"Here we are. This is the cave?" After two hours, Han Li stood on a half-tall black rock, gazing at the cave entrance several zhang away, and muttered to himself.
"It doesn't look particularly special!" Han Li didn't rush in blindly. Instead, he carefully observed the surroundings for a while. Although time was pressing, he couldn't put himself in danger just because he was careless!
The secret cave described in the materials looked quite unremarkable from the outside, almost identical to the several wild caves Han Li had seen along the way, with nothing eye-catching about them. He couldn't help but admire whoever had managed to find this place in the first place.
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Han Li finally confirmed that there were no demon beasts or people lying in ambush nearby. Only then did he carefully approach the cave entrance.
The entrance was entirely natural, composed entirely of pale blue mountain stone, without any trace of artificial chiseling. As soon as Han Li entered the entrance and glanced at the cave walls on both sides, he reached this conclusion.
Then, Han Li's figure flickered, and he quietly slipped into the depths of the cave. But after taking only a dozen or so steps, he stopped again, because after one or two turns, the surroundings had become pitch black.
Han Li frowned slightly, reached into his storage pouch, and a moonlight stone the size of a chicken egg appeared in his hand. As soon as this object appeared, its soft white light immediately illuminated the surroundings clearly. Han Li shook his helplessly.
His original intention had been to sneak into the depths of the cave silently, see if any demon beasts were guarding there, and if so, deliver a fatal blow without alerting them, saving himself unnecessary trouble! But now that the moonlight stone had appeared, he had become an obvious target. How could he possibly launch a surprise attack?
Han Li held the moonlight stone, which glowed with a white, misty light, lightly in one hand. After a moment of hesitation, he still used his other hand to slap an earth-attribute protective shield onto his body. Then he continued forward, one step high and one step low.
The cave was different from the open wilderness. Rapid movement techniques were somewhat limited here, so it was better to have a layer of protection on his body. Although this greatly reduced his agility, Han Li clearly understood the principle that one cannot have both the fish and the bear's paw. So he had nothing to complain about.
The cave was extremely long and narrow. Han Li walked for a full quarter of an hour, yet still saw no signs of reaching the end. This made him begin to wonder if he had found the wrong place. He hoped he hadn't stumbled into the lair of some top-tier demon beast!
Fortunately, Han Li's worry was alleviated after he walked another few dozen zhang. A large turn appeared before his eyes, and from that corner, a few wisps of white light were faintly visible. This indicated that his target was right ahead.
Han Li was delighted to see this. He quickly put away the moonlight stone in his hand and crept forward quietly. Since there was already light here, and it was at a corner, it seemed his original plan could still proceed!
When the stealthy Han Li slowly poked his head around the corner, the scene before him first brought him joy, but then secretly made him groan.
Ahead was indeed the end of this cave. It was a natural stone chamber of considerable size, not only filled with many glittering stalactites, but also, on a small patch of purple rock wall furthest inside, grew three or four pale blue flowers with single stems and several leaves.
These flowers were about an inch in size. Several petals curled strangely in the same direction, combining to form a unique shape. From a distance, they looked like several comical little monkeys hanging there, truly amazing!
"Needless to ask, these must be the 'Purple Monkey Flowers.' Although their stems and leaves are blue, it must be because they haven't matured enough!" The moment Han Li saw these flowers, he thought with pleasant surprise.
But when his gaze shifted and landed on the ground beneath the purple rock wall, Han Li's expression turned bitter. There, a giant centipede several feet long was lying. Looking at its jet-black, shiny sharp shell, its several-foot-long antennae, and its ferocious and terrifying appearance, Han Li felt his scalp tingle with dread before he had even made a move.
Although he had never killed a poisonous insect-type demon beast before, he had long heard plenty about their notorious reputation.
According to others, poisonous insect-type demon beasts were much more troublesome than beast-type or bird-type demon beasts of the same level. Moreover, most of them knew some rather obscure but extremely lethal poison techniques, capable of striking someone with deadly poison at the slightest provocation, causing instant death. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, it was best to avoid provoking such demon beasts!
The centipede before him was so large that it must be at least a mid-tier demon beast. It was even possible that it was a high-tier one.
This realization made Han Li gasp in cold air and grit his teeth for a good while.
Now it wasn't him who wanted to provoke the opponent, but this centipede demon beast had already become the guardian beast of these "Purple Monkey Flowers." If he didn't deal with this giant venomous insect, trying to pick the spiritual herbs on the rock wall was purely wishful thinking!
