Tien Huang didn't return to the rest of his group after learning that Liang Chen had apparently scared away the Stone-Soul Scorpion, remaining with him and the two young Zun twins. Just the fact that he had rushed over after the scorpion meant one of two things, the first being that the mission had failed and that it was best to escape, but if that was the case then the scorpion wouldn't have escaped. The other option was that the mission was going so well that his presence was no longer the case, and his current actions made it quite clear to Liang Chen that it was the latter that was the case.
And sure enough, the rest of the group started to return mere minutes after Tien Huang had rushed back. There were some wounded among the group, the worst looking one being a man whose entire right hand seemed to have been turned to stone. But all of them were still alive and carrying back their spoils of victory, nearly 60 Stone-Soul Scorpions of various sizes. Tien Huang noticed that Liang Chen's gaze had drifted over to the corpses, as well as the man's petrified hand, so he gave a light shake of his head.
"A grim fate, isn't it? The antidote isn't exactly cheap to buy or easy to make, but we've luckily got a lot of corpses this time so our top alchemist should be able to synthesize at least a handful of antidotes after we buy the remaining ingredients."
One of Liang Chen's eyebrows rose faintly as Tien Huang spoke. That petrification was caused by the poison coming from the Stone-Soul Scorpion? Liang Chen wasn't unfamiliar with poisons that affected a living being's organic structure, his strongest poison, the white one he acquired back in the Mystic's Hidden Realm was exactly one such poison. But that poison simply liquified the bonds that kept a person's cells together, it didn't seemingly turn the cells into something else entirely.
It was a rather interesting poison, Liang Chen making a mental note that he should try to get his hands on some of the poison later to add it to his collection. But that would have to wait until he had finished his recuperation, for now he had another question that slightly piqued his interest.
"I'm a bit surprised that you managed to take down all these scorpions without any casualties. They're what, twice your number?"
The scorpion that had attacked Liang Chen and the Zun twins had reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, only a small realm below Tien Huang himself. It probably wasn't the only one of that strength in the herd, and there should be an even stronger leader present in the group, so for there to be no casualties, Tien Huang's group should have prepared some rather decent trump cards. But rather than Tien Huang responding, it was actually the young boy, Zun Zhao, that took the chance to answer.
"Oh, oh, I know this one, Big Brother Chen! Young Master said that the scorpions are strong, but they were thrown away by the king so they wouldn't be able to work together! He said that if they can't work together then they are easily lured into each other and often end up entangled, making them easy pickings!"
Zun Zhao craned his neck slightly after he called out, angling his head towards Tien Huang like a puppy asking for praise. Tien Huang shook his head with a light smile and appeased the puppy, ruffling Zun Zhao's head while giving information that was a bit more detailed.
"It's as he said, the scorpions don't have too much intelligence on their own and are pretty helpless without their king's leadership. Encircling them and forcing them into each other will force them to trip over each other and even cause them to attack each other, we only had to kill about 20 or so of those scorpions."
Zun Zhi looked a bit enviously at her brother, so Tien Huang stretched out his other hand and ruffled her hair so that she wouldn't mope, clearly far more relaxed now that their mission had been completed. The members of the caravan quickly split into small groups that got to work, some taking care of the wounded while others brought the corpses over to the empty wagons and loaded them on.
The wagons had crystals embedded in the side that seemed to work like interspatial rings, some of the corpses getting thrown in there. But they clearly didn't have enough of these crystals, especially with the one scorpion tearing apart three wagons as it barreled towards Liang Chen. As a result, eight of the corpses were taken apart, only the stinger, the pincers, and the grey poison sac saved and stored while the rest had to be discarded. But Liang Chen only used a small part of his mind to pay attention to these things, he was a touch more interested in what Tien Huang and Zun Zhao had said.
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"Their king? The scorpions live in established hierarchies?"
Any Demonic beast race that had evolved versions where they became known as kings or emperors were troublesome things, especially if these kings could form entire herds of their weaker versions. A grave light flashed through Tien Huang's eyes as he slowly nodded his head, using his chin to gesture towards the path they had come from.
