157: Chapter 157 What's your name?

The vines changed.

The entire vine began to twist and swell, its surface crackling and bursting to reveal a purple carapace underneath.

The thorns transformed into arthropod limbs, and the vine tips split open, turning into a pair of pincers.

Scorpions.

Hundreds of giant purple scorpions burrowed out from the floor of the hall. The largest one was ten zhang long, with its segmented tail held high.

Thick purple liquid hung from the tips of their stingers. When it dripped onto the floor tiles, white smoke immediately rose from the stone surface.

"They are scorpion-type demonic insects!"

The white-haired elder from the Biluo Sect crushed a scorpion shell in front of him with a palm strike, but his palm was splattered with purple liquid.

His flesh quickly turned black. He gritted his teeth and forced his Qi into his palm, forcibly suppressing the toxin.

Chaos had already broken out among the Loose Cultivators.

A Divine Light Realm Loose Cultivator was caught by the waist by two purple scorpions. As the pincers closed, the sound of his waist bone snapping could be heard from afar.

Immediately after, a venomous stinger pierced his heart from behind. Within three breaths, the man's body withered away as if his essence had been drained, turning into a pile of gray dust.

"Help!!"

"Run! Run toward the entrance!"

It was too late.

More purple scorpions were surging from the direction of the entrance than from within the hall, completely blocking the way back.

On the northern side of the hall, Princess Zhao Miner had put away her folding fan at some point and was forming hand seals.

"Form the Formation! Tiangang Beast-Suppressing Formation, with me as the eye, move!"

The experts of the Great Yuan Imperial Family behind her quickly took their positions.

Eight Wufa Realm Cultivators stepped onto the Formation positions and spread out. Their Qi converged, forming a rotating shield of spiritual light in front of Princess Zhao Miner.

Princess Zhao Miner bit the tip of her tongue and sprayed essence blood onto a fist-sized Copper Bell hanging from her waist.

"Buzz..."

The Copper Bell vibrated, and a golden bell phantom rose from it. It was three zhang high and hung above the Formation.

The bell phantom hummed, and golden sound waves rippled outward visibly, sweeping through the charging swarm of purple scorpions.

Wherever the sound waves reached, the purple scorpions' movements stalled for a moment, as if their instincts were being suppressed.

"Now! Kill!" Princess Zhao Miner shouted sharply.

The eight Wufa Realm Cultivators in the Formation attacked simultaneously. Sword Qi and blade glows slashed out from the spiritual light shield, shattering over a dozen of the nearest purple scorpions.

But there were too many purple scorpions.

Three larger purple scorpions joined forces to crash into the golden bell phantom, their pincers and stingers stabbing fiercely at the source of the sound waves.

The phantom cracked.

A crack appeared on the golden bell, and the frequency of the sound waves suddenly became unstable. Princess Zhao Miner let out a muffled groan, and a trickle of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth.

The Formation began to shake.

The Bald Old Court Consultant stepped out of his position and struck the head of the largest purple scorpion with a palm. As the shell shattered, venom splattered all over his hand, and the old man's right arm instantly swelled into a dark purple color.

"Your Highness! I cannot hold out for much longer!"

Princess Zhao Miner wiped the blood from her mouth, her teeth gritting audibly.

"Hold for another incense stick's time!"

Just as she finished speaking, her peripheral vision caught a scene.

On the southern side of the hall, a purple scorpion lunged from behind a stone pillar toward the back of a gray-robed youth's head.

Princess Zhao Miner instinctively wanted to shout "Watch out," but before she could open her mouth, it was already over.

The gray-robed youth did not even turn his head.

His right hand emerged from his sleeve, his index and middle fingers pressed together, and he made a slicing motion by his side.

There was no sword light, no leaking Qi; it was just a simple movement of his fingers.

The ten-zhang-long purple scorpion was severed into two clean halves. The cut was as neat as if made by a blade, and the patterns on the cross-section of the carapace were clearly visible.

The two halves of the scorpion's body slammed into the ground, creating two pits, and purple body fluid flowed everywhere.

Princess Zhao Miner's pupils contracted sharply.

With her cultivation at the Peak of the Wufa Realm, she hadn't even clearly seen the moment the other party struck.

What was this person's background?

