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Chapter 261 - The Aftermath
🕑 Added 2025-03-10 07:00:08 +0000 UTCThe aftermath of the Big Bang Annihilation was a scene of utter devastation. The once-barren desert was now a smoldering wasteland, littered with the charred remains of the earthworm underlings. Their massive, segmented bodies lay scattered across the cracked earth, half-burnt and seemingly lifeless. The intense heat from Leyvi's attack had scorched their outer layers, leaving their flesh blackened and brittle. The ground itself was scorched and cracked, with deep fissures radiating outward from the epicenter of the explosion. The air was thick with the acrid stench of burnt flesh and singed earth, a grim reminder of the ferocity of Leyvi's ultimate attack.
The Commander-Level Demonic Earthworm, however, had met a more gruesome fate. Its head had been completely obliterated, reduced to a smoldering crater of flesh. The explosion from within had torn through its body with catastrophic force, leaving only about three-quarters of its massive form intact. The remaining portion of its body, though severely damaged, still bore the marks of its immense strength. Its thick, enhanced flesh had resisted complete incineration, a testament to its durability and power as a Commander-Level Demonic Beast.
If Little Fiery had seen Leyvi's ultimate attack, it would have been touched and felt it had chosen the wrong master to follow, because Leyvi's Big Bang Annihilation was definitely heavily inspired by its Pillar of Refinement attack.
Leyvi lay limp amidst the carnage, his body trembling from the exertion of the attack. Thanks to the fire immunity benefit, he hadn't been harmed by his own devastating attack. However, he was in immense physical pain, as the blows he received from the boss earthworm had broken many of his bones, and the stress he endured for his final attack further amplified the pain. His body felt like it had been put through a meat grinder, every muscle and joint screaming in protest.
Furthermore, he was completely mentally exhausted from the process leading to his final attack. Taking advantage of his Dual Mind benefit, Leyvi had used one of his minds to concentrate solely on charging fiery Qi to his entire body, while the other mind was used to fight against the Commander-Level Demonic Earthworm. The extreme concentration required for both tasks had led to the mental fatigue he was experiencing now. His thoughts were sluggish, and his vision blurred as he struggled to stay conscious.
A few minutes later, after his mental exhaustion had relieved a bit, Leyvi opened his eyes and saw the headless earthworm near him. He knew that the only reason his Big Bang Annihilation had succeeded in killing the Commander-Level Demonic Earthworm was because it had been unleashed from inside its body. Had he attempted the same attack from the outside, the creature's formidable defenses would have absorbed most of the damage, leaving it injured but far from dead. The thought sent a chill down his spine—the Commander-Level Demonic Earthworm had been a true force of nature, and he had only narrowly escaped with his life.
Leyvi snapped out of his thoughts and quickly retrieved a top-grade Major Healing Elixir from his internal storage room and drank it. The battle just now might have attracted other Demonic Beasts or sentient creatures, so he couldn't stay heavily injured. The elixir worked quickly, mending his broken bones and soothing his battered body. After he was fully recovered, Leyvi also consumed alchemy products to alleviate his mental exhaustion. Soon, Leyvi felt much better, stood up, and began scanning the surroundings.
The ground around him was scorched and cracked, the heat from the explosion still radiating in waves. Leyvi took a moment to process the scene, his mind contemplating as he processed the close call. The Mystic Realm was proving to be far more dangerous than he had anticipated. What annoyed Leyvi was that he still hadn't gained anything from the place. Where are the promised treasures?
Thinking about treasures, Leyvi looked at the dead body of the Commander-Level Demonic Earthworm. "Is this edible?" He was in a dilemma. On one hand, it was a Commander-Level Demonic Beast, meaning its meat should be a great treasure. On the other hand, it was an earthworm. Like many others, he had a natural aversion to eating worms. The thought of consuming something so grotesque made his stomach churn.
"Ah, right! Maybe Ava won't mind eating this, even though it's a worm. After all, she needs plenty of Commander-Level Demonic Beast meat to enhance her body. Hahaha, let's see if she'd call me a sex fiend again after I give her this big gift!" Leyvi scanned its body and noticed that its demonic core was still intact, which was another great find. The core glowed faintly, a dense concentration of spiritual energy that would be invaluable for cultivation.
