An Unexpected Interloper

The wounded Silver-Winged Centipede's savagery flared. It let out shrill squeals, opened its mouth, and spewed forth a blazing torrent of fire that swept madly toward Luo Yuan, his sister, and Lu Xiaotian. Even the weeds on the ground were burned to ashes.

Even with the Vajra Barrier cast over him, Lu Xiaotian could still feel an unbearable scorching heat. After being lashed by the flames a few times, his Vajra Barrier showed signs of collapse. Startled, Lu Xiaotian knew that without protection, he would likely be burned to ashes like the weeds. He hurriedly took a Low-grade Spirit Stone from his barrier and clenched it in his hand, replenishing his depleted spiritual energy. At the same time, he cast a Water-Spirit Barrier over himself. As the watery blue shield appeared, a coolness spread through him, easing much of the searing heat.

"Ah!" Lu Xiaotian could still hold on, but Luo Qing, who was only at Qi Refining Early Stage, was the first to succumb to the fire poison. The protective barrier she had raised was on the verge of collapse. Her originally fair face had turned crimson, and sweat poured down like rain.

"Little sister!" Luo Yuan hurriedly cast a Water Ball Art to absorb the scorching poisonous flames, stepping in front of Luo Qing.

The Silver-Winged Centipede possessed the strength of Qi Refining Late Stage. Even cultivators at Great Perfection would not dare to confront its edge head-on, while Luo Qing lagged behind it by two whole stages. Naturally, she could not withstand the Silver-Winged Centipede's attacks. Since Lu Xiaotian was closer, he took two slanting steps and stood before Luo Qing. "This beast is far too formidable. Stay behind and attack with spells. Don't get too close."

"Thank you, Brother Luo, Brother Lu!" The burden on Luo Qing eased, and she hurriedly retreated.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Fan Qing fired two more arrows in quick succession. The Silver-Winged Centipede lifted its head, and a thick earth wall rose directly before it.

The arrows pierced through the earth wall, but their speed was greatly reduced. They flew only a few more feet before falling to the ground.

Seeing the attack miss, Lu Xiaotian sneered inwardly. The team's combined strength still surpassed that of the Silver-Winged Centipede, but taking it down would come at no small cost. The Monster Core was something Fan Qing was determined to obtain, so naturally Fan Qing had to bear the brunt of it. No one would lightly risk their own life.

Like him, Wang Yuan, Zhang Guang, Wang Ping, Luo Yuan, and the others all kept relatively far away and attacked the Silver-Winged Centipede with spells. Although this consumed a considerable amount of spiritual energy, at least there was no danger to their lives.

Lu Xiaotian had cast quite a few spells within the team, yet with an ample supply of Low-grade Spirit Stones, he was relatively more relaxed than the others. After all, Luo Yuan and the others did not have that many Spirit Stones to use. If they used up more than a dozen Spirit Stones, then even if they killed the Silver-Winged Centipede, it would be much the same as working for nothing. Naturally, Luo Yuan and the others were unwilling to do something so foolish.

Crack! After he cast another Golden Spear Technique, the Low-grade Spirit Stone in his hand shattered. Having lost all spiritual power, it turned into powder. Lu Xiaotian swiftly took out another Spirit Stone. In a place fraught with danger at every step, he had to keep his spiritual energy as full as possible. This was no time to be stingy with Spirit Stones.

Fan Qing's expression changed slightly. He could now see that the Silver-Winged Centipede was actually a dual earth-and-fire-element monster beast. Its attacks were formidable, and its defenses astonishing.

Relying solely on spell attacks, they might exhaust all their spiritual energy and still fail to wear this massive centipede to death. If they consumed too many Spirit Stones, it would not be worth the cost either.

At this thought, Fan Qing quickly understood that unless he produced enough trump cards, the others would not pull chestnuts from the fire for him. Having realized this, Fan Qing immediately shouted, "At this rate, who knows how long we'll be fighting! Everyone, help me break this vile beast's defensive spells. Once I severely wound it, we can trap and kill it!"

