Chapter 12: Two-Tailed Scorpion

Chapter 12: Two-Tailed Scorpion (Please Keep Reading)

Exactly at noon, the disciples of the Second Sub-Academy gathered once more at the camp’s exit.

Xiao Chen noticed that compared to the morning, about four or five juniors were missing—likely those who had chosen to withdraw from the trial.

This was only natural. Facing even a slight risk to one’s life would inevitably stir fear, no matter how minor the danger.

Sometimes, he truly couldn’t understand what the sect’s elders were thinking.

After a simple draw of lots, the disciples of the Second Sub-Academy chose different paths into the mountains. This was to ensure they spread out and avoided clustering together.

Of course, the sect hadn’t forced anyone to act alone. However, at this point, while competition wasn’t fierce, everyone still felt pressure to earn trial points.

If multiple disciples traveled together, the spirit beasts wouldn’t be foolish enough to approach. This would leave the group struggling to complete the trial requirements.

Thus, despite their fears, most chose to act alone, while the rest formed pairs.

The Feihong Mountains were a completely natural range. Before the trial began, there had been no human presence—and thus no established paths.

This was because the mountains were filled with toxic miasma. For ordinary people, inhaling too much could lead to illness or even death.

Thankfully, cultivators could expel the toxins using mana, though their vision would still be slightly impaired, making it hard to see clearly beyond a hundred zhang.

At the Lian Qi stage, cultivators couldn’t yet project their spiritual sense outward, so they had to slow their pace to avoid potential dangers.

Under these circumstances, the disciples quickly spread apart.

Ye Fei, who had set out slightly ahead of Xiao Chen, was the first to detect signs of a spirit beast.

Following broken branches, he pursued decisively and soon found a Qi Condensation Fifth Layer Dark Armor Turtle.

After a fierce battle, he beheaded it with his flying sword, earning five points.

Ye Fei sighed, “This trial is indeed challenging. A Dark Armor Turtle actually took me a full quarter-hour to defeat—and nearly wounded me.”

Reviewing the fight, he noticed the shattered rocks struck by the turtle’s attacks. He realized these spirit beasts seemed to have ingested some drug that heightened their ferocity.

In truth, he was correct. Before being released into the mountains, all spirit beasts had been fed special drugs to awaken their primal savagery.

This served two purposes: to increase the trial’s difficulty and to prevent the beasts from fleeing midway.

Otherwise, if a beast realized it couldn’t win and tried to escape halfway, the situation would become awkward.

However, this also meant that once injured, the beasts would fight to the death, significantly raising the trial’s danger.

Xiao Chen even encountered an injured junior returning in the opposite direction.

“Zhang junior brother, are you alright?”

“It’s Senior Brother Xiao Chen! Sigh… I met a Two-Tailed Scorpion by the stream ahead. I was careless and got stabbed.”

“How bad is the injury? My Water Healing Technique is decent—should I help?”

Zhang waved him off, sighing, “No need. I’ve already taken a pill. Alas, my thigh was wounded, so I can’t continue the trial.”

He warned, “Senior Brother, you must be careful. Avoid that area if possible—take another path.”

“That scorpion’s tails are terrifying. One can pierce Golden Light Technique defenses with brute force, while the other moves so fast it can bypass earth shields to strike the cultivator directly.”

“If not for that, I wouldn’t have been caught off guard and nearly killed by that beast.”

His face paled further, clearly shaken.

Xiao Chen clasped his hands in gratitude. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll be cautious.”

After parting ways, Xiao Chen formed the hand seal for Golden Light Technique, preparing his defense.

He also took a Light Body Talisman from his robe, holding it in his left hand to activate with mana.

Though confident in his spellpower, he lacked practical combat experience—prudence was key.

The Light Body Talisman allowed cultivators to harness a trace of wind force, lightening their body for swift movement. Perfect for both pursuit and escape.

After walking for a quarter-hour, he reached the stream and broken trees.

Following the principle of “strike the softest fruit first,” Xiao Chen decided to avoid the Two-Tailed Scorpion for now, prioritizing his journey before seeking other spirit beasts for points.

He deliberately chose to skirt the right side of the grass.

“Swoosh!”

As he approached the grass, a sharp whistling sound erupted.

Instinctively, Xiao Chen activated Golden Light Technique. A surge of mana from his dantian shot through his fingertips, instantly forming a thick golden barrier over his body.

“Dang! Dang!”

Metallic clashing sounds rang out as a pair of scorpion tails struck his temples from both sides, only to rebound off the golden light.

The Two-Tailed Scorpion, unable to catch up, had instead ambushed him in the grass under the drug’s influence.

This sudden attack was nearly fatal. Without Xiao Chen’s exceptionally robust Golden Light Technique, he would have suffered grave consequences.

“Hiss~”

A wisp of smoke rose as the talisman activated, sending a gust of wind to propel him backward.

While retreating, Xiao Chen fixed his gaze on the black Two-Tailed Scorpion and cast Fireball Technique.

Though he’d practiced it few times, his mana’s speed allowed him to cast it swiftly.

Before the beast could charge, he launched a fist-sized fireball.

“Pfft!”

No flames erupted as expected, nor sparks.

The orange fireball tore through the scorpion’s left side, exiting its rear before slamming into a distant rock, bursting into a shower of sparks.

“Huh?”

Xiao Chen leapt two zhang backward, then saw the Two-Tailed Scorpion frozen in place, motionless.

“Hmm?”

A breeze carried the scent of charred meat.

Was it dead?

Just like that?

The cultivation chamber was lifeless, but now Xiao Chen finally understood his true strength.

“My hex effects are this powerful?”

Facing a Qi Condensation Fifth Layer Two-Tailed Scorpion, he’d killed it in one strike.

Normally, piercing a spirit beast’s shell head-on was extremely difficult. Even an ordinary Qi Condensation Fifth Layer cultivator would struggle to fully penetrate it with a flying sword.

Yet Xiao Chen now checked if he’d damaged the beast’s core token.

“Good, the jade token’s intact.”

He retrieved it from the wound, rinsed it in the stream, and saw the clear number “five” engraved.

Though he’d known killing spirit beasts wouldn’t be hard for him, the hunt had been simpler than expected.

“Each point equals three spirit stones.”

His eyes gleamed with excitement. “This isn’t a trial—it’s a money grab!”

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end