Chapter 493

Xuan Yuan Zhi climbed up from the ground in a sorry state, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and looked gloomily at the Gu cultivators of the various families who were constantly running into the tomb-robbing tunnels, so angry he was about to go mad.

At this moment, his appearance was extremely wretched; his clothes were shattered, and his body was covered in blood. Clearly, he had suffered not-insignificant injuries under the recent explosion.

After closing his eyes to sense the condition of his body, his heart soon sank.

The injuries were simply too severe, reaching the point where he had to sit down and heal immediately. Continuing to fight was definitely not a wise move, so he could only watch helplessly as one Gu cultivator after another jumped into the tomb-robbing tunnels and escaped.

"Damn it! Where on earth did this monster come from? To actually have the ability to fuse Heavenly Fire and Heavenly Water, creating an attack that could even threaten Gu Kings! I never expected a tiny Spirit Sea Stage Gu cultivator to become a variable!"

Xuan Yuan Zhi hammered the ground heavily with his fist, his face looking as ugly as it could be.

"Your Highness! What should we do next? Should we pursue them?" An old man exuding the aura of a peak Gu King ran over and asked with a frown.

Xuan Yuan Zhi swept his gaze around, and after counting the number of casualties on his side at top speed, he clenched his fists, his face turning even uglier.

Of the ten thousand-plus experts brought by the Xuanyuan Imperial Family, more than half had fallen in this explosion, and fewer than two thousand survived; it was simply a heavy loss.

Moreover, those who were lucky enough to survive were all injured, and some were even missing arms or legs, lying on the ground wailing. Half of the people here had already lost their combat capability.

At this moment, everyone was scared out of their wits, their eyes filled with terror, their expressions dull, looking as if they had been blown stupid; where was there any will to fight left?

With such heavy losses, he only felt the world go black, and he was about to faint.

To ensure the greatest chance of annihilating everyone from the eight great families without leaving a single one behind, the Xuanyuan Imperial Family had dispatched its most elite forces. With the majority of these forces lost here, it could be considered a blow to the Xuanyuan Imperial Family's foundation; they would not be able to recover their vitality in a short time. He truly did not know how to explain this after returning.

He took a deep breath, raged for a long time, and finally said, "Don't pursue them. Our people are either injured or crippled and have already lost the will to fight. Continuing to pursue them will only lead to even heavier losses."

"We don't have many people left, and we can't afford to toss them around anymore." Xuan Yuan Zhi's face aged significantly in an instant. Soon, his gaze sharpened, and he said coldly, "Hmph! The Cangyue Imperial Tomb is filled with dangers and is absolutely not a path to survival. We don't even need to take action; most of those who enter will die inside."

"We only need to guard here and wait for the rabbit. I don't believe they will never come out."

"We will keep guarding here; we will kill every one of them that comes out. This group of people broke into the Cangyue Imperial Tomb; with wolves in front and tigers behind, it is a dead end," Xuan Yuan Zhi sneered.

"Now, all the wounded are to heal on the spot. Those who are not seriously injured, guard the various tomb-robbing tunnels for me, set up ambushes, and don't let a single one out..."

At this moment, Long Xuan, who had already run into the tomb-robbing tunnel, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. After stopping to check his injuries, he could not help but give a bitter smile.

His injuries at this moment were more than just severe; he was practically half-crippled. Organs throughout his body had suffered serious damage and could definitely not be easily repaired in a short time.

If it were anyone else, such injuries would have killed them a hundred times over.

It was only by relying on the Water Bear Gu that he had forcibly hung onto his life.

The power of the Distortion Jade move was indeed strong, but every advantage had a disadvantage. The power generated after the distortion force exploded was simply too immense, and it would instead affect the caster.

Because the attack range was too wide and there was nowhere to run, this was completely a move that harmed the enemy by a thousand while damaging oneself by eight hundred. Unless absolutely necessary, it must never be used easily.

Now he was suffering the consequences. Because he was so severely injured, it was difficult for him to deal with the various dangers in the ancient tomb.

Raising his head, upon noticing that the progress above had not moved and knowing that the people from the Xuanyuan Imperial Family had not come down, he let out a long sigh of relief. That the people from the Xuanyuan Imperial Family did not continue their pursuit was good news for him.

However, although the people from the Xuanyuan Imperial Family did not come down, the Gu cultivators of the other various families had all come down, and this even included a large number of Gu Kings. These people were right behind him.

Long Xuan felt a headache. He had accidentally injured them all, and he did not know if this group of Gu Kings would hold a grudge.

Now that he was weak to the extreme, Long Xuan dared not let this group of Gu Kings catch up. Utilizing the Book Gu's Earth Escape ability, he immediately drilled into the soil and disappeared.

If it were before, with the Cangyue Imperial Tomb protected by formations, it would definitely not have been easy to travel underground.

But now that the Cangyue Imperial Tomb's tomb-protecting formation had been broken by Di Xin, the Earth Escape ability would not be restricted in any way here.

Once the Earth Escape ability could be used for tomb robbing, it was simply too convenient to find any treasures.

