From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 58 Undercurrent

"Oh no, it seems we've alerted the guardian beast!" Wen Chen grabbed me and dodged a burst of flames that spewed from the depths of the sand.

The flames were incredibly hot, instantly melting the sand behind us into a crystal-like substance. Still shaken, I turned back and saw a gigantic figure slowly emerging from the sandstorm.

It was a giant scorpion, the size of a small hill, its entire body covered in a thick rocky carapace, its two giant pincers like two enormous battle axes, gleaming with a chilling light.

“It’s an ancient beast, a giant rock scorpion!” Wen Chen said solemnly. “It seems that the guardians of these five divine artifacts are no ordinary beings.”

The giant rock scorpion roared deafeningly, its massive body whipping up a gust of wind and raising clouds of dust. It brandished its enormous pincers and charged towards us with overwhelming force.

Wen Chen dared not be careless. With a flash of sword light, a sharp sword aura shot out, aiming straight for the giant scorpion's head. However, the sword aura was like a mud ox entering the sea, leaving only a shallow white mark on the giant scorpion's carapace.

"Its defenses are too strong!" Wen Chen frowned. "We must find its weakness!"

I carefully observed the giant rock scorpion's movements and found that although it was enormous, it moved very slowly. Moreover, its attack method was singular, mainly relying on its giant claws to attack.

"Its weakness is in its abdomen!" I pointed to a slightly lighter-colored piece of carapace on the giant scorpion's abdomen. "That should be its weakest point!"

Wen Chen looked in the direction I was pointing, a glint of light flashing in his eyes. He moved swiftly, becoming a blur, and quickly circled behind the giant scorpion.

Sensing the movement behind him, the giant scorpion whirled around, brandishing its massive pincers in an attempt to attack Wen Chen. However, Wen Chen was far too fast; in a flash, he was already beneath the giant scorpion's abdomen.

"Now!" I seized the opportunity, quickly forming hand seals. A powerful surge of spiritual energy erupted from my body, transforming into a beam of light that struck the thin carapace on the giant scorpion's abdomen.

"boom!"

With a deafening roar, the beam of light struck the giant scorpion's abdomen, the powerful impact knocking it to the ground. The scorpion struggled in agony, trying to get back up, but a huge wound had been blasted open in its abdomen, and magma gushed out of its body like a fountain.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Wen Chen swung his sword, unleashing a sharp sword aura that slashed at the giant scorpion's head, severing its head in one fell swoop.

The giant scorpion let out a defiant roar, and its massive body collapsed with a crash, turning into a pile of rubble.

I breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground, feeling as if all my strength had been drained away.

"We succeeded." Wen Chen walked to my side and helped me up. "It seems that we are determined to get this first divine artifact."

We arrived at the spot where the giant scorpion had been, and there was a huge crater in the ground. At the bottom of the crater lay a red bead that emitted a dazzling light...

Just then, a strong sense of unease welled up inside me. I suddenly looked up into the distance and muttered to myself, "Someone's coming..."

A warm touch came from my fingertips. I looked down and saw that Wen Chen was holding my hand. His palm was dry and warm, and his eyes were filled with a reassuring smile: "Don't worry, they're just some clowns."

I followed his gaze and saw several streaks of light streaking through the air in the distance, landing in front of us in an instant. The newcomers were none other than Sect Leader Qin, Madam Chu, and Fairy Lin.

"Xiao Yao, are you alright?" Sect Leader Qin asked with a worried expression. He glanced at Wen Chen and me, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that we were unharmed.

"Thank you for your concern, Sect Leader Qin. We are unharmed." I smiled slightly and pointed to the giant scorpion's corpse on the ground. "Although this rock scorpion was powerful, we still managed to take it down together."

"Well done!" Sect Leader Qin nodded approvingly. "This time, we owe a great debt to the two of you. Otherwise, we don't know who would have gotten this first divine artifact."

Madam Chu and Fairy Lin also came up. Madam Chu had an unnatural smile on her face, but her tone was a little sour: "Sister Xiao Yao is really capable. In just a few short years, she has already become able to stand on her own."

I naturally sensed the jealousy in her tone, but I didn't point it out. I just smiled faintly and said, "Madam Chu, you flatter me. My cultivation level is nothing compared to yours."

Fairy Lin looked at Wen Chen with admiration and said softly, "Senior Brother Wen Chen is indeed amazing. He can even easily kill ancient beasts."

Wen Chen remained indifferent, as if he hadn't heard her words. He simply said to Sect Leader Qin, "Sect Leader Qin, let's retrieve the divine artifact first. This ruin is fraught with danger, and we shouldn't linger here."

Sect Leader Qin nodded, walked to the red bead, and picked it up. Instantly, a powerful surge of spiritual energy emanated from the bead, filling the entire space.

"Such powerful spiritual energy!" Sect Leader Qin exclaimed. "This divine artifact is probably even more powerful than we imagined!"

Just then, the unease in my heart grew stronger, and I felt that something was about to happen. I looked around, but I didn't find anything unusual.

"What's wrong?" Wen Chen noticed my unusual behavior and asked in a low voice.

I shook my head and said in a low voice, "I have a feeling something's not right. It's too quiet here, eerily quiet."

Upon hearing this, Wen Chen frowned slightly, sensing the unusual atmosphere. He signaled everyone to be on their guard, then cautiously made his way deeper into the ruins.

We continued our journey without encountering any danger, but the eerie silence lingered, like the calm before a storm, oppressive and suffocating.

