Chapter 2461: Above and Below, Each Busy in Their Own Way

Zhu Xiuer restored to her original form, which was about the size of a small hut, but compared to the massive bulk of the black turtle, she was simply too tiny.

That huge mouth could easily swallow Zhu Xiuer whole.

But the earth-hole spider queen's abilities were not limited to this? Zhu Xiuer had a strand of spider silk stuck to a large tree seven zhang away, and at this moment the eight limbs suddenly contracted—

It was not using force to jump away, because there wasn't enough time—the crocodile's mouth was too fast, and her second jump was too slow.

Just as the crocodile's jaws snapped shut on the spider queen with a click, the sensation was wrong.

There was no feeling of juicy flesh bursting, but instead a dry, woody chew.

Others could see clearly that it had bitten into wood!

At that moment, Zhu Xiuer swapped her position with the tree.

This move, He Lingchuan also knew, but this was the earth-hole spider queen's version of "Displacement and Shadow Change"—only the newly shed spider skin granted this ability.

Zhu Xiuer was not pleased; just as the fight began and they exchanged a glance, she had already used up a life-saving ultimate technique—annoying!

To use this move again, she would have to wait another thirty or forty seconds.

At this moment, Li Yun also led the disciples of Changfeng Valley rushing over.

Zhuchishan was one of the most important spiritual medicine production sites of Changfeng Valley, originally lush with vegetation and neat medicinal fields. Whenever a gentle breeze came, the spiritual fields would be filled with medicinal fragrance, refreshing the heart and soul.

This field cultivated especially valuable spiritual herbs; besides the common ginseng and lingzhi dolls, there were also some strange medicinal seeds, such as blood black turtle vine and spotted coin seeds—besides sealing the throat upon seeing blood, they were all precious medicinal guides.

Even the "Red Chapter Root," which the cultivation world could not basically breed, had achieved breakthrough progress in artificial domestication at Zhuchishan.

This plant grew to the height of a person's shin, entirely red, with ten whisker-like tendrils, fine but strong, helping it move forward while pupating on the ground. But its jumping power was also strong—one leap could carry it several zhang.

The most amusing thing was that the neck of this Red Chapter Root had a large bony ring, looking like an "o"-shaped mouth, always appearing as if about to shout in surprise.

Moreover, it truly could emit a high-decibel screech, just like the big goose at the village entrance—when it saw strangers, it would chase them away.

But all of this, now turned to nothing. The Earth Mother hurled stone men to pursue intruders, resulting in the medicinal fields suffering great disaster; Li Yun's wave drum was seized, and there was no way to stop them anymore.

The medicinal fields of Zhuchishan were basically destroyed by these outsiders!

The disciples of Changfeng Valley chased all the way here, seeing the miserable state of the medicinal fields, all were so angry their eyes seemed to blaze.

And among the mountains, countless rainbows flashed—these were the other immortals of Changfeng Valley responding to Li Yun's urgent summons and rushing over.

At this time, Changfeng Valley had not yet experienced the siege by the three sects, but talents were abundant and it was at its peak, with thirty-six immortals, fifteen of whom were out, seven in closed-door cultivation, leaving fourteen still in the sect!

The disciples under the sect numbered in the tens of thousands!

There was no need for Guan Biao to personally act; relying solely on Changfeng Valley's strength, they could completely crush these intruders.

He Lingchuan had just exchanged blows with Li Yun; although this was a secret realm, the cultivators' abilities within it were truly real, almost without discount.

Seeing the immortals of Changfeng Valley rushing over, the blood demon immediately said to He Lingchuan: "Hey, I'll sneak off to kill that menial Guan Biao—perhaps it could save you from water and fire!"

The Zhuchishan secret realm was actually built around the menial Guan Biao; theoretically speaking, once this core figure died, the secret realm should also end.

Should.

In this situation of overwhelming enemy numbers and few allies, the blood demon thought it was worth a try.

He Lingchuan then said: "Keep an eye on him, but don't move—wait for my signal."

He had experienced countless great storms in his life; in critical moments, his reaction was usually faster than anyone's.

The blood demon's suggestion was the best strategy to resolve the current crisis, but still, that sentence—He Lingchuan needed to delay more time within this secret realm.

His plan was already close to success, just lacking that little bit of time.

Unless absolutely necessary, he was unwilling to give up.

"Good." The blood demon, taking advantage of the battle situation and darkness for cover, quietly went toward the three rows of houses.

At this moment, the secret realm's master stamped a foot on the ground, and his form suddenly enlarged.

In just three breaths, it became a towering stone giant three zhang tall, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, eyes glowing red, covered head to toe in moss!

And this was the Earth Mother's usual manifestation.

Then, pointing at He Lingchuan and the others, he said to the rushing Li Yun: "Capture these intruders! They have destroyed Zhuchishan's medicinal fields!"

The spiritual herbs cultivated and transplanted in Zhuchishan, some with ages over a thousand years, were priceless treasures beyond price. Moreover, the high-quality output here was exclusively for elders, to meet the medicinal needs of the immortals.

Actually, his words were debatable—He Lingchuan and the others had together harvested no more than two stalks of medicinal herbs; Zhuchishan's medicinal fields were destroyed by him driving the Earth Mother's power.

But Li Yun had no time to think further—the Earth Mother never lies; since it had spoken out accusing these outsiders, our side must definitely capture them.

As for that giant crocodile, its body had multiple layers of stone pieced together—clearly a creation of the Earth Mother, so it was not a target for Changfeng Valley's attack.

"How absurd, dare to run wild in Changfeng Valley!" Li Yun pointed at He Lingchuan, saying he had a severed-arm grudge against this wretch: "Capture them!"

Changfeng Valley cultivators surged from all directions, surrounding He Lingchuan and the others in the middle.

Enemy numbers, hundreds to one, plus the secret realm's master, this great boss eyeing them tigerishly—could this battle even be fought?

Immortal Mingke retreated to He Lingchuan's side, whispering: "Hold on, True Person Sihai and my senior brother will arrive shortly."

He Lingchuan looked up—surely, again at the entrance of Zhuchishan, hundreds of rainbows flashed.

Immortal Mingke let out a long cry, urgently summoning his senior brother to come fight!

￥￥￥￥￥

Above ground bustling, below ground quiet.

The surface entrance to the Earth Mother's nest had been sealed by Li Yun; only at fifteen zhang underground did the cave space reappear. This was an undisturbed corner, except for occasionally one or two Changfeng Valley disciples entering, otherwise it was always deathly silent.

Earlier, the stone crickets that attacked He Lingchuan and the others were mostly trapped underground.

The secret realm's master had matters to attend to now, and was too lazy to bother with them.

Without the secret realm's master driving them, they returned to their nature—some reopened their burrows, others wandered aimlessly.

The stone cricket that had bitten He Lingchuan's arm and been flung back underground lay motionless in the rock crevice, occasionally twitching its front legs; even when its kind passed by, no one paid it any mind.

Who knows how long passed before this poor creature waved its antennae, resumed crawling, and joined the ranks of the cave crawlers.

Since it couldn't get out, it and its kind just crawled everywhere in the cave. Li Yun's divine power had shifted everything in the cave, so earlier Zhu Xiuer couldn't find her target.

In the pitch-dark where one cannot see five fingers ahead, this neglected stone cricket lazily patrolled a circle, and eventually crawled onto the pig-kidney-shaped white stone above.

Hehe, found it.

(End of chapter)