Chapter 50: Black Stone
It came.
Li Qian didn’t move.
A bell shadow faintly glowed in his mind, concealing all of his aura.
At this moment, he was like a standing sculpture.
The three miners moved about uneasily.
Although they couldn’t hear the movements underground, they felt an inexplicable sense of fear.
This was a creature’s instinct for unknown danger.
Suddenly.
A zhang away from the three miners, the ground shook violently. Immediately following, rubble and dirt splashed as a black shadow drilled out from the ground, pouncing towards the three miners.
Li Qian looked closely. It was a creature like a giant python, its body segmented like a constantly expanding and contracting spring, entirely black, covered with needle-like hairs.
Its open mouthparts were filled with a circle of sharp teeth.
“Earth Dragon… an earthworm, good heavens, it can actually grow this big.”
This was the first time Li Qian had seen a live exotic insect, and it was mutated from an earthworm.
Judging from its appearance alone, it was probably as thick as a water bucket.
The part that had emerged was already several meters long, and it was unknown how long it was underground.
The three miners, with the help of the faint light in the mine, could barely make out a black shadow. Coupled with the roar of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect as it pounced out, they were instantly terrified and were about to run around in panic.
Whoosh!
A sword light suddenly flashed.
Illuminating the entire mine.
It was Li Qian who made his move.
Although he was a bit shocked by the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect’s size and ferocity.
His reaction was not slow at all.
His figure flickered, his sword light trembled, and a sharp sword glow extended.
The Earth Dragon Exotic Insect roared, its body suddenly contracting. It actually abandoned the three miners, and its body, which had been four or five meters long, suddenly retracted by more than half.
This reaction speed was astonishing.
No wonder even if Ling Xingfeng and the others saw the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect, they might not be able to intercept it.
But Li Qian’s target was not the exposed part of the Earth Dragon.
He released his powerful Illusory Image Level Martial Intent, penetrating the ground, locking onto the entire Earth Dragon.
This Earth Dragon was a full ten meters long.
Its size was astonishing.
The next moment, Li Qian’s long sword thrust down sharply.
The hard ground of the mine was like tofu in front of the sharp sword glow.
Hiss!
The Earth Dragon Exotic Insect let out an angry roar, struggling violently. The entire mine began to shake and tremble, the ground cracking.
Li Qian’s eyes were sharp. With a swipe of his long sword, the sword glow extended, splitting the entire Earth Dragon Exotic Insect in two.
A large amount of black blood gushed out, seeping through the ground. The entire mine was filled with a foul smell.
The Earth Dragon Exotic Insect, split in two, struggled for a long time before finally becoming still.
Li Qian didn’t intend to capture the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect alive.
It was too troublesome.
Killing it directly was clean and efficient.
However, this Earth Dragon Exotic Insect was not as strong as he had imagined, even a bit weak.
“Eh, what’s this?”
Li Qian’s spiritual perception swept over and discovered that there seemed to be a very special piece of ore hidden within the two halves of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect’s body.
With a wave of his hand, his surging True Qi blew away the cracked ground, pulling the two halves of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect’s ten-meter-long corpse directly out from the collapsed ground.
Then he grabbed a longan-sized stone from the black blood.
This stone was also black.
If it weren’t for his spiritual perception, it would be impossible to spot this black stone with the naked eye in the viscous black blood.
In his spiritual perception, this black stone seemed to be constantly releasing a very special kind of energy. Although it was very weak, he could still clearly sense it.
This energy was different from Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi.
He didn’t dare to absorb it.
Because he wasn’t sure if this energy was beneficial or harmful.
Fortunately, he had cultivated the Immaculate Sword Body, which had the characteristic of being flawless. As long as he didn’t actively absorb it, he wouldn’t be affected or contaminated by this energy.
After cleaning the black blood off the black stone, Li Qian examined it for a while before putting it into his pocket. He planned to take it back and study it carefully. Perhaps his knowledgeable Master would know the origin of this black stone.
◈◈◈
However, he guessed that the reason why this Earth Dragon Exotic Insect was able to mutate was very likely related to this black stone.
Then he looked at the three miners.
All three were huddled in the corner of the mine, trembling.
“Don’t worry, I’ve already taken care of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect.”
Li Qian comforted the three miners’ fear.
After the three miners tremblingly lit their torches and saw the huge Earth Dragon Exotic Insect split in half, besides being afraid, they were even more in awe of Li Qian, the expert who had killed the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect.
Just like that, with the three miners holding torches behind him, Li Qian, carrying his precious sword and dragging half of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect’s corpse with one hand, walked towards the nearest mine exit.
Outside the mine.
A group of people were waiting.
In addition to Manager He, Ling Xingfeng and several other Divine Sword Sect Inner Sect Disciples, the owner of the West Dock Mine, the head of the Ming Family, had also rushed over as soon as he received the news that the Divine Sword Sect had sent an Innate expert.
“It’s been so long… Could it be that it also failed?”
A mine manager couldn’t help but say.
Ling Xingfeng didn’t speak.
If even an Innate level Core Disciple couldn’t solve the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect, they would probably have to rely on a sect elder to personally take action.
If word of this got out, they would probably be laughed at by other major martial arts sects.
Manager He glared at the person.
The person immediately realized he had said the wrong thing and quickly shut up, but his heart was filled with anxiety.
Suddenly, Ling Xingfeng seemed to hear something. His body flashed, and he arrived at the entrance of the cave.
Only then did the other Divine Sword Sect Inner Sect Disciples react.
While Manager He and the others were still stunned, they heard movement from the cave entrance, and then Li Qian walked out dragging the two halves of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect’s corpse.
“Family Head, look, Martial Master Li has killed the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect.”
Manager He was overjoyed when he saw the two horrifying halves of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect’s corpse.
The head of the Ming Family was also very happy.
Now that the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect had been dealt with, the West Dock Mine could resume operations.
Immediately, the head of the Ming Family hurried over and cupped his hands towards Li Qian, saying, “Martial Master Li, I am Ming Rang, the head of the Ming Family. Thank you for eliminating this great threat for the mine.”
“Family Head Ming, you are too kind. I accepted the mission, so this is my duty.”
Li Qian said with a light smile.
Then he looked at Ling Xingfeng, “Junior Brother Ling, I’ll have to trouble you to send the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect’s corpse back to the sect.”
The Earth Dragon Exotic Insect’s corpse was too large and heavy.
It would be very troublesome for him to carry it back himself.
And the stench was too strong.
“Rest assured, Senior Brother Li, I will arrange it as soon as possible.”
Ling Xingfeng quickly replied.
He was a Divine Sword Sect Inner Sect Disciple stationed in Smelting City. They were responsible for transporting important sect materials.
“Family Head Ming, since the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect has been taken care of, I won’t stay any longer.”
Li Qian cupped his hands and said.
Riding a fast horse back to the Divine Sword Sect would only take a little over a day. In other words, this mission would only delay him for three days at most.
“Martial Master Li, you came from afar and helped us solve such a big problem. We haven’t even properly entertained you.”
Ming Rang, the head of the Ming Family, quickly said.
This was a great opportunity to build a good relationship with a promising Divine Sword Sect Core Disciple, so naturally, he couldn’t miss it.
“There’s no need, Family Head Ming.”
Li Qian waved his hand. How could he not understand the Ming Family Head’s thoughts?
He didn’t want to waste time on these useless social interactions.
Going back to cultivate by ringing the bell was the right path.
He was just a little bit away from breaking through to the late stage of the Innate True Qi Realm.
Moreover, he really wanted to know what that black stone was.
Nice kill