Chapter 180: Gu Martial Arts Insect Corpse
Chapter 180: Gu Martial Arts Insect Corpse
“You must be joking with me? This is a hundred thousand troops, not just ten. In ten days they might manage to move ten armies, but without a month, a hundred thousand troops couldn’t possibly arrive?”
Just organizing and preparing an army of that size took a significant amount of time, not to mention the journey itself.
They talked about a hundred thousand troops as if it were nothing, just a phrase, but when you imagined that many actual people, it would be a vast, endless sea of soldiers.
Many small towns didn’t even have that many people.
“Why would I lie? It really is an army of a hundred thousand. All the major forces in the Jianghu had already received the news. Innate Warriors like White Sun Master and Blood Shadow Phoenix were already on the move to confront Tiger Might Emperor and demand an explanation.” Lin Feng explained again because Chen Xiyi didn’t believe him.
“In that case, those two are doomed. We’ll be hearing about their deaths soon. Which direction are they coming from?” Chen Xiyi asked.
“North.” Lin Feng quickly answered.
Chen Xiyi repeatedly zoomed out his Game Map, and indeed, to the north, he saw a huge cluster of white dots.
They weren’t too close to Miaojiang, but not too far either, gradually moving closer.
Because their formation was so large and cumbersome, their progress was quite slow.
“Can you fight them?” Chen Xiyi looked at Lin Feng and asked.
“…” Lin Feng thought Chen Xiyi must be crazy.
Could he fight them? A hundred well-equipped soldiers who knew the Coordinated Attack Technique could surround and kill him, let alone a hundred thousand troops.
He was only a Body Forging level nine Martial Artist, not an Innate Warrior. Even if he were an Innate Warrior, he might handle a thousand at most, but it would be hopeless beyond that.
And that was only if they charged head-on. Otherwise, after a few volleys of arrows, he’d probably end up like a porcupine before even getting close.
“I can’t. What about you?” Lin Feng rolled his eyes and shot back.
“I can handle it. It’s just a hundred thousand troops. I blew up quite a few before.” Chen Xiyi said seriously.
“???” Lin Feng thought, why aren’t you following the usual script? This is a hundred thousand troops, not just ten armies.
“Are you sure? This isn’t the time to be stubborn. Let’s pack up and run. They won’t find us anyway.” Lin Feng said that standing firm to the death wasn’t his style; he believed in combining firmness with flexibility, so this was a strategic retreat.
“I could run away, but you can’t. They’re coming for you. Even if you leave Miaojiang and run to the ends of the earth, they’d still chase after you.” Chen Xiyi indicated that Lin Feng’s strategic retreat wouldn’t work because they would pursue him relentlessly.
Lin Feng understood Chen Xiyi’s point; it all came down to his troublesome identity.
“If it comes to it, you take Mei Yu and go first. I’ll draw their attention, then shake them off and meet up with you later.” Lin Feng thought for a moment, then gritted his teeth and spoke.
“Ah, that’s… not really a good idea. I don’t really want to leave. Besides, the food lately hasn’t been great. I want to improve it a bit.” Chen Xiyi thought, why should he take along dead weight? No, actually, why should he leave at all? Such a generous gift delivered right to his doorstep—how could he just throw it away? What would happen to his idle experience multiplier then?
Lin Feng looked at Chen Xiyi with exasperation. “What kind of time is this to worry about food? We can talk about that later. Ten days is enough for you to empty out the entire Five Immortals Cave.”
Lin Feng didn’t believe Chen Xiyi could really handle a hundred thousand troops.
“These days, no one believes the truth.” Chen Xiyi shook his head, then continued, “Besides, if you want to leave, have you asked Mei Yu?”
“As the leader of the Five Immortals Sect and the chief of Miaojiang, how could she possibly leave? She would either surrender or fight to the death. More likely, she would just tell you to go.”
Chen Xiyi’s words made Lin Feng fall silent. He really hadn’t considered that.
