While everyone was discussing this, there was a crack as the ground cracked open. Nearby, a building collapsed into dust, revealing a patch of white underneath.
Many cultivators ran over excitedly, thinking that they had discovered something, but they soon felt their scalps go numb. "It's all parasites. Be careful, don't alarm them."
Everyone looked at their feet. Could it be that there were parasites down there?
That meant that they were standing within a wave of parasites.
This idea horrified everyone, and they immediately flew into the air, not daring to touch the ground for fear that the parasites would awaken.
Someone suddenly spoke up, "Do you guys think that the entire centipede is filled with parasites?"
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines. If that was the case, then it would be terrifying. With these parasites' defenses, even a Hunter would find it difficult to charge out, let alone them.
The centipede was so large that if it was filled with parasites, then it could drown many planets. The sheer number of parasites was enough to make anyone want to vomit.
Northgate Gang barked, "What's there to be afraid of? Our Northgate family's ancestor is here. So what if they're all parasites?"
Everyone relaxed. Right, there was an old monster outside with a power level in the hundreds of thousands. That old monster could destroy a large area if he wanted to.
Everyone carefully flew forward, as they were worried that some idiot would alarm the parasites. That would be troublesome.
The further in they went, the greater the pressure they felt. Suddenly, the person at the very front fell down and died.
Everyone was horrified, and they all turned to look at Lu Yin. Lu Yin's eyes narrowed. "It's that attack again. There must be a pike up ahead."
Everyone froze in place, not daring to move.
"Brother Lu, could I trouble you to remind us again?" Northgate Lie asked.
Everyone looked at Lu Yin expectantly.
Lu Yin shrugged. "I'm sorry, Brother Northgate. I used up too much of my energy earlier, and I really don't have any more energy."
Northgate Lie's eyes flashed. "How can Brother Lu recover your energy?"
Lu Yin looked up at the sky and then at the crowd. He calculated that there were more than three hundred people here, and each person had 10,000 star crystals. Wouldn't that be three million star crystals?
That was equivalent to thirty star essence. He had borrowed fifty star essence from Lulu, which meant that he would be able to repay more than half of his debt.
As he thought about it, he grew excited. Why hadn't he thought of this before? If he had known, he wouldn't have helped these people lockbreak and just charged them entrance fees. Back then, there had been a thousand people present. Not only would he have been able to repay Lulu's debt, but he would have also been able to make a fortune. It was a pity that he had forgotten.
"Ahem, well, everyone knows that lockbreaking consumes a lot of energy, so I'll have to buy some tonics to eat when I get out. Unfortunately, I don't have the money," Lu Yin said slowly, feeling a little embarrassed. Was he being too explicit?
The monkey was embarrassed. "Seventh Bro, asking for money is an illness that needs to be treated."
Northgate Lie's lips curled into a smile. He had already guessed that Lu Xuan liked money, and it was good that Lu Xuan had some hobbies. As he thought about it, he asked, "How much does Brother Lu need?"
"Ten thousand star crystals per person. That's not a lot, is it?"
Northgate Lie nodded. "Not much." He then tossed over a Mavis Bank crystal card. "There's 300,000 star crystals inside. My Northgate family is paying for the various members of the Northline Flowzone."
There were less than thirty members of the Northline Flowzone who had followed Northgate Lie in this direction, so 300,000 was more than enough.
Lu Yin looked at the others. "Everyone, the deeper you go, the more likely you'll encounter spears, and the more frequent those invisible attacks will be. Are you sure you don't need me to remind you?"
No one was too conflicted, as 10,000 was still within their reach.
Soon, Lu Yin began to collect the money, and he did so quite quickly. Back in the Astral Combat Academy, Craynor from the Blaze Realm had agreed to pay 20,000 star crystals. To these people from the Innerverse, 10,000 or 20,000 was still within their reach, but 100,000 wasn't much. That poor bastard Ah Fan had already given them an explanation.
The elder from the Blaze Realm tossed a Mavis Bank crystal card to Lu Yin, which contained the money from the Blaze Realm's disciples.
Lu Yin's breathing quickened; he had already earned three million star crystals in such a short period of time. This money was too easy to earn. Right, he should extort some more when he returned to the Northline Flowzone.
Lu Yin felt like he had grasped a business opportunity for the future. Earning money from lockbreaking wasn't the only way; the true path to wealth lay here. Wherever Lockbreakers were needed, there would be business opportunities.
"Brother Lu, I've already received the money. Please remind us," Northgate Lie said courteously.
Lu Yin smiled. "Don't worry, Brother Northgate. Of course, of course!" His expression suddenly changed, and he reached out with a hand that turned into a claw and pushed a young cultivator a hundred meters away.
Everyone was confused.
Lu Yin said, "Fortunately, I made it in time. Brother, you didn't lose out on 10,000."
The cultivator who had been pushed away by Lu Yin was stunned; he had almost died just then. He looked at Lu Yin with gratitude; 10,000 for a life was definitely worth it.
Everyone's hair stood on end, and they subconsciously moved closer to Lu Yin, not daring to stray too far away.
Lu Yin was pleased; this was his home ground.
The deeper they went, the more illusory spears appeared, and Lu Yin's reminders rang out from time to time.
Everyone's expressions grew uglier; this was too frequent. Was this for real?
