"Hope we can actually pick up something today—what the Golden Core cultivators don't care for is good loot for us!"

"True that. In the Foundation Establishment Area, if we can't land a chance to condense our Golden Cores, then even finding something discarded by those seniors from the Golden Core Area is worth it!"

"....."

A bunch of cultivators began chattering as they flew ahead on their swords.

Lin Chang'sheng pulled out a spiritual artifact sword and soared behind the group, standing atop the blade while fiddling repeatedly with a Qi Condensing Pill in his hand.

This Spiritual Energy Pill was basically useless to him now, but he could at least rub it to farm some experience points.

"Too bad I can't bring out Xiaobai and pet its head for extra experience…"

Lin Chang'sheng stared at the panel, watching the Myriad Treasures Pill Formation Technique experience points tick upward, muttering inwardly.

If Xiaobai appeared, everyone would know that 'Wei Wuji' was really Lin Chang'sheng!

Lin Chang'sheng flew low alongside Zhuo Yijian, Tu Yunfei, and the others.

Suddenly, he spotted a tiger cub on a ridge below—about three feet long, cute as hell, crawling determinedly forward.

"Huh, why not grab this little tiger and pat its head instead."

Eyeing the cub, Lin Chang'sheng's interest was piqued—hey, a little tiger's still an animal.

With that thought, Lin Chang'sheng descended.

He landed quickly on that peak and snatched the tiger cub into his hand.

The tiger cub stared up at him in terror, whimpering and struggling desperately in his grip.

"Don't be scared, little tiger! Stick with me, you'll get plenty to eat!"

Lin Chang'sheng rubbed the cub's head. The little thing was so young that when he stroked it, he ended up pulling out a patch of fur, leaving a bald spot on its head.

Divine Soul Contract Technique experience +1!

Divine Soul Contract Technique experience +1!

.....

Each time Lin Chang'sheng petted the cub, a red notification kept popping up on his panel.

"Hey, that works."

Seeing the alerts, Lin Chang'sheng grinned—no need to summon Xiaobai, and he could still stack up experience points.

After all, Xiaobai by his side had become a dead giveaway—if he summoned it, any cultivator present would realize he was Lin Chang'sheng.

That would make this whole Wei Wuji disguise pointless.

At that moment—

Zhuo Yijian, Yu Lingfei, Gao Ziyue, Tu Yunfei, and Mu Yunfeng all sent Lin Chang'sheng a confused look, as if wondering why this Daoist Wei was grabbing such a measly tiger cub.

"Daoist Wei, that little tiger can't be more than a few days old. Not very useful, is it?"

Jianghai came over, curiosity written all over his face.

"I raised a tiger when I was a kid… but lost it. This cub just reminded me of those days, so I figured I'd keep it."

Lin Chang'sheng answered Jianghai while running his fingers over the cub's head, watching the red notifications keep popping.

"Oh, I see."

Jianghai nodded, saying, "Daoist Wei, you sure are sentimental."

Lin Chang'sheng clutched the pill in his left hand, still rolling it around while he tucked the tiger cub under his arm and kept petting its head with his right, his panel awash in more red alerts.

The cultivators pressed on, flying several hundred miles.

But not a single Golden Core Stage cultivator was in sight.

[Divine Soul Contract Technique Perfection]

Just then, a line of red text flashed across Lin Chang'sheng's panel.

At the same moment, a torrent of arcane knowledge poured into his mind—the techniques and insights for deploying the Divine Soul Contract Technique at perfection level.

The data flow fused with his consciousness in a split second.

"Nice, nice. Divine Soul Contract Technique, perfected."

Lin Chang'sheng looked at his panel with deep satisfaction—right now, he felt like he'd honed this technique for a hundred years, smooth and effortless.

"Alright, when there's nobody around later, I'll summon Xiaobai and test the Divine Soul Contract Technique."

He pondered it over internally.

Then he noticed—dang, the fur on the tiger cub's head had been completely rubbed off. Now he had a bald, little tiger cub.

