136: Chapter 136: Breaking Up

Darkness.

Utter oppression.

The first sensation Li Xuan felt upon regaining consciousness was heaviness.

The surrounding soil squeezed his chest.

He tried to circulate his True Qi, but a piercing pain shot from his Dantian.

His lifebound Flying Sword, Qingming, was dim and lusterless, lying at the center of his Qi Sea, its blade covered in cracks.

He moved his right arm slightly.

"Don't move! Your ribs are stuck in my power transmission shaft!"

A mechanical electronic voice sounded in Li Xuan's mind.

It was K.

Li Xuan opened his eyes with difficulty.

His vision was blurry.

He released a weak thread of Divine Sense and finally understood his current situation.

The shockwave from the Nether River great explosion had sent them flying.

They had broken out of their Super Bone Fish forms and reverted to their original appearances.

But as Luck would have it, several of Li Xuan's broken ribs were wedged right between the damaged mechanical gears in K's chest.

The two of them were buried deep underground in an awkward posture, at an unknown depth.

"Do you think I want to move?" Li Xuan transmitted his voice in a thin line, his voice weak.

"Your scrap metal is pressing against my lung meridian. Hurry up and loosen your gears."

"My backup power is down to three percent! The main control chip is severely damaged, and the hydraulic System is paralyzed. I can't loosen them."

K's electronic eyes flickered with a faint red light twice, illuminating the surrounding space.

The two stared at each other blankly.

"Mimicry," Li Xuan suggested. "Mimic into a Ground-Drilling Dragon or a Void Sandworm, and we can tunnel our way out."

K fell silent for two seconds.

"You try it."

Li Xuan closed his eyes and tried to mobilize his Time Demon Origin.

The innate talent that usually responded as easily as his own limbs showed absolutely no reaction this time.

He couldn't mimic.

They were currently just two severely injured, dying ordinary creatures bound together.

"Done trying?" K's tone was laced with sarcasm. "With our Origins locked down, we're worse off than even a low-level Starry Sky Rat right now."

"Shut up and save your strength for digging," Li Xuan gritted his teeth.

Enduring the excruciating pain, he reached out with his left hand.

With his palm coated in a weak layer of Sword Qi, he plunged it into the soil above.

The purplish-red soil was as hard as iron, and the Sword Qi could only scrape away a shallow layer.

K also raised his only remaining intact mechanical arm, his five fingers transforming into drill bits that began to spin slowly.

Two Diamond Rank powerhouses who usually stood high above now had to rely on such primitive methods to dig upward bit by bit.

The soil contained heavy metal toxins that constantly corroded their bodies.

Li Xuan's skin festered, and K's metal armor hissed as it was corroded.

They didn't know how long they had been digging.

Finally, the soil above loosened, and a sliver of gray light filtered in.

Bang!

Li Xuan shattered the final layer of soil with a punch.

The two scrambled out onto the surface, collapsing heavily onto the purplish-red Wasteland.

They panted heavily.

The air was still thick with a dense toxic miasma, but compared to the suffocating feeling underground, it was already heaven.

Li Xuan rolled over and turned his head to look around.

His pupils contracted.

The surrounding ground was densely covered with dark red root Systems.

These roots interwoven into a boundless net.

Some roots were even hugging the very edge of the hole they had just crawled out of.

K's electronic eyes also swept over these roots, and his mechanical body couldn't help but tremble.

They both knew exactly what these tree roots were.

They were demons capable of sucking them dry.

"We didn't die," K's voice carried a hint of disbelief.

"This damn tree has a pretty strong sense of professional ethics," Li Xuan said, cold sweat drenching his back as he stared at a slowly wriggling dark red branch nearby.

"They basically only feed on dead things, or prey that has only one breath of life left."

"Although we were severely injured just now, our vital signs were still relatively stable."

"If we had remained unconscious underground for another half hour..."

"If our aura had weakened even a fraction more..."

"These roots would have plunged into our bodies without hesitation, turning us into nutrients for this Wasteland."

A sense of relief from surviving a near-death experience welled up in their hearts.

The two lay on the ground, neither rising immediately. Their bodies needed rest.

Li Xuan examined his own body internally.

Seventy percent of his Meridians were severed, his internal organs were displaced, and his Time Demon Origin was depleted.

