CHAPTER 60: SHOWDOWN WITH THE SMALL CENTIPEDE!

Even after unleashing its divine ability with everything it had, the small centipede still couldn't leave a single scratch on Lu Chen.

Its eyes turned blood-red as fury surged once more. It coiled its body rapidly, lightning flickering wildly between its eyes.

In that instant, the centipede became like a living lightning-powered Gatling gun, firing volley after volley of thunder-light spheres at Lu Chen.

Lu Chen channeled his spirit qi into the planetary jade token and activated the Spirit Awaken technique. The Hunyuan Greatsword instantly expanded, covering a large area in front of him.

He held firm to the Hunyuan Greatsword with every ounce of strength he had, deflecting the barrage of lightning spheres one by one.

Seeing that the lightning spheres couldn't reach Lu Chen, the small centipede charged directly at the Hunyuan Greatsword with its physical body.

Boom!

A deafening explosion echoed across the heavens.

The centipede slammed into the planetary jade token, triggering every button, lighting up every flowing blue line across its surface.

All the function nodes of the planetary jade token lit up at once.

A radiant stream of blue light began to gather on the surface of the Hunyuan Greatsword.

The force of the impact knocked the sword from Lu Chen's grip. It spun through the air, propelled forward by sheer inertia, while Lu Chen was sent flying in the opposite direction.

***

Up in the air, Lu Chen rushed toward Nantian Wan'er, stretching out his arms to shield her in his embrace.

Twisting in the air, he tried to steady himself using spirit qi, but the reservoir within the Heavenly Pool had already been drained during the earlier teleportations, and the spirit qi from the small world couldn't pass through the rift quickly enough to replenish it.

Lu Che glanced at the centipede and sighed in resignation. He held Nantian Wan'er tightly, protecting her with his body.

A series of loud crashes followed as Lu Chen landed on his back, slamming into the earth. The impact hurled him through dozens of massive boulders before he finally came to a stop.

Without spirit qi to protect him, his clothes were torn to shreds, exposing skin crisscrossed with bloody scratches.

Lu Chen gently lifted Nantian Wan'er and carefully examined her.

Once he was sure she was unharmed, Lu Chen looked up at the centipede hovering in the sky. His expression tightened as he quickly guided the two fish from the medallion to circulate through his body, working to restore his spirit qi.

At the same time, his mind raced, desperately thinking of a way to defeat the centipede under the current circumstances.

Suddenly, Nantian Wan'er pointed at the Hunyuan Greatsword and called out to him. "Lu-gege, look!"

Lu Chen looked up, just as a narrow blue stream of light shot from the sword.

In a flash, it pierced through the top of the centipede's skull, sliced cleanly through its body, and exited from its tail.

The centipede's body was still midair. It all happened so fast that not a single drop of blood spilled.

Lu Chen observed the centipede's state, then gathered the spirit qi he had just recovered to form a tiny sword.

A breeze passed.

That tiny sword, infused with faint spirit qi, flew out and sliced clean through the centipede's body, splitting it in two.

In an instant, the centipede became lifeless and crashed heavily to the ground.

Blood burst from the severed halves, staining the earth a vivid red. Seeing it fall, Lu Chen finally collapsed to the ground. He was gasping for breath, completely drained.

Nantian Wan'er rushed to his side, quickly pulling out pills and ointments to tend to Lu Chen's injuries. As she looked at his wounds, tears began to stream down her face.

"Lu-gege, it's all my fault. If only I could use spirit qi, you wouldn't have had to fight so hard against that centipede."

"Hahaha, it's fine, Wan'er. I'm thick-skinned and tough! For me, taking a few hits is no big deal."

Lu Chen struggled to raise his hand to wipe away her tears. After several tries, he still couldn't summon the strength. He had no choice but to give up and comfort her with words instead.

"But Wan'er... you just recovered from your cold poison. Your body's still weak. Once you're healed up, I'm sure you'll surpass me in cultivation. When that time comes, it'll be you protecting me. Hahaha..."

"Sob, sob... Lu-gege, stop trying to make me feel better. I'm the one who dragged you down..."

Lu Chen's voice was growing weaker. Hearing it fade, Nantian Wan'er wept even harder.

Tears streamed down her face like pear blossoms in the rain. Some of the big droplets landed directly on Lu Chen's wounds. The salt in the tears stung, making him wince.

Just then, a deep voice suddenly rang out beside Lu Chen. "Young man, if you keep this up, you'll only make her cry harder. If you want her to smile, you'll have to leave it to me, Metal General."

Still lying on the ground, Lu Chen glanced up toward the voice and saw two men standing over him. "What do you mean? Did I do something wrong?"

Nantian Wan'er quickly wiped away her tears and stood up to bow to the two figures. "Greetings, Lord Metal General. Greetings, Lord Flame Demon."

Lu Chen glanced at them, then at Nantian Wan'er, and asked, "Huh? Why are you two in human form now? Also, how is it my fault she cried even harder? Wasn't she the one who chose to cry?"

Metal General snapped. "You hopeless idiot."

