Chapter 625 - 562: A Terrifying Race

Chapter 625: Chapter 562: A Terrifying Race

"Plunder, devour, destroy..."

Though his injuries were not light, Chu Mu’s expression remained placid. He simply looked pensive.

That momentary glimpse—a terrifying vision that seemed to span millennia—had undoubtedly revealed a number of clues.

Endless gore, Resentful Souls and apparitions born from carnal desire, a Corpse Mountain Blood Sea, a world of bleached white bones...

Everything, all of it, indicated that the very existence of the Sand-tailed Scorpions was synonymous with destruction.

They plundered and devoured all life, transforming it into nourishment for the Sand-tailed Scorpion Race to propagate and for the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother to grow.

Wherever they went, not a single blade of grass survived. All life, other than the Sand-tailed Scorpions themselves, was utterly annihilated.

From this, it was easy to see that after the long passage of time, the Cultivation Immortal Realm’s understanding of these creatures had likely become one-sided.

Without exception, every record he had previously studied described the Sand-tailed Scorpions as terrifying creatures that liked to inhabit deserts.

This was how they had earned such a distinctive name.

But based on the clues he was gathering, it seemed the Sand-tailed Scorpions didn’t actually prefer desert environments.

Rather...

The silent, barren desert was simply the inevitable outcome after all life, besides their own, had been plundered and devoured.

’Furthermore, judging by their instinct to evolve in response to Cultivators’ methods, the Sand-tailed Scorpions clearly weren’t limited to just the Fire Attribute.’

’The desert was simply the final result, forcing them to instinctively adapt to it. This constant evolution in response to their surroundings created the... illusion... that they favored desert environments and all possessed the Fire Attribute.’

’In other words, in a different environment, they might become Water-tailed Scorpions, Golden-tailed Scorpions, or Wood-tailed Scorpions...’

’Given their instinct to evolve at any moment, they might not even remain scorpions at all.’

’In a different setting, the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother might not be a Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother. She could be an Insect Race Empress, or the progenitor of a completely new race of Demon Beasts...’

’Considering their terrifying traits, it seemed anything was possible.’

’To simply view them as Sand-tailed Scorpions—a species of desert-dwelling, colonial scorpion Demon Beast—would be the most terrifying and fatal mistake one could make.’

’For that matter, it’s uncertain if they’re even called Sand-tailed Scorpions in the Upper Realm!’

’Moreover, this Desert Sea Heaven and Earth is clearly a prison for suppression. The terror of the "Sand-tailed Scorpion" race has probably been suppressed to its absolute minimum here.’

’Otherwise, their current strength wouldn’t be enough to match the terrifying power they used to annihilate the Cultivation Immortal Realm in ancient times.’

These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Chu Mu’s blade began to flow, one strike falling after another. Every slash left a vicious gash hundreds of feet long in the sea of sand, and with every cut, countless Sand-tailed Scorpions were slain.

Amidst this slaughter, the "Scorpion Egg" on his wrist grew at a clearly perceptible, rapid pace.

The piercing, crimson, scorpion-shaped pattern was also solidifying at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Here at the foot of Purifying Soul Mountain, Chu Mu didn’t even need to move. Each slash annihilated vast swathes of Sand-tailed Scorpions, but at the same time, the seemingly endless swarm would immediately fill the gaps, surging forward wave after wave.

With Purifying Soul Mountain so close, Chu Mu was clearly less restrained. An immense power erupted with each fall of his blade; he wasn’t holding back in the slightest.

In less than fifteen minutes, the area for hundreds of feet around Chu Mu had become a Corpse Mountain Blood Sea.

Countless severed limbs littered the ground. The crimson staining the endless yellow sand was as piercing to the eye as the scarlet mark on Chu Mu’s own wrist.

As time went on, a visibly growing number of Trial Takers gathered from all directions at the foot of Purifying Soul Mountain.

Without exception, they were all Golden Core Realm Cultivators and... Demon Beasts!

The white stone stele that shot toward the heavens like a sword could not escape the Trial Takers’ perception, and one by one, names were left upon its surface.

Evidently, the vast majority of Trial Takers had slaughtered their way here on their own merits, and a fair number had already matured their "Scorpion Eggs."

After leaving their names on the stele, their "Scorpion Eggs" would mature. A Jade Talisman would appear in their palm, and with a single step, they entered... Purifying Soul Mountain, just like the burly man at the very beginning.

Clearly, not every Trial Taker was like Chu Mu, who felt the need to get to the bottom of things. There were plenty who simply treated this Desert Sea Heaven and Earth as a simple Trial Land.

The other Trial Takers, upon understanding the purpose of the stele, did as Chu Mu had. They spread out around Purifying Soul Mountain, each finding an unoccupied spot to unleash their Divine Techniques, slaughtering the endless Sand-tailed Scorpions and nurturing that baffling... "Scorpion Seed"!

They did not interfere with one another. Only the occasional fluctuation of a Sound Transmission Order suggested that some of the Trial Takers were in contact.

Chu Mu also noticeably toned it down. The flow of his blade showed no unusual phenomena, returning once more to the unassuming state of Returning to Truth.

As his gaze swept across the area, the nearby Trial Takers, each unleashing their own Divine Techniques, came into view one by one.

In just a few short hours, nearly a hundred Trial Takers had gathered here.

Without exception, all were at the Golden Core Realm—in other words, they all had Tier Three Cultivation.

And it wasn’t just Cultivators who had made it here; there was a considerable number of Demon Beasts as well.

However, scanning the crowd, Chu Mu didn’t see a single familiar face.

Although faces could be forged, there was no doubt that a Divine Soul Aura was much harder to fake.

And in a bloody, slaughter-filled place like this, completely concealing one’s Divine Soul Aura was an impossibility.

His Divine Sense Perception swept across the area. The nearly one hundred Trial Takers who had gathered over the last few hours, be they human or Demon, were all complete strangers to him.

The Great Chu Cultivation Immortal World was vast, filled with countless experts. However, his personal network—woven around his dual masteries of Pill and Artifact refinement—was also incredibly expansive.

On his Sound Transmission Order alone, there were several hundred transmission Seals from Golden Core Realm experts.

Each Seal represented a Golden Core True Master, from All Over the World.

’Celestial Palace... Great Heng...’

Chu Mu glanced pensively at Qin Zhaoxue.

’If what she said is true, that the Great Heng is the successor to the Ancient Celestial Palace and that these ruins were only recently discovered, then it’s understandable that Cultivators from the Great Heng would be the main ones exploring this place...’

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