Chapter 442: Water Path

"This is..."

Gazing at this strangely shaped toad, Shui Juanyun's gaze hardened, revealing a look of curiosity.

It was the first time he had ever seen a Gu Worm of such appearance; there had never been any record of this kind of Gu Worm in history.

Where exactly did Long Xuan get so many bizarre Gu Worms?

First the white insect cloud, and now this Gu Worm capable of moving mountains—both were beyond his understanding.

How many more trump cards does he have that I don't know about? Shui Juanyun's expression grew three parts more solemn.

Seeing the toad expanding at an extremely rapid pace, soon reaching the size of a mountain range yet showing no sign of stopping, Shui Juanyun tilted his head back, mouth agape, his heart filled with immense shock.

Is this the Qian Clan Merchant Association's Three-Legged Golden Toad? He quickly shook his head; no, the Three-Legged Golden Toad has three legs, definitely not this shape.

This Gu Worm's ability is likely similar to that of the Three-Legged Golden Toad, perhaps even superior, Shui Juanyun mused, his gaze becoming increasingly grave.

At this moment, the Heaven-Devouring World Toad finally ceased expanding, suddenly opening its mouth wide; a terrifying suction force erupted from within, causing stones, dust, and various debris below to fly wildly into its giant maw, while beneath that maw, sand flew and rocks shifted in chaos.

Shui Juanyun was greatly alarmed and hurriedly covered his eyes.

"This is..."

Seeing the suction force grow ever stronger, realizing he himself was about to be swept up by the terrifying pull and flown into that giant mouth, Shui Juanyun's face turned pale.

How would he dare remain in this place now? He fled at extreme speed, fearing being sucked into the giant beast's mouth; who knew what fate awaited a person once swallowed into its belly.

"Boom—"

Suddenly, a deafening roar came from behind, followed immediately by earth-shaking tremors that nearly made him lose his footing.

Shui Juanyun instinctively turned his head, only to see that towering Gravity Mountain actually being uprooted, flying bit by bit toward the giant toad's mouth; his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

A creature capable of casually swallowing an entire massive mountain seemed simply terrifying to him.

Under his shocked gaze, the mountain rose bit by bit, finally flying into the giant toad's mouth and being swallowed down in one gulp.

After swallowing the Gravity Mountain, the giant toad let out a burp, patted its round belly, and displayed a look of satisfaction.

Subsequently, the giant toad's volume shrank rapidly as if deflated; before long, it returned to normal size, leaped into the Insect Breeding Bag at Long Xuan's waist, and vanished.

Shui Juanyun felt his shoulders suddenly lighten, as if several thousand jin of weight had been removed; with the gravity suddenly gone, his whole body felt much more relaxed.

"This is..."

Just as Shui Juanyun was about to speak and ask, Long Xuan suddenly interrupted: "The gravity in this mountainous region has now disappeared; without the restraint of gravity, many Gu Kings can break free from the pursuit of the Puppets."

"At their speed, they will be able to reach here very quickly without the influence of gravity."

"They will definitely rush here to investigate the situation; this place is absolutely not safe to stay in for long, we must leave immediately."

Speaking thus, Long Xuan immediately turned around and proceeded forward at maximum speed.

Shui Juanyun's eyes darted about, unsure what he was thinking; seeing Long Xuan move away, he immediately chased after his footsteps and departed as well.

Meanwhile, in the Water Path.

"What exactly is going on? Why have Blood Mosquitoes appeared here? Blood Mosquitoes have never appeared before!"

Gazing at the corpses covering the ground, their skin devoid of any blood color, Jiu Kang's face turned iron-green.

Once Blood Mosquitoes form a swarm, they are not something a Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivator can contend with; this trial has severely exceeded the limits, for when the River God Secret Realm opened in the past, Spirit Insects like Blood Mosquitoes had never appeared.

This group had entered the Water Path not long ago before encountering Blood Mosquitoes covering the sky and earth; a swarm of Blood Mosquitoes can only be dealt with by forces at the Gu King Level, so how could this group of Gu Kings, whose Cultivation Realms were suppressed, possibly be a match?

