I've already reached the Nascent Soul stage, and you're saying I didn't time travel?

Chapter 144 It feels like I'm about to die!
Seeing the deep stone passage that suddenly appeared underground, netizens were completely stunned:
"Holy crap! This is outrageous!"

"The gods and monsters have searched for so long but have found nothing."

"Who the hell would have thought it was hidden so deep underground?!"

"Don't the Zhao family feel stifled staying inside?"

"It's a family secret location, it'll only be used when the family is in danger. As long as it can hide from the enemy and continue the family's existence, who cares if it's suffocating? If you ask me, this depth isn't enough, it has to be hundreds of meters underground to be considered safe!"

"Hundreds of meters underground? Why not just drill right through the floating continent! My drill bit can pierce the sky!"

"If you look closely, you'll find that this stone path wasn't originally underground, at least not that deep underground. It must have been caused by a major change in the terrain that it sank."

"But there are no signs of sinking around. Only a short time has passed since the sun collapsed. Surely the vegetation on the ground shouldn't have grown so perfectly?"

"The floating continent is so strange, who can figure it out?"

……

While netizens were debating, Qi Xuan was considering whether or not to go down.

The spirit-detecting talisman has burned out, but that's not a big problem, since the secret location has already been discovered.

The key question is, what exactly is the situation inside right now?

Judging from the collapsed traces near the stone path and the broken array patterns discovered earlier, it was clear that someone had been to this secret place before him, and had even attacked and destroyed the outer array.

If nothing unexpected happens, the person who arrives should be from one of the Han or Zhang families; it's also possible that both families will arrive at the same time.

So what will become of Zhao Laosan?
Successful escape? Death in a secret location? Mutual destruction? Or expulsion of the enemy?
What about the Nine Aperture Spiritual True Plate? Did the Han and Zhang families manage to take it away again?
After thinking for a moment, Qi Xuan gave an order to Sunday.

I ran off on Sunday.

A little while later, it came running back again.

However, it was carrying a second-tier gray rock python in its mouth.

Upon reaching the enormous pit, it casually tossed the gray rock python down into it.

The gray rock python twisted and struggled in mid-air before finally falling into the dark and deep stone passage.

A muffled thud could be heard from inside, indicating that the stone passage was not as bottomless as it appeared from the outside.

After waiting a while, Qi Xuan could still sense the movement of the gray rock python underground. Without further hesitation, he asked Sunday to wait at the edge of the pit, ready to fight at any time. He then applied Vajra Talisman, Invisibility Talisman, and Concealment Talisman to himself. After applying a series of buffs, he took Lei Zhenzi and the Hundred Feather Universe Diagram. With everything ready, he carefully descended into the pit.

It used the stone path for a little leverage in mid-air to slow its fall, and then carried countless viewers outside the camera's view straight into the stone path.

Almost the instant it was about to land, a gaping maw suddenly opened from the ground.

Qi Xuan kicked it aside, and it slammed against the stone wall with a loud thud.

It was the gray rock python that had been hunted earlier.

"You can't tell the difference between the big and the small king, can you?"

"You think you can bully me just because I'm less sophisticated than Sunday?"

Qi Xuan almost laughed out of anger.

When the gray rock python charged at him again, Piapia slapped it twice, knocking out its fangs, and then grabbed it by the tail and slammed it around.

Finally, he pulled out the broken blade of his magical artifact, as if preparing to dismember it. The gray rock python was so frightened that it suddenly darted into the stone passage.

Qi Xuan followed slowly behind, letting the gray rock python lead the way, navigating the stone path to avoid potential attack formations, hidden traps, and other dangers.

What happens if the gray rock python dies?
That's easy, just have a few more monsters caught on Sunday.

Until the monsters have thoroughly investigated all the dangers inside.

Anyway, there's absolutely no way he'd be the first one to get to the scene.

Just then, a shrill scream suddenly came from ahead.

Immediately following was a strong smell of blood.

And the smell of blood was approaching him at an extremely fast speed.

Even with various buffs such as invisibility talismans and stealth talismans stacked on top of him, Qi Xuan didn't hesitate at all. He immediately activated the lightness talisman and quickly turned back in the direction he came from.