"Some do, but it's fairly rare. The reason behind this is because a Stone-Soul King isn't just any normal evolution like, say a Nethersky Wyrm King or a Skycloud Panther Lord. The distant ancestor of the Stone-Soul Scorpion is the Ash-lake Empyrean who serves as the mount of the king ruling the Ash Lands, it is a Demonic beast of unfathomable power. As such, the Stone-Soul Scorpions have a pretty strong bloodline, so when they strengthen their bloodline and evolve into Stone-Soul Kings or Queens, they evolve into true Divine Beasts. At that point, even if it were just a Stone-Soul King at the early stage of the Primordial Immortal realm, it would be able to duke it out with a cultivator at the late stage of the Primordial Immortal realm. We're gonna move past an area where the Stone-Soul King used to reign before, you can see the aftermath of its presence there."
Tien Huang was clearly very fearful about the evolved form of the Stone-Soul Scorpions, which was only to be expected if they were actually true Divine Beasts. Despite all his battles, Liang Chen had never actually fought against a Divine Beast, so even he didn't know exactly how strong a true Divine Beast would be. And if he could help it, then he wasn't in a rush to find out.
It didn't take long for the members of the caravan to finish storing away the corpses and the salvageable parts of the corpses that they had to leave behind, they didn't even need two hours. Tien Huang gave the order and the caravan turned around, returning using the same path they had taken to get there.
The members of the caravan felt like praising the graves of their ancestors as they travelled, not a single Demonic beast even got close to approaching their wagons. As such, thanks to their rotating shifts and the Demonic beasts serving as horses, they didn't have to stop once. Of course, while Tien Huang would occasionally move to the other wagons, Zun Zhi and Zun Zhao were forced to remain with Liang Chen in their wagon. They made sure that his bandages never got too wet with blood or the like, bright smiles adorning their faces when they saw that Liang Chen's gruesome wounds were finally showing signs of healing.
They also took the chance to poke their heads out of the wagon and excitedly point at some of the more notable places they passed, informing Liang Chen of everything they had been taught. And thanks to their unimpeded travels, it only took them three days to reach the spot that Tien Huang had told Liang Chen about. He hopped into the wagon as they got close, gesturing to the opening in the tarp with his chin as he spoke in a grave voice.
"Take a look, that's the effect that a peak Primordial Immortal realm Divine Beast has on the surroundings if it gets into a fight."
Liang Chen poked his head out of the wagon and gazed upon the scenery that had been almost immortalized a short distance away from the caravan. It looked like it had once been a sprawling oasis, palm trees surrounding a large lake, he could even see some fruits growing on the trees. But everything there had already turned to stone, even the water wasn't spared, a nearly 40-kilometre wide stretch of land turning into solid stone.
Looking at the petrified landscape, Liang Chen couldn't help but wonder if the ability to even petrify water and trees was unique to the Stone-Soul Kings or if even Stone-Soul Scorpions could do so. Tien Huang luckily had the answer to that, his own gaze drifting across the uninhabitable landscape.
"No, that ability is unique to the stronger Stone-Soul Kings, its something they gain as they strengthen their bloodline and trace it closer to their ancestor. But it makes you think, doesn't it? If a mere Stone-Soul King can do this, what exactly can the Ash-lake Empyrean do?"
Liang Chen was also a bit curious about this Ash-lake Empyrean, but Tien Huang only knew that it was a beast serving as the mount of the Ash Lands King, he didn't know if it was a Demonic, Divine, or Origin Beast. The petrified landscape was quickly passed, that particular Stone-Soul King was already dead, but Tien Huang's group still didn't dare get too close, much less enter the area.
Tien Huang visited Liang Chen's wagon frequently on the return trip, joining the young Zun twins in telling him various tidbits about both the area and the city they were heading to. And thanks to the fact that they didn't have to stop once, they managed to reach their target, Moonset city, a mere eight days after dealing with the scorpions.
Looking at the sprawling city in front of him, Liang Chen couldn't help but be slightly surprised at how it looked. The city was completely circular and surrounded by a tall wall, but a massive silver lake actually occupied the centre of the city, meaning that it was actually shaped like a large doughnut. And even stranger still, from their position that was approaching one of the city's large gates, he could see that even the silver lake was surrounded by a wall, separating the city from the lake.
But there were gates built into that wall as well so the citizens of the city clearly wanted to at least have the chance to enter the lake for some reason. And looking at the shimmering water of the lake, he could see how the city got its name, it truly looked as if the moon had descended from the sky and turned into a lake. Tien Huang saw Liang Chen's expression, the corners of his lips curving up slightly as he spread out his arms.
"Welcome to Moonset city, the city where the sky itself descended to bless the land."