"Good, I'll help you!" Zheng Shiqi flashed forward and arrived beside Fan Qing. Several low-tier spells blasted head-on toward the Silver-Winged Centipede.

Lu Xiaotian suddenly sensed something wrong beneath his feet. He immediately kicked off the ground and leaped more than ten feet into the air. An Earth Spike abruptly erupted from where he had just been standing. Had he not dodged in time, he would likely have been skewered straight through.

This beast truly doesn't know what's good for it. Can't it see that Fan Qing is the greatest threat to it? Lu Xiaotian fumed inwardly, while increasing the force of his attacks.

Fire Arrow Technique!

Golden Spear Technique!

Lu Xiaotian cast several low-tier spells in succession. Mixed with Zheng Shiqi's, Wang Yuan's Earth Spikes, and ice spears, they successively shattered several Earth Wall Art defenses cast by the Silver-Winged Centipede.

"Good!" Fan Qing was overjoyed and could not help glancing at Lu Xiaotian. He had not expected this man's spells to be so formidable as well, with the timing of his attacks grasped to perfection time and again. After a brief moment of surprise, Fan Qing drew his bow again and fired three shots in a row. Each sharp arrow struck the Silver-Winged Centipede's head, piercing its hard shell and sinking three inches into its flesh.

Pain-wracked, the Silver-Winged Centipede let out a shrill scream. Its massive body charged madly toward Fan Qing, the culprit.

Fan Qing remained unruffled. With a gesture of his right hand toward the Silver-Winged Centipede, a huge crimson net descended from the air. The spirit arrows in his quiver had already been used up. Fan Qing discarded his bow, then took a gleaming spirit saber several feet long from his storage bag. Gripping one corner of the crimson net, he roared, "This beast is already at the end of its tether! Hold through this round, and we can kill this fiend! Everyone, shoulder to shoulder, charge!"

Seeing that Fan Qing had already brought out the means he kept at the bottom of his chest, the others exchanged glances and charged forward bravely. Each grabbed a corner of the crimson net as it descended, trapping the Silver-Winged Centipede within. All manner of spells grew dense once more.

No one knew what spiritual material the crimson net had been made from, but it was extraordinarily tough. The Silver-Winged Centipede's enormous body was caught within it. No matter how it struggled, though it tore one or two openings in the net, it was still far from breaking free.

Hiss.

Black poisonous mist sprayed from the centipede's mouth, shrouding the surroundings. The weeds and trees rapidly withered, yet Lu Xiaotian and the other eight kept pulling the crimson net, steadily narrowing the encirclement.

"Ha!" Seizing the moment, Wang Ping swung his Black-Iron Staff in an arc and smashed it into two of the centipede's legs. Crack! The centipede legs snapped in response.

Lu Xiaotian pulled the net with his left hand and swung his spirit sword with his right, severing three more centipede legs that came flailing toward him. The immense pulling force transmitted through the crimson net made his heart tremble. Even with the strength of all nine of them combined, they could only barely contend with the Silver-Winged Centipede. If they had not each possessed sharp spirit artifacts, they likely would not have been able to do anything to this creature at all.

After the nine of them had chopped off twenty or thirty of the Silver-Winged Centipede's legs and struck it with no fewer than a hundred low-tier spells, its desperate struggles proved fruitless. A fierce gleam flashed through Fan Qing's eyes. He leaped up and landed on the Silver-Winged Centipede's head. Holding the saber with both hands, he drove his mana to its utmost limit. A chilling blade radiance shimmered over the spirit saber as he viciously thrust it into the gap between the centipede's head and the first shell plate. With a tearing sound, the spirit saber pierced through its body.

A large amount of green bodily fluid gushed from the Silver-Winged Centipede's wound.

The centipede shrieked miserably and thrashed again. Pain shot through Lu Xiaotian's hand as the crimson net was actually yanked free from his grasp despite his efforts.

However, the Silver-Winged Centipede had suffered a fatal wound to the head and was merely making its last struggle before death. For a time, spirit sabers, spirit swords, and Black-Iron Staffs took turns striking it, mixed with one low-tier spell after another.

