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"Chu Xi" exclaimed, "Hong, hurry and help Chuxiong!"
Li Hong felt a stir in his heart upon hearing the name "Hong," filled with indescribable emotions, but he calmly replied, "Don't worry, my second brother will be fine. This is a good opportunity for him to practice in real combat."
Chuxiong was wrapped tightly by the Giant Slug, his ribs creaking under the pressure, his face pressed against the slug's belly, covered in its slimy, foul-smelling mucus. His body was being pulled down into the deep water. He could feel the pressure on his eardrums from the water.
Determined, he pushed against the slug's belly with his right arm, creating a small space for himself. He slightly turned his body and began to strike the Giant Slug's belly with powerful palm strikes. Chuxiong's approach was aggressive; each strike was infused with immense Fire Spirit energy, penetrating deep into the Giant Slug's insides. While the slug's tough exterior remained intact, the insides near Chuxiong had turned to mush. In pain, it could no longer hold on and released Chuxiong, fleeing into the depths of the water without looking back.
Chuxiong felt invigorated as his spiritual energy surged rapidly through his body. He pressed against the Giant Slug's large white tail and leaped back towards its belly. Suddenly, he noticed something shining in front of him.
To his surprise, there were three golden lines across the center of the Giant Slug's belly, each about a foot wide, crossing its abdomen in an unusual pattern.
Chuxiong had a sudden inspiration and charged straight for that spot, directing Flowing Fire along the golden lines to stab fiercely inside.
With a splat, Flowing Fire completely penetrated!
Chuxiong was overjoyed; it seemed he had found the Giant Slug's Vital Point! He formed hand seals to guide Flowing Fire as it darted inside the Giant Slug’s body, growing larger and larger. From the ruptured area of the slug’s belly, a large amount of milky white slime oozed out like pus from a wound, spewing forth soft, sticky gray-black flesh that resembled decaying fabric. The entire pond was churned into a murky and foul-smelling mess.
Chuxiong couldn't help but smile with delight, nearly swallowing a mouthful of dirty water.
The Giant Slug struggled desperately and rolled violently; the pond erupted into chaos as its large white tail flailed everywhere. Unable to stay any longer, Chuxiong focused his mind and let his spiritual energy flow throughout his body as he swiftly propelled himself upwards through the water.
Suddenly, something white flashed past him at high speed; he couldn't react in time and found himself shooting past it. Chuxiong burst out of the water in a spray of droplets.
Chu Xi had just relaxed when Li Hong smiled at her and said, "See? I told you not to worry. Now we just wait for that disgusting creature to meet its end."
Bubbles continued to rise on the surface of the water as chunks of grotesque flesh floated up. The once clear pond was now darkened and foul-smelling due to the dying Giant Slug, forcing the three above to hold their breath.
After a long while, as the water calmed down, Chuxiong recalled Flowing Fire. Soon after, a White Shadow became increasingly clear as it rose from small to large, soaring upward.
Although they knew the creature was enormous, the three of them were still taken aback upon seeing the corpse.
The Giant Slug lay stretched across both ends of the Deep Pool, its white belly exposed and missing one eye. Three golden threads had already lost their luster, with one of them having a large gash where all the internal organs had vanished, leaving it almost like an empty skin.
"Look at its neck!" Chu Xi exclaimed in surprise.
There was something glowing faintly red there.
Lingyi stepped forward and struck at the outer layer of Slime Skin surrounding the red light with her sword. To her surprise, even though the Giant Slug was dead, its outer skin remained extremely tough, and Lingyi couldn't pierce through it.
Chuxiong chuckled and summoned Flowing Fire, skillfully penetrating through the gash in the golden thread. Before long, Flowing Fire surged up with a bright red glow, lifting something at the tip of the sword.
It looked very much like Supreme Fire Jade Essence, about the thickness of a thumb, shining with red light and exuding a powerful Fire Spirit Energy. It resembled a large ruby, but this object clearly had flesh and blood condensed within it, showing obvious signs of life.
"Demon Core!" all three exclaimed in unison.
Li Hong smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to actually kill a real demon, little brother. You mustn't tell those Beast Cultivator Elders about this; otherwise, they will surely be displeased. However, Demon Cores are indeed valuable items; to the Demon Sect Monsters, they are supreme treasures. Keep it well; one day I’ll think of a way with Master Yue Changzi to refine you a High-Quality Spirit Tool Flying Sword. With this Demon Core, who knows? The quality of the Flying Sword might even match that of a Celestial Artifact."
Chuxiong was overjoyed. "You said it! You can't go back on your word!"
He happily stored away the Slime Demon Core.
Li Hong gazed thoughtfully at the now empty skin of the Giant Slug and remarked, "This creature is supposed to be extremely difficult to cultivate into a spirit. Especially since it has actually produced a true Demon Core—could it have had some fortuitous encounter? Regardless of that, I see that this Slime Skin is good material; even a High-Quality Spirit Tool Flying Sword can't break it. It must be able to be refined into some kind of tool; let's collect it first."
Li Hong summoned Lingyi again and scraped off the remaining flesh attached to the Slime Skin until it was clean. He then used Lingyi to lift the Slime Skin under the waterfall for rinsing. The waterfall washed away all impurities from inside the Slug's body, making the Slime Skin increasingly white and looking both tough and beautiful, resembling a small white boat.
Li Hong grinned as he hung it on a large rock by the Deep Pool. Just as he turned around to speak, he noticed Chu Xi frowning deeply, her delicate white hand tightly covering her mouth.
"What’s wrong with you?" Li Hongqi asked.
Chu Xi let out a sound, her face growing even paler. "Don't you find it disgusting? What's so special about that skin? You’re actually excited to scrub it!"
