Eternal Heavenly Emperor

Black Needle Scorpion, a Warrior-tier ferocious beast.

Even a single one was enough to easily sweep Chu Hao and his three companions, let alone this Scorpion Tide?

After reading the Black Needle Scorpions' details, Chu Hao immediately said, "Don't panic, these Black Needle Scorpions' bloodlines have degenerated, their stingers are grey, not ink-black. Moreover, their size basically hasn't reached that of a wolf-dog, they are just smaller scorpions."

These scorpions must also have been trapped for thirty thousand years, lacking sufficient food. What to do? They could only cannibalize each other, resorting to earth and roots when hunger drove them to extremes. Therefore, it was normal for their bloodlines to degenerate.

Swish.

With a swing of his sword, pop, pop, pop, pop, more than a dozen Black Needle Scorpions were immediately turned into a rain of flesh and blood, but as soon as they fell, the other scorpions greedily snapped them up, showing their fierce nature.

However, Chu Hao's sword also gave Shen Chao and the others courage, and they unfolded their counterattack.

These scorpions indeed had degenerated a lot; most were below Fifth-Tier Martial Disciples, and even the adult bodies were only equivalent to Tenth Tier Martial Disciples. Ordinarily, they shouldn't have caused too much trouble for Chu Hao and his companions.

But the problem was the sheer number of them. And, Chu Hao and his company didn't dare to step off the bluestone beneath their feet, afraid of triggering some mechanism, which would only add difficulty to their plight.

"I remember the technique Nangong Rou used to open the secret door," Chu Hao said as he executed the Izumo Sword Technique to blast the scorpions that drew close, "The other four were just scribbling nonsense, completely useless."

Because only one bluestone had a pattern carved on it.

It's just that Nangong Rou was too good an actress and appeared genuinely sincere, leading Chu Hao and the others to slowly trust her, eventually falling into a great disadvantage. Indeed, if a person tells nine truths, their last lie will easily deceive others.

"But... how can we find that bluestone now?" Shen Chao and the others screamed in dismay.

—The whole ground was covered with Black Needle Scorpions, making it impossible to distinguish.

"Fight, kill as many as possible," Chu Hao said, his swordsmanship swift and agile.

Shen Chao and the others nodded, each unleashing their full power. If not now, when?

But the number of scorpions seemed unending; for every batch killed, another surged forth. On the contrary, Chu Hao and his group's strength and Star Force were draining rapidly. They couldn't get a moment's respite and, without any stronghold to defend, such a situation would only lead to complete annihilation.

"This isn't right," Chu Hao suddenly exclaimed.

What's not right? At this point, what foolishness is he spouting?

Shen Chao and the others pretended not to hear him, doing nothing but killing desperately. Staying put meant completely wasting their movement skills, further complicating the challenge.

Chu Hao's figure suddenly darted forward, charging ahead.

What's he doing, trying to get himself killed?

"Chu Hao," Shen Chao and the others cried out in alarm. They didn't have a deep relationship with Chu Hao, but since they didn't know how to activate the secret path, he became their only hope of escaping.

Chu Hao broke through the encirclement, to the surprise of the three, there were still scorpions all around with no signs of any mechanism being triggered.

—There were no gigantic iron balls rolling out, no sudden sword pits appearing, no flames, no world encased in ice and snow.

Everything was unchanged.

Shen Chao and the rest were not fools and instantly realized—They'd been duped again. In this dome space, there were no mechanisms at all. Had there been, wouldn't the scorpions have triggered them long ago with their numbers?

Compared to Chu Hao, their reactions were more than a beat slower.

No, no, no, there was a mechanism: the one Nangong Rou had used before. That was the secret passage out of this place.

True and false intermixed, her exceedingly convincing act completely played everyone. Her four followers were probably equally in the dark, otherwise, they each deserved an Academy Award.

Chu Hao shook his head inwardly. In fact, from the moment they agreed to the truce with the other party, they had fallen into Nangong Rou's trap. But this was a trap they had to fall into because indeed only she knew how to open the way out of here.

He took a deep breath and suddenly extended his left hand. Buzz. At two meters around him, all the scorpions floated up, pop, pop, pop, some of the smaller ones even shattered directly from the impact.

Sky Wind Eight Styles.

Chu Hao fiercely struck out with his palm, boom, releasing a terrifying surge that crushed all the floating scorpions into mist, then a wave of fire swept around, carrying the remains of the scorpions out in all directions.

Such immense power.

After this strike, a nearly five-meter radius of ground was forcibly cleared, revealing the bluestone, one piece strikingly patterned.

Found it.

"Everyone, take your positions," Chu Hao called out, dashing over with his sword in his right hand for defense while his left hand began moving swiftly.

Shen Chao and the others dared not delay, each unleashing their Ultimate Skills. In a moment, their lethality soared, brutally carving a path through the horde. They rushed out and took their places on separate bluestones, the very spots once occupied by the four black-clothed people.

Crack, crack, crack, crack.

