Demon, come and cultivate for me.

The sounds grew closer and more frequent.

Xie Ning got goosebumps all over her body.

The dark passageway was eerily quiet, except for the sounds that sent chills down your spine, the footsteps of the two of them, and their panting.

The air was filled with a pungent, strange odor that made people uneasy.

"Go your own way if you want to." Zhou Chu quickened his pace and walked towards a glimmer of light at the end of the passageway.

Xie Ning turned her head to look at the road she had come from, and the end of it turned into a small dot of light. Helpless, she could only grit her teeth and continue walking forward with Zhou Chu.

Although she suffered a lot from learning martial arts since childhood, she also enjoyed a life of luxury.

She's never even dreamed of such an environment before, not even in her nightmares.

"I...I have a tinderbox." Xie Ning's voice was a little weak. The imposing manner she had shown earlier, where she was ready to draw her sword at the slightest provocation, had long since vanished without a trace.

"Why didn't you say so earlier? Hurry up and take it out."

Zhou Chu blew on the tinderbox, and the surrounding darkness was dispelled by the light of the flame.

The scene before her eyes sent chills down Xie Ning's spine!

what--

She screamed and jumped up, clinging to Zhou Chu like an octopus.

The walls, floor, and ceiling of the passageway were covered with countless writhing centipedes.

Holy crap!

Zhou Chu couldn't help but gasp. He disliked two types of creatures the most: those without legs and those with many legs.

They're everywhere! Everywhere! Lots of legs!

He carried Xie Ning, who was hanging on his back, and ran quickly towards the end of the passageway.

The slippery feel and slight creaking sound from the soles of the shoes made Zhou Chu feel nauseous.

He concentrated all the heat from his limbs and bones into his legs, and ran like the wind.

Within his consciousness, the mountain demon's soul continuously practiced the Dragon Form Guiding Technique within the "Tai Xu Wu Xiang Tu" (Map of the Void and Formless), providing him with a constant source of energy.

A moment later, the exit of the tunnel appeared before us.

Outside the passageway was a large pit, with a faint light coming from above, barely illuminating the area.

It was only then that Zhou Chu realized that none of these disgusting centipedes had landed on him or Xie Ning.

With each step he took forward, the centipede retreated, but it always maintained a surrounding posture on the two of them.

"Easy... I can't breathe..."

Zhou Chu patted the arms that were tightly wrapped around his neck.

"Huh?...Oh."

Xie Ning paused, then immediately realized that in her panic she had hugged him too tightly.

He immediately loosened his arms.

She looked down at the man's broad shoulders and strong back, which were her only source of security.

Zhou Chu was unaware of the woman's ulterior motives; he only sensed a deadly threat looming ahead.

He tried to let go of the woman.

The woman clung tightly to his neck, hanging on his back, too afraid to get down.

"These insects are afraid of people and dare not come near us," Zhou Chu advised.

Xie Ning shook her head, refusing to get down no matter what.

"Look at that one up ahead," Zhou Chu pointed to the large pit outside the tunnel. "How are you going to kill it if you don't come down?"

Xie Ning looked up in the direction Zhou Chu pointed and saw a giant centipede, nine feet long, wriggling at the bottom of the pit.

That size, when standing up, is bigger than a person.

The bottom of the pit was full of various skeletons, some of them animal-shaped and some human-shaped.

"What...what should we do?"

"You get down first, I'll deal with it!"

The giant centipede raised its red head and spat out a fist-sized red bead from its mouth, which floated in mid-air.

The insect sprayed red mist from its mouth toward the red bead, which was slowly absorbed by the bead.

The red mist looked very eerie; it's unknown whether it contained any deadly poison.

Having traveled so far with such fear and anxiety to get here, wouldn't it be a waste to go back empty-handed?

Based on the principle that a thief should not leave empty-handed, Zhou Chu decided to bite the bullet and kill the centipede.

Give me the sword.

Upon hearing this, Xie Ning obediently presented the sword.

Zhou Chu drew his sword and leaped into the pit.

The further down you go, the more centipedes there are, and the larger they get.

The finger-sized ones could only wriggle on the outside; the pit was full of large centipedes, about the length of an arm.

These large centipedes didn't hide from people like the smaller ones in the passageway.

On the contrary, some of them even dared to rush over and pounce on Zhou Chu.

Zhou Chu wielded his sword and killed several of them, but finally dared not go any further.

There are simply too many centipedes; they can't be eradicated.

If you go any further, even if you don't get bitten to death by this thing, you'll be disgusted to death.

Even if you fight your way to the giant centipede, there are so many giant centipedes around that if you make a mistake, you'll become their food.

These insects have no intelligence; they only bite and release poison indiscriminately, and cannibalism among themselves is a constant occurrence.