"Man… talk about karma."

Lin Chang'sheng stared at the bald tiger, feeling a tad guilty, and decided to slip it into the Spirit Beast Bag, right next to Xiaobai.

After all, it had helped him perfect his Divine Soul Contract Technique. Wouldn't be right to just toss it aside—it could hang with Xiaobai now.

"Wait, that's weird. We've flown several hundred miles and still haven't seen a single Golden Core cultivator? Where'd they all go?"

Lin Chang'sheng scooped up the cub, glancing around with growing suspicion. He wasn't the only one—Zhuo Yijian, Tu Yunfei, and the rest were confused as hell.

The thing was—

There were at least twenty or thirty thousand cultivators in the Void Hall—and, sure, most were at the Foundation Establishment Stage, but there were plenty of Golden Core cultivators too.

No way they could all be missing in here.

Lin Chang'sheng unleashed his powerful divine sense, sweeping below—just endless black peaks stretching for tens of thousands of miles. By now, the group was deep in the middle of those black hills.

And what really bothered Lin Chang'sheng—

The black mountains were completely barren—no trees, no grass, just countless fist-sized holes honeycombing the surface, like a giant ant nest. Strange bugs darted in and out of the hollows.

The mountains looked like iron ore—everything was pure metal!

"Wait, are these iron mountains?"

"And the bugs here can actually chew through iron and leave it all pitted like this? That's not normal!"

"It really is iron—this stuff is as tough as a magical artifact! And these bugs just munch right through it!"

"......"

The cultivators hovered over the iron mountains, all of them shocked by the sight of black bugs crawling everywhere inside and out.

"Buzz!~~"

Just as the group flew over the mountains, suddenly, the mountains shuddered. From those holes erupted a swarm of bugs, rocketing straight for the cultivators in the sky.

"Shit! Those bugs are targeting us!"

"Damn bugs!"

"......"

Seeing the bugs close in, the cultivators shot higher, firing off fireballs, sword aura, and talismans like crazy!

But, to their shock, the bugs were absurdly tough—normal fireballs just wrapped around them without burning them to death, only making them go berserk.

They all shrieked shrilly, diving straight at the cultivators.

Meanwhile—

From all the potholes in the black mountains, even more bugs burst out, a black tide stretching for miles and instantly trapping the group inside.

"God, what are these things? We're all at Foundation Establishment and can't even kill them!"

"Heaven-Devouring Worms! These are Heaven-Devouring Worms! Run!"

"What's a Heaven-Devouring Worm?"

"They're legendary insects from the Void Hall that can eat literally anything! I only saw a few mentions in sect records… Best not to piss them off!"

"......"

The weird bugs' immunity and endless numbers sent the cultivators into a panic, retreating desperately—only Lin Chang'sheng realized the bugs swarming them were so dense, escape was impossible.

He saw that each bug was pitch black, about the size of a pigeon egg, two sharp, scythe-like horns crowning its head—like bull horns but thinner. Their shells made up a half-cup over their back, their heads tiny, eyes bulging and glinting with eerie light.

Lin Chang'sheng, Zhuo Yijian, Tu Yunfei, Mu Yunfeng, and the other fifteen cultivators unleashed magic and every trick they had against the bugs.

They managed to blast away or kill a handful, but there was no way to wipe them out.

"Ah~!!"

Suddenly, a Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator got careless—ten or so bugs latched on and froze him, then even more swarmed over, forming a human-shaped black shell of bugs.

In just a few seconds—

The bug armor broke apart and the bugs flew off, leaving no sign of the cultivator—bones and magical artifacts included, eaten completely clean.

"Holy shit, these things are nuts!"

Lin Chang'sheng's heart lurched. He steeled himself, slashing furiously with the Immortal Slaying Saber to fend off the swarm.

"Everyone, if we join forces and blast open a gap, we can escape through there!"

Zhuo Yijian's expression was tense as he called out in a low voice.

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