Not long after Long Xuan disappeared from the spot, a graceful figure pursued to this place. Standing at the position where he had just disappeared, she frowned slightly.

"Where is he? How did he disappear into thin air! This person's various mysterious trump cards are truly endless."

Qin Mingyue revealed a puzzled expression. Hearing the sound of footsteps behind her getting closer, her face changed, and she could only put aside the doubts in her heart and continue running forward.

There were quite a few Gu Kings among those coming from behind; she dared not easily come face-to-face with strange Gu Kings.

Long Xuan used the Earth Escape ability to cheat, traveling through the soil unscrupulously, avoiding the tomb passages filled with mechanisms, avoiding the secret chambers hiding unknown dangers, skipping over layers of danger, and heading straight for the position showing infinite progress.

With the Earth Escape ability that ignored obstacles and the ability to accurately find targets, he was a bug in the ancient tomb; the various dangerous designs in the ancient tomb were like nothing to him.

In the Cangyue Imperial Tomb, there was more than one position showing infinite progress. Thinking of Di Xin's words that the Heavenly Spirit Tree was not the tomb-protecting treasure of the Cangyue Imperial Tomb, Long Xuan headed toward the nearest infinite progress point.

Not long after, he smashed a cyan stone brick with a punch and ran into a spacious underground space. Soon, a cyan-green towering ancient tree appeared in his line of sight.

The ancient tree was lush and green, with tangled roots and vines hanging down from the branches, filled with an ancient aura.

Amidst the dense leaves, one could faintly see large blue fruits. The fruits emitted a faint blue light, appearing particularly eye-catching in the dim underground space.

Seeing these blue fruits, Long Xuan's eyes instantly widened, releasing a burning, brilliant light, and his breathing soon became rapid.

"Heavenly Spirit Tree! This is the Heavenly Spirit Tree! There truly is a legendary Heavenly Spirit Tree in the Cangyue Imperial Tomb! Hahaha... It was not in vain that I took such a big risk. Finding this Heavenly Spirit Tree makes it completely worth it, no matter how severe my injuries are."

"As long as I create a Heavenly Spirit Pill formula with the Heavenly Spirit Fruit as the main ingredient and thereby use the power of the pill to break through to Gu King, then I, having become a Gu King, will soar into the sky. I can go anywhere in the world, and at that time, how could that group of Xuanyuan Imperial Family Gu Kings outside stop me?"

Seeing this Heavenly Spirit Tree, Long Xuan was ecstatic, and the worries in his heart were swept away.

As long as the Heavenly Spirit Fruit was in hand, he could solve all his troubles and easily overcome this crisis.

Long Xuan clenched his fists, but now, although he was extremely excited in his heart, he was not blinded by joy.

He looked around with a vigilant gaze and did not act rashly. This was an imperial tomb, and an imperial tomb was the most dangerous place. All the designs in the tomb were intended to kill tomb robbers to the greatest extent and would not leave a single path to survival. In such a place of great danger, how could he not be cautious?

There was no need to think; given the heaven-defying value of the Heavenly Spirit Tree, dangerous mechanisms protecting the treasure must exist in the surroundings. If he rushed up rashly at this time, he would not even know how he died.

Long Xuan scanned the surroundings carefully, cautiously probing for dangers. Upon seeing one progress point after another in the dark river nourishing the Heavenly Spirit Tree, he understood.

He did not see any other progress points in this secret chamber, which meant there were no formations or mechanisms here. Then, presumably, the danger here came from the river.

Long Xuan poured his massive spiritual power crazily into the Heavenly Mechanism Eye, turning his penetrating vision to the maximum, and he vaguely saw the form of the unknown creatures in the river.

"Crocodiles? This group of unknown creatures in the river is actually crocodiles?" Long Xuan murmured, unable to help but frown slightly.

Spirit beasts like crocodiles crawl slowly and do not easily come ashore, possessing super-strong combat power in the water.

Encountering crocodiles in the river was almost a dead end.

But it just so happened that this dark river firmly protected the Heavenly Spirit Tree. To walk in front of the Heavenly Spirit Tree, one had to cross the river, and as long as one crossed the river, one would definitely attract the crocodiles in the river and be attacked by countless crocodiles.

This group of crocodiles had many fourth-rank spirit beasts with powerful combat strength, equivalent to human Gu Kings, and their combat strength in the river was far superior to human Gu Kings. Crossing the river rashly would definitely lead to being torn into pieces by this group of crocodiles.

It was no exaggeration to say that this river was enough to easily stop dozens of powerful Gu Kings. If one were to attack this place by force, one feared that one would not know how many Gu Kings would have to fall before this Heavenly Spirit Tree could be taken away.

Long Xuan was suddenly in a dilemma. If taking away the Heavenly Spirit Tree was so difficult for a peak Gu King, it was even more so for a tiny Spirit Sea Stage Gu cultivator like him.

One could jump over the dark river directly from underground, but the roots of the Heavenly Spirit Tree lived by absorbing the water of the dark river and were simply too close to the riverbank.

