203: Chapter 203: Yamata no Orochi?

Lu Cheng looked toward the darkening woods ahead.

"If everything goes as expected, it should be soon."

Tang Zhiwei walked beside him and asked softly,

"Did you sense it?"

Lu Cheng did not answer immediately.

He just watched the increasingly tall trees in the distance.

Normally, this kind of thing usually takes nine or ten as a complete initial set.

Seven areas are already quite a lot.

If this is some kind of sacrificial System, it probably won't extend infinitely.

And his Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck had been warning him since just now.

The group continued forward.

The trees in the next area were even taller than before.

The trunks were so thick that it would take several people to wrap their arms around them, the bark was a grayish-white, and the surface had many healed cracks.

Those cracks were layered one on top of another, as if this forest had been cut down many times and had grown back again and again.

There wasn't much grass on the ground.

Only thick fallen leaves.

When stepping on them, a pale white sap would ooze out from under the leaves.

Jiang Xuance looked down and his expression became subtle.

"Why do the trees here look a bit like flesh?"

Tang Zhiwei frowned.

"Don't touch them."

"The smell here is wrong."

Xu Xinglan also stopped.

New prompts began to appear on the terminal.

[Area Anomaly: Regenerative Forest]

[Warning: Number of life signals is increasing]

The words had barely faded.

In the woods ahead, several short figures slowly crawled out.

They looked like some kind of monster formed by tree roots and flesh intertwined; their limbs were very short, but their bodies were very round, and the surface was covered in dense wrinkles.

Lu Cheng took a look.

Then he silently looked away.

Some things are enough to look at once.

Looking for even one more second would be a disrespect to his own eyes.

Jiang Xuance had originally wanted to comment.

But after seeing the form of those monsters clearly, his mouth twitched.

"This thing..."

Heavenly King Lin frowned.

"It looks really disgusting."

Lu Cheng nodded very seriously, this thing looked just like an asshole...

The monsters didn't give them time to continue complaining.

The next second, a dozen monsters sprang up simultaneously and lunged at the group.

They weren't fast.

But there were many.

Heavenly King Lin swung his axe down directly.

The monster in the very front was split in two on the spot.

But the next second, something eerie happened.

The two split halves didn't die.

After they hit the ground, the wounds rapidly squirmed.

The left side grew a right side.

The right side grew a left side.

In just a few seconds, two identical monsters crawled back up.

Heavenly King Lin paused.

"Huh?"

Jiang Xuance's eyes widened.

"You can play it like this?"

Gu Changqing's sword flashed, slicing another monster into three pieces.

As a result, all three segments began to grow simultaneously.

Xu Xinglan immediately spoke up:

"Don't just hack at them!"

"They can split and regenerate!"

Heavenly King Lin looked at the monsters in front of him, whose numbers had doubled, and was silent for a second.

"Then that was my mistake."

Xu Xinglan quickly deployed a Source Array.

Pale cyan light swept across the monsters, quickly locking onto the extremely minute energy points within their bodies.

"The core is near the ground."

"It's very small."

"Don't cut the body, hit the core directly!"

Gu Changqing frowned.

"Near the ground?"

Xu Xinglan raised her hand to mark them.

Streaks of pale cyan light landed on the bottom of those monsters.

The position was very low.

Almost touching the ground.

And it kept changing as the monsters moved.

This was very troublesome.

The individual combat power of these monsters wasn't top-tier, but it wasn't weak either.

Ranging from Rank 3 Peak to Hua Hai Realm Early Stage.

Plus the ability to split and regenerate; if not handled well, their numbers would keep increasing.

Jiang Xuance looked at the dense swarm of monsters crawling over, his face turning a bit green.

"This thing is a bit disgusting."

Snow Spirit jumped down from Lu Cheng's arms, both tails unfurling simultaneously.

Ice-blue stardust frost spread out along the ground.

After those monsters approached, the movement of their lower parts slowed down significantly.

Xu Xinglan immediately reminded them:

"Snow Spirit's frost is restricting the movement of their cores!"

Gu Changqing's sword light swept across the ground, precisely piercing the light spot at the bottom of a monster.

The monster's body stiffened, then completely went limp and stopped growing.

Ye Beihan stomped his foot, and frost froze the area ahead.

They weren't born naturally.

Each one was like a fragment split from the same parent body.

As long as the core wasn't broken, they could recover relying on their regenerative instinct.

The more they killed, the more there were.

The more they hacked, the more troublesome it became.

"Don't drag this out."

Lu Cheng said.

"There should be a bigger one in the cave."

"These are just small fry."