The most troublesome part was that the residual Death Qi of the Nether River and the lingering force of the high-frequency shockwaves still remained in his body.

These two forces were rampaging through his body, obstructing the flow of his spiritual power.

K's situation was no better.

His left arm was severed at the shoulder, and a large area of his chest armor was caved in.

His nuclear fusion power reactor had shut down, and he could only rely on the most basic chemical batteries to maintain his life support System.

"The situation is grim." K pulled up the damage report and projected it directly onto his retina. "We've lost contact with the camp, and we've lost contact with the Captain."

"Mission progress is at zero, and our survival probability is less than zero point one percent."

"Don't annoy me with your damn data," Li Xuan interrupted crossly. "Could your data calculate that the river would explode?"

At the mention of the explosion, both of their tempers flared simultaneously.

"It's all because of that brainless fool, Gangku!" K slammed his fist onto the ground, causing sparks to fly from his own chest from the impact.

"If he hadn't provoked that Liquid Metal Crab, we wouldn't have been exposed! We wouldn't have been dragged into that massive brawl!"

"A Body Cultivator's brain is stuffed entirely with muscle," Li Xuan agreed, his gaze unfriendly.

"His explosive temper will get everyone killed sooner or later. Did you forget last time in the Sirius Star Domain?

"We were lying low perfectly fine, yet he insisted on stealing a Void Behemoth's egg, saying he wanted to taste fried egg."

"As a result, we were chased across three galaxies by two adult behemoths, and half of our star vessel's tail fin was bitten off!"

"And when we landed," K chimed in, "the Chief ordered us not to touch those red trees, but he insisted on punching the trunk. If the Adjutant hadn't stopped him, he would have been sucked dry long ago!"

The two took turns cursing Gangku's ancestors back eighteen generations.

In this environment, such venting actually became their only way to release their fear.

After cursing for several minutes, the two finally stopped.

"Once you've cursed enough, think of a way to survive," Li Xuan coughed twice, spitting out a mouthful of black blood. "Take care of ourselves first."

"With our current condition, if we encounter any native creature—even the most ordinary bug—it could gnaw us down to the bone."

"Agreed." K's electronic eyes lit up again. "Primary objective: repair the body and activate the mimicry talent."

"Only by restoring our mimicry can we survive here."

The two struggled to their feet.

Li Xuan grabbed his broken ribs that were wedged inside K's chest cavity.

"Bear with it."

"Be gentle, don't tear my main control wiring!"

Crack!

With a sudden pull, Li Xuan forcefully extracted his broken bone from K's gears.

Muffled groans rang out simultaneously.

Li Xuan turned deathly pale from the pain, and K's body erupted with a shower of electrical sparks.

The two finally separated.

"Scan the terrain," Li Xuan said, leaning against a rock and looking around warily.

K rotated his head.

His electronic eyes emitted a weak sonar scan.

"Two kilometers ahead, there is a large amount of water vapor detected." K pointed to the right. "The water columns kicked up by the Nether River explosion have formed many craters around here."

"There is a small puddle over there."

"Let's go."

Supporting each other, they stumbled and limped toward their destination.

Along the way, they avoided the red tree roots on the ground.

Whenever they encountered traces of crawling Zerg, they took a detour.

Occasionally, when the dark shadow of a Demon Vulture swept across the sky, the two would lie flat in the dirt and play dead, holding their breath.

They took a full hour to cover the two-kilometer distance.

Finally, a puddle about ten meters in diameter appeared before them.

The water in the puddle was pitch black; it was indeed the dead water of the Nether River.

Because it was separated from the main channel of the Nether River and diluted by the explosion, the concentration of Death Qi in the water had dropped significantly.

K picked up a stone and threw it into the puddle.

The stone sank to the bottom without being corroded or melted.

"Hmm, not bad," K nodded.

Without hesitation, the two jumped straight into the puddle.

As soon as they entered the water, a bone-chilling cold washed over them.

But immediately after, a wonderful sense of familiarity coursed through their bodies.

They had perfectly mimicked the Bone Fish before.

Although they had exited the mimicry state, their deepest physical memories had already recorded a portion of the gene sequence and energy circuits of the Nether River's dead water.

The dead water in this small puddle did not reject them strongly.

