Chapter 1757

Hu Xiaotian bent down to examine the water closely, yet saw the water teeming with tiny insects the size of millet grains; a moment's inattention would mean missing them. Hu Xiaotian secretly thought the Wuxian Sect laid traps everywhere, each step shocking; in all things caution is best. He dared not casually touch those tiny insects, looked up and saw that although the stone wall was slippery, no poisonous insects lurked there. Hu Xiaotian employed Golden Spider Eight Steps, pressing himself to the wall like a spider and climbing forward. The wall stayed slick, water dripped down incessantly with a tinkling sound. After moving another ten or so zhang ahead, the water's hue shifted, phosphorescent light floated and darted, five‑colored and dazzling; these were planktonic creatures that thrive in darkness.

Hu Xiaotian used hands and feet to swiftly cross this water area; when he landed again, the ground beneath his feet was soft, completely unlike the previous hard rock, entirely mud—a terrain where poisonous insects easily breed. Just as Hu Xiaotian hesitated whether to continue forward, he heard a painful howl coming from inside, the sound heart‑rending, though it seemed to come from a man.

Hu Xiaotian drew a breath, leapt up, and mid‑air lightly touched the muddy ground before springing aloft again; in an instant he had crossed nearly twenty zhang of muddy terrain. Ahead the cavern opened up, light shone from above; looking up he saw the entire ceiling was a vast crystal dome, beyond which lay lake water. Moonlight poured through the water into the cavern, rippling and gorgeous, but the anguished cry echoed again in his ears, leaving Hu Xiaotian no time to admire the shifting light‑and‑shadow display. The wail came from below; about one zhang in front of Hu Xiaotian there was a cave.

Hu Xiaotian approached, bent over and looked down; using the light of the Night Pearl he could see that this underground cavity was about three zhang deep, its diameter also about one zhang; below, countless moths crawled densely, and in the center of the underground cavity there was a pile of something, whose shape vaguely resembled a person; the wailing cries were coming from him.

The light of the Night Pearl attracted those moths; as if exploding, the moths almost simultaneously took flight, forming a brown torrent that surged toward Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian's heart jolted; he immediately understood the reason, and threw the Night Pearl in his hand directly into the cavern; the swarm of moths then chased after the Night Pearl and flew back into the cavern.

Inside the cavern, a thin, withered figure slowly rose, lifted his face, and a pair of cold, gloomy eyes gazed upward; his eyes met Hu Xiaotian's, and the two almost simultaneously recognized each other—the old man in the cavern was actually the sect master of the Variegated Sect, Bei Ze Lao Guai.

Hu Xiaotian had previously severely injured Bei Ze Lao Guai in the Heavenly Star Villa of Bohai State, and had also killed his pet, the Five-Colored Spider King, and swallowed its inner elixir.

Upon meeting, Bei Ze Lao Guai and Hu Xiaotian were truly enemies meeting with red-eyed hatred; he gritted his teeth and said, "Hu Xiaotian, return my inner elixir!"

Hu Xiaotian could never have imagined that Bei Ze Lao Guai would appear in the headquarters of the Wuxian Sect; knowing that the Southern Five Immortals and the Northern Variegated Sect, though the Variegated Sect is slightly weaker in strength than the Wuxian Sect, it is still comparable; now Bei Ze Lao Guai is actually hiding in a cavern of the Wuxian Sect, and it is unknown whether he was captured there or is using the Wuxian Sect's grounds to seek refuge—could it be that Rong Shi lured him here intending to use a borrowed knife to kill? It seems that the fact that he killed the Five-Colored Spider King and swallowed its inner elixir is no longer a secret, and his grudge with the Variegated Sect is now widely known.

Bei Ze Lao Guai let out a furious roar and suddenly leapt up from the cavern.

Hu Xiaotian was not afraid of him; the last time at Heavenly Star Villa, his martial arts had not yet broken through, yet he could still defeat Bei Ze Lao Guai; now he has not only taken the inner elixir of the Five-Colored Spider King, but also learned the Heaven-Splitting Sword from the Sword Demon Dongfang Wuwo, and moreover obtained the lower half of the Great Void Law from Bu Wu monk, having already comprehended how to slowly digest and absorb the foreign true qi within his body for his own use; although his progress during this period has been slow, it is a process of reforging his internal energy, and once this process is completed he will surely break the cocoon and become a butterfly, his martial arts advancing greatly.

Hu Xiaotian well understood the principle of seizing the initiative; before Bei Ze Lao Guai could leap out of the cavern, he thrust his sword forward, a formless sword energy shooting straight down. With a Peng! the swarm of moths that had fluttered up was split in half, yet Bei Ze Lao Guai's reaction was also extremely swift—his body could actually dodge Hu Xiaotian's sword energy slash, arriving at the other side of the cavern like a loach.

His body was covered with moths, looking like a brown statue. Even when he fought at Heavenly Star Villa, Hu Xiaotian had already experienced his insect armor; back then Bei Ze Lao Guai was wrapped in Iron Wire Golden Bugs, whereas these brown moths were unseen before, and Hu Xiaotian secretly wondered whether these moths were the adult form of the Iron Wire Golden Bugs.

Bei Ze Lao Guai coldly stared at Hu Xiaotian from across the cavern, moths layered over his body, leaving only a pair of holes where his eyes were.