Jiang Xuance's mouth twitched.

"If the small fry look like this, how disgusting must the big one be?"

Lu Cheng was silent for a moment.

"Don't ask, because if you ask, it means we're respecting the monster's privacy."

The group cleared their way and finally pushed into the depths of the woods.

Just like the previous few areas.

There was also a river here.

The water in this river was pale white.

The water surface was very calm.

But the soil on both banks of the river kept bulging and collapsing, as if something was growing underneath.

They followed the river to its source and found a cave.

There was no stench of blood or poisonous mist at the cave entrance.

Only a faint fishy smell.

Like meat that had been soaked in rainwater for a long time.

The terminal popped up a prompt.

[Hidden Area Discovered: Sacrificial Cave]

[Warning: High-Risk Target]

[Target Rank Assessment: Hua Hai Realm Peak]

The inside of the cave was very wide.

But even so, the monster in the deepest part still almost filled the entire space.

[Hidden Exotic Beast: Poly-Birth Monster]

[Rank: Hua Hai Realm Peak]

[Special Status: Regenerative Contaminated Body]

[Kill Points: 300]

Its fat body was stuck in the center of the cave, surrounded by many short limbs that kept extending and retracting, as if testing the air.

There were dozens of bulges on the surface of its body, each of which would split open from time to time, squeezing out a small regenerative monster from inside.

Lu Cheng took a look.

Then he looked away.

"Alright."

"I know why it's called a Poly-Birth Monster."

Jiang Xuance's face turned pale.

"I think that name is actually quite subtle."

Xu Xinglan quickly deployed a scan.

"There isn't just one core."

"The main core is at the very bottom."

"But it has many sub-cores, and the sub-cores will take damage on behalf of the main core."

Tang Zhiwei frowned.

"In other words, we must clear the sub-cores first, then hit the main core?"

Xu Xinglan nodded.

"Yes."

The Poly-Birth Monster didn't give them much time.

The cave floor suddenly bulged.

A dozen regenerative monsters crawled out from underground.

At the same time, the bulges on the surface of the Poly-Birth Monster's body also began to split open continuously.

New monsters dropped down one after another.

Heavenly King Lin felt his scalp tingle.

"This thing can really birth them."

Lu Cheng raised his hand.

"No nonsense."

"Attack."

The battle broke out quickly.

This time, the group wasn't as relaxed as before.

The main body of the Poly-Birth Monster didn't move much, but its regeneration speed was too fast.

After a sub-core was destroyed, it would grow back after a period of time.

Xu Xinglan needed to constantly correct the core positions.

Gu Changqing's sword light was responsible for precise cutting.

Ye Beihan used frost to slow down its regeneration speed.

Tang Zhiwei's poison had a mediocre effect on it, so she had to switch to using sealing needles to suppress the activity of some sub-cores.

Jiang Xuance and the Red-Armored Zheng were responsible for clearing the regenerative monsters that kept crawling out.

Snow Spirit's star-flame fox fire actually had a miraculous effect.

After the red-gold fox fire attached to the surface of the Poly-Birth Monster, it slowed down the granulation tissue it regenerated.

But even so, it was still very hard to kill.

Lu Cheng finally had to take action himself.

The Fire Luminary Meridian lit up.

Red-gold Source Power wrapped around his fist.

He stepped into the attack range of the Poly-Birth Monster, and the Yueyao Pulse locked onto the position of the main core.

Dozens of limbs on the Poly-Birth Monster whipped over simultaneously.

Snow Spirit immediately deployed her twin-tail star shield.

The ice-fire light shield blocked the first wave of impact.

Heavenly King Lin smashed two sub-cores from the side.

Gu Changqing pierced through the flesh wall at the bottom with one sword strike.

Xu Xinglan shouted:

"Main core exposed!"

Lu Cheng didn't hesitate.

He punched down.

Boom!

The entire cave shook violently.

The Poly-Birth Monster's body contracted violently, as if it still wanted to regenerate.

Lu Cheng's eyes were slightly cold.

The second punch followed closely.

Red-gold Source Power poured directly into the core crack.

Bang!

The core exploded completely.

The Poly-Birth Monster's massive body finally stopped squirming.

The terminal prompt popped up.

[Kill Hidden Exotic Beast: Poly-Birth Monster]

[Kill Points: 300]

[Hidden Task Progress Update: Initial Island Contamination Source Investigation 100%]

[Obtain Special Drop: Regenerative Core]

A pale white crystal core floated up from the remains of the Poly-Birth Monster.

This core wasn't as quiet as the previous ones.