At such a close distance, once one poked one's head out from the soil, it would definitely attract the attention of this group of crocodiles.

Fortunately, by cheating, he jumped over all the dangers and arrived here directly. Others were blocked by various dangers in the tomb and could not arrive at this place in a short time, so he had plenty of time to think.

After thinking for a period of time, Long Xuan finally came up with a method he was not very confident about.

His lousy idea was to use the Seventy-Two Transformations to turn himself into a crocodile exactly like the ones in the river, then walk over openly, and then openly pick the Heavenly Spirit Fruit on the tree.

Although the Seventy-Two Transformations was not a physical change, only a visual deception, its characteristic was that it was very difficult for people to see through the flaws, and deceiving the crocodiles in the river would definitely not be a problem.

The only thing that worried him was whether the intelligence of the crocodiles in the river was high. If it were humans, seeing a fellow of the same kind walking over inexplicably from afar, even if they could not see any flaws, they would still be suspicious in their hearts.

If the intelligence of the crocodiles in the river was comparable to humans, his plan would be difficult to succeed. He was gambling at this moment that the intelligence of the crocodiles in the river was not high.

Because this plan had a very high failure rate and was simply too dangerous, Long Xuan finally decided to let his Yan clone, this "resentful species," execute this plan, while he himself stayed close to where there was soil. As long as the situation was not right, he would immediately escape using Earth Escape.

He did not believe that this group of crocodiles could also use Earth Escape. As long as they could not use Earth Escape, then even if they were fourth-rank spirit beasts, they would not be able to catch up to him.

This was why Earth Escape could become a heaven-jealous ability. As long as it was not in a place with formations, the Earth Escape ability was enough to avoid most of the dangers in this world; it was simply shameless.

Not long after, a large black crocodile crawled toward the dark river openly.

Watching this crocodile crawling forward bit by bit, Long Xuan hid in a concealed corner, his gaze filled with tension.

"Is this move of yours really effective?"

The sudden voice by his ear really gave him a fright. Long Xuan shuddered violently and turned his head to glare fiercely at the person beside him.

There was no need to look; just by hearing the voice, he knew who the person beside him was. Who else could it be but Di Xin, who had entered long ago? That she could arrive at the location of the Heavenly Spirit Tree so quickly truly exceeded his expectations.

Although Di Xin had come down early to break the Cangyue Imperial Tomb's tomb-protecting formation, the formation being broken was just a recent event. The time the two arrived at the location of the Heavenly Spirit Tree was basically the same; it was just a matter of one after the other.

Long Xuan was very curious about how she had managed to get here so quickly.

Could it be that she had a map of this place? Long Xuan could not help but think.

"Do you know that scaring people can scare them to death! Couldn't you have given me a hint before you spoke?" Long Xuan gave her a disgruntled look.

Di Xin did not answer his question, her gaze staring blankly at the crocodile that was crawling toward the dark river, her expression very solemn.

That someone could actually turn into a crocodile was simply an inconceivable thing in her view. This was the first time in her life she had seen such a peculiar ability; even she, who was well-informed, could not help but reveal a look of shock at this moment.

Di Xin's gaze flickered. She had to admit that turning into a crocodile to steal fruit was indeed a pretty good strategy. For dealing with spirit beasts with low intelligence, the success rate of this strategy was very high.

It was just that doing this was a bit wasteful of clones, wasn't it? Was it a bit too inhumane for this clone?

"The world is truly full of wonders. I never expected that there would be an ability in this world that allows one to change into all things at will, and it is almost impossible for others to see through the flaws."

"I have never seen this kind of Gu worm, and it has never appeared in history. Could this be another unique Gu worm you researched? Can you trade one to me?"

Di Xin turned her head, her gaze burning as she looked at him.

With her discernment, she could of course see how high the practicality of this ability was and how much convenience it would bring her when stealing things, so she immediately developed the intention to trade for this kind of Gu worm.

Long Xuan immediately shook his head and laughed, "It's not that I'm stingy, but this ability was obtained by the Book Gu through reading novels and cannot be copied."

"For the same novel, one can only refine one Gu; you cannot refine another Book Gu that is exactly the same."

"That's a pity!" Di Xin did not doubt what he said. The look of disappointment on her face flashed and vanished, and she turned her gaze back to the crocodile that had been transformed from Long Xuan's clone.

At this moment, this crocodile had already crawled to the riverbank. Hearing a "Pfft!" sound, it crawled into the river.

Long Xuan instantly revealed a nervous expression, clenching his fists tightly, fearing that a group of crocodiles would swim over from all directions and tear his poor clone to pieces.

Fortunately, his worries were superfluous. When this black crocodile crawled into the water, the crocodiles in the river seemed to have seen a fellow of the same kind and did not react at all, letting this crocodile swim slowly toward the direction of the Heavenly Spirit Tree.

Seeing this scene, Long Xuan loosened his fists and finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Sure enough, the intelligence of this group of crocodiles was very low; his plan had succeeded. (End of chapter)