“This is the Demon Pool Ye Xiu spoke of!” Ye Xiu trod upon Old Liu’s Ghost Annihilation, noticing that upon breaking through the stone cliff face, the monster’s body had been blocking the entire green pipe passage. Now that its body had moved, the green ** was flowing directly into the Demon Pool. “Looking at it this way, all the water from the four-sided pyramidal cliffs must converge here to open the true Demon Pool.”

“Excellent, then let’s each take one side, and meet up at the red cliff face ahead, how about it?” Old Liu grasped the profound mystery of the technique. He shifted Ghost Annihilation and charged toward the blue cliff face on the right. “Whatever is in here shouldn’t be able to take your life, Death God!”

“Let’s see who gets to the red side first.” Ye Xiu sneered, his feet planting on Ghost Annihilation as he soared. His Soul of a Hundred Insects immediately propelled him, gliding like a feather until he gently landed on the yellow cliff face. “Hoo… Heaven only knows what sort of divine beast lurks inside here.”

Ye Xiu finally managed to climb to the top of the cliff face. Fortunately, it wasn't sealed like the passage before. He flipped over and plunged directly into the mountain body. Suddenly, a gust of yellow sand assaulted his face, and his feet sank into quicksand: “So this side is all sand.”

“Kaka-ka!” Before Ye Xiu could fully assess the situation, a rapid sound erupted from all around. Countless tiny grey pincers crawled out of the gravel, advancing in neat rows, looking utterly unstoppable.

Ye Xiu’s heart clenched, and he immediately wanted to fly out of the quicksand. But as he tried to rise, it felt as if countless arms were dragging his feet down. Unable to break free, he could only raise his twin swords to attack the pincers.

“Clang! Clang!” The twin swords struck the pincers, producing blinding sparks. Those sparks clearly agitated whatever lay beneath the sand’s surface. A gigantic centipede then burst forth from below. It was fiery red all over, its abdomen covered in tiny pincers. Its mouthparts were incredibly sharp, nearly brushing Ye Xiu’s face as it emerged.

“Hoo…” Ye Xiu swung Tian Miao, emitting an intense red glow. The centipede, with sharp eyes, raised its head to evade a strike. However, its lower body was still beneath the sand’s surface—it was that tail section that firmly bound Ye Xiu. “Damn thing, looks like I have to cut you loose.”

“Chii…” The centipede moved like a long snake, coiling and weaving to dodge the sword strikes. Its numerous small pincers were too numerous; they had already inflicted many wounds on Ye Xiu. At this moment, it coiled above Ye Xiu’s head, its two sharp mouthparts stabbing downward, aiming to clamp onto his head.

Seeing he couldn't break free, Ye Xiu held his breath and dove beneath the sand’s surface. Wielding his twin swords, he slashed through the endless grains, only to discover that the lower body of the centipede was entirely composed of human arms. This thing was no divine beast; it was clearly a composite creature of humans and animals. “Gah! There are things like this in the Myriad Mountain Range?”

“Jii…” The centipede’s sharp mouth closely pursued him beneath the sand, shaking its head wildly as it searched for Ye Xiu’s position. What awaited it, however, was a single long sword. The red light flickered as Tian Miao’s divine sense strike passed through; one of its sharp pincers was cleanly severed by Ye Xiu. A thick, viscous yellow fluid immediately sprayed across the yellow sand.

Seeing the centipede falter, Ye Xiu immediately spun his twin swords and burst out of the quicksand encirclement. He blasted the human arms below with dark flames. As expected, those things were as fragile as ordinary humans. The only strangeness was that the fluid they bled was also yellow **. “What kind of place is this? Is someone researching monsters here?”

“Dong-clang…” The centipede, struck above and below, thrashed in the quicksand. Its abdominal pincers suddenly shot out of its body, connected by thin, intestine-like tissues. These pincers swayed left and right, seeking targets and charging straight toward Ye Xiu.

“Damn it!” Before Ye Xiu could catch his breath, dozens of pincers attacked him from both sides. With his twin swords in hand, he met the pincers, but these pincers were incredibly hard, capable of matching the twin swords. With nimble movement, he glided down, aimed for the flesh-like intestines, and thrust his sword through. In an instant, the threat hanging in mid-air was eliminated.

The centipede suffered another heavy blow and sank completely into the quicksand. However, the quicksand began to adhere to its body, as if forming a hard layer of armor. In a flash, the previously severed human arms grew out from this armor. They stretched out extremely long, sprawling outward to grasp the entire scene.

Ye Xiu grabbed the cliff face with one hand. At a glance, he saw that the entire cliff face was covered in human faces—some withered, others fresh. The only similarity was that all these faces stared wide-eyed, filled with despair. “Fusing animals and human bodies? Is someone conducting experiments in this locale?”

“Krak!” The centipede’s body was stabilized by those arms. It then shot upward, attempting to impale Ye Xiu with just a single sharp mouthpart. Ye Xiu opened Tian Miao Fallen Shadow, creating myriad illusions. When the phantoms pierced beneath the centipede, the supporting arms shattered once more, erupting with thick yellow fluid.

Ye Xiu focused his gaze and saw a small cavern directly beneath the yellow sand. The yellow fluid was draining from here to the outside. Before he could investigate further, he felt an intense killing intent surge from above. The centipede’s limbs were damaged, but the majority of its body was enveloped in the rock-hard sand, impossible for even Tian Miao to pierce.

