Nero spent all night meditating and refining the berserk Qi in his body. His face flushed red as he regained his vitality and his overall body condition also improved.
…
"Ahhhhh!"
Early the next morning, Nero was shaken from his meditation by a sharp scream.
Nero grumbled, "If you scream like that you might as well invite beasts to our doorstep."
Nero hadn't opened his eyes when he felt a cold thick liquid fall on his head.
"What's this awful smell?" He shouted and opened his eyes.
Before him was a giant worm that towered many feet high with up to a hundred or more legs that curled around him! The worm had over a hundred or more eyes, and they all focused on Nero. It had a crossed parting on its face from which a slimy substance leaked out. Seeing this slimy substance, Nero groaned. This was without a doubt disgusting. The crossed lines on the worm's face suddenly opened up, evenly dividing its face into four while revealing a more horrific sight. The mouth of the worm was like a bottomless pit filled with fangs counting up to a thousand. The breath that oozed from its mouth was horrifyingly nauseating. Although it wasn't poisonous, it could render one's senses numb due to how awful it was.
In one breath, the worm swooped down to swallow Nero. Nero who was long prepared for this reacted timely. He jumped out from the encirclement of the giant worm and fiercely stomped on one of its eyes. The worm issued out miserable shrieks of pain and agony, wriggling its giant body around.
Nero landed a safe distance away from the worm. At a distance not so far from him, another giant worm seem to fight with something... Nero looked up to see a figure whose body burned like a red hot iron evading and attacking the giant worm.
"Is that….?"
Nero was completely stunned. Looking carefully, this figure turned out to be Amaya! The Princess turned out to be an excellent fighter!
Amaya fighting the giant worm was not what surprised Nero, the fact that she could fight it in her weakened state was what left him a bit stunned. For Amaya to be at the Divine Sea Realm proved that she had the potential to be a strong martial artist, but still being able to fight with a beast of such level while being injured was undoubtedly what some people couldn't do.
These giant worms are level 3 beasts known as Killer worms. Their combat strength can compare with a human martial artist at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Although Amaya was at the Divine Sea Realm, her foundation was very unstable, likewise, her combat strength was also reduced. However, facing this terrifying beast, she didn't seem to be at a disadvantage. Her body burned red as flames surged all over her body, making her look like iron from a furnace. Her movements were nimble but not slow, her attacks accurately hit their target causing the worm to wiggle in pain. However, her lack of combat strength was still a major setback for her; her attacks weren't enough to severely wound the Killer worm.
Nero observed the fight from afar. He deduced Amaya's weakness, and that was… she couldn't drag the fight any further, he had to help. Just as Nero thought this, the worm he had wounded suddenly attacked him. It swept its tail at Nero.
"Humph." Nero snorted. Seeing the tail sweeping towards him Nero didn't move, rather he stood there and grabbed at the tail.
Bang!
The worm's tail heavily impacted Nero. But to its surprise, Nero was still standing there; he hadn't even moved an inch from his initial position. Rather he grabbed unto the tail of the worm and yanked it. The tail of the worm couldn't be yanked off so Nero pulled the entire weight of the worm. Nero then started to swirl around as he held unto the giant worm.
After a few breaths of time, Nero flung the giant worm toward the direction of the other one who was engaged in a battle with Amaya. With a loud noise, the two giant worms heavily collided with each other, leaving behind trails of dust and broken stone flying around as they were sent flying backward.
Without wasting a second more, Nero took a step forward and charged at them at a frightening speed. In his hand was a broken tree the thickness of a human thigh. Nero poured his spirit Qi into the tree greatly enhancing it. At the broken end, Nero's Qi howled as it slowly honed the broken end into that of a spear!
Ho-
This thigh-sized tree-turned javelin was thrown with a frightening strength at an insane speed. The tree-turned javelin burst out howling as it pierced the wind creating intangible ripples while leaving behind an inconceivably dangerous trail. Amaya quickly moved away from the trajectory of this javelin, her surprised expression froze on her face. All that passed her was a tree javelin, but what she felt was a powerful force that could burst apart anything in its way.
Bang!
The tree javelin hit its target. The two giant worms were directly pierced through by this tree javelin. The tree javelin impaired the two giant worms with its pointy end sticking many feet into the ground. The worms issued out miserable cries and shrieks of agony. The screams slowly died out, and seconds later everywhere was dead silent. Without a doubt, they died.
The worms wiggled occasionally as a greenish fluid poured out from their body. Nero saw this and frowned; something unusual happened. While meditating, Nero hadn't felt the slightest change in his environment when the worms closed in on him.
In a state of meditation, one is deeply immersed in a different plane outside the real world. This 'plane' is simply a calm state of mind that helps one comprehend the deep mysteries of martial arts. In this state, it is normal for one to unaware of what happens around, however, martial artists can still release their perception to cover their surroundings. In a place where danger was at every turn, Nero obviously wouldn't let his guard down. Even after releasing his perception to cover a wide range, he still wasn't able to detect when those worms closed in on them!