The structure of the Bottle Mountain ancient tomb was quite peculiar.
Deep at the bottom of the valley lay the Pill Palace, halfway up the mountain was the urn city meant to guard against grave robbers, and as for the mouth of the bottle, that was precisely where the Yuan corpse was located.
The Pill Palace at the bottom of the valley.
The Furious Rooster was brimming with high spirits, having already caught the scent of the temptation coming from its own food.
Partridge Whistle followed closely behind, and the two soon reached the complex of palaces where the Pill Palace was located.
Using the five poisons to refine pills, one can hardly imagine it being anything good...
Zhong Bai furrowed his brow slightly as he stood before the main hall. The trace amounts of toxicity and residual medicinal power lingering in the air were simply too obvious.
However, Zhong Bai did not dwell on these matters. This Pill Palace had been abandoned for hundreds of years, and if not for the Six-winged Centipede hidden within it, Zhong Bai would not even have bothered to step foot inside.
"Taoist Qianhe, look at the Furious Rooster!"
Just as Zhong Bai was frowning, Partridge Whistle sharply noticed that the current state of the Furious Rooster was completely different from the excitement it had shown moments ago.
Its claws continuously scraped against the ground, its wings flapped ceaselessly, and its originally clear eyes had turned completely bloodshot. The Furious Rooster at this moment was exceptionally restless and unsettled; accompanied by burst after burst of chicken crows, Partridge Whistle's vigilance was also pushed nearly to its absolute limit.
"Has it discovered that Six-winged Centipede!
Brother Partridge, take the Furious Rooster back in. It is no match for this Six-winged Centipede, and the Furious Rooster is still useful to me, so we cannot let it die here.
As for this Six-winged Centipede, just leave it to me to deal with."
The Pill Palace was only so large; although the Six-winged Centipede was adept at hiding, it ultimately did not understand how to conceal its own aura, and Zhong Bai had already captured its presence.
The Six-winged Centipede's strength was decent, sitting at the initial peak of the Demon Soldier realm, comparable to a cultivator around the fifth layer of Qi Refinement.
Hearing this, Partridge Whistle hesitated somewhat. After all, all things in nature generate and restrain one another; while the Furious Rooster might not be a match for this Six-winged Centipede, it still held a restraining effect against the creature. If they could utilize the Furious Rooster to severely injure the Six-winged Centipede, their chances of victory on this trip would be even more solid.
Yet Zhong Bai had no wish for the Furious Rooster to die here. With no other choice, Partridge Whistle could only guide the Furious Rooster back into its cage.
Even so, the Furious Rooster continued to crow from within the cage.
"You hide deep enough, but today I am here precisely to slaughter you. How could I allow you to continue concealing yourself?"
Rolling True Essence surged forth within Zhong Bai's body, and the illusory thunder seal emitted wisps of purple radiance.
The True Essence was blessed by the thunder seal, transforming into strands of thunder and lightning that poured into Zhong Bai's palm. Executing the Thunder Escape Technique at this moment, his speed could be described as fast to the absolute extreme!
A flash of purple light swept past, and Zhong Bai's figure vanished from where he stood, transforming into a stream of light that instantly arrived at a fissure within the open space of the Pill Palace.
Right there, a thick-armored centipede about three zhang long and one zhang wide was restlessly hissing in low tones.
The next second, thunder light surged over, and a purple bolt of lightning accurately shot toward the body of the Six-winged Centipede. Accompanied by a crackling sound, the thunder exploded, and the Six-winged Centipede's back armor, which was originally so tough as to be impervious to blades and spears, actually split open.
Drip by drip, dark green blood oozed out, and that excruciating pain made the Six-winged Centipede understand that its hiding was completely meaningless!
It let out a fierce roar and flapped its wings to fly!
Its massive body lunged in a rapid dive straight from the fissure toward the direction where Zhong Bai was.
Seeing this, Zhong Bai transformed back into thunder light and escaped backward. The force behind the Six-winged Centipede's dive probably carried tens of thousands of catties of brute strength; even with Zhong Bai having practiced the Supreme Clarity Body Forging Art to the great completion realm, his body filled with surging vitality and his double arms possessing five thousand catties of force, he would not be foolish enough to contend with a demonic beast in terms of sheer muscle.
Partridge Whistle, who was observing the situation outside the palace near the exit, only saw Zhong Bai transform into a stream of light and vanish, followed immediately by a soul-shaking spectacle heading his way.
A three-zhang-long centipede, bearing six wings, leaped out from the abyss fissure.
As for Zhong Bai, he was retreating rapidly while the lightning in his hands relentlessly greeted the body of the Six-winged Centipede.
