Eternal Life by Dual Cultivation

Chapter 232 169: The Insect Queen's Demise

At Meteor Fall Abyss, the teams of Cultivators from the Nine Great Families retreated with extreme reluctance.

The sudden disappearance of Wang Chang'an, or rather, Ling Changqing, stripped the Cultivators, who had been eager for a good fight, of their reason to act.

Their main target was gone, so what was the point of fighting to the death?

And so, after trading insults and harsh threats for a moment, the leaders—the Yu Family brothers, Yu Qingyang, Tang Yifeng, and the others—boarded their respective Flying Ships and departed.

「Inside a cabin on the Tianzhou Skyboat.」

"...Sister Lan, what should we do now?"

Yu Youqin asked Yu Yalan in a low voice, her expression dejected.

They had finally met Ling Changqing after so much trouble and even convinced him to relent and agree to take her and her sister as his Dao Companions.

They thought the Great Dao was within reach, but in the blink of an eye, the man had vanished right under their noses.

'It's just...'

Yu Yalan frowned in thought for a moment before speaking softly,

"I don't think it's that simple. He might have been... abducted by one of the other powers."

This was the consensus among all the Cultivator teams as well. They all believed someone had used underhanded methods to abduct Ling Changqing.

That was why Yu Qingyang and the others had no other recourse but to return and discuss the matter with their family elders.

Yu Youqin's delicate brows knitted slightly. She asked in confusion,

"If that's true, isn't the situation even worse? It'll be nearly impossible for him to escape, won't it?"

If Ling Changqing had snuck away on his own, there might be a chance of seeing him again in the future.

But if he had fallen under the control of a major power, they would never give him another chance. It would be impossible for him to see the light of day again.

Yu Yalan sighed. "I hope that's not the case either, but right now... Never mind. Let's just go back and talk about it then."

Yu Youqin's slender fingers gently caressed the Jade Ring in her hand. It was one of Ling Changqing's personal items and naturally carried his aura.

"If we ask the clan's ancestors to act, can they divine his current location?"

Yu Youqin asked in a low voice.

Certain profound Secret Methods of Celestial Secret Calculation could deduce a target's identity, origins, and location, so long as one possessed an object the target had touched or even just a wisp of their aura as a casting medium.

If a Great Power proficient in the Path of Celestial Secret Art and Divination were to act, all of a target's secrets and details would be laid bare, as clear as the lines on one's palm.

Yu Yalan was somewhat tempted, but after thinking it over, she shook her head.

"That method might work for ordinary people, but Ling Changqing is a Child of Destiny. A reckless attempt at a calculation would likely result in a backlash from the Celestial Secret. Let's just forget it."

'Not only would we fail to find him, but our own ancestor would suffer a loss, and we might even earn Ling Changqing's resentment for it. It's a total loss no matter how you look at it.'

Yu Youqin thought about it and agreed, so she didn't insist.

"Does this mean... we'll never see him again?"

she asked, her expression forlorn.

Yu Yalan sighed. "It's hard to say. Since he was willing to accept our gifts, it means he's still interested in us. He... should come looking for us in the future, right?"

'Recalling the way he would occasionally look her and her sister over, Yu Yalan already understood that he was the type of man with strong passions and desires. To put it bluntly: a total lecher!'

Therefore, Yu Yalan still held on to a glimmer of hope for the future.

「...」

「Deep within the mountain.」

The caverns were generally enormous and interconnected by tunnels. The stone walls and ceilings were covered in glowing crimson moss, keeping the environment from being too dim.

Stone pillars, hundreds of feet tall and dozens of feet thick, were everywhere. Countless hollows had been carved into the walls and pillars, from which a scorching heat emanated. These were the nests of the Earth-Core Flame Worms.

As the intruder advanced, these worms with their keen sense of smell poured out from their holes, whirring their wings and letting out sharp hisses.

On the uneven ground, one could occasionally spot some scattered Spirit Gold Ore, but its purity was average and the type was quite common, making it worthless to collect.

In the central area of the caverns, Ling Changqing was wreaking havoc. His sharp Sword Qi crisscrossed through the air, shredding the swarming Earth-Core Flame Worms to pieces.

Behind him, the ashen remains of carcasses incinerated by his Spirit Flame were scattered everywhere.

However, as Ling Changqing ventured deeper, the Earth-Core Flame Worms he encountered grew larger. Not only did their temperaments become more irritable and ferocious, but their carapaces' Defense also increased significantly.

The Earth-Core Flame Worms that appeared earlier only had a faint red glow on their bodies. Now, as he went deeper underground, the newly emerging worms were a deeper color, and illusory flames flickered brightly around them as they flew.

They were about fifty percent larger and had faster reaction speeds. They could even use some rudimentary, innate fire-type Divine Techniques, causing the pressure on Ling Changqing to multiply.

To cope, he had no choice but to release ten Heavy Armor Puppets to assist him. He also periodically used Water Element Divine Techniques to suppress and disrupt the swarm's attacks, barely managing to stabilize his position.

A scorching whirlwind of fire swept out from the depths of the cave, bringing with it a huge swarm of Earth-Core Flame Worms, packed together layer upon layer in a hair-raising sight.

Ling Changqing cast a Spell, and a vortex of frosty undercurrents over a hundred feet in diameter materialized from thin air. It exuded an immense, strange suction force, pulling in all the surrounding Earth-Core Flame Worms.

The sudden drop in temperature slowed the worms' reaction speeds considerably.

Just as the worms were briefly gathered together, bolts of Dark Purple Thunderbolt crashed down from above. As blinding serpents of electricity coiled and danced, they triggered a continuous wave of miserable shrieks.