Suddenly, Leyvi noticed something shocking. It was a very slow process, but the Commander Level Demonic Earthworm was regenerating itself! Even without the brain, it wasn't completely dead! Leyvi quickly harvested its demonic core, and the regeneration immediately stopped.
"Shit, what about the others? What persistent creatures." Leyvi scanned them, and sure enough, they were slowly regenerating too. He also noticed that the ones with their brain intact regenerated even faster, and their body already began twitching, obviously alive.
So, Leyvi quickly took action, removing their cores from their bodies, ensuring real death. Then, Leyvi collected all the dead earthworms and stored them away. Even if he didn't have any appetite to eat them, the family's spirit beasts would.
Then, Leyvi quickly went somewhere a few kilometers away and picked up his metal bat. It seemed that his Big Bang Annihilation had sent it flying this far. The bat was unscathed, its surface gleaming as if it had just been polished. Leyvi marveled at its durability.
Holding the metal bat in his hands, Leyvi said, "Hmm... as expected of a tier 5 spirit weapon. Even my ultimate attack couldn't scratch it. Sigh... The bonk had very little effect on the earthworm. It seems that I need to charge a lot more Qi if I want to put a commander-level demonic beast to sleep. Wait a minute. Why do many of my attacks involve charging Qi?"
After sending the metal bat back to the internal storage room, Leyvi finally thought about Crown Prince Dastan as he scanned the area within his spiritual sense. He was nowhere to be seen within his 40-kilometer range. Leyvi wondered how far he had run.
To be honest, he was relieved that the one with him at the time was the crown prince. It wasn't that hard to chase him away. But if it had been one of his ladies, it might have been hard to convince them to run away, as they would have insisted on fighting together. If they had been around, there was no way he could have even attempted his ultimate attack, as they would have been caught in the blast range, making the all-out fight impossible.
He then focused his attention on the underground. Below the layers of earth were countless interlinked tunnels, far beyond what his spiritual sense could map. Was it the lair of those earthworms? Leyvi's eyes brightened. It might be possible to find some kind of treasures in there. Was he finally going to find a treasure trove? The thought filled him with excitement.
Now that he thought about it, the formidable creatures he had encountered so far were related to the ground. Considering the flying prohibition in the Mystic Realm, it was fair to assume that ground-type creatures had a greater advantage here, making them stronger than the others.
So from now on, it was best if he paid more attention to the movement underground. Leyvi and the crown prince had been ambushed because they hadn't expected anything to attack them from below.
Just as he decided to explore the underground tunnels, Leyvi detected someone entering his spiritual sense range, but the movement was slow—or rather, sneaky. It was obvious the person was afraid something would notice and attack him.
"Huh? Clown Prince? What is he doing coming back? I thought this guy had run as far as he could already. Did he drop something precious when escaping or something?" Leyvi said, confused.
Leyvi smiled and immediately sprinted toward him. It was good that the crown prince had turned back. Now he could have his public transportation again. The Mystic Realm had proven to be extremely vast, so it was unrealistic to travel on foot all the time.
When Leyvi entered Crown Prince Dastan's spiritual sense range at around eight kilometers away, Crown Prince Dastan, noticing the fast blurry thing coming in his direction, immediately panicked, thinking something had spotted and targeted him. As usual, he began running away frantically, his movement technique disarrayed.
However, Leyvi quickly caught up with him and kicked his butt, sending him flying a dozen meters, face-planted on the ground.
"Arrghh! Dammit! This prince will go all out! Even if this prince dies, this prince will bring you down with me!" Crown Prince Dastan turned around and screamed at his attacker.
"Oi, Clown Prince, it's me. Hahaha! You are still a loser, but at least you've grown a little spine there." Leyvi laughed.
Crown Prince Dastan, on the ground, was surprised to see Leyvi, his eyes wide. He had thought that Leyvi had died already, devoured by the Commander-Level Demonic Earthworm. There was no way an early-stage Core Formation Realm cultivator could survive those Demonic Earthworms. Did he have multiple lives?