Whoosh! A round orb, mottled red and yellow like earth, full and plump and the size of a goose egg, shot from the Silver-Winged Centipede's mouth and suddenly slammed into Fan Qing's spirit saber.

With a boom, Fan Qing was smashed flying backward and crashed into a thick tree trunk. Yet he ignored the pain in his body and instead burst into laughter. "Monster Core!"

After knocking Fan Qing back in one blow, the Monster Core shot toward Hunchback He, who was closer. Hunchback He was startled. He did not dare receive the Silver-Winged Centipede's deathbed counterattack head-on. He cast an Earth Escape Art and burrowed underground, vanishing from sight.

"That damned Hunchback He."

When Lu Xiaotian saw that, after losing Hunchback He as its target, the Monster Core was actually flying toward him, he could not help cursing inwardly. The Monster Core was too close. It was already too late to use the Earth Escape Art. Before he could completely burrow underground, the Monster Core would probably strike the top of his head. Wouldn't that be courting misery?

Gritting his teeth, Lu Xiaotian held his spirit sword and slashed fiercely at the Monster Core. A tremendous force rebounded against him, nearly knocking the spirit sword from his hand. His body slid backward uncontrollably for several yards. Looking at the short sword in his hand, he found a small notch in it, and his heart ached terribly. This was a mid-grade spirit artifact he had bought for dozens of Spirit Stones, and he had barely used it a few times. Even though he was already an alchemist, he could not withstand such expenditure.

However, after its successive collisions just now, the Monster Core's color had dimmed somewhat.

Thud! The Silver-Winged Centipede's body, having lost its support, collapsed to the ground. Luo Yuan had taken advantage of the Silver-Winged Centipede's attack on Lu Xiaotian to completely sever its head with a single sword stroke.

Ignoring the pain in his body, Fan Qing flashed over and seized the significantly dimmed Monster Core in his hand. Excitement could not be hidden from his face. The Savage Beast Sect's sect mission required only the Monster Core; it did not place harsh demands on whether it was somewhat damaged.

"That was truly exhausting, but dividing up this Silver-Winged Centipede makes it worthwhile. It's a pity this pair of wings is damaged. Otherwise, if an artifact-refining shop made them into a Wing Spirit Artifact, we would have struck it rich." Wang Yuan put away her spirit sword and spoke with slight regret.

Among all spirit artifacts, Wing Spirit Artifacts were exceedingly rare. Qi Refining cultivators could not fly, so Wing Spirit Artifacts had always commanded exorbitant prices, and even then they were unavailable on the market.

"It's already not bad that we took down this beast without any casualties. Let's quickly divide up this centipede."

Wang Ping, Zhang Guang, Zheng Shiqi, Luo Yuan and his sister, and the others were all rubbing their hands in delight. On average, each of them could receive materials worth more than twenty Spirit Stones.

"Haha, when there's such a good thing, naturally everyone who sees it gets a share. How could you leave us out?"

Just as Wang Ping and the others were celebrating, a familiar laugh came from a small hill nearby. Lu Xiaotian looked toward the sound and saw that the man appearing atop the hill was none other than the Big Forehead Freak who had previously used Green Bamboo Bees to ambush them. Seven other cultivators followed close behind him, all staring greedily at the Silver-Winged Centipede on the ground. Their intentions were plain as day.

Luo Yuan and the others' expressions changed drastically, and Lu Xiaotian's heart sank as well. It was not as though he absolutely had to have the materials from the Silver-Winged Centipede, but being watched from the sidelines by another adventuring team was an unpleasant feeling. Especially after their team had just gone through a fierce battle, lost several spirit artifacts, and consumed a great deal of spiritual energy. It would be good enough if they still had half their combat strength remaining.

Yet the Big Forehead Freak's team had not expended the slightest bit of effort. In Moonwatch City, soldiers stood guard within the city, but this was among the mountains. Let alone the few of them, even if hundreds or thousands of cultivators died here, it would not raise a single ripple.