The relentless slaughter continued within the dimensional space, and Xu Que could no longer count the number of Stag Beetles he had slain. The steady rise in his cultivation and honor points proved rewarding, and he could already feel himself nearing eighteen stars—a considerable leap from the mere five he'd held upon entering.
Zhao Xian and the others had advanced as well, with Kun Shao now even stepping into the ranks of Grade C.
"Brother Xu, your friends should've reached Grade D by now, right? How about letting them lend a hand?" Kun Shao called from a distance.
"Sure, go ahead and share some weapons with them," Xu Que responded promptly.
He had already considered bringing Shen Mengchu and the others in but didn't want to disrupt their rapid cultivation; training here would be quicker than slaughtering these creatures.
After Kun Shao explained that the plant juice would repel the Stag Beetles, Shen Mengchu and the others understood why Xu Que's group had remained unbothered by the creatures' attacks. Xu Que couldn't help a wry smile as he observed the new arrivals. He would've loved to find whoever documented this place and berate them. This was far from "a few hundred" Stag Beetles; the numbers they'd slain alone suggested at least three thousand, not counting those swarming the nearby insect tunnels.
They persisted for about an hour before regrouping at the center to rest.
"Mr. Xu, may I ask you a question?" one of the special trainees spoke up.
Xu Que nodded indifferently, expecting the usual curiosity about how he knew of the plant juice's properties. However, the next question caught him completely off guard.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
The whole group turned toward Shen Mengchu, leaving the woman who'd asked wide-eyed, only then realizing her blunder.
"Enough with the frivolous questions. Focus on restoring your strength. In another half hour, we'll have cleared the surface Stag Beetles," Xu Que ordered.
With renewed concentration, the group set to recovering their stamina. As time passed, Xu Que led them into the insect tunnels, resuming their purge of the beetles.
Suddenly, a scream sounded from the left rear.
"What happened?" Xu Que rushed over.
Huang Bo swallowed hard, pointing toward a corner of the tunnel. Xu Que's pupils contracted upon seeing the object in question.
"What do we do?" Huang Bo asked.
"Search the other tunnels," Xu Que directed. "If you find anything similar, call me at once."
Before long, another shout echoed through the tunnels—this time from Shen Mengchu.
"Brother Xu, look here! This thing is… moving!" Kun Shao gestured at a writhing cluster of eggs.
"Mark each tunnel with eggs; I'll deal with them personally!" Xu Que ordered.
To his dismay, by the time all egg-laden tunnels had been marked, they'd cataloged over three hundred locations across the canyon.
"Brother Xu, what now? If we damage even one, the larvae will hatch en masse, leaving us no escape route," Kun Shao warned.
Xu Que hesitated; the very scenario he'd feared earlier had come to pass.
For these larvae, the plant juice was useless, and by the sheer number of eggs alone, there had to be thousands, if not tens of thousands, ready to burst forth. Though the larvae weren't strong individually, they'd overwhelm by sheer numbers. The breach of a single egg could unleash hundreds at once.
"What if we block the tunnels with Stag Beetle corpses?" Zhao Xian suggested.
"No, that would only hasten the hatching," Xu Que replied quickly.
"Then could we seal them with rocks?" Huang Bo ventured.
Before Xu Que could answer, Kun Shao interjected, "These are insectoid entities. Do you really think we could seal them in so easily?"
At his words, the group fell silent; none of them had foreseen that Xu Que's worry would indeed materialize.
"How about we take the risk?" Shen Mengchu proposed. "If the larvae emerge, we'll fall back to the entrance quickly."
"You and your group head to the entrance and continue cultivating. Leave the rest to us six. Just remember: stay clear of the marked tunnels," Xu Que instructed.
"Be careful," Shen Mengchu urged, casting a worried glance his way.
Once her group had retreated, Xu Que turned to his own team. "It's on us now."
"Don't worry, Xu Que. I'll make sure those creatures are pulled as far away as possible," Kun Shao reassured him.
With tasks set, Xu Que quickly advanced toward the canyon's inner sanctum. As he neared the ancient temple nestled there, a cluster of black-scaled snakes, each with grotesque fleshy pustules, raised their heads and hissed in his direction.
Though surprised by the snakes' numbers, Xu Que was unfazed. They paled compared to the Stag Beetles.
With a sweeping motion, Xu Que unleashed his black longsword, slicing through the air with ruthless precision. The enraged serpents slithered toward him en masse, but he did not engage, instead racing toward the canyon's center as planned.
Seeing Xu Que emerge, Kun Shao quickly hefted two massive rocks, poised for action.
As Xu Que darted along their predetermined route, Kun Shao launched the boulders into the serpent horde. A cacophony of hisses erupted as the snakes redirected their attention toward Kun Shao, who continued to taunt them from a safe height.
With the serpents diverted, Xu Que beckoned Zhao Xian to follow.
Once the five had reached the canyon's temple, Xu Que and Huang Bo concealed themselves in the underbrush.
"Go!" Zhao Xian commanded, striding boldly into the temple.
Within moments, skeletal monstrosities of various forms—humanoid, animal, and aquatic—began to rise from the shadows.
"Time to move!" Xu Que urged, clapping Huang Bo's shoulder.
As the two entered the temple, they took positions on either side of a grand statue.
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
On cue, Huang Bo seized the blood-red gem from the statue's grip and bolted for the exit.
The temple shuddered, dust and stones cascading from above. Slowly, the stone doors creaked shut, and from the statue's eyes, a red beam of light flared ominously.
Before it could break free of its earthly constraints, Xu Que struck at the statue's head with his sword.
A loud clank echoed as the head tumbled to the ground.
Xu Que was about to celebrate when he noticed something amiss—no victory alert appeared! The statue's cracked surface continued to shed dirt, and Xu Que hastily swung again.
This time, the statue deflected his strike, countering with its own enormous blade.
A fierce whirlwind erupted, and to Xu Que's horror, the headless statue began to move. Dark, necrotic energy coiled from its severed neck, condensing into a new head.
With a bone-chilling roar, the undead knight raised its sword and pointed it directly at Xu Que.
Xu Que cast his [Eye of Detection].
In an instant, the knight's data flashed before him.
**[Entity Name: Tedugal Lith (Undead)]**
**[Grade: Beyond Grade B]**
**[Base Attributes: Strength: 470 | Spirit: 320 | Constitution: 350 | Agility: 140]**
**[Talent: Knight's Resolve – Reduces all damage by 35%, immune to dark magic.]**
**[Talent: Withered Heart – Reduces enemy speed by 30% within ten meters, while enhancing its own by 15%.]**
**[Talent: Soul Hunger – Each successful hit reduces target's Spirit by 5% and may trigger Soul Extraction.]**
**[Skills: Heart Rend, Soul Imprisonment, Knight's Charge, Dark Arts (Beginner)…]**