Chapter 203: Seeking Survival in Peril

They were several pitch-black creatures, about as thick as a thumb and roughly an inch long—strange worms! Their bodies were covered in fine, sharp barbs; as their joints opened and closed, they made a soft 'click-click' sound. Their heads bore a pair of compound eyes that flashed with an eerie green light, their gaze seeming to suck one's soul. As soon as they appeared, they emitted a sharp 'hee-hee' screech, a fine, piercing noise like countless steel needles scraping bone, accompanied by a foul wind that made the scalp tingle. Swift as lightning, they split into several groups and lunged straight at Zhang Jun and Lin Xue.

The poisonous gas they emitted was even more fierce and overbearing than the surrounding murky green miasma; the air it touched gave off a faint 'hiss-la' sound, like a red-hot branding iron striking wet cloth.

Zhang Jun's surface layer of originally steady pure yang energy, under the corrosion of this newly emerged poisonous gas, visibly dimmed at a speed discernible to the naked eye; its golden light flickered on and off, emitting an overburdened 'hiss-hiss' sound, as if it might dissipate at any moment.

Lin Xue's specially made medicinal robe, though able to ward off ordinary miasma, was also stained by the worms' poisonous gas, likewise emitting a faint corrosive sound; the fabric's color quickly became mottled and ragged, with several spots even beginning to emit tiny black smoke.

"What wicked worms!" Zhang Jun's expression changed; he felt a cold seep in through his pores, daring not to be the slightest bit negligent.

His inner Nine Yang Divine Needle heart method circulated rapidly; the pure yang true qi in his dantian surged forth without reservation, several strands of condensed pure yang true qi seeping from his fingertips, transforming into nearly invisible qi needles that carried a scorching aura, shooting through the air toward the several aggressively approaching worms.

"Ding-ding-ding!" Several clear metallic clangs rang out in the cave, unusually piercing.

Those several qi needles, capable of piercing metal and stone, struck the worms' blackish carapace, only sputtering a few tiny sparks; they failed to pierce through, merely causing the worms' forward momentum to hesitate slightly, and they emitted several more furious screeches.

The worms' shells were astonishingly hard! Zhang Jun's heart sank; this thing was even tougher to deal with than he had anticipated.

Lin Xue's brows knit tightly; seeing Zhang Jun's attack blocked, the contents of the Hundred Herbs Classic flashed through her mind like turning pages. In an instant, a passage about some ancient poisonous worm surfaced—this worm was called the Ink Jade Thorn Gu, born in extreme yin locales, feeding on poisonous substances, its carapace harder than refined steel, fearing only scorching substances like sulfur and realgar.

"Sulfur!" Lin Xue's eyes lit up; she made up her mind, and without further thought flipped her bare hand, swiftly drawing a packet of yellow sulfur powder wrapped in oil paper from her waist medicine pouch, while her other hand produced a match. She acted swiftly, lit the match, and without hesitation brought the burning flame to the sulfur packet.

"Whoosh!" A puff of yellow smoke surged up, carrying an intensely pungent, spicy odor, like a breached flood, quickly spreading toward the several worms.

Those several ferocious Ink Jade Thorn Gu, which seemed oblivious to death, upon sniffing this strange smoke produced by burning sulfur, indeed seemed to have met their nemesis, suddenly becoming agitated. Their flight paths turned chaotic, like headless flies bumping about in the air, and they emitted sharper, more urgent 'hee-hee' cries; their momentum against Zhang Jun and Lin Xue visibly slowed, and several even panickedly crashed into the rock wall.

The tall man and the poison-mist person, seeing this, both slightly changed expression, evidently not expecting Lin Xue to find a way to counter this evil poisonous worm in such a short time. The poison-mist person's eyes flashed with a pang of distress; raising these Ink Jade Thorn Gu was no easy feat, each one having cost him considerable effort.

"Now!" Zhang Jun seized the opportunity, exchanged a glance with Lin Xue, and already had a tacit understanding.

He stomped the ground hard; the rocks beneath his feet shattered, and he shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, his posture unwavering yet not aiming at the strongest-aura tall man. Instead, with an unstoppable, mutually destructive resolve, he lunged straight at the altar's central "Heart of the Earth Vein Stabilizer", which still flickered with unstable black-red light.

Lin Xue snapped her wrist up again. She hurled a small bottle of pre-prepared dark-green liquid, emitting a strong corrosive odor, aiming its mouth at the several key rune nodes beneath the stabilizer where it connected to the altar, and flung it out! This liquid was exactly the domineering agent for disrupting energy conduction recorded in the Jade Slip of Guardian One True Person, called Soul-Corroding Liquid; upon contact, it could corrode the spirit-energy passages and block the flow of energy.

"Sizzle—sizzle-la—"

The Soul-Corroding Liquid, upon contacting those ancient and sinister rune nodes, instantly burst forth with a piercing corrosive sound, like boiling oil poured into boiling water; torrents of intense black smoke rose, accompanied by a nauseating burnt stench! The runes that had still emitted a faint glow quickly dimmed under the liquid's corrosion, even beginning to twist and deform.

The originally unsteady-glowing "Heart of the Earth Vein Stabilizer", at the moment the rune nodes suffered corrosion, gave a violent shudder! Its surface layer of eerie black-red light, like a candle in the wind, rapidly dimmed; the flow of its light became sluggish, and consequently the tall man's originally overbearing aura also stalled abruptly, as if something had fiercely gripped his throat, his face instantly paling somewhat.

"Good opportunity!"

Zhang Jun's eyes blazed with light; he had already gathered all his strength without reservation into his right fist. Seizing this fleeting opening, a surge of heroic vigor rose in his chest, and he let out a heaven-shaking roar: "Pure Yang Pierces the Sun!"

He threw a punch!

Before the fist even arrived, the extremely condensed pure yang fist aura had already transformed into a dazzling golden meteor; wherever the fist wind passed, the air emitted overburdened booms, carrying a terrifying might that could burn mountains and boil seas, annihilating all demons, and it slammed hard into the stabilizer's side, which Lin Xue's liquid had already rendered fragile.

"Boom—crack!"

A deep, thunder-like roar accompanied by a grating, crisp shattering sound echoed endlessly throughout the cavern.

Already heavily damaged and with impeded energy flow, the Heart of the Earth Vein Stabilizer, under Zhang Jun's all-out strike that gathered his full strength, finally could bear no more, emitting an agonizing wail! Its hard crystal surface, like glass struck by a massive hammer, instantly cracked open numerous fine, spiderweb-like fissures that were shocking to behold; those fissures spread rapidly, in the blink of an eye covering the entire crystal! The black-red evil light, like a breached flood, surged out uncontrollably in all directions, uttering a mournful 'woo-woo' wail.

"Pfft!"