Zhou Chu turned around and saw that Xie Ning was following closely behind him, so he said:

"This giant centipede is too strange. Approaching it rashly could be fatal. We should retreat first."

Xie Ning suddenly thought of something:

"I know of a sword technique that can conjure a hundred swords with a single strike, killing people silently from a hundred paces away."

"Can you?"

"Won't……"

"..."

"But I know the secrets of swordsmanship!"

"Can you finish what you're saying all at once? What's the secret? Tell me."

"Now?"

"Yes, now."

"Okay, listen carefully."

After reviewing the 108 sword techniques in his mind, Xie Ning recited them to Zhou Chu one by one.

Zhou Chu memorized it and entered the "Tai Xu Wu Xiang Tu" (a diagram of the Great Void and Formless). On the third page, one hundred and eight sword techniques appeared.

He commanded the mountain demon to fully comprehend and cultivate the sword technique, and then closed the "Tai Xu Wu Xiang Diagram".

When it was opened again, the 108 sword techniques on the third page had changed to "Tai Xu Sword Technique".

【Tai Xu Sword Technique (Beginner)】

[Having cultivated for 260 years]

Seriously? Two hundred and sixty years? And you're only just getting started?

The Taixu Sword Technique has extremely demanding physical requirements for practitioners.

As a martial artist at the peak of Body Tempering, Zhou Chu was unable to break through to the next level after mastering the basics.

Zhou Chu regained consciousness, opened his eyes, and heard Xie Ning say:

"Did you remember what I said?"

Zhou Chu nodded.

"Unfortunately, there are only the incantations but no movement techniques, so there's nothing to practice..." Xie Ning sighed.

"I've mastered it."

"Huh?" Xie Ning looked puzzled. "What have you mastered?"

"The Great Void Sword Technique!"

After Zhou Chu finished speaking, he tossed the sword into the air, then made a hand seal, controlling the sword remotely as if it were his own arm.

Xie Ning covered her mouth with both hands, staring wide-eyed at the scene, her heart filled with a tumultuous feeling.

He... he really mastered it!

Is this even human?

You mastered swordsmanship just by reciting the incantation?

The Xie family devoted all their resources to studying sword techniques, but after decades they only managed to comprehend a few sword moves.

He heard it once and...

The facts were undeniable, leaving her no choice but to believe them.

A single sword conjured up a hundred more in the air.

In an instant, hundreds of sword shadows poured down, piercing the densely packed centipedes in the pit.

These centipedes die upon contact, their bodies vanishing into nothingness.

Soon, Jian Yu cleared away all the centipedes in front of the two.

Large skeletal remains appeared at the bottom of the pit, with tattered pieces of cloth still hanging on the bare bones.

Zhou Chu could easily imagine that they had all become food for poisonous insects in their lifetimes, and were devoured in despair, eventually turning into this pit full of withered bones.

Xie Ning covered her wide-open mouth, unable to utter a single word.

Zhou Chu urged the sword to strike again.

The hundred swords combined into one, emitting a dazzling light that illuminated the dark pit as if it were daytime.

Sensing the threat, the giant centipede at the bottom of the pit swallowed the red bead and darted toward Zhou Chu and Xie Ning.

Zhou Chu remained calm and controlled the flying sword.

The sword was pointed at the giant centipede's red head, and then suddenly thrust down, pinning it to the bottom of the pit.

The giant centipede's body writhed wildly, stirring up a cloud of old ash.

Zhou Chu controlled the flying sword and slashed at lightning speed.

The giant centipede was instantly cleaved into several pieces and stopped moving.

Once he was certain the beast was completely dead, Zhou Chu sheathed his sword.

A plume of black smoke flew out of the giant centipede's corpse and burrowed into Zhou Chu's brow.

Then, like those giant centipedes, it turned into dust.

Zhou Chu entered the "Tai Xu Wu Xiang Tu" and saw a giant centipede image on the fourth page.

Centipede Monster (Second Realm)

[Talents: (Poison Mist) (Poison Avoidance) (Swiftness)]

Lifespan: 321 years

When Zhou Chu regained consciousness, he saw that Xie Ning was still standing there in a daze.

Zhou Chu waved his hand in front of her eyes, and she finally came to her senses.

"You...you really mastered it?"

Zhou Chu shook his head: "No, it's just the beginning."

"Such power even at the beginner level?" Xie Ning's eyes were full of admiration.

"This swordsmanship is indeed impressive..." Zhou Chu suddenly felt dizzy, but forced himself to calm down and continued:

"But the centipede's carcass is gone, how can we get it back from the authorities...?"

Before he could even utter the word "reward," Zhou Chu collapsed to the ground.