Chapter 97: (1): Loss of Self-Control
After leaving the herb garden, Long Xuan took the map and walked briskly toward the sleeping palace. Along the way, he occasionally encountered corpses—some had clearly fallen victim to the dangers within the ancient tomb, while others had evidently died in battles with their fellow treasure seekers.
It seemed that not only the herb garden had been fiercely contested; those who ventured elsewhere in search of treasures likely encountered various unexpected perils.
"All the corpses on this path belong to Lei Clan's Gu cultivators," Long Xuan thought as he glanced at a body clad in clothes marked with a lightning symbol, his brows furrowing slightly. He suddenly stopped walking.
On this path alone, he had already seen several similar corpses. Every few steps, another Lei Clan Gu cultivator's body lay on the ground.
There was no blood flowing from the wounds, as if they had been frozen by a chilling energy. All of them had died in the exact same manner.
It wasn't hard to deduce that there was likely a group of Lei Clan Gu cultivators ahead, chasing down someone.
This person must be exceptionally strong to be able to occasionally counterattack and kill his pursuers while being outnumbered. There weren't many in the ancient tomb with such power.
The two Gu King clones that had just left the herb garden could be ruled out, and the third Gu King clone belonged to the Lei Clan's ancestor, so it couldn't be him. After ruling out these three possibilities, Long Xuan quickly thought of Long Ziyan. Aside from her, he couldn't think of anyone else with such strength.
A genius who could take on dozens of opponents of the same level was as rare as a phoenix feather, not only within the ancient tomb but across the entire world.
So Long Xuan was fairly certain that the person being pursued was his senior sister, Long Ziyan.After thinking for a moment, he decided to catch up and take a look.
It wasn't long before he heard the sounds of intense fighting ahead. He quickened his pace, rushing toward the source of the noise.
Soon, he arrived at the battlefield and finally saw that familiar figure. As he had speculated, the person being besieged was indeed his senior sister, Long Ziyan.
At this moment, Long Ziyan was somewhat out of breath, a clear sign of exhaustion. Although her combat prowess was exceptional, she did not possess the massive spiritual power of the Ten Absolute Bodies. After being worn down by the repeated attacks of more than twenty Lei Clan Gu cultivators, her spiritual power was nearly depleted.
She was gritting her teeth, holding on with sheer willpower. With an ancestor of the Lei Clan occasionally harassing her, her chances of escaping were slim.
Seeing the wound on her back, Long Xuan frowned slightly. If she hadn't given him the second-grade Dragon Silkworm Robe, she wouldn't have any injuries on her body.
After all, he owed her a favor, so he couldn't just leave her to die.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Long Xuan ultimately decided to play the hero and rescue her. After all, she was his senior sister, and he was obligated to save her, both emotionally and logically.
He didn't delay any longer and charged forward at full speed.
Before he even reached the battlefield, his Dragon Gu was already there.
The Dragon Gu suddenly appeared at the back of one man's neck, biting through his throat. In an instant, it teleported to another man's back, piercing through his heart with its claws. Then it attacked a third person...
In just a brief moment, seven people were brutally killed, leaving only a dozen Lei Clan Gu cultivators surrounding Long Ziyan. A gap was quickly opened in their encirclement.
Everyone was stunned.
"What on earth is that thing?"
"So fast! What kind of Gu insect is this? It's terrifying!"
"How did it just appear out of nowhere? Damn it..."
Screams filled the air.
As another person fell into a pool of blood, everyone was horrified, unleashing their spiritual armor with full force, disregarding any potential exhaustion.
Faced with something so unpredictable, everyone was terrified. They stood back to back, eyes darting in all directions, completely losing their composure.
The Lei Clan ancestor's pupils contracted, his face showing extreme shock.
The speed at which this creature was killing was astonishing—almost one kill per second. It was elusive, vanishing from sight with no trace. Even with his vast experience, he had never seen such a fearsome Gu before. The ability to instantly appear anywhere was something he had never encountered.
Anyone with insufficient defenses would be dead meat against such a Gu—there was no way to counter it.
In his fear, he thickened the lightning armor woven around his body.
"This is a peak-grade Gu insect! Everyone, be careful! Stand back to back and increase your defenses!" the Lei Clan ancestor shouted, his eyes wary as he glanced at the masked man who had suddenly entered the battlefield.
Long Xuan looked at the Lei Clan ancestor and silently thought it was a pity.
This old man was too cautious. Even in what should have been an effortless battle, he insisted on maintaining a layer of lightning armor on his body at all times, exposing no weaknesses, even though it would drain a significant amount of his spiritual power.
Against such an overly cautious old man, the Dragon Gu couldn't find an opening to strike and had to start by clearing out the small fry. Otherwise, the Dragon Gu's first target would have been him.
If he hadn't maintained any defenses earlier, he would have been dead under the Dragon Gu's sneak attack, even if he was a Gu King reincarnate.
But his years of caution had saved his life this time.
