novel bin Chapter 112 Molting Nest Mother
Chapter 112 Molting Nest Mother
Chapter 112 Molting Nest Mother (4K)
Xu Hao did not rashly attempt to land on the island from the front.
This sea area has an eerie atmosphere; a direct assault would be arduous and unrewarding.
He gave a mental signal, and the Zhenyuan activated its stealth mode, silently sinking underwater under the cover of night to approach the island.
The Qi of the Tongqiao Realm spread outwards along the water flow, seeping into the island's rock strata.
The landscape quickly took shape in my mind.
The island's surface is a bare, rocky mountain with a viewing tower on top. The bottom has long been hollowed out, filled with countless honeycomb-like holes.
The eerie, chilling aura gathered in the underground hole.
A faint fluctuation, originating from the same source as the Martial Ancestor's Preaching Platform, is hidden in the deepest underground waters.
The bone-like fleshy creature at the bottom of the Zhenyuan groped among the reefs on the water's surface and managed to pry open a hidden crack in the rock.
The width is just enough for one person to squeeze in sideways.
Xu Hao, carrying the Sea-Devouring Blade, plunged headfirst into the crevice.
Not long after entering the crevice, the seawater around us gradually receded, the crevice became narrower and narrower as we went down, and the smell in the air became increasingly pungent.
The smell of the sea mixed with the stench of fermenting corpses.
Large patches of grayish-white viscous substance hung on the stone wall, stretching out in long threads and emitting a nauseating fishy smell.
These are definitely not naturally formed stones; they are clearly nest fluids expelled by the monster inside the nest.
They made their way down into the first hollow.
The sensation coming from the soles of my feet is wrong.
It wasn't hard rock; it was soft and slightly slippery.
Xu Hao lowered his head.
The faint blue light emanating from the blade of the Devouring Sea Blade illuminated the ground.
Human skin was scattered all over the ground.
One by one, they were laid flat on the stone ground, forming a strange carpet.
The human skin was peeled off completely, with even the hair and nails intact. The facial features were flattened, freezing the extreme fear before death.
Some were wearing tattered undergarments from the Zhenbei Army, while others wore coarse linen clothes; they were unfortunate fishermen from the surrounding area.
"The scouts of the Zhenbei Army have vanished without a trace, neither alive nor dead. It turns out they've all been laying out their weapons here."
The meat and bones were completely gnawed away, leaving only the outer packaging.
From the depths of the hollow came a sickeningly loud smacking sound, along with the crunching sound of bones being chewed.
Xu Hao hid behind a protruding rock, his gaze passing over the stone.
Dozens of grayish-white shadows crouched in the corner.
This thing barely resembles a human, but it has no skin; it's all just outward-facing grayish-white muscles.
It has no eyes on its face, only a gaping, blood-red mouth that stretches from the left ear to the right.
Its two arms grew to its ankles, and all ten fingers evolved into barbed bone blades.
They were feasting on several fresh remains.
After eating and drinking their fill, the group casually picked up a piece of human skin from the ground and slipped it onto themselves through the opening in the chest.
Once the skin was put on, the shriveled human skin came alive, quickly filling out, and even the stiff facial features twitched a few times.
Within his sea of consciousness, the scroll of the blessed land slowly unfolded, and several lines of seal script appeared.
Species identified: Molting Ghost.
[Habits: A gregarious and bizarre species that survives by skinning and eating human skin, and can acquire partial memories of the deceased by consuming their brains.]
[Combat Strength Assessment: Individually, this character falls between the Bone Forging Realm and the Tendon Changing Realm. Upon encountering living creatures, they will instinctively form a hunting formation; any martial artist in the Inner Strength Realm caught in such a formation will almost certainly die.]
[Key Takeaway: The Queen Bee, whose strength is unknown, lurks in the deepest underground waters of the hive. Defeating the Queen Bee will destroy the hive.]
]
Xu Hao watched the group of monsters who were busy getting dressed.
They are not strong individually, but there are many of them. They can not only disguise themselves, but also form formations.
No wonder the scouts of the Zhenbei Army were wiped out before they could even send out a distress signal.
He touched the hilt of the Sea Devouring Blade.