“Swish, swish…” The centipede became enraged and repeatedly stabbed its sharp mouthpart into the ground. Ye Xiu rolled away continuously to escape completely, but this rendered him unable to gather more ** to replenish the Demon Pool.

Ye Xiu stepped along the stone wall, trying to find a weakness from every angle, but the centipede was surrounded by a sand armor. No matter how sharp his twin swords were, he couldn't penetrate it. In desperation, he suddenly noticed that yellow ** was starting to seep from the centipede’s mouth area as well. This meant that when the creature used its sharp mouthparts, it injured this spot, revealing its most vulnerable point.

The centipede continued its reckless assault, spinning in all directions, attempting to impale Ye Xiu on its sharp fangs. But Ye Xiu was incredibly agile; though he couldn't fly, he could move freely clinging to the stone wall. After a prolonged attack without success, the creature even showed signs of fatigue.

“Now is the time.” Ye Xiu channeled Tian Miao and charged toward the centipede’s sharp mouth. The centipede shivered with excitement upon seeing Ye Xiu approach and thrust its mouthpart toward him. Unexpectedly, Ye Xiu was faster; he grabbed the sharp fang with his hand. His hand bled black blood as it was scraped by the sharp object, but this black blood was not shed in vain. He timed it perfectly and thrust a sword, hitting the centipede’s vulnerable inner lip. “Get down!”

“Thump!” The sand armor crashed heavily against the base of the cliff. Ye Xiu’s Tian Miao sword landed, piercing the centipede’s head directly into the ground. Instantly, screams echoed from within the cliff wall. Putrid yellow ** flowed down the body of Tian Miao, entering the mouth of the small cavern. Consequently, the ** under the yellow pipe surged, and the Demon Pool’s water supply was once again abundant.

Old Liu smelled a scent like seawater before he had fully entered the cliff wall. It turned out the blue triangular cone was already filled with seawater. Fortunately, he always carried his self-made breathing pills. Swallowing one, he plunged into the water, swimming freely. But the waters were not peaceful; a bizarre fish head approached upon hearing the noise. It opened its massive maw, revealing rows of human arms inside.

“Gah!” Old Liu inhaled a mouthful of water and used Ghost Annihilation to churn the water’s surface. He retreated while glancing back. Aside from its head being that of a giant fish, the rest of its body sprouted human legs and feet. The dozens of limbs kicking simultaneously generated the creature’s unnerving speed. “They say a human head and fish body is a mermaid; what the hell is this thing, a human-legged fish?”

The human-legged fish’s movement in the water was clearly faster than Old Liu’s. It tilted its head, and the long arms in its mouth lashed out. Once those appendages latched onto Old Liu’s legs, they suddenly sprouted a row of curved barbs that dug inward, aiming to pierce Old Liu’s skin.

“Ice Curse!” In the moment of crisis, Old Liu protected his legs and feet with ice crystals. His eyes darted to a human skull blocking a cave entrance at the bottom of the water. His goal was only to connect the ** in the pipe. Ignoring the human-legged fish, he bent down, intending to use Ghost Annihilation to pry the skull loose.

“Pufu-pufu!” Suddenly, streams of long legs blocked his path. Unexpectedly, the human-legged fish was intelligent; its body was still here, but its limbs had already arrived before Old Liu. It swam over and seemed to smirk triumphantly at Old Liu.

“This thing counts as a divine beast?!” Old Liu was furious. He grabbed Ghost Annihilation and chopped off the obstructive legs. He spun on his heel and kicked, dislodging the massive skull. What he hadn't expected was that countless arms sprouted from beneath the skull. These arms saw the blue river water flowing into the lower pipe and swarmed forward, blocking the opening entirely. “What is this thing trying to do? Mess with me?!”

“Gurgle, gurgle…” At that moment, the sound of bursting bubbles echoed from the side. Old Liu turned his head to see dense masses of long hands reaching out to embrace him. In desperation, he activated the Beast Path, simulating and transforming into a creature identical to this long-legged fish.

Suddenly, beneath the blue river water, hundreds of hands and feet became entangled. Old Liu controlled his form, trying to clear the limbs blocking the opening, while the living things simultaneously restrained Old Liu’s limbs. As they intertwined, the water flow did increase slightly, but not significantly.

Old Liu murmured inwardly, trembling at his current form. Forced into a corner, he opened the Meridian Path again, causing all the limbs to move at high speed. The original human-legged fish could not withstand such an impact; its slender legs were instantly shattered into many segments by Old Liu. With the blockage at the opening gone, the blue pipe was completely unobstructed.

“Hoo…” Old Liu returned to his human form, fierce aggression etched on his face. He brought Ghost Annihilation down upon the defenseless human-legged fish. This time, the black mist of Ghost Annihilation enveloped the entire fish and sucked it inside. Old Liu sighed deeply, flipped out of the cliff wall, and muttered, “Good thing that brat Ye Xiu didn't see me just now, or he would have laughed himself to death!”

“Pucha…” Old Liu broke through the blue water surface. Seeing the flow rush into the Demon Pool, he considered his task complete. He mounted his sword, preparing to enter the red triangular cone, only to find Ye Xiu already standing there, greeting him. “I didn’t expect you to be so fast?”

Ye Xiu smiled proudly, gesturing with his twin swords. However, the scene inside the mountain was indeed bizarre. He frowned. “Do you know what I ran into?”

“Do you know what I ran into?” Old Liu immediately clapped a hand over Ye Xiu’s mouth, preempting him. “I ran into a fish covered in human arms!”