His spiritual sense was alerting him to an extremely strong sense of crisis, almost comparable to when he last encountered Nangong Wuji.

This proves that there must be terrifying monsters at the Foundation Establishment level underground!

It might just be a mutated four-armed human!

Qi Xuan did everything in his power to escape towards the outside world.

The pursuers behind them were getting closer and closer.

While he was in mid-air, he could even feel the shrieking sounds coming from below.

Finally, just as he was about to leap onto the ground...

A shadowy figure swept down beneath him like a cannonball, its left hand outstretched, reaching straight for his calf.

But before he could grab it—

There was a loud "bang" sound.

Sunday, who had been waiting at the edge of the pit, suddenly sprang out and crashed headfirst into him.

The impact successfully knocked the other person off course, causing them to fall to the other side of the pit.

After the collision on Sunday, it was suspended in mid-air with nowhere to grab onto, and plummeted straight down into the stone passage at the bottom of the giant pit with a loud bang.

Qi Xuan wasn't worried about whether he would break it on Sunday, and he didn't have time to worry about it anyway.

The attacker, having been knocked to the edge of the pit by Sunday, wasted almost no time. He stepped onto the slope with both feet, leaped up, and pounced on him again with terrifying ferocity.

Qi Xuan immediately retreated, creating distance.

In the meantime, he finally got a clear look at the attacker's face.

The other person had disheveled hair, a gaunt face, and cloudy eyes. A gray mist constantly rose from his body, making him look somewhat hazy.

He was wearing a tattered, blood-stained robe, and faint bluish-gray wounds could be seen on his withered body. Even his entire right arm was severed, as if it had been cut by a sharp blade.

Given such severe injuries, the fact that he could still maintain combat strength comparable to Foundation Establishment cultivators almost certainly means that he was in the late Foundation Establishment stage before his death.

Even Qi Xuan had recognized his identity.

Two hundred years have passed. The handsome man is no more, and his gorgeous clothes are tattered, but the familiar face and clothes proclaim to him that this person is Zhang Xinglan, the Zhang family expert who once led the attack on the Zhao family.

Qi Xuan was both surprised and unsurprised that he would be there.

After all, back in the historical illusion, he saw that the other party had the idea of ​​pursuing Zhao Laosan, so he must have something to rely on.

As it turned out, Zhang Xinglan did indeed catch up.

Unfortunately, the Zhao family's secret place must have been prepared accordingly, so although he broke through the formation and successfully entered, he still perished there, turning into a monster that killed anyone he saw.

Having instantly grasped the cause and effect, Zhang Xinglan had already rushed over.

The opponent stretched out his left hand and aimed straight for his chest with astonishing speed.

Even though he had grown a lot during this time, he still felt unimaginable and terrifying pressure when faced with this casual attack from the Foundation Establishment stage. It felt as if the hairs on his body were about to stand on end.

Can't escape.

Even that can't stop it!

Even with the support of external forces such as the Vajra Talisman, one's body can still be pierced through by a single palm strike!
But now, he is no longer the same person who only knew how to run away frantically when facing Nangong Wuji!
Qi Xuanmeng activated the Hundred Feather Universe Diagram.

Zhang Xinglan struck the treasure map with his palm, and in an instant, the three rare bird feathers vanished into thin air.

At the same time, Qi Xuan raised his hand and grabbed his arm, and the immobilization talisman that had been prepared beforehand immediately landed on him.

The terrifying sealing power immediately immobilized Zhang Xinglan's body.

But the talisman is still dissipating at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Qi Xuan wasted no time and slashed at Zhang Xinglan's neck with the broken blade of the magic weapon.

A loud "clang" rang out!
As if he had struck a hard steel plate, Qi Xuan staggered back four or five steps, his hand split open and bleeding profusely.

The broken blade of the magical weapon, which was always invincible, only left a white mark on his neck, without even breaking the skin!
Although I knew that the defense of a Foundation Establishment cultivator would be terrifying, I never expected it to be this terrifying!

