Transmigrating Into a Fantasy World: Signing in During Pregnancy, Reaching the Summit with My Childhood Sweetheart

38: Chapter 38: The Poison Seed’s Strange Movement and the First Test of Sword HeartThe pitch-black seed phantom, condensed from the Origin of the bone rotting grass’s lethal toxin, floated quietly inside the chaos dao seed. Though only the size of a grain of rice, it emitted a heart-palpitating Dao Charm of ’deathly stillness’ and ’corrosion.’ As soon as it formed, it vibrated autonomously, releasing an extremely obscure yet highly penetrative, eerie fluctuation that bypassed layers of obstructions and shot toward the unknown depths of the earth veins!

This change happened too suddenly, completely exceeding Lin Mo’s expectations and control!

”Not good!” Nangong Xuan’s expression changed drastically. Although he couldn’t clearly ”see” the changes inside the Dao Seed like Lin Mo could, the eerie fluctuation mixed with the Origin of the extreme toxin that erupted from Lin Mo’s body caused the sword heart deep within his Nascent Soul to scream with warning!

Almost at the same moment that fluctuation was released—

Rumble!!!

The entire Lingxiao Cave Mansion shook violently! It was more intense than any time before!

It didn’t come from the underground river above or the surrounding rock layers, but from... beneath their feet! It was as if some massive creature had been awakened deep within the earth veins, letting out a furious roar and charging madly toward their location!

The brilliance of the night-luminescent pearls embedded in the cave mansion’s ceiling flickered wildly, and the glass-like rock walls groaned and cracked, showing fine fissures! Even the eternally unchanging Vast Righteous Sword Intent was impacted, becoming turbulent!

”What is that?!” Nangong Xuan was struck with horror and instantly gripped the hilt of ”unyielding” on his knees. He could feel an extremely terrifying, violent, and destruction-filled will rapidly approaching from underground! Its strength far surpassed the previous Blood Butcher, even causing his barely recovered Nascent Soul to tremble!

Lin Mo was also terrified and immediately tried to manipulate the chaos dao seed to suppress that pitch-black toxin seed. However, that seed seemed to have taken root, forming a strange balance with the Dao Seed itself. While it could no longer cause trouble, it was also difficult to expel or completely digest in a short time. That calling fluctuation had already been sent out!

”It’s that toxin... it attracted a terrifying existence from deep underground!” Lin Mo realized instantly. The bone rotting grass toxin was no ordinary substance; the extreme Laws of ’deathly stillness’ and ’corrosion’ contained in its Origin might be an ultimate temptation for certain terrifying creatures living in extremely yin and filthy environments, or perhaps... a provocation from a mortal enemy?

Regardless of which it was, disaster was imminent!

”Prepare to face the enemy!” Nangong Xuan suppressed the horror in his heart, his eyes instantly becoming as sharp as swords. He stood up abruptly. Though his figure was still somewhat unsteady, his hand gripping ”unyielding” was as steady as a rock! The Vast Righteous Sword Heart Art flowed through his mind, and the Vast Righteous Sword Intent harmonized with the hum of the broken sword, allowing him to temporarily forget his injuries, leaving only the resolve of a Sword Cultivator!

He could not retreat. Behind him were the remains of Senior Lingxiao, the silent Lin Mo, and the frozen Su Muxue! Moreover, he had just inherited Lingxiao’s Legacy and sword; how could he allow this place to be defiled?

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Terrifying impact sounds came from beneath their feet, each one closer and more violent than the last! The entire cave mansion felt like it could collapse at any moment! The solid glass-like floor began to crack extensively, and scorching air mixed with the stench of sulfur spewed from the fissures!

”It’s here!”

Nangong Xuan’s pupils constricted. He slammed the ”unyielding” sword into the ground in front of him and rapidly performed hand seals! Although his cultivation was severely depleted and he couldn’t perform powerful sword techniques, the sword-controlling methods and formation applications recorded in the Vast Righteous Sword Heart Art were incredibly profound!

”Vast Righteous Sword Wall! Rise!”

He shouted low, and the broken sword ”unyielding” erupted with brilliant golden light, drawing upon the ten-thousand-year-old residual Vast Righteous Sword Intent in the cave mansion. In an instant, it condensed into a translucent, thick wall made of countless tiny golden Sword Qi in front of the two of them and the coffin containing Su Muxue! Atop the wall, ancient runes faintly flowed, emitting an aura that was indestructible and capable of repelling all evil!

This was a defensive measure he could only barely execute by combining the unique environment of this place, the power of the broken sword, and the mysteries of the sword art!

Almost the moment the sword wall formed—

Crack!!!

The entire ground not far in front of them exploded! The hard glass-like rock shattered like paper! A massive pit over three zhang in diameter suddenly appeared!

Accompanied by a deafening roar and a nauseating, foul wind, a massive creature lunged its upper body out of the pit!

What kind of monster was this?!

It was shaped like a giant python, but its entire body was covered in black-red, heavy armor that looked like cooled lava. Scorching magma and toxic smoke constantly seeped from the gaps in its armor. It had no eyes; its head consisted only of a massive mouth that took up most of its skull, filled with circles of spiral-shaped sharp teeth. It was currently snapping its jaws wildly, making a piercing grinding sound and dripping highly corrosive saliva. On its back, which was covered in tumor-like protrusions, there actually grew three pairs of stunted, short limbs covered in the same armor, looking hideous and terrifying!

