Da Xuan Martial Saint

Chapter 713: Chapter 401: Attack_2

Only unique Xunmu root nodes like this one contain a sufficient amount of Xunmu Spirit Liquid.

These Spirit Humans who live underground typically have large settlements around special root nodes, but not every root node is surrounded by large settlements, as some are buried deep underground.

Take this segment, for instance, buried deep, it would have gone nearly undetected if not for his keen perception; and upon closer look, it’s obviously much thicker than those in the previous two large settlements.

Pu-chi!

Chen Mu still acted directly, piercing through its surface and then mobilizing Yuan Gang Force to extract Xunmu Spirit Liquid from within.

About a dozen breaths later, he withdrew his hand.

This time, he brought out a large ball of emerald-green Xunmu Spirit Liquid, the size of a baby’s head, roughly weighing almost a pound, nearly three times the harvest of before!

Even Chen Mu showed a trace of a smile at this.

With such a harvest, if repeated six or seven more times, he would basically have enough to temper his Qiankun Martial Body to Perfection.

Continue.

Chen Mu’s joy did not last long, ended with a smile, he quickly stored that ball of Xunmu Spirit Liquid and continued deeper into Xunmu Cave Heaven, seeking more positions of Xunmu root nodes.

It didn’t take much longer before he found the third root node, again located within a large settlement. He didn’t pay much attention; these large underground settlements, though home to thousands of Spirit Humans, usually lacked anyone even comparable to the Five Viscera Realm. In his presence, they had virtually no power to obstruct, no different from ants.

But just as Chen Mu was once again overpowering a settlement and reaching the center to extract another portion of Xunmu Spirit Liquid, the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends Formation Flag he always carried suddenly emitted a faint glow.

Yan Hong’s slightly urgent voice transmitted from it.

“Trouble has arisen! Come quickly!”

Being one of the top ten Spirit Weapons in the Spirit Weapon Catalogue of Da Xuan, the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends Formation Flag was naturally extraordinary, capable of connecting the Yuan Gang Force of a Grandmaster to form a Formation, and naturally capable of transmitting voices to each other within a certain range.

Yan Hong’s tone was very urgent and even a bit nervous, clearly facing no ordinary trouble.

Chen Mu remembered that although everyone had acted separately, Yan Hong and Yan Zhengyang, along with her accompanying court personnel, had not dispersed but moved together. In such a situation, encountering something making Yan Hong so tense and anxious, the only thing Chen Mu could think of was one.

The Spiritual Ancestor of the Spirit Human Race!

“Instead of going after the troops attacking the canopy, they are targeting here instead…”

A trace of contemplation flashed in Chen Mu’s eyes.

His exploration so far had given him much insight into Xunmu Cave Heaven and the Spirit Human Race, such as the low status of these underground Spirit Humans, not valued much by the Spirit Human Race as a whole, comparatively less important than those living on the canopy.

He had also thought Yan Hong and others’ assessment to be not without issue, considering the underground Spirit Humans weren’t highly regarded, and since they were still on the outskirts of Xunmu Cave Heaven, acting a bit more recklessly and splitting up temporarily should not pose a problem.

In which case,

either their luck was bad, just happening to encounter the Spiritual Ancestor, or the other party had some means to detect their dispersed troops and took the initiative to strike.

After a brief consideration, Chen Mu still turned his gaze towards the direction indicated by the Formation Flag, stepped forward, and then disappeared from the spot.

It wasn’t that he was eager for a fight, wanting to contest with the Spiritual Ancestor, nor did he have such close ties with Yan Hong’s group to make him want to rush to their aid; mainly, the exploration efficiency of Yan Hong’s group, though far less than his, each must have had some gains, which when pooled together, would exceed the nearly two pounds of Xunmu Spirit Liquid he had collected.

Instead of letting those gains be recaptured by the Spiritual Ancestor, it would be better to keep them in his possession.

…

Somewhere underground.

Yan Hong, holding the main Formation Flag, was feeling something with closed eyes when she suddenly opened them, her expression looking rather ugly.

“Another one, there’s trouble at Cheng Lin’s side as well.”

