Silver-Winged Centipede

After resting in the valley for a night, the various teams left one after another the next day, heading deeper into the mountains and forests to explore.

Lu Xiaotian and his group were also in a hilly region thick with wild grass. While keeping watch over their surroundings, they searched for any spiritual treasures that might appear.

A month was neither short nor long, yet it passed in the blink of an eye amid the adventure teams' searches. Along the way, the team killed any spirit insects or spirit beasts they encountered and divided up the valuable parts of their bodies. Everyone gained some spirit herbs and spirit beast hides, though Monster Cores were rarely seen. They also encountered several enormous monster herds along the way, narrowly avoiding them each time.

Living rough in the open day after day had made everyone noticeably thinner. Luo Qing's melon-seed face had become even more delicate, her chin sharper still.

Wang Yuan waved a fan-sized banana leaf in one hand while tugging at her collar with the other. Whether intentional or not, she occasionally revealed a captivating glimpse of snowy skin and cleavage beneath.

"This vixen."

Whenever that happened, Luo Qing's tender face would flush red, while Wang Yuan merely answered with an unconcerned tinkling laugh.

Fan Qing stood atop a hill, whisk in hand, pausing to survey the surroundings. After the time it took to burn an incense stick, he had still found nothing. Half a day later, Fan Qing descended the hill with an expressionless face.

Lu Xiaotian idly played with a small blackish-green fruit in his hand. It was called a Luo Yan Fruit, a low-grade spiritual item that took ten years to mature. It possessed no offensive power, but when activated with spiritual energy, it released a cloud of black smoke that concealed the caster and prevented enemies from attacking effectively. Over the past month, he had made use of his advantage as an alchemist to refine quite a few pills along the way. Together with the spirit herbs he had discovered himself, his gains had been considerable. More than ten varieties were herbs required by Azure Elixir Palace and Soaring Heavens Palace, though he was still far from completing his sect mission.

Seeing Fan Qing's face as dark as thunder, Lu Xiaotian secretly smiled. They had failed to find any trace of the Silver-Winged Centipede for several days. No wonder Fan Qing could no longer keep his composure.

Several days later, Fan Qing leaped down from the crown of a towering tree, his face filled with wild delight.

"We've finally found that beast. Move!"

Very quickly, the team crossed a mountain ravine and discovered a man-high cave beneath an isolated, inconspicuous mound.

The mound was no different from the other hills, save for the patch beside it, which was withered and bare, not a blade of grass growing there. Fine centipede tracks covered the ground before the cave.

"What fierce poison." Lu Xiaotian was startled. Even a Blood-Clearing Pill could not neutralize such toxicity.

"Heh heh. A single mouthful of poison from a Silver-Winged Centipede can easily kill a Qi Refining Great Perfection expert, proving fatal in less than an hour. But I came prepared. These are antidote pills specially made for Silver-Winged Centipedes. Take them before we besiege it, and you'll be safe."

Having found the Silver-Winged Centipede's nest, Fan Qing was in high spirits. He handed everyone an antidote pill.

"Even an ordinary Silver-Winged Centipede is a peak second-order monster. Those possessing Monster Cores are rarer still, and when they erupt with power, they are no different from Third-Order Monsters. With such formidable poison as well, how are we supposed to surround and kill it?"

Lu Xiaotian asked in a low voice. Deep down, he had not been hoping to find this Silver-Winged Centipede. Although the materials from such a powerful monster were extremely valuable, they had little to do with his sect mission. He could earn plenty of spirit stones through alchemy all the same.

If Fan Qing could not produce an effective plan, Lu Xiaotian would not risk his life. Having spent so long in Moonwatch City, he was no longer ignorant of these low-level monsters.

"The Silver-Winged Centipede is a fire-element monster. It possesses tremendous strength and can fly over short distances, making it even harder to deal with than ordinary Third-Order Monsters. Even Qi Refining Late Stage experts can do nothing against it. Once it returns to its cave, we won't be able to surround it at all, and our chances of victory will be nonexistent. Therefore, we must intercept and kill it before it returns to the cave."

Fan Qing had clearly planned this long ago. After taking the others' suggestions, he gave them a round of instructions.

Hunchback He and Wang Yuan would be responsible for slowing its movements. Then Fan Qing himself would injure the Silver-Winged Centipede's wings, depriving it of its ability to fly short distances. After that, the team members lying in ambush near the cave would swarm forward together.

"Remember, once this poor Daoist and the others restrain the Silver-Winged Centipede, all of you must immediately unleash your strongest methods and strike at its joints and vital points. Otherwise, if this beast goes mad, even this poor Daoist won't be able to hold it down. If the ambush fails, with this beast's cunning, it may not leave its cave for a long time. It may even burrow elsewhere and flee. Even without the Monster Core, its poison sac, shell, and fangs are worth one or two hundred spirit stones. This poor Daoist will not take a single coin; all of it will go to you. If there are centipede eggs inside the cave, that will be another windfall."

After assigning their tasks, Fan Qing was still uneasy. He continued to warn them while tempting them with profits.

Around two hundred spirit stones, divided among the remaining eight people, meant more than twenty spirit stones apiece. Moreover, Fan Qing would be taking the lead. They would not be responsible for the main attack, so the risks they bore would be relatively lower. Hearing Fan Qing's description, everyone present's eyes lit up.

