Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Divine Statue! Palpitation

"One?"

Qi Yun frowned, staring at the character that had suddenly appeared on the back of his hand. This was undoubtedly a strange phenomenon of the Peach Garden.

But just as Qi Yun hesitated, the character on the back of his hand began to shift and change as if it were alive!

Two... Three... Four... Seven...

In the blink of an eye, the number on the back of his hand had already become thirty-nine.

With a slight arch of his brow, Qi Yun glanced thoughtfully at the putrid pulp of Stone King Bee remains at his feet, which had been blasted apart by his Iron Sand. He was starting to understand.

’A kill count?’

’But what are these numbers for?’

His fingers suddenly splayed open. With a flash of thought, a massive torrent of dark, heavy Abyssal Iron Sand surged forth from within his wide sleeves.

The Iron Sand howled, weaving itself in midair into a massive, solid net that shimmered with a sinister metallic luster. Like a Celestial Net, it enveloped the entire remaining swarm of Stone King Bees that was still buzzing and charging toward him!

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Trapped securely beneath the incredibly heavy iron net, the cornered Stone King Bees began to struggle frantically. Their bodies, hard as rock, slammed fearlessly against the net, producing a series of teeth-grating, metallic clashes and sending dense showers of sparks flying.

However, despite their hard bodies, incredible speed, and potent venom, the bees simply lacked strength.

The net, forged from Abyssal Iron, weighed well over ten thousand pounds. Never mind a swarm of bees; even a Martial Cultivator who specialized in physical enhancement would be unable to break free for a good while.

With the swarm suppressed, Qi Yun flicked out a streak of purplish-red Demon Fire.

Although this Nanming Demon Fire specialized in burning away illusions, it was still a Demon Fire of terrifying temperature.

In an instant!

The dense swarm of several hundred Stone King Bees was instantly ignited, transforming into a massive, raging fireball.

A nauseating, acrid stench accompanied a pillar of thick black smoke that billowed toward the sky.

Waving his sleeve to disperse the foul odor, Qi Yun glanced down at the number on the back of his hand.

[497] 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

’It really is a kill count.’

Having confirmed that the number on his hand represented the count of strange creatures he had slain in the Peach Garden, Qi Yun stroked his chin, a sharp light glinting in his eyes.

’Perhaps this number is the key to the opportunities within this Peach Garden.’

’But it doesn’t say how to use them.’

He subconsciously reached out to touch the characters on his arm, and a faint glimmer of light instantly scattered, coalescing before his astonished eyes into a line of small words.

[Peach Garden Treasure Realm. A bastion every five floors. Wield Spirit Points to claim a Spiritual Source.]

"Spirit Points? Spiritual Source? Five floors?"

Instantly grasping the key message within those sixteen words, Qi Yun looked up at the thick branches stretching across the sky, a look of realization dawning on his face.

’I get it. These numbers must be the so-called Spirit Points.’

’And there’s only one place to redeem these Spirit Points every five floors.’

Having figured out the mechanics of this Peach Garden Treasure Realm, Qi Yun’s expression flickered slightly. He then took a step forward, his form dissolving into wind.

’Looks like waiting quietly for this to be over is no longer an option.’

’Judging by what just happened, strange creatures will likely swarm this Peach Garden continuously, attacking us ’outsiders’.’

’Climbing upward is probably the only chance for survival.’

"Born for a life of toil, it seems." He shrugged and sighed, but in the next second, the sorrowful look on his face vanished, and a flash of red suddenly glittered in his eyes.

He was the type to seek peace and stability, but now that there was no other path, he would not be indecisive or hesitant.

Transforming into a Clear Wind, Qi Yun moved so fast he was like an afterimage, the wide, flat tree trunk rapidly receding beneath his feet.

CLANG—

Suddenly, a poison needle fired from a distance was solidly blocked by the auto-defending White Bone Skeleton, the inch-long needle piercing straight through its entire skull.

Fortunately, the White Bone Skeleton had no life, or it would have died from a headshot.

"Trying to use Illusory Concealment in front of me? Get out here!"

A vicious glint flared in his eyes. Qi Yun snorted coldly, clapping his hands together with a sharp SNAP. The massive amount of Iron Sand that had been circling him instantly exploded outward, forming a 360-degree, no-blind-spot saturation bombardment!

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

The next second, several yards to his side, a spray of viscous, purplish-black blood blossomed out of thin air.

With a piercing shriek, a monster was forced into Manifestation. It was shaped like a giant gecko, nearly two meters long and entirely black as ink.

The most bizarre thing was that in the center of its smooth back, a grotesque human face was embedded—one that twisted and writhed as if wailing in silence.

"A Human-faced Guard? Another venomous pest from Jianglu Province?"

With a raised brow, Qi Yun waved his hand and made a grasping gesture in the air. A large amount of Iron Sand instantly converged into a giant palm and slammed down with the crushing force of a mountain!

BAM!

With a dull thud, the injured Human-faced Guard was instantly flattened into a meat paste before it even had time to struggle, splattering foul-smelling, purplish-black blood everywhere.

[502]

"Hm, the number is different?" Qi Yun rubbed his knuckles, realizing the value for the Human-faced Guard was five times that of a Stone King Bee.

’Different strengths represent a different number of Spirit Points?’

"Then let’s see what these Spirit Points are actually good for!"

Pressing onward, his robes fluttering, Qi Yun relied on his increasingly mastered version 6.0 of the Sand Iron Skill and his bizarre, tenacious, bone-and-marrow-sucking White Bone Skeleton. Though he faced occasional dangers, his advance was truly unstoppable.

He forcibly carved a bloody path through the encirclement of countless bizarre and vicious creatures!

He climbed upward, level after level.

And all the while, the number of Spirit Points on the back of his hand climbed at an almost frantic rate.

As the branches underfoot grew ever thicker, the "ground" he trod upon also became increasingly broad.

SCHLICK!

Using his technique to skewer a ten-meter-long, turquoise centipede like a kebab, he blocked the ensuing downpour of foul-smelling ichor with a seamless shield of Iron Sand. Qi Yun exhaled a turbid breath, having already stepped onto an enormous platform.

It was clear this place had not been artificially constructed. Rather, it was a flat area formed by the natural growth of one of the peach tree’s main boughs.

It was vast enough to hold a thousand people without feeling crowded.

"That’s..."

The moment he stepped into this clearly much more peaceful area, a tall, imposing figure suddenly appeared in his line of sight.

A massive stone idol!

A stone idol carved entirely from blue jade, one that seemed to be fused with the peach branch itself.

The idol had the head of a bird and the body of a human, its hands clasped together at its chest. Its eyes conveyed a strange sense of Compassion and pity, its lowered eyelids seeming to gaze down upon all living things with commiseration.

A pair of huge wings unfurled from its back, each feather sculpted with meticulous detail, looking as though it might beat them and take flight at any second.

The wings were slightly drawn in, protectively shielding its back and exuding an aura of tranquility and sanctuary.

THUMP-THUMP!

The very instant he laid eyes on the stone idol, a powerful tremor surged through Qi Yun’s heart, and his expression suddenly froze.

The feeling was almost identical to the one he had experienced the last time he’d seen the Demon Fire transformed from the Demon Child.

...