Chapter 614 - 551: Noticing

Chapter 614: Chapter 551: Noticing

"Something’s wrong!"

Just as greed began to consume him, Chu Mu seemed to realize something. His eager expression faltered, and as he looked again at the vibrant scene, his eyes filled with suspicion.

’This vitality... it seems... too perfect.’

The saying goes that extremes breed their own opposites. While not an absolute truth in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, achieving ultimate perfection in anything was practically impossible.

Take Artifact Refining, for example. Even with his skill, it was impossible to achieve ultimate perfection when refining an artifact. Most of the time, one could only achieve a state of relative perfection.

After all, the pursuit of ultimate perfection in one aspect would inevitably lead to deficiencies in another.

Whether for an Artifact Refiner or an Alchemist, across the Hundred Skills of Cultivation Immortal, the most crucial talent for any practitioner was finding that point of relative balance.

Anyone who could master this balance in a given skill, even if not yet a grandmaster, was by no means mediocre.

As for ultimate perfection...

Chu Mu stared intently at the vibrant scene controlled by the woman.

’It plunders and devours, nurtures and refines, provides defense, protects one’s cultivation, and ultimately even nourishes the user’s own body...’

’No matter how you look at it, this seems to be the pinnacle of perfection!’

But upon closer inspection, regardless of whether this perfection was truly flawless, it had at least one very obvious flaw.

After all, this woman’s Cultivation was only at the Early Stage of Golden Core.

And she was facing an endless horde of Sand-tailed Scorpions, with no shortage of Tier Two and even Tier Three among them.

The two were on completely different scales.

It was just like his Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array. Although the Grand Array, once established, could easily annihilate countless Sand-tailed Scorpions, the consumption of Essence, Qi, and Spirit required to operate it—not to mention the backlash from slaughtering the scorpions—all fell upon him as its core.

In other words, while the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array could withstand the endless Sand-tailed Scorpions and slaughter countless enemies, he, as its core, obviously couldn’t sustain that level of consumption.

Therefore, this vibrant scene before him, this seemingly ultimate perfection, was undoubtedly centered on this woman.

’With her Cultivation at only the Early Stage of Golden Core, no matter how perfect her technique, it couldn’t possibly hold up under such relentless consumption.’

’This woman definitely can’t last much longer.’

At this thought, Chu Mu’s gaze shifted, his expression growing calm.

’Given the nature of these Sand-tailed Scorpions, he didn’t need to interfere. When it was all over, perhaps he could just reap the benefits?’

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, another day-and-night cycle had passed.

After the scorching sun hung high in the sky, it was once again pitch-black night.

This time, however, the endless darkness was not illuminated by the majestic, fiery-red Ancient Tower. Instead, a lush, vibrant oasis spanning several miles had taken its place.

The events of the next few days unfolded just as Chu Mu had predicted. The greatest flaw in this seemingly perfect oasis of life was the Female Cultivator herself.

Her Early Stage Golden Core Cultivation was clearly insufficient to support such a perfect technique, nor could it withstand the relentless drain on her power.

Against the endless, successive waves of countless Sand-tailed Scorpions, the lush, vibrant oasis was clearly struggling to hold on.

From its initial phase of aggressive expansion, plundering and devouring everything, the oasis had now, by nightfall, been compressed by the endless Sand-tailed Scorpion Swarm to a mere two or three miles in diameter.

And the perimeter was still shrinking.

It seemed to be only a matter of time before it was completely worn down.

Chu Mu remained perfectly still. Compared to the woman’s predicament, his own situation was clearly not much better.

His deception had been successful, but for now, as long as the woman continued to hold out, he—or rather, the Sand-tailed Scorpion he was disguised as—was forced to stand here obediently, under the control of that strange fluctuation of will.

The Heavenly Deceit Pill was, after all, just an Elixir, not a Magical Treasure with permanent effects. Its efficacy wouldn’t last much longer.

If this dragged on too long and the Elixir’s effects wore off, his Seamless disguise would inevitably be exposed. For him, that would be a repeat of the nightmare.

’The effects will last... five more days.’

Chu Mu briefly sensed the Elixir’s waning power in his Dantian. His brow furrowed, and a shadow of gloom fell over his heart.

"Fellow Daoist, if you don’t act soon, I won’t be able to hold on much longer!"

Just then, a woman’s sharp cry echoed through the night sky.

Within the vibrant oasis, the woman’s face was pale. She scanned her surroundings and shouted again, "Fellow Daoist! In this Desert Sea trial, life is relentless, and the killing never ends! If we don’t destroy the source of this slaughter, it will be endless!"

"The Desert Sea is boundless, and the Sand-tailed Scorpions are endless! This is designed to push Trial Takers to the brink of death! If we don’t destroy the source, we’ll never be able to leave, even if we reach the very edge of the Desert Sea!"

"We can only survive this ordeal by working together to destroy the source of the slaughter!"

Chu Mu froze, not quite processing her words at first.

