direction of the ground vibrations, it should be... that way."
He extended a forelimb and pointed toward the north.
Jing Hui and Plague Rat were both stunned at the same time.
That was the direction of the Royal Capital.
Jing Hui stepped forward quickly and stared at Chan Yi. "Are you sure?"
Chan Yi was a bit intimidated by his gaze. "That... I'm not entirely sure."
"What I sensed from underground was that they were going that way, but my perception range isn't very far. Whether they changed direction after leaving my range, I really don't know."
Plague Rat frowned and looked at Jing Hui.
"Old man, the Royal Capital used to be your territory, right?"
Jing Hui nodded.
Plague Rat scratched his head, finding it strange.
"The Royal Capital was Jing Hui's territory before. After the old man met with disaster, it was occupied by that old schemer, the Plague-Eating Stove."
"But the Plague-Eating Stove cherishes his life so much. If he knew an army of hundred corpse patchwork was gathering toward the Royal Capital, is he crazy? Why would he still occupy it?"
Chen Zhou suddenly spoke up, "Not necessarily."
Plague Rat looked at him. "Lord, are you saying..."
Chen Zhou said, "He was able to stay in the Royal Capital for so long. Based on what you know of him, would he be willing to risk facing a massive army of hundred corpse patchwork if there weren't some benefit?"
Hearing this, Plague Rat suddenly understood.
"That's right!"
"I've known that filthy thing, the Plague-Eating Stove, for over a hundred years. He values his life above all else. If there were real danger, he would have fled long ago."
"For him to risk nesting in the Royal Capital, he must have discovered something good."
"And because he didn't want anyone else to find it, he filled the ruins around the Royal Capital with human-face sores to defend against the hundred corpse patchwork while preventing others from snooping around."
"The Lord is indeed wise and mighty!"
Chen Zhou smiled faintly. "You said he values his life?"
"The Plague-Eating Stove was willing to abandon his physical body just to escape Tianchi Province."
"Could it be because he discovered something else in the Royal Capital?"
Plague Rat slapped his thigh, his eyes lighting up.
"The Lord is right!"
"Looking at it this way, whatever he discovered in the Royal Capital that made him willing to abandon his body to flee must be something bad!"
He looked at Chen Zhou and said excitedly, "Lord, shall we go to the Royal Capital and take a look now?"
Chen Zhou shook his head. "No rush."
He looked around at the small demons who were still busy and the Earth Cicadas who were still digging tunnels.
"We will restore our strength first and make plans after seven days."
Plague Rat nodded. "Understood. We'll do as you say!"
...
Over the next seven days, Chen Zhou gave Scorpion Demon and Chan Yi a large quantity of Flesh-Reconstitution Pills every day.
There were third-stage, fourth-stage, and even fifth-stage pills.
Scorpion Demon stuffed himself with pills every day, his cultivation rising rapidly.
He had been stuck at the peak of the fourth-stage for a long time, but with these pills, he directly broke through the bottleneck and soared all the way to the sixth-stage.
Although he had not yet begun eerification, a sixth-stage cultivation made him one of the top experts in the former Earth Dissolving Cave.
Every day when he went on patrol, he kept his back straight and walked with a swagger.
When the small demons saw him, they all bowed and scraped, calling him Lord Scorpion, which made him feel immensely proud.
Things were even more exaggerated on Chan Yi's side.
He led his entire clan of over a hundred Earth Cicadas, eating pills and digging tunnels every day.
The little Earth Cicadas were originally nothing but skin and bones, but after eating pills for a few days, they became round and plump as if they had been inflated.
Their cultivation also rose quickly, soaring from the original second or third-stage all the way to the fifth-stage.
Chan Yi himself even reached the peak of the sixth-stage, just a step away from eerification.
Every day when he crawled out of the tunnels, he would first stretch his limbs and then sigh at his round body.
"It's over, it's over. If I'm this fat, will I still be able to fly after my emergence?"
Every time Plague Rat heard this, he would give him a kick.
"You have to fly even if you can't. The Lord said you will undergo emergence in seven days. Do you dare not to fly?"
Chan Yi wasn't angry either, he just let out a silly giggle.
The construction of the new underground tunnels progressed at lightning speed with the collective efforts of all the demons.
The Earth Cicadas were responsible for digging, the pangolins and moles for reinforcing, the bat demons for ventilation, and Scorpion Demon led the other demons in hauling soil and stones.
The entire construction site was bustling with activity, with busy figures everywhere.
"Hurry, hurry! Move that boulder to the left to block that crack! Don't let the filth energy from the surface leak down!"
"Lord Scorpion said we need to dig three interconnected passages in this area to make it easier for us to retreat or counterattack at any time!"
The small demons carried stones several times larger than their own bodies, as busy as ants moving a nest. Although they were panting with exhaustion, Chen Zhou could see that all the demons were very happy.
It was the hope for the future.
In a place like Tianchi Province where one's life was always at risk, meeting a powerful being who was willing to give them food, protect them, and even help them improve their strength was a stroke of incredible luck.
What did a little manual labor matter?
As long as they could earn a living under this Lord, they would even dig through the center of the earth if asked.
Rate on N.U.