—
Han Li restrained his aura and slowly withdrew his head. He tried to keep his movements as gentle and slow as possible, not wanting to wake the seemingly sleeping giant centipede.
He pressed himself against the rock wall, slightly furrowed his brows, and lowered his head to think of a perfect strategy to deal with this demon beast.
Relying solely on the power of several top-grade artifacts to fight it head-on wasn't impossible. Just by activating the Golden Light Brick talisman treasure, he was completely confident he could flatten the demon beast with a single strike. However, after this battle, his mana would likely be significantly depleted, and he wouldn't be able to maintain his optimal condition.
The road ahead was still long! The dangers he would face would certainly increase. And since he was pressed for time, he couldn't afford to spend another half day sitting in meditation to restore his mana. Therefore, Han Li was not very willing to trade a large expenditure of mana for victory in this fight.
After pondering for a while, a bright idea struck Han Li's mind.
Before taking action, he cautiously peeked his head out to look at the centipede again. Seeing that it was still lying motionless in the same spot, he felt relieved. Then, with a slight smile, Han Li disappeared into the darkness of the path he had come from.
In a short while, Han Li returned with a beaming face.
This time, the protective shield on his body was gone, and he no longer made any stealthy movements. Instead, he swaggered directly around the corner and walked into the hall where the centipede demon beast was resting.
With such a commotion from Han Li, if the centipede demon beast hadn't noticed, it probably wouldn't be a demon beast but a "stupid beast." Therefore, this giant insect, several zhang long, immediately became alert, raising its head towards Han Li. Its two thick, long antennae waved incessantly, and it emitted a hissing, strange sound that was quite terrifying to hear.
Han Li didn't say a word upon seeing this. He raised his hand, and several small fireballs flew out extremely quickly, hitting the demon beast's head squarely. A series of explosions rang out.
After the firelight faded, Han Li clearly saw that the demon beast's head, which had been struck by the fireballs, remained jet-black and shiny, without leaving any trace on its outer shell. This made him click his tongue in amazement. It seemed that what some people had said was true—this type of poisonous insect demon beast was indeed extremely difficult to deal with!
Although the giant centipede was not injured, it had been thoroughly enraged by Han Li's provocation!
Its two sharp fangs at the mouth parted, and a red poisonous mist erupted violently from its mouth, surging towards Han Li in a menacing, overwhelming wave. Its posture seemed intent on dissolving Han Li into poisonous water.
Han Li naturally wouldn't foolishly stand in place, letting even the slightest bit of this obviously extremely venomous substance touch him. Without the burden of a protective shield, he tapped the tip of his foot on the ground and immediately flew backward out of the hall at a speed slightly faster than the poisonous mist. Then he turned and fled wildly down the path he had come from, as if he were running away in a panic, terrified of the demon beast's poisonous mist.
The giant centipede naturally wouldn't let Han Li leave easily. Its countless legs on both sides wriggled extremely fast, and its body chased out of the hall as fast as the wind. Its speed was completely comparable to Han Li's as he ran frantically. This startled Han Li, who glanced back. He hurriedly increased his speed slightly to widen the gap between himself and the centipede demon beast, disappearing into the passageway.
The giant centipede emitted a low hissing sound and followed without any hesitation. This demon beast had traveled this passageway countless times, so it was naturally much more familiar with it than Han Li. In a short while, it had caught up and could clearly see Han Li's back.
The centipede demon beast was overjoyed and waved its legs even faster, charging fiercely forward!
And just at this moment, Han Li, who was opposite, suddenly stopped. He actually turned around and looked at the demon beast with a grin, no longer running forward. It seemed he had completely given up the idea of fleeing!
In the blink of an eye, the giant centipede had reached a spot only three or four zhang from Han Li. Just as it was about to joyfully tear the little human before it to shreds with its fangs, a sharp pain suddenly erupted from its abdomen. This made it pause, then it immediately began to roll on the ground in agony. Following that, a large amount of black poisonous blood rapidly gushed out from beneath its body, flooding the ground.
It turned out that at some point, the giant centipede's most vulnerable abdomen had been neatly sliced open by an extremely sharp blade without anyone noticing, giving this demon beast a full evisceration. With such a fatal injury, it was no wonder the giant centipede was in such pain!
Han Li, standing nearby, naturally wouldn't miss the opportunity to beat a drowning dog. He raised his hand, and a circular golden light and a blue-gleaming flying knife shot out from his grasp, cutting straight towards the two thick, long antennae of the giant centipede.