In his mind, after coming to notify Chen Xiyi to run away together, Mei Yu would definitely leave with him.
But he had overlooked her position; it was impossible for her to go with him.
“I’ll take her with me, even if she regrets it for the rest of her life. I won’t let her die.” Lin Feng said firmly.
Noble causes?
Lin Feng felt that had nothing to do with him. He would break her legs if necessary to take her away. They could deal with the psychological issues later. With Chen Xiyi around, there was no need to worry.
The important thing was to save her life. Only by living was there hope.
“No need for all that trouble. I’ll handle this. You go do whatever you need to do.”
To Lin Feng, and to all of Miaojiang, a hundred thousand troops were an unbeatable enemy, but to Chen Xiyi, they were just Nourishment Resources.
Trusting Chen Xiyi, Lin Feng had no choice but to leave helplessly for now, though he didn’t give up entirely and naturally prepared some backup plans.
“Should I wait until they arrive in ten days, or go now? The main problem is it’s a bit far.”
Chen Xiyi felt a bit too lazy to move. On the Game Map, it didn’t look far, but Chen Xiyi had experienced how distances could be deceiving.
“Forget it, I’ll just go. I have to sooner or later anyway. Otherwise, I’d have to wait until they attacked the Five Immortals Sect to encounter them.”
Given Chen Xiyi’s lazy nature, if he really waited until the hundred thousand troops were at his doorstep, all of Miaojiang would be gone.
[The Jianghu member Feng Qing and the Imperial Court officer Li Bin secretly plotted against you. Their Hostility Level toward you increased by 1. Current Hostility Level: 1 star]
“…”
What was going on here? He had just stood up, and suddenly there were two red-named NPCs around him.
Especially since one of them was Feng Qing, who was practically his protégé—the one he helped become a Grandmaster Martial Artist. It seemed Feng Qing was planning to betray him.
“Tch, he probably thinks we’re doomed, so he’s switching sides now.”
Indeed, from the current situation, Miaojiang and the Five Immortals Sect were certain to lose; there was no hope of winning.
“Everyone has their own ambitions.”
Chen Xiyi could understand Feng Qing switching sides, but he couldn’t understand why Feng Qing planned to use him as a bargaining chip.
Why use him as a bargaining chip for no reason? Wouldn’t Lin Feng be a better choice?
Tang Jing would surely prefer to see Lin Feng rather than Chen Xiyi.
A short while later, Feng Qing arrived at the Five Immortals Cave with a middle-aged man, who was likely the Li Bin he had conspired with against Chen Xiyi.
“Greetings, Senior.”
“Something the matter?” Chen Xiyi glanced at the bright red name above the other’s head and asked indifferently.
“I have something to…”
“Enough nonsense! He’s just a scholar who has never practiced martial arts. Just capture him and torture the Secret Gu Martial Arts out of him. Why go through all this trouble?” After observing Chen Xiyi, Li Bin came to that conclusion.
He had been cautious earlier because he couldn’t gauge Chen Xiyi’s strength, but upon meeting him, Li Bin concluded that Chen Xiyi had never practiced martial arts. He shouted a reprimand and immediately took action.
“Wait, you…” Feng Qing quickly spoke up, wanting to stop him, but he was a step too late.
Not too late to stop him from capturing Chen Xiyi, but too late to prevent Li Bin from having his heart ripped out from behind by a shadowy figure. As Li Bin moved forward, the blood vessels connected to his heart were instantly torn apart.
Witnessing this, Feng Qing felt a shock in his heart, and the words he had meant to say were swallowed back.
“Senior, please let me explain, I…” Feng Qing hurriedly began to explain.
He knew that if he didn’t explain now, he might never get the chance.
Especially because this fool thought Chen Xiyi was truly a weak scholar, and that capturing and torturing him for the Secret Gu Martial Arts would now implicate Feng Qing completely.
