"How on earth do these parasites do this!?" Jian Zhenzi exclaimed in disbelief.
At this time, Su Anran, Song Baiye, Little Butcher, Jian Zhenzi, Chong Xingzi and Qingyu were located in an area about 10,000 meters deep underground in the far north ice region - this depth distance was estimated by Qingyu and Chongxingzi
, no wonder Su Anran and others didn’t believe it.
"It's normal." Qingyu said casually, "The first-generation parasite infected by the Soul-Splitting Demonic Mountain Spider is essentially a spider-like monster, not a human being... Its name already indicates what it possesses.
Ability, splitting soul, parasitic ability, and the mountain spider’s powerful defensive ability. As for the mountain spider, I don’t know if you know that it has a close relative..."
"Crypt spider?" Chong Xingzi asked.
"Yes." Qingyu nodded, "Burrow spiders are close relatives, or vassals, of mountain spiders. They will help mountain spiders clean up all kinds of things on their bodies, and they will also help mountain spiders dig holes so that mountain spiders can dig themselves out.
Disguised as a small mountain peak, etc... But these are just side effects. The really scary thing about burrowing spiders is that they can dig out a maze-like burrow if given the instructions of the first-generation parasite."
"This type of crypt is not like ordinary crypts, with only one or a few passages. No matter how you turn, you can still find a way out as long as you spend some time...Crypt spiders created it with instructions.
The crypt is a three-dimensional crypt like a honeycomb. If you enter this kind of crypt without any preparation, as long as you go deep for more than two hours, you won't be able to get out."
"So, we generally call this kind of crypt... the Death Spider Cave." Qingyu said indifferently, "Because people who enter this kind of crypt basically have no way to survive."
"This is just spreading rumors." Jian Zhenzi obviously didn't believe it.
Qingyu didn't argue, she just glanced at Jian Zhenzi, and then asked: "Then how many intersections did we turn just now, do you remember? Taking the position where we entered the lair as the base number, guess what we are now
Is it the upper level or the lower level of the basic level? Also, how long do you think we have been in this lair?"
"This..." Jian Zhenzi blinked. He only spent a second thinking before choosing to give up and looked at Chong Xingzi instead.
"Don't look at me, I don't know either." Chong Xingzi shook his head, "I am a magic cultivator, more sensitive than you, but from the moment I entered this lair, I found that my spiritual perception has been disturbed, let alone differentiation.
It doesn’t matter whether we are on the upper level or the lower level now, I don’t even know if I can go back the way we came.”
When Jian Zhenzi heard this, he put away the contempt on his face and became truly serious.
They arrived at the target location yesterday, and when the star broke through the frozen soil on the surface, they were naturally attacked by a large number of crazy wolf spiders and devil spiders. Although Qingyu later said, "You can set the fire with peace of mind, I have enough pills."
”, but in the end, after burning for a day and night but still seeing no decrease in the number of these spiders, Su Anran made a surprising decision: taking everyone directly deep into the nest.
Then, the few of them wandered around the lair for a long time.
The layout of this lair was different from all the lairs they had encountered before.
Before, whether it was Su Anran, Jian Zhenzi or Chong Xingzi, when they were dealing with the lairs of the first-generation parasites that had penetrated Beiling, it was just a huge underground space: there were lairs hollowed out of the mountain, and similar ones.
It may be a cube-like underground space, or some other different lair spaces, but overall it can be regarded as a box-like lair, and it does not have an overly complicated structure.
But this underground lair is different now.
It is more like a honeycomb space, consisting of box spaces one after another. Each box space has six to sixteen passages: from parallel leading to six other directions to in addition to parallel six passages.
It can also lead to spaces on two different parallel levels, upper and lower. However, in addition to the vertical upper and lower passages, the passage leading to the diagonal nest space makes it difficult for people to perceive whether it is going up or down.
Everyone has passed through dozens of box-type nest spaces here, and found that most of these spaces are breeding rooms filled with spider eggs, but there are also some places that are similar to storage rooms, or strange spaces with unknown purposes.
All in all, they have been wandering around here for a long time, but they have never found the real owner, and all they saw were spider monsters, and no humanoid infected bodies similar to parasites were seen.
From Jian Zhenzi's point of view, it may not have been half a day since they entered here.
But in fact, Qingyu knew that they had stayed in this lair for more than two days.
