Chapter 422: The Hundred-Thousand-Year Sand Demon Worm
Tang Wulin, in essence, had a safety net.
Even in the original storyline, during the final battle against Abyss Lord, Tang Wulin's strength was still far from sufficient. Facing Abyss Lord who descended onto the Douluo Plane, he had no means of resistance.
However, he had the Sea God and the Plane Master as his backup.
If Xu Yuan wanted to shoulder the responsibility of devouring Abyss Lord to upgrade Douluo Star by himself, bypassing their aid, then he truly could only rely on himself.
Ten years—just thinking about it was enough to make one despair.
"Could I delay for a few more years?" This thought had crossed Xu Yuan's mind more than once.
Knowing the original storyline's progression, Xu Yuan actually had many strategies to delay the ultimate decisive battle.
But pulling one thread would move the entire web. Delaying the Abyss threat would mean bringing the threat posed by the soul beasts led by the Silver Dragon King to the forefront.
"Although it might seem smoother at first glance, the soul beasts are also tied to Da Ming and Er Ming. If those two get involved and bring Tang Wulin into the mix, it would force an early confrontation with the Plane Master."
Every time Xu Yuan thought about this, he felt a headache coming on.
The problems plaguing Douluo Star were numerous.
And the level of strength required to solve these issues was incredibly high. For Xu Yuan to reach that level of power, time was tight.
"Troublesome."
While pondering over this vexing issue, Xu Yuan didn't dare to slack off in his cultivation. At the same time, he continued his journey toward the Blood God Legion.
When he was still in Tianding City, Xu Shengqun had already completed his request and successfully proposed sending a group of researchers to the Blood God Legion to study Abyss energy, reserving a spot for him.
On the Shrek side, Xu Yuan used soul-guided communication to inform Yun Ming that he would be training in the Blood God Legion for a while.
The Blood God Legion was located in the western region of the continent.
Unlike Zhenmo Pass, which was guarded by the Western Legion and situated in the southwestern part of the continent, the Blood God Legion was located in the northwest—the heart of the continent's largest desert.
As Xu Yuan traveled through the vast western desert, he couldn't help but feel a wave of irritation.
"This desert is really no place for humans."
Driving his mech suit and accelerating constantly, Xu Yuan just wanted to quickly pass through this endless expanse of yellow sand.
Roar!
A furious roar came from ahead of Xu Yuan, and a tornado filled with endless sand and rocks rushed toward him.
Xu Yuan snorted coldly, his gaze piercing through the terrifying tornado and locking onto the massive figure behind it.
"So there's a hundred-thousand-year Sand Demon Worm."
The Sand Demon Worm was a unique type of soul beast native to deserts, surviving and cultivating by consuming the juices of various living beings—animals, plants, and even soul beasts were their targets.
Below the Sand Demon Worm's head was an extremely sharp proboscis. Once it pierced a target's body, it would liquefy all the target's energy and suck it in through its proboscis.
(T/N: In insects a proboscis is an organ for sucking. E.g. Mosquitos for sucking blood, butterflies for nectar, etc.)
The proliferation of Sand Demon Worms caused the continuous expansion of the desert. The reason this western desert became the largest desert on the continent was largely due to the "contributions" of these Sand Demon Worms.
In theory, Sand Demon Worms were insects, and their method of reproduction relied on sheer numbers.
The Federation's inability to solve the problem of desert expansion caused by Sand Demon Worms stemmed from their overwhelming numbers.
Because of this, despite their voracious consumption, each individual worm received so little energy that even thousand-year-old Sand Demon Worms were rare, let alone ten-thousand-year ones.
Yet today, Xu Yuan had encountered a hundred-thousand-year Sand Demon Worm.
"A hundred-thousand-year Sand Demon Worm? Let me see what you're capable of!"
The enormous mech suit transformed into a dazzling light, with its core continuously condensing into a small human figure.
Battle armor fusion, mech suit transforming into combat armor.
The entire process went smoothly, and Xu Yuan entered dual-armor mode.
Behind him, a pair of giant wings formed from the mech suit's transformation spread wide.
The wings flapped, carrying him swiftly out of the tornado's path.
The Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear in hand, blood essence erupted, and he was enveloped in a crimson flame of blood essence.
Five black soul rings simultaneously flashed.
"First Soul Skill, Five Elements Spear Technique!"
The five elemental forces rotated at the spear tip, mutually reinforcing each other in perfect harmony. Yet this perfectly closed structure occasionally shifted, as if the five elements opened a giant maw to devour everything.
"Second Soul Skill, Spear Demon Invincible Body!"
The crimson flames of blood essence burned fiercely, the explosive power infusing the spear's body. A dazzling blood-red spear aura burst forth from the spear tip.
"Third Soul Skill, Piercing Spear!"
A streak of dark gold blossomed within the blood-red spear aura.
"Fourth Soul Skill, Flame of Life!"
Emerald green flames mingled with the crimson flames.
"Fifth Soul Skill, Manifestation of Blood Essence!"
The emerald green and crimson spear aura instantly shot out from the spear.
A condensed spear shadow tore across the sky.
Emerald green and crimson intertwined, with a razor-sharp dark golden aura blooming at the spear tip.
Boom!
The spear aura pierced through heaven and earth, descending from the sky and colliding with the thirty-meter-long figure.
Terrifying energy erupted in all directions, carrying endless sand and spreading outward.
Without waiting for the dust to settle, the crimson flames of blood essence around Xu Yuan rapidly condensed.
"Fifth Soul Skill, Manifestation of Blood Essence: Dharma Heaven Image!"
Transforming into a colossal Dharma image, Xu Yuan leapt down from the sky.
The flying sands swirled around him, and through the blurry vision, a black shadow gradually enlarged.
Boom!
The Dharma image landed, creating another ripple of energy that swept in all directions.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The blood essence Dharma image showed no fear of the countless smaller Sand Demon Worms.
Transformed into the Dharma image, Xu Yuan wielded a long spear condensed from blood essence, repeatedly smashing it against the hundred-thousand-year Sand Demon Worm's shell.
Continuous explosions echoed through the heavens and earth.
This was a pure force collision.
A massive, jagged spear wound marred the tough shell of the hundred-thousand-year Sand Demon Worm, with dark green fluid splashing from the injury.
Around the gaping hole in the shell, cracks began to appear.
Xu Yuan's relentless barrage of brutal attacks quickly shattered the Sand Demon Worm's sturdy defensive shell.
"Roar!"
The Sand Demon Worm let out a furious roar. Its back suddenly exploded, spraying dark green fluid that completely covered Xu Yuan's Dharma image, rapidly corroding its form.
Since the blood essence Dharma image was already in an energy state, it didn't need to be converted further.
The fluid quickly contaminated Xu Yuan's Dharma image. The contaminated portion of blood essence energy rapidly detached from the image, rolling to the ground. Some of it landed on the Sand Demon Worm's body, where it was quickly absorbed.
The Sand Demon Worm violently broke free from Xu Yuan's Dharma image's restraint, letting out a sharp screech. Dark green energy surged from its back, rapidly forming a new shell—this time, a dark green one.
As the Sand Demon Worm consumed more and more dark green energy, the color of the shell gradually deepened.
Facing a hundred-thousand-year Sand Demon Worm for the first time, Xu Yuan was caught somewhat off guard.
"Has it evolved beyond relying solely on its proboscis to extract and devour energy?"
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