According to the original plan, the two of them were supposed to lure Chen Xiyi out of Miaojiang to the hundred thousand troops of the Imperial Court. By then, even if Chen Xiyi had heaven-defying abilities, he wouldn’t be able to escape.
Unfortunately, because this guy saw that Chen Xiyi hadn’t practiced martial arts, he looked down on him and decided to capture him directly to extract the Secret Gu Martial Arts through torture, thereby earning greater merit.
“It’s fine, I’m in no hurry. You can explain slowly.” After kindly sending the other on his final journey, Chen Xiyi added, “You can tell me in your next life; it’s not too late.”
Watching the two corpses on the ground, the smile on Chen Xiyi’s face gradually turned cold.
There were three things he absolutely couldn’t tolerate. The first was someone threatening his interests. The second was someone harming his 4-star friends. The third was someone trying to take his life.
Especially the first two. If someone took his life, he could just revive and start over, but if they threatened his interests or his 4-star friends, that was unacceptable.
The former meant tangible benefits, while the latter meant steady, long-term gains.
If anyone tried to take those, Chen Xiyi would fight them to the death.
NPCs were not all treated the same.
As friends, especially those 4-star friends who could send him items, even if the gifts were poor, they were still benefits. Once they died, those benefits were gone.
Out of all the people whose Favorability he had raised, only three had reached 4 stars or above. Most were stuck at 3 stars, showing how difficult it was.
“Next time you switch sides, remember to escape in time. Don’t be too greedy and want everything.”
If Feng Qing had become a Grandmaster Martial Artist through his own hard training, he might not have died so quickly—he might have survived one strike at most.
But how did he become a Grandmaster Martial Artist?
Through the Secret Gu Martial Arts Calamity Poison Body that Chen Xiyi developed. Chen Xiyi didn’t leave any traps in it, but since he created it, who would know it better than him?
While Feng Qing’s body was still warm after death, Chen Xiyi turned around and began preparing what he needed.
A few minutes later, Chen Xiyi poured a small bowl of green medicinal liquid into Feng Qing’s mouth.
Then came the terrifying sound of tearing from inside the body.
Even with the naked eye, one could see restless Gu Insects moving beneath the skin.
Feng Qing’s corpse visibly withered at a rapid pace, like a mummy.
As the tearing sounds ceased, Feng Qing wavered and stood up, opening lifeless eyes that looked like dull glass beads.
He arched his back and bent over as if completely unaccustomed to his own body, then walked toward Li Bin’s corpse in a strange posture.
Sounds of flesh tearing, bones crunching, and greedy swallowing rose and fell.
“It seems the first Gu Martial Arts Insect Corpse is functioning well. Stimulating the Gu Insects with Death Qi and corpse energy, then using Blood Feast as nourishment to rapidly strengthen them—this method doesn’t seem to have many issues. However, it drastically shortens the Gu Insects’ lifespan.”
“But the person is already dead. If we can preserve the Gu Insects while the body is still warm, that’s good enough. If we were just a few minutes later, most of the Gu Insects would have died too.”
“And it was a bit rushed, but it should be enough to serve as a disposable weapon against Tiger Might Emperor.”
Chen Xiyi didn’t plan to promote this method widely; it was like draining the pond to catch the fish. But since Feng Qing died here, it was just making use of waste.
After all, this was his investment; he couldn’t just waste it.
After the Gu Martial Arts Insect Corpse finished eating, inside its body, numerous insect limbs pressed against the skin, making it bulge, and these limbs kept wriggling as if adjusting their positions, making Feng Qing’s corpse appear extremely terrifying.
Riiip~
Grotesque, large insect limbs, accompanied by bones piercing through the skin, revealed a ferocious appearance.
A foul, stinky odor quickly spread.
“The transformation is quite significant, but it doesn’t matter. Come with me. You’ve eaten, but I haven’t yet.”
Chen Xiyi narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Gu Martial Arts Insect Corpse and spoke.