SWISH!

Wen Qingye’s body moved like a gust of wind, and with a single leap, he landed directly on the Blue Scorpion’s back.

The Blue Scorpion immediately felt Wen Qingye on its back. The barb on its tail stabbed madly toward him, its cold glint hanging in the air, creating a suffocating pressure.

CLANG!

The barb and the blade collided violently. Wen Qingye instantly felt an immense force pulling on the Sword Body.

’This Blue Scorpion is surprisingly strong,’ Wen Qingye thought, gripping the One Thought Sword with both hands. His brows furrowed as he braced his feet on the creature’s back.

The man and the scorpion were locked in a tug-of-war, neither willing to yield. The surging Powerful Qi sent fragments of rock raining down around them.

Suddenly, a vicious glint flashed in the Blue Scorpion’s eyes as its massive pincer snapped fiercely at Wen Qingye.

Hearing the wind whistle past his ear, Wen Qingye’s heart jolted. He shoved his sword forward, forcing the Blue Scorpion’s barb to retract quickly.

Gripping the One Thought Sword, Wen Qingye’s hand moved in a blur, sliding the blade along the Blue Scorpion’s barb to its midpoint.

CHHHK!

With a horizontal slash of incomparable sharpness, Wen Qingye’s sword sliced the Blue Scorpion’s barb clean in two. Green blood spurted several yards into the air.

The Blue Scorpion shrieked and charged forward wildly.

Wen Qingye immediately plunged his One Thought Sword heavily into the Blue Scorpion’s back. Sparks flew, but the sharp tip failed to pierce the creature’s iron-like carapace, merely slicing through the outermost layer.

The Blue Scorpion moved faster and faster, its massive pincers lunging at Wen Qingye periodically.

’This isn’t working. I have to end this fast. We’re deep inside the mines of Four Eyebrow Mountain; who knows what other Demon Beasts might be lurking around.’ With that thought, Wen Qingye began searching for the Blue Scorpion’s weakness.

Suddenly, Wen Qingye stumbled, and his eyes fell upon a faint, thread-like red line on the Blue Scorpion’s neck.

’The weakness in its iron carapace!’ Wen Qingye’s eyes lit up at the sight.

The Blue Scorpion stopped abruptly. Before Wen Qingye could react, countless smaller blue scorpions erupted from its back and swarmed toward him.

CLANG!

The One Thought Sword flashed out, striking four times in the air.

The next moment, four cross-shaped beams of sword light shot out, dicing the swarm of smaller scorpions to pieces in a shower of green rain.

But it was just one problem after another.

Demonic qi erupted from the severed tail of the Blue Scorpion beneath Wen Qingye’s feet, soaring toward the roof of the mine.

A thick, green venom spewed from the severed tail, shooting directly at Wen Qingye.

Wen Qingye’s brow furrowed slightly. He swept the One Thought Sword horizontally through the air, and a clear Sword Trace materialized. Immediately after, a condensed beam of sword light shot out.

SPLASH!

Wen Qingye’s sword cleaved the stream of venom, turning it into a rain of poison that filled the air.

Wen Qingye stood firm. Before the toxic rain could get within three feet of him, it was vaporized by his protective Qi Aura.

Seeing its venom was useless against Wen Qingye, the Blue Scorpion let out a long hiss toward the ceiling. A vicious, chaotic demonic qi shot upward, causing the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi to fluctuate wildly. Dark clouds inexplicably gathered in the low space overhead, creating a suffocating, panic-inducing pressure.

’This Blue Scorpion really is something else,’ Wen Qingye thought, glancing at the dark clouds gathering above him.

Wen Qingye took a step forward, gathering all the Primordial Qi in his body and stomping down hard.

THOOM!

With a tremendous sound, a footprint appeared on the Blue Scorpion’s back. The Primordial Qi rippled outward in waves.

The Blue Scorpion shrieked in agony. Although its carapace was tough as iron, Wen Qingye’s stomp had channeled his Primordial Qi directly through it, sending shockwaves into its internal organs.

The Blue Scorpion swung its two massive pincers at Wen Qingye, the sharp air currents cutting like knives. Without a moment to think, Wen Qingye leaped into the air.

KRAK!

The pincers struck the stone wall as if it were tofu, blasting a huge crater and sending out a deafening boom.

In mid-air.

Wen Qingye took a deep breath. He swung his One Thought Sword four times, sword light dancing. Four powerful streams of Sword Qi, sharp and heavy as mountains, slashed down, locking onto the Blue Scorpion’s head, neck, abdomen, and tail.

All three strikes hit their mark, only missing a vital spot on its tail. But even with the ferocity of the Sword Qi, the attacks could only just break through the Blue Scorpion’s iron-hard carapace to reach its flesh. Green blood began to trickle out slowly.

This time, the Blue Scorpion truly felt the pain. It shrieked toward the ceiling, its grayish-green eyes turning a strange, ferocious scarlet.

It opened its massive maw. A red light seemed to spark to life, gathering in its throat.

Immediately after, a bucket-sized ball of red light shot out, but it rapidly condensed in mid-air, transforming into an intensely focused beam the thickness of an arm that blasted toward Wen Qingye.

"What a formidable Blue Scorpion!"

Wen Qingye’s brow locked tight. He pointed his sword at the red beam of light and, becoming one with his blade, charged forward to meet it.

Amid a world-shaking explosion, rampant Primordial Qi surged wildly in all directions. The surrounding stone walls shattered, and the mine itself began to show signs of collapse.

A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth; Wen Qingye was lightly injured.

The Blue Scorpion was also in bad shape. It tumbled backward several times, unable to mount another attack for the moment.

RUMBLE!

Even more rubble rained down. Seeing this, the Blue Scorpion’s eyes filled with horror. It darted toward a nearby stone wall and vanished from Wen Qingye’s sight in an instant.

After the Blue Scorpion disappeared, Wen Qingye spotted a red glow and immediately rushed toward it.

Time trickled by as rubble continued to fall. Wen Qingye felt the very ground beneath him begin to tremble.

’This tunnel is about to collapse. I need to hurry.’

Gritting his teeth, Wen Qingye sped forward, his sword flashing out continuously to shatter the falling boulders.

He was there!

Suddenly, Wen Qingye stopped. The red light was emanating from an inconspicuous spot up ahead.

An intense red glow and a surge of powerful Primordial Qi were emanating from it. ’There must be an incredible treasure inside.’

Wen Qingye had no time to waste. He rapidly swung his sword toward the spot.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

As the Sword Qi passed, rubble flew everywhere, and a large trench was carved into the ground.

SCRAPE! SCRAPE!

He saw something deep within the earth. Wen Qingye couldn’t help but hurry forward to take a look.

The depths of the trench were revealed before Wen Qingye’s eyes. The first thing he saw was a trove of Top-grade Primordial Stones. He immediately gathered them all into his Sumeru Ring.

These Top-grade Primordial Stones seemed to be just an outer layer, as if they were encircling something.

With the Top-grade Primordial Stones gone, the object they had been surrounding was finally revealed to Wen Qingye.

"A Spirit-Devouring Stone?"

Wen Qingye exclaimed in pleasant surprise when he saw it.