The Demonic Qi it emitted was vast and violent, surprisingly reaching the Peak of the Early Golden Core stage! It even faintly touched the threshold of the Middle Stage! Moreover, the scorching, filthy, and poisonous characteristics contained in its aura perfectly blended with this underground environment, giving off a sense of pressure far exceeding that of a Human Race Cultivator of the same level!

”Lava Earth Ghoul! And it’s... a mutated descendant of the Three-Headed Bloodline?!” Nangong Xuan gasped, recognizing the monster’s Origin! This was clearly of the same clan as the ”Three-Headed Lava Earth Ghoul Dragon King” that Senior Lingxiao had mentioned slaying in his message! It was just that this one seemed to have mutated, with its three heads fused into one even more terrifying and hideous head. Although its strength was not as great as the Dragon King of the past, it was definitely not something they could withstand now!

This Earth Ghoul was obviously attracted by the fluctuations of the toxin seed! To it, that extreme Origin of ’deathly stillness’ and ’corrosion’ was either an opportunity for evolution or the aura of a mortal enemy that had to be destroyed!

”Roar!!!”

The Lava Earth Ghoul let out a Soul-tearing roar and swung its massive head violently, carrying the force of ten thousand jun and scorching toxic flames as it slammed hard against the Vast Righteous Sword Wall set up by Nangong Xuan!

Boom—!!!

The deafening explosion almost tore their eardrums!

The golden sword wall vibrated violently, its surface rippling madly as countless tiny Sword Qi were constantly annihilated in the collision with the lava armor and toxic flames! The entire cave mansion tottered, and more rocks fell from the ceiling!

Nangong Xuan felt as if he had been struck by a heavy blow. His body shook violently, his face turned instantly pale, and the webbing between his thumb and forefinger on the hand gripping the hilt split open, dripping with blood! But he gritted his teeth and madly circulated the Vast Righteous Sword Heart Art, drawing on the power of the cave mansion’s Sword Intent and the ”unyielding” sword to stubbornly withstand this terrifying strike!

The sword wall did not break! But its light had already dimmed by thirty percent!

”Vile beast!” Nangong Xuan bled from the corner of his mouth, but a raging Battle Intent burned in his eyes. He knew that passive defense would only lead to death!

”Young friend! Help me!” he roared.

Without needing a reminder, Lin Mo had already sprung into action! Although the toxin seed was difficult to deal with, he could still manage to mobilize the power of the chaos dao seed to assist the attack!

The chaos dao seed shone brightly, and a massive suction force was suddenly generated. It wasn’t aimed at the Earth Ghoul itself (that energy was too vast and violent for him to absorb), but at the scorching fire poison and filthy Demonic Qi constantly radiating from its body!

Sizzle, sizzle... Like a whale swallowing water, a large amount of burning, toxic energy was forcibly stripped away and swallowed by the chaos dao seed! Although this instantly placed a significant burden on the Dao Seed, it greatly weakened the natural protective field surrounding the Earth Ghoul, causing the flowing magma in its armor gaps to dim slightly!

The Lava Earth Ghoul noticeably faltered, seemingly confused as to why a portion of its power had vanished.

Now is the time!

A brilliant light burst from Nangong Xuan’s eyes!

”Vast Righteous Qi, sword slays the demons! Break!”

He gripped the hilt of ”unyielding” with both hands and used all his strength to channel all the remaining power in the sword wall into a highly condensed golden Sword Gang, only as thick as an arm but composed purely of Vast Righteous Sword Intent. As if teleporting, it accurately pierced into the open maw of the Lava Earth Ghoul! That was where its defense was relatively weak!

Puchi!

The golden Sword Gang instantly vanished into the Earth Ghoul’s throat!

”Aow—!!!”

The Lava Earth Ghoul let out an earth-shattering howl of pain! Its massive body twisted madly, smashing the surrounding rock walls to pieces! The golden Vast Righteous Sword Qi erupted inside its body, clashing violently with its filthy, scorching demonic power, causing it unbearable agony! Black-red, foul-smelling blood mixed with shattered internal organs spewed from its mouth!

However, the vitality of a Golden Core monster was terrifyingly resilient! Although this sword strike heavily wounded it, it failed to be fatal, instead completely triggering its ferocity!

It whipped its head around, its non-existent eyes seemingly ”staring” fixedly at Nangong Xuan and Lin Mo, filled with mad resentment and a desire to slaughter! The three pairs of short limbs on its back slammed into the ground, and an even more terrifying energy condensed within its body. Its giant mouth opened again, and this time, what condensed within was no longer toxic flames, but an extremely compressed dark-red energy sphere emitting destructive fluctuations!

Nangong Xuan’s face was deathly pale. He was at his wit’s end; that previous sword strike had nearly drained all the power he had recovered! He had no way to block this clearly desperate, life-risking blow!

Lin Mo also felt a fatal crisis, and the chaos dao seed warned him frantically!

Just at this moment of despair—

No one noticed that Su Muxue, who had been frozen and seemingly isolated from the outside world, had the ice-blue and blood-colored interwoven rune on her forehead suddenly light up to the extreme due to the violent external energy impact and the provocation of the Lava Earth Ghoul’s malicious Demonic Qi!

Crack!

An extremely faint sound of shattering rang out.

The thick profound ice on her body suddenly cracked with a hair-thin fissure.

An aura far purer and colder than before, as if it could freeze the very Origin of the Soul, like an ice ocean that had slept for eons suddenly awakening, silently diffused from that crack...