Page 362

Smart people can sometimes be easily schemed against, because intelligent people tend to take the initiative to attack, and sometimes they end up exposing their weaknesses.

Zi Yue was one of the cleverest people Chen Qing had ever met, excelling in observational skills and decisiveness. Matching wits with such a person boiled down to a contest of intelligence.

The moment Chen Qing encountered the Heavenly Ghost Octopus, he knew he was nearly trapped in a half-dead situation. If Zi Yue saw through his desire to collect Jade Stones, she would cling to him like a parasite, making it impossible for him to shake her off without her making any rash moves.

In such a scenario, Chen Qing naturally wouldn’t dare make a move either. He was unclear about Zi Yue’s capabilities, including Bai Yu’s trump card. Chen Qing hated fighting battles without intelligence more than anything.

So he waited...

Zi Yue guessed correctly; indeed, he coveted the vast quantity of Jade Stones in the Dragon Palace. The biggest problem with taking the stones was transport, so to move these resources in a short time, he needed a special biological weapon capable of carrying away the crystals at once.

All this... Zi Yue guessed it right. One had to admit, she was clever, intuiting all of his strategies promptly, thinking in patterns unlike anyone he had encountered before.

But that didn’t impede his own scheming because he always held more intelligence.

Zi Yue could guess that he needed a biological weapon to transport the Jade Stones, that much was true, but what she couldn’t predict was exactly which creature he required!

On this point, Chen Qing was certain. Since she didn’t even know this place was a biological weapon depot, it was impossible for her to be aware of the massive variety of creatures here, but he knew.

Selecting a creature that seemed to meet his needs, but was in reality deadly, was no difficult task for Chen Qing, the creator.

The Heaven Devourer Dragon Whale was such a being.

Judging by its name, it possessed exceptional devouring capabilities.

All he needed to do was appear as if he was trying to save this creature, and with Zi Yue’s intelligence, she would definitely guess his motive.

However, without intel, she wouldn’t be able to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

Indeed, the Heaven Devourer Dragon Whale had an exaggerated ability to swallow objects, but unfortunately, it also had an even more exaggerated digestive capability.

Its terrifying gastric acid could digest various non-flesh objects, which meant that once it swallowed the Jade Stones, there was no way to regurgitate them intact.

The real monster capable of transporting Jade Stones was something Chen Qing had already planned for, and this one before him... was naturally bait!

The Dragon Clan had cultivated it for tens of thousands of years. The level of the Heaven Devourer Dragon Whale had become quite high, its giant maw nearly able to swallow a third of the space it occupied.

In Chen Qing’s design, it was a very calm hunter that hid deep within the thick crust on ordinary days, slumbering.

Through its tentacles imbued with bio-engineered fish, it blended into schools of fish, seeking out prey.

Once the prey arrived at the very center of its striking zone, it would strike decisively, like right now!

The Void Maw burst forth from the depth, engulfing heaven and earth.

With Zi Yue rendered immobile by the Anti Demon Array, she had nowhere to escape now, and most importantly, the Heavenly Ghost Octopus—with its enormous size—was rarely harmed by any creature.

But the Heaven Devourer Dragon Whale was the one creature that might have a chance!

"You used yourself as bait?" Zi Yue was astonished as she looked at Chen Qing.

At that instant when the Void Maw appeared, her intelligence allowed her to deduce that all this was the reverse calculation of Chen Qing, but seeing that she could no longer flee the Void Maw, she still harbored some unsolved doubts.

"Two questions!"

"Please ask, Senior," Chen Qing said with a smile.

"First, during the standoff with that giant octopus, you deliberately sent out a very covert spiritual power probe behind you. Did you guess that I could detect your movement?"

This confused Zi Yue since that particular move was key to signaling that she was being lured into a trap, yet the ability to detect someone else’s spiritual power probe was something scarcely known in the world.

"I had an idea..." Chen Qing smiled. "I’m not familiar with you, Senior, but I have a rough idea of your background. The Sorcerer Dynasty... Fourth sequence: Shadowmoon Project, right?"

"You..." Zi Yue’s eyes widened. How did this guy know about that as well?

"Does the Senior have any other questions?" Chen Qing asked, looking towards the Void Maw as it was about to close, and everything was about to plunge into darkness, smiling, "But there’s no time left."

"This Anti Demon Array doesn’t differentiate between friend or foe, does it?" Zi Yue sneered. "I can’t escape, but can you?"

"I don’t need to escape..." Chen Qing shook his head. "For Senior Zi Yue, losing a clone is not a pity."

"Clone..." Zi Yue stood dumbfounded. This guy... had a clone too?

That’s right, she seemed to remember Heiyun mentioning it. During the first attack of the living dead on Lyuzhou City, indeed, two Chen Qings had appeared on the city walls...

-----------------------------

"Zi Yue!!"

