Chapter 1192: Blown-Up Matter
Inside the forest, the dark-skinned cultivator saw a Dragon Blood Flower and immediately revealed an expression of joy. He shifted his feet to go and pick it.
However, a figure arrived like the wind, rushing in front and picking the Dragon Blood Flower first.
“Xiao Chen, what do you mean by this? I discovered this first. Are you trying to break the rules that Boss Yang set?”
Seeing that it was Xiao Chen, the dark-skinned man trembled in anger as he shouted, deciding not to let this matter rest.
The shouting attracted some of the nearby people over. When they saw Xiao Chen on the tree branch, they all revealed a trace of a complicated expression.
Xiao Chen moved too fast, and his eyes were very sharp. More than one person had seen him moving about, and every time he stopped, he would gain something. They had long been envious of him already.
Now that the dark-skinned man found a reason, the others thought of targeting him.
The number of people coming to watch increased. Even Yang Kai appeared. Xiao Chen knew that the matter had blown up; his performance was too eye-catching.
However, Xiao Chen did not show any fear. He looked down coldly at the dark-skinned man and retorted, “You are overthinking. Senior Yang said that whoever obtains it first will gain the right to it, not whoever saw it first will gain the right to it.”
Even if considering who saw it first, Xiao Chen would still be in the right. He had seen all the Dragon Blood Flowers here when he opened his Heavenly Eye.
No matter what, reason stood with Xiao Chen.
This reply stunned the dark-skinned man; he had not expected Xiao Chen to rebut like that. The ineloquent Huge Elephant Race man was somewhat at a loss for words. So he ended up saying, “I don’t care. I saw this Dragon Blood Flower, so you have to give it to me. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”
Xiao Chen retorted coldly, “You can try being ruthless to me. See if I fear you or not.”
Seeing the atmosphere between the two becoming tenser, Yang Kai quickly interjected, “Xiao Chen, just let him have the Dragon Blood Flower. You are not lacking in Dragon Blood Flowers. In fact, even if all of us pooled our Dragon Blood Flowers together, it would not be as much as yours, right?”
Despite Yang Kai clearly siding with the dark-skinned man, Xiao Chen did not think of giving in at all. Just because I am much more capable than the others, I have to give way to them?
This was simply unreasonable. Furthermore, in this circle, if one showed any weakness and gave in, there would be no end to this later. Human greed could never be satisfied.
I cannot take even a single step back!
Xiao Chen indifferently placed the Dragon Blood Flower into his Universe Ring. Then, he held the Lunar Shadow Saber in his left hand, silently conveying his stance on this matter.
Just as Xiao Chen and the Huge Elephant Race man were in a state of mutual hostility and were about to start fighting, the fatso suddenly shrieked.
“Damn! What is this?!”
The fatso reached behind and grabbed, then pulled out a large chunk of flesh. A scarlet bug with its little mouth quickly chewing on the flesh appeared in his hand.
The scarlet bug in the fatso’s hand was no more than two centimeters long. However, the piece of flesh it was chewing on was about half the size of a palm—which showed how sharp its teeth were and how horrifying it was.
The situation was extremely strange. The sudden appearance of the scarlet bug and the fatso’s shriek of pain pulled over everyone’s gazes.
When everyone saw the speed at which that scarlet bug chewed and ate the flesh, they felt a chill run down their spines.
“How dare you eat this lord’s flesh?! I will squish you to death!”
The fatso could not restrain his anger. He clapped his hands together angrily, using some force. Then, an intense explosion erupted between his palms.
The more shocking thing was that when the fatso separated his hands, the scarlet bug was not dead yet. It spread its wings and leaped up, then landed on the fatso’s right cheek.
After that, the bug gouged out a large piece of flesh from the fatso’s face. When the rest saw the fatso’s bloody face—a cruel sight for the eyes—their scalps turned somewhat numb from fright.
The scarlet bug’s speed was too fast, and it was also too resistant to pressure. Hence, this scene happened before everyone’s eyes.
“Whoosh!”
Yang Kai’s reaction was the fastest. He quickly moved at the speed of lightning and grabbed that scarlet bug, saving the fatso.
“Quickly, leave. This is an ancient mutated beast, the Dragon Blood Bug. They live together in swarms. Hurry, leave, leave now!”
Horror flashed in this half-step Martial Emperor’s eyes. He did not give much of an explanation before flicking his finger and killing the Dragon Blood Bug. Then, he immediately rushed out of the forest.
The others could not understand what was going on. However, anyone who saw the fatso’s sorry state would feel afraid.
No one cared anymore about the grudge between Xiao Chen and the dark-skinned man. They all chased after Yang Kai, making a wild dash.
“Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!”
The sound of countless Dragon Blood Bugs flapping their wings reverberated throughout the forest. A ridiculous number of Dragon Blood Bugs flew out of the trees, evoking extremely unsightly expressions from Xiao Chen and the others. No one expected such a situation.
“We are surrounded!”
Yang Kai returned from the front. Even with his half-step Martial Emperor strength, he did not dare to leave the group and go too far ahead.
In the blink of an eye, the situation became a life-and-death struggle. This dragon grave made it such that they could not relax at all.
The group gathered into a circle to face the incoming scarlet bugs. No one dared to be arrogant here and try to fight alone.
The resilience of the Dragon Blood Bugs was an eye-opener for the group. Only by focusing their force on a spot could they kill a Dragon Blood Bug.
