Chapter 385: Ancient Centipede

Chapter 385: Ancient Centipede

Lu Yin raised his hand and carefully felt the air. Every single thread of star energy in his body was being suppressed, and this was his first time experiencing such a devastating power. In comparison, the strength of someone like Poison Flame was nothing. This strength made Lu Yin feel like he was facing off against the entire universe. 

There was a boom, and it felt like the universe had exploded as a spatial crack appeared from somewhere in the north, extending all the way to the platform. The fissure emanated a raw strength that left everyone horrified. Their hearts leapt into their throats, and for the first time ever, many people became aware of how little control they had over their own lives.

Lu Yin felt like he had been transported back to the apocalypse on Earth, when his life had been in someone else’s hands.

If the crack’s course had been different by just a few degrees, then the entire Northgate Platform would have been swallowed up, and nobody would have been able to escape. 

This was the most terrifying power that Lu Yin had ever witnessed.

Everyone fell silent, as if they were waiting for heaven’s judgment.

Quite a while later, Northgate Kong’s gadget beeped. After taking a look, his expression changed, and he quickly left.

Northgate Kong’s departure was like a signal granting the rest of them permission, and the rest of the crowd also immediately left, heading towards the north.

Explorers and above could tear through the void and freely enter outer space, but Lu Yin was still a Limiteer. With a rather dejected feeling, he knew that he would have to find a spacecraft.

At this time, the Northgate Platform Competition and whatever remaining battles were the last thing on anyone’s mind. Everyone was curious about what had happened in the Northgate family’s region.

By the time Lu Yin found a spacecraft, it had already been twenty minutes since Northgate Kong left. 

“Are you really going, Seventh Bro? The power level of that attack was definitely above three or four hundred thousand. An expert like that can kill you with a thought. You shouldn’t go!” The Ghost Monkey tried to persuade Lu Yin otherwise.

Lu Yin firmly answered, “I’m not afraid. So many people already went, and Northgate Kong didn’t speak up to stop them. Thus, there shouldn’t be any more danger. Besides, the most valuable things are always found in places of great danger.” 

The monkey did not reply. All cultivators lived on the edge between life and death, and if one was afraid to die, then they were better off not cultivating in the first place. No one became strong by growing up in a luxurious environment, and every powerhouse had survived through extremely dangerous moments during their life. This was an indisputable fact.

Lu Yin stole a spacecraft, but he felt no shame about it. Before long, he entered outer space and headed north with everyone else.

The Northgate Platform, where the competition between the various families of the Northline Flowzone was held, sat at the heart of the Northline Flowzone and was surrounded on all sides by the seventeen families. It was a prime location for the Flowzone.

Far to the north of the Northgate platform was the region governed by the Northgate family. A short distance south of their holdings was a gigantic, ferocious looking centipede floating in space. It was so massive that it was about the size of a continent.

The gigantic size of the centipede was shocking, and it was comparable to hundreds of Zenyu Stars linked together. In fact, there was even enough room for numerous large spacecraft to land on the creature. 

When Northgate Kong arrived at his destination, his face immediately paled upon seeing what was before him. “An ancient centipede? I didn’t think that they actually existed!”

The closer he got, the more clearly he was able to feel the ancient centipede’s overpowering strength. Thankfully, it had been dead for quite some time. Otherwise, just the creature’s pressure alone would be enough to kill Northgate Kong if he took a single look.

There was an indistinct figure beneath the ancient centipede, using both hands to hold the gigantic centipede back. This person was an elder of the Northgate family who rarely showed himself, but his power level was definitely over 400,000. He was Northgate Taisui, the living fossil whose existence allowed the Northgate family to retain their current power.

Below him were two other elders from the Northline Flowzone’s families and Tie Sa. The two elders consisted of a male and female one. The male was Elder Northgate, who was the Enlighter from the Northgate family, and the female was Granny Chan, the Enlighter from the Lily family.

Elder Northgate, Granny Chan, and Tie Sa were working together with Northgate Taisui. The four most powerful people of the Northline Flowzone managed to hold up the weight of a dead ancient centipede. If not for them, the centipede would have fallen down and crushed the Northgate family’s headquarters. 