This underground lair disturbs not only the sense of space, but also the sense of time. This is why Qingyu said that if you enter here without any preparation, you will inevitably die in the end.
"We also killed a lot of spiders along the way. Following this clue..." Jian Zhenzi was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly couldn't continue.
"Alas." Chong Xingzi sighed, "You finally found out?... We haven't had a fight for a long time. It seems that all the spiders are avoiding our progress."
"More than that." Qingyu shook her head, "Even if we really know the road now, if we go back the same way, do you believe that all traces of the battle we had before will have completely disappeared?"
"You can't be unprepared, right?" Su Anran turned her head and looked at Qingyu.
"So we are now faced with a choice." Qingyu sighed, "We have been here for two days..."
"Two days?!" Jian Zhenzi exclaimed again.
"Yes, two days." Qingyu nodded, and then took out a small bag that had been hidden.
Through the bag, you can see that there seems to be some kind of object that is constantly glowing inside. The frequency is about once per second, and the brightness of the light is constantly switching between strong light and weak light - when it is shining, the light intensity is at the strong light level.
, very bright and dazzling; when it is not emitting light, it is in a low light state. Although it is not invisible, it is still easy to be ignored.
"Light-heat stone?" Chong Xingzi was stunned for a moment.
"Yes." Qingyu nodded, "I judge the time based on this... As for determining the location, I used a pill."
After saying that, Qingyu took out another elixir.
The elixir looked very ordinary, and no one smelled anything special, but Chong Xingzi did not dare to underestimate this low-strength woman. After all, even the Kunlun sect, which had a strong foundation and dared to challenge the dynasty, did not say that
He was able to take out two bottles of elixir in one go and eat it until he vomited.
"Jade Insect Pill." Qingyu said, "When we were dealing with the parasites that had penetrated Beiling, I collected some materials from their nests and refined it. Therefore, this elixir has the aura of a nest.
, will not be discovered and rejected. As long as we take another matching elixir, we will be able to smell a scent. Only by following this scent can we truly return to the original route."
The place where several people fell from the big crack was obviously a breeding room.
There are tens of millions of spider eggs there. A steady stream of crazy wolf spiders and devil spiders are hatched from these spider eggs, and then they can be thrown into the battlefield immediately. Moreover, the spaces connected by several nearby passages,
It should also be the incubation room. After all, what they saw at that time was a large number of crazy wolf spiders and devil spiders crawling over from other passages, and then joined the battle.
There are only two passages that no crazy wolf spiders and devil spiders crawl through, which are located at the front and rear ends of the breeding room.
The situation was special at that time. I didn't want to entangle everyone, so I finally chose the nearest passage to myself and quickly left the breeding room. Jian Zhenzi also blocked this passage to prevent the endless spiders from catching up.
"The choice you mentioned is..."
"The Jade Insect Pill I made before has been used up." Qingyu said, "I didn't expect this underground lair to be so vast. We walked for two days and passed more than a hundred independent lairs without finishing it.
...It’s not impossible to refine it on the spot, but I don’t think those parasites will give us this opportunity, so there will definitely be a tough battle next.”
"Isn't this just right?" Jian Zhenzi said, "Our goal is to eliminate the parasites here."
"But since we are dragged here, don't those first-generation parasites have a chance to escape?" Chong Xingzi sighed.
They, the Great Kunlun, look down on the sword cultivators of the Little Kunlun. It is not just a dispute over ideas, but more importantly, they believe that the sword cultivators of the Little Kunlun have no brains and rely on recklessness to do things. As a result, they are often fooled by the enemy.
, it really affects the reputation of Kunlun Sect.
"If we cut the grass without eradicating the root, it will grow again with the spring breeze." Chong Xingzi said in a deep voice, "As long as we do not deal with these first-generation parasites, it will be useless even if we completely destroy this nest. They can completely find another place to build it.
A nest, the result is still the same... We don't even know how many first-generation parasites are in this nest."
"It should be six to seven." Qingyu said, "The first-generation parasites will have their own territories, which is also their hunting range, so generally there will not be more than two first-generation parasites in an area, because this will
It is not a good thing for their hunting circles to overlap...especially on the infiltrated North Ridge side. Once this happens, the result is often that only one of the two first-generation parasites can survive."
"Then the situation here is very special?"