There is a nesting mother in the underground water, and ancient ruins are also located here.
If we want to take what's in the ruins, we can't leave any of these skinned monsters or their mothers alive.
Xu Hao weighed the knife in his hand, and dark cyan qi quietly circulated in his meridians.
If you want to get what you want, then wipe out these disgusting bastards.
Xu Hao didn't just raise his knife and slash straight in.
This bunch of skinless scum is numerous and varied; fighting them head-on would be too much of a waste of energy.
He gripped the Devouring Sea Blade tightly, channeling the Qi from the Myriad Transformations Heavenly Vault Scripture into the blade through his palm.
The dark blue blade pattern gleamed brightly.
The blade points to the ground.
The extremely cold and malevolent energy emanated from him, sweeping out along the human skins scattered on the ground.
A localized low-temperature storm formed underground.
The temperature inside the cave plummeted, and the moisture in the air, mixed with the fishy stench, was frozen solid, turning into white frost that fell down.
The first few molting ghosts, who had just donned the human skin of the Zhenbei Army soldiers, suddenly stopped moving.
Xu Hao figured out what was going on.
In order to burrow into human skin, the grayish-white fluid secreted by these monsters is extremely fragile at low temperatures.
As the cold air pressed in, the fluid, along with the newly donned human skin, froze into a hard shell.
The once agile barbed bone blades were now frozen in mid-air, making it difficult even to turn the neck.
"It's freezing cold, how can you wear this little?"
Xu Hao took a step forward.
The dark blue blade left a long trail in the dimly lit cave.
There are no fancy moves, just straightforward slashes.
The blade sliced through the frozen, molting ghost's neck bone, producing a dry, cracking sound.
The head rolled off.
The headless corpse crashed straight to the ground, breaking into several pieces of frozen flesh.
Xu Hao stepped on the ice shards scattered on the ground and fought his way from the first level of the hollow to the third level.
The Devouring Sea Blade, having drunk its fill of the chilling energy, rang out with an even clearer and more melodious sound.
Wherever it went, all that remained were grayish-white severed limbs and broken arms.
The killing went very smoothly.
However, the situation deviated from the prediction.
The passage ahead did not become empty despite the clearing.
More gray-white shadows emerged one after another from the dark holes.
On the walls, behind the rocks overhead, and even in the cracks underfoot, things were crawling out.
Densely packed, overlapping each other.
A quick glance revealed that the third layer of the cavity alone contained no fewer than three hundred creatures.
This is no ordinary nest; it's as if they've summoned all the molting monsters from the Mingzhou coast for a grand meeting.
I got tricked by that old scoundrel Zhao Poyue.
"A strange creature coiled up," that's what the old man actually said.
"one?"
"Is this what you call one?"
The men on the Zhenbei Army's naval warships were probably disgusted by these shameless bastards. They couldn't get the pass no matter what they tried, so they took advantage of the situation and used the pass as bait to trick him into becoming a free cleaner.
"Old man, you've got your hands on me." Xu Hao spat, gripping the hilt of his knife tightly. "Once we get off this wretched island, I'll definitely make you pay some interest."
Xu Hao stopped and flipped his wrist.
A slightly larger molting demon pounced from the side, its ten barbed bone blades aimed straight at its face.
The Devouring Sea Blade came straight at you.
The blade cleaved open the monster's chest, and dark blue energy emanated from the blade, tearing the grayish-white body into several pieces.
The foul-smelling bodily fluids splattered on the frozen rock wall, congealing into black spots.
The faster you kill, the faster you replenish.
The chilling aura emanating from the Devouring Sea Blade alone will eventually exhaust the body's protective energy.
The scouts sent by the Zhenbei Army were completely wiped out, and it was no wonder.
Hundreds and thousands of monsters formed a formation and surrounded them, leaving not even a bone fragment of the inner-strength realm martial artist.
The source lies entirely with that unseen nest mother.
Catch the thief first to catch the king.
Xu Hao held the knife in one hand and reached into the storage room with the other, taking out two fragments of Blood Fiend Crystal that he had brought from Cold Iron Island.
