620: Chapter 620 Fatal Life Force

"Well done." Su Ming said coldly.

Taking advantage of the precious moment of time that Shadow had won for him, Su Ming's right hand was already withdrawn from his Storage Pouch. He crushed the black porcelain bottle filled with Second Senior Brother Qin Yi's specially made "Corpse Rot Powder" directly.

"Dissolve!"

Su Ming gritted his teeth against the tearing pain in his Meridians, mobilizing the less than twenty percent of Ruoshui Spiritual Power remaining in his Dantian. The deep blue spiritual power transformed into hundreds of extremely fine threads, precisely wrapping around the scattered, pungent powder.

He flung his hands outward violently.

The hundreds of spiritual power threads exploded like flowers scattered by a celestial maiden, evenly sprinkling the powder within a three-foot radius around him.

The pungent stench of rot instantly surged into the sky, even suppressing the cloying, sweet fragrance.

As expected.

Those glowing grass leaves, which had been disturbed and were frantically closing in like tentacles, hesitated in unison upon coming into contact with the intense stench of rot. They seemed to be discerning whether this was a living creature that could be devoured, and the tentacle-like glowing leaves curled up slightly.

Su Ming didn't even bother to look back; he turned and left immediately.

He did not choose to retreat along the path he had come from, because that was an open area with no cover. Without hesitation, he charged deeper into the mushroom forest.

"The rock to the front left is reflecting light, don't step on it!" Lin Yu's voice rang out rapidly in his Sea of Consciousness.

Wind gathered at Su Ming's feet, and his eyes were as cold as ice. Every one of his steps landed precisely on the non-reflective, grey-black rocks, avoiding any glowing plants.

"Boom!"

A dull sound of collapse suddenly came from behind him.

Su Ming glanced out of the corner of his eye, his heart tightening violently.

That purple-spotted mushroom, whose countless tiny mouths had been severed by Shadow, had actually forcibly pulled itself out of the ground! The countless thick roots at its base were now intertwined and entangled, transforming into massive, centipede-like articulated legs.

Although its movements seemed somewhat clumsy, its massive size and the frantically flailing articulated legs carried a suffocating ferocity as it rumbled in pursuit in the direction Su Ming was fleeing.

"What kind of hellish world is this!" Su Ming cursed inwardly.

"Three zhang to the left, there's a rock crevice!" Lin Yu's soul body spun rapidly within the xuantian ring, immediately pointing out a path to survival.

Su Ming did not hesitate at all. He pushed off a protruding rock with his toes, forcibly twisting his entire body in mid-air to lunge toward the left.

It was a massive, naturally formed grey-black rock slab. Behind the slab, a deep crevice, just wide enough for one person to pass through sideways, was revealed.

"Boom!"

The moment Su Ming changed direction, a mushroom root as thick as a bucket slammed fiercely into the spot where he had just landed, smashing the hard rock into pieces. Debris flew past Su Ming's cheek, leaving a shallow bloody scratch.

Su Ming held his breath, turned his body sideways, and forcibly squeezed into the narrow crevice.

The rock walls inside the crevice were exceptionally rough, and the hard, sharp edges scraped across his back like files. His dharma robe was already ruined, and his skin and flesh had been slashed with several wounds deep enough to see the bone.

Su Ming didn't even frown; he endured the heart-piercing pain and completely merged his body into the darkness deep within the crevice.

"Form the array!"

He leaned against the cold rock wall, his hands forming seals at high speed.

He dared not use too much spiritual power. He could only use the remaining twenty percent of his spiritual power to set up the most basic, extremely simplified sound-dampening and breath-concealing array at the entrance of the crevice.

A few deep blue runes flashed and vanished into the Void Realm.

The very next moment after the Array Patterns lit up.

"Thump!"

The giant mushroom that had been chasing him frantically outside slammed heavily against the rock slab.

A dull booming sound echoed in the narrow crevice, making Su Ming's eardrums ache. Debris from above fell in a rustle, hitting his shoulders, but he remained motionless like a statue.