Finally, at the end of the ruins, we discovered a stone chamber. The chamber's door was tightly shut, and ancient runes were carved on it, emanating a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy.

"This should be the core of this ruin," Wen Chen said in a deep voice. "Be careful, I feel something is wrong here."

He stepped forward, placed his hand on the stone door, and slowly channeled his spiritual energy into it, attempting to open the door.

Just then, the runes on the stone door suddenly lit up, and a powerful suction force pulled us into the stone chamber...

In the center of the stone chamber, there was a stone table with an ancient scroll on it.

"What is this?" Sect Leader Qin stepped forward, picked up the scroll, and slowly opened it.

The scroll contained information written in a script we had never seen before.

"This is..." Sect Leader Qin's expression suddenly turned extremely ugly, "This is a plan by evil forces!"

My heart sank and an ominous premonition came over me.

"A plan?" Madam Chu realized the seriousness of the situation. "What plan?"

Sect Leader Qin's face was terrifyingly grim. He took a deep breath and slowly said, "They...they plan to launch a full-scale attack on the entire cultivation world..." A chill ran from the soles of my feet to the top of my head. Sect Leader Qin's voice seemed to come from a distant horizon, yet every word struck my heart. Evil forces? A full-scale attack? Could it be that the enemy, who had been hiding in the shadows, was finally about to bare their fangs?

I quickly walked to Sect Leader Qin's side and looked at the scroll. It was densely covered with all sorts of information. Although I didn't recognize the script, judging from Sect Leader Qin's ugly expression and the dark red light that flashed on the scroll from time to time, it was definitely not a good thing.

"Why would they do this?" Madam Chu exclaimed in disbelief. "The cultivation world has always kept to itself, so why would they want to wipe them out?"

"Perhaps they want to rule the entire cultivation world and seize all the resources for themselves." Wen Chen's voice was as calm as ever, but I knew that he also sensed the seriousness of the situation.

"We must get this message back to the cultivation world as soon as possible!" I said in a deep voice. "We absolutely cannot let their conspiracy succeed!"

"That's right!" Sect Leader Qin put away the scroll and said firmly, "We'll go back now and inform all the sects about this so we can work together to resist the external enemy!"

We dared not delay and immediately set off to leave the ruins. However, the moment we stepped out of the stone chamber, a powerful pressure suddenly descended, firmly binding us in place.

"Oh no! An ambush!" I was startled and looked up abruptly. I saw dozens of figures appear at the entrance of the stone chamber. They were wearing black cloaks, had ferocious masks on their faces, and held all kinds of weapons, exuding a cold killing intent.

"Who are you?" Sect Leader Qin demanded sternly. "How dare you obstruct us? Do you know the consequences?"

The men in black didn't speak, but slowly raised their weapons, their eyes flashing with cold killing intent.

"It seems they've come to silence us," Wen Chen said in a low voice, his hand already gripping his sword, the blade radiating a chilling aura.

"Since that's the case, then let's fight!" I drew my long whip, a fighting spirit burning within me.

"kill!"

At the command of the leader in black, dozens of figures pounced on us like arrows released from a bow.

A war is about to break out!

I brandished my long whip, forcing back one black-clad man after another. However, these men were all extremely powerful and numerous, and we gradually found ourselves at a disadvantage.

"This won't do, we'll be worn down!" I said anxiously to Wen Chen while fending off the attacks from the men in black.

Wen Chen realized this as well. A resolute glint flashed in his eyes as he said in a deep voice, "I'll clear the way, you take this opportunity to break through!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his aura suddenly surged, and a powerful sword energy soared into the sky, forcing the surrounding men in black back several steps...

Wen Chen's figure transformed into a bolt of lightning, his longsword dancing like a silver dragon, forcing the men in black to retreat wherever he went. He forcefully tore a gap in the encirclement.

"Hurry up!" he shouted, buying us precious time.

Without hesitation, I seized the opportunity to rush out with Sect Leader Qin and the others. The men in black pursued relentlessly, and we fought our way out of the encirclement.

On our escape, we encountered Master Fang. Upon learning the news, he joined us without hesitation and, with his familiarity with the terrain, helped us successfully escape the pursuit of the men in black.

However, none of us let our guard down. The appearance of the men in black was merely the calm before the storm; the real challenge had only just begun.

Upon returning to the cultivation world, we made public the information we brought back from the ruins, which immediately caused a great uproar among the various sects.

"What? Evil forces are going to invade the cultivation world?"

"How is this possible? Why would they do this?"

"We must unite as one to resist foreign enemies!"

……

In an instant, the entire cultivation world was in a state of panic. Major forces mobilized urgently, intensified their cultivation, forged weapons, and prepared for the impending war.

As I looked at all this, a strange unease gripped my heart. This crisis was far more complex than we had imagined.

"What's wrong?" Wen Chen walked to my side and asked with concern.

"It's nothing, I just feel a little uneasy." I shook my head, trying to remain calm. "What we need to do now is to do our best to improve our strength so that we can protect ourselves and those around us in the battles to come."

Wen Chen nodded, took my hand, and said with unwavering determination in his eyes, "Don't worry, we'll face this together."

In the days that followed, I devoted all my time to cultivation. I constantly pushed my limits and improved my cultivation level, hoping to contribute to the upcoming great battle.

However, just when I thought everything was going well, an unexpected incident occurred...

During my cultivation, I suddenly felt a sharp headache, and everything before my eyes began to blur. I heard all sorts of sounds: my parents' anxious calls, my friends' hearty laughter, and... my unfulfilled dreams from that other world...

The inner demons have invaded...