Instead, due to the lower water pressure, it formed a natural protective barrier, completely masking their aura of living beings.

"Let's begin."

Li Xuan sat cross-legged at the bottom of the puddle.

From a corner of his Storage Ring, he fished out a jade vial and poured out a Medicinal Pill.

Nine-Revolution Soul-Returning Pill.

This was a trump card he had plundered after slaughtering a top-tier Sect in a certain Cultivation Divine Domain.

Swallowing the pill, the majestic medicinal force exploded within his body.

Li Xuan guided the medicinal force to flush through his clogged Meridians.

His fractured bones popped and crackled, beginning to heal slowly.

On the other side, K opened the armor plate on his chest.

From a hidden compartment on the outside of his thigh, he pulled out an energy tube.

He inserted the energy tube into the slot in his chest cavity.

Buzz!

His mechanical body vibrated.

The stalled power reactor reignited, its deep blue glow piercing the pitch-black dead water.

The damaged hydraulic System began to reset, and the severed circuits were reconnected under the repair of nanobots.

Both of them were racing against time.

Several hours passed.

Li Xuan opened his eyes, a glint of sword light flashing across them.

The sharp glint quickly faded, but his aura had stabilized significantly.

K also stood up straight; his severed left arm had not regrown, but the wound was now covered with a thin metal film, no longer leaking electricity.

"Damage recovered by fifteen percent," K provided precise data.

"Enough." Li Xuan felt the Time Demon Origin surging within him once more. "The mimicry talent can be used now."

"Mimic what? Continue being a Bone Fish?" K asked.

"The Bone Fish requires a massive amount of Death Qi to sustain, and the Death Qi in this puddle is not enough." Li Xuan shook his head. "Turn into a crab."

"Their recovery ability is extremely strong, and they can absorb surrounding metallic elements to repair their shells."

"Reasonable."

Both of them simultaneously activated their Time Demon Origins.

Bones restructured, and flesh mutated.

A few seconds later, two slightly smaller Oscillating Liquid Metal Crabs appeared in the puddle.

One bore a sword scar on its shell, while the other was missing a claw.

Once the mimicry was complete, the metallic minerals at the bottom of the puddle began to gather toward them.

The genetic traits of the Liquid Metal Crab took effect, absorbing these substances.

Li Xuan felt his severed Meridians being forcefully stabilized by the liquid metal.

The feeling was very bizarre, but the effect was surprisingly good.

K, on the other hand, used the liquid metal to re-form a slightly crude giant claw.

Time passed.

The metallic substances in the puddle were completely absorbed, and the two crabs crawled out of the water.

With a flash of light, Li Xuan and K reverted to human form.

Li Xuan rotated his wrists; the circulation of his True Qi was much smoother now.

Aside from the cracks deep within his Dantian that had damaged his Origin, which could not be repaired, his external injuries were mostly healed.

K's mechanical body had also recovered eighty percent of its combat capability.

"Origin injuries require high-tier spiritual items. We won't find them here." Li Xuan clenched his fist.

"We're lucky just to be alive." K analyzed, "We need to relocate. This place is too close to the epicenter of the explosion; high-level creatures could come to patrol at any moment."

"Mimic into bugs. We've suffered in the air and in the water; bugs on the ground are the safest bet," Li Xuan proposed.

"Nether-Uranium Heavy Armor Beetle," K provided the option. "High defense, decent movement speed, and they belong to the low-level patrol units, so they won't easily attract the attention of high-level entities."

The two of them executed their mimicry one after another.

Two eight-meter-long Nether-Uranium Heavy Armor Beetles appeared on the Wasteland.

Pitch-black heavy armor covered their entire bodies, and six thick jointed limbs stepped onto the purplish-red soil.

Blending into the background of the Wasteland, they began to crawl rapidly away from the Nether River.

The Wasteland was desolate.

The two heavy armor beetles crawled side by side.

Along the way, they encountered several small-scale Zerg patrol squads. Relying on their perfect mimicry, they slipped through flawlessly.

"Direction confirmed, we are moving southwest," K's electronic voice sounded in the Zerg mental communication channel.

"According to previous data analysis, the density of the dark red saplings in the southwest is decreasing, indicating that the concentration of Spiritual Qi there is lower. The safety factor is higher."

