"You know quite a lot. Tell me, what is the nightmare of the Calamity Immortals?" The captain looked interested.
Ning Yan shrank back, not daring to say anything.
"Rumor has it that after a pure-blooded Calamity Immortal dies, the calamity in their bodies will turn into nightmares, and it will be like a sealed world that will trap the person who disturbs their corpse. They will never be able to escape, and their flesh will gradually disappear until only their hearts remain, fusing with the nightmares."
As Ning Yan spoke with a trembling voice, Qing Qiu narrowed his eyes and quickly looked around.
Xu Qing's expression did not change much. His gaze fell into the distance, and as he continued to observe, the captain chuckled.
"As expected of a descendant of the Calamity Immortals. You actually know about Aluo's Nightmare Calamity. Not bad, not bad."
Almost at the instant the captain spoke, thumping sounds suddenly came from the world. It was like the sound of a heartbeat, and as it reverberated, the ground trembled, and the mountains shook. It was as if there was blood flowing in them, and even more bloody light spread out.
As the sky turned even redder, Xu Qing and the others were also enveloped by the bloody light. Soon, Xu Qing frowned, because he realized that his body was disappearing.
A fist-sized piece of flesh was missing from his right leg.
There was no blood flowing out, and there was no pain. All the disappearing happened silently.
Xu Qing did not panic. After checking his wound, he activated the Forbidden Poison Pill of the third Heavenly Palace in his body, and poison instantly filled his entire body.
At that moment, the others also showed signs of their flesh disappearing one after another. Half of Qing Qiu's palm disappeared, and Ning Yan's right ear and a small part of his face disappeared.
"It's starting! We're done for!"
Ning Yan screamed, and his eyes were filled with fear and despair. But the moment he screamed, the captain quickly approached him. He took out something and stuffed it into Ning Yan's open mouth.
Then, he patted Ning Yan's stomach. Ning Yan's eyes widened, and he could not help but swallow the thing in his mouth.
With a shocked expression, he said, "You, you, you, what did you feed me?"
"Good boy, you'll know soon enough." The captain had a faint smile on his face, and after he finished speaking, he looked at Xu Qing.
When Xu Qing noticed the captain's gaze, he turned his head to look at him. Along the way, the captain's various actions had already confirmed his guess.
"Junior brother, do you trust me?" The captain sent him a voice transmission with a smile.
Xu Qing nodded and waved his right hand. The Purple Moon Heavenly Palace in his body shook, and the aura of the Purple Moon spread out into Qing Qiu's body.
It did not invade her body. Instead, it drifted and spread throughout her body, using the hypostasis of the Purple Moon to help her resist the dissipating power. Then, as Qing Qiu's expression was complicated and puzzled, Xu Qing calmly sent a message to the captain.
"Eldest Senior Brother, are you saying that we still need some time before we can leave?
How long will it take? "
The captain smiled when he heard this. With just a few words, Xu Qing knew what he wanted to say. This sort of tacit understanding made him very happy, so he sent out a divine sense message.
"Junior Brother, I know you have a lot of questions in your heart, but we can't talk about this now. We can only do it. Just trust me. The king of the Heaven Top Nation is right. The way to enter the ten intestines of a True Immortal is like playing with a puzzle. We can't force our way in. The She Bi corpse was the first piece of the puzzle.
"We will need about an hour here. At most, we will need two hours before we can leave."
Xu Qing nodded and sat down cross-legged. As he waited silently, he also sent more of the Purple Moon's aura into Qing Qiu's body.
Qing Qiu felt more and more complicated. This was not the first time she felt that the Black Sky Clan was treating her differently.
"This evil Black Sky Clan must have ulterior motives!"
Qing Qiu took a deep breath and told herself silently.
Just like that, time passed little by little. The captain's body was also dissipating. However, he clearly had a way to resist, so the speed of his dissipation was not fast. As for Xu Qing and Qing Qiu, it was even slower.
Only Ning Yan had no one to help him. Strangely, he did not continue to dissipate.
However, Ning Yan was not surprised. Instead, he was even more alarmed. This was because he realized that although he did not dissipate, his stomach was gradually bulging.
It was as if something was being nurtured in his stomach …
Looking at his stomach, Ning Yan's face turned pale. His eyes widened, and he instinctively looked at the captain and begged.
"Sir, what did you feed me? Why do I feel like something is wrong with my stomach …"
As he spoke, Ning Yan's stomach suddenly swelled outwards and became even bigger. He instantly became extremely nervous.
Qing Qiu took a deep breath. Xu Qing had a strange expression on his face as he thought of Wu Jianwu's pet beasts.
The captain quickly walked to Ning Yan's side, his eyes filled with anticipation. "What do you feel in your stomach?" he asked gently.
"I feel like something is kicking me in my stomach." Ning Yan was really on the verge of tears.
"Take care of the baby!" The captain coughed.
Ning Yan wanted to curse, but he didn't dare. His forehead was covered with sweat, and his heart was filled with grief and indignation. Suddenly, he felt the thing in his stomach begin to move. It seemed to have reached his navel and was trying to burrow its way out.
"Sir, it, it, it …."
Ning Yan was shocked. In the next moment, the Daoist robe wrapped around his stomach revealed a sharp point near his navel.
Xu Qing and the other two immediately looked over.
Compared to the captain's anticipation, Xu Qing was more curious.