However, given this, the group could not kill many with one attack. When facing these tens of thousands of Dragon Blood Bugs, even if the ten cultivators pushed their speed to the limit, they did not dare to relax at all.
Everyone feared the Dragon Blood Bug landing on their body. When they thought about the fatso’s sorry state and the consequences of the Dragon Blood Bug getting on their body, no one dared to relax.
Even though Xiao Chen’s physical body was very strong, he was not willing to let the Dragon Blood Bug test it.
Xiao Chen infused the power of the lightning saber soul into the blade of his saber. He did not scatter it and just held his position, continuously sending out a screen of electric sabers.
If there were no one defending behind Xiao Chen, even with his strength, he would be hard pressed to cover all directions.
Even in the current situation, he did not relax at all. His mind remained extremely alert. Every time he attacked, he did so with his full power.
Xiao Chen had not been in such a state, where he used his full power constantly, for a very long time and did not have any mental capacity to spare.
Given that he was already in such a difficult spot, one could imagine how much worse off the others were.
The Venom Spider Race woman flung out a clump of spiderwebs, catching many Dragon Blood Bugs in one go. However, before she could smile, she saw other Dragon Blood Bugs fly over and efficiently bite up the spiderweb.
Although this move was not of any substantial defense, this ability of hers allowed her to relax a little.
Of the ten people, the one who had the easiest time was the straw-caped old man. What kind of straw his rain cape was made of was unknown, but it gave off a scent that repelled the Dragon Blood Bugs.
Even so, this old man maintained a wary expression, not relaxing at all. The effect of his straw cape probably had a time limit.
“There are fewer Dragon Blood Bugs in that direction. We should try to break out of the encirclement that way,” the fatso shouted as he looked at a direction. By this time, he already used a piece of cloth to wrap the wound on his face.
Yang Kai glanced at that direction and said indifferently, “That is the way back.”
The moment Yang Kai said that, the expressions of the people who had revealed joy on their faces froze; no one said anything more.
If the group broke out of the encirclement in the direction they came from, they would be beating a retreat. Faced with the temptation of the Eight Star dragon grave, no one was willing to do so.
“Don’t hold back any trump cards. Old Man Yu, take the lead. We will charge out together. Otherwise, we will die here.”
[TL Note: The Yu of Old Man Yu means fish.]
Yang Kai moved both his hands and flicked his fingers, sending out strong winds. Many bug corpses appeared at his feet.
The direction that Yang Kai defended was the one with the most Dragon Blood Bugs. Now he wanted to hand the lead to the straw-caped old man. Naturally, it was because he thought highly of the ability of that straw cape.
The straw-caped old man hesitated for a while before saying, “Very well, I’ll take the lead. However, I will say this first. You all best not have any other thoughts. Otherwise, everyone will die here. Don’t play games with your lives.
“Charge!”
After taking Yang Kai’s place, the originally lethargic-looking old man released a tremendous aura and a horrifying might that was actually no weaker than Yang Kai’s.
This old man had lived for longer than he cared to admit. His cultivation was ridiculously strong. Now that it all suddenly burst out, it was truly startling.
The others also knew that describing this as a life-and-death situation would be no exaggeration. So they did not hold back their trump cards.
The Venom Spider Race woman shouted and revealed her Fiend form, turning into a huge, black spider. Each of her eight legs was like a sharp treasure saber. With every swipe, a large number of Dragon Blood Bugs fell.
Yang Kai exhibited his half-step Martial Emperor strength and wielded his weapon for the first time—a sword. As he brandished it, he sent out a sharp cold Qi.
Xiao Chen looked around. Aside from Dugu Ao, everyone else exposed some of their trump cards. Even though Dugu Ao already sustained some injuries, Xiao Chen did not see him using any natural abilities from his Demon bloodline.
The ten charged forward, doing their best to kill the horrifying number of Dragon Blood Bugs in front.
Compared to the chaotic battle in the corridor earlier, this forest of Dragon Blood Bugs was even harder to deal with. Furthermore, this seemed to be only the second stage of the dragon grave.
Now, everyone thoroughly experienced the danger of an Eight Star dragon grave for themselves.
With most of the ten exposing some of their trump cards, the group managed to charge out of the forest of the many hidden Dragon Blood Bugs.
Everyone had wounds of varying severity on their body. The moment the Dragon Blood Bugs bit down, they gouged out a large piece of flesh. This simple and crude way of dealing damage was not only painful, but there was also no way to recover quickly from them.
Although Xiao Chen was somewhat depressed at the outcome, he noticed that the wounds on his arms were much smaller than what the others received. He was not sure whether to cry or laugh.
It looked like his physical body had a very strong resistance to these Dragon Blood Bugs. They simply could not bite off his flesh. He need not have been so tense earlier.
If Xiao Chen had materialized his Azure Dragon Battle Armor, he might have been able to walk out of this forest unscathed. However, that was one of his biggest trump cards. If he could avoid using it, he would.
“Damn! This lord really does not have to go on a diet anymore.”
The fatso was the most heavily injured. When he saw the wounds on his body, which turned his body uneven, he cursed in pain.
The others did not have the time to spare to laugh at him as they all anxiously treated their injuries. In that encirclement, no one could relax.
One hour later, Yang Kai was the first to stand up and say, “Let’s go on.”