Forge a path to success

Chu Hengkong thought the term "Foundation Beast" was quite powerful, powerful enough to drive Jie An crazy: "Has the Senluo Secret Realm gotten so rife that even a dog is a 1-point mass?"

Vande was deeply shocked: "Dude, can't you use your common sense? This is the world's largest Dust Island Mystic Realm! In this godforsaken place, a single point mass is practically no different from a dog..."

“You apologize to the entire world of Submerged Atomic Energy for all the hard work and cultivation of this 'foundation'. There are 'cornerstones' in this world who are over 60 years old and still persevere in their efforts.”

"If someone is still a foundation stone at 60, then they have absolutely no talent. The old man shouldn't push himself; he should go have tea with his grandchildren!"

"Old people can be ambitious too. Even at 60, they can still work with great energy on the front lines of swindling and cheating..." Chu Hengkong said casually.

"Isn't that just an old fraud? If he put that kind of effort into research, he should have already reached the level of a mutated blade!" Vande unleashed a barrage of fierce criticism.

"Um……"

Chu Hengkong didn't say anything more; he wisely shut his mouth.

Something's not right. He's not some idiot who'd start rambling and telling jokes during a fight. How did he suddenly start talking to this eyeball so naturally?

Something's fishy going on. Why would they do this in the middle of a fight? Could they have been infected by this idiot?

Chu Heng broke out in a cold sweat. This conjecture gave him a sense of crisis far greater than that of the mechanized beasts behind him. But there was no time to delve into the current situation. Seeing that they were about to lose their target, the beasts spewed long flames from the rear of their bodies to accelerate, instantly shortening the distance between the two sides.

"Holy crap, they've sped up!" Vande exclaimed in horror. "Look, their farts are burning!"

"Shut up!" Chu Hengkong grabbed the Fan De in his pocket. "Do you even know the way out of the mountain?"

"I came up from the bottom of the mountain, and we're running uphill right now. How are we going to get out?!" Vande yelled. "The way out is behind the herd of beasts!"

Even without Fan De's explanation, Chu Hengkong realized his current predicament. Escaping the beast horde's pursuit wasn't a problem for the time being, but breaking through the horde and descending the mountain was another challenge. Those were tens of thousands of strange beasts, not tens of thousands of pigs; unless he instantly transformed into a Bone-Strength cultivator, he had little chance of fighting his way out.

"Grandpa, look, there's a cave!" Vande suddenly exclaimed in delight.

There was a cave not far ahead, and a faint light could be seen in the distance, seemingly leading to the other side of the mountain. Chu Hengkong thought it was worth a try; if there was a place to hide, he could at least use his Turtle Breathing Technique to temporarily evade the beasts' detection.

But the environment didn't seem to want him to leave; as they approached, the cave strangely moved back a bit.

"We can't be that unlucky, can we..." Vande's eyes turned green.

The cave moved again, this time vanishing completely as the arched rocks that formed it collapsed to the ground, blocking the mountain path. It was as if an earthquake had struck the desolate mountains; the surrounding walls began to tremble, and gray dust fell in a constant stream. The textures of the rocks became clearer in the process, smooth like the exoskeleton of an arthropod. The boulders, strange rocks, and mountain walls seemed to "flow" as if connected as a single entity, sprouting sharp, pointed legs.

An enormous black-armored centipede crawled down the mountainside, its head, as big as a building, raised and stared at the two people who were trying to leave the mountain!

Now even the path up the mountain was blocked; the centipede had completely blocked the way out. Vande had completely misunderstood; the "cave" was actually the centipede's arched body, and the light was its half-open, half-closed eyes. It had been feigning sleep on the mountain. But the sound of gunfire had awakened the giant centipede, and the first thing it saw were these two unfamiliar creatures. Its eyes gleamed with hunger.

"Do you think it's possible for us to talk to it?" Van der's voice was barely audible.

The giant centipede's carapaces opened and closed, revealing countless white gun barrels. All the barrels fired simultaneously as it furiously charged towards the two men, like an armed train with no blind spots!