Whether Gu Kings or Spirit Sea Stage Gu Cultivators, all died miserably under the siege of the insect swarm; before long, seven or eight out of ten people who had entered the Water Path were dead.

It was only because there were truly too many people entering the River God Secret Realm this time that the Blood Mosquitoes, having gorged themselves on blood, retreated on their own; otherwise, he dared not guarantee whether he could survive under their siege.

Apart from him, only a dozen or so people who had entered the Water Path luckily saved their lives; they now sat limp on the ground, faces pale, gasping heavily, shuddering at the thought of what had just happened—they had literally walked through the Ghost Gate.

"This is abnormal! Something must have gone wrong in the River God Secret Realm, a major unforeseen event we know nothing about!" Cha Shan clenched his fists and shouted loudly.

"Do you think I don't know something has gone wrong here?" Jiu Kang turned to look at him, saying with a sinister grin: "I want to know why the River God Secret Realm has encountered trouble; something this major happening in the River God Secret Realm must have a cause—what exactly occurred to cause the River God Secret Realm to change?"

Cha Shan shook his head, saying with an exhausted expression: "I don't know either, but I think since such a huge variable has appeared in the Water Path, the other seven Paths certainly cannot be safe either."

"Various unforeseen events that have never happened before have likely occurred there as well, perhaps even more dangerous than the Water Path, with even more deaths."

Hearing this, everyone's expressions grew even uglier; silence fell for a long while, the atmosphere on site becoming extremely heavy.

At this moment, He Jiong finally broke the silent atmosphere, narrowing his eyes as he said: "I suspect someone added something into the river, which caused this massive change in the current River God Secret Realm."

"Your meaning is, someone secretly poured wine and tea of higher quality into the river?" Jiu Kang raised his eyelids, looking at him as he spoke.

"Exactly, the offerings we poured into the river would absolutely not cause such a huge change in the River God Secret Realm."

"The trials in the River God Secret Realm suddenly became harder; that definitely means someone, behind our backs, poured wine and tea of higher quality into the river—this person has truly caused us great suffering," He Jiong said, clenching his fists, his face dark.

"No way? Ten Thousand Year Monkey Wine can already be called the number one wine in the Gu World; how could there possibly exist wine in this world of far higher quality than Ten Thousand Year Monkey Wine?"

"Even if such wine truly exists in this world, a tea of the same quality as that wine must also appear simultaneously to increase the difficulty of the River God Secret Realm; otherwise, no matter how high the quality of the wine, it would be useless. Could it be that a Divine Tea unknown to us all appeared at the Tea Tasting Assembly?" Cha Shan raised an eyebrow, saying in disbelief.

The champion tea of this Tea Tasting Assembly was already Extreme Grade enough; he truly found it hard to believe there could be tea of even higher quality.

At this moment, Jiu Kang recalled the wine he had encountered at the wine stall during the Wine Tasting Assembly, gradually revealing a solemn expression.

"I think I know exactly what wine triggered this incident; the tea of the same level undoubtedly comes from the same person's hand as well."

"This youth clearly used a Disguise; after trading away the Ten Thousand Year Monkey Wine, he teleported away instantly, so I have no idea of this person's Identity."

"However, that is no longer important to us; what we must consider now is how to get out of here."

"That swarm of Blood Mosquitoes left only after drinking their fill of blood; once we move too slowly and they digest the blood and come out to hunt again, we will surely die!"

Jiu Kang's words immediately gave everyone a start; those still sitting on the ground catching their breath stood up one after another, no longer caring about resting.

"That's right, continuing to discuss these matters is meaningless; since the event has already occurred, what we should be thinking about now is how to leave here alive."

"I have rested enough; let us set out immediately, for this place is absolutely not safe to stay in for long."

"I have rested enough; we shall depart immediately. This place is absolutely not suitable for a prolonged stay."

... (End of Chapter)