Sacrificial Artifact System: From Bell-ringer to the Ancestral Patriarch

It's here.

Li Qian made no move.

A faint glow of a bell shadow in his mind completely concealed his presence.

At this moment, he stood like a statue.

Three miners began to pace uneasily.

Although they could not hear the noise from the depths, they felt an inexplicable sense of creeping terror.

This was the instinctual fear of a living being towards unknown danger.

Suddenly.

A mere ten feet away from the three miners, the ground shook violently, followed by stones and mud flying as a dark shadow burst from beneath the earth, pouncing towards them.

Li Qian took a clear look; it was a creature like a giant python, with its body forming ring after ring, like an unpredictable spring, completely dark, covered with steel needle-like hairs.

Its opened maw was filled with rows of sharp teeth.

"Earth Dragon... an earthworm... good grief, it's grown so huge."

This was the first time Li Qian had seen a live Exotic Insect, mutated from an earthworm.

Just from its appearance, it looked as thick as a water bucket.

The part that had burst out was already several meters long, who knows how long it was underground.

The three miners, with the faint light in the mine, could barely make out a shadow, and together with the hissing roar of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect, they were frightened into panic, about to run in all directions.

Whoosh!

A sword light suddenly lit up.

Illuminating the entire mine.

It was Li Qian who had taken action.

Although he was a bit shocked by the size and ferocity of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect.

His strike was by no means slow.

As his figure flickered, the sword light shook, and the fierce sword aura surged.

With a roar, the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect's body suddenly contracted, abandoning the three miners, and the initially four or five-meter-long body instantly retracted by a significant portion.

Such a reaction speed was astonishing.

No wonder Ling Xingfeng and the others, even if they saw this Earth Dragon Exotic Insect, might not be able to intercept it.

But Li Qian's target was not the part of the Earth Dragon that was exposed.

His powerful Illusion Level Martial Intent surged out, penetrating the ground, locking onto the entire Earth Dragon.

This Earth Dragon was over ten meters long.

Its size was staggering.

The next moment, Li Qian's long sword thrust downwards fiercely.

The tough mine floor, in the face of the sharp sword aura, was like tofu.

Hiss!

The Earth Dragon Exotic Insect let out an enraged hiss, struggling violently. The whole mine shook and trembled, and the ground cracked open.

Li Qian's eyes were piercing as he slashed with his long sword. The sword aura surged, splitting the entire Earth Dragon Exotic Insect in two.

A copious amount of black blood spurted out, soaking through the ground. The entire mine was filled with a foul, fishy smell.

The bifurcated Earth Dragon Exotic Insect struggled for a long time before finally going still.

Li Qian hadn't planned on capturing the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect alive.

It was too troublesome.

Killing it was simple and clean.

However, this Earth Dragon Exotic Insect was not as strong as imagined, and could even be considered a bit weak...

"Huh, what is this?"

With a sweep of his Spiritual Perception, Li Qian discovered that within the two halves of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect's body seemed to hide a very special mineral.

With a wave of his hand, surging True Qi lifted the cracked ground, pulling the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect's ten-meter-long bifurcated corpse directly from the collapsed depths.

He then grabbed a stone the size of a dragon's eye from the black blood.

The stone was also black.

If not for his Spiritual Perception, with the naked eye alone it would have been impossible to spot this black stone amidst the viscous black blood.

In his Spiritual Perception, this black stone seemed to be constantly releasing a very special energy, weak though it was, he could still sense it clearly.

This energy was different from the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi.

He didn't dare to absorb it.

Because he couldn't be sure if this energy was beneficial or harmful.

Fortunately, he had cultivated the Pure Sword Body, which has a leak-proof nature. As long as he didn't actively absorb it, he wouldn't be disturbed or contaminated by this energy.

After cleaning off the black blood from the black stone, Li Qian examined it for a while, then placed the black stone in his chest, planning to take it back for thorough research. Perhaps his master, with his broad knowledge, would know the origin of this black stone.

However, he speculated that the metamorphosis of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect was likely related to this black stone.

Next, he looked at the three miners.

All three were cowering in a corner of the mine shaft, shivering.

"Don't worry, I have cleared out the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect."

Li Qian soothed the frightened miners.

After the three miners tremblingly lit torches and saw the huge Earth Dragon Exotic Insect split in two, they felt more awe than fear towards Li Qian, the powerful expert who had killed it.

In this manner, the three miners lit their torches and followed behind Li Qian, who carried his treasure sword on his back and dragged half of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect's corpse towards the nearest mine exit.

.....

Outside the mine.

A group of people were waiting.

Apart from Manager He, Ling Xingfeng, and a few other Inner Sect Disciples of Divine Sword Sect, the Ming Family Master, the owner of West Dock Mine, had also rushed over upon hearing that an Innate expert from the Divine Sword Sect had come.

"Has it been too long... could it be a failure?"

One of the managers of the mine could not help but say.

Ling Xingfeng remained silent.

If even an Innate Level Core Disciple couldn't deal with the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect, then perhaps only an elder of the sect would need to personally take action.

If this got out, they would probably be ridiculed by other major martial arts factions.

Manager He glared at the person.

That person realized he had misspoken and immediately shut his mouth, anxiety growing inside him.

Suddenly, Ling Xingfeng seemed to hear something and swiftly moved to the entrance of the cave.

The other Inner Sect Disciples of Divine Sword Sect finally came to their senses.

While Manager He and others were still stunned, they heard movement at the entrance of the cave, and then Li Qian came out dragging the two halves of the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect's corpse.

"Family Head, look, Master Li has killed the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect."

Manager He was overjoyed to see the two halves of the terrifying Earth Dragon Exotic Insect's corpse.

The Ming Family Master was also very happy.

With the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect taken care of, the West Dock Mine could resume operation.

Immediately, the Ming Family Master hurriedly jogged forward and bowed his hands to Li Qian, "Master Li, I am Ming Rang, Family Head of the Ming Family. I thank you for ridding the mine of such a great menace."

"Family Head Ming, there's no need for formalities, it's my duty since I accepted the task."

Li Qian said with a light chuckle.

He then looked towards Ling Xingfeng, "Junior Brother Ling, I'll have to trouble you to bring back the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect's corpse to the sect."

The Earth Dragon Exotic Insect's corpse was too large and heavy.

It would be quite inconvenient for him to take it back himself.

And the stench was too assaulting to the nose.

"Please rest assured, Senior Brother Li, I will arrange it as quickly as possible."

Ling Xingfeng said hastily.

Being an Inner Sect Disciple stationed in Yecheng from Divine Sword Sect, it was their responsibility to handle the transportation of important sect materials.

"Family Head Ming, now that the Earth Dragon Exotic Insect is dealt with, I shall not stay any longer."

Li Qian bowed his hands and said.

Riding a fast horse back to the Divine Sword Sect would take only a little more than a day, which means this mission would only have taken up three days of time.

"Master Li, you have come from afar and helped us solve such a difficult problem, we have not yet had the chance to properly entertain you."

Family Head Ming Rang hurriedly said.

It was a great opportunity to build a relationship with a core disciple of the Divine Sword Sect with limitless potential, naturally, he didn't want to miss out.

"There's no need for that, Family Head Ming."

Li Qian waved his hand, how could he not see through Family Head Ming's intentions.

He didn't want to waste time on these unnecessary social niceties.

Returning to hit the bell for cultivation—that was the real path to strength.

He was just a little short of breaking through to the Late-stage Innate True Qi Realm.

Moreover, he was very curious about what that black stone was?

....