txolops Chapter 101 The First Battle of Core Formation
Chapter 101 The First Battle of Core Formation
Chapter 101 The First Battle of Core Formation
Luo Ming's act of collecting the Spirit Eye Spring caused a great commotion. As soon as the old man set off, four or five Foundation Establishment cultivators in the market noticed the anomaly. Their eyes lit up and they each used their magical artifacts to rush away following the fluctuations of spiritual energy.
"Even a Core Formation stage cultivator finds it so difficult to collect this Spirit Eye Spring." Luo Ming frowned to himself, feeling a pang of regret.
He ultimately underestimated the binding force of the earth's veins. At this moment, the surrounding spiritual energy was like heavy iron binding him. The closer he went to the core of the spiritual eye, the greater the resistance became. If it weren't for the support of the Xuanbo Spirit-Trapping Array, he would have failed long ago by relying solely on his own magical power to fight against it.
He focused his mind, using the power of the array to stabilize himself, transforming the Spirit Eye Spring into streams of shimmering white spiritual energy, which he slowly guided into the Spirit Jade Pot. Just as the Spirit Jade Pot was about to be filled, a sinister laugh suddenly pierced through the array barrier, exploding in mid-air.
"Heh heh, so that's why I couldn't find you all these years! Turns out you were hiding in this backwater! Let's see where you can run this time!"
The old man with the golden gu immediately recognized Luo Ming's array formation. Although the array light blocked his view of the inside, it was enough to confirm that Luo Ming was there.
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist. Black energy surged from the pouch, and countless black insects as thin as hair poured out. These were the iron wire corpse puppet insects he had raised. They carried a pungent, rotting stench like a black cloud pressing down on the array's protective barrier.
These iron-wire corpse puppet worms are best at corroding the spiritual power of formations. Previously, they were unable to fully enjoy themselves due to the interference of high-level demonic beasts. Now that the surroundings are quiet, the old man wants to see what Luo Ming can rely on to resist.
"Hmph, courting death!"
Luo Ming glanced coldly at the old man outside the formation. At this moment, it was the final moment to collect the Spirit Eye Spring. His magic power was closely connected with the Spirit Eye Spring, and he could not spare most of his strength to deal with the external enemy.
With a thought, a dazzling silver light suddenly shot out from the black spirit beast pouch on the other side of his waist. The silver light exploded in the air, transforming into hundreds of palm-sized silver beetles with a cold metallic luster on their shells. These were the Gold-Eating Insects that he had spent several years cultivating.
"go!"
Although the Gold-Eating Insects are not fully mature, they are born with a powerful carapace defense and a devouring instinct, making them more than capable of dealing with these Iron Wire Corpse Puppet Insects, which are only at the level of first-level demon beasts.
They swarmed forward, some gnawing at the insects' bodies with their sharp mouthparts, others swallowing the venom they spewed. In an instant, a large number of iron wire corpse insects were devoured, and the black mist dissipated.
The old man with the golden worm's pupils shrank sharply. He hurriedly retracted the remaining corpse puppet worms, and when his gaze fell on the gold-devouring worm, his astonishment vanished instantly, replaced by an almost manic ecstasy: "This is—a gold-devouring worm? Haha! You, young one, are actually my lucky star!"
He once obtained an ancient book that detailed the mysteries of various rare spirit insects. He had long coveted spirit insects like the Gold-Eating Insect, which were ranked high. Over the years, he had searched the world but only managed to obtain one low-ranking spirit insect.
Upon seeing the Gold-Eating Insect, the greed in his eyes almost overflowed. The value of this spirit insect was in no way inferior to that mysterious green liquid. If he could seize it and tame it, he would definitely be able to sweep away cultivators of the same level in the future.
The old man grinned maliciously, then slapped his storage bag with his backhand. A pure white, frost-like net-like magical artifact flew out, its spiritual light flowing as it unfurled in the air.
"This ice silk netting will come in handy."
This net is made from century-old ice silkworm silk, and its nature is cold and yin. He rarely uses it after advancing to the Core Formation stage, which is perfect for restraining the Gold-Eating Insects, which are spiritual insects that like to eat metal and devour spiritual energy.
