Huang Siqi's voice rang out again: “These bugs are called spirit-devouring corpse-walking bugs, and they latch onto the backs of people's hands. The Mind-Clearing Spell can only temporarily stabilize their minds; it cannot break the control. If you remove the bugs for them, they will regain control of their bodies.”
Hearing this, Xue Mingzhao looked at Su Ye. Her gaze fell upon the back of his hand. Sure enough, a translucent bug was perched there, exactly like the one that had bitten her earlier. The only difference was that she hadn't been cultivating at the time and had flicked it away immediately.
With a gentle flick of her finger, she sent the spirit-devouring corpse-walking bug flying.
In the next second, Su Ye, who had been stiffly and stubbornly shuffling toward the lake, suddenly froze and stopped dead in his tracks.
It worked incredibly fast!
Xue Mingzhao didn't dare waste a single moment. She immediately darted among the cultivators, stepping forward quickly to precisely flick off the spirit-devouring corpse-walking bugs clinging to the backs of everyone's hands.
As the tiny bugs were flicked away one by one, all the bewitched cultivators broke free from the bizarre control and stopped marching toward the lake.
However, the bug's toxin had completely drained their spiritual energy. Everyone was weak, limp, and unable to mobilize even a shred of spiritual energy.
Still trembling with lingering fear, the crowd quickly retreated to the safe zone by the shore. They took out their medicinal pills to swallow and sat down to meditate, slowly recovering their depleted spiritual energy.
Suddenly, a loud splash echoed behind them. Su Ye stared behind Xue Mingzhao, his eyes widening in horror.
Xue Mingzhao whipped her head around—a giant, pitch-black octopus had surfaced. Its bald head was ten times larger than her entire body!
It had a dense mass of tentacles, roughly estimated to be over a hundred, and a pair of cold, beastly eyes locked dead onto her.
Xue Mingzhao's pupils shrank. Don't octopuses live in the ocean?
What kind of mutated species was this?
“A Thousand-Tentacled Ink-Claw Octopus!” a disciple cried out, their voice thick with despair. “We're finished. We have no spiritual energy left, and we can't even crush our jade plaques.”
The Thousand-Tentacled Ink-Claw Octopus glared at Xue Mingzhao, its fierce, venomous gaze making its thoughts crystal clear—that she was the one who had ruined its plans.
Meeting the demon beast's hostile glare, Xue Mingzhao gave an awkward smile. “My senior brother and I were just passing by. Why don't you take your time and have fun? We'll be leaving now.”
“Don't leave!” Outside the mystic realm, all the sect masters except Su Mingyuan shouted in unison.
Huang Siqi hurriedly promised through the transmission formation, his voice urgent, “Little friend, save my Heavenly Origin Sect disciples, and I, Huang, will richly reward you!”
Li Chengzong shoved Huang Siqi aside, rushed to the Floating Light Array Disk, and roared, “Save my Flowing Cloud Sect disciples first! I'll give you ten thousand spirit stones for each one!”
Chen Shouzhuo followed closely, shouting, “I'll pay thirty thousand!”
Wu Lianfeng was also frantic. “Mingzhao! Our Taiyan Sect and Grand Primordium Sect are one family! Save your senior brothers and sisters!”
Inside the mystic realm, Shen Chaoyue's face was pale with despair.
She had insisted on searching for some opportunity, but instead of finding one, she was about to die here.
She closed her eyes. Master, I have let you down. I shouldn't have been so headstrong.
Jiang Yuran was actually crying this time. “I don't want to die yet.”
Wails and sobs rose from all around.
Xue Mingzhao hadn't even recovered from the visual shock of the octopus's hundred-plus tentacles when she heard the group of sect masters outside bidding one after another like they were at an auction.
Her eyes instantly lit up. She immediately threw the giant octopus to the back of her mind and shouted at the Floating Light Array Disk with full vigor, “Settle on a price! Fifty thousand per person! If you agree, I'll save them. If not, I'm leaving!”
Outside the mystic realm, the sect masters nearly coughed up blood from sheer frustration and anxiety.
Forget fifty thousand spirit stones per person; they wouldn't even blink at a hundred thousand or two hundred thousand.