Hu Xiaotian snorted disdainfully and said, "I never expected the sect master of the Variegated Sect to become a lackey of the Wuxian Sect; saying it out loud wouldn't even fear being laughed at."

Bei Ze Lao Guai gave a cold snort: "It was Meizhuang that schemed to trap me here; you're no different!"

Hu Xiaotian had deliberately provoked him, and Bei Ze Lao Guai indeed took the bait; from his words it was not hard to judge that Bei Ze Lao Guai and Lady Meizhuang were not in league, he too was merely trapped here. Upon learning the truth of why Bei Ze Lao Guai was in the cavern, Hu Xiaotian's heart stirred; although he bore a grudge against the old man, everyone was now in the same boat, and there was still a possibility of cooperation between them. He smiled and said, "We're all in the same boat—why rush to kill each other for nothing? Better to find a way to leave this place first." Hu Xiaotian believed his reasons were enough to move Bei Ze Lao Guai.

Bei Ze Lao Guai seemed swayed by his words, slowly nodding and saying, "That works!"

Hu Xiaotian thought that Bei Ze Lao Guai was not entirely stubborn; those who know the times are heroes, and temporarily setting aside mutual hatred in the face of a common enemy is the wisest course. Just then, Bei Ze Lao Guai suddenly launched an attack, spreading his arms, and the moths on his body descended upon Hu Xiaotian like a violent storm.

Although Hu Xiaotian had proposed joining forces, facing this cold-blooded, ruthless old monster he dared not relax his vigilance in the slightest; the moment Bei Ze Lao Guai made a move, he was already alert.

What Bei Ze Lao Guai did not expect was that Hu Xiaotian voluntarily jumped into the cavern. Bei Ze Lao Guai was overjoyed, thinking this lad had been dazed by the moths and had walked into the trap; entering the cavern meant being completely passive, as if that would let him evade the moths' assault?

Countless moths continued to surge into the cavern, and Bei Ze Lao Guai also flung himself into it.

At that moment, Hu Xiaotian's figure shot up into the sky; entering the cavern was merely to gain a moment to catch his breath and adjust. Once adjusted, Hu Xiaotian unleashed his killing move, the Heaven-Splitting Sword! A icy sword energy surged up from the cavern floor like bamboo shoots after rain; wherever it reached, the frenzied moths pouring in were pierced to death.

Bei Ze Lao Guai had originally intended to enter the cavern and engage Hu Xiaotian in close combat, but as soon as his body plunged into the cavern he felt this immense, unmatched icy sword energy; he instantly realized, "Oh no!" and swiftly curled his body into a ball; the sword energy tore through the moths on his exterior and struck the spinning sphere, the blade scraping against the sphere sending out countless sparks—Hu Xiaotian saw clearly that beneath the moth layer there was a layer of Iron Wire Golden Bugs attached to Bei Ze Lao Guai's exterior forming an insect armor, and it was precisely this armor that allowed him to narrowly escape disaster.

The sphere spun round and round, propelled outward by the sword energy's impact, then quickly unfurled, extending limbs and head from the sphere; a gap about a chi long split open in Bei Ze Lao Guai's chest insect armor, fresh blood seeping out, but soon the wriggling Iron Wire Golden Bugs filled the gap.

Hu Xiaotian gleefully appeared on the other side of the cavern; although the moths still hovered around his body, they did not launch another attack.

Bei Ze Lao Guai nodded, and moths gathered around him one by one; he had been wounded in the earlier sneak attack, and Hu Xiaotian's martial arts had already surpassed his imagination. If they were to fight to the death, it would likely be him who dies.

Hu Xiaotian sighed and said, "Why bother? When the snipe and clam fight, the fisherman gains—don't you realize others are watching us from behind?"

Bei Ze Lao Guai said, "So what? Do you think you can get out?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Since we could get in, we can certainly get out."

A cold voice sounded: "If you want to leave, hand over the Heaven-Man Myriad Images Chart!"

Hu Xiaotian recognized the voice as Rong Shi's, looked around but saw no sign of Rong Shi. He laughed loudly and said, "Rong Shi, I came with sincere intent to negotiate with you, yet you set this trap to harm me! Does the Wuxian Sect still have any shame?"

"You came in yourself—who else do you blame?" Rong Shi's voice came from all directions; given Hu Xiaotian's ability, he could not tell where the voice originated. As Hu Xiaotian searched for Rong Shi's hiding place, Bei Ze Lao Guai's disdainful voice reached his ears: "Don't waste your effort—you won't find him."

Hu Xiaotian sent a mental transmission to the old man: "What place is this?"

"You haven't even heard of the Wuxian Sect's Bone-Dissolving Prison?"

The Bone-Dissolving Prison—once you enter, sooner or later you will turn into a pile of white bones.

Hu Xiaotian looked at Bei Ze Lao Guai: "How long have you been here?"

Bei Ze Lao Guai said nothing, grabbed a handful of moths and stuffed them into his mouth, chewing with a grating noise. Seeing this, Hu Xiaotian felt a wave of nausea; it seemed that in the Bone-Dissolving Prison, Bei Ze Lao Guai survived solely by relying on these bugs.

Bei Ze Lao Guai said, "Day after day, it's been a full year!" After his sneak attack on Hu Xiaotian failed, he temporarily set aside his plan to attack Hu Xiaotian, going around the cavern and brushing past Hu Xiaotian. (To be continued~^~)