"Stop." Li Xuan suddenly halted.

K also stopped and turned to look at him. "Did you detect enemy presence?"

"The direction is wrong." Li Xuan looked at him and said coldly, "We need to go to where the concentration of Spiritual Qi is high."

K's electronic eyes glowed red. "Logical error. Areas with high Spiritual Qi concentration imply a high density of high-risk creatures."

"In our current state, going there is equivalent to suicide."

"Have you forgotten what we came out here for?" Li Xuan's six compound eyes stared at K. "We came to find the antidote!

"The Captain said that where venomous snakes lurk, the antidote is always within seven paces."

"The antidote must be in the core region where the Spiritual Qi is most concentrated!"

"That was the Captain's judgment, and the Captain's fate is currently unknown." K's voice was absolutely rational. "The Chief's directive to us was to find the antidote and bring it back to the camp."

"There are still hundreds of clansmen waiting in the camp for their lives to be saved.

We are unconscious? A day? Two days? We have no concept of time!"

"If we continue to venture deeper into the high-risk zone, once we die, the mission will completely fail. Our clansmen will be wiped out."

K raised a forelimb and pointed in the direction they had come from.

"Optimal solution: search for clues of the Captain and other team members.

If they are alive, they will have left markers. We should gather our strength before planning our next move."

"If we can't find them, we must return to the camp, report the true situation of the outside world, and let the Chief devise a new plan."

"Bullshit!" Li Xuan cursed angrily. "Return to the camp? Return with what? Return empty-handed? Don't you know the Chief's temper?

"Without the antidote, returning will only result in us being treated as useless trash!"

Li Xuan took a step forward, the jointed limbs of the heavy armor beetle plowing deep furrows into the ground.

"Besides, without the Captain leading the team, how are the two of us, half-crippled as we are, supposed to break through the blockade of those Zerg swarms and Demon Vultures? We must find the Captain!"

"You're contradicting yourself," K refused to back down. "You just said you wanted to go to where the Spiritual Qi is highly concentrated to find the antidote, and now you say you want to find the Captain."

"Your emotions are interfering with your judgment."

"My judgment is perfectly clear!" Li Xuan's compound eyes turned crimson. "If the Captain is still alive, he will definitely go to the place with the highest concentration of Spiritual Qi to find the antidote!

"Because he's stubborn! Since he promised the Chief, he will definitely do it!

"By going there, we can both find the antidote and locate the Captain!"

"The probability is too low," K responded coldly. "The Captain is also rational.

"After a disaster on the scale of the Nether River explosion, if he survived, his first reaction would be to retreat and regroup. He wouldn't continue deeper while heavily injured."

"You don't understand the Captain at all!" Li Xuan roared.

"I only understand data!" K raised his voice as well. "The data indicates that the mortality rate of your plan is as high as ninety-nine point nine percent! I refuse to execute it!"

The atmosphere plummeted to freezing point.

Even the wind on the Wasteland seemed to have come to a standstill.

The two heavy armor beetles confronted each other.

The Sword Qi within Li Xuan's body began to overflow, and a faint green sword glow emerged on the heavy armor beetle's back shell.

At the tips of K's jointed limbs, a deep blue plasma glow began to condense.

"Are you going to stop me?" Li Xuan's voice carried a bone-chilling coldness.

"I am stopping you from dragging me to death with you." K's electronic eyes locked onto Li Xuan's vital spots.

The proud bone of a cultivator and the rationality of a Machinist clashed, erupting under the pressure of their desperate situation.

Neither could convince the other.

Fear, pressure, and pain transformed into irreconcilable anger at this moment.

"Then we go our separate ways!" Li Xuan roared, the sword glow on his back skyrocketing.

K's plasma cannon also finished charging, ready to fire at any moment.

Just at the instant they were about to clash.

An unexpected change suddenly occurred!!

A Mental Energy so massive it was beyond description suddenly descended.

This force had no physical form.

It ignored Li Xuan's Divine Sense barrier, as well as K's mechanical firewall.

Li Xuan's Flying Sword fell to the ground with a clang, and K's plasma cannon automatically shut down.

The two clutched their heads, kneeling on the ground in agony.

A vast, boundless mental network connected them into its System.