"Hold on tight," Chu Hengkong said in a deep voice.

Surrounded by centipedes in front and a horde of beasts behind, he remained calm. Circumstances don't play by the rules; escape was futile, so he might as well fight for his life. He accelerated, sprinting towards the centipedes, and simultaneously hurled another leaf. This time, the leaf rapidly enlarged upon impact, transforming into a green halo. This halo protected Chu Hengkong, deflecting all the bullets and laser beams.

Fallen leaves separated from their roots

Rating: 2

【Origin: Heavenly Prison Border - Despair Wilderness】

【Effect: 1. Infuse energy to generate falling leaf blades, up to 5 blades can be generated at a time.

2. Can only be used once every 15 days. Infuses a large amount of energy, causing fallen leaves to return to their roots, and provides immunity to low-intensity attacks for 3 seconds.

[Remembrance: With the new hunter taking office, Warrior Chief Silar retired gracefully. Following the tribe's ancient traditions, he modernized weaponry, offering assistance to strangers far away.]

The Fallen Leaves Return to Their Roots defense helped Chu Hengkong dodge the most dangerous first wave of attacks. In those short three seconds, he closed the distance and jumped up, using the explosive power of a spring to leap onto the body of the giant centipede.

The cannon protruding from the centipede's shell could not be aimed at his own body. Chu Hengkong, who had stepped into a blind spot, ran upwards, stepping on the giant insect's body!

"Don't even dream about it!" Vande screamed. "It's a bony beast! You can't do anything about it—"

Chu Hengkong reached into his pocket and took out another relic from beside the trembling Vande. It was a cyan crystal shaped like a flame, the remnant of the Demon of Ambition. He rubbed the crystal against his tentacles, and the flames of ambition instantly ignited on the silver tentacles. The flames burned fiercely from the moment they appeared, and Chu Hengkong's tentacles shone like torches, turning the entire mountainside cyan.

At such incredible speed, Chu Hengkong was practically a phantom. The azure flames, like the long tail of a comet, lingered long after his trail. As he ran, he activated a secret technique, filling the "spirit" within his tentacles with battle intent and killing intent. The tentacles hardened due to the surging spirit, continuously extending and coiling under his control, forming a blazing "hammer."

The giant centipede instinctively sensed the danger. It thrashed and rolled violently, trying to shake Chu Hengkong off. But Chu Hengkong maintained his balance with superb agility. He leaped from his black carapace and unleashed a powerful blow, charged to the centipede's head!

The tentacle hammer shattered the carapace, the strike imbued with vital energy first damaging the brain, the fire of ambition coursing through the nerves. The giant centipede ignited from within, transforming into a torch as long as a mountain path!

This ruthless blow killed it instantly, and the centipede's massive body crashed into the mountain, forming a natural bridge. Chu Hengkong jumped off the centipede's corpse and landed among a steep rocky outcrop at the top of the mountain range. Vande, inside the pocket, stood frozen in shock.

"Dead...dead, dead?"

“He’s dead,” Chu Hengkong said.

"No, buddy," Vande stammered, "you, you... you killed a point mass 2 in a second?"

"Correct."

The beasts didn't pursue him. He put away the demonic embers and began to breathe deeply. He had only unleashed one attack, yet he clearly felt weak, and the fire of ambition quietly began to burn within him.

Ji Qiufeng had repeatedly told him that demonic power was forbidden, and this proved to be true. At least for today, he couldn't use that thing. He wouldn't fight anything else that came his way.

"Great hero! Master! You must be able to take down that thing in a second, right?" Vande asked expectantly.

Chu Hengkong slowly turned his head and saw a new strange beast appearing on the mountaintop shrouded in thick fog. The beast had a fox's head and a long tail, its body light and elegant, and its color almost as pure white as jade. The jade fox grinned as if smiling, revealing its sharp fangs. Its aura surpassed all the previous strange beasts, and the sense of danger even faintly reminded Chu Hengkong of the Fire-Scarred Serpent.

"This is hopeless." Chu Hengkong took a deep breath. "Prepare for a strategic retreat!"

