"Get out of the way!"
Tang Ling gave a low shout, took out a small jade bottle from her storage bag, and poured out a handful of dark red powder.
The powder emitted a pungent sulfur smell the moment it came into contact with air, along with a faint burning sensation.
She flicked a wisp of spiritual energy from her fingertip, which landed precisely on the powder.
"boom!"
The dark red powder suddenly ignited, turning into a raging sea of fire! Unlike ordinary flames, this flame was a ghostly blue, with an astonishingly high temperature. The nearby rock walls were baked red, and the light from the illumination bead dimmed slightly under the firelight.
Even more strangely, the flames made a sizzling sound as they burned, emitting an aura that the Star-Eating Bats greatly feared.
"唳——!"
The Star-Eating Bats, circling in the darkness, let out terrified screechs, flapping their wings as they retreated, no longer daring to approach. The eerie blue flames seemed to be their nemesis; even approaching within three feet would cause the short hairs on their wings to curl and turn black.
"Hurry up!" Tang Ling urged while maintaining the flames, "The Star-Burning Powder won't last long!"
Without delay, the group helped each other and quickly crossed the area piled with bat carcasses.
Xiao Chen and Shi Tou protected Bai Yiluo in the middle, Bai Feng brought up the rear, and Shi Meng, clutching his injured shoulder, followed closely behind. The ghostly blue flames danced behind them, casting long shadows and temporarily evading the Star-Eating Bats' pursuit.
They ran for dozens of feet until the flames gradually died down and the hissing of the Star-Eating Bats could no longer be heard. Only then did they collapse to the ground, panting heavily.
"Damn it... I almost got killed by these bastards."
Shi Meng wiped the soot off his face. The wound on his arm was still throbbing. As he looked down to examine it, he suddenly exclaimed, "Huh?"
Following his gaze, everyone saw that around the wound on his arm, thin black lines, like tiny insects, were slowly crawling towards his heart from under the skin!
"What is this?!" Shi Meng's expression changed. He reached out to grab it, but couldn't grasp anything. The black line was hidden under his skin, moving extremely slowly, yet it was real.
"I have them on my hand too!" a Bai family guard suddenly exclaimed, raising the back of his hand. Several black lines were also visible on his wrist.
Everyone panicked and checked their bodies—wherever they were scratched or bitten by bats, or had been exposed to bat blood or saliva, black lines appeared under their skin to varying degrees!
"It's poison!" Bai Feng's expression turned grave, and a faint black line appeared on his forearm. "The saliva and blood of those bats are poisonous. We were so focused on fighting that we didn't notice!"
The poison takes effect very slowly and silently. If Shi Meng hadn't discovered it by chance, everyone would probably still be in the dark by the time the poison invaded their heart meridian.
"I have antidote pills here!" Bai Yiluo quickly took out a jade box containing several crystal-clear pills. "These are 'Clearing Miasma Pills,' which can cure most Yin poisons. Everyone, take them quickly!"
Everyone took the pills and swallowed them. The pills melted in their mouths, and a cool sensation flowed down their throats. The movement of the black lines under their skin did slow down a bit, but they did not disappear.
“It can only temporarily alleviate the symptoms, not cure the root cause.” Bai Yilu frowned. “This poison is very strange, it seems… to be alive.”
The atmosphere grew heavy again. Having just escaped the bats' pursuit, they were now infected with an unknown toxin. The dangers deep within the mine far exceeded their imagination.
Bai Feng, watching Xiao Chen expel the poison through internal energy, suddenly spoke up. His voice wasn't loud, but it was enough for everyone present to hear: "Brother Xiao, when I watched you kill the bats earlier, your spear technique was incredibly swift and skillful, unlike anything an ordinary rogue cultivator could possess. May I ask which star region of the Xuanqiong Realm you come from?"
His words seemed casual, but they were actually a test. After the battles against the Star Prison Wolf and the Star Devouring Bat, he felt more and more that Xiao Chen was not simple and wanted to find out his background.
Xiao Chen slowly finished his practice. The black lines under his skin were almost invisible under the suppression of his spiritual power. His spiritual power, guided by Lin Zhou, already carried a trace of purifying power, so this bit of poison was no problem for him.
Upon hearing Bai Feng's question, he raised his eyes and calmly replied, "I am not from the Xuanqiong Realm, but from the Cangxuan Realm."
"The Azure Profound Realm?"
Everyone was stunned at first, then a low gasp rippled through the room. Even Tang Ling and Shi Meng, who had been silent, looked up at Xiao Chen with surprise in their eyes.
"Is it... that small world that isn't even listed in the domain name directory?" someone asked subconsciously, their tone full of disbelief.
Xiao Chen nodded gently, without the slightest embarrassment: "Yes, that's the place where I was born and raised."
The mine was silent for a moment, with only the dripping sound of water from the rock walls and the suppressed breathing of the crowd.
In the Xuanqiong Realm, the term "small world" is almost synonymous with "barren," "backward," and "low-talented."
Those cultivators who ventured out from remote, obscure worlds, let alone establish themselves in the Chaotic Star Belt, would be considered quite capable if they could survive for even a month in Xuanqiong Port.
But what about Xiao Chen in front of me?
Despite being at the late stage of the Tribulation Transcending realm, he managed to carve a bloody path through a mine filled with Dao Proving Realm cultivators. His marksmanship was exquisite, and his insight was astonishing. The methods he used to kill the Star Prison Wolf leader and break through the bat siege were even inferior to those carefully cultivated prodigies from major families.
This... is actually a small world?
Bai Feng opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but then swallowed it back. He originally thought that even if Xiao Chen wasn't a disciple of some major sect, he should be a genius from some world in the Xuanqiong Realm. He never expected that Xiao Chen would actually come from a "small world".
Shi Meng scratched his head, his gaze towards Xiao Chen filled with more admiration—to have escaped from such a remote place and still be so skilled in combat, he was far more capable than him!
Tang Ling paused, her fingers still fiddling with the bell. Her gaze toward Xiao Chen remained wary, but now held a hint of inquiry.
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