As for Qing Qiu, when she saw this, her mind trembled. She was extremely afraid of the evil methods of the Black Sky Clan.
As for Ning Yan, his mind was filled with endless fear. He immediately screamed. Then, his Daoist robe was torn apart, and tender green vines snaked out from inside.
These vines were very thin, and they quickly intertwined with each other. They continued to grow, growing taller and taller. Soon, they were three feet long, and their color had turned brown. They emitted an ancient aura.
"Silent Spirit Vine!" Ning Yan looked at the vines and exclaimed.
A hint of surprise appeared in the captain's eyes, and he looked at Ning Yan a few more times.
"Interesting. I realized that you really know a lot of things."
As he spoke, the vines that grew out of Ning Yan's stomach bent at a height of three feet. In the short span of ten breaths, they bent into a circle.
The moment they connected, ripples appeared in the circle, like waves on the surface of water. It was as if they had turned into a circular door.
"Let's go!" The captain winked at Xu Qing, then his body flickered as he entered the circle.
Xu Qing didn't hesitate. He grabbed Qing Qiu and shot toward the circle. After they disappeared, Ning Yan grew anxious. Just as he was about to ask for help, a hand reached out from the circle and grabbed the vines connected to Ning Yan's stomach. With a tug, Ning Yan's body was pulled into the circle.
In the next moment, the vines that had formed the circle retracted as Ning Yan left. Finally, they disappeared.
When they reappeared, they were still in the forest where the Ten Intestines Tree was. However, this was not the area where the woodpecker had been. Instead … they were in the deepest part of the Ten Intestines Tree.
Beneath the Ten Intestines Tree!
As soon as they appeared, Xu Qing's emotions surged. This was the closest he had ever been to the Ten Intestines Tree.
The Ten Intestines Trees in front of him were each three hundred feet thick. They clustered together and occupied an area of three thousand feet. Hundreds of feet in the air, they wriggled in different directions until they reached the clouds, where they swayed.
Countless slender leaves grew out from them, and the veins on each leaf seemed to contain magical laws. They emanated powerful ripples of spiritual energy, and one could imagine how shockingly valuable any one of them would be.
Countless branches spread out, and the value of the branches far exceeded that of the leaves. They glowed with the light of treasures, and contained not only magical laws, but also Daoist veins.
Each and every one of them was a precious treasure.
The tree itself was dark brown. In addition to the forked branches and leaves, the trunk was covered with protruding eyes, which stared at Xu Qing and the others. A fishy stench filled the air, and at the same time, a shocking pressure radiated out.
It gave off the feeling that the Ten Intestines Tree … was alive!
Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the true Immortal was alive!
Under the pressure, Xu Qing's vision began to blur.
It was as if the Ten Intestines Tree had transformed into a shocking figure, dancing and offering sacrifices. A sea of flames appeared around them, along with countless other dancing Cultivators.
The blurriness caused Xu Qing to feel extremely uncomfortable. The world in front of him constantly changed. Sometimes, the Ten Intestines Tree would appear, and sometimes, the sea of flames would appear.
His body seemed to twist and distort, and his intestines trembled as if they were about to burst out of his body.
Xu Qing panted. The power of the Third Heaven Palace, the poison pill, and the Fourth Heaven Palace, the Purple Moon, exploded out and spread throughout his body. Only then did the blurriness fade a little.
Qing Qiu's face was pale, and he gritted his teeth. Veins of blood appeared in his eyes as he struggled to hold on.
As for the Captain, his cultivation base also exploded with power. Faces appeared in the pupils of his eyes, and within the pupils of those faces, there were also faces. Layer upon layer, they helped him share the pressure of the Ten Intestines Tree.
Only Ning Yan seemed normal. His entire body emanated a metallic color, and the vines on his stomach swayed in sync with the Ten Intestines Tree.
He wanted to flee, but the other end of the vines was tightly gripped by the Captain. No matter how he tried to break the vines, he was incapable of doing so. All he could do was sit there with a sullen expression on his face.
Xu Qing took a deep breath. After recovering his composure, he looked around.
The soil beneath the Ten Intestines Tree was dark red, and there were no dead leaves or broken branches. Therefore, Xu Qing's gaze instinctively fell upon the leaves and branches of the Ten Intestines Tree.
"There are so many branches. It should be fine to break off one!"
Xu Qing licked his lips and looked at the Captain. The Captain looked back at him, and both of them could see the desire in each other's eyes.
Xu Qing charged forward.
The Captain dragged the reluctant Ning Yan along as he charged forward. In the blink of an eye, they were at the foot of the tree.
The Captain tore off three leaves and stuffed them into his mouth.
Xu Qing broke off a branch and quickly put it into his robe.
After the two of them were done, they looked at each other.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine!"
As he spoke, the True Immortal Ten Intestines Tree suddenly began to tremble. It swayed violently, and ripples of awakening spread out from it.
This scene caused Ning Yan to gasp. He looked at Xu Qing and the Captain as if he were looking at people who had a death wish. At this moment, he could clearly sense the madness and abnormality of these two people.
But then, Qing Qiu moved as well. She stood up, grabbed a leaf, and viciously tore it off, then put it into her mouth and ate it.
"Damn, why are you doing this too?!"
Seeing the Ten Intestines Tree shaking more and more, Ning Yan's eyes filled with terror.