“What are you all standing there in a daze for? Get over here and help out!” Elder Northgate yelled at Northgate Kong upon seeing him arrive.

Northgate Kong gritted his teeth and charged over to Elder Northgate. As soon as he arrived, he raised a hand and released his power at full force.

Shortly after, Lily Liana, Duke Blackhawk, Fayde, Poison Flame, and others arrived. Elder Northgate asked all of them to help as well.

Lily Liana immediately moved forward to help. The rest of the new arrivals weren’t from the Northline Flowzone and were much more interested in inspecting the ancient centipede than helping. 

At that moment, Northgate Taisui spoke up, “Please help out, dear friends. The Northgate family will definitely display our gratitude once this is all over.”

Since an old monster with monstrous battle power had spoken, and since Duke Blackhawk and the rest of the powershouses didn’t dare to say no, the crowd immediately moved forward to give assistance.

The witnesses for the Northgate Platform Competition weren’t the only ones to move; rather, everyone who was a Hunter with a power level of over 100,000 moved forward to help as well. With the help of dozens of people, the ancient centipede was slowly lifted up. However, it still wasn’t enough. Next, Cruisers moved forward to try to help. Before long, there were more than a hundred people gathered beneath the centipede working together with Northgate Taisui to lift the massive centipede. They were attempting to redirect where the ancient astral beast corpse would fall to save the Northgate family’s holdings. 

Cruisers were the lowest level cultivators that could help out. Anyone weaker than a Cruiser was of no real assistance.

Lily Anne, Northgate Lie, and the rest of the younger generation weren’t Cruisers yet, so although they were stronger than many Cruisers in combat, no one paid any mind to them. Everyone was completely focused on the awe-inspiring ancient centipede. They all felt an irreverent yet ineffable terror towards the corpse. If this enormous beast was still alive, then the entirety of the Northline Flowzone would be doomed. 

Even a freak like Northgate Taisui wasn’t able to move the beast on his own. It was impossible to tell just how terrifying this centipede had been while it was alive, but its power level must have had at least reached 500,000 units.

“Look! I think there are buildings inside its body!” someone exclaimed in surprise.

At that moment, quite a few people saw the same thing. The ancient centipede had numerous legs, and one of them had broken off, revealing some structures within it.

This discovery was shocking to many people. What sort of beings lived inside the body of a monster? Architecture indicated that there were intelligent beings there, and based off of the design, they should have been humanoid. 

Northgate Kong and the others made the same discovery, and their eyes gleamed.

The centipede had fallen through the spatial cracks after a fight between Northgate Taisui and another powerhouse. It had initially been in another dimension, just like the Shenwu Continent. It was impossible to tell how old the body was, but since it was an ancient being with buildings inside of it, there must be other incredible things such as battle techniques, skills, and treasures inside. With this in mind, quite a few people’s eyes lit up with greed.

A gutsy Explorer suddenly charged towards the broken leg. Nobody stopped him. Instead, they all merely watched on, including Northgate Taisui.

Soon enough, the Explorer safely entered the centipede and disappeared from sight.

Everyone grew extremely excited now that they knew that it was possible to enter the centipede’s body, and they all charged forward like maniacs. If the centipede was still alive, then it went without saying that no one would dare to approach it. However, now that it was dead, they had nothing to fear. Cultivators often encountered dangerous situations, but it wasn’t because they didn’t fear death. Rather, when the threat wasn’t too great compared to the potential spoils, they would be very willing to put themselves in danger.

Even Northgate Lie darted forward to join with the others.

One of the Hunters who was helping Northgate Taisui hold the centipede suddenly moved forward as well, but before he could get close to the leg, Northgate Taisui attacked him. “All Cruisers and above are to assist me with the centipede! If you don’t, I’ll kill you.”

Everyone froze, afraid to make a move.

He was a monster with a power level of over 400,000 who could kill Hunters with ease. Northgate Taisui was the most horrifying being here.