Princess Zhao Miner etched this ordinary-looking face into her mind.

On the other side of the hall, a fight was also underway.

The stone pillar Yun Feiyang was leaning against had mostly shattered. Four purple scorpions surrounded him, their pincers and stingers attacking in turns.

He did not draw his sword.

An inconspicuous green spiritual light condensed in his left palm, and he pushed it forward.

The spiritual light vanished into the scorpion swarm, and the four purple scorpions were suddenly seized as if by an invisible giant hand. Their shells burst from the inside, shattering into a floor full of carapace fragments.

Gu Changsheng leaned against a stone pillar, squinting as he watched Yun Feiyang's move.

With just one look,

He saw through Yun Feiyang's cultivation.

Peak Wufa Realm, and he had already stepped halfway across the threshold into the Celestial Phenomenon Realm, commonly known as a Half-step Celestial Phenomenon.

"A reborn Genius," Gu Changsheng mentally labeled Yun Feiyang.

This level of talent was enough for him to take notice.

Princess Zhao Miner retracted the golden bell phantom. Two cracks had appeared on the Copper Bell, and she winced in pain as she carefully tucked it back into her waist.

Her left shoulder had been slashed by a scorpion pincer, blood seeping into the gaps of her armor, and purple-black toxin was spreading around the wound.

She took out a Medicinal Pill, put it in her mouth, chewed it, and swallowed. Only then did the toxin stop spreading.

The experts of the Great Yuan Imperial Family behind her were in even worse shape. One of the eight Wufa Realm Cultivators had fallen, and the remaining seven were all injured.

Princess Zhao Miner scanned the hall, her gaze landing on the southern side.

The gray-robed youth was leaning against a stone pillar, with a follower standing hunched over beside him.

No Loose Cultivators dared to approach within three zhang of him. The corpses of three purple scorpions lay on the ground, each killed with a single blow.

Princess Zhao Miner took a deep breath and stepped toward them.

Third Prince Zhao Fengqi pulled her sleeve from behind. "Sister, where are you going?"

"To have a word." Princess Zhao Miner brushed his hand away.

She walked to a spot three steps in front of Gu Changsheng and cupped her hands in greeting.

"Zhao Miner of the Great Yuan Dynasty greets the Young Master."

Gu Changsheng looked at Princess Zhao Miner, his expression as calm as water.

"So it is the Eldest Princess. I have heard much about you."

Princess Zhao Miner was taken aback, then she smiled, her teeth showing.

"I saw that your strength is formidable, Your Excellency, being able to kill purple scorpions at will. Therefore, I wished to come and make your acquaintance. I hope you do not mind."

Gu Changsheng glanced at her.

This woman was quite straightforward, not beating around the bush.

"How should I address Your Excellency?" Princess Zhao Miner asked.

"Lu Jiu," Gu Changsheng said casually.

"Lu Jiu?" Princess Zhao Miner repeated the name, sizing him up from head to toe.

Gray cloth robe, iron sword, an average face.

No matter how she looked at him, he did not seem like someone who could instant-kill a ten-zhang purple scorpion.

"Which Sect is Brother Lu from?"

"A Loose Cultivator."

"A Loose Cultivator can have cultivation like yours, Your Excellency?" Princess Zhao Miner raised an eyebrow.

"I was lucky and happened to strike a soft spot."

Princess Zhao Miner stared at him for two breaths, then smiled and shook her head.

"Fine, if Brother Lu is unwilling to say, I will not press further."

She took out a token from her waist and held it out.

"This is a Passage Token of the Great Yuan Imperial Family. If Brother Lu passes through Dadu in the future, you can enter the Inner City with this token. Miner will play the host and treat Your Excellency to a drink."

Gu Changsheng looked down at the token and didn't stand on ceremony, reaching out to take it.

"Alright."

Princess Zhao Miner cupped her hands and turned to walk back.

After five steps, she glanced back.

The gray-robed youth was casually stuffing the token into his sleeve, his movements and expression full of laziness.

But her back was still tense.

With this kind of person, the more casual they seemed, the less they could be taken lightly.

Gu Changsheng watched her walk away and flipped the token over in his sleeve.

This woman handled matters quite efficiently, without being clingy.

Coming from the Imperial Family, she carried herself with a certain degree of grace.