Seeing the spiritual armor thickening on the remaining Lei Clan Gu cultivators, Long Xuan realized that while the Dragon Gu could still break through, it could no longer kill them in a single blow. He didn't want to risk the Dragon Gu anymore, so he grabbed Long Ziyan's arm and began to run.
"Let's go!" Long Xuan had no intention of fighting a Gu King reincarnate. He had always been cautious, and unless he had a guaranteed victory, his first choice was always to flee rather than fight.
"Chase them! That man is mine! You just need to be careful of that Gu's sneak attacks!" the Lei Clan ancestor shouted, gnashing his teeth in frustration. How could he be content to let them escape so easily? He led the remaining Gu cultivators in hot pursuit.
Lei Clan Gu cultivators were known for their speed. Among the seven great clans, they were the fastest. Lightning flashed under their feet, and in an instant, they covered a great distance. Shaking them off wouldn't be easy.
What's more, Long Ziyan was clearly struggling, out of breath and showing signs of exhaustion. She probably wouldn't be able to run much further.
Long Xuan occasionally glanced back. Seeing that they couldn't shake off their pursuers, he came up with a plan and turned to Long Ziyan, saying, "Follow me!"
With that, he veered off into a side path.
"That path leads to a dead end—a sea of lava!" Long Ziyan hurriedly warned.
Although Long Xuan was masked, she immediately recognized him as her junior brother, and was surprised by his strength.
She figured that since her junior brother had the family's map, he couldn't be unaware that this path led to the lava sea.
If he still chose to take this path, he was either foolish or had a way to break through the dead end.
She trusted the latter, so she gritted her teeth and followed Long Xuan down the path.
"Hahaha... That path is a dead end! Your Long Clan's map must be incomplete! You've walked right into your own doom!" the Lei Clan ancestor's maniacal laughter echoed behind them.
Soon, one by one, the Lei Clan Gu cultivators followed them down the path.
Before long, Long Xuan felt a rolling heatwave surging ahead, and the area was bathed in fiery light. Even before they got close, the heat was unbearable.
Standing at the edge of a cliff, he looked down and saw a wide river of lava flowing slowly in a certain direction, its destination unknown.
To his surprise, he noticed movement in the lava below—seemingly living creatures, which made him wary.
Any creature that could survive in lava would be extremely dangerous.
Taking a deep breath, Long Xuan looked back at the approaching pursuers and, without hesitation, wrapped his arm around Long Ziyan's slender waist and jumped off the cliff.
Everyone behind them widened their eyes in disbelief. Just as they were puzzled by this sight, they saw the man lightly step on his right foot, then step on his left foot in midair, and leapt across the lava.
Incredibly, he repeated this a few more times, and finally, with someone in tow, he landed steadily on the opposite bank of the lava sea before disappearing from view.
Everyone's jaws dropped, their mouths wide enough to fit an egg. They were stunned by what they had just witnessed and rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
"What the hell! How did he do that?"
"Stepping on his own feet to fly? Are you kidding me?"
"Am I seeing things? Did he really walk on air by stepping on his own feet?"
A group of Lei Clan Gu cultivators stood at the edge of the cliff, dumbfounded, utterly shocked by the bizarre scene before them.
The Lei Clan ancestor's face turned livid with rage, teetering on the brink of fury.
“Who here can fly?” he shouted.
Everyone looked at each other, but no one answered.
The ability to fly was extremely rare. Even the ancestors couldn’t do it, so how could they possibly know how? Even if someone did know, they wouldn’t admit it. Flying over there to face that fierce individual would likely result in a horrible death.
They had arrived by a flying boat, which could indeed fly over. The problem was that the flying boat was left with the Gu cultivator at the Spiritual Sea stage outside, so they couldn’t bring it in.
So, facing this situation, they had no solution. It was impossible to catch up with the person…
“Damn it! Where the hell did that kid come from? The Gu insect he used was bizarre and unheard of, and his movement technique was unbelievably strange, something I’ve never seen before. Who is he, exactly…”
Seeing the duck fly away just as it was within reach, Lei Yiming was on the verge of rage, his face twisted in a terrifying manner.
Thinking about what might happen next made his heart bleed…
...
This was an area not marked on any map. After all, the ability to fly was so rare that few could reach the other side of the lava.
What was on the other side? What dangers awaited there? It was entirely unknown. Without any knowledge of the situation, Long Xuan didn’t dare to venture further. So, he helped Long Ziyan into a cave and sealed the entrance.
At this moment, Long Ziyan was panting heavily. At first, Long Xuan thought she was just exhausted, but gradually he realized something was wrong.
The way his senior sister looked at him was completely different. It felt like desire—yes, desire, as if she wanted to devour him.
Long Xuan was startled. Could it be that those guys had given Long Ziyan some kind of drug? His expression changed slightly.
This kind of drug wasn’t poison, and his detoxification pill didn’t seem to work.
“Senior Sister, are you okay?” Long Xuan asked weakly.
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