Chapter 110: The Dark Tunnel

“At least eight high-level races from the Holy Spirit Heavenly Court.” Patriarch Changshou swiftly scanned the entire blood sea space, no longer reporting the number of cannon fodder.

Several miles away, a team of humans also surveyed the scene.

“Fate decides your path. Scatter and escape.”

Without hesitation, the four-person squad immediately dispersed, fleeing toward the direction with fewer alien races from the Holy Spirit Heavenly Court.

“Protect yourselves well. I’ll take care of those high-level beings first.”

Xu Chen strode across the blood sea, heading straight for the nearest high-level species of the Holy Spirit Heavenly Court.

Wherever he passed, all alien races that attempted to strike instantly turned into blood mist and exploded.

At that moment, a human fleeing in the distance saw this scene, then glanced toward Li Chengfu and Patriarch Changshou, who were defending in the far distance. Without hesitation, he rushed over and joined their defensive line.

“Brothers, let me provide some cover for now,” the young man said with a pleading smile.

“You don’t treat yourself like an outsider,” Patriarch Changshou chuckled.

In the distance, Xu Chen had already reached the high-level being.

The high-level being was clad in crystalline armor, exuding a terrifying aura, wielding a black crystal longsword that shimmered with eerie light.

“So this is what humans look like. They seem so weak,” the armored alien looked at Xu Chen indifferently, as if a superior looking down at an insignificant ant.

“Such pretentiousness!” Xu Chen’s perception told him that this alien’s vitality was only slightly above the level seven dragon.

Though imposing in appearance, in Xu Chen’s eyes, it was no different from a mere grunt.

The shadow of the Dragon Gate appeared, and with a whale-leap through the Dragon Gate, Xu Chen’s aura surged. Clenching his fists, he condensed his strength.

“Not bad,” the armored alien suddenly swung his longsword.

A black sword light slashed toward Xu Chen, who parried with his protective energy.

“Bang!”

The sword light shattered against Xu Chen’s defensive force, and he followed through with a punch.

“Boom!”

His fist shattered the black crystal longsword, the momentum unrelenting, and with a single blow, he obliterated the armored alien into a mist of blood.

At that moment, a shadow appeared beside Xu Chen, a sharp claw swiping at him.

“Do you think you’re well hidden?”

A smirk curled Xu Chen’s lips as he swiftly changed tactics, his claw striking the shadow’s crown.

“Smack!”

His palm passed through the shadow’s defensive force and struck firmly on the crown.

Another burst of blood mist exploded.

Around them, the alien races began to swarm Xu Chen.

“Looking for death!”

Xu Chen was most skilled at clearing grunts. He unleashed a strange energy that spread like a web.

The aliens attacking him were like marked targets, exploding one by one.

Meanwhile, Li Chengfu and the others had already fallen into a fierce battle.

Xu Chen’s figure vanished and reappeared beside Li Chengfu.

“Boom!”

A palm strike caused all aliens within thirty yards to burst.

“Take care of yourselves,” Xu Chen said, disappearing once again.

In the distance, a high-level being from the Holy Spirit Heavenly Court stood, stepping on a human head, his eyes mocking Xu Chen.

“You humans only deserve to be low-level races within the Holy Spirit Heavenly Court.”

The high-level being suddenly stomped down, turning the human underfoot into a blood mist.

Witnessing this, Xu Chen’s once fierce gaze turned icy cold.

“Die!”

“A raging wave!”

His twelvefold energy transformed into a giant wave, crashing toward the distant aliens.

The wave hammered like a heavy hammer, forcing the alien to retreat dozens of steps, his eyes more provocatively fixed on Xu Chen.

“When humans become low-level races in the Holy Spirit Heavenly Court, you’re only fit to be my footstool.”

The alien sneered darkly and swung a fist at Xu Chen.

“You, Wild Lion tribe, are so disobedient you’d be unfit even as a mount in my human tribe.”

Xu Chen’s lips curled, his killing intent intensifying.

Behind him, the shadow of a towering star giant appeared, its murderous eyes growing more tangible.

“Show me what you’ve got.”

A wild lion’s shadow appeared behind the alien, roaring through the heavens.

As they clashed, the powerful shockwaves forced surrounding aliens to retreat repeatedly.

After a few exchanges, Xu Chen glanced around and noticed all the high-level beings gathering.

“Perfect. Saves me the trouble of hunting them down one by one.”

“A raging wave!”

Xu Chen unleashed his twelvefold energy again. This time, the Wild Lion tribe didn’t block it. Instead, the energy penetrated his body, causing him to explode instantly.

Another blood-red firework blossomed.

Xu Chen unleashed full firepower, marking targets as before.

One by one, blood mists erupted.

Now, Xu Chen alone was fighting the majority of the Holy Spirit Heavenly Court’s alien forces.

The other half faced the combined human squads.

Meanwhile, Patriarch Changshou and two others exchanged intelligence under the protection of several comrades.

“Damn, your captain is fierce!” The man exchanging information with Patriarch Changshou glanced toward the distance. Though blurry, he could tell the fierce fighter was dominating against dozens.

“Of course, otherwise he wouldn’t dare come here.”

“Let’s hurry up and share information.”