Through the main Formation Flag of the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends, she could detect the situation of each flag-bearer. It had started about half an Hour ago; the first flag-bearer had encountered trouble. She became almost immediately alert, sending out messages to call everyone back before the second flag-bearer encountered trouble, but then came the second and the third!

Now, it’s the fourth!

In less than half an Hour, four Grandmasters had lost contact; this certainly wasn’t an accident. Most likely, all four were more dead than alive. The only one in the Xunmu Cave Heaven capable of this was the Spiritual Ancestor!

At this moment, not only Yan Hong but also Yan Zhengyang and many other Grandmasters nearby had somber expressions, as if facing a formidable enemy. They might have sufficient men and possess the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends Formation Flags as a Spirit Weapon, but when that terrifying existence descended nearby, it was impossible for their hearts to be at ease!

This was, after all, a figure as dreadful as one in the Blood Exchange Realm.

Besides.

Now that their forces were dispersed, only Liu Qingyan and three other Grandmasters were near Yan Hong, along with the royal troops, totaling eleven people. The rest were scattered.

And among the dispersed Grandmasters, four had already encountered trouble. Only five, including Chen Mu, were left outside, which was somewhat insufficient in manpower. If these five were to encounter trouble as well, the remaining eleven might not be able to withstand the Spiritual Ancestor!

“Your Highness…”

Someone cast a hesitant look towards Yan Hong.

With the situation so dire, waiting here any longer, in Hou Cheng’s view, might not be wise.

It was clear the Spiritual Ancestor possessed some ability to lock onto their scattered forces and was currently defeating them one by one, executing the isolated members. Chen Mu and others might not have a chance to regroup with them!

Even if Chen Mu and a couple others survived and made it here, with so many losses, they still might not be able to withstand the Spiritual Ancestor, even with the Earth Fiend Formation Flags. The situation would remain extremely grave, and if not handled well, all might be buried deep underground!

“No!”

Yan Hong spoke sternly.

She knew what Hou Cheng wanted to say.

In the current situation, abandoning Chen Mu and others to immediately flee to the surface and regroup with another team was an option, as the Spiritual Ancestor seemed to choose to take them out one by one and likely wouldn’t strike at their larger group.

But that was merely a presumption. They were far less familiar with the Xunmu Cave Heaven than the Spiritual Ancestor, who also seemed to have a method to accurately determine their location. Even if they abandoned Chen Mu and others to flee to the surface, they might not be able to evade the Spiritual Ancestor’s pursuit, perhaps even being attacked first!

Despite their severe loss of manpower, she still had the Earth Fiend Formation Flags.

With top Grandmasters like Yan Zhengyang and Wei Shuxian present, and her own strength close to that of a top Grandmaster, as long as the strongest among the remaining, Chen Mu, survived, or even two or three others made it, they might still stand against the Spiritual Ancestor. They could at least fight and retreat, not completely without resistance.

Liu Qingyan looked at Hou Cheng, who had spoken, and then at Yan Hong.

She had already determined that ‘Mu Chen’ was indeed Chen Mu; fleeing to the surface and abandoning Chen Mu and the others seemed to her the most foolish choice. Although she was not sure whether Chen Mu’s strength could match the Spiritual Ancestor, Chen Mu undoubtedly possessed power comparable to the Blood Exchange Realm, and even if not a match for the Spiritual Ancestor, he would still have a significant chance of self-preservation.

It could even be said that Chen Mu’s side was safer than Yan Hong’s!

When she had acted separately earlier, she hadn’t joined Chen Mu because she knew he likely needed the Wood Spirit Liquid; thus, she had gone to search alone and encountered an attack by the Spiritual Ancestor. Luckily, she was the closest to Yan Hong and others and had managed to regroup first.

If Yan Hong were to consider Hou Cheng’s suggestion, to abandon Chen Mu and flee to the surface, she would surely speak out against it, but it seemed that Yan Hong was calm enough to stay composed even with the Spiritual Ancestor nearby.

“I think we can head towards ‘Mu Chen’ to meet up,”

Liu Qingyan whispered.

Upon hearing Liu Qingyan’s words, Yan Hong’s grave face softened a bit and replied,

“Let’s go.”

Among the remaining forces, ‘Mu Chen’ was indeed more critical; heading towards ‘Mu Chen’ to meet up was a good idea.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Novlove.com