This thing is full of violent blood energy. The Zhenbei Army uses it as fuel for firearms, and he can use it too.
The protective energy was poured into the fragments.
The energy inside the Blood Fiend Crystal expanded rapidly, emitting a blinding red light.
Xu Hao raised his hand.
Throw the fragments at the densest part of the monster horde.
He pushed off with his feet, retreated, and leaped back to the second floor.
The Blood Fiend Crystal fell into the grayish-white pile of flesh.
The violent blood and qi energy, no longer restrained, shattered and scattered on the spot.
Severed limbs and dismembered parts, mixed with foul-smelling slime, splattered everywhere.
A large number of the molting ghosts in the front row were cleared out, creating a gap leading to the fourth level of underground water.
Xu Hao stepped over the pieces of flesh scattered on the ground and charged straight in with his knife.
Xu Hao drew his knife and strangled the molting ghost in the fourth level of the hollow.
The tunnel floor ahead collapsed without warning.
The rock strata were forcibly broken through from bottom to top.
A grayish-white arm burst from the ground, its five fingers as thick as an adult's waist, its nails curved and sharp, digging firmly into the rock walls on both sides.
The nest mother appears.
The molting demons let out sharp howls and surged towards Xu Hao one after another.
The mother dam's head filled half of the passage.
It has no conventional facial features; its head is a fleshy ball made of countless human skins stitched together.
The countless faces on the surface of the human skin wriggled alternately, emitting indistinct sounds.
The scroll of blessed land determined that the monster's strength was between the peak of the Inner Strength Realm and the early stage of the Opening Aperture Realm.
Xu Hao had no intention of fighting this mountain of flesh to the death.
It's too tiring to look at; forcing it is just a waste of energy.
When the Myriad Transformations Heavenly Vault Scripture was activated to its limit, dark cyan qi surged upwards along the Devouring Sea Blade.
The blade cleaved through the top layer of the nest's queen rock.
Seawater rushed in wildly through the cracks.
The cold, salty seawater poured down on her head, and due to the excessive pressure, the mother nest let out a piercing howl.
The enormous head swayed violently within the narrow passage.
Xu Hao stepped through the surging water and plunged into the deepest underground waters, following the crack in the ground beneath the Nest Mother.
The water was a deep blue, crystal clear.
A broken stone pillar stands in the middle of the lake bottom.
The stone pillar is covered with inscriptions and exudes an aura that is the same as that of the Martial Ancestor's Preaching Platform.
A palm-sized piece of dark gold was embedded at the top of the pillar, gleaming with a warm luster.
Within his sea of consciousness, the compass spun rapidly. The point of light that had originally been pointing towards Yanzhou resonated at a high frequency with the dark gold fragment.
Xu Hao dove to the bottom in one breath.
Fingers touched the dark gold fragments.
A jumble of conflicting information flooded my mind.
There were no techniques or moves, only a few short, obscure sentences.
"When the heavens unleash their killing intent, stars shift and constellations change. When the earth unleashes its killing intent, dragons and snakes rise from the land."
The fragments detached from the stone pillar and were stored in the Sumeru Granary.
Cracks spread across the surface of the stone pillar, and it crumbled into a pile of rubble in the blink of an eye.
A bottomless fissure then appeared at the bottom of the water, swirling and swallowing the seawater.
The foundation of the entire Wanghailou Island began to tremble violently.
The honeycomb-like underground structure collapsed on a large scale.
Inside the passage above, the Nest Mother was trapped by tens of thousands of pounds of collapsed rock layers and the flooding seawater, with nowhere to retreat, and let out a mournful howl.
Xu Hao surfaced, entered the uncollapsed passage above, and arrived behind the mother nest's large head that was stuck. He stepped on a broken reef to propel himself forward.
While you are sick, I will kill you.
The Devouring Sea Blade slashed down amidst the falling rocks and flowing water.
The dark blue blade of light pierced through the Nest Mother's enormous head, which was made of human skin, without any bias.
The fleshy ball deflated.
A fist-sized, dark green crystal rolled out.
Top-grade Yin Soul Crystal.
The mother nest's corpse turned into a pool of pus, with a piece of the mother nest skin the size of a person floating on it.