Bai Yu’s eyes bulged as she watched the giant maw engulf everything, while Murong could only drag her with him, fully activating the Divine Wind Technique to flee from the location, a close call indeed!

The Heaven Devourer Dragon Whale truly lived up to its name, its bite seemed to have taken down a whole provincial city!

If it wasn’t for Murong and Bai Yu having been in a higher position to monitor Chen Qing from the beginning, even fully activating the Divine Wind Technique might not have resulted in their escape unscathed.

"Has Chen Qing gone mad?" Murong wondered as he saw Chen Qing also being swallowed by the maw, but to his relief, the giant octopus monster that had been hunting them got bit in half by the Heaven Devourer Dragon Whale!

Half its body was bitten off in one bite, and its piercing roar made the entire space shake. The collision of the two massive beasts was truly a spectacular sight.

At this, Murong let out a sigh of relief. After all, if such a monster were to escape, the common folk might really be finished...

Huh?

As this thought struck her, Murong suddenly paused. Why did she care about the common folk?

Wasn’t she herself a monster that plagued them?

"How is that possible?" Bai Yu’s face was hideously twisted, clearly finding it unbearable that Zi Yue was gone just like that, "She can’t just be gone. Go find her. Alive, we must see her; dead, we must find her body!"

"Go find her?" Murong looked at Bai Yu in astonishment. "Are you joking? What can you do if that monster finds you? And... is Zi Yue really that important to you? Just a collaborator, and yet you make it sound like life and death separation. Aren’t you taking it too far?"

"What do you know?" Bai Yu turned abruptly, his gaze icy and even filled with a hint of murderous intent. "You are just..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the extremely angry Bai Yu finally didn’t say the rest, seeming to realize that he’d been too harsh. After taking a breath, he turned his head away from Murong Yunji’s stunned gaze and said in a low voice, "Let’s leave here first..."

"Mm..."

Murong responded softly, but her mind was somewhat clear. She could see that Bai Yu... had indeed harbored the intention to kill her!

Why?

Just because she spoke ill of Zi Yue?

Was it worth it?

She was his sister who had accompanied him for a thousand years, one of only two females among the Ancient Worms who had depended on each other for tens of thousands of years.

They had always supported each other to avoid being hunted by their brothers.

Such a bond, yet just because she mentioned Zi Yue, he wanted to kill her?

What’s going on?

Murong felt increasingly uncomfortable, and this discomfort was not just emotional upset, but also an inexplicable feeling of dissonance.

Meanwhile, Bai Yu’s gaze flickered secretly, clearly regretting what he had just said.

A few breaths later, the Void Maw finally closed, and Murong, who had escaped to a very high place, secretly breathed a sigh of relief. That Heaven Devourer Dragon Whale was truly exaggerated. If she had been a mere ten thousand zhang lower, she might not even have had the chance to escape.

On the other hand, the Heavenly Ghost Octopus, left with only half its body, was wailing as it retreated rapidly, clearly taken aback by the attack, thinking it had encountered something terrifying, quickly fleeing away!

This was its first choice to retreat after invading more than a dozen spaces!

"This time, everything went smoothly fortunately."

A gentle and familiar voice came from not far away, causing both Murong and Bai Yu to startle, and they turned to look over sharply.

"Chen Qing?"

Wasn’t he...

At this moment, the figure in white robes, Chen Qing, was spotlessly neat, causing both of them to react as if they had seen a ghost.

Chen Qing, however, continued to look at the direction the Heavenly Ghost Octopus withdrew to. "If it had been a flop like the Earth Fiend Jellyfish, I’m afraid nothing would have stopped it from escaping."

In reality, the Heaven Devourer Dragon Whale’s danger level was quite average.

Its ability to engulf heaven and earth was a special power, belonging to Divine Skills.

The Dragon Clan had imbued it with the Dragon Kraken’s lineage, bestowing upon it the ability of the Void Maw, but in fact, the Dragon Whale’s size wasn’t large, and such a Divine Skill required nearly three days to cooldown after each use, usually lying dormant within the earth’s crust.

Moreover, this Divine Skill needed to be pre-emptively set up; otherwise, its effect was limited. Thus, compared to the Earth Fiend Jellyfish, the danger level of the Heaven Devourer Dragon Whale was lower by one grade.

However, its Divine Skill was very effective at catching the Heavenly Ghost Octopus off guard, which was a formidable creature.

Of course, it was impossible to stop the Heavenly Ghost Octopus forever.

It had devoured so many monsters, elevating its biological level beyond this version, becoming matchless.

It only needed some time to recover. Once recovered, the Heaven Devourer Dragon Whale would sooner or later be discovered by it.

It was but a shell of its former self, but at least they had bought some time.

"Who exactly are you?" asked Murong, her face cold.

"Ah..." Chen Qing sighed, looking at Murong. "You shouldn’t be asking me. You should be asking yourself, who are you exactly!

At these words, Murong’s face showed confusion, while Bai Yu’s face was covered with dark clouds!