Zhong Bai, possessing the Thunder Escape Technique, still found it quite effortless. Lightning was naturally suited for ranged attrition, whereas the Six-winged Centipede's greatest strength lay in its physical body.
Yet it could not manage to touch Zhong Bai at all, and the injuries on its body steadily accumulated. The Six-winged Centipede's eyes were already bloodshot by now; hovering in midair, it opened its maw and spat a stream of dark green mist toward Zhong Bai.
This was its awakened innate ability; the poisonous mist possessed extremely strong corrosiveness, and while dodging it, Zhong Bai also grew excited.
"A fine opportunity!"
The Six-winged Centipede remained stationary while spitting poisonous mist, which gave Zhong Bai the opportunity to target its six wings!
Without its wings, the Six-winged Centipede was nothing more than a crawling insect, and if Zhong Bai wanted to kill it, it would become all the more easy.
From within the Cosmic Ring, a brass longsword dropped into the palm of Zhong Bai's right hand, while his left hand abruptly blasted out a bolt of thunder aimed straight at the center of the Six-winged Centipede's brows. Almost simultaneously, the brass longsword in his right hand also swept across the void, heading straight for the back wings of the Six-winged Centipede.
In the perception of the Six-winged Centipede, it only saw thunder light rushing toward the center of its brows. Crossing its front legs like a shield, it stubbornly withstood the power of the thunder.
Yet... simultaneously with that, the brass longsword slashed across the six wings on its back, and in the span of an instant, four of those wings were abruptly severed!
The single remaining pair of wings could simply no longer support it in hovering within the void. As its body plummeted downward, Zhong Bai was likewise waiting for the exact moment of its descent!
"Lightning transforms into a spear, die!"
Gathering his hands together, the True Essence within his body was practically drained dry by Zhong Bai at this moment, coalescing before him into a spear of lightning. The Six-winged Centipede, falling through the air, had no way to control its own body.
It could only watch helplessly as it plunged precisely onto that lightning spear, which pierced straight through its body.
The thunder raged within its carcass; even though a centipede with a hundred legs possessed tenacious vitality, in this very instant its entire life force was wiped out by the lightning.
Everything drew to a close, and the Six-winged Centipede was thus slaughtered by Zhong Bai.
Wiping the dense sweat from his forehead, Zhong Bai certainly did not have an easy time of it; slaying the Six-winged Centipede had nearly exhausted the True Essence in his body. For an ordinary person to want to kill a Six-winged Centipede, heh, one could only call it a dream.
At any rate, when Zhong Bai looked at Partridge Whistle, who was currently dumbfounded, if the other party could kill a Six-winged Centipede, Zhong Bai wouldn't believe it unless it was plot-armor.
With the output completed, it was time for the harvest.
Slaughtered one Six-winged Centipede at the initial peak of the Demon Soldier realm, acquired 200 Exorcism Points.
Remaining Exorcism Points: 250
Uhm, as for this remaining number, it was somewhat unsightly; Zhong Bai felt that tomorrow he would increase it.
The Exorcism Points had arrived in his account, and Zhong Bai wore a satisfied smile. However, the harvest from slaying the Six-winged Centipede did not end at just this.
Whenever they reached the Demon Soldier realm, demonic beasts could condense a demon core within their bodies.
This demon core might not have much major use for Zhong Bai, but for the Furious Rooster, it was an immense stroke of fortune!
Looking at the brass longsword still impaled in the back wings, Zhong Bai directly pulled it out, then walked over to the head of the Six-winged Centipede and slashed down forcefully.
In the flash of a spark, a new wound appeared. Because it was already dead, the Six-winged Centipede no longer circulated the demonic Qi within its body, and its defensive capability had plummeted by far more than just a little bit.
Looking at the dark green demon core close at hand, Zhong Bai did not reach out with his hands, instead looking toward Partridge Whistle, who was still standing in a daze.
"Brother Partridge, the Six-winged Centipede is dead. Could Brother Partridge bring the Furious Rooster over? This Six-winged Centipede is a great fortune for it!"
Not until he heard Zhong Bai call out to him did Partridge Whistle snap back to his senses, hurriedly bringing the Furious Rooster over to the demonic carcass of the Six-winged Centipede.
Opening the cage, the Furious Rooster flew out, circling in the air with an excited demeanor.
However, very soon, unable to resist the temptation of that dark green demon core, it swooped down through the air, wanting to swallow the demon core whole.
Yet Zhong Bai reached out and restrained the Furious Rooster's wings, then laughed and said, "You're thinking quite prettily. This Six-winged Centipede was slain by me; even though my original intent was for you to swallow it, before that, you and I still need to go through a master-servant contract first."
Before you continue