The mushroom giant's thick roots swept frantically outside the crevice, making heart-stopping whistling sounds as they cut through the air. It seemed unable to understand how the prey, which radiated the tempting scent of flesh and blood, had suddenly vanished without a trace.

Su Ming held his breath, his eyes fixed intently on the purple fluorescence flashing past outside the crevice.

One breath, two breaths, ten breaths... After lingering outside for dozens of breaths, the mushroom giant seemed to have finally exhausted its patience. It emitted a low-frequency resonance filled with unwillingness, and then, the sound of those heavy articulated legs scraping against the ground began to slowly retreat into the distance.

Only when the sound had completely disappeared did Su Ming finally exhale a long, stale breath.

His entire body slid weakly to the ground, leaning against the cold, damp rock wall, panting heavily.

"Temporarily safe." Lin Yu said in the Sea of Consciousness, his soul body's luster also much dimmer.

Su Ming did not reply immediately; instead, he closed his eyes and began to calmly and systematically check his own battered body.

"Right arm spatial cutting wound, three inches long, deep enough to see the bone; the main artery was not injured, but the tendons are severely damaged."

"Left shoulder chemical burn, skin and flesh festering, with weak corrosive toxin residue in the Meridians."

"Multiple severe abrasions on the back."

"Most importantly, forcibly squeezing out spiritual power has caused extensive shock damage to the Meridians around the dao foundation."

Su Ming slowly opened his eyes, his gaze terrifyingly deep.

"Master." Su Ming calculated the balance in his heart. "My Golden Core spiritual power is only one and a half tenths left."

"That is not the most fatal part." Lin Yu sneered, his tone heavy.

Su Ming nodded slightly, took a deep breath, and attempted to circulate the Ruoshui Art again.

The Cultivation Technique circulated slowly within his body, but not a single bit of energy from the outside world flowed into his Dantian.

This heaven and earth were filled with that dense and primitive "Life-Essence." However, the underlying structure of this Life-Essence was completely different from the gentle, malleable Spiritual Qi of the Human Race's Cultivation World.

They were like wild, violent horses, full of rejection toward the Ruoshui Spiritual Power within Su Ming. The Ruoshui Art's original characteristic of "embracing all things" had completely failed here. His Cultivation Technique was completely unable to convert this Life-Essence into his own spiritual power.

"Cannot absorb, cannot convert." Su Ming's voice had no fluctuations, but it carried a bone-chilling coldness. "In this world where even a blade of grass can eat people, if spiritual power cannot be replenished, it is equivalent to having one's neck slowly strangled."

Lin Yu's soul body flickered slightly within the xuantian ring. After a moment of silence, his voice was hoarse but surprisingly calm.

"Disciple, don't rush to think about how to absorb the energy here." Lin Yu said slowly. "There is no array in this world that cannot be broken, and no situation that cannot be resolved. But the premise is that you must first stay alive."

Su Ming tilted his head slightly.

"You still have Medicinal Pills on you." Lin Yu instructed. "First use the Spirit Recovery Pills you brought to stabilize the spiritual power of your Golden Core. Then, do not use any offensive runes; use only the purest Ruoshui Spiritual Power to slowly repair the shock damage in your Meridians and the toxin in your left shoulder."

"Remember." Lin Yu's voice carried an unquestionable seriousness. "Before you find a way to replenish spiritual power externally, every drop of spiritual power in your body is your life. There must not be any unnecessary consumption."

Su Ming nodded silently.

His left hand brushed lightly over the Storage Pouch, and a white jade bottle appeared in his palm. He used his thumb to flick open the bottle stopper, poured out two Spirit Recovery Pills that exuded a faint fragrance, and threw them directly into his mouth.

The warm medicinal power flowed down his throat, slowly spreading out in his Dantian, transforming into wisps of pure spiritual power that nourished the dried-up Golden Core.

Su Ming closed his eyes, immersing all his focus into repairing the injuries within his body.

Outside the crevice. Under the pale purple sky, aurora-like bands of light drifted silently. Those huge glowing plants swayed gently in the breeze, emitting psychedelic and eerie colors.

Everything looked so peaceful and beautiful, yet hidden within were countless terrifying murderous intentions capable of tearing a person to pieces in an instant.