Before he could even be shocked by the Foundation Establishment's abnormal defense, Qi Xuan noticed that the immobilization talisman was dissipating even faster. He shoved Lei Zhenzi into Zhang Xinglan's mouth and detonated it on the spot!
With a thunderous explosion, Zhang Xinglan's head shattered on the spot, half of his neck was blown off, leaving only a headless corpse that still stood firmly in place.

Seeing that the effect of the immobilization talisman was about to end, Qi Xuan dared not delay and immediately retreated far away.

When the time was up, the headless corpse, having regained its mobility, began to wreak havoc around it, showing no signs of having been killed.

Seeing the headless corpse go berserk, countless netizens on Earth were utterly shocked and their scalps tingled.

"What the hell is this thing?!" "It's clearly dead already, its head has been chopped off, how can it still be so resilient?!"

"Even if it's a zombie, once its head is cut off, it should be pretty much dead. How can a terrestrial deity be this terrifying?!"

"Those experts have the nerve to say that a group of Grandmasters can take down the four-armed monster! Open your eyes and take a good look! Is this something that even Grandmasters can handle?!"

"Fortunately, the joint command did not act rashly. Otherwise, if we had provoked those monsters in the forest by launching an attack, I don't even want to think about how we would have ended up!"

……

While the netizens on Blue Star were filled with fear and shock, Qi Xuan remained hidden in the distance, silently observing the headless corpse that was wreaking havoc on the surrounding vegetation.

Based on previous combat records, losing one's head still has an impact on this mutated monster.

First, his observation and perception abilities will decline significantly, and may even become confused.

Secondly, he will gradually self-destruct.

In fact, these monsters have been heading towards self-destruction since the mutation. Their strength will continue to decline over time. When their cultivation level drops to the Qi Refining stage, it will be difficult for them to maintain their original state. At most, it will only take a few decades or even a few years for them to completely collapse and turn into a pile of yellow earth.

The duration of their activities is closely related to various factors such as their spiritual realm during their lifetime and the environment after their death.

The higher one's cultivation level, the slower one's strength declines, and the longer one can remain active.

Furthermore, Qi Xuan had a vague idea about the mist emanating from these monsters.

So far, the strongest of the various mutated monsters he has encountered, including Nangong Yaohua, Zhao Yuehong, and even the four-armed Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Zhao family, are no more than the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

And they did not emit any mist after their mutation.

Only Nangong Wuji and Zhang Xinglan, whom they encountered this time, were both in the late stage of Foundation Establishment in life, and after their deaths, their bodies were shrouded in mist that continued to spread outwards.

Based on this, we can tentatively draw two conclusions—

Either the ability to emit mist is related to the cultivator's realm, or one must reach a certain realm in life, such as the late stage of Foundation Establishment, before emitting mist after death.

Either all monsters can emit mist, but the duration of the mist emission varies; the higher the cultivation level, the longer the mist emission lasts, and the lower the cultivation level, the shorter the mist emission lasts.

Proving which hypothesis is correct is actually quite simple.

By killing a few sick cultivators of different realms and observing the abnormalities after their deaths, a conclusion can be drawn immediately.

However, this verification method is somewhat far-fetched.

Perhaps all the patients have already died.

He was also very curious about what this fog was, how it was formed, and why it kept spreading outwards.

Qi Xuan also had some guesses about this, but he was very unwilling to admit it.

These mists are highly likely the pathogens of [osteophyte disease], which continue to spread as patients mutate, attempting to infect others.

If this conjecture is true, it means that even if all the sick cultivators die, the "osteoma disease" will not disappear, but will instead become a part of the entire otherworldly ecosystem.

All the monks living in this world have probably been infected once.

If any local indigenous people have survived, they must be the victors of natural selection, and they have most likely developed antibodies against osteoporosis.

The problem is—he's not a local.

Those who are not suited to the disease have already been eliminated, so what should he do?
He's only been here for less than six months.

Realizing he might have contracted osteophyte disease, and recalling the tragic fates of other patients, one can imagine how panicked Qi Xuan must be.

If the original purpose of exploring tribes and seeking out indigenous people was to unravel the mysteries of the sun and avoid the next great cataclysm...

Now there's another objective.

He must find a way to treat osteophyte disease in order to cope with the possibility of it recurring in the future.

Although this is only one possibility.

Perhaps he wasn't infected.