Without saying a word, Metal General, now in the form of a young man, lunged at Lu Chen. He paid no heed to Lu Chen's injuries, grabbed him, and forced him into a cross-legged position on the ground.

Lu Chen winced in pain, his face contorting, but Metal General didn't let up at all.

As a being formed of metal-element energy, he swiftly formed a hand seal and channeled a stream of pure core power into Lu Chen's body.

As soon as the metal-attribute spirit qi entered his body, part of it was instantly absorbed by the Green Sovereign Divine Tree rooted in the Heavenly Pool. The rest flowed into the small world, where it was taken in by the Innate Green Sovereign Divine Tree.

Lu Chen's eyes lit up in surprise. "This is innate metal-element energy!"

"Hmph. At least you recognize it. Good thing it wasn't wasted on you."

After carefully examining Lu Chen's condition and confirming most of his injuries had healed, Metal General withdrew the spirit qi and gave Lu Chen a sly wink. "Hey, kid, want to call me your boss? I can teach you how to charm girls."

"Charm girls?" Lu Chen tilted his head, intrigued by the unfamiliar term. He turned to Nantian Wan'er. "You mean like... playing with Wan'er? But she's not a toy."

Nantian Wan'er's cheeks flushed red. She clearly understood what charming girls meant.

Metal General looked at Lu Chen's clueless expression and let out a groan. "You really don't get what I'm saying? Charming girls means sweet-talking—"

Before he could finish, a fist slammed down hard on his head.

The muscular man beside him, Flame Demon in human form, brushed off his hand and looked toward the corpse of the centipede. "Cut the nonsense. If he's healed, get ready for the next trial. Mountain God and the others are still waiting."

Metal General muttered as he got back up. "Tch. What's the problem? The kid doesn't even understand these things. That's such a waste of that girl's goodwill."

As soon as Flame Demon mentioned the next trial, Lu Chen stood up with Nantian Wan'er's help and gave the two of them a respectful junior's bow.

It might have seemed like he spent the whole time bickering with them, but that was just his personality. When it came to expressing gratitude, Lu Chen never took it lightly.

Flame Demon reached out and helped him up. Seeing the sincerity in Lu Chen's actions, a trace of approval and hope flickered in his eyes.

He said calmly, "This trial is considered complete. The next one won't be as easy as this."

With a wave of his hand, the illusion realm disappeared, and the four of them reappeared at the trial's entrance.

Three teleportation formations stood before them. The red one slowly lost its glow until it went completely dark, marking its completion.

Lu Chen stared at the teleportation formation ahead and asked, "Flame Demon, can we begin? I have to reach the heart of the secret realm before tomorrow."

Flame Demon glanced up at the cliff where Blindman Lu stood, then replied, "You're good to go. Your body's recovered. Choose one of the teleportation formations and begin."

Without hesitation, Lu Chen walked toward the blue formation. Just as he was about to speak, he caught a glimpse of Flame Demon's face darkening from the corner of his eye.

Flame Demon was already raising a clenched fist.

Lu Chen's expression changed. "Crap!"

He quickly circulated his spirit qi to dodge, but before he could move, Flame Demon had already closed the distance. A powerful punch connected squarely with his chest.

The impact sent Lu Chen flying straight into the yellow teleportation formation.

Lu Chen shouted from within the formation, "Again!?"

His voice vanished in the next instant.

Flame Demon dusted off his fist and shouted at the yellow formation, "Stubborn brat! I told you not to choose the blue one first! Can't you ever listen? Always making me resort to violence!"

Seeing this, Nantian Wan'er rushed forward, intending to follow him into the yellow battlefield, but Flame Demon moved swiftly to block her path.

He tensed the muscles on his face, trying to smile, and explained gently, "Miss Wan'er, you can't go in for this one."

"What do you mean?"

Nantian Wan'er's anxiety surged. She tried to shove his hand aside and dart forward. "Why not? Is Lu-gege in danger?!"

Metal General shot into the air and transformed into a cage, trapping her inside. "Don't worry, girl. It's just a trial."

A shimmering projection of Metal General appeared before her and spoke gently, "He'll be fine. This particular trial is designed specifically for him—one that tests his heart. You really can't interfere. We can tell how much you care for the boy. And clearly, he's good to you, too."

His projection floated closer and gave her a playful wink. "But the kid's head isn't screwed on quite right. This is the perfect opportunity for him to learn something."

A faint blush colored Nantian Wan'er's cheeks. She stopped struggling, neither agreeing nor resisting, only offering an ambiguous reply, "I see... Then please don't make the trial too cruel, Lord Metal General."

Bang!

Flame Demon's fist smashed into the cage with a thunderous boom. "What nonsense are you spouting now?"

The impact made Metal General's body ache, the iron bars buzzing from the force.

The impact sent a jolt through Metal General's body, the iron bars vibrating loudly from the force. His projection flickered with distortions as he turned toward Flame Demon, face twitching. "Seriously? She didn't even say anything out of line!"

Flame Demon gave a cold snort and said nothing more.

He formed a hand seal, released spirit qi into the air, and conjured a viewing portal before them. Through it, the scene inside the yellow trial zone slowly came into view.