The battle continued. Xu Chen had almost cleared the nearby aliens.

The remaining grunts, seeing defeat, fled deeper into the blood sea space, and Xu Chen didn’t bother to chase.

He returned to Li Chengfu and Patriarch Changshou to jointly eliminate the remaining aliens.

Unfortunately, there was no time for chatting as a white light soon enveloped the blood sea space.

The consciousness of the three men and the horse returned.

Dawn began to illuminate the land.

For some unknown reason, the three felt a subtle mental fatigue.

Though slight, it was enough to catch their attention.

“We can’t stay here long.”

“The space we just came from, I exchanged intelligence with a few others.”

“Even resting here drains a small amount of mental energy.”

“We can only stay in this area for a maximum of ten days.”

Patriarch Changshou spread out a freshly drawn map before them.

“Follow this direction. After 2,000 miles is a tunnel expected to stretch ten thousand miles. Inside, it’s pitch black—so dark you can’t see your hand—and there are mysterious beast attacks.”

“Beyond the tunnel lies a stormy sea with small islands for rest.”

“This is the general intelligence I obtained,” Patriarch Changshou said, pointing to a spot on the map.

“Is there no other exit?”

Li Chengfu studied the map. One side was a boundless ice field; the other, the ten-thousand-mile dark tunnel. Neither was appealing.

“No,” Patriarch Changshou answered firmly.

“Then let’s head for the dark tunnel first,” Xu Chen said, unwilling to backtrack.

“Alright.”

The three men and the horse continued their journey, no longer exploring carefully but hastening toward the dark tunnel.

Two days later, after another night of fighting in the blood sea space, Xu Chen encountered a formidable foe: a high-level being with vitality nearing the nine-dragon level.

Xu Chen used the Fish-Dragon Transformation Dance technique to boost his vitality to eight dragons and engaged the enemy.

Though the alien’s vitality was higher, Xu Chen judged its true combat power to be somewhat weaker.

Given enough time, Xu Chen was confident he could slay it.

As their consciousness returned, the three clearly felt mental exhaustion.

“Looks like we need to hurry.”

From his investigations over the past few days, Patriarch Changshou was certain that the only worthwhile gain in this region was the divine power crystals left behind when killing the alien beasts manifested by divine laws within the mental space.

“We’re still about 300 miles from the dark tunnel. Almost there.”

“So far, we’ve collected 34 types of divine power crystals. Even if we just sell them for spirit coins, it’s quite a sum,” Li Chengfu tallied their gains.

As the trio pressed on, a tower made of human skulls appeared ahead.

Looking upon it, Xu Chen’s gaze turned cold and terrifying, his clenched fist trembling.

“Let them rest in peace. And see if we can find their bodies…”

Xu Chen sighed.

They searched the surrounding area but found no corpses, only able to bury the skulls separately.

“Hope you can be reborn.”

Xu Chen found a large stone and fashioned a stone tablet, placing it before the grave.

“At least they have a resting place now.”

After finishing, the three continued onward.

After less than fifty miles, Xu Chen suddenly drew the Azure Sky Bow from his back, channeling energy to shoot all the broken wind arrows from his quiver.

Twenty broken wind arrows flew out in a single breath.

From nearby came the agonized screams of aliens.

Patriarch Changshou rushed over and saw a group of aliens gathered around a large stone pot.

Xu Chen’s arrows had only sealed their heart meridians, rendering them immobile but fully conscious.

Looking at the nearby human bones and personal items, Xu Chen didn’t need to see inside the pot to know what it contained.

“Junior brother, give me three hours. I’ll make sure they suffer worse than death,” Patriarch Changshou’s eyes reddened at the scene.

“I’m in too. These aliens deserve to die!” Li Chengfu gritted his teeth.

For the next three hours, harrowing screams echoed incessantly, like demons unleashed upon the world.

“These aliens had 26 types of divine power crystals among them. Judging by that, they must have arrived recently.”

Patriarch Changshou shook the blood from his hands and took 26 divine power crystals from a beastskin backpack, handing them to Li Chengfu.

Normally, Li Chengfu’s face would show joy at such a haul.

But now, he silently accepted the crystals and placed them in the chest on the Illusory Color Dragon Horse’s back.

The three and the horse resumed their journey, finally reaching the entrance of the dark tunnel.

The tunnel stretched a thousand zhang wide, semi-circular in form, with a chaotic wall outside.

Inside was deep darkness, intermittently pierced by eerie cries.

Thanks to the sunlight from their world, the trio could see the scene outside the tunnel.

“Could this be the intestines of those ancient holy elders?” Li Chengfu couldn’t help but say, staring at the tunnel’s blood-red inner walls.

“Quite possible. Those who walked through said the inner walls are uneven and soft.”

“At some points, there might even be sticky mucus on the ground,” Patriarch Changshou flipped through his notes, reading the intelligence.

Hearing this, Li Chengfu suddenly felt that returning to the ice field might not be such a bad choice.

“Let’s go. Since we’re here, there’s no turning back.”

Xu Chen said as he stepped into the dark tunnel.

Dear readers, expect at least three new updates today. If feeling inspired after finishing, the fourth chapter will be written as well.