The Horned Centipede was a mutated version of a regular Centipede Beast after being radiated by the valley's Demonic Yin Energy. Its body was twenty meters long and about six meters wide from one leg to the other. Not only armed by a pair of sharp mandibles, a drop of its deadly poison was enough to kill a Spirit Core Expert easily. Moreover, its massive purplish horn was capable of exuding a poisonous miasma that could annihilate an entire Mortal City in a single breath.
Also, this rare beast was renowned as a key ingredient to make medicine pills to those who know the secret of Alchemy!
For Wei Yan to be in this predicament was both a fortuitous encounter and curse at the same time. One slight mistake, Wei Yan knew he could've died instantly.
As the giant insect beast's horn crashed against the Azure Veil Formation, the attack was followed by hundreds of lesser centipedes, trying to break the formation by chewing the energy barrier.
Acknowledging that the Formation Array couldn't be breached by brute force, the Horned Centipede tried to climb the Formation Array with its sharp, agile legs.
Wei Yan snorted, smirking to one side. "Since you're here, why don't you stay and entertain me?!"
While his left hand was holding Azure Veil Formation, he used the other hand to draw another Formation Array above the insect beast swarm. Once the formation circles completed, the Yang Qi in the surrounding mountain began to circling into the formation. Once it's fully charged, Wei Yan redirects the super heated Yang Qi into the swarm with a single hand seal.
"Sun Strike!"
Kaboomm!
A huge laser beam fell to the earth, scorching insect beasts swarm along with the barren earth. The once thick poisonous miasma also evaporated, allowing the sunlight to penetrate into the valley
A huge beaming smile painted on Wei Yan's face. However, he soon regretted his decision to scorch the Horned Centipede's body into ashes.
"No! My dinner! Darn it! Why the hell is this creature so weak?! Sun Strike Formation Array was just Rank 1 Offensive Formation back in the day. Haiya, so weak, so freaking weak! Seems like I need to train how to control my spiritual power or this body wouldn't be able to withstand it before I reach the Soul Manifestation Realm."
Wei Yan promptly undid the Formation and nonchalantly walked away from the destruction that he caused with both hands behind his back. Nevertheless, he already had the Five-element Peach in his body which was ready to consume anytime. Greed would only bring misfortune, or so the saying goes.
But alas, the Horned Centipede's head was still able to move, it stealthily launched itself at neck breaking speed. Wei Yan's fine hair stood on their ends when the vicious attack had already covered the distance by half. Although his Supreme Rank Spiritual Sense was able to predict the trajectory, his mortal body couldn't follow his brain signal to evade.
"What a tenacious beast!"
He quickly erected the Azure Veil Formation once again to shield him from the imminent danger, but he couldn't finish the hand seal in time due the delay between his brain signal and untrained body. However, by the time the insect beast's head was just a meter away from him, he felt a fierce Sword Intent fall from the sky like lightning, it pierced through the beast's exoskeleton like a hot knife through butter. No resistance whatsoever.
"Another Spirit Core Expert?! Since when does this mortal world have many experts in one region?! Seems like I need to re-evaluate the powerhouses who control the continent after a million years of slumber."
Shortly after, three beautiful women wearing graceful and elegant pink dresses gradually descended down on their flying sword. The woman in the middle was the Spirit Core Expert. Meanwhile, the other two young women who stood a tad behind were seemingly the disciples.
"Little Fellow…" The woman in the middle spoke melodiously and enchanting. "We apologize for meddling with your private matters. However, we have been tracking this Horned Centipede for a few days now. If it's alright with you, would you sell the horn to us? We will compensate you handsomely."
With just a quick scry with his Supreme Rank Spiritual Sense, Wei Yan could tell that they harbor no malice towards him. Nevertheless, he remained calm and cautious. Upon further deductions, Wei Yan noticed the matured woman had dark eyebags, and her complexion was somewhat awful.
"Is it for yourself?"
The beautiful and fully matured woman frowned, at this point, she had just realized that she couldn't see through him due to the dense Spiritual Sense around his body.
'This young man's body is still at Seven Veins Awakening Stage, I can't be wrong, yet how does he possess such a powerful Spiritual Sense? Wait, could he be an old monster in disguise?! Damn it! I shouldn't have come here to save him. Now, there's no telling what he's going to do against us!'
"Y-yes, fellow Daoist. I was poisoned after our encounter with the Purple Ghost Sect's experts. Luckily, I managed to take the hit instead of my disciple. The Horned Centipede's horn is the last ingredient that I need to concoct the antidote."
Wei Yan hid his surprise by shaking his head. The name surely rang a bell in his memory since that Evil Dao Sect is the one who destroyed the Red Maple Leaf Sect. "Purple Ghost Sect? Tch, their poison is very deadly indeed. However, antidote alone is not enough, it will only neutralise the poison. You'll have to find a way to repair the corroded meridians, otherwise, you'd have difficulty reaching a higher cultivation stage or die trying depending on the severity."
The matured woman gasped, "Brother, are you serious?!"
"Dead serious…" Wei Yan turned around, picking up the horn and tossed it to the beautiful Spirit Core expert. "Come, and take it yourself."
The matured woman was first to make her descent to retrieve the item, after she learned that the young man was friendly and had no malice intentions, she gestured to her disciples to come down as well.
She then formally introduced herself, cupping her fist and was followed by the younger women.
"My name is Li Hongye, and these are my disciples. We are from Jade-String Pavilion." Hongye tapped her storage bag and pulled out a small ornamented box. "I don't know whether these pills are enough to pay for the horn. This is the last item which has monetary value in my disposal since I spent most of my treasure to fight those despicable devils! But, if you think that the payment is lacking, you may come to Jade-String Pavilion to collect the rest."
Wei Yan shook his head and chuckled as he saw two Earth Rank Surging Wood Pills that could be used to break through the Perfect Vein Awakening Realm all the way to the Meridian Tempering Realm. Of course, these pills were not enough to cover the actual price of the horn.
All things considered, two Earth Rank Surging Wood Pills is the best offer that he could afford given the situation. However, he was reluctant to receive gratification from a stranger, especially the one who was being chased by enemies. It would only bring bad luck upon himself.
"Forget it, just take the horn with you for the time being and leave me be." Wei Yan tossed the box back to its owner.
"Don't be unreasonable, my pride wouldn't allow me to leave one's kindness unanswered!" Li Hongye insisted.
Wei Yan gently placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling warmly. "Return to your home… Your meridians are severely wounded, the faster you address the injury, the better. I will visit Jade-String Pavilion when the time is right."
At this moment, Li Hongye came to realise that the unassuming young man was not a normal person, she couldn't possibly comprehend the overwhelming Spiritual Sense that could only be possessed by someone who had cultivated it for countless years.
"Thank you, Senior!"
"En." Wei Yan nodded and walked into the thick fog of the valley.