"I guess it's because of the forced control of the Soul-Splitting Demonic Mountain Spider." Qingyu said, "As long as there are more than three first-generation parasites in the same area, they will allow the Mountain Spider to develop crypt spiders and attack the crypt.
The spider manipulates it and begins to excavate such a honeycomb-like three-dimensional nest... And based on the size of this nest, it is generally possible to judge how many first-generation parasites are in this nest."
"According to the calculation that a first-generation parasite needs about twenty to forty independent spaces, we have passed through hundreds of independent spaces in the past two days, and we have been going to the lower space, but we haven't hit the bottom yet.
In addition, previous investigators reported that at least three first-generation parasites gathered here, so I guess there will be six to seven first-generation parasites in this nest."
"Mainly considering that the attack targets of this advanced lair are three large families of the Northern Tang Dynasty. According to the strategy of every two first-generation parasites being responsible for one family's defense area, it is conservatively estimated that there will be six first-generation parasites... As for that
Seven, I suspect there is a co-ordinator here."
"Coordinator?"
"The Soul-Splitting Demonic Mountain Spider is a ferocious beast with no intelligence, unable to communicate, only instinct." Qingyu nodded, "But the parasitic offspring it creates are not like that. On the contrary, they will have considerable intelligence, especially
When a group of first-generation parasites receive the death order from the Soul-Splitting Mountain Spider and begin to act in a group, it is easier for this kind of coordinating commander to be born."
"They are not necessarily the strongest, but they are definitely the smartest among all the first-generation parasites in the joint action group." Qingyu said in a deep voice, "Moreover, we have studied the previous defense zones since we came here.
Combat records revealed that these parasites and spider beasts have mastered very special and powerful coordination capabilities, which allows them to exert combat effectiveness no less than that of the monk legions of various families. Obviously, this is what these parasites can do.
The reason for drilling through the defense zone for the first time."
There is no such thing as a monk army in the mysterious world.
Although there are battle formations in Xuanjie, and those powerful families and sects will train a group of disciples to specialize in battle formations and combined attacks, these are usually used in the offensive and defensive battles of the mountain gate. During normal training, you can see a few people who know how to combine attack formations.
Disciples of the same sect of Dharma are considered rare.
But after arriving in the Tianyuan Secret Realm, Qingyu discovered that the army of monks cultivated by the unique culture of this secret realm really should not be underestimated.
A group of monks who may only have the cultivation level of the Aperture Realm, after forming a formation and cooperating with each other, can exert the strength of the Soul Condensation Realm, or even the Earth Immortal Realm, or let a monk of the Earth Immortal Realm directly exert the strength of the Daoji Realm,
This is really incredible.
None of the military strategists cultivated in Baijiayuan have such heaven-defying abilities - they can only raise the level of a large realm at most, and there is still room for it. This is why military strategists are not sought after in the mysterious world.
.Many times, the greater value of Confucian military strategists is that they specialize in making plans and arranging Yin people, rather than leading a group of monks to fight on the front lines in person.
"You mean..." Jian Zhenzi finally did not feel embarrassed this time, "among these first-generation parasites, there is someone who knows the art of war very well?"
"That's pretty much what it means." Qingyu nodded, "And the other party not only understands the art of war, he even knows the strength level of the seven major families of the Northern Tang Dynasty, so he can find the weakness of your defense line so accurately.
Everywhere...even now, not having contact or confrontation with us, just to drag us here, may be his idea."
"If I guess correctly, I'm afraid that on the second day after we entered this underground lair, these parasites launched another attack on the outside defense line."
"Tan Xing." Jian Zhenzi spat out a name heavily.
"What?"
"Tan Xing, the Grand Master of Sheji Palace who disappeared in Beiling three hundred years ago. It is said that he is well versed in the art of war. Even in Zhongzhou where there are many strong generals, he is enough to rank among the top five." Chong Xingzi said in a deep voice, "
He had fought against the Northern Tang Dynasty. It can be said that
In this battle, the Northern Tang Dynasty was defeated. In the end, if the ancestor of the Northern Tang Dynasty had not taken action and broke into the military camp, killing three land gods in a row, forcing Tan Xing to escape overnight, would there still be a Northern Tang Dynasty now?
It’s really hard to say.”
"If he takes action..." Jian Zhenzi also sighed, "Then we won't lose unjustly this time."