It hung in mid-air, pulsing beat by beat.

As if it still had life.

Tang Zhiwei frowned.

"This thing has very high activity."

Xu Xinglan was just about to scan it.

The next second.

The entire cave shook violently.

Rumble!

Debris fell from overhead.

The ground also began to crack.

Jiang Xuance's expression changed.

"Earthquake?"

Heavenly King Lin looked around.

"The eighth one is already here?"

Lu Cheng didn't speak.

His gaze fell on the center of the cave.

Beneath the remains of the Poly-Birth Monster, the ground was splitting open.

From within the crack, an ancient altar slowly rose.

The altar was made of black stone, covered with snake patterns.

In the very center, there were eight grooves.

Lu Cheng's brow twitched violently.

Seeking Good Fortune and Avoiding Bad Luck issued a clear warning at this moment.

He suddenly remembered what happened in the Northern Ruins earlier.

Lu Cheng stared at the altar for a few seconds.

"If these eight cores are put in... I guess the big boss of this island is going to come out..."

Lu Cheng looked at the others and continued.

"My judgment is that the danger is great, but there should also be an Opportunity inside."

"How about..."

He paused.

"We try it?"

The cave was silent for a moment.

Heavenly King Lin laughed first.

"Let's try."

"Our team is currently leading by a wide margin, and we already have enough points."

"Since the hidden mechanism has led us here, it's a waste not to try."

Xu Xinglan looked down to confirm the terminal, and after a moment, spoke up.

"The simulated ruins still show that we can force an exit... even if there's danger, it won't be a problem..."

Everyone agreed with this point.

"Alright."

"Then let's try."

Tang Zhiwei took out the containment bag.

The eight cores were placed in front of the altar one by one.

Xu Xinglan checked the sequence of the grooves.

"The patterns correspond."

"It shouldn't be random placement."

Following the altar's patterns, everyone placed the eight cores into the grooves one by one.

The moment the last Regenerative Core dropped in.

The entire altar was silent for a second.

Then.

Boom!

All eight grooves lit up simultaneously.

The black snake patterns spread outward along the altar, quickly covering the entire cave floor.

Immediately afterward, the entire island began to shake violently.

It wasn't the cave shaking.

It was the entire Initial Island that was shaking.

The sound of river water reversing came from afar.

Every river they had passed emitted an eerie sound at the same time.

The white water surface of the regenerative rivers began to bulge, as if something was turning over underneath.

Especially the cave under their feet.

The shaking was the most violent.

Xu Xinglan's expression changed.

"The cave is rising!"

Lu Cheng immediately said:

"Retreat!"

The group didn't hesitate at all and turned to run.

Heavenly King Lin split the debris blocking the way with an axe.

They had just rushed out of the cave entrance when the entire mountain behind them rose with a roar.

That's right.

It wasn't collapsing.

It was rising.

As if something massive was pushing up from inside the island.

The group stood on a high slope and looked back.

The next second, everyone was stunned.

The center of the entire Initial Island cracked open.

Eight rivers converged to the center from different directions.

The river water no longer flowed in its original direction, but all poured back toward the center of the island.

In the black water mist, a segment of a huge snake body slowly raised up.

Then the second segment.

The third segment.

The fourth segment.

Until eight huge snake heads rose from the crack in the center of the island.

Every snake head was different.

One blood-red.

One green-scaled.

One with poisonous mist in its mouth.

One covered in white bones.

One full of fangs.

One with cold snake eyes.

One with mist shadows floating in its eyes.

The last one was pale, with flesh constantly regenerating at its neck.

Eight heads.

Eight tails.

The massive body slowly unfolded from the depths of the island, almost occupying most of the field of vision.

The sea breeze stopped at this moment.

Black water dripped from its scales.

The entire Initial Island seemed to be pressed down a notch by it.

Jiang Xuance opened his mouth.

"This..."

"This thing has been under the island all along?"

Xu Xinglan's face turned pale.

"Each of the previous rivers..."

"Might have been hiding a part of its body."

Lu Cheng looked at the eight-headed, eight-tailed giant snake before him, and for a moment, he was also a bit dumbfounded.

This thing...

Isn't this the Yamata no Orochi from the mythology of the Japan of his past life?

As soon as this thought arose, everyone's terminals vibrated frantically at the same time.

Red warnings filled the screens.

[Warning]

[High-Risk Life Form Awakened]

[Simulation System Calibrating]

[Target Name Confirming...]

[Target Confirmed]

[Yamata no Orochi]

[Rank Assessment: War General Peak]

[Status: Incomplete Seal]

[Points: 10,000]