What truly made them lose their minds wasn't the reward, but the absurd gap in combat strength!
Everyone knew that Xue Mingzhao was merely at the Qi Condensation realm, while the Thousand-Tentacled Ink-Claw Octopus was a genuine third-tier demon beast!
How could a minor Qi Condensation cultivator contend with a third-tier demon beast?
This wasn't a matter of spirit stones anymore; it was a death trap spanning several major realms! Everyone was anxious enough to scratch their heads, yet they could only watch helplessly, unable to assist in the slightest.
Wu Lianfeng stamped his feet in anger. “What time is it, and she's still thinking about spirit stones? She can barely save herself! She should run while she can!”
Huang Siqi was burning with anxiety, but looking at Xue Mingzhao's confident face, he decided to take a gamble. “We agree! Quick, save them!”
Xue Mingzhao pressed further, “Your agreement alone doesn't count. Have the other sect masters agreed too? I don't want to work myself to the bone saving people only for you all to collectively back out later.”
Huang Siqi was both anxious and exasperated by her stalling. He whipped around to face the silent sect masters behind him and bellowed in fury, “Fifty thousand spirit stones per person! Who disagrees?!”
The previously chaotic crowd fell dead silent. After a brief moment of absolute stillness, all the sect masters answered in unison, their responses incredibly swift: “We all agree!”
“Splendid,” Xue Mingzhao said, nodding in satisfaction.
On the lake, the Thousand-Tentacled Ink-Claw Octopus was thoroughly enraged.
Its cold, vertical pupils narrowed into slits, the black waves churning around it grew even more violent, and its dense, dark tentacles thrashed the water frantically, kicking up a massive spray.
It was already merciful enough not to target this tiny Qi Condensation ant first, yet she dared to negotiate prices right in front of it?
A tentacle whipped straight toward Xue Mingzhao with a sharp, wind-breaking whistle. Reacting instantly, Xue Mingzhao summoned her Azure Ripple Leaf and stepped onto it. She skimmed across the water's surface, narrowly dodging the blow.
The tentacle slammed into the lake, sending up a splash over thirty feet high.
The Thousand-Tentacled Ink-Claw Octopus snorted coldly. Three tentacles shot out simultaneously, closing in on her from three directions like three bolts of black lightning.
Without even looking back, Xue Mingzhao slapped a supreme-grade speed talisman onto the Azure Ripple Leaf. The lotus leaf shuddered violently and shot forward with a whoosh, leaving the three tentacles to strike empty air, barely grazing her hem.
She flew all the way to the opposite shore of the lake, landed steadily, and calmly turned around.
The Thousand-Tentacled Ink-Claw Octopus followed closely behind. Its massive body slowly rose from the lake, with thousands of tentacles spreading out behind it.
It stared contemptuously at the tiny speck on the shore, who wasn't even as thick as one of its tentacles. How naive of a Qi Condensation cultivator to think she was safe just because she was on land.
Once I deal with you, I'll drag those others into the lake and drown them one by one. None of you will escape.
Ten tentacles lashed out simultaneously, blanketing the sky as they crashed down toward Xue Mingzhao.
Standing on her Azure Ripple Leaf, Xue Mingzhao simply smiled at it, making no attempt to dodge.
The Thousand-Tentacled Ink-Claw Octopus froze.
Had she been scared witless? Good, it saved it the trouble of chasing her.
Die!
Before the tentacles could touch her, the girl pulled a yellow paper talisman from her sleeve and tossed it over.
The Thousand-Tentacled Ink-Claw Octopus didn't even bother to dodge. Did she really think a single flimsy talisman could kill it?
BOOM!
A blinding white light erupted before its eyes.
Before it could even register the pain, its massive body shattered with a thunderous roar, disintegrating into countless fragments. Pitch-black severed tentacles and shredded meat rained down onto the lake and the shore.
A round, lustrous third-tier demon beast core, radiating pure spiritual energy, rolled to Xue Mingzhao's feet.
Her expression remained calm as she bent down to pick up the core. Then, she systematically swept all of the demon beast's remains into her storage ring, refusing to let a single resource go to waste.
What a joke. Why on earth would she, a Qi Condensation cultivator, fight a third-tier demon beast head-on?
Rate on N.U.