Xu Hao sheathed his sword and swept the spoils into the Sumeru Warehouse.
"That old scoundrel Zhao Poyue, go back and settle accounts with him."
Xu Hao sank into the floodwaters and swam toward the Zhenyuan.
The undercurrent is surging.
Xu Hao used the backflowing seawater to rise against the current.
The underground foundation of the Wanghai Tower next to us is collapsing on a large scale, with rocks falling and mud and sand swirling around.
As he approached the water outlet, he glanced back.
Through the murky water, in the center of the ruins, a broken stone pillar leans obliquely into the mud and sand.
Half a flag was pressed down under the stone pillar.
The water flow washed away the surface dust, revealing the pattern on the flag.
It's neither the dragon pattern of the Great Heng Dynasty, nor the name of any pirate family in Shengzhou.
This is a totem pieced together from bones.
The interlocking joints exude an eerie aura.
Xu Hao narrowed his eyes.
The lines of this bone totem are the same as the black iron nail array pattern nailed into the heart of the corpse of the Grand Marshal on the ghost ship encountered on the border of Mingzhou.
Bone Lady's reach is long enough.
Even the Wanghailou Tower, right under the noses of the Zhenbei Army, became a pawn in her scheme.
Xu Hao turned around and went back to swim, picked up the battle flag, and planned to ask Zhao Poyue for information.
It leaps out of the water.
Xu Hao landed steadily on the bow of the Zhenyuan warship.
He released his inner energy, evaporating the water stains, and pulled out a piece of dark gold from the Sumeru Warehouse.
Within the sea of consciousness, a scroll of blessed lands and grottoes unfolds on its own.
The moment the dark gold fragment touched the edge of the scroll, it melted into it.
The compass needle vibrated at a high frequency.
The blurry point of light that was originally pointing towards Yanzhou was now blindingly bright.
A clear roadmap unfolded completely in his mind.
The starting point is Zhao Poyue's water fortress.
Sailing another ten miles north, we abandoned ship and went ashore, passing through the Zhenbei Army's defenses by land, passing through the city of Juejing, and finally plunging into the endless snowfields deep in the heart of the barbarian territory.
The second incomplete scroll of divine skills left by the Martial Ancestor is buried deep in this snowy plain.
Xu Hao stared at the route map for a long time.
My gaze moved to the very edge of the painting.
Here, there is an extra line of extremely small ancient seal script characters.
Another warning about a blessed land.
He leaned closer for a closer look. "The seal here has loosened. Take it and leave quickly, without disturbing its sleep."
Do not disturb his sleep.
Xu Hao licked his back teeth.
Back then, the Martial Ancestor was someone who didn't care about location; he buried the incomplete divine skill scrolls together with some intimidating stuff.
However, since we're already here, let's not worry about what ancestors are buried underneath; we'll just dig them out first.
Xu Hao put away the scroll and looked up.
The island where Wanghailou is located has completely sunk into the sea, without even a step being skipped.
The eeries in this place have been completely cleared away.
He patted the side of the boat.
"Time to get to work. Turn around and head back to the water village."
The Zhenyuan let out a low groan, its bony spikes and fleshy tendrils on the bottom stirring the seawater, and its massive hull drew a clean arc on the surface of the sea.
Water village watchtower.
Guan Hai gripped the hilt of his sword, staring at the bow of the tortoise-shell ship emerging from the fog on the horizon.
"Commander, the ship is back."
Zhao Poyue leaned against the wall and glanced at the sea.
"In such a short time, they haven't even gotten close to the Wanghai Tower. Young people can't afford to lose, so it's smart of them to back down."
"There's a nest of molting ghosts at the bottom of Wanghai Tower, their numbers are eerily large, going in alone is pure suicide."
The Zhenyuan has docked.
Xu Hao didn't disembark; he stood on the deck, holding a grayish-white object in one hand.
Zhao Poyue led Guan Hai forward, about to say a few polite words.
Snapped.
A whole, human-sized piece of the mother nest skin, dripping with foul-smelling pus, was thrown onto the dock deck.
The face, densely stitched together on the surface of the skin, was still twitching slightly.