Vande cried out with a mournful expression, "We're already on the edge of a cliff, where can we possibly go?! Aaaaaah!"

The jade fox leaped nimbly down the mountaintop, its teeth and claws gleaming in the mist. Chu Hengkong kicked several pebbles off the cliff, then froze, as if paralyzed with fear. Fan De, nearly crying in his pocket, cried out, "Move! Chu Hengkong! Why aren't you moving!"

Chu Hengkong's ears twitched; he caught the faint echoes coming from the valley floor. Having estimated the distance and prepared his body, he leaped with all his might, bounding towards the sheer drop below the rocks!

The sound of wind. The mist. Vande's screams and cries. The stench of blood behind him. The receding sense of danger. The Jade Fox didn't pursue; a wild beast wouldn't abandon its territory for a mere prey. Having made ample preparations, Chu Hengkong opened his eyes. He had extensive experience with jumping. Blood rushed to his head; the ground seemed to close in as fast as the ceiling. He estimated the distance. 10 seconds left. 3 seconds. 1 second!

Chu Hengkong curled his body into a ball, landing like a landing capsule! As he landed, he used a vortex to absorb the force, and the reaction force propelled him up again! He skipped seven times across the ground like a skipping stone before stopping! This was a unique technique that Chu Hengkong had improved upon after his last jump rescue, specifically designed to deal with falling objects from a great height – the Great Absorption Technique!

But it wasn't over yet; the jade fox atop the mountain relentlessly pursued them! A flick of its tail triggered a massive tremor through the mountains. Unseen by Chu Hengkong, streams of tiny characters flowed into the cliff face, causing the rocks to bulge, coalesce, and form a smooth, jade-like white sphere. This jade sphere plunged down the steep cliff, causing a cataclysmic tremor. As it fell, it grew larger and larger…

Chu Hengkong had barely landed and looked up when he saw a jade sphere as large as a house pressing down on him! Fan De let out a scream that sounded like he was dying!

There was no need for intuition; just by looking at the proportions, he knew that getting hit by this thing would be disastrous. In desperation, he stretched out his tentacles and grazed the edge of the jade sphere, using the recoil from the impact to propel himself into the air! The jade sphere rolled away with a rumble, while Chu Hengkong spun wildly in mid-air to dissipate the force!

"I'm going to throw up...I'm going to throw up...help..." The voice from the pocket gradually weakened.

After nearly thirty laps, Chu Hengkong landed with a thud, completing yet another perfect rebirth. His various belongings scattered haphazardly on the ground. Vande shakily crawled out of his pocket and immediately began vomiting a strange, rainbow-colored slime.

The jade fox on the mountaintop disappeared into the mist, seemingly having lost interest in the two creatures. Chu Hengkong lay sprawled on the ground, feeling his tentacles throbbing as if they were about to break. He thought to himself that if another Shadow Beast appeared, he would probably be truly finished.

He didn't see any strange beasts. Instead, his reversed vision revealed a pair of semi-transparent white stockings encasing slender, shapely legs. Moving his gaze upward, he could see a pleated skirt of moderate length and a royal blue coat resembling a priest's robe. A little girl with green hair was crouching beside them, a malicious smile on her face.

She glanced at Chu Hengkong's tentacles, then at the vomiting Fan De, and slapped her palm with her small hand.

"At this moment, you came down from the mountain again..." The green-haired girl suddenly realized, "You two must be the squid couple who play really hard!"

"No."

"How could I possibly vomit!"

Chu Hengkong and Fan De expressed their protest with the greatest force they had ever shown in their lives.

Chapter 71 Those stinky outsiders have come to our divine kingdom to beg for food!

The green-haired little girl glanced at the various expressions on their faces and giggled. She stood up, turned around with an exaggerated, theatrical air, and shouted, "Outsiders are here!"

"Outsiders?" "How come there are still outsiders these days?" "Where do you two come from, Dust Island?" "And may I ask how the battle is going at the front?"