Chu Hao multitasked, swinging the Red Shadow Sword and bringing forth a dazzling cold light, while his fire attribute also activated, emitting flames from his palms, creating a fiery zone around him to fend off the incoming Black Needle Scorpions.

On the other side, Shen Chao and the other two also stimulated their attributes to the fullest. Two of them had water attributes, both of the ice sort, sending out waves of freezing power to seal a large number of scorpions in ice. To their surprise, Hu Yan revealed an earth attribute, a layer of earthy yellow Star Force surrounding her, greatly enhancing her defensive power.

However, this consumed a great deal of physical strength, and as time passed, exhaustion was inevitable, which also affected their combat power.

It was like a martial master who hadn't slept for three days and nights, just sitting there. His Star Force wouldn't deplete in the slightest, but his physical strength would suffer a considerable loss, his spirit would falter, and naturally, his combat power would plummet.

"Chu Hao, hurry up," all three of them called.

"I know," said Chu Hao. How could he not want to hurry? But those Black Needle Scorpions relentlessly surged towards them without regard for their own lives, covering the flagstones under their feet again. He tapped his fingers rapidly while also clearing them away, so how could he possibly pick up the pace?

It was only after a minute that Chu Hao said, "Done."

All four of them felt the ground beneath them move, the flagstones beginning to flip. Of course, they didn't dare to leap away, as that would eliminate their last sliver of chance for survival.

Crack, crack, crack, crack.

All four of them fell from the air, but promptly landed on the ground, indicating the hidden passage wasn't very high.

However, it wasn't just them who fell down; many scorpions fell as well, compelling them to quickly resume the fight. Without reinforcements, these scorpions were easily wiped clean, and only then did Chu Hao and his companions breathe a sigh of relief, sitting down on the ground to catch their breath.

Although the battle was short-lived, it had taken them on a trip around the Ghost Gate, and had it not been for Chu Hao memorizing Nangong Rou's technique, they would have been left with only one path—death.

This was Nangong Rou's oversight, not anticipating Chu Hao's deep sense of caution towards her. He had been attentive to her actions from the beginning to the end—even after acquiring the Middle-Grade Earth Level Cultivation Technique.

In contrast, Shen Chao and the other two were reciting the technique to themselves, fearing they might forget some of it over time.

"That evil woman."

"Chase her."

Just after catching their breath, Shen Chao called out, garnering support from Lv Han, with Hu Yan also showing a fierce desire to pursue. They had fallen for Nangong Rou's tricks twice already, nearly losing their lives, which nearly drove them mad with rage.

However, Chu Hao inwardly shook his head, thinking that after so much time had passed, Nangong Rou and her group were probably long gone. Yet, it was also possible that they were leisurely making their escape, thinking Chu Hao and his group were certainly doomed.

"Chase."

Four of them embarked on the pursuit. The hidden passage was over a meter high, allowing ample space for them to run at high speeds, but as the passage sloped upwards, their pace was affected. It took them over ten minutes before they found the exit.

The exit was camouflaged within a dense forest, but Nangong Rou and her troop had already cleared a path. From the outside, discovering the entrance to this covert pathway was akin to finding a needle in the ocean—after all, too much had changed over the past thirty thousand years.

"Look," Lv Han suddenly pointed into the distance.

Chu Hao and the others followed his finger, only to see a large ship moving away in the distance on the surface of the lake. It was the vessel that had brought them here, but now it was sailing away, clearly indicating that Nangong Rou and her group were already aboard.

"Damn it," gritted Shen Chao and the others. They couldn't fly over water, and with such a huge distance created, it was impossible to catch up now.

Obviously, since Nangong Rou had obtained the Minor Formless Mysterious Skill, she would surely devote herself to training hard, and it was likely she wouldn't appear again for several years.

"Let's figure out a way to leave," Chu Hao was also annoyed, but it was of no use now.

"Think of the bright side, at least we've got ourselves a Middle-Grade Earth Level Cultivation Technique. When you look at it that way, taking such a risk is totally worth it," Hu Yan suddenly said with a smile.

Chu Hao and the others nodded in agreement, but who would be honest about how much of the technique each had memorized? And even if someone did tell the truth, would others believe it?

"There are trees everywhere, we can make a raft."

It was a small matter for four martial masters to chop wood. They quickly cut dozens of logs, trimmed the branches, and used slender twigs to make rope, tying the logs together.

But there was a problem.

This island was essentially a mountaintop surrounded by cliffs with no place to land, meaning there was nowhere to go down.

The only option was to jump from over a hundred meters high.

For martial masters, falling into water from such a height wouldn't be fatal, but the raft... would definitely fall apart.

After some thought, they decided to make more ropes, enough to lower the raft down after reaching sufficient length.

It consumed most of their day since none of them wanted to stay any longer—having a Peak Martial Sect-level ferocious beast asleep in the corner would unnerve anyone.

Chu Hao and Shen Chao jumped into the water first, while Hu Yan and Lv Han lowered the raft from above. The two below caught it, and then the other two came down. All four got onto the raft and immediately hastened to leave.

(Thanks to Meng and Breaking Dawn's rays for yesterday's rewards.)