For the Northgate family, all they needed to do was stop the Cruisers and above from leaving. This was the Northline Flowzone, so those who entered the centipede’s body were primarily experts from the Northline Flowzone. Of them, Northgate Lie was the strongest, so they definitely held the upper hand in collecting the treasures.

Northgate Kong trusted Northgate Lie’s abilities and was certain that the youth would be able to obtain the best treasures. The family head only hoped that there weren’t any dangers inside, but thankfully, Northgate Taisui was here.  

More and more people arrived in the area. Anyone who was a Cruiser or above was held back, but the rest of them all charged straight into the centipede’s body. Included among those charging in were some Limiteers and even a few Melders. Nobody could resist the temptation of this ancient creature. 

When Lu Yin finally arrived on the scene, many had already gone ahead. He didn’t hesitate at all and entered straight away with his spacecraft. 

“It’s a centipede? That thing’s an astral beast from ancient times, and it’s even one of the most terrifying ones!” The monkey trembled in fear. As an astral beast himself, he felt a special terror rise up in his heart when he saw the centipede, as if it was his natural enemy. 

“Was this thing very powerful?” Lu Yin asked curiously.

“Powerful? Let me put it like this: see that old man who’s the closest to the centipede? His power level is astounding, but if that centipede were still alive, then that man would be instantly devoured,” the monkey stated.

Lu Yin sucked in a cold breath of air. This creature had been able to swallow a being with a power level of hundreds of thousands when it was alive? How terrifying. 

“I didn’t think that I’d see the centipede in this era. This is amazing! I’m sure that it’ll draw the attention of a lot of people and that there will be various expeditions, research, gathering teams, and so on… Everything that you humans can think of will be done on to this body,” the monkey said.

“If you’re lucky, you might even see a monster with a battle power of over 500,000. Those kinds of people are absolute powerhouses who can freely travel wherever they wish in the universe.”

The spacecraft entered through the broken leg, but before Lu Yin could even land, some people attacked him. A strange energy penetrated through the spacecraft to attack Lu Yin, and not too far away from him, a middle-aged man was standing there, snickering. Where did a person who wasn’t even an Explorer find the courage to come here? They must have a death wish! This man was just an ordinary Explorer who had no intention of vying for treasures against people like Northgate Lie. He didn’t quite have the courage to explore the area. Thus, he had stayed at the entrance, eliminating any of the approaching cultivators who weren’t Explorers. It wasn’t much, but he could still turn a bit of profit by doing this. 

He’d already killed quite a few people and there was a whole pile of ruined spacecraft.

However, this time, the battle technique that usually worked for him seemed to have no effect on his target. The spacecraft smoothly proceeded to land atop an abandoned building as its hatch opened. Lu Yin walked out, looking a bit put out as he surveyed his surroundings. Where’s the attacker?

The middle-aged man was no fool. After realizing that his attack had been useless, he immediately fled the scene. He was afraid that he might have run into one of those genius Realmbreakers. He’d already heard that Lu Yin of the Astral Combat Academy was here, and he was exactly who the middle-aged Explorer was most afraid of running into.

However, sometimes, fearing something meant that there was a high possibility of encountering it. The middle-aged man thought that he could still run away, but Lu Yin managed to hunt him down by tracing the man’s star energy. The Explorer wasn’t that quick, and he hadn’t gotten very far. When Lu Yin caught up to the man, he immediately attacked. Following that, the Explorer died without any resistance.

Lu Yin grabbed the man’s cosmic ring, opened it, and was immediately delighted; other than some useless bank cards, there were 100,000 star crystals inside. It wasn’t much, but it wasn’t a small amount either. There was also a whole pile of useless items as well as a memory chip. He plugged it into his gadget and found that it contained a battle technique. Lu Yin tossed it aside since it was useless to him; he had far too many techniques already.

After properly securing his spacecraft, Lu Yin carefully checked his surroundings again. The break in the centipede’s leg was just a crack, but it had still exposed a rather large area, and the buildings extended far into the distance. However, most of them were in ruins from the passage of time.