A cacophony of voices erupted, and a dozen or so people appeared in a flash, as if they had sprung from the ground. Most of them wore yellow robes, their hair tied back with strips of cloth, and their mannerisms and speech were reminiscent of ancient times, resembling extras in fantasy dramas. Only a few asked questions; most simply stood at a distance, observing the two with indifferent glances.

Chu Hengkong was not good at negotiation and knew nothing about this place, so he simply left Fan De in front of him.

Vande didn't refuse, wiping his mouth... the mysterious rainbow-colored slime around his eyes, and waving his tentacles, he said, "To answer your questions, my name is Vande, and this brave man is Chu Hengkong. We were stranded far from home due to some reason, and met by chance. We originally wanted to find a way home together, but unexpectedly, we were chased by strange beasts as soon as we went up the mountain. After a fierce battle, we ended up here. There are many strange things happening here, and we don't know what's going on. We hope that you, our elders, can enlighten us. I thank you all in advance."

The men in yellow stared at Van Der with expressions of utter disbelief. The green-haired girl blinked: "Did you just pop out of some historical fog? Your way of speaking is so corny."

Vande flew into a rage: "Hey! The most unsophisticated ones are clearly you villagers!"

“Even my 98-year-old grandfather doesn’t talk like that…” a burly villager murmured.

The young man, dressed like a scholar, said, "This fellow is extremely ugly and speaks out of touch with the times. He is probably not a good person. In my opinion, we should all keep our distance and be on guard."

“Xiangfuzi is right.” “The scholar is right.” “It doesn’t even have a face, who knows what kind of demon or monster it is…” The villagers all chimed in.

"Who has the right to call me unfashionable when it's three times more retro than me?!"

Enraged, Vande leaped up with one tentacle, only to be pulled back by Chu Hengkong. It stomped its tentacles and howled, causing the green-haired little girl to shake her head repeatedly.

"How rude! People from Little Dust Island are always like this." She waved her hand. "Everyone, disperse! They're guests from afar. I'll take these two to their accommodations first."

The men in yellow dispersed upon hearing this. Although they were a group of strong young men, they obeyed the little girl's orders. The green-haired little girl didn't ask for their opinions and turned to walk away on her own. Chu Heng quickly packed his things, stuffed Fan De back into his pocket, and followed silently.

Humans who can communicate are always better than beasts; exchanging information will help us decide on our next move.

·

Along the way, each person gleaned some information about the local area.

The mountain they had previously ventured to was called Yingluo Mountain, named for the large, jade-like boulders that often rolled down its slopes. A ten-minute walk from the cliff edge led to the small town inhabited by the people in yellow robes. This town was frequently pelted with large boulders by the Jade Fox, and because it possessed a wealth of jade, it was called Yingshi Town (Jade Stone Town).

"That's so casual! A name that sounds pretty good is made to sound so pathetic by what you've said!!"

"You interrupt others while they're still talking, what an impolite little squid."

This small town is built against the mountainside. It's not very big, and can only accommodate about a hundred people. Most of the houses in the town are made of brick and stone, with no trace of technology. It's so retro that it reminded Chu Heng of the "Peach Blossom Spring".

The little girl who commanded the townspeople was named Qi Su. She looked quite young, only reaching Chu Hengkong's waist in height. Besides her, the scholar who had come along introduced himself as Xiang Fuzi. The three of them sat down in a quiet room. On the way, Chu Hengkong added some information, briefly recounting what he and Fan De had seen on their way up the mountain.

Qi Su nodded repeatedly after listening, as if he understood something.

"A squid bumps into another squid, and then the squid snatches the squid's hand—that's really profound."

"Are you even listening to what people are saying..." Chu Hengkong rubbed his forehead.

"I know, I know, you're just two unlucky guys who ended up stranded in a foreign land." Qi Su had a really smug look on his face. "Where are you from?"

"My homeland is the sacred place of the turbulent realm, the Twilight Library that seals taboos and secrets, governs ancient knowledge, and records all things in the world!" Van Der answered first.

"What kind of small place is this? Never heard of it." Qi Su waved his hand. "And you?"

Vande was jumping and flailing about on the table, seemingly offended. Chu Hengkong casually pressed it flat on the table: "Huilong City."