Then, he snapped his gaze backward, toward the direction where he had once set up the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array.

This place was only a few dozen miles from the killing field where he’d been trapped.

’In other words, if this woman had arrived here earlier, it’s not impossible that she sensed my presence.’

’Endless slaughter...’

Chu Mu pursed his lips, the woman’s words echoing in his mind. After a moment of thought, he looked up at the dark night sky.

’He couldn’t afford to ignore the fact that the fluctuation of will was still present on his disguised scorpion body.’

Even without the woman’s reminder, he was already keenly aware that the source of all this slaughter was that very fluctuation of will.

’In other words... a programmatic logic, as he had guessed, or even concluded.’

To destroy the source of the slaughter, he had to find the location of this programmatic logic and destroy the vessel that carried it.

His own control by that programmatic logic after transforming into a Sand-tailed Scorpion was clear proof that this relentless frenzy was entirely driven by it.

But even now, he had only confirmed that a rigid, programmatic logic was behind everything.

As for where this programmatic logic was located, what its vessel was, or if it even had a vessel at all—these were all still unknowns, and difficult ones to ascertain at that.

Chu Mu considered this for a moment. As his gaze drifted, finally settling back on the vibrant oasis, his earlier greed was gone, replaced by a look of clear uncertainty.

’His original plan, of course, was to use his disguise to escape this Desert Sea and the endless Sand-tailed Scorpion Swarm.’

’With his Seamless disguise, the endless Beast Tide was practically a non-issue for him.’

’Escaping shouldn’t be difficult at all.’

’As long as he escaped this place, this life-and-death crisis would naturally disappear with it.’

’None of this would have anything to do with him anymore.’

’But now, if what this woman said was true...’

’That meant his plan was shattered before it had even begun...’

’This endless slaughter is a trial? Once you’re in, you can only... fight it head-on, with no escape?’

’The Desert Sea trial...’

Chu Mu’s brow furrowed, his expression growing more uncertain.

Although he couldn’t be sure if the woman was telling the truth, judging from the strange circumstances he’d observed since arriving, the possibility wasn’t just there—it was highly likely.

After all, ever since he arrived, he had been faced with endless, unprompted slaughter.

Moreover, the slaughter was clearly tailored to his own Cultivation level, almost perfectly so.

’From start to finish, no High Tier Sand-tailed Scorpion he truly couldn’t handle had ever appeared. The few Tier Three Sand-tailed Scorpions that did show up only performed programmatic attacks. Their purpose was more for deterrence...’

’A trial of life and death... so the only way out lies with it?’

Chu Mu focused on the fluctuation of will. Even though the woman had called out repeatedly, practically revealing his existence, the will fluctuation hadn’t changed at all.

It continued to methodically command the Sand-tailed Scorpions to annihilate the oasis.

’Apparently, under this programmatic logic, once I ’disappeared’ through my deception, I was no longer a target—as long as I didn’t show myself again.’

’Right now, in this Desert Sea, the only external enemy—the woman—is its sole target and its sole mission.’

Chu Mu didn’t hesitate for long. He waved his hand, and a blank Jade Scroll appeared, hovering over his palm. As his Divine Sense flowed, he began to rapidly seal information into it.

In just a few moments, the blank Jade Scroll began to glow with a crystalline light, a massive amount of information clearly sealed within.

About fifteen minutes later, after sealing the last piece of information, Chu Mu looked back toward the vibrant oasis.

He watched silently, and he waited silently.

Combat would inevitably generate Spiritual Qi fluctuations. When those fluctuations became dense enough, they would surely cause interference.

This interference would inevitably affect the fluctuation of will that controlled the Sand-tailed Scorpions.

It was just like what had happened with the Sand-tailed Scorpions that fell into suspended animation when they were cut off by his Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array.

The fundamental reason was that the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array had shielded and severed the will fluctuation’s control over the scorpions.

And at that moment, as if to facilitate a possible response from Chu Mu, the woman formed a hand seal. Crystalline, emerald streams of light swirled around her before descending with the flutter of her dress.

The vibrant oasis, which had been besieged and drained by the endless scorpions, experienced a final, brilliant resurgence. An explosion of emerald light burst forth, instantly illuminating the night sky.

Boundless life force erupted as countless Spiritual Plants grew vigorously. In a mere instant, a rolling tide of Wood Attribute Spiritual Qi fluctuations created a turbulent spiritual storm in the Desert Sea.

When this Wood Attribute tide clashed with the dense Fire Attribute Spiritual Energy of the Desert Sea and the chaotic fluctuations stirred up by the scorpions, the result was a cataclysmic surge of Spiritual Qi.

The dark expanse of the sky became a tapestry of brilliant, clashing colors.

Emerald green, fiery red, sandy yellow...

The colors of Spiritual Qi bloomed across the night sky.

Amidst the chaos, a Jade Scroll shot silently across the sky, vanishing into the vibrant oasis without a trace.

...