Li Hong understood the reason and burst into laughter. "Haha, so you really are afraid of bugs!"
"Hmph, only you rough-handed men wouldn't be scared!" Chu Xi soared toward the waterfall. "I'm going to see if there are any clues about the Celestial Mansion Map up there."
Li Hong dried the Slime Skin, forming it into a compact shape that quickly slipped into the Cosmic Bag. Just as he finished, Chu Xi flew back.
She shook her head. "I looked carefully; there are no clues up there." A thoughtful expression crossed her face. "It's strange; does the Fire Ant Queen just want us to kill this Giant Slug Demon?"
"That's very likely. The Fire Ant Queen's demon core is about to mature, and two tigers can't coexist on the same mountain. Since the two demons are too close, the Queen Ant probably wants to use us to eliminate this Slug," Li Hong said. A thought crossed his mind: "But that Queen Ant surely doesn't know about the Ancient God’s origins. The Ancient God ruins here are not fake. It’s really strange; I refuse to believe there aren’t any treasures left by the Ancient God nearby."
Chuxiong had been playing with the Slime Demon Core he had just obtained when he suddenly remembered something and shouted, "I got it!" He turned and jumped back into the water.
At this moment, most of the sludge from the Slug had been washed downstream, and the pool began to clear up. From the surface of the water, Chuxiong could be seen clearly; his figure grew smaller until he disappeared into the depths.
After about half an hour, Chuxiong's large head popped up above the surface. "Come down; I’ve made a discovery."
Li Hong thought for a moment, reached out his hand toward Chu Xi, and said, "Can I hold your hand?" His right hand then firmly grasped Chu Xi's delicate hand tightly.
Chu Xi's face flushed red, but she did not pull away.
The two of them held hands and jumped into the Deep Pool.
The water was extremely deep. They dove for a long time, feeling the pressure increase as their eardrums buzzed from the strain. Finally, Chuxiong stopped and pointed at the wall of the pool.
There was a strange white spot that looked like a bright dot; upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an opening that slanted upward, leading to an unknown destination. The opening was narrow, just wide enough for a person to pass through.
The three of them gathered at the entrance, and Chu Xi measured the space with her fingers, then glanced at Chuxiong's barrel-like waist. She transmitted her thoughts, "I'll go first, Chuxiong will be in the middle, and Hong, you'll be last. If Chuxiong gets stuck, we'll help each other from the front and back."
With the plan set, Chu Xi led the way into the opening.
The walls of the tunnel were very smooth, dark, and narrow. Although Chuxiong did not get stuck, Li Hongyu felt increasingly uneasy as they moved forward.
The light grew brighter as they approached the exit when suddenly Chu Xi came to a halt. Chuxiong, caught off guard, bumped into Chu Xi's legs. Chu Xi opened her mouth to scream but swallowed a mouthful of water instead as she was pushed forward by Chuxiong.
Chuxiong quickly followed Chu Xi up, and Li Hongyu emerged from the water right after them, immediately bombarded by Chu Xi's terrified screams echoing in his ears.
Upon closer inspection, Li Hongyu couldn't help but feel his scalp tingle.
They found themselves in a large vertical pit resembling a skylight. High above them was a bowl-sized opening through which bright sunlight streamed down onto the white objects scattered throughout the Cave Full of Crystals.
Everywhere were writhing slugs!
The larger ones were nearly as big as the Giant Slug Demon they had just defeated, while the smaller ones were only palm-sized. They piled on top of each other, covering the entire floor of the cave so that even the moss beneath was barely visible.
It seemed as if he could hear sounds; all the large and small slugs raised their soft, slippery white bodies and turned their bizarre black eyes with long horns toward the pool of water. Three slugs that were even larger than the one they had just killed slowly floated up and headed toward the pool.
Li Hongyu's hair stood on end as he shot out of the water into mid-air.
Unexpectedly, Chu Xi was faster. Amid her screams, White Shadow flashed and she had already reached the bowl-sized opening high above. Hanging there, she shouted, "I'm leaving first!"
With a flash of Crystal Light, she broke through the opening; stones fell like rain as she vanished in an instant.
Chuxiong also hurriedly dashed out, shouting, "I don't want to feel nauseous again!"
Li Hong found their antics both amusing and absurd, leaning over the cave entrance to look down. Upon closer inspection, he realized something significant.
It turned out that the cave walls were not ordinary rock; they were clearly jade. The Crystal Light shimmered, and because of this, the sunlight streaming through a small opening high above was reflected far and wide, reaching the Deep Pool beneath the waterfall outside.
The layer of green substance on the Cave Full of Crystals was not moss but a thick layer of green mud. A faint sweet aroma mingled with the fishy smell of Slugs, some of which were munching on Azure Mud.
Li Hong gradually recognized that this Azure Mud seemed to be the legendary treasure.
Long ago, he had heard tales from the village elders. It was said that in a certain deep mountain, there was an unfathomable pit where a woodcutter unfortunately fell in but did not die. He wandered through the winding cave, hoping to find an exit. When thirsty, he drank from the water dripping from the cave walls; when hungry, he dug into the Azure Mud beneath his feet to satisfy his hunger. This sustained him until he finally found a way out.
However, outside, more than a hundred years had passed, and everything had changed. Not only did he survive, but he also regained his youth. Those who understood told him that what he had been eating was indeed true Celestial Mud, a treasure of immortals; just a little could preserve one's youth and prolong life.
This was merely a legend, but seeing how the Slugs had grown so large by consuming Azure Mud from the jade stones made it clear that this Azure Mud was undoubtedly the fabled Celestial Mud.
Celestial Mud... Li Hong felt as if a light had been lit in his heart, illuminating a place within him little by little.
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