"Rest assured, Daoist Fan. Since we entered the mountains together, we're grasshoppers tied to the same rope. Do you really think we'd hold back?" Wang Ping said excitedly, licking his lips.

Fan Qing, who was leading the assault, was taking the greatest risk. Naturally, the team members had no further objections to his arrangements. They dispersed and took up positions nearby, waiting patiently.

About an hour later, a foul stench rushed into their nostrils. In the nearby hills, man-deep weeds parted to either side, revealing a centipede with pitch-black limbs, a silver-gray back, and a pair of silver flesh wings. Its raised head alone was as thick as a water barrel, and its moving fangs were clamped tightly around a blood-drenched wild ox.

Lu Xiaotian sucked in a cold breath. What an enormous monster centipede. No wonder even Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators did not dare set their sights on it. If not for their careful preparations and well-laid ambush strategy, had they encountered this monster centipede out in the wild without antidote pills prepared, they would likely have had no choice but to flee in panic.

The Silver-Winged Centipede seemed to sense that something was wrong with the atmosphere around it. A monster's instincts were often sharper than those of ordinary cultivators. The Silver-Winged Centipede halted, released the wild ox from its jaws, and spat out a cloud of black mist. The foul stench spread in all directions, and the surrounding weeds withered at a visible speed.

Lu Xiaotian's eyelid twitched. The black mist was spreading straight toward where Fan Qing was hiding. That Daoist was truly impressive. Even after taking an antidote pill in advance, that stench was enough to make anyone suffer.

After the poisonous mist spread without producing any unexpected change, the Silver-Winged Centipede bit down on the wild ox again. It raised its head smugly and crawled toward the cave. In its understanding, no animal could remain unharmed beneath the assault of its poison gas. That included the strange two-legged creatures it had encountered several times recently. It had even eaten a few of them. They had tasted rather good.

As the weeds toppled aside, Lu Xiaotian finally saw the Silver-Winged Centipede's full appearance.

Its two rows of long legs numbered nearly a hundred pairs. Its water-barrel-thick body stretched more than two zhang long. He had no idea how deep the cave was to accommodate such a colossal creature.

"Attack!" At that moment, Fan Qing sprang up from the flattened weeds. He flicked his whisk, and the normally soft strands became like steel needles, flying toward the Silver-Winged Centipede. They suddenly lengthened by several zhang and bound the centipede's head tightly.

The Silver-Winged Centipede was suddenly attacked, and its ferocity exploded. It violently shook its head while a pair of fangs tore and bit with all their might. In an instant, dozens of the tough whisk strands were snapped and bitten apart. Clumps of black mist rose up, and the silver whisk threads visibly blackened and corroded.

"This thing is incredibly strong!" Fan Qing's expression changed as the Silver-Winged Centipede was about to break free.

At that moment, a gray figure and a purple figure flashed past. They were Hunchback He and Wang Yuan.

Hunchback He threw out more than ten vine seeds. Driven by spiritual power, more than ten vines grew madly in the wind, extending over ten zhang as they firmly bound the Silver-Winged Centipede.

Crack!

The Silver-Winged Centipede rolled its body, and its slender legs, sharp as spirit blades, severed the vines binding it one after another.

"Quicksand Technique!"

"Earthfall Technique!"

The Silver-Winged Centipede, which was about to regain its freedom, suddenly slowed, as though it had fallen into an attractive swamp.

Lu Xiaotian, Luo Yuan, and the others charged out from their hiding places, casting spells to besiege the Silver-Winged Centipede.

"Frost Technique!" "Fire Arrow Technique!" "Golden Spear Technique!" "Earth Spike Technique!" "Fireball Technique!" "Wooden Stake Technique!" "Earth Hammer Technique!"

The Silver-Winged Centipede possessed astonishing physical strength, and its two rows of hard, razor-sharp long legs were no weaker than low-grade spirit artifacts. No one dared approach it carelessly. From a distance, they bombarded it wildly with spells. In the blink of an eye, more than ten low-grade spells struck the Silver-Winged Centipede.

Screech—

Despite its incredible defense, the Silver-Winged Centipede was still left dizzy and disoriented by such a dense barrage. Injured and in pain, it let out several shrieks. Beating its wings, it tried to fly out of the cultivator team's encirclement.

"This poor Daoist has prepared meticulously for half a year for this ambush. How can I allow you, beast, to escape? Hah, take my arrows!"

Fan Qing threw aside his thoroughly ruined whisk and removed a Darksteel Bow from his storage bag, along with a quiver containing more than ten silvery-white long arrows. He immediately nocked three arrows to the bow. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The arrows formed a triangular pattern in the air and shot directly into the centipede's flesh wings.

Bang! Its flesh wings were wounded by the arrows. The Silver-Winged Centipede had risen only a few feet before its enormous body, more than two zhang long, crashed back to the ground, sending dirt and grass fragments flying everywhere.

What powerful arrows. They were probably top-grade spirit artifacts. Lu Xiaotian was secretly alarmed by the astonishing force Fan Qing displayed when shooting. As expected of a Rogue Cultivator who frequently ventured through the Moonwatch Mountains—his methods emerged one after another without end.