Chapter 208: New Card, Regeneration Card!

A loud boom—

The ground suddenly exploded, and a giant earthworm, far larger than its kind, burst forth.

It was ten meters long, its body as thick as a round table, covered entirely in dark, glossy chitinous armor, its aura unmistakably matching that of a Peak Primordial cultivator!

Its grotesque mouthparts opened, spewing a thick stream of ink-green poison mist, while its body, coated in viscous toxic fluid, whipped through the air and slammed into Cao Shaozu mid-flight.

"Giant Earthworm King? Interesting!"

Cao Shaozu did not fear—he rejoiced, a spark of battle lust flashing across his face.

Calmly, he reached behind his back and drew a strange-looking battle knife, its blade long and narrow, gleaming with icy radiance.

A One Mid-Grade 【Weapon】 treasure blade!

Holding the knife, Cao Shaozu's aura surged further; the scattered air blades he unleashed were no longer diffuse—they became dense, razor-sharp, solidified blade qi!

Blade light cascaded like a waterfall, instantly shredding the spreading poison mist as he clashed with the Giant Earthworm King.

Shiiii—

Boom!

Boom—!

Blade qi crisscrossed; the Giant Earthworm King roared.

Cao Shaozu's swordplay was fierce and tyrannical, devastating in power; after a fierce battle, he finally found an opening, landing a series of cuts that cleanly severed the massive Giant Earthworm King into five pieces!

Standing with sword in hand, Cao Shaozu breathed heavily, a look of victorious pride on his face.

Yet, the instant his spirit relaxed—

Sudden change!

The five severed segments of the Earthworm King, especially the head and tail sections, suddenly sprang to life as if possessing independent wills, shooting upward like lightning, gaping jaws wide, biting at Cao Shaozu from left and right!

"What?!"

Cao Shaozu's face darkened, shock and fury mixing.

He reacted instantly, sweeping his blade horizontally and shattering the segment aimed at his head.

But the other tail segment seized the chance and bit down hard into his left waist and abdomen!

"Puch—"

Poison fangs pierced flesh; searing pain surged.

"Die!"

Cao Shaozu roared, spinning his blade backward—razor-sharp blade light sliced the segment clinging to him, tearing its mouthparts and part of its body into fragments!

Only then did the lingering life force of the Giant Earthworm King finally perish.

The other segments, which had been twitching faintly, attempting to recombine, froze instantly and fell still.

Cao Shaozu clutched his waist wound, his face grim as he swiftly pressed acupoints to stop the bleeding and swallowed an antidote pill.

He looked up at Chen Mu, standing a hundred meters away, who had witnessed the entire scene, his gaze dark, letting out a cold snort, saying nothing more, quickly gathering his things, and departing in a hasty, disheveled manner.

Chen Mu stood where he was, staring at the direction Cao Shaozu had vanished, then at the broken remains of the Giant Earthworm King…

Shuu—

Chen Mu stepped forward, covering dozens of meters in an instant.

【Corpse detected. Collect?】

"Yes!"

Card acquired. Touch to inspect.

Regeneration Card!

Chen Mu's pupils shrank; his heartbeat quickened.

Regeneration Card?

This card's effect could regenerate any body part, any internal organ.

Even if the heart was gone, it could regenerate in an instant!

Even if the head exploded, it could regenerate!

On condition the realm reached Heavenly Palace!

Below Heavenly Palace, if the head is gone, death is instant.

If the heart is gone, as long as a breath of soul remains, the card can trigger regeneration.

Treasure…

This "Regeneration Card" was a true treasure—equivalent to a second life!

"Huu~"

Chen Mu exhaled, steadying his spirit, stowing the Regeneration Card in the farthest corner of his storage.

Step forward…

【Corpse detected. Collect?】

"Yes!"

…

A handful, then another handful of cards collected.

Chen Mu walked, inspecting each card as he went.

Stamina Card, Fragment Card, Stamina Card, Fragment Card…

The corpses of ordinary Giant Earthworms slain by Cao Shaozu yielded one card after another.

After collecting and inspecting them all, the total number of "Earthbending" fragments exceeded one hundred!

Chen Mu's mind stirred; he took out all the Fragment Cards and attempted to unlock them simultaneously.

Whoosh!

A flash of light.

Over a hundred "Earth Escape" shards fused together, turning into a ball of light that sank into Chen Mu's brow.

The next moment, a stream of arcane information—and the application of power imbued with the Law of Earth—dawned upon him from the depths of his heart.

Earth Escape!

This new special skill had been successfully mastered.

Fwee~

His figure flickered; Chen Mu vanished on the spot, his entire body sinking into the ground.

Beneath the earth, Chen Mu could sense and even touch the surrounding soil, gravel, bones, and the like, yet felt not the slightest hint of suffocation.

At a single thought, he shifted forward.

However, with this shift, Chen Mu keenly sensed his stamina and physical energy draining away.

The greatest drain was on his spiritual power!

Chen Mu tested it: with his current spiritual power, he could maintain "Earth Escape" for roughly six minutes.

At maximum, he could weave through the earth continuously for six minutes.

Although the time was not long, it was enough.

With this "Earth Escape" skill, below the Heavenly Palace realm, Chen Mu was confident no one could catch him!

"What a good man…"

Returning to the surface and dismissing the skill, Chen Mu gazed in the direction Cao Shaozu had left, sighing in heartfelt admiration.

Not only had the man helped provide a "Rebirth Card" equivalent to a second life.

He had also helped gather the "Earth Escape" shards, granting him the "Earth Escape" skill.

If that wasn't a good man, what was?

…

The sky gradually darkened.

Chen Mu returned to the campsite, his mood still buoyant.

When Huang Yuanhe came back, he was somewhat dejected—his haul today had been mediocre.

Xue Ranran was the same, her brows tightly knit.

Chen Mu offered a few words of comfort and suggested they look again after daybreak.

Huang Yuanhe readily agreed.

The three of them meditated through the night.

At dawn, they set out once more to hunt exotic beasts.

This time, the three moved together.

With the aid of Chen Mu's "Wind Listening" skill, Huang Yuanhe and Xue Ranran slew another dozen-plus exotic beasts.

When full daylight came, the three hurried back to the entrance of the ancient-ruins space—the clearing on the mountainside.

Others had already returned to the clearing.

Chen Mu and the others joined the queue in turn, stepping through the light gate and returning to the spacious underground space of "Wudicheng."

By then, over a dozen more people had appeared in the underground space—some in Black Tortoise armor, others in steward robes.

Behind a long desk sat a clerk, already recording the contestants' kill scores.

On the desk sat a peculiar elongated device: a card slot on one end, a crystal sphere on the other.

When a contestant's token was inserted into the slot, the crystal sphere would light up.

Chen Mu, Huang Yuanhe, and Xue Ranran queued for inspection, watching the crystal sphere light up and dim in turn.

When it lit, it was white light tinged with red.

The difference lay in whether the red was thin or dense.

After inspection, contestants took back their tokens and waited to one side.

When Chen Mu's turn came, the crystal sphere suddenly blazed with red light, not a trace of white!

"This is…"

The clerk in charge of recording looked utterly shocked and raised his head to look at Chen Mu.

The gazes of everyone else around swept over as one.

"You don't need to wait."

A middle-aged man of extraordinary bearing and stern features—but with a smile at the corners of his eyes now—pulled the token from the slot, handed it back to Chen Mu, and said with a smile.

"You pass directly!"