“Huilong City…Huilong…” Qi Su muttered for a while, then suddenly became serious: “Is it the city of Lord Huilong Youyou? Is the city lord that peerless general from Chenjun Palace?”

Chu Hengkong remained expressionless: "I don't know the city lord's name, I only know that he is called Ji Qiufeng."

Xiang Fuzi also became concerned: "Since you are from Huilong City, do you have any pearls on you, brother?"

Chu Hengkong took out a small bead and placed it on the table. Qi Su and Xiang Fuzi examined it closely and nodded in approval.

"This item is precious, brother, please keep it safe and do not lose it," Xiang Fuzi solemnly warned. He turned to Qi Su: "We are both subjects of the Dragon God, and guests from a friendly nation..."

“There’s no reason for me to stand idly by. You two will rest in town for the day. Remember, don’t go out looking for trouble.” Qi Su stood up, about to leave, then turned back and said, “Xiang Fuzi, tell them the town’s rules. That big squid! Give me a Liuzhu as your… travel expenses!”

Chu Hengkong tossed the bead away, and Qi Su didn't catch it with her hands, but simply flicked her sleeve and tucked it inside. She left in a hurry, completely unlike her teasing demeanor from before. Xiang Fuzi smiled apologetically for her, "Qi Su is a bit impatient, please don't take offense."

"It's alright, I often deal with impatient people," Chu Hengkong said nonchalantly. "I'd also like to ask, where are some restaurants or eateries in town?"

Xiang Fuzi stared at him with wide eyes, as if he were looking at an illiterate person.

"Brother, where did you come from, some remote, dusty island? How did you end up begging for food in our divine kingdom?"

Even Chu Hengkong's face darkened. He released his right hand, and Fan De slammed his tentacle on the table: "What do you mean, you poor scholar! You look down on outsiders, don't you? I have a fiery temper and can't stand your arrogance!"

Xiang Fuzi quickly took two steps back to avoid being swept by Fan De's tentacles: "You two have misunderstood. We, the inhabitants of the Netherworld God Kingdom, have never eaten flesh and blood, nor consumed plants. We only enjoy the essence of the sun and bathe in the fragrance of the forest. Therefore, the food you two need is completely unavailable in the town."

Chu Hengkong couldn't hold back this time: "Are all the people in your Netherworld God Kingdom plants?"

“How can people and plants be confused?” Xiang Fuzi sighed. “Brother, you don’t even know such common sense… It seems that Dragon City is not as good as the Kingdom of Gods after all; popular science education still needs to be improved…”

The scholar's air of superiority felt strangely familiar to Chu Hengkong; for a moment, he felt as if he had returned to a major city in his hometown. He quickly ended the conversation: "So, where can I find something to eat?"

"In the north of town, there's a church built by outsiders. You might want to go and check it out," Xiang Fuzi said with a smile. "Before you leave, I have one more question for you to answer. You mentioned earlier that you killed that giant centipede... Is that true?"

Fan De was so angry at the arrogant attitude of these people that he became irritated and shouted, "What! Are you trying to extort money from outsiders? If your God is so powerful, go and see for yourself. The whole centipede was burned, and it can be seen for miles around."

Xiang Fuzi fell silent this time, her eyes flickering.

“If that’s the case, then you’ve done a great service, brother.” He pointed to the door. “Please forgive me, but according to the town’s rules, outsiders are not allowed to stay with the townspeople. Please stay at the church tonight.”

Chu Hengkong sighed deeply, thanked them, and grabbed Fan De as they left. Xiang Fuzi sat for a while, frequently peeking out to make sure the two were far away before suddenly standing up. He waved his fist vigorously, his face flushed with excitement.

"Great...that poisonous insect is finally...great!!"

Xiang Fuzi soon became worried again. He paced anxiously in place, and then strode out the door, showing no trace of the scholar's composure.

He was walking too fast and didn't notice a group of inconspicuous shadows crouching on the roof of a stone house not far away. Chu Hengkong took in the whole process, and Fan De watched with the same interest, occasionally waving a few short tentacles.