Perhaps outsiders bring their own antibodies.

Perhaps the fog is unrelated to pathogens.

……

However, Qi Xuan dared not gamble.

He couldn't even imagine the miserable scene of having no cure when the disease struck.

Even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance, he'll eliminate it completely!
As Qi Shen pondered deeply, the scene gradually began to change.

The mist emanating from the headless corpse gradually decreased and thinned.

At one point, it even stopped emanating outwards, as if all the mist had dissipated.

As the fog dissipated, the headless corpse's mobility continued to decline.

Qi Xuan even had a vague feeling that his strength seemed to have weakened.

If you were originally in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, then now it seems that you have fallen from the Foundation Establishment realm and are in the delicate area between Qi Refining Perfection and Foundation Establishment.

It seems that it will collapse on its own after a while.

But Qi Xuan couldn't wait any longer.

He turned off the live stream, rested for a while to recover his energy, and waited until he was back to his peak condition before calling out to Sunday and launching an attack.

Qi Xuan's actions were not without purpose. The opponent's perception system was damaged, and his cultivation level had dropped, making him much weaker than before. In addition, he still had trump cards such as the Hundred Feather Universe Diagram and the Small Teleportation Talisman. Even if he couldn't win, he could still escape.

Moreover, once he has dealt with this guy, he can officially begin his exploration of the Zhao family's secret territory.

Since Zhang Xinglan has already mutated and died, Zhao Laosan's situation must not be much better. He might have already died as well, otherwise he wouldn't have allowed Zhang Xinglan to wander in the secret place.

This means that as long as Zhang Xinglan, this earthbound spirit, is eliminated, the vast Zhao family secret realm will no longer be guarded against him.

Qi Xuan rode Sunday and charged forward.

Just as he had guessed, with his head gone and the fog dissipated, Zhang Xinglan's strength was greatly reduced, and even the broken magic weapon could now harm him.

Adhering to a cautious approach to combat, he preferred to roam outside rather than use any available aircraft, even resorting to long-range slingshots. It took him almost an hour to finally eliminate the headless corpse.

The experience of this battle is heartbreaking to recount.

Fortunately, the outcome was ultimately satisfactory.

After killing Zhang Xinglan a second time, he carefully dissected Zhang Xinglan's body, determined not to let any rare materials slip by.

This was the first time he had dissected a Foundation Establishment corpse.

To be honest, every aspect of his body was incredibly strong. If he hadn't had the broken magic weapon in his hand, he probably wouldn't have been able to complete the dissection even if he had exhausted all his spiritual power.

Judging from the results, apart from being too powerful, Zhang Xinglan's corpse seemed to be no different from that of an ordinary person.

The number of internal organs was neither more nor less. Although the color was very dark and the blood was as thick as gasoline, it was still generally acceptable. After all, the person had been dead for so long, so it was impossible to expect him to be completely like an ordinary person.

What frustrated Qi Xuan was that he couldn't find the organ emitting the mist, nor did he know where the mist was coming from.

If it's not the internal organs emitting mist, could it be the skin on the body?
It seems that the only way to figure out the fog diffusion mechanism is to capture a mutated patient alive and observe it closely.

However, to achieve this, unless he also becomes a Foundation Establishment cultivator, or can draw a hundred immobilization talismans, it is almost impossible.

In addition, Qi Xuan discovered a new problem.

Zhang Xinglan had no mutated appendages or bone spurs on her body.

Not a single one.

There wasn't even a trace of bone spur removal.

He looked like a normal monk who had never been sick.

Considering that his head had already exploded beforehand, bone spurs could also have grown on his head.

However, Qi Xuan was more inclined to the second hypothesis—that the Condensed Dew given by the Yuchi family did indeed have the effect of suppressing [Bone Disease].

"I wonder if the Zhang family still has any stock left."

"We can't exactly go to the Yuchi family to look for them, can we?"

"I really can't beat a Golden Core cultivator."

"Just thinking about getting closer to the past makes me feel like I'm about to die, okay?"

Qi Xuan shook off the goosebumps on his body and began to take stock of the spoils he had found on Zhang Xinglan.

I must say, there are quite a few good things here!

(End of this chapter)