They were all stunned the entire time.
"Look, what's that?" someone suddenly cried out.
Everyone looked into the distance and saw a tall building that looked like an ancient sacrificial altar.
There were many buildings along the way, but they were all very ordinary and looked more like places for ordinary people to live. The altar, however, was different; it was the most important place for a clan, and the presence of an altar proved that they had arrived at the heart of the clan.
Everyone increased their speed by quite a bit.
Lu Yin suddenly shouted, "Be careful! That shorty in front, crouch down!"
Up ahead, dozens of people crouched down together to avoid the illusory spears.
Lu Yin was speechless when he saw this scene. Were they not confident in their own height?
Of course, there were also those who were confident in their height. A man who looked like a bamboo pole leaped past the crowd and was the first to charge forward. He was not afraid of death.
Northgate Lie's brows rose. He wanted to give chase, but he was also worried about the illusory spears.
That person had no misgivings, and he quickly shook off the crowd.
Up ahead, many buildings had been reduced to dust, revealing the altar in the distance and its surroundings. There were many ancient buildings that looked much more majestic than the ones they had seen before. If what they had encountered before was a small tribe, then what they saw now was an ancient city.
The bamboo man excitedly rushed into the city and towards the altar. He was from the Tempest Flowzone's Fire Scorpion Sect, and he had unintentionally heard of an ancient legend. He had deliberately walked in the opposite direction from He Zhong's group, afraid that He Zhong would snatch away all the benefits.
That idiot He Zhong had thought that he was the only one among the disciples who knew that secret, but he did not know that Northgate Lie knew it as well.
The moment he saw the altar, he disregarded his own life and rushed forward, all for the sake of that sliver of hope. If that sliver of hope came true, then his future would change. For this reason, he would not hesitate to risk his life. So what if he died? He would rather die than have a bright future.
He got closer and closer to the altar.
Northgate Lie's eyes went wide, and he clenched his fists, wanting to give chase.
The bamboo man excitedly stared at the altar. He saw the words, the images, and the scene that caused his scalp to go numb: five spears. The bamboo man was terrified, and he did not dare to get any closer. There was a thump as he quickly descended, and the moment his feet touched the ground, the entire city was reduced to ashes.
Everyone stared blankly, as no one had expected such a thing to happen. An enormous ancient city had been reduced to dust because of a light sound.
Northgate Lie was furious. "You're courting death!" He quickly rushed to the bamboo man's side and slapped the man's head. The man's eyes were still fixed on the altar, and his eyes were bloodshot as he slowly collapsed to the ground, completely dead.
The others also rushed over and looked at the vanishing city with pity. They did not feel the slightest bit of sympathy for the bamboo man's death. If not for him, the city would not have disappeared. At the very least, they would have been able to see more of it, and perhaps they would have been able to discover something useful.
However, the city had already disappeared, and everyone was helpless. They could only look at the altar.
"Be careful! Everyone, back off!" Lu Yin sternly warned as he grabbed a few people and pulled them back. Everyone looked up and saw the scene that the bamboo man had just seen. There were five spears, and beneath each of them was a dried corpse. The head, hands, and feet had all been pierced through by the spears. The five spears had nailed this person to the ground.
Everyone immediately retreated, feeling a chill run down their backs. They had been inside the centipede's body for so long, and even the words had disappeared. Now, they were actually looking at an ancient dried corpse. This corpse's age was definitely far beyond their imagination.
"A corpse from ancient times. Five spears dismembered it. How cruel!" The monkey was horrified.
Lu Yin's eyes narrowed as he looked at the altar. What kind of person would have such a deep hatred for this person to be dismembered by five spears? And on top of that, they had done it right on top of the altar.
Northgate Lie and the rest silently looked at the altar and the dried corpse, their eyes flickering.
There were also words on the altar, and everyone tried their best to memorize them.
At that moment, cracks appeared on the altar, and it turned to dust just like the other buildings. Everyone's hearts skipped a beat as they stared at the dried corpse.
Fortunately, the corpse had not turned to dust. This ancient corpse was very valuable for research, but the five spears made it so that no one dared to approach it. One spear was enough to kill everyone, let alone five.
"Hey, look! There's something there!" Lily Anne cried out.
Everyone looked over and saw that the altar had disappeared, and the dried corpse had been dismembered by the five spears. There were black words on the corpse's left hand, and three spears had fallen about a hundred meters away from the corpse.
The moment they saw the spears, everyone's eyes lit up. Lu Yin, Northgate Lie, the powerhouses from the Blaze Realm, and the other hidden experts all moved to snatch the spears. The three spears had fallen to the side, and they posed no threat at all. Only a fool would not try to snatch them.
Suddenly, the centipede's body trembled, and an ancient voice rang out in everyone's ears. "Everyone, retreat immediately. Violators will be killed without mercy."
This was Northgate Taisui's voice. He had joined forces with many powerhouses to relocate the centipede's body, and he would not allow anyone else to touch the things inside.
Lu Yin and the rest ignored him, and they all moved to snatch the spears. Lu Yin and Northgate Lie were the closest to the three spears.
"Brother Lu, the Northgate family is willing to pay a high price for these spears. Please don't interfere!" Northgate Lie shouted at Lu Yin as he dodged the spears.