As he poured his magic power into it, the ice silk net suddenly grew to tens of feet in size, like a curtain of the sky pressing down, covering the gold-devouring insects that were locked in combat, intending to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.
"Hey——!"
A sharp bird cry suddenly rang out from within the formation, and a blazing white flame shot out like a meteor, heading straight for the ice silk net in the air.
Although the ice silk net was a cold and yin magical artifact, it could not withstand the domineering power of the yang fire of the fat yang bird. The ice silk was not made of ancient rare materials. The moment it touched the flame, it produced a fine icy mist. In less than three breaths, it was scorched black and curled up, turning into ashes in an instant.
The old man with the golden gu felt a chill in his heart, realizing that Luo Ming's abilities far surpassed those of the past. If he didn't use his trump card, he would probably have difficulty breaking this formation.
He gritted his teeth and hardened his heart, slapping the storage bag again. More than twenty dark figures leaped out in response, revealing themselves to be more than twenty Foundation Establishment corpse puppets dressed in tattered cultivator robes. These corpse puppets had bluish-purple faces, empty and lifeless eyes, and their bodies were surrounded by a mist of corpse energy and black mist, clearly indicating that their minds had been controlled by the Iron Wire Corpse Puppet Insects.
Luo Ming's gaze sharpened, and he felt a chill run down his spine. The faces of the two men were those of the Foundation Establishment cultivators he had encountered during his last visit to Lingwu Island. Now they had become the other party's puppets, which showed how insidious the old monster was.
"Kill!" the old man with the golden gu shouted. The corpse puppets raised their hands in unison, each holding a green bead in its palm. The beads resonated and burst forth with a thick, highly poisonous green mist, which surged toward the Xuanbo Soul-Trapping Array like a flood bursting its banks.
The moment the green mist touched the array's protective barrier, a hissing sound of corrosion filled the air, the array light trembled violently, and spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly along the surface of the barrier, clearly indicating that the severe corrosion had caused the spiritual energy to stagnate.
Luo Mingmo's several spirit beasts unleashed their full power to attack the corpse puppet, but they were blocked by the Golden Gu Old Man's magic and could not harm the corpse puppet in the slightest.
The Zhiyang Bird continuously spewed forth its pure Yang fire, which could suppress the green mist, but due to its shallow cultivation, its demonic power was consumed extremely quickly, leaving it only able to engage in a stalemate with the green mist outside the formation. If this continued, once the Zhiyang Bird's demonic power was exhausted, the formation would undoubtedly break.
Just then, Luo Ming finally finished collecting the Spirit Eye Spring and breathed a sigh of relief. He casually put the pot into his storage bag, and the tense magical power around him instantly became active.
"Perfect, let's test my strength after reaching the Core Formation stage!"
Seeing the array of lights teetering on the verge of collapse, Luo Ming's palm flashed with spiritual light, and the Xuanhuo Mirror appeared out of thin air. The mirror was covered with three-colored flame patterns—the marks left by the three demonic fires after being refined.
Although the initial level of the demonic beasts was not high, if activated by the power of the Core Formation stage, they were comparable to ordinary magic treasures. What's even better is that these flames were just the right counter to the Golden Gu Old Man's insidious methods.
Suddenly, the Xuanhuo Mirror shone brightly, and three-colored flames swept around it. Under Luo Ming's incantation, it transformed into three twenty-foot-long fire dragons, baring their fangs and claws as they rushed out of the formation and roared towards the group of corpse puppets.
"You've actually advanced to the Core Formation stage?!" The old man with the golden gu was shocked. It wasn't until he saw Luo Ming take action himself and felt the power fluctuations that far exceeded those of the Foundation Establishment stage that he realized the other party had already broken through.
With the added protection of the formation, the strange spirit insects, and the fire-attribute magic weapon, he suddenly felt a sense of unease.
Three fire dragons roamed rampaging through the horde of corpse puppets, their scorching flames burning fiercely upon contact with them. The corpse energy on the puppets was rapidly dissolved, and their stiff bodies twisted and carbonized in the flames.
Luo Mingmo's several spirit beasts seized the opportunity to unleash their full power, and within moments, three or four corpse puppets were reduced to fragments.
"This defense is far inferior to the legendary bronze-armored corpses." A hint of joy flashed in Luo Ming's eyes, and his attacks became even more rapid.